Written by Steele Kratt

London collective 404 Guild makes sharply introspective UK rap and have been building heavy steam over the past few years. The collective is comprised of two pairs of producers and rappers, Devenny, Eliot, Bathwater and Sonny. Signed to UK powerhouse Dirty Hit Records, they collaborate together and separately under the umbrella of the collective.

The idea of a crew or collective has been a format for rap groups since the genre’s inception, but with the advent of social media, that format has taken on a new shape, containing multiple departments beyond rapping. More and more, collectives are comprised of multiple producers, multiple rappers, media heads, creative directors, etc. They’re like fully functioning content companies.

The latest release from the South London group comes from rapper Devenny 404 and producer Bathwater. It is a track about blossoming romance in the modern era, and has a video alongside that is inspired by elements of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. It’s high octane, manic, dark and pretty. I met up with Devenny (Tay) and Bathwater (Brendan) over coronavirus titan, Zoom, to chat quarantine, memories of travel, Arsenal Football Club, and the end all and be all of Britain’s identity, the Pub.

Steele: What is your daily schedule like now?

Tay: I’m trying to keep myself busy like everyone else. We’re wrapping up our album together, it’s come together bare quick out of nowhere. Been really nice. I’ve been doing that, eating, watching tv, and home workouts. The normal stuff.

Steele: What's your home workout reg?

Tay: I managed to acquire two dumbbells yesterday, so I’ve been able to incorporate that. Before that I was just doing body workouts with my headband and sweatbands you know.

Steele: Yeah definitely, everyone is doing calisthenics, lifting now. I’ve been boxing.

Brendan: My neighbor has got a bench and barbells outside, and it’s fucking sick cause I can go down every other day and work out.

Tay: I’m so jealous that you have access to a bench man. It’s so expensive, it was hard to get these dumbbells innit. I sound like a bro right now, let's talk about some other stuff. It’s so expensive

Steele: Like hand sanitizer.

Tay: I found loads of hand sanitizer in my apartment the other day, just lying around. Four bottles, I don’t even know why I had them, it was mad, why did I have all of that beforehand?

Steele: Wow you can open up a business now. This is a perfect late capitalist opportunity for you. You can be scummy and dilute them with water to increase your product production and sell them on the street at high prices.

Alright, anyway let's get to the meat - how does it feel to be releasing a track in the midst of a quarantine?

Tay: I would say that at the moment, releasing stuff doesn’t feel any different, apart from the fact that you can’t play live shows. Everyone is glued to their phones even more than ever now, so it seems like people’s ears are more open. That being said, it doesn't feel like there's an end goal though. Playing shows is so important

Brendan: We’ve been holding off on live shows in London, and we’re going to kickstart it again by playing this month, so it basically remained the same.

Tay: Yeah the live shows are such a huge part of what we do. It’s been a struggle to not play live shows. I like to see how people interact with the music, gauge how it makes them feel. It’s been difficult. I use it as a cathartic thing. It helps me to feel centered, and not having that makes it feel a bit weird.

Steele: What advice would you give to other artists right now ?

Tay: I’d say not to feel like they have to use this time to be creative. Maybe at one time or another an artist would want a situation where they could have all the time to create with no other obligations, but self care is so important right now. You need to nurture that before you create, and shouldn’t beat yourself up over your productivity right now.

Brendan: One positive thing is that a lot of people want to collaborate right now. There’s a community element developing through everyone’s current open mindedness.

Steele: Tell me about your working relationship. I’ve heard that you two pair together a lot. What is it that works so well? Do the others get jealous of your lab partnership?

Tay: They definitely don’t get jealous, because they have their partnership as well, and we work together on our group projects. It works so well because we all started our partnerships prior to collaborating as a group, so we know what works and it’s cohesive when we get together.

For Brendan and I, it’s never felt forced. We’re so close personally. I grew up with him, used to live at his house when I was younger. When you trust someone with your whole heart it makes collaborating so much easier.

Brendan: I remember being kids and listening to music together on our iPods. And also so much of the music that frames our work, we discovered around the same time together. One of the biggest is when we saw Slint together, and also Swans. I remember leaving those shows and being completely silent and thinking, “we’ve got to take this stuff seriously man.”

Steele: Your video is Dr. Strangelove inspired. What spurred that idea? Are you a Kubrick man?

Tay: When thinking of making a video, I always thought about trying to have it be made at a certain standard, but then as I’ve gotten older, I’ve just thought fuck it i’m going to go do it.

I’ve been binge watching a lot of Kubrick films recently, and I thought, why don’t I try something with that kind of imagery. I thought, let’s have fun with it, and I tried to showcase some of my character while framing the shots in a Kubrick inspired way. I didn’t want to take it too seriously, even though some of the imagery may be dark.

Steele: Can you recommend 3 movies or TV shows for quarantine?

Tay: Blackadder, everyone should always watch Blackadder. My favorite and always will be.

Brendan: Mulholland Drive, one of my favorites.

