Leila Adu Photo: Leon Dale
Leila Adu is one of those rare artists who bridges musical worlds, whose music sits as comfortably in an orchestral concert hall as in a late-night underground bar in New York. Brought up in New Zealand, of Ghanaian descent, she’s a composer doing her PHD at Princeton in the U.S, but she’s also part of electro-improv band The Miz’Ries, and produces skewiff pop under her own name.
She was back in Wellington in February, speaking at web technology conference Webstock - back in NY now she tells Kirsten Johnstone over Skype what that was about.
"Yeah I did this talk called 'A Jewelled Net - mindulness, music, people planet.' It just made me think for months about how technology has affected the music industry, musicians and our creativity."
Leila Adu Love Cells Photo: Melissa Cowen
"I've always done a combination of producing music and playing the piano, but I never really thought of it as producing, and I've gotta say, I think that's self-sexism. Girls often don't say 'I'm a producer' even if you produce the stuff yourself."
Hear more at the audio link above and head to Belts And Whistles to hear Leila Adu's new EP 'Scary Love Monster' and companion EP Love Cells on May 20th.
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Artist: Leila Adu
Song: Nefertiti's Waking Dream, Bluebeards And Monsters, Scary Love Monster
Composer: Adu
Album: Scary Love Monster
Label: Belts+Whistles
Artist: Leila Adu
Song: Maharoro
Composer: Trad. Zimbabwe
Album: n/a
Label: live recording at Leila's house
Artist: Chartwell Dutiro
Song: Maharoro
Composer: Trad. Zimbabwe
Album: Chivaraipze
Label: Chartwell
Artist: Appietus
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