Music Life

Enny, Priya Ragu, Hatchie and Miso Extra discuss writing gibberish, why music is a form of catharsis and mindfulness, repurposing melodies, holding on to demos, and dealing with the haters. Enitan Adepitan, better known as Enny, is a London-based rapper, singer and songwriter who started on the mic at primary school. Her music blends sharp, honest lyrics with beats rooted in the gospel, jazz, hip-...

Noon Garden, Go Kurosawa, Yukimi Nagano and Serra Petale discuss why they’re happiest when they’re hitting things, seeing every song you make as if it’s your first, the importance of renewal to stay fresh, why you can’t be emotionally detached from your music, and the evolution of the demo to release day. Charles Prest, a.k.a. Noon Garden, is a British-Nigerian-Jamaican musician and founding membe...

Planningtorock, Peaches, Hard Feelings and Colin Self discuss bullying themselves into releasing music, audio as a weapon against apathy, why there's no shelf life on great music, using music-making process as a tool for self-discovery, and making sounds with their bodies. Jam Rahuoja Rostron, also known as Planningtorock, is a singer-songwriter, producer, composer and director from Bolton, Englan...

Allysha Joy, Latanya Alberto, Joya Mooi and TEEKS discuss why they like disagreeing, the balance between the sweet and the dark, feeling confident enough to share your story and feel vulnerable, and feeling the pain and joy in articulating your emotion perfectly in song form. Allysha Joy is a Melbourne-based soul and jazz singer, poet and performer, and is also the lead vocalist for the collective...

JyellowL, shiv, Kojaque and Gemma Dunleavy, four key voices on the Dublin music scene, discuss the art of storytelling, the importance of showing up, and how being an artist is a walking contradiction. JyellowL is a Nigerian-born rapper based in Dublin, Ireland. Influenced by the city’s thriving underground hip-hop scene, his music is packed with socially conscious lyrics that deal with everything...

Ahead of World Piano Day next week, Poppy Ackroyd, Büşra Kayıkçı, Sven Helbig and Hania Rani discuss not putting your thoughts on paper, why composing is a game, the frustration around discovering a melody that already exists, why humming is a good way of getting your ideas down, and thinking about songs for a couple of years before recording them. Poppy Ackroyd is a British composer, pianist and...

Olivier Deriviere, Lena Raine, Joris de Man and Chipzel answer listeners' questions about making music for video games, in a special of edition of Music Life for the World Service Festival. The group will be discussing everything from composing vertically and horizontally, how to write music that reacts to your game playing, and easy ways of building energy, to using artificial intelligence in com...

L'Rain, Keyon Harrold, Hinako Omori and Sinkane discuss not getting stuck on the details, the visceral versus the cerebral, why there's nothing like those vibrations in the room where you play, and why writing music is like walking to the shops. L’Rain is an experimental multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and vocalist from New York, who makes music that is an intoxicating blend of R&B, free jaz...

Kiefer, Malaya, Mia Gladstone and DJ Harrison discuss music as an aural journal, forcing yourself to write, why making music is a good excuse to research what has gone before, and why half the battle when making music is consumed by complaining. Kiefer is a jazz pianist and producer based in Los Angeles, who expertly blends live jazz piano improvisation with electronic beats. He started producing...

Thiago França, Beto, Maíra Freitas and Flaira Ferro discuss what it’s like to be a musician during Brazil's carnival season, how the festivities vary across the country, why it’s so closely linked to cultural identity, its magical rhythms, and why the festival also has a serious side. Thiago França, a composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist living in São Paulo, plays saxophone for the Afro-s...

Columbian spiritual pop artist Elsa y Elmar is joined by Will Joseph Cook, Soko and Jules Crommelin to discuss why musicians have negative thoughts while working alone, and how to preserve the unpredictable magic of the demo recording process. Now based in Los Angeles, French singer-songwriter, model, and actress Soko makes moody, sultry indie-pop music. After a musical hiatus, she returned in 202...

Joel Culpepper, Mysie, Anaiis, and TYSON discuss navigating your own voice, knowing who you are, and the importance of not thinking about the mainstream or making music you hate. Joel Culpepper grew up in South London, where he was introduced to gospel music at church from a young age. He’s renowned for being one of the best and most consistent singers coming out of the UK, and has earned fans inc...

Heba Kadry, Sarah Davachi, Marta Salogni and Faten Kanaan discuss why limitations can push creativity, how instruments can be an extension of the body, and why sounding “human” is better than pure perfection. Egyptian-born, Brooklyn-based mastering and mixing engineer Heba Kadry has worked with the likes of Beach House, serpentwithfeet, the Mars Volta, Yaeji and former Music Life guest Mykki Blanc...

