Next Courses: Song Circle - Spring and Summer Seasonal Courses Open Now (Six-Week Online Songwriting Courses in May and June)

Now booking:

Spring ~ UK mornings 10-12 on Tuesdays from May 14th ~ Theme: Reawaken

Summer ~ UK evenings 730-930 on Thursdays from June 20th ~ Theme: Manifest/ Songs as Wishes

SONG CIRCLE: Spring Songwriting Course

This small group of up to eight participants is an intimate, safe setting in which to open up your creative flow and share a love of songwriting and composition.

Explore your songwriting identity and learn to trust your own voice, while getting to know other songwriters from around the world.

Setting your own goals and pace, you will be supported to open up your process by Emmy and your fellow group members. We’ll work on things like making time for your creativity, overcoming blocks, expressing yourself authentically, and having actual fun. Throughout it all, we’ll be a community.

Open to all levels - you don’t have to be a full-time musician, or even play an instrument! There are songwriters at every stage of their journey on this course - some have released albums, some have just begun writing. The meetings are designed around the needs of everyone in the group, with all of our individual dreams and creative identities in mind.

Build songwriting and creativity into your routine in a way that feels sustainable to you!

This course will be flavoured with a seasonal theme of reawakening.

No tech required (except Zoom!).

Email emmythegreat at gmail.com to join, request financial support or enquire about future courses

Or book your place directly:

Now booking:

Spring ~ UK mornings 10-12 on Tuesdays from May 14th ~ Theme: Reawaken

Summer ~ UK evenings 730-930 on Thursdays from June 20th ~ Theme: Manifest/ Songs as Wishes

“I can’t thank you enough for the past weeks, it came at the exact right time for me and has given me such a boost that I really needed. I feel so much more confident now to run with ideas instead of second-guessing and judging them before they ever have the chance to grow. I’ve felt a new kind of freedom thanks to this course that I’m going to try very hard to stay connected with!” - Georgia, Walthamstow

“Emmy's workshop is a wonderfully intimate and supportive environment that helped me build confidence in my own songwriting. There were opportunities to share ideas, techniques, hopes, anxieties and fears with a group of like-minded creative songwriters. Each session was built around the needs and wants of the individuals in the group which allowed the focus to flow in the direction of what we found most useful. It's like a support group for songwriters!" - Nathan, Also Walthamstow!

(People do join from places other than Walthamstow!)

***

Course structure:

Each course takes place over six weeks, in the form of five group meetings on Zoom, one individual creative coaching session with Emmy, and exercises to complete in your own time.

In the meetings, we will share guided discussions, and work on prompts and exercises. There are song assignments, and your level of engagement and time commitment between meetings is up to you.

In our forty-minute individual coaching session, we check in on course progress, and discuss all things related to your creativity, goals and dreams. This takes place at a mutually agreed time during the six weeks.

Group members have access to a shared online space in which we can swap snippets, ideas, thoughts and songs in between sessions. In this space, we will offer non-judgmental feedback on each other’s songs, as well as sharing our responses to assignments.

The community continues beyond the course, with opportunities to meet songwriters from other groups in mingles and workshops.

previous Workshops - Preserving Identity: Pickling and Song with Jenny Lau (Celestial Peach)

Unlock your multitudes in this immersive and playful community workshop with Jenny Lau of Celestial Peach & songwriter Emma-Lee Moss. Part of the Kakilang Creative Lab 2024.

In this workshop, we will pickle vegetables and write songs – processes paired together, we believe, for the first time! Immersed in these activities, we will explore and share discussion points that place us in the centre of our own narratives. At the end of the workshop, we will each have a jar of pickles, a new song, and new inspirations about where we’re at, and where we’re heading – both as individuals and a collective.

No previous skills required!

Book through Kakilang Festival’s website.

***

More on Kakilang Creative Lab:

Explore new ways to remix your artistry in performance, music, visual art, and technology through a series of dynamic workshops led by industry professionals. Open to all artists from all backgrounds and heritages, with a special invitation to those with East and South East Asian heritage.

Participate in any of the 8 workshops from Feb to Apr 2024, then have the opportunity to use Rich Mix spaces to showcase your solo/group work in a May scratch performance for family and friends.

Grab your all-access pass for £10 now to unlock the entire program!

