Sound Fiesta — The Softest of Voices by GNY

“Texture” is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you hear The Softest of Voices. Starting with a soft, melodic synth that echoes into a layered, sonic landscape, more meticulous listeners might revel in each texture the track offers, be it the beats or GNY’s vocals.

Much like its title, The Softest of Voices captures a subtle sweetness in every component, from the beat to the lyrics. It’s a surprise then that this has been the first of GNY’s tracks to feature his voice in a decade, seeing as it all ties together in a neat, aural package. But then again, it’s the story behind the song’s creation that fuels its pulse.

In today’s Sound Fiesta, we talk to GNY about his process and the story behind The Softest of Voices.

Going through your discography, some may find a lo-fi feel to a good portion of the songs. Was this deliberate?

Lo-fi hip-hop was a huge deal online for a long time, and I’d say its importance and influence in music, in general, is still felt to this day. I rode that wave for a while, and it helped me get my name out there.

While I wouldn’t really call my style “lo-fi hip-hop” than it is 90s instrumental jazz-hop akin to Madlib, I do love involving myself in that area of the lo-fi scene since everyone there’s really wholesome and fairly drama-less.

Walk us through your creative process when it comes to making music. What usually comes first, the music or the lyrics?

Of course, I’m a producer first before I am a singer, especially since The Softest of Voices is my first ever full release in a decade with my voice on it. The beat, sounds, arrangement, and everything in between come first before I jot down any words on paper.

On the beat side of things, though, I really start anywhere that feels right. It could be a bassline, chords on keys, or drums. A lot of my ideas come out of nowhere from listening to other music, and I could hear what I wanted to make in my head even before I opened up my program to produce. It’s just a matter of putting it down and materializing it.

I wish I had a more concrete and consistent way of making music, but the sudden bursts of sounds in my head haven’t failed me yet.

When making the backing track, what do you like to consider?

As a beat-first artist, I want to make sure that it can stand on its own as an instrumental. After creating that, I remove its focal element and replace it with vocals.

I feel that this approach elevates a record because I’d consider every piece of the puzzle even before the vocals are laid out. I think a listener would stick around even longer when there are deeper layers to pick up after each listen.

For The Softest of Voices, what inspired the track?

Short answer: My girlfriend.

Long answer: I’ve always thought I lacked the skill in writing and performing vocally. I thought I never really had anything to write about and that my instrumentals spoke for themselves. In the end, I had a change in philosophy that my true expression comes from what I want to say in lyrics. The only obstacle was how to start.

That’s when my girlfriend enters the scene. The night before our anniversary, I thought of writing her a song and singing it, and that’s where it started for me. This kind of pseudo-reflection on my inability to express my emotions through writing led me to ultimately write a little love letter to her in The Softest of Voices. Sure, the song is also an “I’m still taking it one step at a time in improving this,” but the first step was writing to someone to whom I can truly express my emotions.

What can other people expect from your music moving forward?

The Softest of Voices was almost a total 180 in my sound, but my next record puts all my styles and recent inspirations into a more detailed and interesting sound that I can proudly call my own. That said, I’ve ditched samples and will be doing more vocals on my upcoming releases. I have a track titled “what’s on your mind?” coming out in late March, so be on the lookout for that.

Sound Fiesta is in collaboration with Playhouse Studio for video production and Kindred Productions for audio management. This video was shot in The Astbury, Makati City.