Hailing from London, meet rising artist Aziya, who’s recently released her new mixtape, Bambi. Born to be on stage – “it is my favourite thing ever, it’s basically why I do this as a career” –, the singer and songwriter is a whirlwind of energy whose music is inspired by anything — from streams of consciousness to The Virgin Suicides, to life in general. With the launch of her new ten-track record and performing at festivals like Pitchfork, we sit down with Aziya to discuss guitars, being a control freak, Kim Gordon, and growing up in London.
Congratulations on releasing your most recent project, Bambi! It was truly such a vibrant and surprising listening experience. I wanted to start off by asking what is a main source of inspiration for you at the moment? For instance, what have you been listening to and what films have you been watching?
Hi! Ah thank you. Bambi 4eva. Movies, books, music and to be honest just life are always my inspo for writing. At the moment, films I’ve finished and adored are The Virgin Suicides, Gummo and Meet Me in the Bathroom. I’m getting through Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin after just finishing Cleopatra and Frankenstein (Coco Mellors) and listening to a lot of BNYX, Binki and Snow Strippers.
Place is such an important anchor for artists because we gravitate towards what we’ve been exposed to by our family and our communities. We also sometimes yearn to escape from that very anchor. You grew up in Hackney, East London — how do you think place has influenced and nurtured your creativity? Has it shaped you as an artist, if at all?
Growing up in London full stop has shaped my creativity. It’s raining all the time and the sky is mainly grey, which causes my seasonal depression. It’s dirty but beautiful, filled with rich historical buildings older than all our grannies put together, and treading on this ground every day are people from all over the world: people that look like me, people that don’t look like me — all living in this capital tryna do something with their lives. It’s really hard not to be inspired by this crazy place and I’m lucky to call it home.
This ten-track mixtape is very ekphrastic and carries so many cultural references within. We have a nod to Tom Verlaine, a track titled after Jeffrey Eugenides’ protagonist Lux Lisbon from The Virgin Suicides. Can you tell us a little about your relationship with the book or Coppola’s film adaptation? How present were these works when you were building the soundscape for call my name (lux lisbon)?
Ekphrastic is an insane word *claps* thank you. I love the movie so much and I ended up reading the book because I read somewhere that Kim Gordon told Coppola to read it, which led to her making the movie. Anything Kim Gordon says, I’ll do. The movie is so beautiful and I felt I related to Lux Lisbon’s experience growing up and just being a girl.
But I felt frustrated at the fact that for something as relatable as first times, love, and heartbreak, I couldn’t relate to it any further because like the book, it is written from the male perspective, and the movie being set in suburban America meant that no one (except an extra) looked like me. So I wanted to reclaim it and tell the story of girlhood from a new perspective. Oh, and crush (tom verlaine) is called that because it’s written about a boy that looked like an uglier (less talented) version of the frontman of the band Television.
But I felt frustrated at the fact that for something as relatable as first times, love, and heartbreak, I couldn’t relate to it any further because like the book, it is written from the male perspective, and the movie being set in suburban America meant that no one (except an extra) looked like me. So I wanted to reclaim it and tell the story of girlhood from a new perspective. Oh, and crush (tom verlaine) is called that because it’s written about a boy that looked like an uglier (less talented) version of the frontman of the band Television.
The music video to this track has this archival, even nostalgic hue to it. There are images of you in a barren field on a bed, on a rooftop — was this a reimagining of Sofia Coppola’s depictions of suburban yearning, and the anxieties of youth, or are we reading into it?
You can read into it however you want, the song is as much yours as it is mine now! I just wanna make amazing visuals to go alongside the music.
What is your usual process when creating visuals and the artwork for your tracks and longer projects? Do you always know what you want to flesh out visually and what story needs to be told, or is it more organic and collaborative?
I usually have the vision in my head whilst I’m writing the songs. So mini music videos have already been fleshed out whilst I’m working on the song. I think this comes from long car journeys as a kid listening to Fall Out Boy, No Doubt and System Of A Down — I’d close my eyes and make up videos for the songs in my head lol. Now, with my own music it helps.
I’m a control freak and love to be involved creatively in all areas, from treatments for my music videos to the choice of the font for Bambi, which I knew from day dot had to be in metal writing (fitting for this interview!). But I love collaborating with my very small team, who help me at times to take a step back and then hone in on the finer details. But I think I’d feel like a fake if these creative visions and the aesthetic of my project wasn’t coming from me? Bambi is basically what I envisioned in my head, brought to life by some close collaborators.
I’m a control freak and love to be involved creatively in all areas, from treatments for my music videos to the choice of the font for Bambi, which I knew from day dot had to be in metal writing (fitting for this interview!). But I love collaborating with my very small team, who help me at times to take a step back and then hone in on the finer details. But I think I’d feel like a fake if these creative visions and the aesthetic of my project wasn’t coming from me? Bambi is basically what I envisioned in my head, brought to life by some close collaborators.