Cakes Da Killa, UNIIQU3, Shaun Ross and Jubilee talk about how to tell if the track you’re working on is really hitting the mark, the spaces they’re creative in and what they look like, and their best – and worst – collaborations. Rashard Bradshaw, better known as the Brooklyn-based rapper Cakes Da Killa, blends ‘90s grit with club beats, dipping into electronic and house genres. His lyrics are wi...

Mad Professor, Suzanne Ciani, Matthew E. White and Georgia Anne Muldrow discuss how listening to music lets you travel through time, packaging their work into album form, and which part of the music-making process they enjoy the most. Matthew E. White is a singer, songwriter, producer, and arranger from Richmond, Virginia. He blends folk, gospel, AOR, rock, disco, and psychedelic sounds. He’s also...

Qur'an Shaheed, Dr Adam Zanolini and Ben LaMar Gay join composer, improviser, clarinetist, and pianist Angel Bat Dawid to discuss the importance of not conforming, the struggle to find money to do what you love doing, recognising what your gifts are, and the experience of being diasporic African and its influence on your music. Qur'an Shaheed is an experimental pianist, poet, singer and songwriter...

Matthew Herbert, Kate Carr, Nwando Ebizie and Matmos's Martin Schmidt discuss making music from 'found sound' and field recordings, and the ethical, social and political implications that arise when you push music to its extreme. What happens when you record the sounds of a surgeon performing plastic surgery and turn it into an album? How can the sounds of a traffic intersection become music? Are...

Bass players Laura Lee, Blu DeTiger, Karina Rykman and Adeline discuss what the low end brings to music, why playing for an audience is an unbeatable experience, and how where they’re from inspires their sound. Laura Lee is the bassist in Khruangbin, formed with guitarist Mark Speer and drummer DJ Johnson Jr back in 2009 in Houston, Texas. Their music blends everything from rock, psych, funk, surf...

Nordic pop superstars MØ, Sigrid, Tove Lo and Alma discuss writing songs on your holidays, which elements work best for their songwriting, and why Scandinavians are so good at making pop music. Karen Ørsted, better known as Danish singer and songwriter MØ, is an electro-pop star who blends different genres to make a sound that’s uniquely hers. She grew up listening to punk music and this is defini...

Kae Tempest, Porridge Radio's Dana Margolin, Lottie Cream of Goat Girl and producer Dan Carey discuss letting go of the idea of who you are, going in hard onstage, unlocking time through repetition, being bad at singing, and mistakes on records.. Lottie Pendlebury, AKA Lottie Cream, is part of the post-punk band Goat Girl, whose latest album, On All Fours, was released earlier this year. Lottie sa...

Sylvan Esso's Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Overmono's Ed Russell discuss how they make their music. Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn are the electro-pop duo Sylvan Esso. They’ve been nominated for a Grammy, played some of the world’s biggest festivals, and worked with the likes of TuneYards, Flock of Dimes, and Robert Glasper – all of whom have b...

Poté, Pierre Kwenders, TSHA and Heléna Star discuss what the 'look at me' gene actually is, why music is nothing without dancing, what they’ve learned about themselves through music, and the legacy of what they’d like to leave behind. St-Lucia-born artist Poté combines Caribbean percussion, electronic sounds, and emotive songwriting that caught the attention of Damon Albarn, who appeared on his la...

Four of the most exciting names in contemporary R&B - Kirby, Gallant, Baby Rose and Durand Bernarr - discuss the secrets of their craft, from being vulnerable enough to expose what they're going through in the writing room, to thinking of music as candle scents. Kirby started her career by setting herself the challenge of writing a song a day on YouTube - 302 days later she signed to Jay Z's l...

Afro-rave and Afro-bass stars Rey Sapienz, Toya Delazy, Catu Diosis and Hagan discuss making the music faster so it feels like a workout, what traditional elements make their way into their music, and the importance of dancing while creating. Rey Sapienz is a producer from the DRC, who relocated to Kampala in Uganda during the Congolese civil war. He started rapping at the age 12, and was the firs...

Chvrches singer Lauren Mayberry, US indie star Bartees Strange, Ellie Rowsell of Mercury Prize winners Wolf Alice and London Grammar's Hannah Reid discuss writing routines, throwing laptops across the room, falling between musical worlds, why polarising art is the best, and the realities of touring. Lauren Mayberry fronts Scottish band Chvrches. Their glittering career has seen them release four a...