Hawke's Bay Compilation Record Showcase - King Con
Connor Elliott’s inspiration for their music, especially the song ‘Hopeful’ which has been selected to appear on this year's Hawke’s Bay Compilation Record came from their cherished dog, Cici. Who sadly passed away in December 2022. This article is for Cici.
Connor Elliott has been earnestly grinding away, diligently perfecting their craft with the goal of launching and making a serious impression on the music scene under the stage name of King Con.
Elliott explains that they made their musical debut in 2019 as part of a rap duo.
“We went by the name CROMM and it was a culmination of the works of my own and Rhomi Simpson’s, we met at the Boardwalk when we both worked there and collaborated on many tracks. I then pursued studying music in 2020 on my solo career”
Elliott’s passion lies heavily in the sample music realm which is where they take sounds, rhythms and melodies and mix them to create their own unique intonations.
“I work so much with samples to the point that the majority of my songs will usually have 50% sample music, whether it’s some royalty-free sample or loop or against something like the Simpsons, but it’s been made virtually intangible that you can't really hear it, I love warped sound so much”.
Elliott’s music writing process isn't conducted in the same conventional way that they believe other artists create music. Rather they use others within the music industry as inspiration and the building blocks on which to create their own music.
Explaining that current sound is very important to them when deciding what the song will sound like.
“I get a lot of influence from the artists I follow, one of my favourite processes for making music usually goes off of the songs I'm listening to,”
“I’ll listen to the artist and how they're speaking and what their saying and I’ll start writing lyrics based on how they are doing it, and I'll literally copy them exactly like right down to the T of how they are saying it, and then when I say something wrong or different I'll note that and I'll be like why did I say that and i'll look into that.”
Elliott’s song “Hopeful” will be featured on Hawke’s Bay Compilation Vinyl, Under the Sun Vol. 2.
They had found themselves embarking on a metaphysical journey within the process of creating this song. After having a chance to connect with themselves and modify their outlook on life, their musical journey has been exponentially enhanced.
A satisfying element about the creation of the song was being able to work collaboratively alongside fellow Hawke’s Bay musician, Floyd Pepper. Floyd is an exceptionally talented artist across many facets of the creative industry and is a firm favourite within the local music community. He was the one behind the mixing of this song. Floyd also appeared on last year's record, and was a driving force behind Elliot submitting a song for consideration.
“There is a little instrumental breakdown in the centre where I stop rapping for about 20 seconds and it goes into like a little kind of synth instrumental from Floyd”
While Elliott is working to fortify their musical identity, they believe that creating a community is a major factor to achieving any manner of success.
“The majority of successful projects come from building a supportive community around you, it's not building your project and you working on it alone, it's building a project but also building connections and relationships.”
Elliott hopes that this song will be the catalyst that transports them into the public space, and brings possibilities of King Con becoming a commonplace fixture within the music industry.
Until that point, Elliott is content with pouring time into expanding their knowledge and experience within this creative practice.
“Short term I really wanna get an EP out within the next year. I really wanted to almost use the vinyl release in the sense of promotion and awareness so people are knowledgeable about who I am”
They are without a doubt, immensely passionate and motivated to get out there and be fully engrossed in what they love, by making music.
The Hawke’s Bay Compilation Record- Under the Sun, Vol. 2 was produced by Backline Chartable Trust.
This record would not have been produced without the help of additional funding through Lion foundation, EIT Te Pukenga (Ideaschool) and Aramex.
There is an event being held at Paisley Stage, Napier to celebrate the completion of the vinyl. It will be on 23rd March 2023.
For more information about this event, and about our local musicians check out the Hawke’s Bay Music Hub website and Facebook page.
