PhD student releases his first single alongside completing his research

A PhD student has been balancing his research alongside producing his own music - and has even released his very first single.

Computing Engineering PhD student Kweku Bram Larbi’s research is specialised in “Virtual and augmented reality Head-Up Display Interfaces”. The focus of the research is on improvement of response times and navigation through traffic for emergency vehicles with interest on ambulance services.

Kweku’s love for music stemmed from a young age, when he took part in his local church choir. His passion for music grew as a result and he later went on to working at Radio Gold; a prominent radio station in Ghana. After moving to Glasgow to complete a Masters, Kweku started working with Radio Caley and hosted his own Urban music show.

He went onto creating his own music at home and had more time to focus on it due to the COVID-19 lockdown period. He said: “My decision to go mainstream with my music was taken during the lockdown period, where I tapped into projecting the skills at my disposal (Art, Photo and Video Production, Food and Music) to help keep me busy and occupied, so I didn’t go crazy from staying indoors all the time.

All these have been greatly successful and have helped me develop a focus and drive for creativity and success.”

He added: “My debut single “My Wife” is a dedication to couples out there and coming from Ghana, where weddings are a big thing, I thought it will be a great opportunity to help create something people can directly relate to.

“My Wife” is streaming on all major music platforms now, and excitingly it has gained 163 streams. In just 3 days of being released, this is not bad for a debut song from an unsigned artist”

Kweku has found inspiration for his music through different genres. He said: “My musical inspirations are quite diverse.

The first may be a shocker, but my very first major musical inspirations are the late Kenny Rodgers and Shaggy. I’ve always had a vibe for Country music, and Kenny Rodgers elevated that.

I had the chance to see Shaggy live in Ghana when I was 10 years old and I just loved it. That’s when I knew I wanted to get into music.”

Despite his research commitments, Kweku believes that it’s important to balance work with doing what makes you happy. He said: “I want to use this opportunity to encourage everyone, students and non-students not to give up on what they are passionate about.

Regardless of whatever criticism you may face when trying out something new, just give it your best shot, stay focused on the goals and work at them.

We are living in a fast-paced dynamic digital era, and we all need to ‘Get Going’ so we don’t ‘Get Left Behind’. “

Find out more about Kweku’s music here.

By Rachael McAlonan

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