MUTUALISM EP – OUT NOW

“To be able to share the skills I have learnt over the years…with people who reminded me so much of myself when I first started was an amazing experience. The more I look back at the programme the more I see how important these types of things are for women, queer and gender minority artists in our industry.”

Cape Town producer and record label owner Rose Bonica reflects on her experience for the past 6 months. A beautiful period where a new international collaboration programme came to life and the 4 track EPMutualism was born.

Mutualism EP is a joyous moment, which sees two communities reach out across continents to experiment and empower. A journey that spans African percussion, tinges of jungle, and beautifully sublime vocal performances.

The seeds of this EP were planted early last year. South African community organiser shesaid.so connected with Reform Radio, record label Rhythm Lab Records and Rose Bonica, to create an online space where 3 musicians from underserved communities in the Western Cape of South Africa collaborate on a track with 3 established Manchester producers. Alongside this collaboration, Rose worked with the selected group of young musicians aged between 18 and 35 to help develop new skills, knowledge and connections within the music industry.

The Manchester heavy hitters in question were Murder He Wrote, Obeka and Ellen Beth Abdi. The experienced artists mentored the South African participants, guiding them through the process of creating, structuring and releasing music for a label.

Vocalist and music maker Ellen Beth Abdi paired up with electronic artist Singlemotheroftwo. The two’s production style and instruments played didn’t align, but Ellen celebrated this as the “difference actually lent itself really well to the creative process as we filled in the blanks for each other when creating the track.” The track created from this collaboration is Teething Problems, an etherial breaks track filled with atmospheric vocals and out of this world sounds and piano chords that sew all elements together beautifully.

Me Gusta resident Obeka joined forces with singer songwriter Chulu to produce Alone, a track inspired by one of their very first conversations on the feeling of longing to be around family but being distanced by circumstance. Chulu talks on how they wanted to create “something that felt like a siren call to home…placing it in sounds people often turn to when looking for release.” “We created a narrative to the song which communicates togetherness and understanding of unification through music” Obeka adds, “if we harness this and take care of the people around us you’ll never be alone!”

And finally, we have UK funky legend Murder He Wrote and house enthusiast Shanzo making the third duo. The two created Lemons, a track that radiates positivity and good vibes with its warm melodies and dynamic yet chill percussion pattern.

“Working with an established artist was very exciting,” Shanzo reminisces. “I saw it as an opportunity to elevate the current place my art is at…The collaboration, while a little outside of my comfort zone, felt very natural and helped me engage with my writing in particular in a new and exciting way.”

The exchange of skills was not just a one way street. Seasoned producer Murder He Wrote shares how the collaboration encouraged him to see producing in a new light. “Shanzo brought real positivity, creativity and good vibes to our zoom sessions and also a different way of working to me – more melody led (and in different software too). It’s definitely inspired me to switch up my way of approaching a track.” 

Listen to the full EP below.