Interview with Unity

We had the chance to catch up with founding member of Ladies of Rage Unity ahead of her upcoming release 'Garden of my Soul'. Check out her music video below:

Here's a link to her previous EP Progress is a process.

Here's how the interview went:

How did the journey with music start?

I’ve been into the whole Hiphop scene for years now – I used to break(dance) and came into Hiphop through funk really. I’ve always collected vinyl, even before I owned a record player. I DJ’d out a few times early on when I was first learning to mix but found it pretty terrifying – the first time I played in a club I had loads of girls screaming and asking to touch their hands, it was really surreal and I wasn’t expecting that at all – there weren’t many women DJ’s back then so I think they got a bit overexcited...

I’ve always written lyrics, as a way of processing thoughts and situations that I find difficult to deal with. The first couple of times I read them to people they were non-plussed so it wasn’t a great start (I think I chose badly who I should share with!). Eventually I started performing spoken word at events like Voices on the Bridge and Lyrical Miracles, and progressed to putting lyrics over a beat with Dope Biscuits - I entered the Swansea poetry slam in 2018, not really knowing what it was, and won it. That made me think that I should keep on the lyrics path. Ladies of Rage has been amazing for keeping me on that path.

What inspires you most?

Ladies of Rage (LOR) has been incredibly inspiring. Being surrounded by other women on the same journey as me is huge. Before LOR I didn’t realise how important it is to have role models that look like you. It took me years to realise I had something to say, and that is definitely linked to only ever seeing men on stage.

Photo credit: Suhmayah Banda.

We had the chance to ask Unity some questions. Here's how it went:

How long does it usually take you to write your songs?

It varies with each track – some spill out quickly, in an evening, others have been brewing for years.

What is your creative process like?

I have lots of little notebooks where I work through ideas, jot down words that sound nice together, lines, ideas, free-form writing and where I work out structure of tracks. I also have my book where I keep finished verses and poems. I sometimes patch together phrases or verses from different notebooks, which although they may have been written at different times, have the same theme.

Some tracks start out as a spoken word piece and evolve into lyrics once I find the right beat, others I write to a beat with a theme in mind, and some (not many yet) are triggered by the beat which goes deeper. It’s a very organic and intuitive process for me. I don’t generally set out to write a track unless I’m collaborating with somebody else, I more likely have words spilling out that I need to capture and this is what they turn into.

When I’m looking for a beat I usually already have my lyrics written and I’m just searching for the music that fits what I want to say. This is changing now though as I’m focussing more on making tracks. I love collaborating because it makes me reach deeper into myself and draw out thoughts and ideas I didn’t realise I needed to express. When Naziaaa sent me the beat which became ‘Blueberry Flapjacks’ I was like ‘this sounds like a love song, I’ve never written a love song’, and she just said ‘well write a love song then’.

What would be your dream collaboration?

That’s a difficult question because I never really set out to make music, so I don’t really have goals like that. I’m happy to just ride along with it. All collabs bring something different out so I’m not necessarily looking to collab with anyone in particular – I’m happy to follow what happens naturally. Saying that, if I had to think of somebody I’d love to work with I’d say Truemendous – she is such a creative talent and I’d love to learn from her approach. Her concepts and how she expresses herself . I’d just love to see how her creative process works.

What is the best advice you’ve been given?

When I was dancing regularly one of the original Welsh bboys DAJ said to me ‘find people that are in it for the same reason you are, and stick with them’.

What do you like doing in your spare time?

I paint as often as I can, spend time with my family, get into the woods and the sea as much as possible - attempt to surf every now and again, read, write lyrics, make beats, dabble in guitar, jam with friends.

Who is your celebrity crush?

My daughter Brooke tells me I need to choose somebody not too old, not too young (so it’s not weird), somebody not too weird and with a squeaky clean history… I’ll get back to you on that one.

Where would you like to visit?

I’m desperate to see my Dad who lives in Spain, who I haven’t seen for almost a year and a half. All flights are being cancelled and they’re introducing this thing where you have to quarantine in a hotel for two weeks if you go abroad so who knows when I’ll next be able to get out there ☹.

Who is the messiest person you know?

It used to be me but now my daughter Brooke can take that one.

What’s next for you in 2021?

I have a 3 track EP coming out on February 12th if all goes to plan, so I’m excited to get that off my chest and move on to the next things. I’ve been working on collabs with a few people, so hoping they will come together this year, including a really special track with my sisters Missy G and Cara Elise, which has been a roller-coaster journey with Stagga in his studio. Losing him was awful - he has been a huge part of my musical journey and he will be sorely missed. Stagga and Ess Louise have been massive in encouraging me to get started on producing - I’ve got a couple of tracks in the pipeline so will see where they go. I’m hoping that we can do live performances soon because that’s how a lot of progress comes. I’m booked to play at Focus Wales in October so I hope that goes ahead because it looks like a great event.

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