Ny
Ny is set to make a big impact this year with the release of her new single Music, which is from her latest album Who Is She.
The singer-songwriter is releasing the new single through her own label Dream Juice and I caught up with her to talk about the track, the upcoming album and recording the record without the pressures of a major label.
- You are about to release your new single Music so what can we expect from the track?
It’s very UK, it’s very energetic but it is the story of how much I love music and my connection with music. The lyrics are quite descriptive but there is a good vibe and a good feel to the song.
- Music is part pop and part dance but how would you describe the sound of the single?
I think it is a mix of dance and dub-step and my vocals are quite soulful. So I would say it’s a mix of dance, dub-step and soul (laughs).
- How have you found the early response to the record?
Really really good. I have been getting great responses from fans on the social networks and radio has really supported the track so I am very happy.
- Music is off your forthcoming album Who Is She so how does this single introduce us to the rest of the record?
As I said Music is about how much I love music and my relationship with it. The album, I am a very honest writer, and the sound is definitely a fusion of the music that I have grown up listening to and the music that I currently love.
There is a strong UK presence with the dub-step, elements of reggae and soul as well as R&B and they have all been fused together to make my own sound.
- Well you have touched on my next question really given the mix of sounds that are on the album I was wondering what music and artists influence you?
I grew up listening to a lot of roots reggae and old soul artists like The Shangri-Las, Blonde, Simon and Garfunkel.
I listen to a lot of different stuff now Sizzler, Ferris Harmon, Damien Marley and one of my favourite songs at the moment is Lana Del Ray’s song ‘Videogames’. Whatever mood I am in is the kind of music that I listen to.
- I have had the chance to listen to a few tracks off the album again there is a very upbeat and dancey/pop feel to it so what does this album say about you as a new artist?
We all go through good and bad things in life and I just wanted the album to represent that yes there is a lot of negative and sad things around us but it’s about loving life as much as well can.
I talk about relationships, I talk about friends, and I talk about music and family so it’s something that I think everyone will be able to relate to.
But the album has a good feel to it it’s not depressing and it’s not sad - there are songs for different moods as well.
- You are releasing Music on your own label Dream Juice so why have you decided to do it independently?
It’s going to be released on my label in conjunction with another independent label Cooking Vinyl and I wanted to do that because I am not a puppet artist and I am very hands on with my career; I write all my own stuff and I like to be hands on and know what is going on.
Before I had an album I had mix tapes so I went through the basics of what it would to take to put an album out by doing the mix tapes first.
So I just feel like I have a lot more creative control to do what I want to do and I feel like I know what works. And also there is potential to have other artists on my label in the future.
- How much have you enjoyed the process of being able to write and record the music that you want without having the pressure of a label?
To be honest I probably pressurise myself more than anybody (laughs) as I am very much a perfectionist and a hard worker and everyone around me has to be working hard because I always think if they are not working harder than me then they are not working.
It has been stressful at times but it has been immensely enjoyable as well because this is something that has come from me and it’s out for the world to see. So it has been an amazing experience.
- On the flip of having major creative control what have been the challenges?
Probably budgeting (laughs). When people hear that you have a major label behind you they are more enthusiastic about working with you but the people that understand really music and can see a vision will definitely get what I am trying to do.
I have been fortunate to have worked with a lot of producers and artists that do get that and do have a real passion for music.
But sure the major challenge has been budgeting and competing with other albums that have got a mainstream/major push.
- You have written the tracks for the album so what is a major influence for you from a song-writing perspective?
To be honest it is everyday life - at the moment I am sat in a café and anything could influence me from people sat talking to the way that the trees are moving.
I like to also write to a piece of music because sometimes a piece of music can give me half a story and I feel like I finish that story with the lyrics and the melody.
- You will be hitting the road with Plan B this summer so what can we expect from your live set? How much are you looking forward to getting back on the road?
I’m so excited (laughs) and the fact that it is in forests as well; I am a huge nature lover, so I was like ‘yes I am going to be singing in the middle of forests’.
It’s going to be an energetic performance and I really like to push lyrics so there are going to be lyrics that people can sing-a-long to and get down with but also have fun - we are in the middle of a forest so we need to have fun and get down and party.
- This is not the first arena tour that you have done having toured with N-Dubz so what did you learn as a performer during that tour?
I just gained a lot of confidence and how to work with big stages and how to move on those big stages.
Performing at the O2 arena gave me a vision of what I would do in my concert and what I would want to do on a whole tour and how I would want to use the whole stage and use the lighting and what I would wear.
During that show I could literally picture myself on that stage doing my own tour and that pushed me on to go ‘yeah I am cool I know what I am doing’.
- You have been trying to make it as a singer since you were a teenager and during that time you met Ms Dynamite so can you tell me how that came about?
I use to do stage management with an under eighteen’s road company and I would just help out backstage and get the artists on, there were MC’s doing freestyle and stuff.
And one time I managed to run on stage and sing a little bit of an acapella, I sung Hero by Mariah Carey, and that day Ms Dynamite was performing. So we got introduced and was like ’I think you are really good and you should meet my manager’.
She went on a Blues and Souls tour and I went along to watch and that was the first time that I really saw backstage and how things ran.
I learnt that everyone’s role was just as important as each other; the artist is not the be all and end all because for that artist to do that show you need the lighting guy, the venue, the manager, catering - everyone works to help each other.
I think that just helped me understand behind the scenes and not just me being on stage.
- There are a lot of solo females around at the moment so what sets you apart from the rest?
Well not a lot of artists write their own stuff and I love to write. I am also very hands on when it comes to the production of things and I definitely think that I have strong vision of where I want to go and how I want to look.
As I said doing a mix tape I was the first girl to sing on grime at the time and that was a genre that was dominated by men and I was like ’ok there is only men well I want to be the first girl to do it’ and I did it.
- Finally what’s coming up for you for the rest of 2012?
Just lots of shows and hopefully writing for some other artists. I am definitely going to be starting my next album towards the end of the year because I get withdrawal symptoms when I am not in the studio.
I am on and off doing a school tour at the moment and I have lots of shows in the party islands as well so I will be heading to Ayia Napa, Malaga and Ibiza.
Ny’s new single Music is released 7th May
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw