In my previous post, Music+Travel, I talked about what happens when these two elements come together. One of the things that has grown out of this combination is AnywhereMusic, a video series on YouTube where I perform a song live inside my van, with each episode filmed in a different location.
To me, AnywhereMusic feels like a flower that has grown out of the connection between music and travel. It's part of the life I've created, where these two things support each other and create a natural flow. It also gives me a space for what I feel is one of the purest forms of music: playing live, in its rawest form, without processing.
The idea first came to me during my UK tour. We were in Cornwall, staying at a campsite on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever stayed in with the van. Wild, incredibly windy, with a landscape I still find hard to describe in words.
I decided to record a video of myself playing What I See inside the van, with that incredible view in the background. I filmed it vertically and after a while I posted it on Instagram, where it got a nice response. But almost immediately, I started thinking about turning it into a series: videos filmed in different places, each one opening with a few shots of the location before the song begins.
Before leaving Cornwall, I also recorded a horizontal version, so I'd already have the first episode ready, filmed in such a special place.
During that same tour, I recorded another video in Scotland. But these two will remain the pilot episodes. As I let the idea grow and started giving it a clearer direction, a more consistent style and a technical approach, I realised they no longer really fit what I had in mind. They were also quite spontaneous and improvised, so I decided not to release them.
So far, I've published two episodes of AnywhereMusic on YouTube. One of the songs, Release, will be part of my upcoming EP. I wanted to share it in advance through this live version, before releasing the studio recording.
That's how I see AnywhereMusic: a space for my music and live performances, where I can share covers, new songs, music that's yet to be released, and collaborations. From time to time, I'd also love to invite other artists into the van and give them a space to play one of their songs.
It's a very simple, down to earth project, but it gives me an easy way to share what I do in a more direct and raw form. I would have liked to release more than two videos by now, but I feel like AnywhereMusic is something that will stay with me, a little space for music that will grow alongside me and tell the story of the different adventures along the way.