In addition to films, the Atlanta Film Festival has a number of music videos that are gearing up to grace the big screen on April 23.
One of those music videos is for Canadian musician Sadé Awele’s “Intuition,” a song about following your heart accompanied by a dreamlike music video that Awele can’t wait for audiences to see on a big screen.
The video, directed by Bruna Arbex, plays Awele’s breezy, beat-driven vocals over the story of two young people as they fall in love and learn to trust their intuition. Ahead of the music video’s screening, Awele spoke with Rough Draft about her beginnings as a musician and the inspiration behind the song.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I would love to start with a bit about you. How did you first get into music?
Sadé Awele: It was one of those things where music had just been a part of my life, part of my upbringing. My dad was a huge, huge, huge music enthusiast, and so art and creativity was always around the house.
Back then, I was doing a little bit of songwriting, nothing too crazy. I guess as the years went by, this was something that just made me feel so happy and passionate that I love sincerely. So it kind of naturally evolved from me playing in bands, to going into writing my own original music, to releasing original music, to going into music videos – you know, kind of just slowly, organically evolved.
You said your dad was really into music – what were the sort of things that he was listening to that you latched onto?
Awele: Oh man – almost every genre. From soul, to jazz, to gospel, to r&b, he had a wide range, I guess – an eclectic taste. So he covered his bases in that area.
I picked up on jazz a lot, I would say. I really loved Ella Fitzgerald, I loved Louis Armstrong, I loved Miles Davis. There were a lot of jazz artists that were sort of the first musicians that I was drawn to, and gospel artists as well. We would listen to … CeCe Winans and all these amazing, amazing musicians.
He was also a huge fan of singing, so singing was a very popular thing that we did at home. Every day, we would sing together. He was also a really good listener, so as he was listening to the music he would always ask questions – “Can you hear that saxophone, can you hear that bass?” I think that sort of trained my ears very early in being a listener as well as a musician.
Was there ever a defining moment or something that happened that made you decide this is what you wanted to do for a living?
Awele: I would say the defining moment for me was realizing that this wasn’t just a hobby, and it was more of something that really brought me a sense of fulfillment.
There’s some sort of spiritual connection that comes with music as well that makes it powerful. That’s why it can cut across all types of nationalities and even people who might not speak the same languages, because there’s still that universal connection. So realizing that, and the impact that it has on people, and even the impact it has on me – just making me feel alive and free – I was like, okay this is it.
“Time Love Journey” was the first EP you put out. What was the process of making that project like, and how do you think your style has evolved since then?
Awele: I would say, that first project was me taking a stab at what it’s like to put together a body of work. It was very challenging and daunting. I remember being like, oh my gosh – there are so many moving parts, how do you manage everything? I think my main focus was to complete the project. That was sort of the big goal there. I was like, I am not going to let this year end without completing this project.
At that point, it was also peak pandemic. This was in 2020, so it was really hard. Some of the songwriting happened virtually, some of the recording I did at home. The music video that was created for that was smack in the middle of the pandemic. It was hard to be able to balance all that, and the uncertainty of the world and uncertainty of how would people receive this music, that I just focused on, “I want to finish this project.”
I would say since then, I’ve been more focused on, “I want to create something that’s memorable.” I want to create something that people can listen to years from now and they still feel like – wow, this was a good project. Between then and now, you can’t rush the process of creativity. Some songs will take as long as they need to take, because you listen to them multiple times, or create new versions or iterations of what you did before to make it special. Whereas at that time, I could hear things that I’m like, I wish I could do this a little bit differently, but the project’s going to be done. Now it’s like, I’m going to do that differently. It’s a lot more certain.
I think one of the things that really helped me to get to that point was being a part of this program called Women in the Studio and getting to meet so many incredible women. It was put together by Music Publishers Canada, and to meet so many incredible women producers and creatives allowed me to see that there were other people similar to me who were trying to create something special. It just motivated me in a different way, and after that I was like, alright – I want to really make a project that’s going to last and stand the test of time. So that’s what I’ve been doing now with this upcoming project, and I guess “Intuition” is sort of built into that project.
What was the inspiration or inspirations for “Intuition?”