Limited bursaries available for artists. If you’d like to receive funding to take part, apply through Kakilang.

Previous Songwriting Courses: Arvon Online - Dreaming Songs into Life with Kathryn Williams

This March, I am co-tutoring an online course with the immense songwriting talent that is Kathryn Williams. We’ll be dreaming, and collaborating, and spinning our ideas into life.

More info and draft timetable at:

https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/online-writing-week-songwriting/

From Arvon:

Have you always wanted to join a songwriting retreat but are unable to travel or take time away from home? Spend a week immersed in songwriting, co-writing and exploring your inner creative musical voice with Kathryn Williams and Emma-Lee Moss (Emmy the Great) direct from your own space. Over the week, there will be online workshops with your tutors, which will help you to fill your notebook with lyrics and ideas. You’ll then be given the tools to co-write songs with other members of the group, via Zoom, which you will then be empowered to share at the end of each day. The week will be welcoming, playful and satisfying, with a focus on trusting your intuition and making space for your creative dreams. All welcome, you do not need to be able to play an instrument to attend and we can help support you with any concerns you might have around technology.

For more information, please email arvonathome@arvon.org.

We’ll help you to make ‘Arvon at Home’, turning your own place into a writing cocoon, capturing the transformative power of our acclaimed Arvon residential courses: two brilliant author-tutors at your service, a caring and sharing group, the time and space to devote to your writing, invaluable feedback, new writing pals, and the unique creative progress that happens in a dedicated week of writing. 

You will be offered the best of a classic Arvon residential week, with a few virtual tweaks. Spot the difference: a carefully balanced combination of tips to help you focus, daily workshops, one-to-one tutorials with both tutors, get-togethers to chat about the day’s work, a mid-week guest reading offer, the celebratory Friday collective reading, and lots of time and encouragement for you to write every day. 

All gatherings, one-to-one or group, will be delivered via Zoom, so you’ll need to have a reliable internet connection. Your Arvon host will offer support as you need it, including any help you may need with your computer set-up. 

To participate, and to get the most out of the week, you’ll need to turn up online for all planned sessions, Monday to Friday. Last but not least, we urge you to read your tutors’ published work before the week starts.

Join the course and you may be set a writing exercise by these two mystery tutors…

New Songwriting Groups Coming Up

Hello!

I have opened two new songwriting groups to take place over summer.

These will take place Tuesdays 10am-12pm BST from June 7th, and Thursdays 6pm-8pm BST from June 30th. The timings are designed to allow for as many timezones as possible!

These small groups of up to eight participants is an intimate, safe setting in which to open up your creative flow and share a love of songwriting and composition.

Explore your songwriting identity and learn to trust your own voice, while getting to know other songwriters from all around the world.

Setting your own goals and pace, you will be supported to open up your process by Emmy and your fellow group members. We’ll work on things like making time for your creativity, overcoming blocks, expressing yourself authentically, and having actual fun. Throughout it all, we’ll be a community.

Open to all levels - you don’t have to be a full-time musician, or even play an instrument! There are songwriters at every stage of their journey on this course - some have released albums, some have just begun writing. The meetings are designed around the needs of everyone in the group, with all of our individual dreams and creative identities in mind.

To enquire to me directly, email me at emmycontact at gmail.com

Barbican 40th Birthday - Songs in the Key of London

It was heaven to perform at the Barbican’s Songs in the Key of London for the centre’s 40th anniversary celebrations.

A beautiful evening celebrating the city, ending in a moving tribute to Ukraine in Loudon Wainwright III’s A Pretty Good Day, performed by Boo Hewerdine.

I loved dueting with Kathryn Williams on Waterloo Sunset. Having begged to sing ‘Lalala’ on the first verse, I entered on the wrong note. I had one job! Nobody noticed.

And I got to tell my Nick Cave in West London story, before singing Brompton Oratory.

Also, reviews are in, I sing like a seal. Not Seal, a seal.

Tangram Lunar New Year Premieres at LSO St Luke's featuring Emmy the Great, Vivian Fung, Tonia Ko | 29 January 2022

I’m joining Tangram for their LNY 2022 Premiere at LSO St Luke’s on January 29 2022 <3

More info follows…

Join trailblazing artist collective Tangram to ring in Lunar New Year 2022 as they return to LSO St Luke's for a third year. (Tickets)

Garnering a reputation for their genre-bending programming combining Chinese and Western instruments, Tangram present a host of internationally acclaimed artists in a line-up remixing contemporary classical, Chinese classical, and pop-folk music. 

