Ebubé recently released his latest single, ‘Coming Home’ featuring Tyler Lewis. Written and produced by him, the track sets the tone for his latest project ‘A Mile In My Mind’—a seven-track EP that sees him diving into the emotional layers of love, blending R&B and soul in his own distinct way.
Following on from his debut ‘Slow Jam Szn’, this new project feels more personal, offering a deeper look into his mindset and the experiences shaping his sound. From love and distance to growth and self-reflection, Ebubé invites listeners into a space that feels both honest and intentional.
We caught up with Ebubé to talk about the inspiration behind ‘A Mile In My Mind’, the meaning behind ‘Coming Home’, and how his approach to music has evolved since his first EP. He also opens up about his creative process, collaborating with Tyler Lewis, and the journey that led him to fully pursue music.
First of all, congrats on your new EP ‘A Mile in My Mind ’. I love the title. What inspired that name?
I think the overall theme and story of the EP is that, a lot of the time, when I went into making songs and solo songs, I was thinking about writing songs that were positive towards women, not toxic or anything like that. At the start, that kind of led to everything always being very lovey-dovey, like everything’s rosy and perfect, which isn’t a problem. But I wanted to give a bit more variety.
So I leaned more into the vulnerability of love and the idea that there’s kind of a price to pay for being in love. There are times of vulnerability, times of jealousy, times of insecurity, and I wanted to put all of those themes into one project or one theme of writing. A Mile in My Mind felt like a perfect description of that. If you walk with me through my mind, you’ll see there are lots of bends in the path. But ultimately, that path always leads to love; it’s just not a straight line, if you see what I mean.
This is your second solo EP. How did the process of making this one compare to your first project, ‘Slow Jam Szn’?
Process-wise, it wasn’t too different. On the first project, a lot of the stuff I made at home. Even now, if I’ve produced something fully, I’ll usually enrich it at home because that’s kind of my comfort zone, my safe space, I guess. If I collaborate with people, I’ll still vocal produce and record everything back at home.
I feel like that process has carried on from the first EP. But I do think I’ve been able to elevate the sound this time because I’m more sure of what my sound actually is. So I’ve been able to take a bit more risk and really work on pushing everything to be the best it can be.
And funnily enough, a lot of this EP I actually finished a long time ago. So it’s been a long time in the making, and even since finishing it, I’ve already been working on the next thing.
Where do you usually draw inspiration from when creating your music?
I think it’s definitely experience, but it’s also speaking to other people and hearing their stories, then kind of adapting that into music. Sometimes someone will tell me a story, and I’ll think, “That’s never happened to me,” but I can still really identify with the feeling and empathise with it.
Sometimes that can actually make it easier to express in a song than if it was something about myself. When you’re writing about your own experiences, there can be all kinds of thoughts that block you from fully putting yourself into the song. So sometimes it’s nice to be inspired by other people’s stories—things I’ve heard, read, or listened to.
You also write and produce your music, which is amazing. What is the creative process like when you do that?
Most of the time, I start with chords. I want the chords to give me a certain feeling. I won’t start making the melody unless the chords themselves feel like they could already be a song on their own. Then I’ll figure out a melody, and once I feel like the melody is making the most sense, I leave writing the lyrics until afterwards. I’ll produce the rest of the instrumentation, the drums and any other instruments and then I’ll write the lyrics based on the vibe of what I’ve created in the production.
So that’s kind of the order of my process.
That’s amazing. I respect that a lot because not a lot of artists do that. Is there a song on the EP that you feel is your favourite?
It changes every single day. At the moment, I’d say my favourite is probably Makes You Feel Beautiful. But that might also be because it was the most recent of all the songs that I made.
So yeah, right now it’s probably that one.
And what inspired that song?
I’d written a few romantic, sensual songs before, but with this one I wanted to focus less on the superficial aspects. I wanted to forget about those for a second and focus more on what a woman actually wants to feel.
It’s about making someone feel empowered and praised for the parts of themselves that people might not necessarily notice first. So before talking about all of those other things, it’s about trying to make someone feel beautiful through the way you act or the way you speak.
I also read that you’re classically trained as a pianist and violinist. What influence has that had on your music? Do you use those instruments in your work?
I haven’t played violin on a record yet. I wish I could. But I do create string arrangements in my songs. Growing up playing in orchestras helped me understand orchestration and string arrangements quite well.
