A natter with: Ryan Wilson-Preen

Join us for a natter with northern creatives and the people behind the places that drive the creative community.

From sweaty nights at Welly to cathartic gigs at The Adelphi, Hull’s own Ryan Wilson-Preen from the band Maftin natters with us about how those dance floors ultimately shaped his relationship with music. He tells us about opening for Bdrmm, Maftin’s new single Kicking Daises and how he gathers inspiration from those around him. A proper Hull lad, making proper good tunes.

Hi Ryan! Tell us what you do:

Hello! I’m Ryan – I’m a musician from the Hull-based band MAFTIN. 

How has being from Hull shaped your sound or the way you approach writing and performing music?

I’d like to think that being from Hull has undoubtedly played a monumental role in the way in which I’ve come to perform in a band. I first went to The Adelphi on a mate’s recommendation at fifteen, which is a very long time ago!

The experience was completely mind-altering to me that local musicians living down the street from me could be writing music so cathartic, and I guess, empowering. It was truly influential at that point in my life, having assumed those kinds of gigs could only exist in the Camden squats you’d read about in the NME.

In terms of writing, it’s become more apparent to me in recent years, especially since we’ve started MAFTIN, that elements of my lyrical content are truly-centralised by Hull. The forgottenness, the end of the road stuff, and a somewhat reluctance of industry acknowledgement. I’ve grown to love that we can push against that notion. I think many local artists and bands are doing a great job of that.

Your new single Kicking Daisies has such a distinct mood — can you tell us what inspired it, and how it came together?

I feel it was the point in which it registered that MAFTIN could actually be a band, and take these songs we’d recorded in our home studio into a live setting. When I’ve listened to the track recently around the release, I can really hear us pulling influences from all different directions, and there’s a real naivety to it, which I kind of love. It has these imperfections, but it serves the narrative.

We took it to our friend and local legend, Stewart Baxter (LIFE), and played around with loads of synths sounds to really capture that cold, unnerving atmosphere within the verses. Lyrically, the song looks at the well-trodden narrative of how the arts are becoming somewhat impossible for creatives of working-class backgrounds to be a part of on a grander scale. However, for all its doom and gloom, there’s a real sense of optimism within the structural components of the chorus both lyrically and sonically, which I feel is also significant when tackling any oppressive situation.

You recently opened for Bdrmm at Welly - both northern icons! What was that experience like?

It was utterly bizarre being back within those Welly walls. No amount of disinfectant bleach is going to cleanse that place, but I loved the nostalgia of it all the same. Welly was a really important part of the club culture back when we felt young enough to be dancing in there. It had gone full-circle with the Bdrmm boys, having spent many nights in there together in our late teens. I’ve seen Ry Smith throw unimaginable shapes back in the day. All jokes aside, their new album is truly sensational, and you could feel a real sense of celebratory pride on the night from both the band and the audience.

What's a piece of advice you could give somebody who wants to make music?

I guess it’s a little cliché, but just get stuck in and make the music you want to make. I feel with the overbearing expectation of social media, it’s really easy to feel like you need to follow a particular trend or something to achieve an idea of success. There’s also nothing wrong with that either if that’s your M.O. To me that kind of stuff is just transparent. I mean, we’re still trying to find our feet in creating more electronic music ourselves, and we’ll make lots of mistakes in the process, but that’s what I find exciting. It’s organic and real, and when you create without parameters it’s liberating.

When you're not busy on the mic, where would we find you?

Oh, good question! We’re blessed with lots of amazing little indies in Hull nowadays. We run a monthly club night at 80 Days Bier Haus on Princes Ave, aptly called CLUB MAFTIN. We play lots of experimental music. Some krautrock and post-punk, but also some dub depending on what Murph the landlord is pouring us. If not there, I’ll be in Dive or Still drinking coffee. I feel there’s become a real community-driven culture in Hull in recent years, and we’re really reaping the rewards of that. 

What or who influences the art that you create?

Oh, that’s so tricky to pinpoint. I’m quite guilty of maybe hearing something, like a weird Underworld tune and thinking I need to go write a techno drumbeat before I start making me tea. I’m quite reactionary like that. Luckily, living around the HU5 area I’ll quite often bump into friends who make music or create some form of art, and then a conversation will inspire something creative in me. I actually wish I knew what sparks the drive on a more fundamental level. More broadly, I think we all really delved into music on a more electronical level around the time we started writing for MAFTIN. Jodie and I have had an incredible track record of securing Glasto tickets the past decade, so we’ve naturally found ourselves in the middle of raves, and that’s unquestionably filtered into it all in some way I reckon. 

If you could describe your bandmates in three words, what would they be?

Heart. Soul. Guinness. 

Who would you nominate for us to have a natter with?

You should have a natter with local saviour, Stewart Baxter. Everyone should. He makes you feel good. 

Cheers, Ryan!

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