IRAINA MANCINI

Singer/ Songwriter, Radio Host and DJ living in London.

Iraina Mancini is a lover of all things vintage, especially from the 60s and 70s. The music she writes is inspired from sounds of that era and her radio show on Soho Radio specialises in Northern Soul, rhythm & Blues, Funk and Garage Rock records.

your greatest inspirations or influences?

The records I have collected from my travels always inspire me, I love finding old rare Soul that no one has ever heard before. I get a kick out of introducing old undiscovered artists in my DJ sets or on my radio show. My own music I write is greatly inspired by french YeYe artists of the 60s like Jacquelin Taib, France Gall and Serge Gainsbourg, as well as psychedelia and retro film soundtracks, I love bringing the drama and cinema to my sound.

Tell us a bit about your creative process? How do you describe your music?

My creative process is sampling old records I have found with my producer Jagz Kooner, we find bits we love, cool grooves , guitar riffs and instrumentation and build up vibes/tracks. Then I take them away and write a load of melodies and lyrics on top to create the song, I find it a brilliant way to write and gets me in that cinematic 60s mood. Jagz and I then remove the samples and re-build the music around the new melody I have written with my band of talented musicians. It's such a cool way to work and has been a really fun process.

How has this year changed your creativity or how you see the world changing moving forward?

Like everyone, I have lost a lot since Covid hit, but for me the one amazing thing to come out of it is my creativity. I have been overflowing with ideas and had the time to really focus on my music. I think I have processed a lot mentally and had some huge struggles and music has been an amazing release for me. I hope moving forward we all appreciate the world we live in more and the people around us , seeing beauty in the simple things in life. Slowing down made me release the speed in which I was surviving wasn't healthy and I always felt burnt out.

Who do you consider to be an icon of our time?

I think the work Greta Thunberg has done has been incredible. The awareness she has brought on climate change has been so inspiring and seeing all the younger generation of followers she has is a hopeful sign for the future.

Tell us about DEEP END.

I'm very happy that my new single 'Deep End' which is out now has had so much support and love. I wrote it about a difficult time in my life when I felt I was drowning in the deep end and pulling myself out of a dark time. The lyrics have really resonated with a lot of people throughout lockdown even though I wrote it about a different experience, which has been a happy accident. I have a new single coming out at the end of Spring/ early Summer called 'Do It ( you stole the rhythm) ' which I think is my best one yet and pure summer festival vibes, I can't wait to share it with everyone and think its the perfect anthem for everyone as we ease out of lockdown.
Thank you so much lovely Iraina, we love your music, you can follow her on these links

https://open.spotify.com/artist/7zkKFe3ZgQzTnlj5XwYi1U?si=qmMDTjQ6Qle-uOHI0qxHBQ

https://www.facebook.com/Irainamancinimusic/

https://twitter.com/irainamancini

Cover photo Photographer : Caroline Towning

Wearing: Yasomi Couture