The evening centres around new transnational collaborations, with world premieres by JUNO-award winning composer Vivian Fung and former Guggenheim Fellow Tonia Ko, alongside an array of Chinese folk songs displaying the richness and vitality of Chinese cultures, both historical and contemporary. Tangram are delighted to be joined by critically acclaimed singer-song writer Emmy The Great, hailed by The Guardian as 'one of the boldest young writers in pop', and emerging Arts Council England-supported pop artist Mantawoman, who sheds light on queer Chinese identity.

Tangram is a London-based music collective, growing transnational community by creatively celebrating Chinese cultures. Tangram's compositions and performances delve into the joys and multiplicity of transnational Chinese experience, encouraging audiences to engage in nuanced cultural exchange and deep listening across perceived borders. 

Pre-Concert Talk

The concert will be preceded by a talk introducing Tangram's unique instrumentation and programme, the new commissions, and a discussion around what it means to curate and create new Chinese music today. This pre-concert talk is free.

Coventry Fargo Village Solo Show | September 17

I’m playing a solo set at Coventry Fargo Village on September 17th. You can get tickets here .

I know people are at different stages of coming to terms with the end of lockdown, so if you have any concerns and would like to ask about safety, etc, please email me at emmycontact @ gmail.com. I’ll liaise with the venue about them as much as possible.

See you in Coventry! Stay safe x

All Requests Live Streamed Show - March 4th

Dear friends,

How are you all? We are hanging in there at my house. Some days are very peaceful, and some are a little mundane, but grateful to be OK right now.

I'm writing to let you know that tickets are on sale for my all-requests solo show at the Grand Junction, on Thursday March 4th, as part of their Comfort and Courage season.

There was a requests show in 2016, and it was the most fun I'd had in years, so I'm hoping to bring a little excitement (and the adrenaline rush of forgetting old songs while on stage) back into my life.

Ticketholders can request their songs by emailing ahead of the show. We'll choose the ten most requested, and pick a further four out of a hat.

Remote gigs feel quite surreal, so I was thinking we could lean into that. I'll be 'double-screening' during the show, which means I'll be checking Twitter halfway through to check for any questions or chatty bits to respond to. I'll also look out for a last-minute obscure request, and will perform at least one song ad hoc, no rehearsal (I know! Just call me David Blaine!)

Don't worry if the above is all a bit speculative, if you want to take part in Twitter thing, there will be clear instuctions leading up to the event.

It will be weird to do this without you all Googling the lyrics in the room, but I trust you'll be shouting them at me during the show anyway.

I'm hoping that you all stay well and safe until I see you again.

Love , Emma

x

Out of Her Mind on BBC iPlayer Now; Soundtrack Available on Streaming Sites

I’m so excited to have written the original songs for Sara Pascoe’s innovative, mind-bending, heart-expanding new sit-com Out of Her Mind, which aired on BBC Two and is available to binge-watch on iPlayer.

I loved writing songs for this show, which tackles all the big questions of womanhood, motherhood, family, and yoghurt, among others. Sara’s ambition and vision allowed me to spread my wings and try lyrics I’ve never been able to tackle before (Baby Do a Poo Poo and Lick My Butt being only SOME of my particular favourites.)

You can listen to the songs on Spotify and other places, alongside with Graham Reynold’s incredible score.

Music Videos for Chang-E and Dandelions/Liminal

Head over to the Emmy the Great Vevo to watch the music videos from April/月音, both of which experiment with ways of telling stories through found footage.

The pandemic has necessarily changed the way artists make music videos, but somehow I was already collecting footage around Hong Kong (and in the studio) before this year began. Like so much of the album, things just happened as though intentional, and later we found out why.

I was lucky enough to collaborate with Renee Zhan, Armiliah Aripin, Mona Chalabi and Jesse Romain for Chang-E, and with Linnéa Haviland for Dandelions/Liminal. The footage for the latter was collected by Alex Whittaker and I in Hong Kong between 2018-late 2019.

