Introducing Interview: Delhia de France

Electronica artist Delhia de France has just released her debut EP, Morai. We caught up with Delhia de France to talk about the release, the inspiration behind the name (Greek goddesses of fate representing divine feminine power), fossil waterfalls and so much more…

Welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about how you got started as an artist?
Hi Ladies thanks for having me! The music was always there: I had piano lessons at age 7, wrote my first song at 10 and had classical singing lessons at 15 which was when I also started my first band – a hiphop project with 2 Mc’s, a DJ and me. I went on to study design to have a possible alternative until I realised that I didn’t want any plan b.

You are described as a ccollaborator, producer, songwriter and visual performer – do you feel you identify more strongly with one particular creative arm, or do all these aspects of your life influence the other?
I´d say music is definitely the core but I love to express myself in any way I feel.  Ultimately I am interested in creating a whole world, a gesamtkunstwerk if you will. And yes they definitely influence each other, like, when I write I always see images with it or I write from an image.

You are originally from East Berlin, what was it like growing up there in the ’90s after the wall came down?
Well, I was very little and of course didn’t realize what that meant at the time but in retrospective I think the vibe was feeling free on one hand but also very confusing and insecure on the other hand ’cause nobody really knew what was going to happen…  The millennium for me was a wild time, growing up between all these subcultures of hiphop, techno and drum and bass. Nobody really cared we were just having fun.

I read that you completely lost your voice at 17, starting therapy to try and recover it? That must have had an incredible impact on you both physically, emotionally and creatively?
Oh definitely, I thought I would never be able to sing again. You feel helpless surrendering to your body. On the other side it was a chance to learn how to be careful with myself, my body and my mind. A lot of it was fear. I believe that most of our illnesses are deeply rooted within our mind, manifested pain in a way.

We’re loving your latest single ‘Waterfalls’ at GIHE HQ, can you tell us a bit more about what inspired this?
When I write I mostly write on in sounds. I would come up with something completely different if I´d play chords on a piano than on a certain synth. With waterfalls the sound felt so watery and the word waterfalls popped pretty quickly while Lester and me where Jamming, and then I just followed that image.  I had recently visited a fossil waterfall and the deep canyons of water and sanded silky stone were such a strong picture – incredible force yet such gentle form. I guess that inspired the song.

And the single is part of your upcoming EP Moirai set for release ‪on 13th July, how would you describe the themes of this record?
The Sound of the EP is electronic but warm and organic, yet dark and melancholic. I guess thats just something I am really drawn to. I like playing with textures and vocal layers and Robot adds his magic with his signature hypnotic beats and baselines. We both love detailed and rich sounds. The visual theme evolves around the Moirai, the three goddess sisters from Ancient Greek, weaving mankind’s destiny. I have always admired greek philosophy and mythology. I like how it is explaining mundane concepts with divine intention and I think thats not only beautiful but consolidating in a world striving for meaning and being obsessed with the material.

The EP was made in collaboration with Grammy winner Lester Mendez and Robot Koch, how did you find the creative process working with such renowned people?
I wrote all tracks together with Robot Koch except for waterfalls, which we wrote together with Lester. Robot and me have been working together for a while but I think this project has been quite challenging for both of us as I would also be co-producing most of the songs.  I am blessed to be able to work with someone who gives me so much freedom and encourages me to go down my own path.  Writing with Lester has been equally amazing, he is the most humble and kind person. His studio is full with synths and instruments, so we would take bits and pieces from digital and analogue gear, record sounds on his modular and Robot even played drums. Both Robot and Lester work very fast which was a bit hard at times for me as I would need my time to retreat to writing the lyrics… mixing especially is quite a difficult process for me, which Robot and I did together.

Throughout your music career you’ve collaborated with numerous people, do you have a particular project that you are most proud of?
One of the highlights definitely was playing with the MDR Symphony Orchestra and the Stueba Philharmonie together with my band project Pentatones. Also when Sony used the song I made with Robot Koch and Savannah Jo Lack for their worldwide ad campaign.

What are the differences between the music scenes in Berlin and LA?
I think Berlin in general has bit of rawer, darker vibe and you can feel that in the music.  It’s much more electronic dance music oriented which makes sense given the dark winter months here. Total opposite to the eternal sunshine of LA which mirrors in a rather positive and warm sound I think.

As a visual performer, can you tell us what can fans could expect from your live music shows? 
I want people to enter a different world for a bit and I am now shaping that world. It probably will be very stripped down at first but for the future I envision a raza immersive and performative live show.

More importantly are you planning on coming to the UK anytime soon??
Definitely wanna play the UK, but nothing concrete yet. Stay tuned!

Finally as we’re a new music focused site, are there any other new/upcoming bands or artists you’d suggest we check out?
I’m lucky to be surrounded by some amazingly talented people, especially women. My LA friend Drum&Lace has just released two beautiful ambient songs, RYAT, also from LA, who has already released on Flying Lotus label… Brainfeeder will drop some unreleased material in the summer and another close collaborator, violinist Savannah Jo Lack will release her neoclassical debut in Autumn… And if you haven’t heard yet about Perera Elsewhere from Berlin you should definitely check out her trippy doomfolk productions.

Morai, the debut EP from Delhia De France, is out now via Trees and Cyborgs.

 

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Track Of The Day: Matilda Eyre – ‘FYA’

‘FYA (For Your Approval)’ is the debut single by London-based German artist Matilda Eyre. We’re really enjoying this dark but delicate musical to ode to self worth, inner joy and ferocity. Eyre’s gently croaked vocals soar over the stripped back percussion and whirring synth laden bass… 100% approval from us here at GIHE!

 

Follow Matilda Eyre via Twitter and Instagram for more updates.

