Katus Myles Talks “Like I Do,” Storytelling and Building a World That Feels His Own

Katus Myles doesn’t seem particularly interested in making music that tells you exactly what to feel.

The Birmingham artist and producer moves through alternative R&B with a sense of atmosphere that feels intentional without being overly explained. His latest single, “Like I Do,” is a good example of that instinct: intimate, understated and built around feeling first. It arrived earlier this year as part of a run that also includes “Cinematic Feels” and “DAY2FAR,” songs that sit in different sonic spaces but share the same attention to writing and world-building.

For Katus, that connection is simple.

“I think the writing, ’cause they’re all so different sonically,” he says. “They’re all telling stories in some way. I enjoy writing stories.”

“I Like the Idea of Painting a Vivid Picture”

“Like I Do” came together relatively quickly. Katus says he wrote the entire song over drums only a few months before releasing it, already hearing where he wanted it to eventually land.

“I just wanted to make something honest that inflicts a feeling, something I always set out to do,” he says.

Once he had the direction, he brought the track to Hassan and Hussain Kharri, who helped bring that idea into focus. “They just brought the whole vision to life.”

For Katus, “Like I Do” also felt like the right introduction to where his music was moving.

“I think this was the perfect introduction to the sound of the project,” he says, adding, “We’ve got something really special in the works.”

But even when the feeling behind a song is personal, Katus isn’t interested in handing the listener a complete explanation.

“Poetic license,” he says. “I don’t like writing from a perspective where I give the listener everything. I like the idea of painting a vivid picture and the listener tell me what they see.”

That philosophy may be the clearest thread through his catalog. Ask what he hopes makes someone who discovers him through “Like I Do” keep listening, and his answer is immediate:

“The writing!!”

His artist and producer instincts are closely connected too. Rather than treating production as a separate stage, Katus says both sides of his process “work together.”

“My approach mainly starts with creating an atmosphere and then seeing what sounds make sense.”

He’s most comfortable when that process stays open.

“A bit of both, to be honest,” Katus says of knowing what the final song should sound like versus experimenting his way toward it. “When I experiment, I usually make my best music. It feels free and I get excited to try new sounds.”

Trying to force a predetermined result can have the opposite effect.

“When I set out to make a specific sound or song, I’m not always happy if I don’t get the outcome I desired.”

Music and Visuals Speak the Same Language

The atmosphere around a Katus Myles song doesn’t stop with the production.

“I hear the world around it while I’m making it,” he says. “My notes pad is PACKED. I’m forever jotting ideas while I’m creating the music.”

Film and visual storytelling are part of the same creative process.

“I love visuals and I love films. I think music and visuals speak the same language.”

That means he stays closely involved in how each release looks as well as how it sounds.

“I have a hand in everything,” Katus says. “It’s all part of the same world.”

He works with a small, consistent group of collaborators, including his friend Gman, who shoots his visuals. Keeping that circle close has helped give the project continuity.

“We’re building together,” he says. “I think that helps bring some consistency to the world we’re trying to create.”

Community matters beyond the immediate team too. Asked about the UK alternative R&B scene, Katus describes it as “really exciting.”

“I think it’s important to have a community around you and to support each other on the way up,” he says, even though his own creative process tends to happen alone or with a small team.

Some of Katus’ biggest influences have come from much closer to home.

“I’d probably say people within my city who really helped me understand how to make music early on,” he says, pointing to KARIE, who appears on “TRY!,” and his cousin Sillkey, who he calls “an amazing songwriter and producer.”

That inspiration is still coming from the community around him now. Katus also points to Local Boyz, a group he’s part of, and close friend Ella More, who recently released a new EP.

“There’s a lot of talent in the city right now,” he says. “They’re all inspiring me.”

That sense of home has followed him into performing, too. One early live moment still stands out: opening for ARZ at the O2 Institute in Birmingham.

“That’s a venue I’ve been going to shows at since I was a kid,” he says. “So it felt like a full-circle moment.”

Playing live has also given him another way to understand the songs after they leave the studio.

“I love to see how the crowd reacts to songs,” Katus says. “I normally walk away liking them more if the crowd likes them.”

And he wants more of that.

“I am excited just to give the music to the world,” he says. “And having them experience it, doing shows, performing it for the people also. Yeah, I’m geeked about that.”

Dreaming, Becoming, Arriving

Katus has been releasing music for several years now, but he doesn’t hear the artist he was in 2019 when he listens to himself today.

“I think I’ve grown as an artist in every way,” he says. “I started making music late, in my opinion, so I’ve always felt like I had some catching up to do.”

The difference feels substantial enough that he can imagine an earlier version of himself barely recognizing what he’s making now.

“I think the Katus from 2019 would lose his mind hearing the Katus 2026 music.”

There’s still experimentation, still an instinct to follow atmosphere before genre, but there’s also a clearer sense of ownership over the entire thing: the writing, production, visuals, collaborators and live experience.

Asked to sum up the Katus Myles era he’s entering in three words, he lands on something that feels less like branding and more like a progression:

“Dreaming, becoming & arriving.”

“Like I Do” feels somewhere in the middle of those three words — a snapshot of an artist who knows the world he wants to make, but is still interested in finding out what else can exist inside it.

Stream “Like I Do” ‍ ‍by Katus Myles‍ ‍ now.