Awele: There were definitely multiple inspirations. I would say the song developed – it was almost like it developed in different stages, because before I even knew there was going to be a video, before I even sort of thought about how it was going to be put together, the very first thing that started with “Intuition” was the lyrics.
I think it was because it was a true personal experience, and I was in the depths of making a leap and taking a leap of faith in my life. I think that that was just sort of an outpouring of what I was truly feeling on the inside. So it was almost like writing into my journal, of my worries and also of my excitement of what it would be like to take a risk and take a leap of faith. Then I left it on the side for a little bit, and as time went on I was lucky to work with one of my producer friends out in Rome – he goes by Nema Beats on Instagram. At the time he had this cool general progression of a song, and I was … organically playing around with it, seeing if it fits this piece of writing that I had, and it did. Then I slowly started to develop the song more, working here on the song more and bringing on live instrumentation and elements of myself into that instrumental so that it could be produced in the way that I wanted it to be.
It was definitely my life experience that inspired it, and also I felt like it was the type of song that a lot of people can relate to, because we’ve all at one point or the other had to take some leap of faith in something that we wanted to do. So it’s a type of song that can speak to different people.
You mentioned that it felt very personal, like writing in your own journal – sometimes when I write more personal things that are creative, it can feel really daunting to put that out there for the rest of the world. Do you ever get that feeling when you’re writing?
Awele: Oh yeah. I’m always like, oh gosh – everyone’s going to know my life! But I find that the most vulnerable songs always turn out to be the most beautiful songs. It always turns out to be the ones that people are like, yeah, this is my life right now. I had a few people reach out to me and say … I feel like “Intuition” relates to me right now. That for me makes it worth it to put myself out there. But it is always very, very daunting. I’m always like, oh gosh – I’m doing this again! And I get a little bit embarrassed, like I don’t want to hear you listening to it. You can listen to it when I’m not there [laughs].
How did the idea for this video come about?
Awele: I had been in communication with this incredible director in Vancouver named Bruna Arbex. We had wanted to collaborate on a music video for a while, so we met up for coffee and I told her I’ve got this song, it’s called “Intuition.” I was telling her about [how] I wanted to be able to illustrate in a very cinematic way what it means to follow your intuition, what it means to follow your heart.
We landed on we wanted to both be able to show aspects of our stories in it as well, so that it can be sort of a united experience. So we were just going back and forth and talking about what are some of the things you did growing up that showed that you were following your intuition, or that might have at the time, maybe for your parents, looked like you were doing the most, but you were just doing what made you feel happy. Sometimes it’s not always right, it’s not always perfect, but it eventually leads you to where you’re ultimately supposed to go.
We sort of combined those ideas in the video as well, as you see these two characters growing in their relationship as they move from one scene to the next. It was definitely a combination of that and I would say, we also wanted something that you could watch on a big screen. Something that’s very cinematic, that gets that film effect, and that is very dreamy – we wanted a very dreamy experience for the person watching.
How did you come to learn about the Atlanta Film Festival?
Awele: Honestly, it was also in theme with taking leaps, because we didn’t know that we were actually going to get into the Atlanta Film Festival. It was just one of those things where it was like, let’s just apply and let’s just see what happens. It’s a cool festival. I like that the Atlanta Film Festival is not just a film festival. You also have the Creative Conference, and it’s a network. You meet with so many incredible filmmakers, and producers, and creatives, and actors, and musicians – just a wide facet of visual artists. I just felt like wow – this is such a perfect scene, and Atlanta is an incredible place as well. We were kind of like, well let’s just try.
After the festival, what’s next for you?
Awele: After the Atlanta Film Festival, I am heading on a tour. I’m very excited about it. I’m going on tour in Europe and going to be doing a few shows in London and then a few shows in Estonia for Tallinn [Music] Week.
I’m very excited to be going into a European base and to explore my music in those spaces, and just collaborate with people in those spaces. After that, I come back to Canada. I’m going to be taking part in Canadian Music Week, North by Northeast. It’s definitely going to be a packed summer that I’m looking forward to.
And of course, making more music, making more visuals, and putting more incredible art out there.
The music video screening at the Atlanta Film Festival is sold out, but you can still view them virtually. Find more information here.