Following their acclaimed collaboration ‘Weightless’ on Selador, as part of the label’s 10th Anniversary celebrations, Just Her and Stelios Vassiloudis chatted with When We Dip about working together, collaborations, and their plans for the summer.
WWD: Hi Just Her and Stelios! Thanks for speaking with When We Dip. Where are you both currently speaking to us from?
Stelios Vassiloudis: Thanks for having us. I’m currently at the Istanbul airport, in transit.
Just Her: I’m also on the road! Heading back to my hometown of Brighton from Albania after playing at Anjunadeep’s Explorations festival, which was absolutely amazing.
WWD: We love your new collaboration, ‘Weightless’, released as part of Selador’s recent 10th Anniversary EP, ’Selador Decade EP 3’. Please can you tell us about the track?
Just Her: Thank you! This one actually went through a long process of creation with a number of different versions built around the vocal, initially with a few different producers involved too, but it never seemed to really come together properly. Then it was handed over to Stel who took it in a new direction and as soon as I heard the first draft, I knew it was going to be an absolute beauty! I love the overall sound and it’s definitely one of my favourite collabs that I’ve done so far.
Stelios Vassiloudis: Glad you like it! As Claire said, the track came together in a pretty unorthodox / unexpected way but I’ve always been a huge fan of her music and so I jumped at the opportunity to work with her.
WWD: Your vocal is stunning, Just Her. Did you consider using another vocalist at all?
Stelios Vassiloudis: Agree! As I said above, I have always admired her productions, but she really is the complete package 🙂
Just Her: Ahh you are all too kind! 🙂 To be honest I do lack a bit of confidence in my own singing, and I often write demos that other vocalists end up performing. In this case though, as I was writing the lyrics and melodies, I felt that the style of the vocals seemed to suit my voice perfectly, so I was happy for them to be used and the end result has turned out beautifully.
WWD: Do you have any plans to collaborate together again?
Just Her: Yes! Now that we are connected, we already decided to start working on some new ideas, so watch this space!
Stelios Vassiloudis: Absolutely. Our schedules and time zones are diametrically opposed but where there’s a will, there’s always a way.
WWD: When working on collaborations remotely, how does the creative process work?
Stelios Vassiloudis: In my experience, they usually end in tears / go nowhere / yield subpar results. It’s just the nature of collaboration and there are too many factors that derail good intentions. Having said that, working with musicians who are diligent, conscientious and have a healthy ego definitely makes things easier.
Just Her: Haha, luckily none of mine have ended in tears so far! Although sometimes things just don’t click and either nothing useable gets created, or people get pulled away onto other projects and it fizzles out. For me it’s always nicer to be able to jump into a studio in real life with someone, but obviously that’s not always possible and remote collabs can be a great way of writing new ideas around your own solo projects. Usually, the starting point is an idea or sketch and you can just send to the other person who will develop it and send it back. It can keep going backwards and forwards until you have a final result that you are both happy with.
WWD: Have either of you ever disagreed with a collaborator over elements?
Just Her: I think ‘disagree’ is a strong word and in some ways, disagreement provides the foundations for collaboration. The whole idea of a joint project is to share different perspectives to create something completely new, so if you were both on the exact same page then it probably wouldn’t work so well.
Stelios Vassiloudis: More times than I’d care to mention. But if you read the response above, I think it’s part and parcel of the creative process and how things can play out when working remotely.
WWD: What other releases do you both have lined up over the coming months?
Stelios Vassiloudis: I’ve got a ton of original material and remixes planned for the rest of the year (none of which I’ll bore you with) but I’m very excited about my next album, which marks my return to Bedrock.
Just Her: Oooh I’m looking forward to hearing the album! I have another track coming out on Selador this month, which is actually another collab with TIMANTI. And I’m currently working on new releases for Anjunadeep, Colorize, Rhythm Cult and a couple of other new labels that I can’t mention just yet. Will also be re-launching my own label Constant Circles so watch out for new music, radio shows and events at www.constantcircles.com (thanks for the cheeky plug haha)! 🙂
WWD: How are you both planning on spending the summer this year?
Just Her: I have a crazy summer of shows, with gigs in the UK, USA, India, and Australia in the next 2 months! In between I’m hoping to be at home spending as much quality time as I can with my family (I have a 20-month-old baby!) and writing some new music.
Stelios Vassiloudis: I will also be mostly on the road, supporting these releases.
WWD: Finally, anything else you would both like to mention?
Stelios Vassiloudis: I’ll just briefly get on my soapbox and say “thank you” to the listeners / fans / readers / enthusiasts that support us and the labels we partner with that go out of their way (often to their own detriment) in order to provide the platforms and support systems for us to continue to share our art. It’s a flawed, ever-changing, and inequitable system we all work in, but as I mature and my sensibilities change (not to mention my criteria for success), I find my enthusiasm and passion endure.
Just Her: I definitely want to mirror what Stel has said here, but for me I’ve been stepped back a little from the industry for the last year or so since having our baby, so to come back and see that people are still around, listening to my music and coming to my shows is pretty amazing. I’m busier than ever and will be forever grateful and constantly amazed at people’s support for me and my music. Much love <3
Just Her & Stelios Vassiloudis ‘Weightless’ is out now on ‘Selador Decade EP 3’. Buy / Stream Here
TIMANTI & Just Her ‘Other Side’ is out now on Selador. Buy / Stream Here