Hello everyone and welcome back to the Electronic Music Alliance - January 2020 Newsletter!
Each month, we beam down the latest news from the EMAlien Mothership and as we enter our 2nd year of orbit around the Third Rock, we're getting ready for the #EMA2020Takeover! Thanks to everyone who continues to support us and our artists by sharing all the good vibes on Twitter! We love hearing from you and can't wait to bring more beats through the community run Electronic Alliance Records label over the next 12 months! During the holidays, the Founders had a chance to catch up and talk about our plans and in this newsletter we're going to tell you all about them! We also have an in depth chat with our featured artist, Skyline Tigers but first, let's start with a look at the ol' numbers! EMA Community
We weren't joking around when we said we were preparing for the #EMA2020Takeover! We're continuing to reach new heights with more EMAliens joining the fun and all of you magnificent followers on our Twitter pages spreading the good vibes around, letting everyone know where they can find a plethora of EMAzing electronic music! Have a look at these numbers:
As ever, a huge thank you to everyone for the continued support! We're very grateful to you EMAzing followers and a big shout as well to our EMAliens on the Mothership making it such a fun and vibrant place to be! Looks like we will need another engineer call out to upgrade our city!
Regular Playlists
We have our regular weekly "hot of the press" EMA playlists going across the platforms that you listen to the most featuring tracks no older than 3 months from our members. To help rotate the latest beats, we've also added the Apple Music and Hearthis platforms to our rotation so there's no shortage of places where you can find our music! Here's a little reminder of our schedule:
Featured Playlist
In this part of the newsletter, one of the EMA curated playlists gets its moment to shine! Although maybe "shine" isn't the word for this particular feature as EMAlien iconDARK has been summoning tracks from the dark side of the Mothership - are you ready for "EMA: The Dark Side, Vol. 1"? In his own words, we are "not liable for any night terrors, insomnia, hallucinations or any other demonic possessions" that may result from listening to this playlist!
EMA DJ Mixes
EMA is pretty much driven by ideas and feedback from the awesome community of EMAliens and there's always some great chats that go on in the Discord. Then BOOM! We hit an epic idea that we just role with and so let us introduce our EMA DJ Mix Series!
With a huge thanks to Miss EfeMBy and Radio Dark Tunnel, we have a 1 hour slot after Techno Diaries on Wednesdays where our EMAliens showcase their mixing talents along with a host of cool electronic music. A couple of mixes have already been shared with a downtempo set from Letters From Mouse and a multi-genre set from Bufinjer but a load more are on their way in the coming weeks! So make sure you are around on Wednesday evenings from 17:00-20:00 UTC to listen in to the Techno Diaries show and the EMA DJ Mixes - Senor Trouser Man aka Skaarl is up next! Electronic Alliance Records
Our community run label Electronic Alliance Records continues to grow with a few more releases this month from our legendary bunch of producers as more EMAliens look to beam down their beats to planet Earth! Make sure you follow us on our Beatport page to keep in the loop about the latest releases. Wrap your EARs around these:
Featured Artist
Each month the Featured Artist section of our newsletter gives us a chance to find out more about a randomly chosen EMAlien who released with us in the previous month. So, for the first interview of 2020, we're pleased to say that Skyline Tigers is the chosen one and Nicky Havey caught up with the EMAlien we call "Llama Lady" - let's see how it went!
Hey Llama Lady! I hope the new year has been treating you well - it seems to be off to flyer with being our first Featured Artist of 2020 hey! However, I think everyone would love to know a little bit more about you and perhaps why we call you the Llama Lady haha!
Hey Nicky and the EMA Fam! A bit about me hmm... ? Well, I discovered Garageband on my iPad about 5 years ago now and discovering I had a virtual orchestra at my fingertips to play with was a revelation! I quickly got busy making a series of indie/EDM tracks using loops. My first track was The Fade Away (still lurking on SoundCloud).
I thought I’d start to look for a vocalist to sing on my tracks as I consider myself a songwriter really and so discovered the SoundCloud and Atom Collector communities and started to make friends and collaborate. I had no other equipment then, so I sang directly into the iPad mic, I thought that’s all I’d need if I could find vocalists.