With the piano, I play a lot of the piano parts on my songs. I also play guitar, which I learned more recently over the last five years.
A lot of the time when I listen to music, I’ll think, “Oh, I would have done that,” or “I wish I had done that.” So being able to actually do those things in my own music is a really special feeling and something that drives me creatively.
Was there a specific moment in your life where you decided to fully pursue music? I read that you were originally going to study medicine.
It’s funny because there wasn’t actually a specific moment. I was going to go and study medicine, and straight out of school, the label that was putting together the group I was in contacted me just before I finished.
So it wasn’t necessarily a big choice; it felt like a bit of a no-brainer to at least try that opportunity and see how it went. I could always put university on hold while we explored it. Thankfully, it worked out, and now I’m in the music industry. So I often say I don’t feel like there was one moment. I’ve just kind of found myself here.
If you weren’t making music, what do you think you’d be doing?
The easy answer is probably that I’d be a doctor. But at the same time, I don’t know if that’s definitely what would have happened. I would have finished medical school, but it’s a good question.
Honestly, all the answers I think of are still music-related. Maybe I would have been an actor.
What do you want listeners to take away from this EP?
I’d like people to take away whatever message connects with them the most from each song. Every song has a slightly different feeling, and I hope that someone listening will identify themselves with at least one of them.
Also, if you’re a creative person, I hope it inspires you to try different things and really believe in yourself. It takes a lot of self-belief to make music and put it out into the world.
Of course, you have a whole team believing in you, but you have to believe in yourself first. So I hope it encourages people to do that.
Which artists do you personally listen to?
There are so many across all different genres. In terms of R&B and big influences on my music, there’s Usher, Brandy, and Mary J. Blige.
Growing up, my mum and I listened to a lot of gospel artists like Mary Mary, Kirk Franklin, and CeCe Winans. Recently, I’ve been listening to more soul music as well. Before I was singing R&B, I listened to a lot of Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, which helped me transition from classical music into soul and jazz. I also listen to Daniel Caesar.
And then I listen to a lot of classical orchestral music too. I love Hans Zimmer and his compositions.
If you could collaborate with any artist or producer, who would you choose?
Producer-wise, my biggest inspiration is D’Mile. Everything he’s done from Silk Sonic to Bruno Mars’ latest album is incredible.
Artist-wise, there are a lot of people, but I think doing a song with Daniel Caesar would be really cool.
You also worked with Victoria Monét. What was that experience like?
It was amazing. She’s such a talented songwriter. It was early in my group’s career, so having one of our first writing sessions in America with someone like her was incredible.
Watching someone create at that level, someone who has mastered their craft over so many years, was really inspiring. A lot of the techniques she used actually influence how I write today.
It was definitely an experience that helped me progress.
Did you learn anything specific from her?
Yeah, loads of things. One interesting thing was that when she was writing, all the lights had to be off in the studio. I tried to copy that afterwards, but I realised that wasn’t what made the magic, it was just part of her routine.
Her writing technique was really different. She writes almost like a rapper, line by line, but when you put it all together, it makes perfect sense because each line has been so carefully thought through beforehand.
Do you have any specific rituals when creating music?
Lighting and environment are definitely important. Soft lighting helps you relax, and you need to be relaxed to really access your thoughts creatively.
Other than that, I wouldn’t say I have a superstitious ritual. My process itself is kind of my routine, starting with chords or a melody idea, looping it, and building the structure from there.
You also worked with Tyler Lewis. What was it like working with her?
It was amazing. She’s one of the most talented vocalists of our generation for sure. We co-wrote my first single Where I Want to Be a while ago now.
Later, she featured on Coming Home. When I wrote the song, I felt like it needed a female voice to complete the story. I sent it to her and two days later, she sent it back finished.
She’s an incredibly talented singer and songwriter.
What’s next for you? Are there any upcoming projects or performances?
There are lots of headline shows planned. I’m planning to come back to London and do more shows very soon.
I’m also trying to stay consistent with releasing music because that’s been really important for my growth over the past year. There will also be more shows across Europe.
For me, it’s really about playing the music live and meeting the people who are listening. When you’re writing songs at home, sometimes it can feel like it’s just numbers on a screen. But when you perform live, you actually see people being moved by the music. That’s really special.
