Karma! Magazine recently had the privilege of connecting with Pauli the PSM, and delving into his life and career as he embarks on his first ever UK and EU tour. The exchange was filled with authentic insights and exciting revelations. Don’t miss out – make sure to grab your your tickets now and join them on their Europe tour that takes off tomorrow! Read the interview below.
Uchechi: We know you go by Pauli Lovejoy and Pauli the PSM. Can you tell us a bit about it and how it came to be?
Pauli: The name Pauli Lovejoy was given to me by Bobby Womack. I was working with him before he passed away, rest in peace. I was in a lot of rehearsals with him and I don’t think he ever really knew my name. He would just be like “hey son”, “hey kid.”
On the last day before we headlined Glastonbury, I went up to him and said, “thank you so much for having me be a part of your project…this is monumental” and he was like man, love, joy, lovejoy. I was like, wait what? And he said lovejoy and I was like wow. Ever since then, it felt like I had been christened with that name. I held on to it dearly because he’s such an icon, and it felt like something that meant so much to him and so much to me. Those two words together, so powerful. So I’ve just held on to that. I like to think that that’s what I project into the world: love and joy.
And Pauli the PSM, that’s the artist name. The PSM stands for the power of the subconscious mind. Yeah, I think it’s kind of self-explanatory.
Murron: Can you tell us about your early music career and why you decided to pursue it full time?
Pauli: My early music career started fresh out of university in 2008. I graduated during the recession. I had a degree in media, multimedia, film and TV, and there were no jobs in the UK. So I ended up reverting back to music. I went to a few auditions and ended up getting a gig with Gorillaz off the back of an audition. That’s the first time I ended up in a professional band setting.
Uchechi: As an artist who works in so many different forms of musical instruments, how do you find balance? Is there one that you’re more drawn to than others?
Pauli: I don’t know if balance exists. I think you just have to do what feels good at any given time and try to create some sort of structure. I have a great team around me that helps me create structure and make sure that I’m never neglecting any of the things that I’d like to explore, the different creative art forms and disciplines. Yeah, I don’t know if there’s any balance; it’s just about doing as much as you can while you can.
Murron: Would you say there’s anything outside of music, for example art or nature, that inspires your music?
Pauli: Yeah, nature massively. Farming, flowers. Agriculture, permaculture, the land around us. That is, without it, we are nothing. The fact that we eat food that comes from the ground, we need to be so grateful for what nature is able to give us. I’m deeply inspired by nature and the earth. That’s my reason for being.
Uchechi: In the past, you’ve said that black women also inspire you, particularly the black women in your family. When it comes to your own identity in terms of your race or gender identity, do you find intersectionality plays a role in your music and your creative process?
Pauli: Thanks for mentioning that. Yeah, so I was brought up by my mom, my sister, my grandma, and a bunch of aunts. My mom had four sisters. I quickly learned how powerful these women were, and they were black women. Seeing them operate in a very white society – a very white racist Britain – from a young age, not only to operate but thrive, showed me a different level of resilience that we can all learn from. I owe my life to black women and I’m grateful for what they instilled in me and the examples that they set for us to learn from.
Uchechi: And do you find your own identity plays a part as well, when it comes to your music? Like, how do you make a connection?
Pauli: My identity, like even just being gender fluid or queer, yeah. I think it can have an effect on how you present things. In a way it makes you more free, like I feel more free than ever. I don’t feel like I’m confined to be this or that, black or white. Everything is just life, and it’s colourful, and it’s every shade of colour. And I love that I can present my life and my art in that way. I don’t have to dress one way when I’m on stage, I don’t have to refer to myself or anyone else as one thing or the other. I just feel like I’m all things to all people, and that feels great. People say you can’t be all things, but I’m like, you can? I am. And you should try it too.
Murron: Is there anywhere in the world in particular you feel most free, more so than other places, or just everywhere you go?
Pauli: I just feel free, I feel free as a bird, I don’t feel any limitations to life.
Uchechi: Did it take you a long time to get to a place where you felt free like that? Or have you always just been a very spiritual, open soul?
Pauli: I think I’ve always been spiritual. I think we’re all spiritual beings living a human experience. I’ve always loved life. I’m grateful for life. I love people. I think those are the things that keep me going. Like I have an opportunity to talk to you now and I feel really relaxed, open, happy and grateful. It’s just nice. I think one thing that we all crave is to feel seen and to be heard. So having this conversation is incredible for me because I feel seen and heard, and I’m eternally grateful.
