For Human Beings
About the Band
South by North East
WE BELONG
In Sound we cannot help but belong. Lines blur as we enter together. They may come back, but these open moments show us a truth.
It’s all made up.
Everything.
So South By North East make it up, with you. They grab the lines gently by the hand and give them a new shape. A new Direction. Then release them to be whatever they want to be.
TO THE MOUNTAINS
Bam Bam, Rodrigo, Elsa
Venezuela, Gothenburg, Santiago, Seattle, Belgium, Trinity Alps, Aruba, Amsterdam.
All have been and continue to be home. New York is home now. New York is where we start. Where we go will change.
The mountains remind us. Remind us of something we thought we forgot. Stone doesn’t forget.
AND THE SEA
In the end we dissolve.
A breath, a bow, a sizzle.
We are left a feeling, a hint of salt in the air.
How can oceans have different names when they all connect?
Take that with you. Maybe it’s cinnamon.
The time we borrow together is from the ocean. We hold it gently, like we hold sand. Knowing it is a dissolved stone, filled with memories, about to blow away to rejoin what it belongs.
for human beings
We live in a loud, fast and stressful city, where we need to make music that cuts through all of that, that has a sonic and energy level that surpasses that of the city in order to be heard and not perceived as "too slow" or "west coast". Now everyone's lives have just changed. Everything became quiet outside (except for the sirens every 5 minutes), everyone is scared and retreated.
We used to live in a world where just being is boring, and arrived to one where "just" being became overwhelming. That idea, we want to represent with this music.
Each track on this 5 track journey goes many places. Just like we are going many places in our isolation. Every day contains so much space. When we recorded this there is no way we could have known where it would go. These tracks lay waiting for weeks untouched after recording because we were busy. Life was moving fast. And then suddenly it slammed to a stop, everything became small and moved inside. Suddenly things that were commonplace a short time ago are not possible. The loss is overwhelming. Both the loss of our heroes, friends and loved ones, and the loss of the lives we knew.
This music returned to Rodrigo, Elsa and Bam in the midst of all of this. In it they heard all the things they were experiencing. The fear and anger, the deafening silence of the empty streets of New York. But also the space to move within. To take the time to have those long conversations with oneself that used to be hard to find time for. To sit in stillness and confront their thoughts, their fears, their dreams, the realities of what they actually want out of life.
Listening to this music brought out so many thoughts. Opened creative doors. Elsa, Bam and Rodrigo wanted to share that space. A space to be whatever you need to be. To sit in stillness, or in turmoil. Right now, when time stands still like this, all things co-exist. South by North East invites you to join them in making something together. Bam is making stop motion animations and playing daily live sets of music to be bored. Elsa is creating mandalas for you to color that when combined will build the words of a poem. Rodrigo is transcribing and building music around rhythms of important speeches and making life beautiful for his wife and son.
While you listen to this album, choose a letter and color it. When you are done, email it back to us and we will replace the black and white one with your colored one.
CREDITS
Released March 10, 2023
Elsa Nilsson - Flutes and FX and Composition
Dawn Clement - Piano and Vocals and Composition
Emma Dayhuff - Bass and Composition
Tina Raymond - Drums and Composition
Artwork By Arthur Wright
Many thanks to California State University Northridge, Tritone Studios, Talley Sherwood, Nate Wood, Orenda Records, Dan Rosenboom, and our families.