The video for Chang-E was released on the first day of Mid-Autumn Festival.

Rethinking Mid-Autumn at the Barbican

“A magical concert with a cathartic sense of being reunited…” - the Independent

It was all a beautiful dream. Thank you everyone who came to the special Mid-Autumn Festival events at the Barbican Centre, culminating in a performance of April/月音 live featuring Chris Vatalaro, Abi Wade and Shaun Paterson.

Thank you…

Alex Whittaker and Rebecca Strickson for the beautiful lantern-making workshops in the Barbican Conservatory.

The panelists of HK Soiree – Jenny Lau, Daniel York Lo, Sarah Howe, and Dan Schreiber – and all the attendees. We did good nostalgia and toasted the Hong Kong spirit.

Jessica J. Lee, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan and Bishi for our panel of goddess worship.

The Barbican and everyone who came, for a warm surge of light to keep us going in winter.

April/月音 Out October 9th, First Single Out Now

Emmy The Great has announced news of her new solo album April / 月音 released 9th October via Bella Union and available to preorder here. First single “Dandelions / Liminal” is a song about being OK with uncertainty, and learning to co-exist with your own sorrow, and the sorrows of the world. Click HERE to listen.

“My story begins with the moon. In September 2017, I travelled to Hong Kong from New York, where I’d lived for three years, for the Mid-Autumn festival. I was planning to visit my parents and take some time off to write my fourth album. I arrived in time for the full moon - Chang-E’s moon - at a time of year when the heat breaks and the city seems alive with possibility.

 That Spring, I’d visited China and accidentally become somewhat fluent in Cantonese again, though the goal had been to speak Mandarin. I was there for a music residency, and had expected to feel an instant click. Instead, I realised that Hong Kong had an identity quite separate from the Mainland, and with my mother tongue reinstated, I was beginning to come to terms with that identity being a part of mine. This was tough - I was born in Hong Kong but I’ve always felt complicated about it.

Still, that Mid-Autumn, everything felt simple. Under the guidance of the moon, I walked the city - its neon-lit alleyways, its escalators and mountain paths. For a brief, precious moment, I fell into synch with Hong Kong. I felt its complex legacy and its tangled future. I felt the sorrow, alive in the buzz of neon and the drips of air-conditioner units, of a city caught between two destinies. It was twenty years since the Handover and the beginning of ‘One Country, Two Systems’. Everywhere I went, I saw people seeking to define their shared identity before it was too late. I hope some of that spirit has found its way into the songs, which were mostly written during that time. 

The album was recorded over two weeks in February 2018 in the Creamery in Greenpoint. It’s the fastest record I’ve ever made, which is ironic because its release was later delayed to accommodate a year’s maternity leave. I produced it with Bea Artola and Dani Markham, who was in my US band and also played drums. Jeffrey Fettig, our guitarist, also engineered, and the rest of the players were mostly friends as well as musical collaborators. These sessions became a kind of goodbye, and I left New York for Hong Kong permanently a few weeks after they finished.

I’ll never know why the city called me back, but I know what it gave me. In return, I want to give it this album. That Mid-Autumn, nobody could have predicted what was to come, neither the atomisation that began with the anti-Extradition Law protests in June 2019, nor the struggle for democracy that continues now, through the Covid-19 pandemic. To witness your birth city in its greatest moment of need is a powerful, humbling event, and I know I watched Hong Kong’s destiny shift into something turbulent and uncertain. I’m glad I recorded what I felt there, during a precious, peaceful time, when life was so good that all I had to do was trust the moon. May it be just one small piece of witness among many, and may the voices of Hong Kong never stop speaking, and asking to be heard.”

 Since her third album was released in 2016, Emma-Lee Moss has worked as a critically-acclaimed composer for radio, TV, film and stage. Her credits include original songs for Starlee Kine’s groundbreaking US podcast ‘Mystery Show’; Sara Pascoe’s ‘Out of Her Mind’ for BBC2; Mia Lidofsky’s ‘Strangers’, which featured Girls’ Jemima Kirke as a singer-songwriter called ‘Emmy’. She also wrote music and libretto for Sara Pascoe’s stage adaptation of ‘Pride & Prejudice’ at the Nottingham Playhouse, and is working on HEEL, a new musical about female wrestling with the playwright Isley Lynn. 

