Efa Supertramp's Crux Festival preview continues with an interview with I Am Fya, one of the innovative AV artists who will be showcased at the event on 13–14 April at Rich Mix.
I AM FYA (Manchester, UK)
What attracts you to working audio-visually?
I got my fingers in a lot of pies, as well filming and editing the visuals I do the artwork, produce my music and make my own merch – so doing all the things comes naturally to me. I have visuals in my head while I’m creating the music. Sometimes the visuals I have in mind exceed my skill level but what I come up with is magic in its own way. I’m not trained in anything, so there’s lots of learning as I go along and happy accidents. I really enjoy making visuals as it feels like a true representation of the sound, it all comes from me, sitting on my own with my head full of ideas and my laptop and machines.
What can people expect from your performance at the festival?
I am continuing to explore my visual-album, Homeland. I have so much footage to work from and I’m enjoying bringing fresh visuals to every show and remixing my past edits, so I’ll be showcasing some of these new takes on my developing work. Half of the set will be a different project with the working title ‘Love Is’, which is an exploration of love in many forms, friendships, romances and intimacy, I’ll be debuting some new sexier songs which I’m excited about.
Your recent works were very much focused on your connections to your homeland of Barbados and your ancestors – how has the reception been to your performances of these powerful works?
The reception has been incredible actually. When I’m making the music I don’t think about how it will land on others or how an audience will react. I’m just vibing out and freestyling as songs take shape. ‘I Wish I Knew’ is a song about missing my Gran who passed away. I sample her voice and use video footage of her. After the show, I always have people telling me their own stories of loss. Losing a mother, a grandparent, a friend. It can be pretty deep, jumping offstage and hearing these stories. But I appreciate it so much, and I want to hear it because that’s exactly why we make music, to connect to others.
I’m not sure I will perform that song at Crux this time because I’ve been a bit delicate lately and it takes a lot out of me, to perform it. I cry every single time.
And as I said, I got some sexy tunes in the bag that I’m currently making visuals for. I like to leave some elements of the set list til the last minute as it depends on how I feel on the day.
Do I wanna cry, or do I wanna feel like a sexy lil bad ass? There is enough time for both so let’s see where my mood takes us on the night.
You can buy tickets for Crux Festival through Rich Mix’s Box Office, with a number of different (day/workshop/after party) ticketing options available.
festival.crux-events.org