Too Hot for Candy & Grace Savage
Heart n Soul band Too Hot for Candy and artist and beatboxer Grace Savage collaborated from December 2017 to February 2018 to write and record a new track, ‘Piece of Me’. During this time they also filmed a music video and created four short ‘How To’ films showing how they made the new track. In the music video, members of Too Hot for Candy and Grace Savage play the roles of downtrodden office workers who bring the joy to their daily grind through music. Check it out!
You can also download the track for free, or buy it as part of Too Hot for Candy's EP, on Bandcamp.
Piece of Me was made using music making technology from one of Heart n Soul’s SoundLab partners, Korg. Korg have been leaders in music technology since 1963! They aim to create new experiences in music and performance with innovative, high quality instruments that are also approachable enough for anyone to play. For Piece of Me, Korg provided Too Hot For Candy and Grace with, the Monologue, MicroKorg S, Kaossillator Pro and the Gadget for Mac app. Although all were used in the process of creating the song the band focussed on the Monologue and Microkorg S for their performance.
We asked Kali from Too Hot for Candy and Grace Savage what they thought about the collaboration and making the track...
Kali said:
"We really enjoyed working with Grace. She's a really good beatboxer and her music is brilliant. She brought a new element to how Too Hot for Candy works. I loved working with the Korg technology too. It was a learning curve and made the music sound different – a really interesting experience!"
Grace said:
"Working with Too Hot for Candy and Heart n Soul was an incredibly uplifting experience. The creative process was refreshingly free and instinctive and all about the pure joy of music (no ‘overthinking’ artistic egos in the room!). I left the studio with a huge smile on face every time."
These explainer videos show some of the creative process behind the new track: how to express yourself with a synthesiser; how to make a bassline with the Korg Monologue; how to play the drums with your voice; and how to keep in time when you’re jamming.
When they first started the collaboration, the band and Grace really focussed on playing together live. Issac, who normally plays drums in Too Hot For Candy, switched over to bass for these sessions after having a go on the Korg Monologue and loving it. This meant Grace had to be provide the beats using her voice while Kali and Arthur expressed themselves using synthesisers!
They set-up all the instruments running through the Korg Kaossillator and Grace’s Loop Station so they could not only play together but also capture each other’s playing and mess around with all the sounds, rhythms and voices that were coming out! Snippets of these jams (some of which got into the 10 minute territory!) made it into the final track to show all the excitement and fun that was coming out of the studio. Check out the outro to hear how wild it got!
Piece of Me is the second in a series of artist collaborations facilitated by London-based creative arts organisation Heart n Soul as part of its SoundLab project, which explores ways of using innovative music technology to encourage people with learning disabilities to create music and sound experiences.
The work has been supported by digital commissioning agency The Space and follows in the steps of another collaboration with Heart n Soul artist Dean Rodney Jr and the band Ravioli Me Away, using mi.mu gloves and Ableton technology. Together they produced the catchy track and music video for Dean TV Girls. Watch the videos and listen to the track here.
To find out more about Too Hot for Candy and Heart n Soul, visit the Heart n Soul website.