Relta’s storytelling rhythms

Growing up, did you come from a creative background?  

I grew up in a small town with a small family who weren’t involved in the creative industry. I didn’t know anybody at all that worked in music or film.  

My parents were both self-employed though, and they always told me that I could do anything I wanted. My dad was my biggest champion and made me feel anything was possible. He was a geologist and really loved fossils, I thought that if he could make a career from rocks, then I could make it in film.  

I think this positive reinforcement and not having parents that worked typical 9-5 office jobs made me feel like I could take the non-typical path too. I always knew I wanted to spend my life working in and around music/film in some form.  

Tell us how you came to be a music producer and what music means to you? 

When I was 16-years-old, my XBox broke and I just needed something to do. I borrowed my sister’s laptop and discovered GarageBand [Apple’s free audio mixing software] – it was life changing! 

I got super-obsessed with making music, particularly R&B and hip-hop instrumentals. Every day I would make one and release it on Bandcamp the same night, making an artwork to go with it.  

Over the next few years I’d gained millions of views, sold thousands of instrumentals, and had top global artists reach out to ask to work with me. It’s quite surreal when I look back on that time. When I wrote about it in my personal statement at school my teacher held me back after class and asked if I was making it all up.  

I’m really interested in art design, sets and building out worlds that feel unique. Music videos is a great medium for this. 

When did you move from music into directing? 

Once I started treating music as a job, working with artists and following the industry norms of what a music producer looks like, I really started to hate it. The magic disappeared. 

Around this time I had moved to London and was living with my friends. One day our house got broken into and everything I had built was gone, my hard drives, laptops, equipment, project files, all gone in the blink of an eye. I took it as a sign to follow my heart and take a step away from music. I had a growing interest in filmmaking, so this became a place for me to be creative and find the magic again. 

My best friend was learning cinematography and suggested I make music videos, it snowballed from there.  

You have directed a range of documentaries, fashion films and music videos; what genre is closest to your heart? 

Music videos – I really enjoy the lack of rules. You get to write an idea and bring it to life in pretty much any way that you can. I’m really interested in art design, sets and building out worlds that feel unique. Music videos is a great medium for this. 

I often work with the same artists multiple times. Most recently I directed promos for Sekou, Yaz, and Nia Smith, and it’s rewarding to work with artists that you believe in. I’ve also been lucky enough to work with legends such as Lil Wayne, and approaching the project as a lifelong fan is such a surreal experience. I never thought I’d get to tell Wayne what to do! 

We always say that our job is just problem solving, and that’s a lot of fun to us. The problems are part of the excitement. 

Tell us about the  creation of your MVA-nominated album film, Don’t Look Down, for Kojey Radical 

I’m super-grateful to the whole team on this one. When I wrote the treatment I knew it was an ambitious idea. I told my producer Anastasia Liasi about it and she pulled together a plan to make it work. The whole crew treated it with more passion than I’ve ever felt on a project. Working with Kojey was wonderful, he put a lot of trust in me but also provided so much invaluable creative input that made the film what it was. 

We got to take the film on a little screening and Q&A run which felt really special, especially given how so many people don’t take time to really consume full length music content like they used to. I honestly can’t think of any lows, it consumed my life for a good few months and I genuinely loved every part of it. The magic was back for real!