A good way to understand artists beyond their music is to learn about their passions outside of it. SoundCloud Labor of Love, presented by Kia and Sirius XM, goes beyond the music to highlight the different hobbies which excite and inspire various artists. The series follows Win & Woo, ROSEMARIE, riela, Heather Sommer, and Bathe as they share how their passions connect to their creativity. In many cases, the time they spend away from music is both regenerative and another manifestation of who they are as artists.
WIN & WOO
Austin Woo and Nick Winholt, known worldwide as the DJ and production duo Win & Woo, explore their love of scuba diving. Over the years, diving became an escape for them because it let them step away from the music for a moment to recharge. The bond that makes Win & Woo a dynamic musical duo extends to diving.
They also touch on the parallels between diving and music, which inspires how they create the latter. “I feel like I hear certain songs and stuff underwater,” Woo says. “Because our music is very flowy, bobby, and wavy.” Winn adds that diving helps him reset, professionally.
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“Labor of love means you’re kind of getting to do things you love, either for work or to directly affect progress of your work... To me, diving helps me clear my head for my music."
WATCH WIN & WOO'S LABOR OF LOVE EPISODE.
You can hear the clarity in Win & Woo’s “Ten Years,” which plays during their episode and discover more of their music below.
LISTEN TO WIN & WOO'S MUSIC.
CHECK OUT ROSEMARIE'S MUSIC.
RIELA
When Miami singer riela isn’t making music, she’s cooking. In addition to seeing the importance in taking the time to nourish yourself, the Cuban-Panamanian artist loves spending time in the kitchen because she sees cooking as an act of love and appreciates when her offerings are well-received.
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“I’m very into the idea of food making you feel at home ...The same goes with music. I think that there’s nothing better than when a song makes you feel like you relate to it and it’s just bringing that warmth and comfort.”
riela later meets up with a friend at the beach as her song “Mala Maña” plays, explaining that these little moments where she’s simply enjoying life give her a boost.
WATCH RIELA'S LABOR OF LOVE EPISODE.
CHECK OUT MORE OF RIELA'S MUSIC.
HEATHER SOMMER
Music is singer Heather Sommer’s canvas, but the White Plains, New York native utilizes visual art as another form of self-expression. It requires a lot of patience, but she takes great pride in finishing a piece. There’s a release that Sommer gets from visual art that compares to the feeling she gets from making music.
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“When it comes to both music and visual art, they both give me therapy that I can’t really get anywhere else,” she says from her childhood bedroom, where she creates both.
“Something that I really love incorporating in all of my music is the album artwork. So I just really love having that ability to be part of the creative aspect visually, as well as the audio. It really just makes everything so much more cohesive.”
Sommer’s “One Size Fits All” plays during a quick drive, where she explains that she’s written entire songs during similar outings before.
WATCH HEATHER SOMMER'S LABOR OF LOVE EPISODE.
DISCOVER HEATHER SOMMER'S MUSIC.
BATHE
When they’re recording ambient, folksy R&B songs like "Bolero", they go by Bathe. But when the New York City-based duo is out in nature hiking or taking pictures, they’re just Devin Hobdy and Corey Smith-West: two guys who dig the peace of mind they feel when getting away from the city’s fast pace. Let them tell it, it does wonders for their music.
“It’s just as restorative for Black artists to spend time in nature and to write about it as it is for anybody else." — Smith-West
Hobdy and Smith-West perform a stripped down version of “Bolero” throughout the episode, and the song’s mellow vibe soundtracks the atmosphere perfectly.
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“There’s a time and place for the lights of 42nd Street to inform your art, but I also think there’s a necessary point in your life where you need to open yourself up to being inspired by nature,” Hobdy says.
WATCH BATHE'S LABOR OF LOVE EPISODE.
DISCOVER MORE OF BATHE'S MUSIC.