How do you feel you’ve evolved sonically and lyrically in this mixtape in contrast to your previous projects and EPs like Lonely Castles?
Sonically it’s evolved ‘cause we’re stepping more into a glitchy world with way more synths and drum machines and guitars used for more stylistic effect, whereas they’re all over Lonely Castles, which I adore, but I defo tried starting songs without the guitar first to push myself. Lyrically, I’ve tested myself as well to be honest, I need a lie down! I’m joking — sort of. But I do feel that I wrote most of the songs with the intention of getting the message across within the first thirty seconds, so there’s no confusion with what it is and who it is I’m talking about, it’s something that I think in real life I struggle to do.
You have great style. Where do you find your clothes and what eras, people and designers mould your fashion choices?
Dude, thank you! I’ve grown up around fashion. My mum has great style and would take me to exhibitions for Christian Dior or Alexander McQueen and we’d discuss their processes together, which I always loved. Although I never had the desire to sew and be a designer, I loved the idea of wearing the clothes and inventing new personas.
As a kid I would read a lot of blogs like Tavi Gevinson’s, staying up late on Tumblr making moodboards, so I was constantly looking for fashion inspiration. I think growing up in London was also an attribute too, there’s punks with mohawks walking down the street past people in Japanese lolita fashion — I love it. Also, God save the charity store, what an invention.
As a kid I would read a lot of blogs like Tavi Gevinson’s, staying up late on Tumblr making moodboards, so I was constantly looking for fashion inspiration. I think growing up in London was also an attribute too, there’s punks with mohawks walking down the street past people in Japanese lolita fashion — I love it. Also, God save the charity store, what an invention.
“I wrote most of the songs with the intention of getting the message across within the first thirty seconds, so there’s no confusion with what it is and who it is I’m talking about.”
You’re a vocalist and producer but also a guitarist. Do you remember discovering the guitar for the first time?
Yesss! I was ten and I had a got my first nylon string Spanish guitar for my bday. The first songs I learnt consisted of Green Day’s Time of your Life , Luka by Susanne Vega, and, yes… Wonderwall.
Our relationships to instruments can be so intimate, as we can build a routine around our practice, and also be in this sort of intense physical dialogue. How do you interact with the guitar on a day-to-day basis?
I literally wake up to my guitars as they are hanging on the wall opposite my bed, so they’re the first things I see. In a weird way, I’ve never thought about that. I also have named all of them. My recent guitar purchase is a Fender Jaguar from the 1960s and it’s a Japanese make, so it is called Nintai, which means patience. I sometimes need that when I’m learning new riffs and give myself a hard time.
Your music seems very auto-fictional in that the lyrics are quite confessional and very introspective. What comes first in your process, melody or language?
Melody always. But lyrics and streams of consciousness are always being put in notepads and my notes app.
How do you feel about genre categories, (your music has been placed in the lineage of alt-rock for instance)? I’m sure it’s nice to be seen as a part of a tradition in a way, but labels can also be very confining.
To be honest, I get both sides. But I think for me it’s just cool to know that if and when my vinyl gets put into record stores it will be under alt-rock, cause that’s what it is.
You’ve recently played Pitchfork Festival in London and many other gigs in your career. How do you navigate being a performer as well as a composer? Do you thrive being on stage and communing with an audience or are you more comfortable in the studio?
Being on stage is my favourite thing ever, it’s basically why I do this as a career. I feel the best on stage. Come to a show sometime!
What was the first concert you attended which was particularly moving or meaningful to you?
When I was ten, I went to my first concert and it was My Chemical Romance as I was a massive fan and I still have the content on a flip phone of me filming myself singing Helena. I remember just wanting to jump on stage with them.
Could you tell us about sharing the stage with Florence and The Machine since you accompanied them on tour? How did this opportunity come about?
Honestly, it was so inspiring to see and share the stage with a serious pro — I loved every second of it. I am also a masssiveeeee fan, so I was also tryna to compose myself at the same time. She is amazing and so down to Earth. I actually think she started following me back and then the offer came in pretty shortly after. It’s definitely the power of social media.
Is there a specific performance of yours that you hold dear? Maybe the space was particularly special, or you experienced a city or someone for the first time.
I have a few shows that sprung to mind, the first is actually a place called the Queen of Hoxton, which is the first venue I got allowed into when I first turned eighteen. I remember thinking how funny it was to go from getting into the venue to then playing it in front of a huge crowd. The other show was in Hamburg, Germany — it was amazing to soak up a new culture and it was the first time I experienced seeing people singing my lyrics back to me even though their first language isn't English. It was a big deal. The other show was of course the O2 Arena in London supporting Florence, I left the stage saying I wanna sell out the O2 myself one day, develop into an artist like Florence and do this for the rest of my life.
As someone in her early twenties, you’re very prolific. What do you wish the next few years might bring in terms of your artistic trajectory?
Glastonbury Pyramid stage headline slot, please and thank you! x
