A new production project from In Place of War is bringing musicians from all over the world to form an electronic band together.
There’s nothing quite like the power of a group of women joining together with a common goal.
A new production project from In Place of War is bringing musicians from all over the world to form an electronic band together.
Under the direction of Brazilian DJ Laima Leyton (of duo Mixhell and Soulwax), GRRRL is a combination of Mercury Prize winning Speech Debelle, AWA (African Women Arise) Zimbabwe’s rapper queen, Wiyaala, Ghana’s “Young Lioness”, Cape Town nu-jazz and folk singer Nono Nkoane, Sohini Alam from Bangladesh, DJ and percussionist MABE from Venezuela and queen of Brazilian dancehall, Lei Di Dai.
“For me, it is one of the most amazing things that could happen,” says Lei Di Dai, “because it is giving power and giving space to women artists to bring themselves up and to speak, and sing and have a voice.”
“It’s amazing to have talented people form all over the world from places of conflict and crisis meeting up to make music together,” says Laima. “The fact that we’re all girls makes it very different as well. In a way it’s not only about being feminist but also about giving room to women to work out music by themselves.”
The women are bringing together their cultures to create electronic tracks, which are recorded and produced in London, before taking to the stage to share the sound. Folklore in Hackney is hosting GRRRL on Thursday August 24, but the tracks will all be made available at the end of the tour.
The importance of the project, says Lei Di Dai, is “to recognise that you’re not alone in the world. A lot of these artists that are relevant in their own communities know that there are other people like them on the other side of the world with the same situation, and we have the power and the opportunity to build something from scratch together.”
Laima adds: “Although all of these girls they carry their cultures, they carry their personalities and their traditions, they are also women of the world and they’re ready to go and ready to learn, so this is extremely important for all of us.”
Tickets available here
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