To all of the youthful moments we once had in our lives, we live once again in despair to re-live such moments. As kids, youngsters, or youthful adults; we don’t lose our grip on having fun and enjoying time and never letting it slip.
Amongst the battles with time, comes a moment where you wish for moments to never end, and you never feel like resting from having fun, and it’s not an option for your youthful joyful soul to “Slow Down”.
Ned Holland -a solo artist from the south of England, Salisbury- is simply explaining our battles with our current slowly-paced lives compared to our youthful past in his EP “Slow Down“.
The EP kicks off with soft guitar chords mixed with light drum kicks, and all of a sudden I felt like “Whoa! Is this Tom Odell’s step-brother singing?” but no, it turned out to be that I was amused by Ned’s awesome catching vocals. Apparently, Ned’s influences were exposed in his style, as Ned stated “I take huge inspirations from the Beatles, Coldplay’s earlier music, Sam Fender, Tom Odell, and bands such as Catfish and the Bottlemen.”
Synths in the album are perfectly placed and give a warm heartly touch to the record. It delivers you the emotions you have been burying and concealing for years.
The vocals are astonishing, but on specific tracks, it had a few backgrounds echoes more than other tracks and If it was a mastering technique, I believe it could have been done better; I guess that goes back to the fact that Ned wasn’t recording at the same place “The EP was recorded at my home in Salisbury and my university house in Falmouth, Cornwall. It was mastered by HP Music. I mixed and produced the whole EP. I recorded the piano for Away with my friend Tom Brans in AMATA at Falmouth University, and I had Willow Murray, singing the harmonies on Away too. I also had Lewis Jackson -a, a good friend- help with the production on Slow Down.” Ned stated.
The production and mastering could’ve levitated this record much more in the listeners’ view, as some tracks weren’t produced with high quality, though they are fascinating on the musical level.
My favorite track on the record is definitely “Slow Down” as it has meanings and emotions that I’m personally experiencing right now and it has a special place in my heart.
And if Liverpool has Jamie Webster, Salsbury Is competing with Ned Holland.
Listen to the EP and tell us what is your favorite track!
Jon Sandman is back with his 2nd single release from his upcoming EP ‘Spooky Action at a Distance’. It’s a solo project where he essentially writes his songs on guitar and piano as well as the vocals yet introduces acoustic and electronic beats and orchestral sound effects. A healthy mix between the house, electronic beats, and the organic, traditional way of actual instrumentation. He was able to reconstruct and revive the song after his early demo was lost due to a hard drive failure.
The song is very different from his first single ‘Dear Friends’ in this EP, a loud, alt-rock track with a strong sound. While ‘Maybe’ has a special ambiance, a light feeling like the spring breeze taking you on a trip to the suburbs with lots of greenery and serenity. It starts with a simple vocal line, a melody on a piano with very few sound effects and synths that builds up gradually by adding more instruments, layers, and sound effects, transforming the track into a different mood yet keeping its identity. The context of the song is about letting go and releasing our emotional baggage and tension To leave some space for our inner voice, passion, and instincts to take over through our journey with love. The artist’s style is mainly influenced by Sufjan Stevens, Beirut, Grizzly Bear, and others, while more recently he’s been inspired by Big Black Delta, Joywave, Metronomy and Miami Horror inspire the electronic side of his music. ‘Maybe’ was released in another edit ‘Cassette Mix’ which is faster in tempo resulting in a change in the drumline giving it another flavor and a more uplifting feeling. Jon is also a member of the alt-rock band “Pylon Heights” and the folk-rock duo ‘Jon & Abbie’. He is aiming to release his back catalog with over 60 songs starting with the upcoming EP.
Raven Rain is more than one artist, she has lots of faces, identities, and tastes, a beautiful mix of everything. She was born in Italy, currently based in London yet has always been fascinated by Far East Asian cultures, especially the Japanese and Korean. She developed a varied taste in music due to her upbringing and her family’s love for music, she attended music school where she learned guitar and piano with a focus on vocal and singing classes, leading her to audition for the X-Factor in 2019. Her background affected her taste in music and that made her listen to Italian pop, pop-rock, classic rock, and others. All this is reflected in her music where she experiments with different sounds like rap, dance, pop, and electronic sound effects. Yet, her current main influences are Halsey, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and a few K-pop groups. The one thing the artist didn’t mix and match with was the context of the lyrics in her songs, where she discusses mental health issues, the struggles faced, how it affects relationships and friendships, insecurities, and many others. With “LDN – TKYO” she decided to loosen up and just have fun, enjoy life, and tell everyone to just let go. With her new single, she is showing a side of herself that never came out before and reflecting that she isn’t afraid of exploring different sounds and ideas. The song is highly inspired by the K-pop genre with some pop elements. It was produced, mixed, and mastered by ASHEA who previously worked with Alan Walker, who is also working on Raven’s upcoming song which is due to be released in July this year.
