(EXCLUSIVE interview) John Newman ahead of Sea Dance: I feel like part of the EXIT family, and I take the audience on a real musical journey

On August 29 at midnight, with hits like “Love Me Again” and “Blame,” he will remind the audience why he is one of the most exciting musicians of today. Fans from around the world arriving in Bečići will also be treated to new music under his SIX40TWO alias. After years of major hits and his distinctive pop-soul sound, the British musician is now presenting a new phase of his career, marked by dance music, experimentation and his SIX40TWO project.

Ahead of his live show at the Sea Dance Festival in Bečići, he talks about returning to a familiar audience, artistic freedom, the importance of live vocals despite AI technologies, and his desire to push the boundaries of his own sound through this new project.

This is your second performance in Montenegro, and you have also performed twice at EXIT in Serbia. What do you remember from your first time here, and what kind of connection did you feel with audiences in this part of the world?

NEWMAN: I think it’s important to look at EXIT as a family and as something bigger, and to know that whenever you put on an event, it’s always special and the energy is always there. You choose the right locations and the right events, and as someone who feels like part of that family, I want to be part of all of it. I’m expecting something truly incredible, and I’ll bring all of my energy. As I’ve already said, I’m really excited to see how much the festival has grown and developed. It’s nice to come back after all these years.

The last time you performed here, you were at a very different stage of your career. Who is the John Newman returning to Montenegro now, and what can you tell us about the new live show?

NEWMAN: This time there are no suits, no high slicked-back blond hair and no loafers. It’s more about me growing up around dance culture and how I’ve been experimenting with that sound over the last few years. But the big hits, the energy and the emotion are still there. Emotion is the key word, as well as how we express it. It’s very difficult to explain this show because it’s sonically diverse and takes the audience on a real journey. The only way you’ll get the answer is to come and see the show this weekend.

Džon Njuman/John Newman

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Your voice is such a recognizable part of your identity as an artist. How important was it for you to keep live vocals at the very heart of the performance?

NEWMAN: That is the number one priority. Always. I’m a huge music fan myself, so if Rag’n’Bone Man suddenly became a DJ and stopped singing, I’d think, “This is strange.” I have to keep in mind that some people may have seen me in the same way they see Rag’n’Bone Man or Tom Odell, and then suddenly I start DJing. That’s strange. So I have to give them the key things, and those are the hits and the voice. Then I can play around and do whatever I want. First, you have to give the audience those recognisable elements.

What can you express as a producer through SIX40TWO that you perhaps cannot express under the name John Newman?

NEWMAN: Whatever I want, really, and that’s the beautiful thing about it. The project is still at a very early stage. With this new generation, it almost feels like you need a hundred thousand followers and a big viral moment just to get a record deal. That’s why I started my own record label, so I can release whatever music I want. It means I’m completely free to experiment in any way I choose. I don’t need that John Newman stamp on it. I don’t even have to sing on the tracks if I don’t want to. It’s simply a form of expression.

It’s really exciting, and we’ve just done a collaboration with ARTBAT that went really well. It almost makes me want to create another alias, because I think, “Oh no, this one is successful too. That’s not good.” But it’s really nice, and it helps me develop both as a producer and as a songwriter. It’s liberating. It feels like I was trapped in a cage for years. Once you take that cage away, you feel an enormous sense of freedom. It’s a beautiful feeling.

After everything you’ve been through in the music industry, what does artistic independence mean to you today?

NEWMAN: When I first started making music, artistic independence meant something different. You could be thrown into the river of record labels and the industry, carried along by it for a while, and then eventually washed out. I think my artistic integrity and independence carried me through that, and they’re still there today.

We have to be very careful when we use terms like artistic independence and independence in music. A lot of major artists today say, “What has the record label ever done for me?” and then they go independent. I recently heard a major artist say that, and I thought: well, that record label spent millions of pounds on you, pushed you all over the world and got you onto radio stations. If you think you can do all of that on your own, which I honestly doubt, then by all means ask what they did for you.

I think people in this new era show a lot of disrespect towards what the music industry used to be. I respect every member of the team I worked with and everything they did to make “Love Me Again” and “Blame” into huge hits. There’s no way I could have done that completely on my own. That’s Universal at its best.

John Newman/Džon Njuman

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Do you see AI as a tool that can expand human creativity, or are you afraid it could take something away from music?

NEWMAN: Both. I think it can take a lot away from our society. I also think it can pose a threat to society. It’s a very worrying thing. But the same applies to anything highly intelligent. Elon Musk poses a major threat to our society, but he is very intelligent. There are good and bad sides to it. Use it carefully. If you’re going to use it creatively, then be creative with it. Don’t let it be the creative one, because it isn’t creative. Use it as a tool, but it won’t do the work for you.