17-year-old Texas native, Eloah Jones has recently released her first original single, SOLDIER. She began acting and singing at age 11, and the music industry eventually took notice of her perseverance and passion. Influenced by Selena Gomez, Lana Del Rey, and Banks, Jones has a powerful and captivating voice that will soon find itself on the playlists of millions of people worldwide.
Jones’ first original single was inspired by a tough breakup when she needed to find her self-worth and help others do the same.
Right now, it’s one of my lines in “Soldier”… “I thought you’d be my forever, but it turned into a war.” “Soldier” was built around that lyric. What I was saying there is to remember that everything happens for a reason and some things that may seem perfect are not. But, when going through tough times, it’s easy to give in, but you can’t let those situations define you or defeat you. Because what defines you is not how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get back up. You have to be strong and fight…. like a “Soldier.”
The lyrics of “Soldier” have a power to them that will others feel that same confidence and push to keep going.
Soldier / Rise like a fighter / Heart like a warrior / Nothing’s going to take me down.
LISTEN TO ELOAH JONES’ SINGLE “FIGHTER”
Jones’ single SOLDIER is now available on Apple Music, iTunes, and Spotify.
Meet the duo Towne. One of them is a music theater lover from Pennsylvania and the other is a former punk rocker from Kentucky. While Steevie Steeves and Jon Decious come from two very different backgrounds, they fit together perfectly as country duo Towne. The duo recently released their EP Games We Play as well as a music video for their song “The One I Love.” We had the chance to talk with Towne and ask them some questions about their EP as well as their Journey this far and their plans for CMA Fest! Check out their music video and our interview below!
WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR “THE ONE I LOVE”
INTERVIEW WITH TOWNE
Variety Beat: You recently released a video for the song you wrote: “The One I Love.” It’s a pretty emotional and powerful song, can you talk about the inspiration behind it?
Towne: The inspiration behind “The One I Love” came from a poem on a napkin that Steevie had kept in her wallet for years that an ex boyfriend of her’s had written. She had brought it up in a casual conversation but we thought it was a pretty unique idea, so we started putting chords to it and it just sort of fell out of the sky.
Variety Beat: You released your EP Games We Play last year, are any of those songs inspired by each other and is ever difficult to be completely honest when it comes to writing songs?
Towne: Absolutely! Being each other’s exes makes our past a pretty obvious subject matter. At times things might be tough to bring up at first, but we’re also best friends so it all eventually comes out. Sometimes we get lucky and it makes for good songs!
Variety Beat: What is your favorite part about writing music?
Towne: We love it all. From the start of the process when you’re just kicking around ideas, to putting chords to a melody, to that untouchable feeling we get when we finish a song we LOVE! There’s never a dull moment.
Variety Beat: Favorite things to do in your free time?
Towne:We’re really into running/taking hikes, reading new books (let us know if you can recommend any- we’re always looking for new ones), and just chilling out and taking a deep breath.
Variety Beat: What’s on your bucket list that isn’t music related?
Towne: Jon: I’d like to write a book…but the book would probably be music-related. Steevie: I want to travel to Thailand and explore…and, i dunno, maybe ride an elephant 🙂
Variety Beat: Will we be seeing you at CMA Fest?
Towne: We’re hoping so! Nothing scheduled at the moment but we’ve got our fingers crossed that that changes.
Towne’s EP Games We Play can be bought on all major digital retailers and the music video for “The One I Love” can be found on here. More Information can be found at their website.
Jazz music is a genre that doesn’t get as much attention as it should. The music is more than just words or a sound, it’s the definition of soul. It’s music that makes you feel and creeps deep inside you, without you even knowing it. Some of the most powerful artists and musicians come from Jazz, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong and even Amy Winehouse.
Jazz artists, have something to say and know a lot about what they are saying. They somehow instill history and wisdom into a rhythm that has the listener swaying and dancing to the music. Nikki Y is a Canadian Jazz-Pop singer/songwriter who has a voice so powerful, seasoned and calming for a young 23-year-old. She has worked with Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder.
It’s no suprise that her voice has given her extraodinary opportunities like singing at a Jazz Festival at just 12 years old!
Since then, Nikki Y (née Yanofsky) has released two studio albums, 2014’s Little Secret (executive-produced by Quincy Jones) and four years earlier, her self-titled album (produced by the legendary Phil Ramone) which went platinum in Canada. But with her newest release, the Solid Gold EP, Nikki is finally getting personal. The album chronicles Nikki’s relationship with her longtime boyfriend, broaching the topic of love through a spectrum of themes and sounds, her emotions as in-the-moment as possible. “My goal was to have no goal,” she says. “Last record, I wanted to bridge pop and jazz. This time, I wanted to get introspective—however that came out. It’s more about voice and not about a genre.”
One of Solid Gold EP’s greatest achievements is its lightning-in-a-bottle ability to, at once, capture her technical prowess and vocal soulfulness. Much of that is a credit to her collaborator Wyclef Jean, who co-produced the album alongside Nikki. “The first time I worked with him, I was 13,” she says of Wyclef, whom she met at a charity event. (Nikki, who’s raised more than $10 million for charities, continues to devote herself to causes such as The Children’s Wish Foundation, The Montreal Children’s Hospital, and MusiCounts.) “He got me, not just my voice. After I worked on ‘Me, Myself, and I’ with him, I knew I had to do the whole album with him.”