I think you just got to live your life. You have one life, live it. Live it to the fullest. Just be nice to people. You never know what people are going through. Be nice to yourself first and foremost. Start local, and hope it has a ripple effect on your community and hopefully the rest of the world. The world is a mess right now. Just be nice.
Murron: Is there a moment of your career so far that you’re most proud of or anything that stuck with you more than other achievements?
Pauli: I’m really proud of the fact that we’re going on tour right now. I think that’s a massive achievement to be able to do a solo tour in this climate where you see so many tours being cancelled. There are conversations of people struggling to figure it out. And so I’m grateful. I think it’s a massive feat to be able to tour. We’ve done two tours in the US now. And now this is our first UK and European tour.
Uchechi: You also recently did Love on Tour. What lasting effects did Love on Tour have on your music, on your musical process?
Pauli: I feel like I’ve been exposed to more people, and more people have been exposed to me. I think that there is a beautiful, nice symbiotic relationship going on where we continue to have a conversation. Now there’s a dialogue with a wider labyrinth of people across the world. I feel like I’m still making the same weird music I’ve always made. I made an ambient record, followed by a record where I was like, I’m an intergalactic bad man. There’s nothing “Love on Tour” about those things. But I think, yeah, just having more eyeballs on what I’m doing, and also being able to see into more eyeballs and to learn more about different people’s stories and see that there are people like me who listen to music that I make. It’s just like, wow, okay, I’m not alone. I feel an element of togetherness. And yeah, I feel like I’m a part of a big family now. And Love on Tour was like a big travelling family.
Murron: Congrats on your residency with U2. Is there something you do to keep yourself grounded after the constant shows on tour?
Pauli: Yes, meditation has been really helpful. And I have this thing called a PEMF mat, a post-electromagnetic frequency mat. Basically, you lie on it; it’s like a crystal mat that has thousands of quartz crystals on it, and then you heat it up. And it helps you to chill out. I don’t know how it works. It’s got some weird like mad juju in it or something. But the frequency of Earth is the most grounding wave coming down from a show, apart from maybe taking off your shoes and walking around on Earth.
Uchechi: When you say meditation, what type of meditation is that? I know there are a few different forms of meditation.
Pauli: Breath work. Breath work is key because that’s the thing that keeps us alive, keeps us connected. I also do some Transcendental Meditation and like the nice basic guided meditations and visualisation and light work; like following the light through the body.
Murron: Do you have any advice you would give to aspiring musicians or artists navigating their own creative journey in today’s competitive landscape?
Pauli: Yeah, my advice is don’t take advice. I think advice is given out way too often from people that have no idea. I’m just going at it. I think the key is to feel it for yourself. Figure it out for yourself what feels good. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do, how to feel, how to think. Figure out for yourself. Separate yourself, meditate. Everything you need to know is within you. Stop taking advice.
Uchechi: You started a youth program called Badman Space Programme to give black youth the opportunity to learn about science and see that they have potential in the future. Is there something that you wish you could tell young Pauli?
Pauli: Yes, I started Badman Space Programme after going to NASA in Houston, Texas, and seeing astronauts in space and talking to them. And I didn’t know that you could go to space. I didn’t know that was an option that you could choose as a job like astronaut, tick. So if I knew that that was an option, I would tell younger Pauli to go study the sciences because you could be an astronaut.
The reason I started the program was because of talking to kids like I’ve got nieces and nephews and a bunch of cousins around me who also had no idea. So I was like I need to go into schools and tell them that this is possible. So we did. We did like a NASA job fair. We did a bunch of programs, mixed with STEM subjects and got them excited about the future and STEM.
Uchechi: We really enjoyed speaking to you today as well as hearing your answers. Is there any songs that you have on repeat right now that we can add to our Karma magazine playlist?
Pauli: Yeah, I’ve been listening nonstop to a group called MiniKingz, and their song “Iced Out Summer.” I also love this song that I listen to every day, it’s called “Optimistic” by Sounds of Blackness. That one’s my staple feel-good everyday tune. And if I’m driving somewhere and I want to hear something loud, I just listen to MiniKingz beginning to end. On other days, I listen to “Love of My Life” because that is my favourite Harry Styles song when I want to get in my feels.
Interview conducted by Murron Gallagher and Uchechi Adeboye
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