Nia Archives learned the hard way last year just how busy a traveling musician’s life can be. The 23-year-old came out of lockdown with a busy schedule of live concerts and DJ sets that took him all around the world, including three distinct appearances at Glastonbury in June.
She explains,
“I didn’t know what to expect because it all happened at once. “For instance, traveling to Australia and doing numerous shows necessitates daily flights.
“The following year, I’ll be aware of what helps me feel better: I may need a face mask and fruit on my rider. so I cannot consume hamburgers every day. It destroys you.”
Because Nia’s diaries will only get busier, those life hacks will be crucial. The Bradford-born, Leeds-raised performer has ignited dance floors with songs like the bouncing club smash Mash Up The Dance and the samba-infused hymn Baianá over the past 12 months.
She has already won a Mobo for best electronic artist and an NME Award for best producer thanks to them. With her third-place finish in the BBC’s Sound Of 2023, the musician is now well-positioned for a mainstream crossover in the upcoming 12 months.
Her music is influenced by her dual cultural identity and blends British indie with the dark introspection of Jamaican Soundsystem culture. She is most famous for bringing back the sawtooth breakbeats and frantic intensity of the jungle, though.
She was raised in this style of music. Nia’s grandmother had a sound system in her home and would play gospel, soul, and R&B oldies alongside songs by Goldie, Roni Size, and Shy FX to set the mood for family gatherings.
Nia, though, claims she “never knew the name” of the fashion trend she has come to be known for.
“For instance, when I was around twelve, I adored Emeli Sandé. I thought her debut album was huge, and Heaven is a song with drum and bass. I had a natural inclination toward that genre of music but had no idea what it was.”
Her grandmother had given her more than just music. Nia initially learned about her family’s history as a member of the Windrush generation at a community school in Bradford that the Elder Archives ran every weekend.
We weren’t really taught about our ancestors and all that stuff in school, so I’d go there every Saturday to study about black history, she recalls.
“You have to come and deliver a presentation about a celebrity, they said when I was in year three. Everyone chose, like, Wayne Rooney. However, I was Rosa Parks. I recall my teacher crying because she wasn’t prepared for it.”
She devoured her nana’s book collection since she was a diligent youngster and repeatedly reread Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a poetic and moving memoir about growing up in the racist American South of the 1930s.
Nia, who sampled Angelou’s most well-known poem, Still I Rise, on her most recent EP, Forbidden Feelings, adds, “She translated her pain into poetry, and I absolutely take inspiration from that.
She explained to Apple Music about the song, “A lot of people who listen to my music might not know certain pieces of history, so I feel empowered to teach them.”
I enjoy creating songs that aren’t straightforward parodies.
Estrangement
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At the age of eight, she began writing music and self-taught herself how to use her stepfather’s “broken synthesizer” by viewing YouTube tutorials.
She later acquired a book of Adele’s songs and improved her music reading skills—”not at orchestral level, but well enough to keep practicing.
When she moved out of the family home at the age of 16, her life was forever altered. She has described the split as an “estrangement,” but she is naturally reticent to elaborate.
It did indicate that she was living alone in some of Leeds’ less savory areas, though.
“I won’t lie; when I moved into this sketchy neighborhood, it was very frightening. I used to have to wear my school uniform beneath my coat to class because I didn’t want anyone to know that I was a minor living alone in that neighborhood.”
She dropped out of school when things grew worse and relocated to Manchester, where she resided in a hostel “with all kinds of problematic individuals,” including several newly released criminals.
Despite how depressing it was, she adds, “that was the first step I needed to take on this path.”
She began frequenting house parties, raves, and online forums for obscure music. Soon, she was performing in front of others and producing hip-hop songs in her bedroom as Indigo D.
She recalls the name and sighs,
“Oh god, it makes me cringe so terribly.”
“It has awful music. My words were incredible because they were so honest about everything I was going through, but the music was terrible since I was still learning how to produce beats. On SoundCloud, some of them are still available. I have to get rid of them.”
But it didn’t turn out that Manchester was any more enjoyable than Leeds. Nia’s chances were limited because she was trapped in a terrible relationship and had not completed her education.
She claims,
“I was broke and I had no way out.” I felt somewhat confined.
Sombre dance music
Then a friend informed her of a course at the Community Music school in London. She might earn a degree in music production and business there without having to meet any prerequisites. They only needed proof of motivation and experience.
She claims,
“I showed them some of the beats I’d been making.” “They were awful because everything was simply out of time because I had no idea what a metronome was. Nevertheless, they gave me a chance and stated they could see my potential “.
She put through 60-hour work weeks at Kentucky Fried Chicken that summer in order to save money for her move to London. Three months after she began, lockdown ensued, and all of her lessons were transferred online.
“Like everyone else, I went a little crazy since I was essentially in my room for a year,” she chuckles. But the encounter permanently altered the way she composed music.
“Prior to it, most of my songs were rather depressing, and I had decided from lockdown that I wanted to dance to my music. So I double-timed it to a jungle beat while keeping the depressing lyrics.
I discovered that the type of music I enjoy listening to is melancholy music that is danceable.
Crowd protest
She doesn’t hesitate to part with the music, though. Nia wants to be noticed and to take ownership of her place in the history of jungle music as a young black woman.
She pushed the Mobo Awards to bring back the best dancing act accolade this year after a 20-year hiatus for this reason.
“I was angry that they don’t honor it, especially in a year where dance music has been huge,” she says.
She issued a public letter to the organizers requesting action after becoming frustrated when the initial meetings stagnated.
“Electronic/dance music is the music of Black origin. I cannot sit idly by and watch the music I love to be gentrified and whitewashed,” she declared. Why are you frightened to admit it when I’m not?”
The organizers paid attention this time. Not only was the category reinstated, but Nia also won.
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