Kyle Watson Enters Uncharted Territory with ‘Ask Me Tomorrow’

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**A high-stakes accountability exercise birthed Kyle Watson’s sophomore album. We sat down with the producer to get the inside scoop on Ask Me Tomorrow.**

South African producer Kyle Watson has lifted the veil on his creative process with his latest album, Ask Me Tomorrow. When it came time for Watson to lock in and craft his second record, the idea of taking fans into the writing and production process emerged. Chronicling the 18-week process, the artist shared his progress throughout on social media, giving his followers an inside look at what it takes to develop a full-length album from the ground up.

Born from experimentation, Ask Me Tomorrow features Watson’s newly refined sound in an authentic body of work. The album marks his first full-length release since 2018. Gritty, minimalistic soundscapes meet hypnotic house tracks that see Watson’s venture into new sonic territory. To help bring his vision to fruition, Watson enlisted numerous collaborators, including Body Ocean, Scruzzifer, and Will Clarke.

Released on his label, No Context Records, Ask Me Tomorrow is filled with hidden gems, including a ticking clock that represents Watson’s ambitious race to complete his album. Despite tight time restraints, he has put forth a sophomore album that speaks to his production capabilities and editorial ear.

Continue reading for our chat with Kyle Watson.

**Stream Kyle Watson – Ask Me Tomorrow on Spotify:**

Your North American tour kicked off in Calgary with an album release party. What was the crowd’s general reception to your album?

The reception has been great so far, I think because I teased pretty much all this music on my socials over the past few months. It’s given people a chance to connect with the tracks before release.

Are there any cities or venues you’re eager to get to as you tour through the beginning of December?

I’m just excited to get back on the road and play all these shows. Particularly keen for Toronto, LA, San Diego, and Phoenix. Those are some of my favourite cities to play in. London, Ontario as well — never been there!

Recently, you stated on Will Clarke’s podcast that you don’t enjoy the social media aspect of the job. What gave you the idea to track the progress of your album online, and do you think it made a difference in the outcome of the project?

I have a love-hate relationship with social media [laughs]. The idea to make the writing process more public was because I had some time off touring and needed to stay visible to keep things ticking until I hit the road again. I’d like to think it got fans invested in the project early on.

You mentioned on Instagram that some of the tracks you created for Ask Me Tomorrow got cut due to budget constraints. What realities does the general public not see when it comes to recording an album?

I guess on the one hand, not every idea ends up becoming a full song, and on the flip side, great ideas that turn into great songs can get cut. There are a couple of great, finished songs on my HD right now, written with others, that were intended for the album, but stalled at the finish line because we couldn’t meet the demands of the collaborators’ teams. It’s frustrating, but it’s the reality of the business side of the industry.

Throughout the process, you worked with many of your peers. Did you always envision this project to be so collaborative?

I always wanted to work with others on this. I could have written 10 or 11 tracks myself, but that would’ve been a missed opportunity, I think. There’s so much value in writing with other artists, and it takes the project to the next level.

Your wife, Tash, even stepped in to handle the business side. Were there any takeaways from doing everything in house?

There’s a ton of admin stuff behind the scenes, like contracting, legal, marketing — even just communicating with everyone involved takes so much time. Since we did this independently, Tash took almost all of that off me, which allowed me the time and mental capacity to actually write the music. Couldn’t have done it without her; it is a lot of work!

“Losing Focus” with Walker & Royce is a massive tune. What sparked the idea to join forces and make magic together once again?

When I decided to do this, W&R were the first artists I reached out to, and thankfully, they were down. Our first collab, “Double Dutch,” did pretty well. I think our sounds work well together, and we were keen on a follow-up. I’ve always been a huge fan of their music, and I’m so happy with how the track came out.

In a time when it seems artists release the majority of their albums as singles, what made you choose to release only two before the complete body of work was available?

Truthfully, we didn’t really have the time. I only had 18 weeks to write and deliver all the music for the album so that it could drop on tour day, so as I was finishing tracks, we were scheduling them in for release. That gave us just enough time for two singles before the album dropped and gave enough of a gap between the singles for them to breathe.

Finally, what do you hope will define this new era of your project?

I think it’s defined by creative growth, and what I’m able to do when I take the blinkers off and push myself. Making it was an intimidating challenge for sure — and I didn’t want to include anything I was only half sure about — but more than any one track, I’m proud of how I worked to get there, and I want to carry that into whatever I make next.