Valve Sounds For Notion 92

SHELLEY LIU: Hi! I was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia and play a few different roles in the music industry including artist manager, booking agent, Valve Sounds record label co-director, event programmer and tour manager. I also DJ (whenever I can fit it in between everything else!)

SASHA CHIFURA: I’ve spent most of mycareer based in Melbourne, I’m thedirector of a boutique artist management company and co-director of Valve Sounds with Shelley.

SHELLEY: We met in 2014 randomly when an artist Sasha was working with was touring in Melbourne. The first thing we bonded over was actually over a mutual hate towards a certain person that we both interned for once upon a time!

SASHA: We quickly found that we had a lot in common and a similar outlook towards the industry and decided to start working together.

SHELLEY: Back then — and unfortunately still now — there weren’t many people in the music industry that looked like us (young BIPOC kids) with ambitions and goals, that a lot of the traditional ‘gate-keepers’ of the music industry didn’t really take seriously

SASHA: In the alternative hip-hop/soul/R&B niche, there weren’t any domestic record labels who approached artist development and marketing positioning with a strong understanding in the way that we envisioned.With our label partners extendingresources and further access to a globalnetwork, it made sense for us to createour own infrastructure.

SHELLEY: We took a bit of a hiatus over thelast few years — partly because we weregoing through a change in label partners, and partly because we got busy withsome other things we were individuallyworking on. We knew that whenever it wastime to relaunch the label we wanted togo all out and devote all our energy to it.

SASHA: With the hiatus, it allowed us time to further evaluate and refine our purpose and mission, which has now allowed us to be more focused with better execution of our processes.

SHELLEY: We’re very excited to berelaunching the label with a newpartnership with Mushroom Group, whowe’ve had a close relationship with inother facets of our work, so it only made sense to partner up with them on the label! Mushroom Group have played sucha pivotal role in music within Australiaand exporting that to the rest of the world, so we are thrilled to be working together.

SASHA: We are a boutique label that canprovide a nuanced understanding and approach to artist development and themusic we work with. Our long-term focus,paired with an ability to competitivelyfund and scale when appropriate, allows for an environment that values andencourages talent to learn, grow and mature — both personally and creatively — without immediate commercial pressures.

SHELLEY: We are quite hands-on in the way we work given our backgrounds in other areas of the industry, so we have close friendships with the artists and their managers that extend beyond just music. We find this provides a more comfortable working environment where artists can feel safe in entrusting us with their music, given we have a deeper understanding of who they are as people.

SHELLEY: Each artist is so different in their needs, so identifying those to begin with is important. Giving them time and resources to properly figure out who they want to be as artists, and what kind of music and art they want to be putting out into the world.

SASHA: Our role in artist development isto assist the artist in creating a roadmapand growth trajectory that’s synonymouswith their aspirations. We also nurturean environment that gives autonomy inthe ideation and execution of a vision, allowing artists to take risks and make their own mistakes with guard rails that don’t make failures completely detrimental.

SHELLEY: Being tastemakers that work with forward-thinking music that stray from the traditional norms, and providing platforms to help others amplify their stories via music and art. We’ve always felt a bit like outcasts in the Australian music industry, but over time we learnt how to create our own pathways within it, and do things our way.

SASHA: We also want the artists we sign, the music we release and the stories we share to compound into having a positive cultural impact that helps redefine what an ‘export’ Australian artist should look and sound like.

SHELLEY: To push the sound of alternative R&B, hip-hp and soul music coming out of Australia together as a collective and movement. SASHA: We want to play a role in the increased appetite of homegrown talent in our niche having an impact here domestically and internationally. This is not only for those signed to our label, but also other artists outside of the ones we directly work with.

SHELLEY: Our starting roster with the label relaunch is one that we’re so proud of and grateful to be working with. Maina Doe is a divine celestial goddess making the most beautiful R&B music, and is able to express herself so poetically both sonically and visually.

