Coming out of isolation

Do you remember those Pure Moods CDs that used to be advertised on television?

Isoulation, the five-tracks, 15-minute EP by local music composer and producer, Mark-Anthony Pierre, gives off that same vibe but with urban beats.

The music does not inspire anger, angst, sadness or anything else but allows the listener to simply feel how they feel.

Pierre, 24, described the smooth, melodic sounds as lo-fi R&B, with vocals by the mysterious international artist, Shiloh Dynasty.

He said during the stay-at-home covid19 restrictions, he had time on his hands and wanted to add to his body of work. He said he often created many lo-fi beats, which he called minimalist hip hop, that included more modern elements so when he created two tracks and realised they were the same style, he decided to expand it into a project.

Isoulation was born and was released on May 17 on SoundCloud and YouTube on his channel, emaye, which is the vocalisation of the initials of his first name.

(Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkP-e1iL_Co)

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/iamemaye/sets/isoulation-ep)

“Everyone is isolated in some way at the moment so I wanted to give people something to listen to in that time. I wanted to evoke a warm, calming, relaxed feeling because I know there’s a lot of anxiety and uncertainty on a whole since no one really knows when the end of this will come.”

For the tracks he played all the instruments – bass, acoustic and electric guitar, keyboard for the synthesised sounds, and he programmed drums on his computer. The spoken elements were cut from WhatsApp voicenotes from friends, and he added another dimension by using the sound of a phone vibrating and the WhatsApp notification tone.

He explained that he used several Shiloh videos, cut them, sampled the cuts, and used them for effect.

“In the international lo-fi and minimalist hip hop community, a lot of people use singer Shiloh Dynasty as a reference in terms of the sound. Hip hop was originally based on sampling disco, break beats, soul beats, and such. When lo-fi music started to make headway, people wanted to sample soulful music, but not necessarily the intensity of 70s disco, or faster paced stuff. A lot of people stumbled upon Shiloh who did vocals and guitar only. People felt they could make something out of this and the sound of their voice became synonymous with the style.”

He also arranged, mixed and mastered the EP, and made the cover art and video.

Isoulation is Pierre’s third solo EP but he has worked with other artists in open mic settings and by arranging for them. He previously co-produced the song Higher for 3canal with local producer Mad Hed City, composed and produced music for a UTT aviation advertisement, and created the score for the movie Sanskara which was screened at the 2016 TT Film Festival.

He said when people thought of local music, especially hip hop, they automatically believed it would be no good. He stressed that there was a lot of high-quality music in TT but many times people had to know where to look for it.

“I want to establish myself more as a producer within the local community because I feel there is quite a bit of potential. I want to do my part to change the mindset that local music is not high quality.”

He said he also composed many scores for movies, and he continued to submit his music internationally as producing movie scores was his ultimate goal.

Pierre started on that path as a pre-teen with a simple love for music. He said his mother would play a wide range of genres around the house and sing along, while his father was an amateur guitarist and keyboardist.

He began by playing the piano and eventually moved on to the guitar and flute. He even won the 15 Years and Under Flute Solo category in the 2012 Music Festival. He studied the flute at UTT for two years before moving on to vocals. Then, in 2016, he graduated with a bachelor of Fine Arts in the Performing Arts from UTT where he majored in music.