As a journalist, she contributes writing to the Guardian, Vice, British GQ, Wired and others, and presented and composed music for ‘A Sailor Went to Sea Sea Sea’ for BBC Radio 4, nominated for the Prix Europa in 2019.

photo credit: Nononino

Sonic Youth T-Shirt (free download)

Hello!

I’ll be releasing some previously unreleased stuff this week that I’ve been collecting over the past few months. Meant to do this in the midst of the UK lockdown, but everything seems to take me forever to do! I’m now doing this under deadline because I’ve got to tell you about LP4 very soon!

This was supposed to be just for some pandemic cheer, so it’s free to download, but please consider donating to or getting to know some of the charities listed below this message.

---

Sonic Youth T-Shirt is a song that was recorded for Second Love but never released. I wrote around 60 songs for that album and they made it through various stages, and Sonic Youth T-Shirt almost made it, but in the end it didn’t feel quite right. I’ve always thought it was a bit of a banger though.

There’s lots of unreleased stuff in my back catalogue, but this is the only unreleased song that has a video directed and filmed by Barry Mendel, the film legend who produced all your favourite movies.

The story is this: in the summer of 2013, I had just arrived in LA to record ten tracks with Ludwig Göransson. Barry, who I’d met when auditioning for God Save the Girl, asked me if I had any that I would like to make a music video for, and I sent them to him. He liked the tempo of Sonic Youth T-Shirt, and thought it would be fun to make a video where a girl who professed to not be lonely at all looked, in fact, incredibly lonely.

The video was filmed on Super 8, and in making it I basically took a tour of all the secret best places in LA. Barry and his then-assistant Nate taught me everything I know about cinema magic on a small budget and, in turn, I did an Olympic dive (or we got a stunt double). A lot of people came out to help us, and I’m sure they’ll be happy this video is finally seeing the light of day!

You’ll notice the video track and the final version of the track are different, because the mix evolved and, as always, I redid the vocal in the final moment. If I had one piece of advice, it’s to commit to a vocal before you lip-synch to it. BUT I also advise you to throw yourself into life and make funny videos with brilliant people.

I really love the city of LA, and making this video was one of the things that helped me fall in love with it. What a dream to stand on the empty stage of the Greek Theatre and pretend (yes, PRETEND) to have delusions of grandeur! To watch the Lakers and eat peanuts! To skateboard in Pasadena and bodysurf in Malibu and to karaoke in K-Town and play a gig on your friend’s sofa.

Thank you thank you to everyone who was a part of this. Didn’t our lives all turn out so strange and so real.

Some charities to peruse:

Los Angeles Bail Fund (LA) https://secure.actblue.com/donate/wp4bl

The Underground Museum (LA) https://theundergroundmuseum.z2systems.com/np/clients/theundergroundmuseum/donation.jsp

Black Minds Matter (UK) https://www.blackmindsmatteruk.com

Download the track free here:

Unreleased bonus track from Second Love LP (2013). Please consider donating to: Los Angeles Bail Fund (US) https://secure.actblue.com/donate/wp4bl The Underground Museum (US) https://theundergroundmuseum.z2systems.com/np/clients/theundergroundmuseum/donation.jsp Black Minds Matter (UK) https://www.blackmindsmatteruk.com/ Produced by Ludwig Göransson and Dave McCracken, mixed by Neil Comber

A Sailor Went to Sea Sea Sea Nominated for Prix Europa

Delighted that A Sailor Went to Sea Sea Sea, our BBC Radio 4 documentary about the mysterious migration of children’t clapping games, has been nominated for a Prix Europa in the Music Programme category.

Honoured to present, score and write an original song for this unique and innovative documentary, and to work alongside producer Claire Crofton for Boom Shakalaka.

Listen again here

First Love 10th Anniversary Vinyl + Tour

It’s been ten years since my debut album, First Love, was released. I have managed to convince the record company (me) to reissue it on vinyl for the first time.

I’ll also be performing the album in full on a UK tour in May/ June, with support from special guest Bishi for the entire tour, and Bishi + Stats + guest players in London.

