Finding the perfect sound is important. Whether you’re listening to music on your morning commute, hitting the last set in your workout, or pre-gaming before you hit the town with your friends, the perfect sound can make a song and moment unforgettable, and Marshall absolutely knows that.
For sixty years, Marshall has provided the best sound that money can buy with their signature amps that have rocked venues from clubs to stadiums and everything in-between. It’s their knowledge, dedication to quality, and passion for music that has carried over into their Never Stop Listening initiative. Marshall has partnered with several new, powerful voices within the underground music scene to assist them in their creative process through the use of their incredible products.
Nova Twins, Jelani Aryeh and Kid Bloom are a few of the artists that are part of the Marshall family, and they make no qualms about gushing about the superior sound products they’ve experienced including the powerful Emberton II speakers, Monitor II A.N.C. headphones, and the wireless Willen. Complex talked to them about getting into music, their creative process, and how they utilize Marshall’s products when they create and in their daily lives.
Nova Twins
When you think of an act whose sound packs a punch worthy of the Marshall brand, look no further than the Nova Twins. The London-bred duo consisting of Amy Love and Georgia South, are contributing to the powerful imprint that Black women have in music today. Their music is loud, empowering, dynamic and a breath of fresh air. Their videos are filled to the brim with the explosive and chippy nature both women exude on their sophomore album Supernova. Whether it’s capturing main character energy in “Choose Your Fighter” or creating their own version of a Disney horror fantasy in “K.M.B.”
When describing their creative process, Georgia describes the feeling as an accomplishment. “The album really brought us together. It felt like such a triumph being able to connect with each other, having the project to work on and write”. She continues “we wrote each song feeling that we’re getting through something and that we will come out the other side a winner. Even with everything being so intense right now, we want people to feel like no matter what’s happening, you are a superhero and you can get through the sludge and thick of it at times.”
Both Georgia and Amy came together for Nova Twins through their love of music. Georgia started playing the piano, taking after her exemplary jazz pianist father. But once she picked up the bass guitar she never looked back, and would eventually join a band herself. Amy always loved singing, and grew up in a band with Georgia’s brother. It was their common love for music and occupation of the underground alt. rock scene that eventually led them to join forces as the Nova Twins. “We’d both be on the music scene, but in separate bands, but book ourselves on the same night and then we’d run home to talk about it. Then we just thought we needed to make a band together because we’re literally just inseparable anyway,” Georgia reveals. Then bang, like a supernova explosion – Nova Twins were born.
Now years later, they’re out touring the world – recently trekking across the United States, and they often have their Marshall gear on them. When traveling they take their the Emberton II speakers on them. “We’ll have our Marshall speaker blasting in our dressing room, to get us hyped up before going on stage.” They also use Marshall’s Major IV & Monitor II A.N.C. wireless headphones while they’re listening to music or writing in the studio.
Marshall has brought them many opportunities including being one of the first albums recorded at Marshall Studios in Milton Keynes, England. They’ve also been incredibly supportive of their creative endeavors through music. Georgia tells Complex, “Some labels are like, ‘No, you can’t do this or we’re making the decisions,’ but they literally work with us and hear our ideas. They’ve been amazing and they’re doing so many great things of bringing up new artists and they really have their ear to the ground as well.”
Jelani Aryeh
Jelani Aryeh hasn’t released music since his 2021 project, I’ve Got Some Living To Do, but he hasn’t slowed down on the living. The 22 year-old Afro-Filipino singer has finished his latest tour and is now back in the studio and living independently for the first time. “I’m kind of trying to find myself in all of it because it’s been a lot,” he says. “The past two years have been a strange journey – learning to balance touring, infinite sessions and life’s responsibilities, while attempting to cultivate a stronger sense of self. I think you’ll hear a lot of it in the next record.”
With so many young musicians today, his musical origin story comes from his family. When he was six years old, his uncle was a rapper with his studio next to Jelani’s room. However it wasn’t until his high school football injury that things slowed down for him, and he found the album that inspired him to create music of his own: Childish Gambino’s Because The Internet. The album spoke to him. “You can create a screenplay, you can create a film, create this whole world around a project,” he says. And I was like, “Okay, this is what I want to do. I’ve always kind of been creative, and this is a medium that I think I can do everything in.”
Now Jelani is accompanying acts at festivals across the country, which has all added to his creative process. He cites traveling and exploring as the biggest contributor in his creative process, and during that period he’s got his Marshall devices alongside for the ride. For traveling he carries his wireless Motif A.N.C headphones. “We just got back from tour and I had it in the van the whole time. Or in the hotel room or green room, just playing whatever.” Sometimes it may be podcasts, other times it’s music.
His Emberton II speakers, known for sonically packing a punch are key in getting his days started. During our interview, he pulls out the speaker on-screen after admittingly stealing it back from his parents. “When I wake up, I’ll just turn it on and dance. If I’m not going to work out, I need to move my body in some way to get my brain moving more.” And once the blood begins flowing, the creativity follows.
As part of Marshall’s Never Stop Listening initiative, Jelani says he’s been grateful to have the brand’s unequivocal support. “They were like, ‘We want to be here and let us know how we can help.’ And that’s the coolest thing to hear as a creative,” he says. Knowing he has that support system beside him has been paramount in his development as an artist.
Kid Bloom
For Kid Bloom, it’s all about the journey. This past summer, the Los Angeles native released his debut album Highway, a synth-laced, 80’s pop-inspired LP that he worked on through the pandemic. “There were great collaborators that I was blessed to work with, but for literally 90% of it, I was in my room, fresh in the pandemic, just trying to figure it out,” he says. “I didn’t sit there and say to myself, ‘Okay. I’m going to make an album.’ I literally said ‘How can I push myself?’ and also, ‘How can I make music? What’s this going to sound like right now?’ And it all came together.”
Bloom remained grounded and experimental in his creative process, piecing the project together through exploration of various rhythms and chords. He cites his dad as his entry way into music. His father, a producer in his own right, would constantly play The Beatles, Elton John and Toto (“a lot of Toto”) around him as a kid. But today he incorporates a lot of hip hop in his musical diet, including Travis Scott & Don Toliver – both artists he’d love to work with in the future.
And that’s why he’s so grateful to be part of Marshall’s program, with the incredible legacy that Marshall has and being a major supporter of his creative process. “I was a little boy seeing the massive Marshall amps behind bands like AC/DC and [to me], it just meant power. It meant rock and roll. So for them to just be able to be a part of this now is so cool for me,” he says. “They’ve been so supportive in letting me do whatever I want. I sent them back the videos and they’d like, “Whoa. Okay. Yeah. Do more of that.”
And he swears by the versatility of the Marshall products. The high-performance sound from the Monitor II A.N.C. headphones have become a staple within his daily routine. “I rock those headphones in the gym and then immediately just be like, ‘Oh shoot! I gotta go home and try something like this.’
He’s also a massive fan of the powerful Emberton II speakers. “The speakers are such a lifesaver. I have them set up and I’ll just walk around outside, getting lost in it,” he explains. “ You pull up at the beach and you put one speaker behind the blanket and one in front of the blanket, and you’re sound bathing. I take two of them often because you can link them together, which is super sick.”
Since their inception in 1962, Marshall has been there for it all: from blues to hip hop, grunge to glam rock. Their expressive sound combined with their iconic stage presence has been distilled and fused into every part of Marshall headphones and speakers. To learn more, visit their Never Stop Listening page.
