In amidst all the family, we have a lot of new faces joining us this year at Brainchild that we want to introduce you to. We’ve gone truly international, with artists joining us from all over, including Brazil, New York, Ireland and Israel via Berlin, as well as some Londoners joining us for the very first time.
Have a read and get familiar with their worlds – we’re very excited for what they’ll be sharing with us. If you see them about, remember to make them feel extra welcome, as we know you will. Dive deep and enjoy. Also, tune into our BC2019 Spotify Playlist ?
duendita
To have duendita flying across the pond to be with us in July feels like a magical dream come true. When we went to go and see her last winter in Corsica Studios, we stood right at the front. When she started playing, it felt like the sun had come out, and the rest of the world melted away. Her EP Direct Line to My Creator has become a familiar friend to us over this year, but she’s fiercely experimental with her live sets, distorting her voice and melodies to unrecognisable and intriguing tracks.
In fact, duendita is a stage name, which comes from the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca’s concept of duende – that inexplicable, mysterious feeling when a piece of art makes the hair on your arms stand up.
duendita is a woman wise beyond her years, a characteristic she assigns to growing up in Queens, New York. Her music comes from a deep need for self expression of all kinds – making music but also drawing and writing. Her creation is a personal practise to navigate the difficulties of human experience, tackling human injustices and addresses the pain of racial and gendered oppression while uplifting black women and celebrating her ancestry through prayer and love.
In her world, spirituality isn’t reserved for a realm we don’t exist it. It is important to respect the things immediately around you, and “prays to my God and my mom because they’re both the same.”
Eriksson Tudie Project
Collaborators Eriksson Kaner & Mom Tudie will be sharing brand new beats, live keys and production as Eriksson Tudie Project! The duo joined us at our first ever DIGS party back in April, where they put together a set full of new material especially for us. It was their first live show, and it’s Leif’s (Eriksson Kaner) first non-classical gig since he moved back to London. We felt SO honoured to have been able to witness that magic between the two of them, that we’ve invited them to play at the festival.
They will be joined by donnie James Mollison (Ezra Collective, Cykada & Where Pathways Meet) at the festival.
The first Eriksson Kaner tune out in the world is Changed Beings: it’s epic, moving and gorgeous, and we listened to it almost every day through the start of this year! Combined with Mom Tudie’s brilliant production, we can’t wait to hear what these two go onto create. If you haven’t already heard Changed Beings, this is highly recommended listening from us! For people who love everything from 4hero to Maisha – UK to the original days of Southpaw.
GLOWS
GG Skips is a DJ, producer, promoter, and manager. As founder of the Slow Dance label and collective, and producing eclectic, electronic tracks as ‘Glows’, Skips covers all ground and has carved out a substantial space in London’s musical ecosystem.
Playing a live set as a 2 piece, keyboard and drums, keep your eyes peeled for what will be a futuristic droney beatsy wonderful set. Listen to FOAM, and check out the stop-motion animation video for Passing Talk:
Leafcutter John
Electronic music legend Leafcutter John is bringing his solo project to Brainchild! Leafy is a member of Polar Bear and Melt Yourself Down, and we feel incredibly lucky to have him in our midst. His live set is not one to be missed: performing his material on a hand-built light interface, which translates bike lights and torches into a sonic universe.
His new album, Come Parade With Us, features drums collaborations from two of Leafy’s bandmates: Tom Skinner (Hello Skinny, Sons of Kemet) and Polar Bear bandmate Seb Rochford.
We recently wrote a feature piece on him, you can check it out here.
Tahira
DJ, producer and digger Tahira features another eclectic and instructive DJing which blends genres and eras, from traditional sounds to the electronic mixtures from the DJ culture. His work is hugely influenced by African, Latin and Brazilian music.
Tahira is a pioneer in bringing Brazilian sounds around the globe. Back in Brazil, where before European and American music was given focus, recently Brazil has begun to embrace their own traditions and sounds more and more. Tahira says:
We have a great musical culture! An amazing history. Brazil has at least 30 kind of rhythms. Styles like Carimbo, Maxixe, Lundu have existed since the last century. So we have a lot to discover about us. It’s like a therapy of self-knowledge. It’s time for Brazilians to look inside and discover our culture and then bring something good to share with the modern world.
Sharky
We’re very pleased to introduce you to hypnotic dreamy Sharky. Her voice is other-worldly, and her tunes and freaky funky. Get ready for her music to wrap you in intrigue and beauty.
Her first EP He Burned Down the City came out earlier this year, and is a self-declared four track “frosty hot mess”. We recommend full immersing yourself in it, but first, here’s a beyond-sweet acapella bathroom-version of her Cause and Effect:
anaïs
anaïs’ sound crosses countries and interlaces cultures, people, music and languages. There’s a lot to uncover, and no surprise when you look at all the places she’s lived: born in Toulouse, France but of Senegalese origin, grew up in Ireland and Oakland California before graduating from NYU, anaïs now lives in London (her recent live video was shot at the Total Refreshment Centre).
Her work often pays homage to some of the brilliant black women artists that inspire her, including a sample from Princess Nokia on Woman and the aptly titled Nina samples Simone herself. On her video for Woman, directly by Ana Sting, Anais says:
We wanted to create a visual poem for womanhood. Celebrating the women around us, our ancestors, those who inspire us but also ourselves. The intention there was to highlight the power that can arise from our connectedness and encourage the pursuit of freedom in togetherness.
She’s fully released two EPs – Ground Zero in 2018 and then Darkness at Play this year. Darkness at Play, her 2nd EP, is intended to be listened to in its entirety. It was produced by the legendary Om’Mas Keith (Frank Ocean, Erykah Badu, Jay-Z) and long-time collaborator Aston Rudi. More recently, two tracks off a new EP Lost My Faith, which feels like an exciting new direction for her.
RAS
The funk don’t stop with disco – trio RAS. Coming all the way over from Berlin, the multi-talented members also feature in Hush Moss, Young Yosef, and Alice Phoebe Lou’s band. Catch these guys bringing the party to the Brainstage on Sunday afternoon, the perfect remedy to the night before.
Check out their self-titled album they released earlier this year.
George Riley
George is a new singer & producer on the scene, but already making waves. She came to perform at our first ever DIGS, and blew everyone away by her captivating way on stage, plus irresistible beats from Oliver Palfreyman makes her show one we wouldn’t want you to miss.
Moonbow
Moonbow is the sonic brainchild of London artist Eleanor Hardwick. Our favourite way their music has been described is really really slowed-down Kate Bush meets 90s euphoria bass invasions.
Often taking a multidisciplinary approach, their musical output is inspired by themes of eschatology, meta-ethics, cyberspace, ecology and dualism. A backbone of dancefloor-ready beats just about surfaces through in Moonbow’s recent music, beneath its otherwise spaced out avant-pop outer shell, post-internet lyricism and wash of ambient synths. Their fascination with excavating both the emotional and political through such a wide range of mixed mediums has received praise from i-D, Crack Magazine, The Line of Best Fit, The Wire, The Guardian and The 405.
Moonbow’s colourful DJ sets are an exercise in storytelling that is at once euphoric and melancholic, whilst delving into both the old and new. Often known to make an appearance are: chopped ‘n’ spliced vocals, silky psychedelic melodies, and bass vibrations so heavy that no nearby drinks are safe from spillage. Moonbow also forms part of SIREN – a collective focussed on pushing the boundaries of dance, club and techno through creating a safe and immersive space for those who are underrepresented in dance music. SIREN run parties and workshops, publish a zine and host a monthly NTS show, and Moonbow also can be found DJing as part of the collective’s residents: SIREN DJs.