بدأنا الأسبوع الماضي سلسلة ترشيحات لأفضل الأماكن والاستديوهات المتخصصة في تعليم الموسيقى والفنون للمبتدئين والمحترفين، واليوم نصل للمحطة الثانية وهي درب ١٧١٨.
أسس الفنان التشكيلي معتز نصر درب ١٧١٨، وهي منظمة غير هادفة للربح، في عام ٢٠٠٨، بالفسطاط، اختيار الموقع يرجع لتواجد الاستديو الفني الخاص بمعتز نصر بجوار ورش الحرفيين في المنطقة، ما ألهمه لافتتاح الدرب في مكان ذو طابع خاص يمكنه من الوصول لقطاعات مختلفة من المجتمع.
مساحة الدرب وموقعه المميز في مصر القديمة يجذب شرائح مختلفة إليه لا تتوقف عند المصريين وحدهم بل الأجانب أيضًا ممن يجدون في الدرب موقع فني متفرد بروح مصرية خالصة، لذلك تفضل بعض السفارات والهيئات الأجنبية إقامة حفلاتها هناك.
يهدف درب ١٧١٨ لدعم الفن المعاصر ومساعدة الفنانين الشباب ودعمهم بدورات وورش فنية إلى جانب معارض وحفلات لتقديم أعمالهم للجمهور، ويضم قاعتين للمعارض الفنية ومسرح للرقص والحفلات الموسيقية، وشاشة عرض في الهواء الطلق تسمى سينما الفرن.
يوفر الدرب ورش متنوعة ما بين: كتابة ابداعية، طباعة (مونوبرنت)، تصوير، كولاج، تصميم مجوهرات، مسرح، رقص، موزاييك، سيراميك، طبلة، رسم، فخار، خيامية، يوجا وتأمل.. إلخ.
لا يتوقف نشاط الدرب عند الورش، بل يقيم حفلات غنائية وعروض ستاند اب كوميدي ومعارض فنية، إلى جانب استقبال عدد متنوع من المهرجانات الفنية من بينها: مهرجان كايرو غرافي 2017، مهرجان مواويل، مهرجان الأطفال للأفلام القصيرة، ArtFest 3031.
يمكنكم زيارة الصفحة الرسمية لدرب ١٧١٨ للتعرف أكثر على أنشطته
Staying at the top in your field for quite a while is evidence of the beauty and superiority of what you do and PhilipLa Rosa managed to stay at the top in the music field several times in a row due to his different songs since many of the singles released by him since 2016 managed to remain at the summit a great period and remain so far And his recently released new song can be a hit too.
Philip La Rosa’s new song “Ride” and features Astrid Ripepi is a kind of chilling song, a quiet love song with meaning.
“Ride” is a typical commercial pop song that has beautiful vocals in the chorus with stunning harmonics, also, the lyrics are simple and easy to understand and feel deeply.
What distinguishes Philip’s music in my opinion is the diversity throughout his songs and the presence of an idea or a story that he wants to express in each song as well as the clarity of melody along with the lyrics.
If you are trying to relax and get more emotional and simplicity, “Ride” is a suitable choice, for sure.
Ride is a suitable song to listen to in your car during a long ride with your loved one.
Social media has many benefits, but its usefulness is very obvious when it is the reason for the meeting of two talented people like Tom Aries and Jordana Moon to present us later with a mixture of their talent and their wonderful taste for music.
Tom and Jordana multitalented musicians who actually complete each other musically cooperated to provide us with the music duo Moon and Aries.
The Arrival album is the sum of Moon and Aries’s efforts, they provide us with the album to enjoy and calm down.
Moon and Aries’s mission as they wish is to create high spirited, thought-provoking entrancing music. They do not care about the distance between them as each one of them is from a different state, but the passion for music binds them and they are determined to provide the best possible through their music.
The album’s songs are a mixture of the spirit of the originality of the past and the development of the present. The songs were written and composed by them specifically to touch your mind and soul together. I loved listening to the album and I hope to listen to more of them in this genre of music and more genres because I think when you believe in what you do with all your heart and express it through an album like The Arrival, it will reach people’s hearts for sure
Staying where you are and not trying to develop yourself and your potential is a big mistake. Try not to fall into it
Kid Koi did his best to develop himself, and instead of being a guitarist only, he became a guitarist and a great songwriter, in fact, he excelled in both.
kid koi studied music at the age of four and continued to develop in this field when he went to the university through his band, whch was very active and gained wide fame on social media.
Now his new song Those Kinda Days has been released Mixed with his great experience as a musician.
