PRS for Music New Music Podcast – November

PRS for Music New Music

22 November 2011     

The latest installment of the PRS for Music New Music Podcast focuses on talented women in music.

Download the PRS for Music Women In Music podcast here.


Asya
Asya is a singer- songwriter from North London. Of Sudanese origin her early years were spent living in Sweden, Egypt and London. She inherited her talent for singing from her father Satti who was a firm fixture on the Sudanese music scene. Her love for singing and performance prompted her to write her own songs from the age of 17. Asya was vocally trained in the technique of Speech Level Singing. Her natural gift for singing led to a young talent bursary. Asya counts Kate Bush, Aretha Franklin, Radiohead and Britney Spears among her main influences.
Asya used her university years to create sell out events at Cargo and The Jazz Cafe. It was through these events that she had the opportunity to perform to a large audience.
After graduating, Asya put together a 6-piece band complete with percussion. Her popularity as a songwriter and performer earned her repeat performances at Ronnie Scotts, The Bedford, Cafe de Paris, The Jazz Cafe and The Pigalle Club.
Asya collaborated with producer and school friend Alex Anotonio in May 2010. Inspired by the everyday conflicts in life and love, Asya sought to write lyrics people could relate to. Her first single Bitch in the Bedroom showcases her punchy style of writing.
www.asyamusic.co.uk
Sound Of Rum
Sound Of Rum are now set to release their debut album Balance on Rob da Bank’s label, Sunday Best Recordings. Forged from the combined talents of vocalist Kate Tempest, guitarist Archie Marsh and drummer Ferry Lawrenson; Sound of Rum’s music is as uniquely diverse as it is relevant and entertaining. From their humble beginnings less than three years ago, the band’s notoriety has progressed at an exponential rate.
Kate Tempest started writing poetry at around the same age as most people start writing their own name. By the time she was 15 she had composed material she felt was worthy of being heard. Plunging deep into the mainly male orientated world of hip-hop rap battling, Tempest quickly earned a reputation as someone who needed to be listened to. Similarly Archie Marsh and Ferry Lawrenson have both devoted their lives to the mastery of their craft. The combination of these three talented individuals has culminated in a sound that compels audiences to reevaluate their understanding of what good music is. Sound of Rum’s debut album Balance will undoubtedly carve a place in the hearts and minds of any and all who are fortunate enough to experience it.
Sound Of Rum have been backed by an all-star team consisting of Dan Carey (La Roux, CSS, Hot Chip), John Dent (Nick Drake, Bob Marley, PJ Harvey), Bob Earland (Roots Manuva, Mr Scruff, Speech Debelle) and Rory Attwell (White Rose Movement, Male Bonding, Sleeping States).
soundofrum.com
Bernadette Ryan
As ambitious as young writer/arists go, 21 year-old Bernadette Ryan is certainly setting her bar high with dreams of platinum records and international hits.
Schooled in the violin before discovering a love for the piano at fifteen, she taught herself how to play from listening to R&B and Soul records by artists such as Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and John Legend and began to write her first songs.
After thriving in her first year of studying a vocal degree at the Academy of Contemporary Music, Bernadette dropped out to join a new pop band. It was At this point she knew she had to stay true to her own style if she wanted the longevity of a timeless release. With this in mind, she set off on her solo mission to create an album that defines her. Procuring numerous writing sessions with James Bryan (Nelly Furtado), The Nextmen (Jess Mills) & Si Hulbert (Ed Sheeran, Professor Green, Sugababes), solo acoustic gigs in & around London soon followed, as well as stints with Chad Beatz (G-Unit/Lloyd Banks), Inflo (Talay Riley, Loick Essien) & Adam Midgely (Talib Kweli, Cee-lo Green, Paloma Faith).
‘The songs I write are all from personal experiences or things that the people around me have gone through. I’m not here to write mind-numbing pop tunes, I wanna challenge myself and others by writing about what’s real, singing about a subject others are unable to write about or choose not to.’
With a slew of online features and live shows now under her belt (including supporting Island Records’ Josh Osho at his recent EP launch), Bernadette has certainly been adding plenty to her already impressive skill set of singer, song writer, musician and dancer.
www.facebook.com/bernadetteofficial
Ronika
Ronika was a colony world that was terraformed into a common exile for criminals in the Empress Teta system under the rule of Empress Teta. It was the eighth planet in the system. Following the Unification Wars, many rebels were exiled to Ronika, but were later granted amnesty for their service in the Great Hyperspace War.
Ronika was a desolate place, covered in desert and rock. Her surface was exposed to high levels of ultraviolet radiation, and was home to stinger moths.
Prisoners from Ronika helped defeat the Sith in the Battle of Kirrek during the Great Hyperspace War.
‘As with disco dolly/Benitez-era Madonna, the cutesy surface is a disguise for deep involvement in the local underground dance scene. A writer-producer as well as a singer, you could imagine her penning hits for Kylie or becoming the female Stuart Price. As with Price, there is a facility here with late-period disco, electro-funk and synth-pop.’ – The Guardian
ronikamusic.com