Music Life

Prepare to be inspired by this week as Canadian singer Katie Stelmanis, AKA Austra, sits down with Dan Deacon, Cosmo Sheldrake and Dry Cleaning’s Florence Shaw. Dan Deacon is a singer-songwriter and film score composer from Baltimore, USA, who is known for his exhilarating live shows and is described by his record label Domino as an "alchemist of electro-acoustic recording tools". He released his...

A show dedicated to artists from the Kenyan and Ugandan underground. Kenyan musician and singer-songwriter Labdi, the only female Orutu player in East Africa, is going to guide us through the episode. She’ll be asking the group how they settled on making their authentic sounds, if they feel free creatively, and whether the influence of West African music is a positive or negative. Answering those...

A huge episode of Music Life this week, with Ella Eyre, Hamzaa, Mahalia, and MNEK. Our host today is BRIT Award and MOBO winner Ella Eyre, a singer who's worked with the likes of Rudimental, Sigala, Meghan Trainor, Bastille, and French Montana. She's joined by Mahalia, an R&B/Neo-Soul singer, songwriter and actor who started playing the guitar at 13, and has worked and toured with the likes of...

This week on Music Life, Nigerian born artist Moelogo welcomes Pongo, Silvastone, and Viva Msimang (Penya). We are very lucky to be joined by; Pongo, a vocalist and songwriter based in Portugal, born in Angola. She has renewed the Kuduro music by mixing her African roots with EDM, Bass, Dancehall, and Pop and her videos have been watched over 11 million times online. Silvastone is an genre-defying...

Music Life this week sees British jazz saxophonist, MC, and poet Soweto Kinch host Shingai Shoniwa, Eno Williams, and Barney Artist. Singer and bassist Shingai Shoniwa is formerly of the band The Noisettes. The name Shingai, according to Wikipedia, means "bold/courageous/strong" in the Shona language. Eno Williams is the lead vocalist in the electronic funk band Ibibio Sound Machine. She was born...

Young country stars Kane Brown, Holly Macve and Olivia Lane discuss writing songs as therapy, recurring themes, and being put in a difficult position by their lyrics. Kane Brown is a superstar in the making from Tennessee, and has been called the ‘Justin Bieber of country’. He has worked with the likes of Khalid, Becky G, and Marshmello, and his influences include Chris Young, George Strait, Lee B...

Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood discusses all things music with Tamino, Caroline Polachek, and Robert Glasper. Together, they’ll be attempt to solve the riddle of how they keep the creative flame alive, overcoming the voice of the inner critic, and why you need a plan B – a get out plan - if you’re a musician. Colin Greenwood – the brother of Radiohead guitarist and keyboardist Jonny – is the bassist...

Melisa Whiskey, a singer from London by way of Nigeria, talks to some of the finest young African talent out there at the minute: Nigerian musician and dancer Zlatan, who has worked with the likes of Burna Boy, Olamide, Lil Kesh, and Davido; fellow Nigerian musician Lyta, who's making waves after releasing the singles Selfmade, Time, and the Davido-produced Monalisa; and Garry Mapanzure, a 21-year...

A bumper edition of Music Life this week sees alt-pop singer and guitarist Shura host Kim Petras, Mae Muller, and Ego Ella May. German pop icon Kim Petras is now based in Los Angeles. She’s worked with everybody from Charli XCX and Fergie to MAX, Sophie, Jojo, and ALMA, and topped the Spotify viral 50 chart in 2017. Mae Muller is a rising pop star, releasing her debut album Chapter 1 last year. Se...

Channy Leaneagh, the lead singer and synth player with the Minnesota band Polica, asks La Roux, Elaha Soroor, and Dana Gavanski what makes them want to write more, if they feel satisfied with the way they release music, and about their issues with the media industry. Elly Jackson, also known as La Roux, is a bona fide alt-pop star and Grammy Award-winning singer, who is now back with her first alb...

This week’s episode of Music Life is an absolute powerhouse of the some of the greatest talent in contemporary music right now. Led by Tiguidanké Diallo, AKA Niariu, originally from Guinée, they'll talk about why it’s easier to sing in the dark, why musicians need to be rebels, and finding your own voice in your music. Niariu is a multidisciplinary artist and singer with the band Les Amazones d'Af...

This week on Music Life Sinkane (Ahmed Gallab) is joined by Emel Mathlouthi, Laima Leyton, and Shirley Tetteh. With such an eclectic mix of musicians it’s only right they talk about straddling multiple cultures, the role spirituality plays in their music, how you turn an idea into a song, and the all-important question of who their biggest fan is. Macaulay Culkin may get mentioned. Sinkane returns...