May

28 - Sheffield Leadmill 
https://www.leadmill.co.uk/event/emmy-the-great/

29 - Newcastle Cluny 
http://bit.ly/EmmyTG-CLUNY

30 - Glasgow King Tut's Wah Wah Hut 
https://www.ticketweb.uk/…/emmy-the-great-king-tut…/9260805…

31 - Birmingham The Cuban Embassy 
https://birminghampromoters.seetickets.com/…/cuban-…/1326539

JUNE
2 - Leeds The Wardrobe 
https://www.lunatickets.co.uk/…/emmy-t…/the-wardrobe/1325081

3 - Liverpool Phase One 
https://www.seetickets.com/…/emmy-the-gre…/phase-one/1326402

4 - Manchester Deaf Institute 
https://www.alttickets.com/emmy-the-great-tickets

5 - Bristol The Fleece 
https://www.alttickets.com/emmy-the-great-tickets

7 - London Union Chapel 
https://www.alttickets.com/emmy-the-great-tickets

再來的愛 EP Out Now

Emmy the Great’s 再來的愛 EP released December 10 2018, on all digital channels on Plumeria.

In 2016, after her third album Second Love was released, Emmy the Great (Emma-Lee Moss) began using music to explore her identity as a British-Chinese woman. She began translating her songs into Cantonese, her mother-tongue, and Mandarin. 再來的愛 collects some of the fruits of this exploration, including the song Constantly (不斷地), which was released in both English and Mandarin in 2017.

Emmy says, “The work that started with these songs took me on an incredible journey, and helped me come to terms with who I was. Singing them live was a cathartic experience, that brought me closer to audience members who might have similar stories.”

***

Emmy the Great’s 再來的愛 EP 由Plumeria發行.

Emmy the Great, 莫皚明的創作専輯 ”再來的愛 Second Love“ 在2016年推出。這次，她開始用音樂去探索作為一個英中混合女性的身份。把歌曲翻譯為粤語和國語。”再來的愛“蒐集了一些她探索的成果，包括在2017年推出的英語和國語版的 "不斷地 Constantly”.

Emmy 這些歌曲帶領我走上一段不可思議的旅程。並幫助我接受我的身份。現場演唱給我一個解放及動人的體驗。演唱會後，結識了新朋友, 聽了他們類似的故事

。

Migrant Workers - Seen & Heard (by Mona Chalabi & Emmy the Great)

How do you make data visualisations that are accessible to the sight impaired?

I got to collaborate on a piece exploring this question with the best person, Mona Chalabi, on a project for SPARK Festival at Hong Kong’s Tai Kwun museum.

Mona’s work as a data illustrator has led her on a mission to make her work as accessible as humanly possible. I joined the project as sound artist, and we used data regarding a community that is close to my heart - Hong Kong’s domestic workers.

The installation showed at Hong Kong’s Tai Kwun museum as part of British Council’s SPARK Festival: The Science of Creativity

The festival dealt with the intersection between creativity and ideas. We wanted our piece to celebrate the domestic worker community, who are consistently the most creative people in Hong Kong.

On the final day of the installation, Mona led a workshop with sight and hearing impaired Hong Kong artists, organised by ADA HK.

'Lost in You' soundtracks BBC Christmas Film

‘Lost in You’, the closing track from Second Love, is the soundtrack for the new BBC Christmas Film, Wonderland.

It’s a beautiful new arrangement by composer Alex Baranowski, with the backing of the London Metropolitan Orchestra. I am thrilled to be a part of this most special of campaigns. As you may know, I love Christmas.

You can watch now on the BBC Facebook.

A Sailor Went to Sea Sea Sea - Listen Now

You can now listen to A Sailor Went to Sea Sea Sea on BBC Radio 4’s website.

I had an amazing time presenting this documentary about playground clapping games, and the mysterious journey of these rhythms around the world. I interviewed kids at my old primary school in Hong Kong, and the adults who work with sound archives of games and rhythms from Iceland to Hackney.

I also got to score the programme and write an end song based on our discoveries. I’m so happy about it.

Produced by Claire Crofton for Boom Shakalaka Productions

New Shows Announced in October

I have a new show! Come and see

Destiny's Child: A Story of Karma in New China

October 3rd - Brighton Duke of Yorks Cinema

October 6th - Southbank Centre China Changing Festival

October 7th - Dublin Grand Royal

https://www.songkick.com/artists/317283-emmy-the-great