Sarah Sayeed - Black IS 
Dark Times Remix

Black Is - Dark Times Remix

Sarah Sayeed hit the UK HIP HOP Underground scene in 2001 with Black IS which set her firmly as an artist to be reckoned with. 

01 Black Is Prophecy - Original - The Price IS Your Life. (Arun Ghosh Original)

01 Are They Ready - Produced by Akello

Throwin The Sea

Song for Sophia was created by Sarah Sayeed for Contact Theatres 2018 production of She Bangs the Drums.

Recorded at Noise Boy Studios using recordings from Jaipur Literature Festival 2018 and instruments played by Sarah Sayeed.

Engineer - Chris Taylor at Noiseboy Studios.

Song For Sophia - Audio Work for Contact Theatre

‘Found’ is based on the rollercoaster ride of pregnancy, birth and motherhood. I explore the different stages and facets of motherhood, written equally from the viewpoints of mother and child, using the instruments to express this. I wanted to explore the changes in emotion of being a mother and to look at how the energy of a baby changes as they develop in the embryo to their growth as a newborn.

I was really keen to find ways to create a unique sound and energy between harp, marimba and tabla. These are not three instruments, which people would easily recognise as being played together. It was a challenge to unpick their qualities and to find some unifying elements to their individual features, sound and tone. I was really inspired by the incongruous nature of some of Philip Glass’ work and the traditions of Eastern music from Japan, which often draws on atmosphere and feeling rather than just rhythmical and musical formations. I wanted to create the narrative of a heartbeat, the energy of a newborn baby making its way into the world, full of contradictions, sometimes crying and other times peaceful and rocked to a lullaby. The mother is jubilant and elated at her new role in motherhood, but at times mournful and full of sorrow at the scattered nature of this relationship.

I wanted the feeling of call and response between the musicians. I hope this is a fluid piece of music that doesn't feel too fixed in space and time. The audience experience shifts in where the musical emphasis is, which I hope also allows the musicians to find their own space in the work.

Found - Sound and Music Commission - Live Performance -

Black is master(192Kbps)

Contentment 

Whispering Through Windows feat. Sarah Sayeed -iNSiDEaMiND

From We Are Shadows Produced by Tamasha Theatre.

We Are Shadows Interactive Headphone Piece

We Are Shadows Interactive Headphone Piece - Tamasha Theatre

I am a composer, musician, multi instrumentalist and vocalist based in Brighton I have trained in Indian classical vocal techniques with leading classical maestro Swati Natekar (Voice of Nadia on Nitin Sawhney's Beyond Skin album) and in 2017/2018 was selected to compose for classical royal harp, marimba and tabla through Kuljit Bhamra's (composer on Indian Summers and Bend it Like Beckham) Portfolio scheme led by Sound and Music (UK's national organisation for new music). In 2018 I curated a Google Curate exhibition Sound Travels, highlighting female diverse composers in the UK and asking its audience to look at women composers in an international way. Since these key opportunities I have designed the sound for Contact Theatres suffragette piece She Bangs The Drums, have been Composer and Musical Director for Tartuffe at the Royal Shakespeare Company and in recent months featured as Principle Musician in Richard 2nd at Shakespeare's Globe.

Currently I am developing key musical skills in Indian vocal music further, and extending my practise as a musician through experimenting with traditional instruments in a contemporary way. For example, I use the tanpura, which is a classical Indian drone instrument to create Western melodies, riffs and sounds - a common feature in my repertoire. 

Performance - festivals and venues to include The Brighton Fringe, Sydney Festival, Manchester's Depercussion, Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank and Cargo, Shoreditch.

SARAH SAYEED - Composer, MD, Vocals, MC

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