REMOTE RHYTHM LAB #1 W/ SINGLEMOTHEROFTWO & ELLEN BETH ABDI

Ramping creativity and collaboration up to the next level, we are back with a bang with the new edition of our Remote Rhythm Lab. The initial seeds of this project were planted in early 2021 when ten South African music makers were invited to be mentored by the renowned electronic act, producer and visual artist, Rose Bonica, and shesaid.so. The South African arm of shesaid.so is a collective focused on the unity of women, LGBTQIA+ and gender non-conforming creatives, which works to elevate the voices of marginalised genders in the music industry.

Following some remarkable mentoring sessions, all participants submitted their tracks for the opportunity to be selected for our penultimate Remote Rhythm Lab project. Within this, we invited our three selected finalists of undeserving areas of the Western Cape of South Africa to be mentored and collaborate with three experienced Manchester producers. Not only did they create a track together, but they also recorded the process in contribution towards our Remote Rhythm Lab docuseries, centred on their creative process and the challenges they faced. Fast forward to now, and we’ve got a whole EPand mini docuseries to show for it – and our first episode is out now! Keep reading to meet our first pair of collaborators in our Remote Rhythm Lab documentary debut.

Whilst some of you may have heard of Remote Rhythm Lab before, this exciting series of projects forms differently each time. Back in 2018, we saw five pairs of differing artists spending 24 hours in our studios to fast-track the creation of a collaborative track. Meanwhile, in 2020, COVID-19 led to the fruition of our first Remote Rhythm Lab – a project made possible by Jägermeisterand the Arts Council. This involved Manchester artists pairing up with four artists from across the world to create a track via exploratory virtual methods in 24 hours. This year, kindly funded by British Council, we tested the boundaries of remote collaboration again with our pairs taking to their decks, computers, and instruments to make a record remotely.

Meet our first pairing: Manchester vocalist and music maker Ellen Beth Abdi and electronic artist Singlemotheroftwo, a.k.a Björn

“Music has always been an important and special part of my daily activity, or almost a meditative process where I can externalise and synthesise things into more sonic and audible soundscapes in ways I can’t translate my thoughts and feelings in the world”, says Björn, introducing themself on the pair’s documentary all the way in South Africa. Next we meet Ellen, acting as both a mentor and collaborator to Björn, who makes a nod to this being her first experience of making a track completely remotely with someone on the other side of the world and the initial difficulties they faced. “The tune itself is called Teething Problems because of the initial issues we had when attempting to record on zoom”.

From Björn’s start of chopping up and playing with a 135bpm amen break drumbeat, to Ellen coming in with a taste of her soulful melodies and chords. Whilst the pair’s typical genres and production processes didn’t align, they ended up complimenting each other’s areas of expertise and struggles – “we have very different musical backgrounds with regards to the instruments and styles we play and our method of production. Turns out that difference actually lent itself really well to the creative process as we filled in the blanks for each other when creating the track”, says Ellen.

However, it wasn’t just the combined creativity and remote process which pushed the pair to new boundaries, Björn also acknowledged how working with a fellow creative in Manchester made them more able to create a safe and appropriate space for the LGBTQIA+ community within the electronic music scene. The combination of both individuals’ life experiences and creativity made the idyllic blend in completing Teething Problems, which Ellen describes as mellow, sincere, and floaty within the episode. To see the full creative process and our first set of artists working together, check out our first episode now.

Teething Problems is part of a full record, featuring collaborative tunes made by all of our pairings on the project, released on our sister label Rhythm Lab. To hear a sneak peek of the music before our next documentary episode is out, listen to the Mutalism EP below.