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Firstly who are your biggest musical influences? That’d be Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, and Liz Phair. All unique in their own way, and telling relatable stories, which I believe is the purpose of a songwriter.
Your next single ‘Real friends’ is ready to be released on the 29th January. What can you tell us about this song? This song is about how some friendships can be very superficial and how some people can be very fickle in their interactions with others and use them as pass-time and/or playground companions. Ultimately, we are at a time when priorities and relationships of all kinds, including friendships, are being revalued, so here is one perspective with ‘Real Friends’.
Over the past couple of years, you’ve released a number of songs. How do you feel the response had been like so far? I am pleasantly surprised by the response to the music I have released last year, notably ‘Generation Y’ and ‘You Say’. I hadn’t released any music for a little while, so it was nice to be sharing some again with people. That’s pretty much all we’ve got at the moment, that and books and films on our tiny screens.
I’m also happy people got to discover my song ‘Black is Beautiful’, five years after its initial release (I guess better late than never) amidst the unfortunate context (George Floyd, BLM 2.0….).
The past year it’s been difficult for artists to get out there because of lockdowns and so on. How have you kept busy creatively over this time? Luckily, before we first went on lockdown, I had just completed the recording of the tracks I put out in 2020 and will release this year, so these lockdowns gave me the opportunity to focus on the accompanying visuals. I partnered with a couple of illustrators and together we designed the lyric videos for ‘Generation Y’, ‘You Say’, ‘Who Are We to Judge?’, ‘Real Friends’ and the next track I will release later this year (man, I hadn’t realised how much work goes in this artform, if you really want something personable and engaging– it was a great experience though!), I also, managed to squeeze an actual music video for the minimal techno remix of ‘Who Are We to Judge?’ in between lockdowns 1.0 and 2.0. I have also been writing ideas for new songs.
Do you have many plans going forward with your music? Yes: after ‘Real Friends’, I will be releasing another track around International Women’s Day, and then hopefully be able to go in the studio and make some more music. When it comes to performing, hopefully, I’ll be able to do so very soon.
How would you describe your live shows to someone who hadn’t seen you perform before? I guess with the present/current material that’d be four people from all walks of life (multicultural, pro-Europe, LGBTQIA+-friendly) fidgeting/headbanging around their instruments, with a Black girl snarling poetry on the mic. This said, I am also working on a new approach to my live set and performance, which I will need to experiment with.
If you could recommend five acts right now who would it be? Ooh, that would have to be Sudan Archives, Yves Tumor, Marieme, LA Salami, and someone going by the name of Madame So … 😉
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