Amelia Meath

it goes on and on and on, you see On and on in memory

If you don't know Sylvanesso, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn are the two musicians behind the project.

They're also a couple.

And both of them say that this was a really frustrating set of decisions, that at every turn, it felt like they had to choose between independence and sustainability.

Right? It's surprising they reversed their decision.

Amelia Meath was pretty clear about how they felt about Spotify funding war machines.

Exactly, but now they're saying they can't afford to stay off it? That really makes you think about the financial pressures artists face.

Yeah, it's like, how do you balance ethics with survival? They mentioned that 82% of streaming happens on Spotify.

They announced that they're putting their music back on Spotify after being off of it for a year.

In this story, one of the artists in the group, her name is Amelia Meath, hope I'm pronouncing that correctly, said that their politics haven't changed and that it actually felt good to be off the platform, but it also has been really hard to be off of that.

And if they're going to keep making music and surviving and employing the people, that staying off Spotify is unsustainable.

She doesn't like it.

Our guests this week on the podcast are Sylvan Esso.

The Durham, North Carolina duo of Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn have spent over a decade making some of the most distinctive and beloved electronic pop around, earning themselves two Grammy nominations, hundreds of millions of streams, and collaborating with an eclectic community of artists, including Arooj Aftab, Maggie Rogers, and Tyler Childs, just to name a few.

Last week, they returned with Our Infinity, their fifth studio album and the first on their very own label, Psychic Hotline.

Recorded across four years in their Chapel Hill studio, Betty's, it is their most ambitious and expansive record yet, bringing in six different drummers, a rotating cast of extraordinary collaborators, and a spirit of experimentation and improvisation that runs through every track on this record.

See it burning, look at us.

Heartbeat counting, feel it in our blood.

Please welcome to This Song Is Yours, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn from Sylvan Esso.

Hello there, team.

But we got another interview coming through this week.

Amelia Meath, Nick Sanborn, AKA Sylvan Esso, who just released their latest record, Ow, Infinity, last week.

Over the last decade, Amelia and Nick have established a reputation as genre benders.

Little bit pop, little bit electronic, little bit dance, little bit folk, little bit all of the above.

Yeah.

Entertainment and Coca-Cola in a brand new black hair with less people to satisfy.

Amelia Meath, Nick Sanborn, welcome to Jokerman.

Thanks for joining us.

So Sylvan Esso, for those who aren't familiar, an electro-pop duo from Durham, North Carolina.

It's Amelia Meath, who used to be in Mountain Man, as well as Nick Sanborn, who was in Megafaun.

They've worked with many, many musicians over the years.

And Sylvan Esso, you know, kind of started out...

This is gonna sound like I'm name-dropping.

[laughs]

But I do have to say when this happens, that in the interest of full disclosure, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn are friends of mine [laughs].

[laughs]

Yeah, definitely.

So today on Mentor Buffet, I got to sit with Amelia Meath, who is one of the duo, Sylvan Esso, the Electro Pop Duo, an artist group that I've loved forever.

And we talked about Amelia's aunt and the influence she had on her young and being super expressive and being in touch with her feelings.

And also about some mentors that she's never talked about or shared that she's admired.

We also got into the artistic process, relationships with the audience, live music, writing, words, you name it.

This episode is full of wisdom, and I felt like just by being in the room with Amelia and talking to her, I was learning from her.

Please enjoy my episode with Amelia Meath.

My mom is one of 12, and her oldest sibling is named Carol.

That was Life of Kay, which is recorded by Kay Phipps and edited by me.

I want to thank Chelsea Edgar and Amelia Meath for their help on this show.

If you have comments, we'd love to hear them.

Just go to RumbleStripVermont.com and click on this show, and it will take you to a comment box at the bottom.