Today we’d like to introduce you to Emilie Basez
Emilie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
“We’re Emilie Basez and Kate Robberson, both born here in Austin and continue calling it home working as musicians and entrepreneurs. Her Mana is our latest project that was born out of a really cool invitation from a wonderful artist and friend named Ry X to join him on tour in Europe in 2023. It was truly mind blowing to us, considering we didn’t even have a band name yet. We were freshly exploring our duo-ship again while in the midst of transitioning into a long distance configuration with our other band, Ley Line.
The Europe invitation sparked our desire to create a new spectrum of sound through our performances. We imagined creating the contrast of a close, stripped down experience of guitar and two vocals harmonizing, then expanding into a bigger, spacious sound through Ableton textures and crystal singing bowls. Our first thought was to collaborate with artists to support this evolution. In thinking of creating a lush, unique sound, the duo of BLK ODYSSY are the first musicians that came to mind. With Juwan and Ale, we spent a few afternoons building out electronic soundscapes and beats that seamlessly blended into our songwriting. Other key collaborations continued unfolding with incredible artists like El Búho, Bonnie Paine (Elephant Revival), Gene Evaro Jr., and Sabrina Ellis. Next thing we knew, we were sharing this new set for the first time for an audience of 1,000 or so fans in Tallin, Estonia. When we returned from Europe, we headed out to the hill country to the cozy home studio of Dan Duszynski to record our first EP of one-take acoustic recordings. We even have some cicadas debuting their rattles in the tracks. A few months later, Grupo Fantasma invited us to be featured at the Paramount Theater for a show featuring women voices from Austin. It was a huge testament to all the groundwork we had laid as local musicians over the previous decade to be invited to play our first show in town as Her Mana with Grupo Fantasma as our backing band!
From 2015 to 2022, we had been fully dedicated to a band we co-founded with twin sisters, Madeleine and Lydia Froncek. We hustled hard for years, creating and recording material as we self-managed our trajectory and booked our own tours. In 2019, we started to receive notoriety and won a grant from Black Fret (now known as Sonic Guild), played ACL Festival, and accomplished many other milestones. We had big plans before the pandemic, and in 2021 as we began recovering from the lockdown, figuring out what we were truly inspired to do, we realized that the traditional model of being a “successful band” in the music industry actually didn’t interest us.” – Emilie
“In taking a step back from that world, Her Mana emerged as a rekindling of our start as a duo back in 2012 when we first traveled Brazil together. Thirteen years later, our bond continues to inspire a creative, unconventional life together. In addition to songwriting, recording, playing locally and touring, we also offer restorative workshops and experiences with sound, breathwork, meditative practices, and cacao. So after three years focusing on supporting a Brazilian cacao company, we are now launching a new line of our own called “Boa”. We see it as a bridge between nature, spirit, and self care; creating beautiful products that support mindfulness and creativity.
As for Her Mana, this year will be full of new music releases, more collaborations, and an incredible music video that we filmed in Mexico during Día de los Muertos. We’ve got some amazing shows, retreats, and experiences in the books in all parts of the world. ” – Kate
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
“It’s always an interesting perspective looking back because somehow I notice my mind romanticizes the past, painting it in a way that makes it seem much more easefull than it actually was. Nonetheless, amongst many lessons, a few that have come through my processes of being in bands and making music is to 1. follow what is flowing 2. record music when it’s feeling fresh and real, and 3. the importance of discipline and dedication to your creativity. The third looks so different to everyone.
I would say the repercussions of the pandemic brought about the biggest challenges in my music career. At the time, myself and my 3 bandmates had a project we had all dedicated ourselves to so fully. Our plan to finally quit our day jobs and fully dedicate ourselves to music was shattered, and big invitations to record a Tiny Desk and tour internationally fell apart. For an indie band, it’s really hard to come back from that. But, the only way out is through and the silver lining is that when we returned to touring in 2021, we actually realized the traditional way of touring did not interest us anymore.
One of the main lessons I’ve learned working in music is really similar to that of life; no one is coming to save you. No manager is going to make all of your dreams come true. No social media person is going to magically win you 10k followers. No record label is going to make you a success.” – Emilie
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
“When Ley Line created more spaciousness for us to live out some personal dreams, Kate and I began working with cacao. We’re forever students and we started studying the effects of pure cacao on the body and mind. We found that it was a powerful support for breathwork and super energizing without being too intense. We started experimenting with adding it to our creative practices and sharing with friends. This led to creating our own workshops, facilitating breathwork, sound journeys, and creative writing. We have both experienced a lot of healing through guided, rhythmic breathwork on an individual level, so when we come together to practice and combine with live sound, it’s amplified in an incredible way.” – Emilie
“It’s also been a beautiful inspiration for creating different soundscapes. We use deep beats to keep us connected to the rhythm during the breathwork and expand into ambient space during the releases. We’ve done a few events with breathwork and sound, but we hosted our first full day retreat, “The Current”, at the end of 2023. It was an amazing experience. It really felt like we created an opportunity to reflect, reset, and find some true relief. In a culture that is so over stimulating, demanding, fast paced, and ultimately depleting, it’s really refreshing to come into a space where there is no pressure to act “spiritual” or perform in any way. We encourage people to show up as they are and allow breath and sound to guide them back to their inner voice. Creating a space to have that clarity, even for a little bit, is such a gift. We’re excited to do more.” – Kate
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
“Well, without a doubt, singing. Harmonizing does something really incredible to the brain and makes us feel connected to one another in a way that cannot be achieved otherwise. Amongst many other things that bring us joy; dancing, music and poetry jams, Barton Springs, sauna sessions, working with natural dyes (we hand dyed our merch textiles), taking long walks, Kate’s angel dog Mina (a forever puppy English Staffy), My queen cat Molly, our incredibly creative community of friends, and especially our loving families. All in all, happiness is a choice and practice, and we try to support each other and our world in devoting ourselves to that.” – Emilie
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Live performance
Sound Journey
Group facilitation
Creative writing/voice workshops
Retreats
Private Events
Set design
Pricing:
- Live performance ~ $2,000
- Workshop ~ $44-$77
- Retreat workshop ~ $500-$2,000
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hermanamusic.wixsite.com/mysite
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/her.mana.music/
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/her-mana-727999143/tracks
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6n0KiPfTQueLLWTFip2BgE?utm_medium=share&utm_source=linktree
