A matter of faith: Lyric Hood and DJ Holographic in conversation
Lyric Hood broke through in 2016 as one half of Floorplan alongside her father, Robert Hood, and has gone on to shine as a solo artist too, releasing triumphant house and techno productions on M-Plant. DJ Holographic has made her mark as part of Detroit’s new wave; known for her deep-digging sets, her 2021 ‘Detroit Love’ mix compilation was nominated for a DJ Mag Best of North America award. Here, as part of our article series celebrating the artists on Black Artist Database's debut compilation, they talk about how their spirituality influences their artistry
Lyric Hood: “I currently live in Alabama, but I always say my home is Detroit, Michigan. That’s where I feel most comfortable saying is home.”
DJ Holographic: “I’m also from Detroit, and I’m still living there right now. Most of my family is from Detroit, and conversations of spirituality have been in my home since I was born. I’ve also been blessed with a really cool name, Ariel. In Hebrew it means ‘God’s lion keeper’. Every time I hear my name, or say my name out loud, it gives me strength because it makes me feel like I’m a protector of love. Because I think God is also another word for love, unconditional love to be exact. So I grew up within a conversation of spirituality and religion.”
Lyric Hood: “Spirituality for me is based on faith. The Bible says, ‘faith without works is dead’. Therefore, if you say you want to do something in your career, or in your life, or socially, and if you don’t work towards it, it’s not gonna happen. That’s what I’ve seen growing up in spirituality.”
DJ Holographic: “That’s a very strong, strong thing. Just because people talk doesn’t mean they will do the action. I had to learn at a very young age that people don’t say what they mean all the time. So as I got older, spirituality knocked me out of my day-to- day life. I would do the action, but I wasn’t listening. At 28, I realised I needed to listen to the Creator and actually have a relationship with His Divine Being. Because it’s not just me, it’s everything. Everything you touch, everything you are, every action is God’s will. So for me, spirituality really comes into a healing process of understanding who I am with my music.”
Lyric Hood: “What you just said, about listening to God, is what me and my parents were just talking about before this interview: that we need to listen to God in his direction for us. The older I get, the more I see it.”
DJ Holographic: “I really love that. Those are my favourite moments, when a conversation keeps going with different people.”
Lyric Hood: “For the record I did for this compilation, ‘Don’t Need No Help’, you’d be surprised how crazy everything sounded before the final version. I didn’t know what I was going to do, I was not clear minded, and I was feeling frustrated because it wasn’t coming out the way I wanted. So I stopped and prayed, and it started to flow together the way I wanted it to. Something my parents taught me is to pray before you do anything. Seeing my family in church and giving praise really resonates with being able to make gospel dance music with Floorplan today. I’m glad I could connect with that through the church because I feel the spirit through the music. It reminds me of growing up. I didn’t know that it was possible to put gospel music with dance music when we started doing it, and then I saw the impact of it, and how it changed people’s lives. We want to bring that into the world as much as we can.”
DJ Holographic: “I feel like in America, especially between the cities of Detroit and in Chicago, being raised in the Christian church or Baptist church is very common. My dad DJ’d as well for a couple years, he would play house music in a church basement in the ’80s because that’s the only place where they could be loud. It makes sense. We hear really good music in a lot of these churches, so a lot of it is already a forum for rhythm, to get you up in your spirits. Thank you for making the music, Lyric. Some of my favourite music is between you and your dad. Not only is it easy to play, it uplifts you. A lot of other house songs would love to go there, and have the feeling of trying to get there, but you’ve already gone home with it. You’ve already made it in one song. I feel like the whole concept of music is to feed and nurture your soul. It is truly one of the closest energies that you can feel to the Divine.”
More in DJ Mag's Black Artist Database label feature series...
A new home: Black Artist Database on their label debut, ‘Synergy’
Pushing the envelope: Afrodeutsche & rRoxymore in conversation
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