Those Kinda Days got Kid Koi’s experience in travel and knowledge of different cultures.
The song has a catchy melody and the accompanied rhythm guitar added with a beautiful harmony. Definitely, the lyrics were full of optimism and hope.
In my opinion, kid’s songs and even his covers are full of love and this is an expressive message.
Kid is doing well because he took care of every opportunity that came to him, lent the attention to it, developed it and still.
The Jacksonville, FL-based and Georgia-born artist, Jesabel, recently released “This Small Town,” which speaks about her hometown. The talented voice who had a crippling fear of singing in front of others, and not until the ripe age of 27 did she do something about it, is now going strong with her soulful vocals and her blending of genres of Pop, Folk, and a little Country. We had a chat with her and she let us dig deep into her conquering fear story and her latest single’s backstory.
While growing up, you didn’t play music, but what genres and musicians did you listen to?
My musical taste has always been eclectic. My first real concert was The Judds. In high school, I was obsessed with Stevie Wonder and Frank Sinatra. Also in my first car’s 6 disc rotation (yes, I’m that old) was Evanescence, Vanessa Carlton, Elton John and a burned cd with everything from Sublime to Ludacris. As a young kid, I would secretly attempt to sing anything by Celine Dion or “Blue” by LeAnn Rimes. Guess I always admired the powerhouse vocals even if I didn’t possess them at the time. It was pretty wild a couple years ago when LeAnn reached out with love on Instagram over my cover of her rendition of “Swingin’.” It was such a beautiful and ironic full circle moment. I mean I’d hide in my bedroom singing her track as a young kid to later have her personally reach out two decades later after I finally sang publicly. Just wild.
Fortunately for your fans, you overcome your fear of performing in public. Would you mind telling us what happened when you were 27 that made you conquer your fear?
I was a new mom at the time. Pouring everything I had into this new little being. But in doing so, I unintentionally ended up letting go of my creative outlets. Without any form of self-expression, I lost that connection to who I was. Artistic beings must create or we become numb and don’t feel like ourselves. During pregnancy specifically, I would sing all the time but never when my husband or anyone else was around. I was never a shy person, but there was a real and severe fear preventing me from comfortably singing in front of others even those I felt most safe and comfortable with. I’m all about self-growth and I became fascinated by why my throat would literally seize up when I wanted to sing but couldn’t when others were around. I started secretly videotaping myself singing along to YouTube karaoke tracks to try to understand what I sounded like and work on the fear. I eventually played one (just the sound) for my husband who was shocked. I told him I wanted to take a voice lesson to overcome my fear and climb out of this rut. He was so loving and supportive. That voice lesson spawned everything. From overcoming the singing fear, to later teaching myself guitar and writing songs. Now, this as my full-time profession. Pretty wild, right? I never dreamed one choice to conquer a fear would have rerouted my life path entirely.
Your sound combines Pop, Folk, and Country elements. Do you consider yourself to have found your niche? or if you’d be willing to experiment with different genres?
To be honest, I kinda hope I never find a niche. I just want to create free of genre expectations or self-imposed limitations. I notice trends and patterns in my writing, but I also write really random ones that make me go, “hmmm, where in the world does this one belong?!” The possibilities are endless, and that’s liberating to me.
How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it before?
I often say, “Singer-songwriter with a soulful twang.” But, don’t even know if that fully encompasses it. Quite honestly, I’ve always found it difficult to describe my music. It’s never cleanly fit into a genre, and I don’t have a particular artist that’s influenced my sound. I think that’s why I really love song reviews and chatting with folks at shows cause I get their interpretation and digestion of my sound. Some place me in Country, others Folk. I’ve gotten a lot of references to Jewel, Fiona Apple, and Phoebe Bridgers which I found fascinating cause these are artists I wasn’t too familiar with but have since gone back through their catalog to connect the dots.
Your latest single, “This Small Town,” is heartfelt and moving. What provoked your nostalgia and inspired you to write a song about your hometown?
Processing & Self Reflection. There’s a drastic perspective switch that happens from when you’re a kid discovering yourself verses when you’re an adult who’s now lived a full life. This song is really a stream of consciousness shining light on both of those perspectives regarding where I grew up. A full circle moment if you will. I was a girl who challenged norms and bolted out of that town at 18 to chase dreams. Now, I’m an adult re-visiting this town with my own kid. I can’t help but grin ear to ear with the stories on every corner. The irony and truthful beauty behind all of it and how it molds and shapes us even as adults, I just find so moving. The love and positive support I’ve gotten from my hometown on this song since the release has been overwhelming. It’s the peace offering I hoped for and more.
For a self-taught songwriter, you’re doing a spectacular job! Please walk us through the process of writing “This Small Town.”
