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Hi Niomi, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Hey, thanks for having me! I’m good, thanks.
Can you talk to us more about your latest single “With You”?
Sure, this is the final track from my EP Pain Relief which I released at the end of November. I recorded it at 123 studios in Peckham with producer Nathanael Graham and was lucky to track some live strings (Mat Roberts) and drums (Nathan Allen). Before that I’d worked on the production elements myself at home and we kept a lot of that in the final version.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
I think the song came from a slow burn of feeling worn down during a relationship. I was in a place where I felt that person was holding me back and I was not motivated to create or do things for myself.
The single comes off your new EP Pain Relief – what’s the story behind the title?
I was diagnosed with endometriosis a few years back after dealing with chronic pain since I was a teenager. It felt like a lot of my time during my teens and twenties were spent trying to get relief from the pain somehow. But I also went through a lot of emotionally painful experiences too. Leaving home and moving to the UK from Ireland, struggling with losing friendships and romantic relationships, trying to make my music work whilst working many stressful jobs! I felt like the title fitted the tracks well as ultimately something beautiful came out of all that.
How was the recording and writing process?
Long! I recorded the tracks just before the Covid-19 pandemic really kicked off in March 2020. Then they sat untouched whilst I tried to figure out my living/work situation, which got totally thrown up in the air. I finally got back to them at the beginning of 2021 and it took a bit of time to get back into the tracks and piece everything from the recording back together. And I also took my time creating the visuals to get the EP to a place I was happy with.
What role do Ireland and Pakistan play in your music?
I’m not sure if being mixed race has a direct affect on my music and how it sounds but I think that being able to experience different cultures growing up means that I’ve been open minded about how things don’t have to follow a specific pattern or narrative.
What aspect of relationships did you get to explore on this record?
The track Never That Easy was actually inspired by a friendship I was in that was very close but we started to drift. I think the first relationships we form outside our family unit are our friendships and actually it can be incredibly painful when we are hurt by a friend. Love Is and With You are more inspired by romantic relationships.
Where else did you find the inspiration for the songs and lyrics?
When I wrote Love Is, I was reading ‘The Satanic Verses’ by Salman Rushdie. It’s such a visual book and I think I had all this imagery in my head of epic landscapes which inspired the line ‘someone was fighting with you on the mountain’.
What else is happening next in Niomi’s world for 2022?
At the moment I’m looking forward to a rest after putting out two EP’s this year! I have however, been working on a collaboration with another artist which I’m hoping to reveal next year and I’m really enjoying working on new material.
