Q&A: This is Fourth Dogma
“I grew up in a pretty small city with a slow life pace, so I was always fascinated by the idea of bigger cities, where skyscrapers would reach higher than your eyesight could.” - Fourth Dogma
It was a pleasure to interview Fourth Dogma, an artist I listen to daily! Below is our interview. Be sure to check out the playlist at the end and support his future musical projects!
How did you start making music?
I started writing music when I was around twelve with my best friend and I've been making music ever since, more recently making a living out of it. However, I didn't get fully into producing beats and lo-fi-ish beats until 2020, so my whole beats adventure started around 3 years ago.
The city seems to be a common theme in your music. Can you elaborate?
I grew up in a pretty small city with a slow life pace, so I was always fascinated by the idea of bigger cities, where skyscrapers would reach higher than your eyesight could. I moved to London a while back and then to Madrid, and there's something about the fast-paced lifestyle and the idea of a city not sleeping that just appeals to me. Like there's always something to do around the corner if you are on the lookout.
The track "late night calls" is my favorite of yours. Can you talk about the making of it?
Thanks! Well, a while back I was dating this girl that has a very busy life, so for a period of time we would only call late at night and our calls would sometimes last until 2 or 3 am, when the conversation was deep enough. After one of these calls, I couldn't really sleep and went to my little studio and drafted some quick ideas - the next day, I recorded some chord progressions on my upright piano and then my best friend (the one I started making music with when I was 12) came thru with some sick guitar lines for a heartfelt solo. It was basically me projecting how comfortable hearing her voice made me feel.
What is your latest project?
I just released a bossa-nova-ish beat with the homies over at College Music called "Solo Flavour, Niño" (meaning 'only flavour, kid') - you can check it out here: https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/5AW8ZddrxedOcuiuaKqzLL?si=951b1cb27c2f49eb
Many of your songs deal with the late night, presumably when most people are sleeping. Can you go deeper into that?
Well, I just have a really hard time sleeping. It's not that I don't like sleeping, I do, but most nights I just can't seem to doze off - so I just go to the studio to work on music until I pass out exhausted somewhere (usually in the couch, but I have fallen sleep at my desk lol). It's quiet, and nobody is really expecting you to do anything other than sleeping, so I can just chill and write music.
Where do you want your music career to be in five years?
Honestly? I don't know. I have so many side-projects aside from Fourth Dogma that it's hard to figure out where I'll be or where my music career will be. I think I want my music career to be in a state where I don't have to fully produce music to keep up with bills and rent, lol.
If you could live in any city, which would you pick?
I quite like Madrid, but I'd rather live somewhere quieter... in the outskirts of a coastal city in Northern Spain sounds pretty good to me, to be honest.
Have you received fan feedback? If so, how do you use it to improve or change your sound?
Yeah! People have been kind enough as to reach out to me and tell me how my beats actually influenced their sound and stuff, it's incredible. Some would send listening recommendations that later down the line ended up influencing my own style, so there's that.