Connected Sounds

Tom Aspaul is an independent singer/songwriter and producer from Wolverhampton. After writing songs for Celeste, Kylie Minogue and AlunaGeorge, in 2020, Tom released his debut album, 'Black Country Disco' - lauded as 'queer disco album of the year' by Gay Times, 'utterly luscious' by GQ, and featured in several end-of-year lists, including both The Guardian and Albumism. In less than a year, 'Black Country Disco' has been streamed nearly 3 million times as well as selling close to 1,500 physical copies - this was followed by 'Black Country Discothèque', a remix album including collaborations with Grammy-nominated superstar MNEK and 80s legend Kim Wilde, as well as several other up and coming queer artists. Tom embarks on his first-ever UK tour, 'The Revenge Body Tour' in July 2021 - with tickets selling out in under 15 minutes. Tom was awarded the PPL Momentum Prize last year to help fund his second studio album, the first single arrives later this year. Our host Maya Kally (she/they) is a genre-free singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist with jazz, indie and experimental influence. Maya's music includes, 'Fantastic new talent!’ - Amazing Radio {Another Time}, ‘Divine Single’ - BBC Radio 6 Music {Chose To Stay}, 'Incredible. Deep and intellectual soul-jazz music for modern day's issues.' - Esquire Thailand {We're Waiting}. Twitter - @MayakallyMusic [https://twitter.com/MayakallyMusic] Instagram - @mayakally [https://instagram.com/mayakally] Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mayakallymusic/ [https://www.facebook.com/mayakallymusic/] Podcast Host, Project Manager, and Editor - Maya Kally // Podcast Assistant - Conor Giblin // Artwork by Alysha Takoushian // In association with Come Play With Me Connected Sounds is made thanks to the invaluable support of the Social Enterprise Support Fund, distributed by Unltd, and the government’s Culture Recovery Fund. Thanks also to National Lottery players for making this possible.

From Self Esteem (Rebecca Lucy Taylor) [https://www.instagram.com/rebeccalucytaylor/?hl=en] to Kindness (Adam Bainbridge) [https://www.instagram.com/kindnessmusic/?hl=en], Denai Moore [https://www.instagram.com/denaimoore/?hl=en], Quinn Christopherson [https://www.instagram.com/quinnchristopherson/?hl=en], Chardine Taylor Stone [https://www.instagram.com/bigjoanieband/?hl=en], Erin Rae [https://www.instagram.com/erinraemusic/?hl=en], and Tom Aspaul [https://www.instagram.com/tom_aspaul/?hl=en], we wanted to put together a complication of best bits from our season one episodes! Our host Maya Kally [https://www.instagram.com/mayakally/?hl=en] (she/they) is a genre-free singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist with jazz, indie and experimental influence. Maya's music includes, 'Fantastic new talent!’ - Amazing Radio {Another Time}, ‘Divine Single’ - BBC Radio 6 Music {Chose To Stay}, 'Incredible. Deep and intellectual soul-jazz music for modern day's issues.' - Esquire Thailand {We're Waiting}. Podcast Host, Project Manager, and Editor - Maya Kally [https://www.instagram.com/mayakally/?hl=en] // Podcast Assistant - Conor Giblin [https://twitter.com/conorjgiblin] // Artwork by Alysha Takoushian [https://instagram.com/alyshatakoushian] // In association with Come Play With Me [https://www.cpwm.co/] Connected Sounds is made thanks to the invaluable support of the Social Enterprise Support Fund, distributed by Unltd, and the government’s Culture Recovery Fund. Thanks also to National Lottery players for making this possible.

Today's guest on 'Connected Sounds' is Erin Rae - a Nashville indie folk singer-songwriter gifted with a unique ability to fuse musical genres and influences to craft songs that feel fresh and wholly her own. Both lyrically and sonically, she strikes a fiercely independent chord, proudly releasing a deeply personal record Putting On Airs that reflects her own upbringing in Tennessee, including the prejudices and injustices that she witnessed as a child that continue to impact her life to this day. According to Rae, "this album was born out of a need to do some healing work in my personal life, in order to address some fears and patterns of mine to allow my true feelings to come to the surface." In this episode, Erin discusses growing up in the southern United States, living with internalised homophobia, her aunt’s experience of losing a child custody battle in Alabama in the 1990s due to being LGBT+ and the importance of acknowledging the small steps of progress towards LGBT+ rights in the South. Twitter - @ErinRaeMusic [//twitter.com/ErinRaeMusic] Instagram - @erinraemusic [https://www.instagram.com/erinraemusic/] Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ErinRaeMusic/ [https://www.facebook.com/ErinRaeMusic/] Our host Maya Kally (she/they) is a genre-free singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist with jazz, indie and experimental influence. Maya's music includes, 'Fantastic new talent!’ - Amazing Radio {Another Time}, ‘Divine Single’ - BBC Radio 6 Music {Chose To Stay}, 'Incredible. Deep and intellectual soul-jazz music for modern day's issues.' - Esquire Thailand {We're Waiting}. Twitter - @MayakallyMusic [//twitter.com/MayakallyMusic] Instagram - @mayakally [//instagram.com/mayakally] Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mayakallymusic/ [https://www.facebook.com/mayakallymusic/] Podcast Host, Project Manager, and Editor - Maya Kally [https://www.instagram.com/mayakally/?hl=en] // Podcast Assistant - Conor Giblin [https://twitter.com/conorjgiblin] // Artwork by Alysha Takoushian [https://instagram.com/alyshatakoushian] // In association with Come Play With Me [https://www.cpwm.co/] Connected Sounds is made thanks to the invaluable support of the Social Enterprise Support Fund, distributed by Unltd, and the government’s Culture Recovery Fund. Thanks also to National Lottery players for making this possible.

