Get to know the latest PRS for Music members including jazz vocalist Malaika and teenage indie rockers Pesky!...
Malaika
Any new, unsigned jazz singer and songwriter who can charm the ears of multi-instrumentalist and broadcaster Jamie Cullum is a talent worth giving some attention.
And so it is with the fresh-faced Malaika. Alongside fellow jazz acts the Peter Edwards Trio and Mammal Hands, she was one of the recipients of backing from BBC Introducing and the PRS for Music Foundation to journey over to Canada and perform at this year’s Montreal Jazz Festival. Jamie handpicked her from a multitude of hopefuls and a canny choice it proved to be, with Malaika winning over new fans at the event with her stunning voice and contemporary, smoky take on classic jazz styles.
Originally hailing from Ireland, Malaika is a musician who has found her home in Leeds, a city where she’s been able to combine her passion for soul and jazz with the rawer rhythm and blues inspired by her African and Irish roots.
She came to Yorkshire to study a BA in Popular Music and simultaneously immersed herself in the vibrant local music scene, refining her songwriting through live performances and finding a bunch of like-minded musicians for her band. The quartet’s rhythm and harmonies provide the perfect backdrop to Malaika’s vocals helping her create a deeper, more personal sound. They’ve also helped her increase her presence via BBC Radio plays and collaborations with Jake Bugg and Snow Patrol songwriter Ian Archer.
2015 certainly looks like being a pivotal year for Malaika. Support slots with Riot Jazz at London’s Unsigned Festival and the Best of Indigo Sessions have all whet appetites for her forthcoming debut EP. She’s also been announced as one of the winners of the Trinity Sessions in Leeds, another accolade underlining her musical talent as one to keep your eyes on. Those in the audience at the Montreal Jazz Festival will remember where they heard her first…
facebook.com/malmusiconline
Any new, unsigned jazz singer and songwriter who can charm the ears of multi-instrumentalist and broadcaster Jamie Cullum is a talent worth giving some attention.
And so it is with the fresh-faced Malaika. Alongside fellow jazz acts the Peter Edwards Trio and Mammal Hands, she was one of the recipients of backing from BBC Introducing and the PRS for Music Foundation to journey over to Canada and perform at this year’s Montreal Jazz Festival. Jamie handpicked her from a multitude of hopefuls and a canny choice it proved to be, with Malaika winning over new fans at the event with her stunning voice and contemporary, smoky take on classic jazz styles.
Originally hailing from Ireland, Malaika is a musician who has found her home in Leeds, a city where she’s been able to combine her passion for soul and jazz with the rawer rhythm and blues inspired by her African and Irish roots.
She came to Yorkshire to study a BA in Popular Music and simultaneously immersed herself in the vibrant local music scene, refining her songwriting through live performances and finding a bunch of like-minded musicians for her band. The quartet’s rhythm and harmonies provide the perfect backdrop to Malaika’s vocals helping her create a deeper, more personal sound. They’ve also helped her increase her presence via BBC Radio plays and collaborations with Jake Bugg and Snow Patrol songwriter Ian Archer.
2015 certainly looks like being a pivotal year for Malaika. Support slots with Riot Jazz at London’s Unsigned Festival and the Best of Indigo Sessions have all whet appetites for her forthcoming debut EP. She’s also been announced as one of the winners of the Trinity Sessions in Leeds, another accolade underlining her musical talent as one to keep your eyes on. Those in the audience at the Montreal Jazz Festival will remember where they heard her first…
facebook.com/malmusiconline
Stefania Passamonte
As an international pianist and recording artist Stefania Passamonte is rapidly making a name for herself in concert halls across the world.
A performance graduate from Royal Academy of Music in London and Ecole Normale in Paris she went on to set up the internationally renowned London Piano Masters academy as well as the classical record label Master Chords Records. Her reinvigorations of Bach and Mozart have seen her nominated for classical prizes at the Grammy’s.
When she’s not recording, she’s working as a member of the Classical Committee of the BPI for the UK’s Classic BRITs. Look out for a new album from one of the busiest classical music voices featuring original compositions alongside classical repertoire on the theme of The Tempest.
stefaniapassamonte.com
As an international pianist and recording artist Stefania Passamonte is rapidly making a name for herself in concert halls across the world.
A performance graduate from Royal Academy of Music in London and Ecole Normale in Paris she went on to set up the internationally renowned London Piano Masters academy as well as the classical record label Master Chords Records. Her reinvigorations of Bach and Mozart have seen her nominated for classical prizes at the Grammy’s.
When she’s not recording, she’s working as a member of the Classical Committee of the BPI for the UK’s Classic BRITs. Look out for a new album from one of the busiest classical music voices featuring original compositions alongside classical repertoire on the theme of The Tempest.
stefaniapassamonte.com
Pesky!
Glam rockers the Sweet once sang ‘All over the land, The kids are finally startin', To get the upper hand’ - 30 years later, Pesky! a seven piece indie rock band of 11 and 12 year olds, are doing their bit to make the seventies’ act’s prophecy a reality.
‘Right now I feel like exploding!’ said Pesky!’s debut single Keep Me which they did at the start of the summer with a precocious mix of shoegazing guitars and harmonies bursting all over BBC 6 Music, The Guardian and NME.
Hailing from Ulverton, Cumbria, a small market town on the edge of the Lake District, the gang met at Croftlands Junior School Guitar Club. With rehearsals fit in around Scouts and dance club, and consisting of eating as many sweets as writing songs, they made their debut mini LP on an iPad over the course of one fateful weekend. Smells Like Tween Spirit was picked up by indie stalwarts Fierce Panda earlier in the year and set them off on what their label is dubbing a ‘tweenage rampage’. As long as that homework is done on time…
facebook.com/wearepesky
Glam rockers the Sweet once sang ‘All over the land, The kids are finally startin', To get the upper hand’ - 30 years later, Pesky! a seven piece indie rock band of 11 and 12 year olds, are doing their bit to make the seventies’ act’s prophecy a reality.
‘Right now I feel like exploding!’ said Pesky!’s debut single Keep Me which they did at the start of the summer with a precocious mix of shoegazing guitars and harmonies bursting all over BBC 6 Music, The Guardian and NME.
Hailing from Ulverton, Cumbria, a small market town on the edge of the Lake District, the gang met at Croftlands Junior School Guitar Club. With rehearsals fit in around Scouts and dance club, and consisting of eating as many sweets as writing songs, they made their debut mini LP on an iPad over the course of one fateful weekend. Smells Like Tween Spirit was picked up by indie stalwarts Fierce Panda earlier in the year and set them off on what their label is dubbing a ‘tweenage rampage’. As long as that homework is done on time…
facebook.com/wearepesky
Valerio Delphi
Valerio Delphi is a producer, DJ and re-edit master. Currently based in Rome, this talented music maker is better known as one half of disco house duo Tiger and Woods.
As producers their releases have included a smorgasboard of garish dancefloor 12’s featuring a range of original material and remixes for the likes of Tensnake, Aeroplane, Holy Ghost, Krystal Klear and Rex the Dog.
The pair met through the Red Bull Music Academy before getting in the studio together and spawning the album Through The Green in 2011, a record joining the dots between edits, sampling, remixing and production. Now Valerio is beginning to release solo music, as well as enjoying spiralling success DJing and producing as one half of the duo. Hear him on a dancefloor near you…
facebook.com/valerio.delphi