People then started asking me to sing on their tracks instead! I quickly realised that singing into the iPad mic wasn’t going to cut it if I wanted quality vocals so I invested in an SM58 as I needed a decent mic as I’d just started up a real Garage Band (called Honey Trip btw, check us out on Spotify and Youtube folks!). I then re-recorded the vocals on my early tracks through the SM58 and at the same time I bought a second hand TC Helicon VoiceLivePlay effects box to use during band practice. This doubled up as an audio interface for the iPad and worked alright, but I still wasn’t very happy using something that wasn’t fit for purpose when it came to recording vocals, as it was giving me pops and crackles, which made vocal recording an exercise in problem solving rather than a productive experience! So I upgraded to a Focusrite iTrack Solo and a second hand RODE NT2A condenser mic.
The difference, understandably, was huge so well worth the investment. By then I’d saved enough to upgrade to a MacBook Pro, LogicPro X and a Focusrite Clarett, and that has opened up a whole new steep learning curve when it comes to producing, but really worth the investment for me as I so want to to achieve a professional quality mix, but I know I still have a lot to learn, but I’m getting there.
My recording studio is in a corner of my bedroom, as it’s the quietest room in the house! I used to drape duvets around it to try to improve the acoustics, but I got a bit hot and claustrophobic, so I just stand in the middle of the room with the curtains shut now, and I think, with all the soft furnishings, that’s a pretty good compromise! Although I do have to pick my time to record, as the neighbours like to argue and I also have to compete against lawnmowers, cars and parties! As regards my music composition I still use loops and samples, but I try to keep them to a minimum and if I do use them I chop them and mix them up where possible so they are not recognisable. I also play synths and stringed instruments such as the Cello and Guzheng, and I’m learning guitar at the moment so I hope to add live guitar in at some point. I absolutely love Alchemy and use that a lot in my ambient tracks. I also use my voice as an instrument, my tracks Beneath the Stones and Home have vocal chants and hums that fill the space to create a richer sound, and I play around with vocal effects, my track Lose Your Mind has a very long vocal effects chain.
My musical roots are very eclectic reflecting the music I create. When I was, I think, about 5 years old, my gran gave me her old Dansette 1960s record player and 5, 45 (7 inch) vinyl singles. Those 5 songs are etched into my brain as they were all I had to listen to! They were:
My model had a BSR auto changer so I could vary the playlist! Sadly I lost the record player and singles when my parents divorced and I had to move house, but I think I may see if I can buy another, purely for nostalgic reasons, as it brings back lots of happy memories of my childhood. I do have a real soft spot for vinyl, as those scratches and crackles you don’t get anymore with digital kind of gave the record it’s own personality, and the nostalgia it evokes is comforting somehow, for me anyway.
A couple of years later I got my first LP record player and with it came 2 LPs that I love listening to to this day, one was the War of The Worlds by Jeff Wayne and the other was Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield. I loved the way War of the Worlds told a story through music and I’m determined to create something along the lines of War of the Worlds myself in the future. As a young teen I was heavily into New Romantics - Tubeway Army and Gary Numan, Soft Cell, OMD, Japan, Human League, Ultravox , Adam and the Ants and Duran Duran, complete with Vivan Westwoodesque dress code - anything fluorescent and frilly basically and crimped hair (lol). I loved the uniqueness of that time, with the wacky dress code and also that the synthesiser took centre stage (whereas before it seemed to be used as a backing in prog rock albums).
Mid teens I turned into a mod for a bit and pogo’d around to the likes of The Jam, The Specials, The Selecter, The Beat, Madness and Bad Manners. I wore to black and white dresses and winkle pickers. Late teens and early twenties I got into rock, indie and grunge basically, and I think they are ultimately my favourite genres to this day. I used to go to Rock City in Nottingham every Thursday (student/indie night) and Friday (Rock night).
