London Musician Series: Halina Rice

Halina discusses being a musician in London, the best London venues, getting inspired by other AV artists & playing live.

Halina Rice

Avant-electronic producer, live AV artist and remixer - debut album 'REDUX' was released in 2017 on Blurred Recordings which recieved positive reviews, and premiered in Clash Magazine. The debut track DRIVE was remixed by electronic pioneer Richard Norris of Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve. Halina also plays live with visual projections created by an award-winning VJ Mowgli and will release a follow up EP this year.

What inspires you to be a musician? 

Other musicians and AV artists - innovation and experiment, new sounds in any genre. I thought the recent film on David Lynch 'The Art of Life' showed how he was compelled to make art in whatever media whether it's seen or unseen. I've been making music for years but only recently started to publish and perform.

What is the best part about being a musician in London? 

I think you can be creative and meet creative people everywhere but having the opportunity to see incredible music from around the world in London is something I try and take advantage of.

What is your favourite London venue for gigs? 

One of the best London venues is Village Underground - it somehow feels a tiny bit religious and the sound system is pristine.

What is the biggest challenge you have as a musician today? 

Usually finding the time and space for your project and to be 100% absorbed but that's a challenge for everyone I think!

Do you think the industry is changing for the better? 

It depends what's meant by the industry as there's so many facets - from my perspective I've just been accepted onto the Kobalt AWAL platform and the idea that artists can now be more in control of their own release schedule is a great development.

What are the three tools you could not live without?

Laptop, Butch Vig Vocals plugin, Ableton Push.

How do you find opportunities to gig?

Generally word of mouth - there's a network of experimental electronic nights in London so often in connection with these. I've also started to help promoters curate line-ups promoting electronic music with a spotlight on women in this field.

What are your fondest musical memories? Eg. In your house? In your neighbourhood or town?

The making and receiving of mixtapes!

How do you reach your fans?

Everyone does the social media thing but I'm more interested in making connections through playing live - it feel like a way for people to properly understand you as an artist that I'm not sure fully conveys in streaming.

What is it that compels you to publish music?

To have a voice in the conversation and present new ideas.

What are your thoughts on streaming services?

Just that they are the media of the day and have clearly had a huge impact on how we take in music moving towards single tracks and multiple genres. It's interesting that we've just had the first National Album Day and whether that might stimulate a move back to albums as a format.

What is something you wish you had known sooner?

To get up and walk around once in a while while you're producing - it's good for your general health!

Are you actively looking for record labels? Do you think it could be a good option?

At the moment I'm happy to be in charge of my own destiny with AWAL, but working with a label is always a possibility, it just has to work for both sides.

How do you balance your music with other passions - partner, children, job?

Generally music is in everything I do - if I go abroad it's for a music event. My partner runs a music publishing company as well as being a composer so he's pretty understanding when I have to block time out to focus on writing.

We hope you enjoyed reading Halina's story and experiences as much as we did. To learn more about AV artist, Halina, check out her website here: https://www.halinarice.com/ 

Fancy being featured in our Musician Series? Get in touch at renee@rotorvideos.com