TRIPLE J UNEARTHED - ARTIST FEATURE
“These shows have made me feel a little bit like I made it”
In a year of growth and challenging herself, she’s already gone global. She’s taking her dance floor pulsing masterpieces infused with visionary and edgy production and even playing at festivals such as RISING and VIVID.
And this is only the beginning.
Elle Shimada is an act we’re absolutely buzzing about at Unearthed HQ.
We’re certain she’s destined for a long and fruitful career and word on the street a debut album is already on the way. Titled Home Isn’t A Location, here’s the 101 on what it’s about.
CULTED SOUNDS
Elle Shimada talks about her new music video & being unapologetic
There are some artists whose sound can be described as experimental, and then there are some artists whose sound you’ve never heard anything like it before. That’s exactly how Ella Shimada’s music can be described. Born in Tokyo and having moved to Australia, Elle Shimada gets inspired from just about everything and anything, which transpires into her music which blends in sounds of her playing the violin, drum & bass, jazz, and other barely recognizable yet enjoyable sounds.
Her latest single ABOUT BLANK ______, for which the music video just dropped, is exactly that – a medley of bizarre yet satisfying sounds accompanied by the powerful vocals of Rara Zulu. Today, we caught up with the multi-instrumental artist to talk about her latest single, her experimental approach and the feeling of home.
NOTION
From the brilliance of Björk to being broke and meeting Sudan Archives, Elle Shimada runs down her musical firsts.
As 2023 becomes an increasingly profitable year for the artist, who’s set to support Flying Lotus, Alfa Mist and many others, we got acquainted with Elle through her musical firsts. From the brilliance of Björk to being broke and meeting Sudan Archives.
THE GUARDIAN
21 BEST AUSTRALIAN ALBUMS
Elle Shimada – Home ≠ Location
Key track: Omnipotent _ 全能
On her debut album, the violinist, DJ and producer Elle Shimada journeys through spiritual jazz and drum’n’bass in search of a home beyond the geographical. In her spoken word across the opening track Home Is ___, the Tokyo-born, Naarm-based Shimada recognises her colonial settler status, finding discomfort in attaching her sense of belonging to lands “inherently tied to the displacement and dispossession of Aboriginal people”. Instead, Shimada embraces her own physicality and the connective, community-building power of music as scaffolding and shelter. After years of disconnection and fear, Home ≠ Location is a soothing balm. – Nick Buckley
DJ MAG
Elle Shimada has released a new track, ‘ABOUT BLANK ____ ’, featuring Rara Zulu. Listen to it below.
The self-released single is the Tokyo-born, Melbourne-based artist’s first music of 2023. Building upon the eclectic output she has become known for, the track blends elements of drum & bass with layered strings and jazz influenced beats.
Described as embracing the “uniting power of music to cultivate a dance-floor-activism”, ‘ABOUT BLANK ____ ’ also sees Shimada joining forces with Australian vocalist Rara Zulu to capture the experience of independent creative women through sound.
The single follows Shimada’s acclaimed 2022 debut album ‘HOME ≠ LOCATION’, released via The Jazz Diaries. Around the same time, the artist reflected on her changing concept of home in a Get To Know feature for DJ Mag, which you can check out here.
With last year’s HÖR Berlin mix already under her belt, Shimada has a busy rest of 2023 supporting names including Liv.e, Obongjayar, and Flying Lotus.
RESIDENT ADVISER
I got to the main stage and all I can say is GOOD MORNING ELLE SHIMADA! She woke us up to Chicago Jazz with a bass that has you bouncing like Tiger from Winnie the Pooh. Bare-feet, I danced in the sand to her exquisite list of soulful sounds; my body heating up to eclectic international rhythms and drum'n'bass.
It was wild to think that freezing cold turned into the intense heat of the clear sunny day, but luckily there was also plenty of shade at Pitch. Many observe how there’s no mosquitoes, and no flies. Just fluttering butterflies. And these translucent floaty things in the sky which you can’t tell are bugs or just your own dopamines flickering through your eyes. Occasionally you would look down and see some freaky bug and you’re like what in God’s Green Earth-the-sweet-fuck is that? But somehow, it’s just chill. We really couldn’t have asked for better weather conditions.
RAGE WILD ONE
VOGUE
VERVE ZINE
The Elle Shimada Band’s upcoming residency at the Evelyn Hotel in Fitzroy (affectionately and almost exclusively referred to as ‘The Ev’) is a journey in 4 installments. The focus: navigating the labyrinth that is identity formation, constructive growth and renewal- along with a healthy dose of kicking back, dropping it all and having a good boogie. The residency integrates music (soul, jazz, house, hiphop, dance) with spoken word, visual art and interactive media.
Although experienced musicians in their own right, as a band the Elle Shimada Band are relatively new to the scene. The themes for the residency came from a desire to consolidate and define themselves as a unified group, placing different aspects of their personal experiences as musicians (and people) under the spotlight each week.
BEAT MAGAZINE
After selling out nine shows across Japan, Elle Shimada has seamlessly combined her talents as violinist, producer, curator, and DJ to quickly become one of Melbourne’s most innovative artists.
LIMINAL MAGAZINE
They endeavor to feature artists from diverse backgrounds and mediums to create multi-sensory experiences. Her curation is a politically charged peaceful protest, with emphasis on exchanging knowledge and energy between stage, dance floor and community. Shimada utilizes the uniting power of music to cultivate a dance-floor-activism that is inclusive, honest and raw.
Elle speaks to Ro McCoy about running away to New York, her methods of making home on the go, what it means to know her roots, and how these experiences inform her music.
EV RESIDENCY
The Elle Shimada Band’s upcoming residency at the Evelyn Hotel in Fitzroy (affectionately and almost exclusively referred to as ‘The Ev’) is a journey in 4 installments. The focus: navigating the labyrinth that is identity formation, constructive growth and renewal- along with a healthy dose of kicking back, dropping it all and having a good boogie. The residency integrates music (soul, jazz, house, hiphop, dance) with spoken word, visual art and interactive media.
HEADTHREADS
As a creative, to feel safe on stage is a deep question because it definitely feels like I’m naked in front of, at times, thousands of people. I have to be really sincere to my art, otherwise I will be entirely insecure. The first step is to feel that there’s no lies and shades within my heart. That’s really, really difficult. The second step is to share that with the family you have, which in my project is Yang as a manager and Maggie as a dancer, with the band, with the bookers, with people on the presenter side. It takes a lot of work.
フジロックやサマソニも席巻のオーストラリア出身アーティスト、越境する音楽性と独自の海外戦略
オーストラリア国内に目をやると、各都市にシーンが形成され、アーティスト間の交流が盛んだ。この点について、先ごろ日本ツアーを終えたばかりのメルボルン出身の4人組ユニット・Elle Shimada Collective（ESC）を率いるエル・シマダに話を聞いた。