So I shoegazed in my black mohair jumper,black eyeliner and backcombed hair to The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, Depeche Mode, The Smiths, Radiohead, New Order, Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees on Thursdays and on Fridays I bounced around in my leather jacket to any grunge track that came on, basically Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Hole. I basically love all genres of music nowadays (I probably always have). I believe good music is just good music no matter what the genre. And Llama Lady? Well I thought I’d make a rap about llamas after a few vodkas probs (that’s when I have my BEST ideas) and posted it to the EMA chat room. The name stuck, go figure!
HAHA! Yes I remember that convo and it was hilarious! That's when the best conversations happen and there are and will be other epic nicknames brandished around the Mothership I'm sure! That's probably one of the most in depth and awesome responses yet and really enjoyed listening back to some of the 50s rock and 80s synth tracks which is what I listened to growing up thanks to road trips with the parents! Well, you kinda covered this next question but with all these influences, what kind of music do you make?
My philosophy on making music has always been to make songs I would like to listen to, rather than try to make something commercial that fits in a particular category. Consequently I have made songs covering a pretty diverse range of genres, from Industrial Rock to EDM. I love all genres and aim to make a song for each one before I die!
I think a lot of producers can relate to that philosophy in EMA and you've certainly been involved with a few different styles and collaborations with various EMAliens. Speaking of which, what releases have you got now or coming up?
Currently I’ve a release called Don’t Tell, which I’m proud to say is on the EMA’s Future Sounds Anthology Vol 1! I’ve just released a Post Rock track with The Anthropophobia Project, to be released in stores soon, that’s on SoundCloud, so pleased with how that turned out. I’ve also just been part of a fantastic collaborative album called Incendiary Neon Heart with a lot of long term friends and collaborators Last Relic Studio, Thommo, Betapsi and Matroishka Brain to name but a few, that was a lot of fun to work on.
I’ve also got some cracking remixes of Lose Your Mind coming out in February I’m really excited about with Wrekitt88 and Quintescence through Deep Down Dirty records. I’m working on tracks with Wane of Summer & Last Relic at the moment, a couple of my own in early stages.
I’ve a few tracks out via EAR records now and I’m proud to support the EMA label. I’m so so proud of my recent collab with Bufinjer - Time is Organic. I loved the delicious sounds in his original track and thought I’d like to try to add some vocals. We were both really pleased with the result! I’m very proud of my collabs with Davey Hub too - Luna and Farewell Cassini. They turned out really well and were picked up by BBC Introducing. Love your and Davey's remix A Space Lullaby too! I re-emerged from being very poorly and found you and Davey had made it, that was really touching and such a great track!
Wow, that's an impressive output and it's all really great quality music, looks like February is going to be a great month with all those releases. And it was a pleasure working on Space Lullaby with Davey and you too - we're glad it gave you a lift after re-emerging from your illness! OK, so the big question... how did you hear about EMA/EAR and get involved with it all?
Through DaveyHub, he’s been a long term friend on Atom Collector and he kindly invited me to join the EMA! I’ve really enjoyed being part of this group, you really are a super bunch of talented and nice people! Llama Lady is very proud to be on board The Mother Ship!
Haha! EMAzing! And we are really happy to have you with us too - thank you for sharing your story with us this month Llama Lady! Catch you on the inside of the Mothership!
Make sure you follow Skyline Tigers (Llama Lady) on the links below - click or tap the icons and get listening!
We hope you have enjoyed this month’s newsletter, let us know in the comments below and catch you soon for the next one!
Yours EMA (Bufinjer, DaveyHub & Nicky Havey)
3 Comments
Skyline Tigers
1/29/2020 01:51:29 am
Fantastic newsletter Nicky and I loved your layout for the interview! Thanks so much for asking me to share my musical journey!
Reply
Electrostatic Nightmare Disco
1/29/2020 05:36:15 am
Great read. I also started with garageband about 5 years ago and went Rock City regularly. Saw The Mission there and Fields of the Nephilim and I think I saw Sisters of Mercy there too but memories of that are slightly hazy 😂
Reply
Skaarl
1/29/2020 09:17:03 am
Nice to find out a bit more about Skyline Tigers, yeah I used to frequent Rock City myself too (actually I was supposed to go to a gig there on Sunday, but didn’t go lol). Love how productive Llama Lady is though, and her vocals are awesome too 😃
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