Birmingham SlossFest profile: Sylvan Esso
Amelia Meath, left, and Nick Sanborn make up Sylvan Esso. (contributed)
Performer: Sylvan Esso
Type of music: Indie pop
About: What happens when an indie folk artist asks an electronica producer to remix one of her songs? In the case of Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, it results in the creation of a new indie pop duo known as Sylvan Esso.
Meath recorded a song she wrote with her all-female trio Mountain Man before she met Sanborn, a producer working as Made of Oak, at a club where the two shared a bill in 2013. She asked Sanborn to play around with the song “Play It Right” and the two realized there was something special in their combination.
For Sanborn, he felt like his work truly enhanced Meath’s material. Meath liked the enrichment Sanborn’s beats and atmospherics brought to the song. They set out to record an album together in Sanborn’s bedroom in Durham, N.C., resulting in Sylvan Esso’s self-titled debut in 2014.
The duo has been working up songs for a follow-up album and will perform some of the new material at SlossFest.
Sources: www.sylvanesso.com, www.facebook.com/SylvanEsso/
Discography: “Sylvan Esso.”
You might have heard: “Hey Mami,” “HSKT,” “Coffee,” “Play It Right.”
Playing at SlossFest: Sylvan Esso will perform on the Steam Stage from 4:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. on Sunday, July 17.
Sloss Music and Arts Festival takes place at the historic Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham July 16-17 and features 40 performers on four stages. Tickets can be purchased here.
