Artists Recommend: Ety
Artists Recommend: Ety
The LA-based songwriter/producer talks nostalgic influences and politically-charged music, and recommends albums from Donny Hathaway to Last Dinosaurs.
Welcome to the very first installment of “Artists Recommend,” where musicians take center stage.
As the type of person who, when confronted with the question “If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be?,” stops you right there and declares utter incapacity to fathom a scenario where I choose to stay alive under such a condition, you can probably tell that music discovery means something to me.
I have, for a while, wanted to carve out a space on Of The Moment to hand the mic directly to up-and-coming names I wish everyone could hear from. What better way to have artists discuss their identity and sound than through the work that has shaped it? Digging through my favorite musicians’ inspiration backlogs has, perhaps, defined the most formative aspect of my music taste. “Taste” not necessarily in its “preference” connotation — but a sense of things. “Taste” as educative, experiential friction with sound; the ongoing painting of an infinite landscape of stimuli, rendered legible through knowledge and association.
Have you ever experienced the high of snooping around in interviews for what your favorite artist was playing while crafting that one album that transformed something in you? Or listening to those influential works and making sense of the common threads — tracing the lineage back decades and being left in awe of music as a cultural entity larger than the sum of its parts? Streaming services are vast, operating on fallible, impersonal algorithms (and, as of late, additionally plagued by fake artist profiles planted in mood-based playlists). But there are still ways for music discovery to be valuable — to account for more than a song that sounds like that other song, or filler of time in-between the first and second thing you’re already familiar with.
With that in mind, there was no doubt that Ety — whose first song I ever heard resides in a body of work that fulfills its purpose as a treasure trove of discovery — would mark the series’ debut. I first came across Ety’s music through Scenic Route’s latest compilation, Road Less Travelled Vol.2, released this past June. The London-based record label has churned out releases from the likes of Nourished by Time, Natty Wylah and, most recently, Will Lister, specializing in lo-fi, bedroom electronic and R&B soundscapes. Ety’s “This Town” — positioned between untitled (halo)’s “Pedal Petal” and Nourished by Time’s “I Guess I Got My Answer” on the project — sports a notable ‘90s sensibility, with a guitar-led track that veers slightly away from the producer and songwriter’s short but mighty catalog dipped in groovy, R&B bass and propulsive rhythms.
For Of The Moment’s “Artists Recommend” series, Ety talks about her creative journey, lists nostalgic influences, and recommends beloved songs and albums, from Donny Hathaway to Last Dinosaurs.
This interview has been lightly edited for context, clarity, and uniformity.
Evi: Please give us a basic introduction of yourself!
Ety: My name is Etyana Leigh and my artist name is “Ety.” I was born in Atlanta, GA in the United States! I currently reside in Los Angeles, California and I am a musician!
Evi: How would you describe your sound?
Ety: My sound is a nostalgic yet fresh mix of R&B, jazz, and soul, deeply influenced by the music my parents grooved to in the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, and ‘00s. Think Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, and Diana Ross. Mariah Carey, Aaliyah, and Sade also shape my vocal style, adding a touch of classic elegance. As I grew, I fell deep into the ethereal realms of shoegaze and dream pop, blending these with my roots to create something that feels both dreamy and grounded. I hate comparing myself to other artists as my sound stands on its own, but a good way to help others gauge my sound if they’ve yet to hear it is that it’s like if Janet Jackson and Hope Sandoval collaborated on a record. It’s like a musical time machine, connecting my past and present in a way that’s uniquely me. Alongside [that], I always want to ensure that my roots as a Black American are sonically present in my work, as that aspect of myself is very important to me.
Evi: How did you get into making and releasing music?
Ety: I wrote my first song in 2005, when I was six years old. It was called “Can’t Breathe Within You.” I remember singing it at school and to my parents, and eventually teaming up with my cousin around age seven to develop the verses. We performed it for my family in 2006 and something about it just felt right. As I got older, I wrote little melodies and lyrics here and there, alongside doing covers of songs and picking up the guitar when I was 14. Once I got to college, I realized, “Wait, I love music so much and I can quite literally create my own.” In 2018, I went and purchased an Akai mini and produced my first demo! I was so excited about it and immediately put it on SoundCloud. At the time, it was its own little being there, just existing kind of untouched. From then on, it felt like music was something I’d always been meant to do. I started pushing out a lot of demos on SoundCloud over the next few years and eventually dropped my first song on all major streaming services in summer of 2020.