Tash Walker
@maudeandtrevor

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Track Of The Day: Yvonne Hercules – ‘Wolf Cry’

London based singer-songwriter Yvonne Hercules has released a truly mesmerising video for her new single ‘Wolf Cry’. Gentle stripped back guitars underpin Hercules’ powerful yet vulnerable vocals, giving a platform for the lyrics to shine through.

The video’s play on shadows and light is the perfect accompaniment to this song that explores the vulnerability of honesty within relationships, and the risks that can bring. Just beautiful.

‘Wolf Cry’ is taken from her beautiful EP Gladiolus, supported by the amazing PRS Foundation’s Women Make Music award.

Yvonne Hercules will be playing at The Finsbury, London on 9th July.

 

Tash Walker
@maudeandtrevor

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Interview: FemRock

Here at GIHE HQ we’re currently counting down the days to FemRock‘s DIY not-for-profit gig night in Brighton on 30th June. Kindred spirits of ours, they are all about putting girls to the front and promoting women in music. We caught up with FemRock to get the low down on what to expect this year, the meaning behind their manifesto and the artists they’re loving right now.

Hi FemRock!  Congratulations on your second annual female-fronted festival! FemRock is a PR company, so can you tell us a bit about how you began?  What inspired you to setup FemRock?
Thank you so much! So, FemRock began in February 2013 in response to a lack of women’s representation in the music scene. I’d grown up with a passion for going to live shows and eventually noticed a real lack of line ups that involved women, let alone bands that were fronted by women and especially bands fronted by women being higher on the line-up than an opening slot. I was sick and tired, and questioned why there was such a lack of diversity in these line-ups. At first I thought that maybe women weren’t as involved in music as men were, due to the sexist nature of the music industry, but soon discovered that it went deeper than that; women were involved in music but all male and male-fronted bands were prioritised. So, when I moved to Brighton I decided to create what I believed the music scene’s I had been involved in before were lacking. Thus FemRock was born!

And what kicked things off for the FemRock Fest last year?
By the time we decided to create FemRock Fest we had been running for 4 years. It was around this time that the lack of diversity in festival line-ups was in the spotlight, and I’d built up a strong team around me to run FemRock together. So rather than waiting for existing festivals to correct this problem, we decided to create our own festival with a line-up that showed just how many amazing bands had women members and frontwomen!

As part of the FemRock Manifesto you make an emphasis on being feminist, d.i.y. and unapologetically political – can you expand on these for us and what they mean to you?
Feminism runs through everything we do, as individuals and as a team running FemRock. It felt important to state that explicitly in our manifesto – not only are we creating spaces for women to make and share music, we’re also placing that within the broader world of activism and the significance of lifting up the voices of women and other oppressed groups. We invite feminist groups to display flyers and petitions at our events, and work alongside local campaigns whenever possible. At our festival we always fundraise for relevant causes and provide spaces for organisations to display their information and talk to attendees. We don’t shy away from our politics, and we work hard to ensure that an accepting and loving culture is created at FemRock for people of all identities while recognising that we are all learning and growing. We don’t tolerate hatred and harassment, and we hope that our girls to the front ethos helps to create a night where everyone feels safe, heard and can have a great time too.

Here at GIHE we have massive respect for all those D.I.Y. artists out there, so it’s great to see an organisation supporting them by putting so many of them on your line up!  A couple of our favs are on there – in particular Charmpit, Militant Girlfriend and The Baby Seals – how did you go about picking the bands for the final line up?
It was a combination of us approaching bands we’ve watched and admired from afar and inviting back bands who are FemRock favourites that we’ve worked with in the past. A festival is a great way of bringing together all those bands together to create one stellar line-up and we’re so excited to have them all on one line-up – we feel so spoiled to have them all!

How do you all feel about the general lack of female headliners at a lot of big festivals at the moment?  
I don’t think there’s any excuse for the lack of diversity or lack of adequate representation on big festival line-ups and I don’t think it’s good enough to make a promise of correcting this by 2020, as many festivals have pledged, when there are so many talented bands involving women out there right now and who have been there for a long time, and simply gone unnoticed. We have a long way to go, but hopefully we’ll get there soon.

The festival is not just about music either is it?  You’ve got 2 vegan food stalls and a feminist marketplace – can you tell us a bit more about that? 
We’re very fortunate to have Cactus Kitchen Gals and Vegasmic catering our festival! Cactus Kitchen Gals do super tasty vegan junk food which is the perfect festival-fuel! Vegasmic will be selling delicious vegan sweets and treats! Our feminist marketplace was a huge hit last year so we decided to do it all over again! The marketplace is held in the courtyard of the venue and is made up of stallholders selling artwork, illustrations and creations and community organisations and activist groups. We also have DJ sets outside throughout the day to give a real festival vibe.

Finally, as we’re a new music focused site, are there any particular new bands or artists you’d recommend we check out?
Some of our favourite bands that you’ve not already mentioned include Sit Down (YES! We LOVE them!), who are a Brighton-based garage-punk two piece whose frontwoman is also their drummer, she is a force to be reckoned with! We’re also HUGE fans of The Nyx, The Menstrual Cramps, Bloom, Jellie Rolls, The Great Malarkey and CLT DRP among SO many more. We could keep going forever…

Huge thanks to FemRock for answering our questions! 

Femrock’s second annual female-fronted festival returns to Brighton on Saturday 30th June at The Green Door Store. There’ll 10 female-fronted bands, 2 vegan food stalls, a Feminist Marketplace full of creatives and activists and outdoor DJ sets throughout the day. Ticket info here.

Full FemRock line-up:

The Baby Seals
Sit Down
Militant Girlfriend
Bitch Theme
Hussy
Charmpit
Hexmaze
Suburban Death Twitch
Gullsband
Quim Smashers

 

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