Featured Artist
Layla May
How did you get into music?
I’ve been singing since I was 3 years old. My parents found out I had a nice voice and put me through vocal, piano and guitar classes. My first vocal coach wanted to train my voice to sing classical music and opera, that obviously did not stick. I always thought that I would be a cover artist or that I would only be this person who sings well. I had major stage fright so that didn’t help my performance ambitions whatsoever. But the older I became, the more I had this fear of mediocrity and of regret later in life so I pushed myself to take music further and started going to open mics and from there it kind of grew into where I am today.
How would you describe the music that you make?
I love to describe my music as a sultry sadness. I try with my music to squeeze the listeners’ heart so tight they’d have to confront themselves and their feelings. I don’t think I fit into one genre of music but there’s a lot of influence from Neo-soul, Jazz, dream pop and sometimes Bossa Nova.
Who are the artists, or people, who inspire you?
I look up to a lot of independent and underground artists who are starting to make it big, I like to study them and learn from them. Artists like Tanerelle, Alina Baraz, Galimatias, Col3trane, Joy Crookes, Rum.gold - I could go on for days. I’m also very inspired by the artists in Egypt, the music scene there is really booming and I look up to these artists and try to learn from them regardless of the type of music they make.
Who are the artists, or people, who inspire you?
I look up to a lot of independent and underground artists who are starting to make it big, I like to study them and learn from them. Artists like Tanerelle, Alina Baraz, Galimatias, Col3trane, Joy Crookes, Rum.gold - I could go on for days. I’m also very inspired by the artists in Egypt, the music scene there is really booming and I look up to these artists and try to learn from them regardless of the type of music they make.
What are your latest musical accomplishments?
One of my latest releases ‘All for me’ got playlisted on a big Spotify playlist, something I did not expect. I also got played a few times on BBC’s Introducing in the UK which to me is a big win. Another personal accomplishment I did not expect to ever happen was when someone all the way from Australia sent me a video of her and her husband at their wedding dancing their first dance to one of my songs – that was a bit of a shock in the best of ways. I was speechless!
What is your creative process like? Has it changed since the pandemic?
My process starts with a melody or a loop I get off Splice or a beat off YouTube. Once I find the right one, I start singing gibberish to it (it’s actually embarrassing),create a skeleton for a potential song and then depending on the song’s sound I decide which producer I want to work on the song with. The songwriting part is my least favorite part, I’m more of a melody person so the songwriting comes last. I try to pinpoint from the gibberish I sang in the beginning words that dictate what the song is going to be about, another way would be the mood of the song dictates its main idea and then voila! The song is done. It’s definitely not that easy, there’s a lot of work that goes into creating a song but working with the right people will make the process so much more smooth and easy going.
Where have you performed? What was your favourite venue to perform at?
My favorite performance so far was at a Blank Space event back in November. I was the guest artist, and it was my first performance after the pandemic. It was so memorable because it was such an intimate setting, it took place at “The Theater” at Mall of the Emirates, which I think is a hidden gem in Dubai. The audience was so receptive to every song I would sing that some people came up to me at the end of my set saying that they cried, especially during my performance of ‘Mirage’ one of my saddest songs. If that’s not a compliment to my music I don’t know what is.
What are your latest releases? What is the story behind them?
I released a small project called ‘a field of green’ back in May. It was not a project I had set out to do at first, but it just came together very naturally. It’s a three track EP, one track is more of a monologue that connects the two songs. The songs just happened to make sense together, I had written them separately and they turned out to be about the same thing, which is basically going through the pandemic. The pandemic definitely put me through a rollercoaster of emotions, like everyone it was a tough time, but I was able (rarely) to take inspiration from what and how I was feeling to write songs and from it came this project. Another release that came out earlier this year is ‘All for me’, one of my favorite songs because it’s the closest to my favorite genre of music which is Neo-Soul. It took a while for me to release it after we finished creating it with A’Y but the timing of it was perfectly right. The song is pretty much self-explanatory, it’s about being in a toxic relationship and being gaslighted – thankfully I’ve not been through that, but the song was inspired by a small event in my personal life that I exaggerated in my songwriting.
Which one of these releases is your favourite and why?
‘All for me’ is definitely one of my favorite tracks I’ve created so far, ‘fire’ as well off of my EP ‘our story’ that I released back in 2020. They’re my favorites because they’re the closest to the direction I would like my sound to go towards. My next release, which is set to come out on the 27 August is also one of my proudest works so far – it’s different from anything else I’ve ever done, I teamed up with Jay Wud for this project and he pushed me to experiment with a sound I don’t think I would’ve gone towards if it wasn’t for him.
Are you working with any other artists right now?
I love to collaborate with people and I also love to diversify in terms of artists and musicians I work with when it comes to sound because I love to experiment. I’m currently creating a song with a producer and musician from the Netherlands called Jurgen. It’s a song that will be performed fully in French, my first time writing in French and I’m very excited for everyone to hear it. There are a lot of artists that I’m also looking to collaborate with in the UAE and internationally - some are in the talks and others are more of a bucket list collaboration that they don’t know about yet hahah.
What is an average day like for you?
I am a morning person, so I wake up at around 7AM and like to start scratching things off my list (I am that type of person yes). I work a 9 to 5 so during the week my days are spent at work, and I get to the music stuff after working hours and during the weekend in full force. I love to stay at home mainly but have my social butterfly moments too so there are days where I won’t be home before late and days I’ll be tucked in bed at 9PM so it really depends on the day and how tired I am that day. Sleep is life.
What does your involvement in the Regional Artist Spotlight mean to you?
I’m so honored to be the artist of the month especially among the roster of artists that have already been featured. It definitely makes me feel like I’m doing something right. I never thought I would be where I am today so any win big or small I celebrate and push myself to do better and do more every time. I am very grateful for being a part of the Regional Artist Spotlight platform and I only hope that through it my music will reach more people and more hearts.
What is your top 5 after-party playlist?
This was hard to put together I have a playlist of 600 favorite songs to choose from, but these are the ones that made the cut:
- Concrete by Teyana Taylor
- F.U.C.K by Victoria Monet
- Let Go by Galimatias
- Baby Powder by Jenevieve
- Mama Saturn by Tanerelle