Cavetown is continuously creative.

Real name Robin Skinner, this London-via-Oxford songwriter has developed a colossal online following, building a catalogue of DIY pop hymns laced with a naive sense of yearning.

Blissfully melodic while lyrically cutting a little deeper, Cavetown's music is built during long spells at home, beavering away in his room.

With the nation currently grappling with self-isolation, we invited Cavetown to give fans a few tips on how to turn this period into something creative...

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Spending more time with my parents...



Over the past few years, I’ve discovered that staying in touch with yourself and your personal life is arguably the most important thing when you want to be creatively motivated. It’s easy to lose yourself in your art, so it’s important to find ways to remind yourself of the little things that can be taken for granted.

For me I always feel grounded when I spend time with my parents, and I have encouraged them both to self-isolate too so that we can visit each other in a couple weeks’ time!! Meanwhile I’m making more of an effort to text and Facetime with them.

It’s good to provide a bit of happiness and consistency to your loved ones during such a turbulent time.

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Improve my tattooing...



(Disclaimer I don't recommend self-tattooing if you're under 18, and if you're gonna do it you better take hygiene VERY seriously! WEAR GLOVES!)

Recently I’ve been getting into hand-poked tattooing! So I’ve decided to make the most of this spare time I have at home to develop that and grow my flash.

After a year or so of touring (which has been fun of course) it feels good to try and learn something new which I can channel my creativity into. Playing easy, relaxing video games is also something which I find satisfies my creativity when I reach a mental block in music or art.

I’m really into Animal Crossing New Horizons and Minecraft right now, both of which give you tons of freedom to be creative.

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Write some nice songs...



I remember when I’d go on holiday between term-times at school, it was easy to lose momentum with my school work and return to class with a totally empty brain.

I think that’s similar to the situation now, where holiday is replaced with a ‘forced vacation’ and school work is replaced with a much more exciting music career. So I’m going to try my best to maintain some normalcy by continuing to write songs frequently, whether I produce a whole track or just noodle around a bit on my guitar for fun.

I find that doing things I would usually do outside of the quarantine are quite comforting and remind me that the world is still turning; we are still moving through time and we still have our unique purposes.

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Get better at keyboard...



I’ve had a keyboard in my studio for ages and never really got round to learning it...! Not at all actually. To be honest I never even plugged it in.

With all this free time now I have no excuse. So I decided I’m gonna learn some Minecraft music on the keys! I used to play piano a little as a kid, so it’s fun to revisit some creative outlets which I had forgotten about.

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Make more YouTube content...



Another creative outlet I’ve neglected a little since I started touring is making YouTube vids. I do miss posting casual chatty videos and talking to my followers on there every so often, and with everyone spending much more time online to entertain themselves right now, there’s never been a better time to pick that hobby back up!

Finding a way to keep in contact with the world and the people we share it with is especially important and comforting during a time like this. I’d recommend sticking some limbs out there into the web - you might make some new friends.

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Cavetown will release new album 'Sleepyhead' on March 27th.

Photo Credit: Emily Heath

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