It’s truly a magical moment when an artist can find his or her musical soulmate, and with Pompey and Klutch Tha GameShfita, it is truly a musical match in Heaven.

Producer/songwriter Pompey and hip-hop artist/lyricist Klutch chat with WJBF Digital about their individual backgrounds and how they came together to become “the dynamic duo in music.”

Thank you for joining us, Pompey and Klutch. Now, how did you all become friends? How did this relationship begin?

Klutch: Well, I was a signed hip-hop artist with Katt Pack/Universal Records (Comedian Katt Williams’ record label in joint venture with Universal Records). After we ended up touring, that record deal fell through, and I moved to Chicago for a short period of time. And when I came back in town, I wanted to get back into doing music, but I had nobody to record with. So, I made a post online, and was like, “What studios are in the area? Where engineers are an area?” He [Pompey] inboxed me and gave me a free session to come see what he could do. We had a great session recording, and the rest is kind of history because we just became real close. We started doing music together and became like family from that point on. That’s how it started: just an inbox of trying to do music, and we developed a friendship that went far beyond just doing music together.

Now, Pompey, how did you get started in music?

Pompey: I’ve been doing music ever since I was young, taking piano lessons like when I was three years old. I went off to school in Atlanta. After I graduated, I came back, and a couple of my friends in high school wanted to start doing some music. So, we started rapping and everything, and then I started diving more into the music production. From there, I just kept going in that direction, and here I am.

Pompey, I know your artist name comes from your actual last name. Now, Klutch, what does that originate from?

Klutch: I came up with that name because when I was when I got into music, I was trying to find a name that fit who I was as a person outside of music. Klutch has three definitions. One definition is the one  you use in sports. You know, when it’s going down and you got 3 seconds left on the clock, you down, you hit the shot, and they call that clutch, right? A clutch shot. So, that’s coming through under pressure, and I felt like I work well under pressure. Another clutch is the clutch that’s in the car that allows you to shift gears. I felt like I was very versatile as the artist, and the other clutch is just to grip onto something tightly and not let it go. I felt like I was a resilient person, not easily to quit, so I felt like those three definitions fit who I was as a person.

Now, Pompey, you have a project called Well Enough Alone. Can you give us an idea of where that came from? Where did that originated from?

Pompey: Well Enough Alone is basically a series of emotions that I’ve been compiling over the past few years and over past relationships. You know, there’s always good and bad in in all relationships. For this particular project, I wanted to kind of channel any of the negative feelings and sort of get them out to show that us guys we have feelings about things, too, and I just want to express it.

So, what’s your favorite song on the project?

Pompey: I think my favorite song would be “Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind.” That’s my favorite one. My number one.

Klutch: That’s probably my favorite too.

Klutch, you have two projects: I’m Just Human and Darkest Before Dawn. What inspired both of those projects?

Klutch: I’m Just Human was just inspired by the myriad of emotions that you go through as a human being period, like all the different ups and downs, the roller coasters, the different things that you experience, and they are all human experiences: the good, the bad, the ugly, the triumphs, the failures. All of them are a part of the human experience, and I think sometimes when you’re in the spotlight, people view you as a little outside of reproach. You know what I mean? They don’t think that you feel as the normal people feel when you’re kind of in the spotlight. So, the album was inspired by just a myriad of what we all go through. Not just men, not just women. Young, old, everybody can relate to all the different emotions that was put into that project.

Darkest Before Dawn was more inspired by going through a tough period in life, and you usually go through those tough periods before you get to the bright period. So, it is darkest before dawn. It’s darkest before the sun rises. So, at the beginning of the album, a lot of songs are kind of showing some of the difficulties, but it’s also showing the brighter side of it in the end and some of the more positive ways to look at things and changing the way you think rather than just kind of sitting and soaking in the negative side.

You have 25 tracks on that project.

Klutch: Well, it’s 17 songs. Okay, 17 songs, but what I did on the project that gave the other tracks is that I told the listeners where I was when I wrote it. So, when I wrote that song, I had these small skits where I’m explaining, “This is how I felt. This is what I was going through. This is where I was at in my life mentally when I wrote this song” to kind of give them more insight to where I was as the author of those records.

Pompey, you are at XRO Studios. What sets you apart from all the studios here in Augusta?

Pompey: Well, actually, our studio is located over in South Carolina. We offer basically a lot of versatility and experience there. The owner, Thomas Glover, that works there has been working in the music industry for about 20-25 years. I’ve been in for about the same time. So, you’ve got 50 years of experience of doing multiple dealings with multiple genres with artists large and small. We do it all. We do videography, production, engineering, writing, everything. So, artists can come to us, and even businesses can come to us. If you need a jingle or anything like that, you can come holler at us at XRO Studios.

And how can they get in contact with you if they want to do so?

Pompey: xrostudios.com

You two have a project together called “TMI.” Can you please tell us what this song is about?

Pompey: Basically, it’s a it is a personal, romantic record for you and your lover, and basically from the man letting the woman know that… “Hey, we’re going to make love.”

Klutch: That was good. (Laughs)

So how did this song come together? Who idea was it to do this song?

Pompey: So, it was my idea to do the song. So, I work out on the regular, and usually during my leg days, I have crazy thoughts and ideas. So, I was in the studio, and I just randomly made the beat one day. Then, I just put it in my earphones at the gym, and while I was working out, ideas just came to me. I was in between sets, and I was texting him. I said, “Yo, I got this crazy idea for this song. This is going to wild. This is going to be crazy.” I sent it to him, and I told my idea. He was like, “Alright. Yeah.”

A little birdie told him that you guys are actually working on some more stuff together.

Klutch: Absolutely.

Pompey: Yeah.

Can you give us a little sneak peek of what we can expect from you guys?

Klutch: Well, I am working on a new solo project that’s going to be pretty much just me and Pompey. The interesting thing I’m going to do this time is that I’m not going to have any features on the project. It is going to be 100% me and probably 100% production from Pompey. We felt like this would stretch our versatility and our creativity because right now, if I wanted to do a chorus for a song, I could write it, but then I could call somebody like AE or Shaun Milli or somebody to come sing it for me. But now, creatively, I have to figure out a way to make that sonically palatable without reaching out to another artist to help me pull it together. So, it’s going to stretch both of us creatively, and with his production, we don’t have a set sound. Our stuff is very versatile. So, he’s [Pompey’s] going to have to stretch himself as well to do a whole project that doesn’t really have any other producers on it. We may reach out to one or two other producers, but likelihood, it’s going to be probably 90% Pompey and 100% me.

Now, if people want to get in contact with you, or just want to follow their journey, or listen to your music, how can they do so?

Klutch: I’m on our streaming platforms. Everywhere you can find any other place you find music, you can find me: Klutch Tha GameShifta. On all social media platforms, I’m GameShifta. They can find me on Instagram that way, on Facebook that way, and on Tik Tok that way, and on all streaming platforms, the same way you find your music to listen to everyone else is the same way you can find Pompey and myself as well.

Pompey: Mine is Pompey Productions: all social media, all platforms – YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, across the board.