AMPLIFI: Brownbear - Ria Andrews - Nuna

AMPLIFI takes to The Queen's Hall main stage for a series of concerts featuring four innovative genre-bending artists from today's UK music scene. The series also welcomes back performers from five years of AMPLIFI. Hand-picked by guest curators Arusa Qureshi and Halina Rifai of We Are Here Scotland AMPLIFI presents an exciting opportunity to put emerging artists centre stage.

Brownbear

Brownbear are an indie-soul outfit fronted by award winning songwriter, Matthew Hickman. Following the release of their debut album ‘What Is Home?’, the band toured across the UK & Europe and have supported the likes of The Libertines, Paolo Nutini & Michael Kiwanuka.

Their latest album 'Demons' is a beautiful collection of tracks with heartfelt meaning behind every lyric, delivered with incredible emotion and is jam-packed with melodies that are sure to be stuck in your head for weeks. The album dropped to widespread acclaim, hitting the Scottish Official Album Chart Top 10 & being longlisted for Scottish Album of the Year.

Ria Andrews

Ria Andrews is an Edinburgh-based singer-songwriter, DJ and multidisciplinary artist. Exploring the complexities of emotion (as much as a twentysomething could) through her music, she aims to bring the intimacy of her bedroom pop to the stage.

She sees her songs as a channel for healing, with the space between melodies and guitar strings as a way to work through heartbreak, loss in a way that she hopes listeners can connect to

Nuna

An innovative neo soul/jazz-inspired multi-instrumentalist presenting a solo set of original music, touching on the struggles of mental health, internal dialogue
and emotionalism.

Expect a rich harmonic palette, inventive improvisation and intimate lyricism. Participating in local/national events such as the Aberdeen Jazz Festival, Battle
of the Bands, AMPLIFI, MAGMA and many more.

Curators:

Arusa Qureshi is an award-winning writer, editor and speaker with a passion for music, diversity and accessibility within arts and culture. Her book about women in UK hip hop, ‘Flip the Script’, is out now via 404 Ink. She has bylines in The Guardian, NME, Clash, Time Out, The Forty-Five and The Scotsman.

Halina Rifai is a podcast producer, music writer, PR & digital marketer. She founded music site Podcart in 2009 and went on to become a podcast producer, working with the likes of The Big Light, The Ferret, Mental Health Foundation, Fringe of Colour and many more. Podcasts she has worked on and continue to work on include Sheku Bayoh: The Inquiry and A Sonic Hug. Halina is Communications Manager for We Are Here Scotland – A space aimed at supporting and raising the voices of Black People and People of Colour creatives across Scotland.

Supported by Creative Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council.

Winner of the Creative Edinburgh 'Inclusion' Award.