Interview: Church Leon On The Inspiration Behind Teeth, Interviewing Brockhampton, & More

Church & AP are the young and talented Pasifika hip-hop duo that took New Zealand by storm. Garnering over 3 million streams for their hit single, Ready or Not, which was the song of the summer, Church & AP have shown the world that they are a force to be reckoned with. The two Aucklanders have been nominated for 3 Vodafone Music Awards a little under a year since Ready or Not popped off. The duo are truly a breath of fresh air and they’ve barely scratched the surface. This Friday, on the 15th of November, Church & AP will be blessing the world with their first album ‘Teeth’ and will be celebrating with a release show with appearances from other Auckland talent on the same night. The album is something they hold very dear to their hearts and it sure as hell is executed through those quality bangers. Church & AP are two dudes with an amazing passion for music who want to forward not just themselves but the culture as well.

I was very fortunate enough to have a chat with Church Leon on behalf of Church & AP about their humble beginnings, the inspiration behind Teeth, interviewing Brockhampton, their prospects for 2020 and their first New Zealand tour. Check it out.

So we’ll get right into the interview.. I know both you and AP went to Mt Albert Grammar, is that how you guys originally met? I know you guys touch on it on the last track in your new album but I’d love to hear it from you.

Um, yeah, so, like AP said in that song, yeah he just met me on the first day of school while he was talking about some Chance the Rapper record, um I think it was Acid Rap and I was like a year 9, I didn’t even know him and I just ran up on him like he was my best friend and I was like, “yo man I listen to that project too like, I like this track, this track...” and then AP was like, I think he was weirded out you know, I was a weirdo. 

(laughs) fair enough. And how did you guys decide to become a music duo? Like how did that even come about?

Probably like 2016 or 17.. nah 2016 I hit up AP around the end of that year and I just said um “yo I like your stuff on Soundcloud” cause at the time we were the only 2 artists that were making music at our school, like that we knew of. So I just thought, like, I better make a connect cause like… strength in numbers or whatever. So, um, I hit him up and I did a remix of his song and then, um, all of 2017 we worked on our first project which is called Thorough Bread And then that kinda just got us some local claim and it wasn’t until Ready or Not, that same year in 2018 that we kinda took off.

That’s crazy. Like when you guys made Ready or Not, did you know it was gonna be a hit?

Nah, we had no idea, you know, like, when you make a song in a room that’s smaller than a toilet like, you just… as much as you can think it’ll be really cool you don’t think like ohhh 3 million streams cool you think like some dude at a party might play it. So yeah, that went way it beyond. It even got nominated for Single of the Year. That’s so ridiculous.

Yeah, that is crazy. So like, what does it mean to you guys to be recognised by these awards (Vodafone Music Awards) especially when you guys broke through like just under a year ago.

Yeah, I think like I care less about the award and more about like people recognising us as one of the top acts in the country. That’s what’s important to me.

Yeah, I reckon those award nominations puts you guys way up there, for sure.

Yeah, yeah and it raises the fee so you know, that’s a good thing.

Gotta make that bread, yeah (IYKYK). How did you guys come up with the name, Church & AP?

Church & AP came because we were really shit at picking names. People were always calling me Church, that was just my rap name already, Church Leon and then um AP is just his initials, Albert Purcell. We sat there for weeks like thinking about what the name should be and then I don’t think it was until we got booked for a gig and I put us down as Church x AP and then um AP was like yo you better change that cause there’s already Eno X Dirty (laughs). So we just put the “&” there and kept it.

Wow, that’s awesome. So, who and what inspires your guy’s music style?

My peers, more than anything else, like, they’re the ones who inspire the music I like making. Whether it’s the people in New Zealand and right now it’s these people on the retreat. Yeah, I’m just like constantly getting inspired by them.

You guys are releasing your first ever album, Teeth, on the 15th of this month. What would you say the album is about, like what inspired it and what can people expect?

We were just trying to create something different. We wanted to fill the gap in the scene where we just felt like, um, no one was releasing an album, you know, it was a lot of EP’s, a lot of mixtapes, a lot of singles but we just wanted to challenge ourselves and you know, try and make a cohesive project, an album. So a lot of that was just inspired by us being driven and then that’s just kinda how it came about.

You guys have some hits on there cause like, I really liked Shiraz, that song was fire, Chrysalis is so sick, like, honestly some of the best bars I’ve heard in a while. Money Talk is groovy as hell too like that end is so fabulous. 

Yeah yeah, thank you. That’s what we’re hoping. We’re hoping that people can like vibe with the new sound and just like, it just fits with someone.

Yeah for sure, I reckon.

Yeah, so the album was just us trying to create something new. Dera, Dera Meelan, he produced the whole album front to back and that was like, that was cool cause he was basically the third member of the group, you know. While we were trying to make the sound, he was making it cohesive.

He’s so talented man. How did you guys end meeting together, was it through the local scene?

Yeah, it was through Nah Zone. We were both at a Nah Zone party and he hit us up. But yeah, that one just came about from Dera being a producer. We didn’t know him but he just ran up on me and was like “yo I produce, I produce” and I wasn’t really listening to him but then we found out he was actually really dope. So… never judge a book by its cover.

(laughs) facts! So what’s your guy’s creative process like when making music?

It’s uhh sit in a room for 13 hours and mess around and do nothing of use and then when there’s pressure, make diamonds. 