“I’ll never forget the first song I ever wrote,” Nikki says. She was just seven years old. “I asked my parents, ‘What did The Beatles write about?’ They said, ‘They wrote about what they feel and what they see.’” So she wrote a song about the fairies on her purple pajamas. “I always felt different when I was young. Kids my age were hanging out together. But I would listen to music in the kitchen and teach myself songs. I was connecting to these songs.” Throughout her career, Nikki has endeavored to create music that would have the same impact on others. “I always had a really old soul,” she says. “And now, I feel like I’m growing into it.”
Here’s a song called “Miss You When I’m Drunk” that Nikki tells Variety Beat she wrote in the shower!
I wrote this song about an experience I had… but what’s hilarious is that I wrote it in the shower! If you were to hear the original voice memo of it, you’d hear the water running in the background. I find it super playful and fun, maybe that’s because those are the types of songs I sing when I’m shampooing my hair, haha!
LISTEN TO NIKKI Y’s “MISS YOU WHEN I’M DRUNK”
Get the Solid Gold EP everywhere digital music is sold!
Victoria Lane burst onto the music scene a few months ago with her first single “Don’t Regret It.” Now she’s back with her newest single “Lights Off.” The story is one that’s all too familiar, ‘He’s Just Not That Into You.’
It’s a tale that most girls can relate to, finding a guy that you think is perfect and realizing he’s not.
Listen to “Lights Off” by Victoria Lane
We had the pleasure of talking with Lane earlier this month about her new single and her journey thus far!
Variety Beat: You released a single last month called “Don’t Regret It.” Can you tell us the inspiration for the song?
Victoria Lane: It’s upbeat, sad, hopeful, and sassy all at once! At the time that I wrote it, I was traveling back and forth between my hometown of Miami and my dream hometown of Los Angeles every couple of weeks. I found myself leaving Miami behind in exchange for some time in L.A., where a lot of my good friends live and where I felt there was more opportunity for me. I decided to take that feeling of being in the push and pull of a relationship — in this case, my relationship with Miami — and make it sound like a traditional breakup song. (By the way, there was ultimately a happy ending: I made a clean break with Miami and now live in L.A. — and I don’t regret it!)
VB: And you’re gearing up to release another single later this month “Lights Off.” What do you hope fans take away from it? What’s the meaning behind the song?
VL: I wrote “Lights Off” as I was getting dressed to go out the night after a guy — one who had fooled me into thinking he wasn’t the bad guy I thought he was — told me I was pretty in a pitch black room. Total jerk move, right? I want fans to feel the need to sing along to “Lights Off” at the top of their lungs every time they hear it because they’ve been through a similar situation. It’s fun and angry, and I think it’s relatable because there’s quite a bit of vulnerability woven into it as well.
VB: How has being raised somewhere like Miami influenced your sound/you as an artist?
VL: Miami had an influence not as much on my sound as much as on my development as an independent artist. My high school had an incredible chorus that I was a part of — and became president of my senior year — that helped me fall in love with singing! But I really began to pursue this dream while I was living in Miami thanks to encouragement from my friend Cody who I drove up to visit in Orlando one weekend. And the amazing team at Afflux Studios, who were just up the street in Wellington, produced both the cover videos that introduced me as an artist and the music video for “Don’t Regret It.”
VB: You graduated college and worked in the corporate world for a while, what made you realize music was what you wanted to do?
VL: I went to watch some friends play a show in Downtown Orlando one weekend. I remember standing in the crowd, watching my friends have an absolute blast and realizing that I was missing out on the fun and passion that came with being an artist. I already was in love with music, and I figured that fear was the only thing holding me back! And so, here we are!
VB: Who are some of the biggest music influences to you? VL: Hayley Williams, hands down. She is flawless. I’ve also found myself listening to Katy Perry, Tove Lo, and Tory Lanez a lot. And the seasoned songwriters I write with have had the greatest influence on me — on not only my sound but also my confidence.
“Lights Off” can be found at all major digital retailers including iTunes. More information can be found www.iamvictorialane.com
“Without You (If I Have To)” is more of an anthem to me. It shows not only myself but my fans that you don’t need someone in your life who constantly hurts you. I love that it’s more of a reggae/pop vibe; it gets my fans jumping and shouting the lyrics out loud like they would during Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.” This is one of my favourite songs on the EP because it has so many emotions and stories in it, and I feel men and women can definitely relate.
Morell got real about why he wrote the song and it’s inspiring to see him be so honest about the depression he was dealing with.
I wrote this song myself— I was going through a really tough time with someone I was seeing at the time and it was making me feel so depressed; so I figured why don’t I just write and get my mind off of it, and that’s when “Without You (If I Have To)” was born.
The single, although about a difficult time is upbeat in rhythm and sound. Morell has been a victim of bullying and he writes and performs to help others get through difficult times, just like listening to music has helped him.
LISTEN TO “WITHOUT YOU (IF I HAVE TO)”
Morell definitely is on the right track with his debut single, which gives other males a chance to listen to another male artist and not be ashamed to be feeling the way they do. So often men have to put on a forefront and act as if they don’t have deep and emotional feelings. It’s inspiring and brave of Morell to share his personal struggles with so many who can now have these words to apply to their own life.
Morell is also releasing his debut EP Side Effects later this month! He told Variety Beat what fans can expect!
My EP Side Effects gives my fans an insight of what has been happening to me over the last 4 years; Break-ups, arguments, being cheated on, depression, family, and much more. It’s a great listen, especially if you’re a teenager because all of us go through this stuff one time or another, me and my fans would be connecting on a whole new level which would be great.
Be sure to pre-order Side Effects, out October 21!
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