IJALE is a jack of all trades — he is a singer, rapper, producer, engineer, and really dedicated to incorporating sounds from his Nigerian background with a contemporary twist. And last but not least is King Ivy, who is a newcomer to the scene, but can already write the most heart-melting melodies and hooks and sing them with such steez.

MAINA:I am a Sydney-based artist who makesintrospective, ethereal but bouncy alternativeR&B. As an artist, I am a fluid lovechild of 21st century melancholy, casual hedonismand romance.

M: I decided I wanted to be an artist when I wasworking a shitty job at a restaurant whilst alsodoing session work as a vocalist in 2019.I basically met my manager and was like ‘Fuckit, I’m doing this’. I would tell that version of myselfto not worry so much and be as presentas possible.

build through my music and visuals because theway I view the world is always evolving. For me,it makes sense that I have to treat a songor project as a world in and of its own that I have to fully realise. That being said, right nowI want to invite everyone into a world that is calm, connected, fun and a bit dark.

M: I look for originality more than anything.It takes bravery to do what you want to do insteadof what everyone else is doing and whenI see that in others, I’m immediately drawn to them and inspired by them.

M: Yes absolutely. I love my city. Everyone atValve Sounds and everyone on my team is sosexy and smart. My fans been riding with me eventhough I haven’t released since Covid began.Community is the reason why I’m here right now.

M: I hope to collaborate with some heavyweights.I hope to play special shows where I get to look intensely into people’s eyes, make new friends and dance.

M: I want to be remembered as an artist that affirms, challenges, soothes and heightens people’shuman experience, and connected with people in a real way.

IJALE: I make a wide range of music, but it’s usually coloured with hints of afrobeat, jazz, soul and R&B. Just depends on who I’m working with and what mood I’m in.

I: I draw from a lot. I love music from the continent.Nigerian music from the 60s, 70s and 80s but also Nigerian contemporary music like Wizkid,Cruel Santino. J Dilla and Madlib have always beencanon for me. I also love experimental and ambientstuff like Flying Lotus, Nosaj Thing and otherpeople on Brainfeeder Records.

I: I don’t have any specific scenes or places, but I dowant to be listened to back home in Nigeria.Other than that, I want my music to be listened to whenpeople are doing what they enjoy the most in life

I: I feel like there are more unique musicalcharacters here, people that can’t be boxed in to an archetype and are making their own lanes. That definitely keeps me on my toes and makes me feel more confident because I’m trying to do the same.

I: The people I’m surrounded by and resonating with. For the first time, I feel like I have a group of like-minded artists around me that I can bounce ideas off of and vent to when needed. It’s validating and pushes me to make music that impresses them and myself.

I: I hope 2023 is the year that Frank Ocean decidesto bless us with new music. I can’t afford none of the jewellery he been making.

I: Honestly I’m just trying to make new music thatactually excites me. The kind of stuff I can’t waitto share. I always want to grow the fan base anddevelop a tribe of people who understand the music, and make sure that homies and thepeople I’m building with are getting opportunities to do the same.

I: Putting on for the culture. Stretching what people expect from Australia, from hip-hop, from Black males. Doing that without ego and showing love to people whenever I can.

KING IVY: Hey I’m King Ivy, I’m a Ghana-born artist from Australia and I make all kinds of music.

K: There have been so many people involvedwith the influence of my music, so it’s hard tosay, but if I had to pick some I’d say Steve Lacy and Tyler, the Creator.

K: I just get in the studio and try a lot of stuff ’til I make something that sounds good. I’ll describe my sound as raw.

K: It means everything to me. The people around me know how long I’ve been sitting on that song and all my music in general.

K: Yeah, I’ve got great creative minds around methat contribute to the music I’m creating.

K: I hope the industry here grows to be more open to different types of music. There is a lot of creative talent waiting to be seen.

K: I hope my music is received well and it findsits own place somewhere in this scene.

K: I have an EP coming out start of 2023!

K: I want to be remembered as a creative mind with no genre barriers. Someone who executed ideas.