Very happy to share my conversation with the forces behind Gravity Pleasure, Slowfoam (Madelyn Byrd) + slyn (Ashlynn White). Their recently released compilation, Water Bodies, showcases 28 artists including Yetsuby (of Salamanda), Flora Yin Wong, ophélie, and more. The project offers a varied exploration of ambient, experimental, and electronic music, highlighting diverse voices of FLINTA artists.
Gravity Pleasure was founded in December 2024 by artists slyn and Slowfoam as a space rooted in care, intention, and solidarity with each other and our planet. Emerging from the need for platforms that center and uplift non-cis-male artists, Gravity Pleasure nurtures queer, feminist, and ecological approaches to sound and community. We believe that platforming FLINTA (female, lesbian, intersex, nonbinary, trans, agender) voices, fundraising for mutual aid, curating inclusive listening experiences, and supporting planetary well-being are all interconnected and essential acts of care. Our first release, the compilation Water Bodies, brings this ethos to life through 21 tracks from 28 artists — a collective offering of resilience, interconnection, and sonic worldbuilding.
1. Inclusivity is at the heart of Gravity Pleasure. From platforming FLINTA artists to creating intentional listening spaces, how do you foster an inclusive environment during the creative process, especially when working with such a wide range of artists and styles?
Fostering an inclusive environment is the core value of Gravity Pleasure, and it has come to us very naturally throughout the process. We have both been working in the music industry — Ashlynn for the past few years and Maddy for over a decade — and often reflect on our own experiences: times when we felt less included, intimidated, or uncomfortable, as well as times when we felt especially cared for and supported. Sharing these reflections with each other has allowed us not only to support one another in our personal lives but also to learn from these moments and carry that learning into how we communicate with artists, organize events, and teach. While much of this comes intuitively to us, we also dedicate conscious time and thought to ensuring our inclusivity extends to FLINTA+ artists and the non-human world. Many factors create barriers to inclusion in the music scene, and we are committed to discussing these openly and continually finding ways to break them down.
We’re also committed to fostering an inclusive environment that focuses more on the emotional, spiritual, and ideological tethers that connect us rather than genre or style. For us, we find there’s so much depth and cohesion in the community that’s blossoming around Gravity Pleasure, which transcends genre or style. For example, our first VA was an ode to water and the ways it unifies and connects us, which was inspired by Hydrofeminist thinking. Although the VA contains many different approaches to sound, the theme seemed to resonate on a deeply emotional frequency to connect different musical perspectives; each song expressed one of the many voices of an interconnected watery world. We find that these deeper ways of connecting and relating are emotionally cohesive and very needed right now.
2. What did the curation process look like for Water Bodies? Did you begin with a clear vision, or did the compilation evolve more organically through conversations and contributions from the artists?
The concept for Water Bodies grew from our shared interests in nature, water, hydrofeminism, and queer ecology, as well as the conversations around these topics that we’ve had over the years. It felt like a natural starting point, since both of us were already rooted in these ideas within our own practices. We had a lovely time mapping it out by collecting inspiring images and exchanging texts and reading material (we love to nerd out).
We then shared our visual concept and some snippets of text with the incredible Lou Croff Blake, who wrote a poetic prompt that we sent out to the invited artists. Narrowing down our long list of artists for this first project was difficult, but we focused on representation and invited a mix of emerging and established artists. Our aim was to build an emotional cohesion throughout the compilation, while also giving the artists freedom to interpret our ideas in ways that felt right for them :)
We couldn’t be happier with how it turned out: each artist created their own world from Lou’s prompt. Both we and the artists really enjoyed working in this way, and we intend to continue this approach for future compilations. And we definitely want to do more comps, because like we said, we have a long list of incredible artists whose voices more than deserve a wider audience.
3. Gravity Pleasure feels deeply intentional and collaborative. What was the moment or conversation that sparked the idea to build this platform together? How did your individual creative strengths or visions complement one another in the process?
Ashlynn: I can remember this so vividly, me and Maddy had just played a show together the night before in Amsterdam and we were chatting in the morning. I had to run off to play on a radio so we were super rushed with time but got into one of our usual conversations about the frustrations that we felt from the ambi/experimental scene still being so cis-male controlled. We then were just like hey, if we are going to complain about this why not make that change ourselves. IF someone is going to do it, why not us? I had to run out of the flat then, and I remember feeling very excited and inspired, as we finished our conversation on voice note (very suiting as this is one of our still fave ways to communicate). At the time I didn’t know Maddy very well (I was a mega fan though) and I remember thinking like oh maybe this is just like a crazy idea and nothing will end up coming from it, but actually we were both super determined - and now here we are less than a year later with one release, two events, one workshop, and many more in the pipelines!
Madelyn: And this speaks to how and why Ashlynn and I work so well together! We’re both dreamers who are also do-ers. We love to collaborate and love to get things done. We also share similar aesthetic preferences, outlooks on life, and we’re strong communicators, even when we disagree on something. Individually, I have over a decade of experience in music scenes, especially DIY music scenes, while Ashlynn brings an energy, drive, and brightness that I deeply admire. It’s really inspiring to work with her, and she has a way of making me feel confident in myself and our shared visions. I genuinely believe anything is possible with our yes-and approach and willingness to follow it through <3
The best places to find Gravity Pleasure are their Bandcamp + Instagram.
Baddies!
Big Slowfoam fan! Thanks for this.