ZOLATEC
Exploring identity, emotion and spirituality.
Self-produced, shaped through steelpan, vocal and experimental sound design.
ABOUT
I create music that’s both intimate and spiritual, exploring themes of heartbreak, identity, and existential drift through raw and immersive performance.
Growing up in Leicester to South Asian and Caribbean parents, I’ve played steelpan for most of my life. It wasn’t until the COVID lockdown that I first ventured into electronic music, opening up a new direction in my sound.
Drawing from trip hop, breakcore & witch house, my music production style has evolved into a diasporic fusion of breakbeats, shoegaze textures, and experimental sound design - anchored by ethereal vocals and live steelpan.
As an independent and self-managed artist, I aspire to gift my sound to the grassroots community and create meaningful connections through music.
SOLAR (ZOLA) TECHNICAL (TEC) - Power From The Sun 𖤓
PRESS:
90 minutes of brand new underground and emerging music. Including two servings of ethereal breakbeat from Zolatec, the unmistakable sound of Wet Leg, hauntological synth-pop from BRRDS, neo-shoegaze with Deary, dark trans hip hop courtesy of Backxwash, the experimental soundworld of Stuart Wilding, and so much more.
The beauty of a showcase is there’s something for everyone. Some performances will resonate with you more than others, but I guarantee you’ll be blown away at the talent in our region and be searching their socials before you’ve left the auditorium. And please, arrive on time to not miss the opening act, Zolatec, who brought something completely unexpected and badass to the steelpans.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever seen my name on a t-shirt!” declares an excited Ayeshah George, aka Leicester-born and now Manchester-based multi-instrumentalist Zolatec. Whose spellbinding set in Dubrek Studios earlier proved to be one of the day’s many highlights. What Psychic Dancehall offers is a mind-melting combination of unconventional acts from a genre that encompasses a wide spectrum of shapeshifting sounds and ideas. For instance, the aforementioned Zolatec combines an array of instrumentation and arrangements that has one person comparing her to Bjork while another namechecks Slipknot. What’s even more thought-provoking is the way she effortlessly segues between genre and sub-genre, enrapturing the audience with every passing note.
Born in Leicester, Ayeshah (ZOLATEC) is an experienced steel pan musician and upcoming music producer.
Ayeshah connected with the steelpan scene aged 6 at the African Caribbean Centre in Highfields. At aged 15, she joined Contrast Steel Band and went on to play at the London Notting Hill Carnival & National Panorama Competitions in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, & 2023) uniting with Real Steel and Metronomes Steel Orchestra.
After moving to Manchester in 2021 to pursue a career in merchandising, she realised her true calling was to be a professional creative. In 2023, busking allowed her the exposure to leave the commercial fashion industry and start a solo career. Ayeshah hopes to bring the steel pan to light as a cover act and session musician, showcasing the instrument’s bright and colourful resonance.
Even more unconventional is Zolatec, whose plays her first of two sets today in the Islington Mill’s “Gallery” (which feels more like a cellar). She’s a fine example of the festival circuit’s best microgenre, “electro-virtuoso”, a term I literally just made up to refer to the many solo artists whose music combines technical proficiency on an underrated instrument (in this case the steel drum) with some kind of electronic backing (in this case trip hop). It’s a gorgeous set, bolstered by Zolatec’s own cloud-like vocals; it’s not the last we’ll hear of her at this year’s Sounds, or, surely, beyond.
Zolatec has a keen ability to programme addictive rhythms, then gild them with fascinating textures and striking melodies. Yet her compositions are elevated to a whole other level by her irresistible vocal lines and her sublime steel pan work.