Joining us on the podcast today is Denai Moore - a British-Jamaican genre-free artist who rose to prominence as a guest vocalist on SBTRKT's 2014 album ‘Wonder Where We Land’. Moore was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, where she started to learn to play keyboard from her father. Her family moved to Stratford, London when she was 10. In 2020, Denai Moore returned with her third studio album Modern Dread, encapsulating the anxiety-inducing state of the world in recent years. In this episode, Denai discusses being inspired by Lauryn Hill and Michaela Coel, the anxiety-inducing nature of social media and much more… Twitter - @DenaiMoore [//twitter.com/DenaiMoore] Instagram - @denaimoore [//instagram.com/denaimoore] Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DenaiMoore/ [https://www.facebook.com/DenaiMoore/] Our host Maya Kally (she/they) is a genre-free singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist with jazz, indie and experimental influence. Maya's music includes, 'Fantastic new talent!’ - Amazing Radio {Another Time}, ‘Divine Single’ - BBC Radio 6 Music {Chose To Stay}, 'Incredible. Deep and intellectual soul-jazz music for modern day's issues.' - Esquire Thailand {We're Waiting}. Twitter - @MayakallyMusic [//twitter.com/MayakallyMusic] Instagram - @mayakally [//instagram.com/mayakally] Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mayakallymusic/ [https://www.facebook.com/mayakallymusic/] Podcast Host, Project Manager, and Editor - Maya Kally // Podcast Assistant - Conor Giblin [//twitter.com/conorjgiblin] // Artwork by Alysha Takoushian [//instagram.com/alyshatakoushian] // In association with Come Play With Me [//www.cpwm.co] Connected Sounds is made thanks to the invaluable support of the Social Enterprise Support Fund, distributed by Unltd, and the government’s Culture Recovery Fund. Thanks also to National Lottery players for making this possible.

Today’s guest on the podcast is Rebecca Lucy Taylor (she/her) - an unapologetic pop star hailing from Rotherham, UK, who has been releasing music as Self Esteem since 2017. In this episode, Rebecca talks candidly about female pleasure, relationships, the fears that come alongside being a woman, navigating personalities in a band and so much more.... Her critically-acclaimed debut album ‘Compliments Please’ was released in March 2019. Prior to this, Taylor was one half of the duo Slow Club, who released four studio albums between 2009-2016. In April 2021, Taylor released ‘I Do This All The Time’, giving us the first taste of her upcoming sophomore album, due for release in the summer of 2021. Twitter @SELFESTEEM___ [//twitter.com/SELFESTEEM___] Instagram @selfesteemselfesteem [//instagram.com/selfesteemselfesteem] Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RLTSELFESTEEM [https://www.facebook.com/RLTSELFESTEEM] ‘I Do This All The Time’ by Self Esteem © 2021 Universal Music Operations Limited ℗ 2021 Universal Music Operations Limited Our host Maya Kally (she/they) is a genre-free singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist with jazz, indie and experimental influence. Maya's music includes, 'Fantastic new talent!’ - Amazing Radio {Another Time}, ‘Divine Single’ - BBC Radio 6 Music {Chose To Stay}, 'Incredible. Deep and intellectual soul-jazz music for modern day's issues.' - Esquire Thailand {We're Waiting}. Twitter - @MayakallyMusic [//twitter.com/MayakallyMusic] Instagram - @mayakally [//instagram.com/mayakally] Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mayakallymusic/ [https://www.facebook.com/mayakallymusic/] Podcast Host, Project Manager, and Editor - Maya Kally [https://www.instagram.com/mayakally/?hl=en] // Podcast Assistant - Conor Giblin [https://twitter.com/conorjgiblin] // Artwork by Alysha Takoushian [https://instagram.com/alyshatakoushian] // In association with Come Play With Me [https://www.cpwm.co/] Connected Sounds is made thanks to the invaluable support of the Social Enterprise Support Fund, distributed by Unltd, and the government’s Culture Recovery Fund. Thanks also to National Lottery players for making this possible.