My own road

Varieté - Sisa Michalidesova BBCSO

Belgian musician and visual artist Youniss releases the second single 'Walad' from his forthcoming album 'White Space'. The record deals with his own personal panic attack instilled by the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. “I wrote this album in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement. Being black, having an Arabic name. The world felt different for me afterwards, I started seeing and experiencing things through a different lens.”

As an exploration of identity and self expression, Antwerp based Youniss moves his way through the awkward, intrusive feelings that accompany performing as a black man with an Arabic name through the gaze of the western world. 

The music and graphic concept of ‘White Space’ is fueled by the pain caused by being misperceived and the feeling of being lost in the search to fit in. Where his previous self-titled debut album captured the more romantic aspects of his identity by celebrating his heritage, his second full length now problematizes the a priori fixed positioning within the dominant white system and the ritual dances one must perform as an artist and human being of colour.

'White Space' releases on March 8th via Ghent's VIERNULVIER Records.

White Space

Walad

Premiere: Youniss - Walad | VIERNULVIER Records

Rinse FM Podcast - Plastician w/ Kastle - 18th October 2016

Music: Sisa Michalidesova
Harp: Maria Kmetkova
Guitar: Pavol Bereza

Sisa Michalidesova (born April 18, 1983) is a Slovak jazz composer, flutist and an actress. Born and raised in Bratislava, Slovakia, Sisa first became interested in music through her parents, who were both musicians. Her mother was an organist and her father an oboe player. Growing up, Sisa played on the flute and on the piano, but was not exposed to jazz until she attended Bratislava State Conservatory. 
She began to perform around Bratislava in several music bands and attended music festivals at home and abroad.  She played and co-operated with the best Slovak musicians. Sisa composed 9 albums in total, with the first released in 2006. 
In the same year, she started to compose music for various theatres in Slovakia and Poland. She was also asked to make music for TV and cinema. 

In 2016, Sisa composed her 10th CD called The Dream Rhapsody where she collaborates with two-time Grammy nominated pianist, Benito Gonzalez. CD won the Esprit 2016 competition as the best Slovak jazz CD of the year. 

Her next CD Chloe is ispirated by Mexican myths and legends and was recorded by top musicians from four countries – Hungary, Polad, Czech and Slovakia.

Varieté - Sisa Michalidesova BBCSO

Sisa Michalidesová

Related tracks