Everything I Wanted For You
Striving for interdependence in music - a love letter to State51
This week saw the release of a beautiful live video we created with State51, featuring myself and Alicia Jane (AJ) Turner performing music from our debut album reNYXed into duo form ~ vocals, violin, piano & electronics. We’re genuinely so happy with how this turned out and are really so grateful to the team at State51 for nudging us on to do it, and producing it so gracefully:
When we were creating our first NYX album, it was clear to me pretty early on in the process that I wanted this to remain our music and that we should try as hard as we could to release this ourselves, on our own label NYX Collective Records. Initially we reached out and connected with a few independent labels, other artists and kind, knowledgeable people who helped us start to understand the many different ways releasing can look. As much as these conversations and connections were invaluable, nothing felt like it truly aligned with our music and ethos. So we continued to try and forge a path to self-release.
However, as much as we wanted to be in charge of our own process and retain ownership of what we’d made, it is a huge weight for two people to launch a full album out into the world. There are so many intricate layers of knowledge, processes, systems and connections in this industry that we have been trying to understand, as we really wanted to do this release justice (and we’re both pretty Head Girl Hermione energy in our desire to get things right, but thats a tale for another day)....
In the end, working with distributors State51 gave us the support and encouragement to get our album over the line. They now manage all of our physical and digital distribution, but they have become so more than that - they come to our shows, give access their space for rehearsals & workshops, connect us in with their other artists, organise promotional bits & pieces for us, like the wonderful live duo session released last week.
We really could not believe it the first time we walked around and met this team and their spaces - it feels like you’re being gathered in to an extended family unit and welcomed home with a giant squishy indie music hug.
A bit of a background for those who don’t know, State51 are an Independent Music House based in Shoreditch. They are a record label, distributor, marketing and creative agency that have been going strong since 1991. They have full design atelier with print and product design studios in the basement underneath their renovated church office - kitted out with risograph & screen printers, a lathe-cutting studio, and store house walls lined with boxes of records, cassette tapes, poetry and music books and zines. The former graphic designer in me weeps / drools with joy each time I visit - it’s such a timeless haven of music knick-nackery and a total DIY cave of wonders.
But back to the video we released last week. Huge love to Georgie King for bringing together everyone to create this at the State51 Factory back in July. It was one of the hottest, sweatiest, brightest days of the year outside, yet we all managed to have the most magical and supportive experience capturing this as a single flowing take with no cuts.
Deep gratitude to Beatriz Sá for her magic visual instincts, to Harri Chambers and Callum Haynes for capturing and mixing the sound so beautifully, and to AJ for their insane piano & string arrangements & improvisations in these pieces.
We’ve never really been a short viral video kind of music project (not from a lack of trying - I just think we were Born to Long Form and just Forced to Radio Edit and Reel), so we really hope you enjoy taking some time to sit and chill and watch this one flow the full way through.
Sending love and looking forward to hearing your responses x
Sian
Loved that video. You both bring another magic to the album I so gladly listen to regularly. I shared the video and it was appreciated by others. My first wish was to be a fly on the wall in that room, to feel the vibrations of voice, violin and piano resonating in my ribcage. Carry on singing your magic, outside Gryffindor.