Name: Nite Bjuti
Members: Candice Hoyes (vocals, pedals), Val Jeanty (percussion, drums, electronics, pedals), Mimi Jones (bass, vocals, pedals)
Interviewee: Candice Hoyes
Nationality: Afro-Caribbean, US-based
Current release: Nite Bjuti's self-titled debut album is out via Whirlwind.
Recommendations: We are huge admirers of two visual artists defining our time: Carrie Mae Weems, as you see by our album cover, and the tremendous portrait artist Amy Sherald. Both are so adept at expressing the intimate world of Black people.

If you enjoyed this Nite Bjuti interview and would like to stay up to date with the band and their music, visit their official homepage. They are also on Instagram.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I see that as well, sometimes whole images and scenes.

Definitely eyes closed, unless of course I’m driving on the highway. When I’m onstage my eyes are open because I love seeing how the sound touches everyone sharing the moment.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

Definitely training is vital. For my first steps it was a combination of piano lessons and the music I heard at church. I know Val learned so much music from her grandmother, and Mimi began as a multi instrumentalist which she still is today.

Training is paramount to longevity. Which is part of why the two of them are faculty at Berklee, and why I teach across the US. I also think what we teach ourselves through life and stage experience is vital.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Is that right - well, intuitively I can relate to that!

For me I believe music did then what it does now. It helps me process feelings I long to articulate, to share and also dream more deeply.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

For me, music is a way to understand other people’s perspectives and the outer world and also cultivate my inner vision. It is a way to time travel and the creative impulse is both an everyday muscle and also something much more sacred.

When you are dedicated to creating the way that three of us are, you also have an opportunity to heal and inspire others. That’s why I use the word sacred.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

As long as I am dedicated to serving a strong musical idea that I have, I don’t worry about the extent to which I have a personal claim over it.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

That rings true. The Nite Bjuti sound has been called jazz adventurism and that suits us. We listen deeply to each other because our choice to improvise necessitates that.

So our personal sound is characterized by deep conversation amongst us, whether we are playful, reflective or diving over the edge together.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

This question is so apt. We formed as Nite Bjuti in the midst of NYC before the pandemic. In the fabric of our sound is jazz, blues, dub, funk, folk, calypso, all those sounds. In our environment it was the buzz and churn of New York City.

Then as we prepared to enter the studio, which ultimately shifted to 2021, we found ourselves in a city hushed by the pandemic. To that end I think those non-human sounds of the city took a real backseat on this album.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

Actually although Nite Bjuti dips deeply into extremes to tell our song stories- the track “Witchez” is a bold example of that - we are so narrative driven and or message driven!

That is really the only impetus for us - to say and play exactly what we mean.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

Great question thanks! We are, especially I’d say Val and I, very connected to archives. For example, Val has in her full percussion setup not only electronics but also handmade Haitian drums and instruments that have been handed to her through generations. I am a lover of historical documents and ephemera.

We did a very special access residency and performance with dancers Courtney Sauls and JoVonna Parks at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The program director Novella Ford is a champion of jazz music, and it shows. So we loved performing there and using the library resources to prepare and perform the music.

What an incredibly impassioned audience!

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

The three of us would probably say we are 99% experimentation! (laughs) That is the heart of this album for sure.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

Nite Bjuti is not only music but also a space where the three of us make music and share many dimensions of ourselves that would not come to bear in other bands.

We invite the audience to create the moment with us. That is in fact an object lesson in community building through our music.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

No, “mundane tasks” would never work over here. Improvisation requires a specific acute invention. Perhaps daily playing is like daily coffee - I believe that is where many hours of playing could come in.

However (!), the depth of sacrifice to make this album, made more challenging through the global pandemic and global protests and American political context, is not at all like coffee. The stakes are dearer.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

Oh yes, for me it is Jessye Norman’s performance of the aria from Dido “When I’m laid in Earth.”

Her vocal perspective is under my skin, I love her so.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

Greater transparency and equity for women producers and artists who record Black music.