The archetypal listener of Athalia’s soulful vocal-based, beat-chopped electronica is the hybrid love-child of Sade, Bob James, Hudson Mohawk and DJ Shadow… so I think that’s just about everyone covered then. Athalia is an up-and-coming South America-born, Melbourne based singer/producer who is just about to drop her debut EP Thoughtcrime on May 14th and has already collaborated with the likes of Ta-Ku and Elaquent, 3LLL, Jazzo & Melodiesinfonie and Miles Bonny. We catch up with her for some talk about her release.
My name is…. Athalia
I live in… Melbourne
My new EP is called… Thoughtcrime – it’s a bit of an inside joke. Its also taken from my favourite book [1984 by George Orwell]. If you want to get your brain wrinkled I highly recommend it.
Some of the things that inspired it are… I wish I could say something less corny than the pains of love but truth is you can either deal with it, move on, or loose your head entirely. I think I chose option B haha. That’s really how it all started though.
It’s cover art looks like… My face! Well half of it.
My favourite track is… Blackrainbows for sure. I was so honoured to work with producers Jazzo and Melodiesinfonie from Switzerland. Those guys are destined for big things. Lucky I got on that wagon in time…haha
The person I can imagine listening to it is… If Sade, Jamiroquai, Bob James, Hudson Mohawk, Doom and DJ Shadow got together and had a love child, then I’d hope he or she would plug my music…. sorry that’s actually sort of messed up.
My favourite mixtape would be… A complete musical salad. I’d want everything in there from future beat to boss nova to jazz to conscious rap with some soul and funk. Heck, lets even throw in that guy from Jurassic 5 with the really low voice. Why not. I don’t discriminate. That’s one thing I’ve learned not to do unless the music is meaningless…. I’m not going to pretend to be some kid knee deep in what’s current or act like my no.1 hobby is crate diggin’. I’ll never stick to one style or claim to be of a certain genre. Haha, my style is essentially the absence of it.
When I’m not making music I… Sit at home with my cat watching LOTR…I also do admin for an upcoming Australian music label. (Yes… I abbreviated Lord Of the Rings there)
The last thing I downloaded was… 50 Days for Dilla by Ta-ku
The next project I’m working on is…. Making millions. That’s it.
Follow Athalia’s Bandcamp and Facebook for all the release info of Thoughtcrime and listen to the Blackrainbow preview below.