We're Making Gorgeous New Songs!
I'm Monterey, CA based singer-songwriter Jaia Suri and I am busy in the studio with my small team recording and co-producing 6 new original songs that will form the new EP, Hold Me in Sky. The first song, Ember, is scheduled to drop on my birthday, Oct 20. Aside from maybe a clean house and some kid-free quiet time, all I really want for my birthday is to bring these songs into the world in a beautiful way, with the support of my community!
Your support means I can dedicate the many hours of hard work that this project requires and feel the beautiful reciprocal loop of giving and receiving. I am really proud of these songs, which I feel are a big leap in my evolution as a recording artist and I can barely wait to share them with you!
What We Need & What You Get
Since most listeners these days consume music virtually for free on Spotify or other platforms (and these platforms tend to under-pay lesser-known artists), many indie artists use crowdfunding out of necessity to keep themselves afloat.
- It costs about $1000 for us to record and produce 1 song (this is a SUPER LOW indie cost actually, but we do most of the work on our own and I'm not counting our MANY labor hours, only what we pay our producer and a couple other key folks.) So we need your help raising $6000 to pay for some of the production costs on these six songs.
- If we don't reach our full goal, we will still use all funds toward the EP with great appreciation for each dollar, though we may not be able to release all six songs.
- This year we are excited to offer some very fun perks for contributors. I'm offering very low cost limited quantities of my original art prints so check them out now because there are many with only one copy available.
The Songs
What are these songs like? What are they about? Why should you support this project?
- EMBER: I wrote this song when I was struggling with infertility and every month it felt like I was sitting with a little Ember, not knowing if she was going to ignite into a flame or die out in ash. The last line of the song is where I ended up settling within myself after three long years of trying to get pregnant, "Little Ember you know, in the end we let go...." And we did let go. And then that next year my daughter Ayla was born. She's dancing with me holding flame colored ribbons at sunset in the video :)
- LIGHT RISING: this was our Tiny Desk submission song that so many of you told me you were really moved by. It became SO MUCH MORE as we worked with it over many many months. It's kind of funny because it took about an hour to write it at the piano with Timothy (it seemed to effortlessly drop from the sky for us) but then the recording and production process was actually kind of grueling, involving more takes than any other song I've done, and multiple producers trying and not quite getting it! So I guess we were needing to build some perseverance muscles. And the finished song is so so so epically beautiful and soaring. It's basically a deep-soul-comfort song for anyone at the end of a long, rough season needing to just lay it all down and be held.
- HOLD ME IN SKY: is a soaring exploration of basic trust. The kind of trust we all felt as babies before our imperfect human parents/society jarred it out of us. The kind we can re-learn. The kind that feels like the whole world is holding us in love, even when shit hurts.
- HIMMA/The Hero Song: Himma is the Sufi word for "the strength of the soul." This song is about resilience and perseverance and the beautiful strength of the soul that we all have.
- LOVE FLOODS ME- This evolved into a response to Sia's amazing song, 'Breathe Me' where she's expressing so poignantly the acute and raging suffering that I experience to stem from feeling cut off from our True Nature/Oneness with God. Love Floods Me expresses some of the journey home as we begin to, once again, feel fed up with deep love from within.
- THE HONEY SONG: This one has one of the most beautiful piano parts I've ever heard Timothy play. Every time I go to write words for it, I end up sitting in a deep meditation, practically in tears and singing sounds but no words. I've had the image of bees gathering honey come to me several times, and I briefly went down a research-hole learning about honey bees, but still no words. Maybe it will be a wordless song. Maybe it will be about bees, I don't know.
So if you feel like the world needs these songs, because maybe it already has enough teenage love songs (and there's nothing wrong with those, there are just A LOT OF THEM) now's a great moment to support these rich, beautiful, meaningful songs! Today especially, indie artists need their community.
Other Ways You Can Help
Some people just can't contribute, but that doesn't mean they can't help:
- You can help get the word out and make some noise about this campaign and about Jaia's music by sharing on your social media or word of mouth with friends.