Beautiful! I think it was last year you guys met Brockhampton and interviewed them, how did that end up happening?

That was through Vice, RIP, they were like doing a Brockhampton movie screening. Brockhampton had made a documentary and then um what happened was a guy named Matt from Vice saw us perform at a show and wanted us to get involved with Brockhampton somehow but we didn’t really know what he wanted us to do and his first idea was to go on a retreat. Fuck wait, what am I saying (laughs). The idea was to get us to host the event but then after he pitched that to Brockhampton they were like nah we don’t need any hosts, so what Matt ended up doing was, because he had an interview lined up with them and he just said “nah why don’t you guys do it I think that’ll be a cool perspective” and then yeah, it was lit.

That’s crazy. And I know a few of them followed you on Twitter too, that’s like a lot of people’s dreams.

Yeah, yeah. Sometimes I’ll be like talking shit about basketball and then Dom will reply and start like debating with me. I forget he even follows me. 

So cool! Who’s someone or like a group you would love to tour with or like open for one day?

I think… hm, who have I been listening to lately… I’d love to do a tour with like Pharrell. Just someone with a crazy vibes show. Like any of those TDE guys, like Schoolboy, Ummm overall it’d be wild.

That’d be crazy.

Yeah, one hundred per cent.

What is Church & AP’s goals for 2020? Like what’s something you’d like to do or somewhere you want to breakthrough?

Ummm, I’d love to get linked up with Australia a bit more. It’s pretty clear that like there’s a wave going on there right now. Yeah, I’d love to go tap in with some of the people I’ve met over there and try to make something and just kinda be like a bigger artist in terms of not just New Zealand but Australia as well. So maybe that’s what Church & AP wants to do.

That’d definitely be a good move to do. How does it feel going from performing in gigs at like nightclubs last year to having your own New Zealand tour this year and opening for artists like Rich Brian? And that shit is only the beginning, it must be overwhelming in a sense.

Yeah, it’s weird. I don’t really think about it like, I had a conversation with someone yesterday and they were talking about how we always set goals as artists but like by the time you achieve your goal, you’ve already made a new one. You’re not satisfied.

Yeah, you’re on to the next aye.

Yeah, you’ve already developed so much during that process so sometimes it just feels like that. We have our own New Zealand tour then by the time we get to the New Zealand tour I want an Australian tour. I used to think about getting a Vodafone Music Award and then by the time we were nominated I was like aw man, I wanna be nominated for 5 categories now. It always develops like that I think.

I think so too. It’s awesome though. Also, how was your guys first New Zealand tour by the way? I think you guys sold out a few of your shows.

Yo! We sold out Christchurch and that was wild because like, it’s the South Island, it feels so far away. But we had fans that were like, singing along and like packed out the room but like thousands of kids so it’s like really cool. And then even going to Wellington, like we got 5 songs into our set and people were still singing all the words. They just had like an energy that I was really grateful for cause as an artist that’s all you ever really want at the end of the day, is for people to listen to your music

So you and AP performed a show in London last year as well as did some press, how was that experience for you both, especially performing for a crowd in a completely different country?

Yooo I think that was wild. So we went to London a few months ago and just off the strength of Ready or Not basically and we had an interview lined up at BBC Radio 1Xtra with Jamz Supernova. That was ridiculous like, BBC is one of the biggest radio networks in Europe so to be up there and not just walk around places you know, that was a wild feeling.

And I know you guys are performing at a lot of major New Zealand festivals over the summer, what festival are you guys looking forward to performing at the most?

So Rhythm announced like pre-party with us, Melodownz, Sachi and Ghostface Killah so I’m keen to get out and perform as the same stage as Ghostface.

What are you most looking forward to about your release show? I know you have KOME and Neko, if that’s how you pronounce her name, opening so I know it’s gonna b a vibe.

Yeah, all of the KOME new music is just so crazy and I love watching their live shows. The energy they bring, with all of them mobbing on stage, that’s like unmatched in this country I reckon. So, yeah just catching one of their sets, they’re like my favourite artists so yeah.

And what do you think is your favourite album of 2019?

Yo I had this conversation yesterday, it might be.. It could be Young Thug’s album, It Could Be So Much Fun uh but also Clairo, I like Clairo’s album a lot.

So who would you guys love to collaborate with, you know, have a song with one day.

I’d love to work with Baby Keem, I think he’d be dope. In a couple of years like yeah, hopefully, we’ll be working overseas a bit more. That’s another goal for 2020 so plenty of people. FATMANKEY, that’s my favourite rapper ever so if I could get on a track with him, him and Kenny beats, that would be wild.

That’d be wild. I have to say, I’ve watched you guys grow since like Nah Zone’s pre-show and it’s been such a pleasure seeing you both blossom and reaping the benefits of your hard work and talent so congratulations on all that.

Thank you, I appreciate that. My hope is that other artists can be on the same wave-like other artists in New Zealand.

Yeah for sure and I appreciate you guys putting other people on like I saw your guys story like trying to find some NZ talent like listening to music which I thought was really really cool.

Yeah, there’s a lot of talent in this country, like.

That’s pretty much all the questions I have for you today, thank you so much for your time!

Church & AP will be releasing their first album Teeth on the 15th of November, this Friday and will be celebrating with a release party on the same night. Make sure you cop your tickets.

Interviewed By: Breanna Tugaga-Rogers
@bretugs