Tay: And Days of Heaven by Terrence Malick.

Steele: I saw England closed their pubs for the first time ever. How is England without its pubs? Has England lost its identity? Are you living in a void with no culture? How is your life?

Tay: I’ve got a lot of friends that enjoy the pub more than I do,

Steele: Cal?

Tay: But I’ve definitely missed going. I just miss socializing, it’s such a good place to socialize. Even if people are hanging by themselves, without trying to sound too wanky, there’s an energy in the air. Even if someone is going to drown their sorrows, they’re still up for a fun time.

Steele: Definitely, it’s a different vibe to American bars, and is a definite casualty of COVID19.

Tay: I’ve seen a lot of fuckery in pubs.

Brendan: In Wetherspoons.

Tay: Man a lot of spoons are like that cantina in Star Wars.

Steele: Did you know the music they play in that cantina is called Jizz? No lie.

Tay: Na man, you’ve just made that up. Fuck off !

Steele: Ok, so you can’t go anywhere, so imagine a mini break with 404. Where do you go? What do you get up to? Play make believe for me.

Tay: I used to really enjoy winter over the summer, but that’s changed. Personally, because I’m half Caribbean, I’d love to take everyone in the group back to one of the places my dad is from, St. Lucia or Guyana. It’ll be guaranteed nice, hot, calm, and pretty.

Brendan: What about Cromarty? You’ve spoken a lot about that mate.

Tay: Well that’s definitely going to be a little different. For context, that’s a place in Scotland that I've lived. It’s really racist and upsetting, but it does have a place in my heart and upbringing. There was a sense of pride we had, being a mixed race family in such a homogenous and unkind place. Where are you taking us Bren?

Brendan: I want it to be somewhere I’ve never been, I’ve done everything haha. Edinburgh, Leeds, uhh? But actually, I guess I’d like to go somewhere hot. I’ve only ever really traveled with my family, and that’s basically just been watching a slow motion divorce happening. Eh fuck it, maybe let’s go to Iceland.

Steele: Tay, I’ve heard that you’re an Arsenal fan. Where would you rank this in terms of least favorite seasons?

Tay: Oh man. For me, this season, oh boy, I’m gonna rant. For the past few seasons it’s been a mess. They’ve all been shit. Emery was bad, I think Arteta won’t be a good signing. They’re a club that has the money to spend, but wont spend it, but expects to still be good. I’d put this season in our top three worst seasons in my memory.

Steele: I feel that. God last season’s Mustafi vs Crystal Palace collapse still haunts me. When he let Zaha burn him, and then he had the gall to yell at Leno for conceding the goal. My god. And watching them get washed in the Europa Final last year. That was rough.

Tay: I remember, back when the pub was a thing, how bad that was. It’s just been a slow chipping away at my faith. I’m sounding like a broken man now. Why do I allow myself to keep getting disappointed by it? It’s little things they keep letting themselves fail at. It’s hard to be proud to be an Arsenal fan right now, but I’ll still always support. If we’re a mid table team now, so be it.

Steele: We’re doing our own Arsenal Fan TV segment right now. But yeah, for context, I’ve grown up a NY Knicks fan, so I have loads of experience in feeling broken. They’ve disappointed me my whole life, made me understand and cope with heartbreak. It’s awful, and I feel like since I also support Arsenal, I’ve got a type. I guess I love disappointment.

Ok and my last question, what’s your best travel memory?

Tay: I haven’t travelled that much, but I’ll say touring creates my favorite memories. Being able to go see places I’ve never been before. Just a short stay is nice still. I like the idea of landing in smaller markets and connecting with the town.

Steele: It keeps the dream alive.

Brendan: So in 2011, I went to New York with my mother. Her name is Irene, and Hurricane Irene just so happened to coincide with our trip. We had to stay in our hotel the whole trip, and loads of shop windows had signs saying “IRENE GO HOME.” But honestly, my favorite place I’ve been is Edinburgh. It’s beautiful. So many hills and beautiful old cities. It’s like dark souls. So many levels to it.

Steele: I’ll agree there. I remember we played a show in Edinburgh at some venue that was hidden in an alleyway in the middle of a hill. It was so cool. That same night one of my bandmates went out wearing tracksuit bottoms, and couldn’t get in anywhere because bouncers thought he might be a Ned. It was so frustrating.

Tay: Man, I shoulda said somewhere in Scotland. Going out in Scotland is so intense. People leave with the intention of just getting so drunk. It’s crazy. It’s like they’re drinking to forget something.

Steele: I dunno, maybe years of deeply ingrained monarchical oppression? Going out and seeing someone drinking casually in a kilt is jarring experience.

Tay: I want to build up the courage to get married in a kilt. One day I’ll start wearing them.

Steele: And you’ll never wear underwear again.

Keep up with 404 Guild.

South London Collective 404 Guild on “Running Man”, Pubs and Creating Together While Apart

Written by Steele Kratt