PODCAST: Finn Askew Talks New Single “16 Dogs”

After listeners devoured his single “Aftertaste,” Finn Askew is satiating his fans’ cravings for more with his single “16 Dogs.” 

Growing up in Somerset, the UK-born singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer always dreamed of pursuing music. After his debut single “Roses” skyrocketed thanks to support from  Taeyong of NCT 127 and Jungkook of BTS, it’s been nothing but up. 

Askew is continuing to dream big on his new single “16 Dogs.” On the alt R&B groove, Askew imagines what it would look like to live lavishly. 

We sat down with Askew to chat about “16 Dogs,” his career so far, and what fans can look forward to next. 

Excerpt from the podcast: 

In your new single, 16 dogs, you continue to dream big. What inspired that single?  

It’s funny because I feel like a lot of the music that I write nowadays seems to revolve around romance and love.  You know, I was like, I kind of want to just switch the narrative here and just switch up a bit and try something different.  And obviously I was like, what can people all relate to? I feel like everyone wants to live a nice life, not whether that be money or anything or happiness, but it’s just living comfy with no worries in the world. That’s the sort of thing everyone can relate to. I was like, what’s my way of getting there? I want to live a nice life, free music, and be able to support my family and support everyone in the future. That’s kind of what inspired the song. I want to write something which is just real. It’s just real to me. 

Cover art for "16 Dogs"
Cover Art for “16 Dogs”

How did the illustrated cover art come about?  Did you work with the artist on it? 

It’s my Dad that did it. My Dad’s an artist. He’s done my last cover art. I usually use a lot of random people because to me, to be honest, cover art, I don’t think it’s as much of a big of a deal as a lot of people make it out. I feel like the song’s what it’s about. So I don’t really care too much. But I was like, what’s a way of making it more personal, making it something which I could talk about and be happy to talk about? I was like, my dad’s an artist, I love his art, I feel like bringing the family in – you can’t really get more personal than that, so I got him involved. Yeah, I just think he’s a really nice touch. He’s an artist part time, he’s a teacher as well. I was like, how can I kind of help my family at this early point in my career before I blow up and obviously can spend, buy him a house, whatever I’m planning to do. I was like, you know what, it’s a good promotion.  I’ve got another guy called Sam who does the digital side and puts it all together. So I just got my dad to draw 16 dogs. Then I got Sam to like to put it together in a digital way. My actual dog’s on the cover art which is nice as well I’ve got a dog called Freddy. He’s in the center.  It’s just a nice touch having your dad work with you on something you’re so passionate about.

Featured Photo Credit: Rosie Matheson