Saxophonist and composer Nubya Garcia explores her creative process in new film

“You have to trust your ear.”

Nubya Garcia explores her compositional process in a new short film, as part of AIAIA’s new video series, My Process.

The video sees the artist looking at how to construct melodies, the importance of structure, the power of repetition, and more.

“You have to trust your ear. You know what you like and don’t like. Sometimes it’s really good to challenge yourself to see something that doesn’t sound OK at first, and ask, ‘is it just you staying in your comfort zone, or is the chord gnarly and it doesn’t fit?’”

Garcia also reveals where she finds her inspirations from:

“Maybe its reading a poem or a book, or going to a gallery and sitting and looking at the same painting for ages, then writing something to that. Or write a story — this is what I want my tune to say”

“Composition is like a muscle: you have to use it regularly.”

My Process 001: Nubya Garcia marks the first instalment in AIAIA’s new series My Process, which will focus on artists’ creative process through interviews, performances and tutorials.

Watch My Process 001: Nubya Garcia in full above.