Four behemoths of the current electronic music scene - Max Cooper, Anna Meredith, Holly Herndon, and Jon Hopkins – join the BBC World Service to talk all about creativity. They’ve made some of the most influential music of the 2010s, and that continues into the new decade. Led by Irish composer, producer, and former geneticist Max Cooper, the group discuss how much their subconscious plays a part...

Music Life is led this week by percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar. He was born in the US and grew up in Ahmedabad and Chennai in India, and began playing tabla at the age of 10. His album More Arriving was released last year; featuring rappers from Mumbai and New Delhi, it was described as “an honest reflection of [the] experience of being an Indian in Britain”. Joining him is the American...

On this globetrotting episode of Music Life we are taken into the mind of the artist with Portuguese singer of Cape Verdean descent Dino D’Santiago. A singer, guitarist, and beat-boxer, he bridges the traditional sounds of Funaná, Batuku, Morna with modern recording techniques and sounds. He's joined by half-Finnish vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Marika Hackman; singer and writer o...

The weekly show Music Life returns with Malaysian singer Yuna, guiding us through a number of musical topics with British singer and record producer Shakka, 19-year-old Chinese American YouTube star mxmtoon, and self-taught Malaysian Queer Pop icon Alex.tbh. We’re all over the musical dial with this one, in which our stars talk about how they write their music, the things they can and can't say in...

In this week’s Music Life, singer-songwriter and Pharrell Williams collaborator Samm Henshaw gets inspired by the thoughts of Raphael Saadiq, Denai Moore, and Moses Boyd. Raphael Saadiq is a Grammy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné!, as well as being a critically acclaime...

This week’s episode of Music Life gets personal with musician, producer and black belt in karate Nabihah Iqbal, who is joined by Khruangbin’s Laura Lee, as well as singers Nilüfer Yanya and Gaye Su Akyol. Laura Lee was a maths teacher turned bass player who started her musical journey 8 years ago in the three-piece band Khruangbin. The band have toured with the likes of Bonobo, Father John Misty,...

Ezra Collective drummer Femi Koleoso and Dele Sosimi of Fela Kuti's Egypt 80 are joined on Music Life by two of the greatest drummers of all time: Billy Cobham and Tony Allen. Billy Cobham is a Panamanian-American jazz drummer who played with Miles Davis in the 60s and 70s, before forming the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He's gone on to play with Peter Gabriel, Quincy Jones, James Brown and many more. Ni...

Parisian pianist Christophe Chassol has written music for Frank Ocean, Solange, Sebastian Tellier and Phoenix, as well as releasing a string of successful solo releases. On this episode of Music Life he talks to Emmanuel Jal, Ala. Ni, and Sudan Archives. Sudan Archives AKA Brittney Denise Parks is a violinist, singer, and producer from Los Angeles whose debut album Athena is out now. Ala. Ni is a...

Australian singer Gabriella Cilmi hosts Music Life, the show where some of the best musicians in the world come together to talk about creativity and living as a musician. She is joined by Portuguese singer Carmen Souza, France-based Algerian singer Soud Massi, and Egyptian-British singer Natacha Atlas. Carmen Souza is a jazz singer, pianist, and guitarist of Cape Verdean decent who sings in Portu...

Sudanese-American multi-instrumentalist and singer Sinkane hosts Music Life this week, the show where some the best musicians in the world come together to discuss their creative process and life as a musician. Sinkane is joined by New York's Cautious Clay, an estate agent turned pop-artist whose track Cold War was recently sampled by Taylor Swift, Filipino-American keyboardist and vocalist Elenna...

Rebecca Lucy Taylor AKA Self Esteem hosts this week's Music Life - the show where some of the best musicians from all over the world get together to talk about how they make music, and their lives as musicians. Joining her are some other great pop musicians. Alex Cameron is a singer born and raised in Sydney who makes what has been described as “Australian sleaze pop”. He apparently is used to dre...

This week, Oluseun Anikulapo Kuti AKA Seun Kuti – singer, saxophonist, Egypt ‘80 band leader and son of Fela Kuti from Lagos, Nigeria – hosts a very lively episode. He’s joined by trumpeter, vocalist and visual artist, the leader of the excellent Afrobeat band KOKOROKO (meaning 'be strong' in Nigerian language Urhobo) Sheila Maurice Grey. And lead vocalist from Ibibio Sound Machine, born in London...

This week, we’re going into the holiday season with a bang. Trumpeter, composer, vocalist, and producer Leron Thomas (Pan Amsterdam, Iggy Pop) is joined at the world famous Maida Vale studios in London by: the godfather of punk, David Bowie collaborator, actor, singer, and all-round legend Iggy Pop; singer, composer, producer, three-time-Mercury-Music-Prize-nominated guitar shredder, and now a sou...