Here Comes Flaviyake!

Flaviyake

Here we are, once again having turned the page on our calendars to the start of a new year – 2015. Many people look forward with anticipation of all the possibilities of various achievements. Some begin the year resolving to make life changes for better health or career. Nothing is wrong with any of this. For me the New Year brings another post for Weekly Music Commentary, as I do not set yearly goals. I look at accomplishments per each 100 posts. I recently passed post number 200 toward the end of last year. I can imagine some readers wondering if I would start the year with some big, special feature of one of our more established artists. However, I thought it would be best to begin the year featuring an up and coming musician. This week I chose to feature Flaviyake.

Who? I am sure that is what many are saying about now. Some of my regular readers probably say that a bit as I introduce them to music and artists unfamiliar to them. I am fine with that because I hope everyone continues to read and opens their mind to different styles of music. The best thing to do in this case is allow Flaviyake to introduce herself. Here is Flaviyake’s self-description from her bio:

I am an electro pop artist based in London. Flaviyake is a combination of my Latin name Flaviya and a Japanese ending. I was born during the earthquake in the capital of Moldova. One horoscopic calendar states that those born on the 16th of December have the most vivid imagination, so I feel obliged to show people something they have never seen through my music.

Interestingly, Flaviyake’s last statement is one that outlines the way we are introduced to entertainers in modern times as she stated, “Show people something they have never seen through my music.” Today, our first introduction to recording artists’ is by way of the music video.  The music video has become the most important piece in the puzzle of modern music promotion. Granted, you must start with the music, but how are you going to let anyone know that it exists? There certainly are other tools useful in promotion of any artist and their product, but the video really gets the message in front of us all. When we have the ability to see and hear a performance, we use an additional sense – sight as well as hearing.

The music video is hardly a new concept. In 1926, with the arrival of “talkies” many musical short films were produced. Vitaphone shorts (produced by Warner Bros.) featured many bands, vocalists and dancers. Early 1930s cartoons featured popular musicians performing their hit songs on-camera in live-action segments during the cartoons. The early animated films by Walt Disney, such as the Silly Symphonies shorts and especially Fantasia, which featured several interpretations of classical pieces, were built around music. In 1964, The Beatles starred in their first feature film A Hard Day’s Night. The musical sequences furnished basic templates on which countless later music videos were modeled. As the television became prevalent in every household, the transmission of musical performances gained popularity. Anyone remember the television show The Monkees? It consisted of film segments that were created to go with various Monkees songs. The Monkees are significant for another reason; among the first modern music videos were clips produced by ex-Monkee Michael Nesmith who started making short musical films for Saturday Night Live. In 1981, he released Elephant Parts, the first winner of a Grammy for music video.

Now we move down to our day and the music video has become the foremost format for artistic expression of its own. Flaviyake has supplied very interesting songs that compel us to consider where society is going with the introduction of so much technology. “Barcode Puppets” screamed for a different type of video, and Flaviyake has provided us with something unusual but expressive. Flaviyake says, “A lot of touch and mysterious stories lie behind my music. I write lyrics and melodies, my brother RK produces music, and our ideas magically work together.” With the addition of full video imagery, the picture becomes much clearer.

Regarding her background and performance goals, Flaviyake added, “I am also professionally educated in classical music and play flute and piano. I really enjoy filming and directing my music videos and want to film videos for all of my songs.” Flaviyake herself says at the end of her bio that a “weird sound is coming.” I think it may sound “weird” to some because Flaviyake offers a blend of various cultures in her sound. That is not necessarily a bad thing, as she is finding an audience. In the music industry, the goal of all artists and recording companies is to find an audience of music buyers. Many comments I read about Flaviyake are positive, encouraging, and from all around the world. It would seem she is set to become another true international recording artist. Get ready world, here comes Flaviyake!