Born in Riverside, California, the oldest child in a military family, Arthur James has been traveling all his life. His songs are landmarks of his journey that paint vivid landscapes of the many thousands of miles he’s seen in a struggle to find the meaning of ‘home’. 

Music was always a means of escape and release. “Growing up all over - all over the world - I needed a place to put things. I needed a place to go to. A place that was familiar to me. Some place safe, you know? So, I started writing songs and living inside them.” 

His lyricism lends to his patience and attention to the substance of every song, with nods to his influences, Gregory Alan Isakov, David Bazan, Justin Vernon, Matt Skiba and John K. Samson. His writing has been described as “complex and intelligently constructed.”

Open Music Archive is a collaborative project, initiated by artists Eileen Simpson and Ben White, to source, digitise and distribute out-of-copyright sound recordings. The archive aims to distribute these recordings freely, form a site of exchange of knowledge and material, and be a vehicle for future collaborations and distributed projects.

Ólafur Arnalds is a BAFTA-winning multi-instrumentalist and producer from Mosfellsbær, Iceland. Ólafur Arnalds mixes strings and piano with loops and beats crossing over from ambient/electronic to pop.

Take a glimpse into my organized, but not-so-perfect world as a mom, author of the book HOT MESS: A Practical Guide to Getting Organized, and founder of Simply B Organized.

“I’ve never felt like I write sad songs,” Marker says. “Sad songs leave me feeling hopeless, but I find hope in mine.”

Maybe it’s the simple, stripped-down sound that gives the impression of sadness. There’s little palatable production in Marker’s music, not much to dance to, and not much distracting from lyrics written to be listened to.

Maybe it’s the sometimes-sobering stories Marker writes. “We all experience hard things… But if we don’t talk about them, our experience can feel pretty isolating. I like to believe we’re not alone.”

There’s a lot to be gained from seeing the world through a different set of eyes. And the songs Marker writes ask for that. “I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I like to think I’m starting to ask the right questions.”

Arnór Dan is the lead singer & songwriter of Agent Fresco, collaborator of Olafur Arnalds (For Now I Am Winter / Broadchurch TV OST) and Yoko Kanno (Zankyo No Terror OST)

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