The village of Carlton is quite small. Nestled in North Bedfordshire, it has two pubs, a school, some shops and not much else. It’s been hit by a tornado before. Everyone knows everyone - and naturally, it’s now the perfect home for a fresh new gleaming indie-mover to emerge. Enter Alfie Templeman.
While most of us at 15 were simply trying to make sure our homework was done by Monday’s maths lesson, Alfie’s been busy on other fronts. With his debut track ‘Like An Animal’, the extra-curricular studies have definitely made themselves known.
Utilising the joy of education while he still can, his days at school are spent hanging around the music rooms, jamming with his best mate and chatting away about music for hours.
Alfie Templeman doesn’t follow the norm. With the sort of mind that jumps and flows with everything he hears, no matter genre, style or era - it’s more of an unstoppable reality that music was going to be at the core of everything he does than a question.
“I’m not interested in anything else apart from music, so my life does revolve around it,” he admits, looking back over the past few years. Growing up in a house where his dad’s instruments were everywhere, it was an unexpected source that first lured Alfie in.
What may seem like quite a distant influence from the music Alfie makes now, is actually bang-on for that freedom he now exudes. Shown across his debut EP, that attention to detail rings through - with his pulling voice sounding like a modern heir to Gaz Coombes across slinky indie, 80s synth-pop rides, dazzling gaze and even some jazz kicks. There are more tricks here than in a magician’s hat.
That peaceful surrounding where Alfie finds himself feeds into everything he does.
“I’ve always been a big fan of just looking out for new ideas, going outside and looking about,” he notes. “I always keep a notepad on me so I can write whatever comes to mind. I guess in a way I used to just look out into my surroundings and write songs from it.
Taking those ideas from out and about, and crafted in his bedroom with the lights turned down, the windows and door firmly shut, it’s his creative sanctuary that has stemmed the glorious results so far - an oasis that remains his go-to place after a day at school.
“Every day when I get home from school I work on little projects and stuff,” Alfie explains. “I record bits, it’s just what I like doing - I find it fun, it helps me to relax as well. It’s great when you can do something you enjoy doing all the time.
With one EP to his name, and word of mouth spreading, what makes Alfie Templeman all the more exciting is that he could do anything. Still 15 years old, with boundless enthusiasm and the sort of musical talent that’ll have you awe-struck, his is a name that we’ll be referencing for years to come, as he forms a special new road. There really are no boundaries.
He already promises his next EP will be “a lot more R&B orientated; there’s more of a funky element to it” while holding on to those cores of indie-pop and hints of jazz. If you didn't think one of the most exciting creators of 2019 could come from a small village in Bedfordshire, well - things are about to get exciting.
Taken from the February issue of Dork, out now.
Words: Jamie Muir
Taking those ideas from out and about, and crafted in his bedroom with the lights turned down, the windows and door firmly shut, it’s his creative sanctuary that has stemmed the glorious results so far - an oasis that remains his go-to place after a day at school.
“Every day when I get home from school I work on little projects and stuff,” Alfie explains. “I record bits, it’s just what I like doing - I find it fun, it helps me to relax as well. It’s great when you can do something you enjoy doing all the time.
With one EP to his name, and word of mouth spreading, what makes Alfie Templeman all the more exciting is that he could do anything. Still 15 years old, with boundless enthusiasm and the sort of musical talent that’ll have you awe-struck, his is a name that we’ll be referencing for years to come, as he forms a special new road. There really are no boundaries.
He already promises his next EP will be “a lot more R&B orientated; there’s more of a funky element to it” while holding on to those cores of indie-pop and hints of jazz. If you didn't think one of the most exciting creators of 2019 could come from a small village in Bedfordshire, well - things are about to get exciting.
