One of the most intriguing ladies in European electronic music, her unique production complementing the bass electro with sensitive vocals. Her stop in Šiška is part of her world tour promoting her new album DVA, which was released on the cult Ninja Tune. Emika was born in the UK, of Czech heritage. As a young
One of the most intriguing ladies in European electronic music, her unique production complementing the bass electro with sensitive vocals. Her stop in Šiška is part of her world tour promoting her new album DVA, which was released on the cult Ninja Tune.
Emika was born in the UK, of Czech heritage.
As a young woman she studied classical piano and composition. She waitressed to save up for her first Apple Mac and copy of Logic.
She was living in Bristol as the city transitioned from d&b to dubstep and she went to the first parties organised by Pinch. “I continue to be a part of this culture which has spread worldwide now.”
She now lives in Berlin, where she works as a sound designer for Native Instruments.
“I am focused on the world of sound and the power of the human voice, the instant connections it makes with listeners, in music. In general I feel there is a lack of vocabulary in the field of electronic music.”
In Berlin she discovered the legendary Berghain nightclub: “It is intense, dark, boundry-less and safe. Berghain is whatever you want it to be.”
In 2010 she began making field recordings in the Berghain. “From the recordings I made a sample library which I gave to all the resident producer/DJs to make music from. The resulting compilation of music became the club’s label, Ostgut Ton’s anniversary release, called ‘Fünf’.
All her songs are based on narratives: “I start with an idea, a story, and then I seek to find the sound world that best dramatises my story, making it into a song. I try very hard to stay faithful to my narratives and not fall into the trap of genre conventions which is why I’m shy of genre references.
Emika has worked with Marcel Dettmann, Tommy Four Seven, Pinch, Nick Hoppner, Paul Frick, Brand Brauer Frick and Amon Tobin.
Press Release for “Dva – Album”
From the darkness can hope be born?
Emika answers this very question in her sophomore album Dva, out 10th of June 2013 on Ninja Tune.
Dva is a language, a form of personal expression that comes from and ends with the creative spirit. Produced exclusively by Emika with Executive Producer Hank Shocklee by her side, every song is inspired by a different dimension of oppression and the challenges of a present day creator with the courage to define a space where artistic expression lives free.
The album starts with the Hush Interlude, Emika’s journey to her musical roots which led her to Prague where she composed and recorded 2 classical songs for 28 string players and the Czech soprano, Michaela Šrůmová, members of The City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. With Emika’s taste for heavy bass-minded writing not far behind, she made arrangements to feature double the usual amount of bass players during her recording. Following this daring yet completely organic introduction we are transported into a world of dark, pulsating basslines, moody, melodic synths and some of the best and most moving songwriting we’ve heard in years. A naturally gifted performer and musician, Emika lays out her raw emotion for the world to see on a record that is as comfortable in a dark, electronic dance club as it is on a contemporary music stage.
With plans to perform the album in various permutations, such as concert and club dates as well as more experimental classical settings, combined with a personal song by song narrative written to her fans to accompany the album and a striking set of visual imagery created with a well crafted team of experimentalists, the Dva album is as unrelentless as Emika’s work ethic which leads us to answer our initial question with a resounding…yes.