Ahh thank you! For any writing I do, it’s first got to come from a soul-stirring space. That’s what motivates me to write. It was all about the lyrics on this one. Doing my best to paint an authentic picture of where I’m from but most importantly through my lens, my personal experience. I sketched out the song both musically and lyrically. Then collaborated with my long-time co-writer and producer, Jonathan Grant Berlin. From there we edited, restructured, rewrote. I actually sat with the completed musical track for months rewriting the bridge and last chorus lyrics. Words are important to me and this piece needed time to evolve, so I let it breathe till the right closing words came.
The music video seems so natural and bright. Would you take us behind the scenes of the production?
This was such a fun video to make! My insanely talented photographer/videographer friend, Dan Florez, filmed this. We hopped in the car and took a road trip to my hometown in Georgia. We spend 2 days filming. No crew. Just us two developing the story as inspiration and serendipitous opportunity struck. Energetically, Dan is someone who has the gift of making those around him comfortable, so there’s automatically this nature ease that comes through his lens. He did such a great job capturing real authentic moments while weaving in iconic spots in town. We were gifted some divine timing moments too like the perfectly placed turning big rig with the American flag in the closing shot, the train that zoomed by while my nephew and his friend tossed the football, to the sweet couple going for a stroll. They were real moments. The natural state of this small town and I love that organically gets to shine in this video.
What comes next? Are there any upcoming releases? Gigs?
Recording and lots, and lots of shows. My calendar is filling up and that feels so good after the last two years of performance unknowns and cancelled shows. I am also buckling down in the studio. Gearing up for more releases. You may be the first publication to get the skinny that I’m looking to drop my first Christmas song this year. Pretty excited about that!
Thank you for your time! You’ve gained a new fan indeed. Would you give a word to those who have let fear back them down?
There is no timeline, so it’s never too late. You are never too old or too young to start anything. If there’s a tug at your heart to do something, try something new, it’s for a reason. Listen to that intuition. Most times we just have to get out of our own way for the real magic to start happening.
‘Alluvial Fans’ is a multi-layered piece with different elements and sounds that create a dynamic texture.
The song clocks in a little over five minutes. Starting with a very soft, gentle intro of all the instruments, led by guitars and an oboe, the song evolves into a sweet and uplifting melody.
‘Alluvial Fans’ could perfectly fit as cinematographic soundtrack material, with its bold, inspiring rhythmical succession of notes.
Throughout the music video, you can witness how connected and how much the group enjoys making music and playing together.
‘Alluvial Fans’ is the first release before issuing Mark’s latest album: ‘In The Rain Shadow’. The group behind it is ‘Mark Vickness Interconnected’, with musicians including two-time Grammy-winning violinist Mads Tolling; Matt Renzi (oboe/English horn/saxophone); Joseph Hebert (cello); Dan Feiszli (bass); Grammy award-winning percussionist MB Gordy and tabla virtuoso Ty Burhoe.
Based in Bishop, California, Mark Vickness Interconnected is a powerful group that covers styles and genres from all over the globe: Acoustic, Jazz, World, Classical, and Instrumental, just to name a few.
“I formed the group Mark Vickness Interconnected in 2019. As a composer, this is my dream ensemble. There is almost no style of music, no musical culture or era that we cannot draw from–, says Mark about his dream team.
“We have a classical trio (violin, cello, oboe), a jazz quartet, percussion instruments from almost every continent and culture, and virtuoso players capable of playing pretty much anything I put in front of them.”
Scheduled for the Fall of 2022, the album ‘In The Rain Shadow’ is inspired mainly by moving to the high desert of California’s Owens Valley.
Rich, lively and authentic. ‘Alluvial Fans’ promises and sets the rank high for the upcoming album. The professionalism, talent and expertise shown by Mark Vickness Interconnected are superior.
Keelah’s latest release, a sensual Hip Hop single ‘Between the Lust’, touches on the hardships of finding meaningful love in today’s digital, superficial world.
“This song is about the modern challenges of trying to find true romantic connections.” –Keelah Tay.
Compared to previous work, ‘Between the Lust’ is a more hearty, effortlessly smooth and relaxed track. Counting some basic beats that add rhythm and volume to the composition, the song has a Soul-ish feel, keeping lust at the centre of the topic.
LA-based performing artist and songwriter Keelah Tay started writing poetry as a kid. Eventually, she transitioned into and pursued songwriting as she realised this was her dream career.
“Songwriting is the most transparent way for me to communicate with people. In addition, having a wide range of tastes in music has helped me develop as an artist and as a person.” –says Keelah.
‘Between the Lust’ not only feels suitable to play during your *wink wink* time, but also this is a must-add song for your brunch, summer by-the-pool or sunsets & cocktails playlist.
