As a producer and sound designer Elina Godwin has been busy. As a sound designer she has worked variously for the Sydney Opera House, Radio FBi and on everything from film through to theatre. As a music producer she’s currently working on two separate electronic music projects: Xanza and Vi Da.
Both projects have recently dropped debut singles ahead of their debut EPs releasing next month.
Of all the work you’re doing right now, what excites you the most?
“I am very excited about both the Vi Da and Xanza projects. It has taken me a long time to find a collaboration that really works. I’ve tried a few other collabs but it seemed to come down to a few things including wanting the same goals, being on the same wavelength in terms of the type of musical vibe and the drive to both wanting to keep making new songs.
Xanza (Alexandra Nicholas) went to high school with my younger brother. I saw her performing cover songs and loved her voice. After a chat I discovered she wrote her own songs too so then we started the collab.”
“I met Vi Da (Reilly O’Byrne Inglis) through a Sydney Fringe Festival theatre production. She was an actor in a play I sound-designed for. Reilly heard me working on some music and said she loved it and wanted to sing on it.”
What’s the process when you’re co-creating songs with these artists?
“When we have a writing session we will firstly talk about what mood we are in. Do we feel like making something upbeat or downtempo? We might also talk about song topic ideas we have had. I may pull a beat idea I have previously worked on up, or I might make something on the spot. The singers might pull up some lyrics they already have or start working on them as I build something. We record the vocals bit by bit as we write. Sometimes a song will take a few sessions and sometimes it all magically comes together in a couple hours. Some ideas don’t work and we have no fear in leaving them behind and starting something new.”
As a prolific creator, what’s advice would you give to others starting out?
“The most important thing I have learnt since I started to produce is not letting other people’s opinions get you down. Often the first people you show a song to are the people closest to you, and and often they are not equipped to give you constructive feedback. Learn which advice to take and which advice to ignore. My second bit of advice is get a website, it’s amazing how even the smallest online presence will make you visible to the people offering opportunities.”