Evi: Is there a feeling or message you would like listeners to take away from your music? Any goals that accompany your process?
Ety: In the long term, I want my music to mean something. I want it to incite and bring about untapped feelings that we don’t usually hear in most music these days. I hope listeners can feel pulled into a very pure sense of nostalgia that, rather than [making] them yearn for the past, pushes them toward peace with what once was and drives them to create new. I was heavily involved in the political world back in college as I was a sociology major. A lot of my older demos are politically-motivated as music, in my opinion, is an extremely crucial tool in times of suffering and civil unrest. That’s definitely a goal of mine in my future projects: to create a piece of work that enmeshes itself into the social and economic realities that we exist in, in a very beautiful and progressive way. I definitely don’t want my work to be drowned in doom and gloom, but I want people now and in the far future ahead to hear my work and feel the soul of the times — similar to how it feels when I listen to politically-driven works by people like Donny Hathaway and Gil Scott-Heron.
Evi: Share a little bit about your upcoming project!
Ety: My latest project is actually not at all politically-motivated. It was definitely created in a crazy historical era, but it centers itself within a very classic R&B/shoegazey realm. It feels like my dream album that I’ve always wanted to create. It has heavy Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, and early ‘90s influences. I wanted it to feel like the album that your mom plays on Sunday morning after church while she’s cleaning the house. It’s seven songs that I’ve played for myself at least a thousand times and I’m extremely excited to get the final arrangements and mixing together very soon, to be able to share it and release it!
Ety Recommends:
S.O.A.P. — “Not Like Other Girls”
Ety: This song is one of my all-time favorites. I heard it for the first time when I was eight or nine years old — I swear my life changed forever. I think it’s one of the greatest testaments to how I structure my vocal arrangements. I love everything about this track down to the heavy electric bass, the “ooh”’s and “ah”’s, the strings, and especially the bridge. If I had a pure goal of what my dream project would sound like, the essence of this song is the perfect example. It’s just beautiful — so ‘90s, and so, so sweetly romantic.
Donny Hathaway — A Donny Hathaway Collection
Ety: This album couldn’t be more perfect. It’s a sign of the times; a pure expression of love and solace against long-standing, oppressive structures of power and war within the self and in the outside world. I love how it acknowledges and taps into these deep feelings of emptiness and defeat without drowning in them. It’s as if he creates an entirely new world to dip into, so far away from it all, but so connected within. I hope to one day create such beautiful sonic portals that encourage progression of the soul and the world we live in.
Bobby Brown — Don’t Be Cruel
Ety: The entire album is amazing. One of my favorites, though, is “Roni.” This song and work are a perfect example of the music I grew up with on my mom’s side. Pure late ‘80s vibes. This album, I’d say, is one of my deepest sonic influences for my upcoming project and where I intentionally wanted to go with it. Imagine if Hope Sandoval made this album. That’s where I’m at… You’ll hear it on the EP. :D
Last Dinosaurs — Wellness
Ety: This is one of my favorite bands of all time and my favorite album by them. I first heard this project when I was 16. My favorites are the title track, “Wellness,” “Always,” and “Karma,” but I love all of the songs. I love the dreamy soundscape with their use of pedals and soft mixing. I love returning to this album as it, again, feels like I’m “going somewhere else” so to speak. I’ll forever be obsessed with this album and I’ll never stop pushing this band on everyone that I know.
Stevie Wonder — “Joy Inside My Tears”
Ety: I love Stevie. He’s been such a staple in my musical world since I was little, thanks to my parents. This song feels like it goes on forever and ever and ever and ever. That’s why I love it. I will literally drive around and bawl my eyes out to this song on repeat. Free therapy. I wish I could film my own music video for this one. I’m so grateful to be able to feel the depth of Stevie’s work in all times of my life, whether difficult, joyous, or neutral. This song always feels like coming home.
Keep up with Ety on Instagram and YouTube. Listen to her music on SoundCloud, Spotify, and Apple Music.
You can find all music mentioned on “Artists Recommend” in the “Of The Moment: Artists Recommend” playlist, here.
Interested in more music ramblings from me? Have a look at the archive, here.
