Multi-disciplinary artist, Ecca Vandal, recently shared her new single, “Cruising to Self Soothe” epitomizes creative multiplicity — a rebellious and tenacious voice with an explosive shot of adrenaline. Now, Ecca has dropped a video for the track, filmed in a skate park in the City of Knox, Australia, directed by Ecca Vandal and Richie Buxton. Check it out below and find out more.
Stream “Cruising to Self Soothe” here: https://onerpm.link/cruisingtoselfsoothe
“The idea for the “Cruising to Self Soothe” video came during the pandemic when I took up skateboarding,” Ecca tells. “I’d always loved skate culture, but it wasn’t until I started learning to skate in a heart-shaped bowl in a little suburb called Knox that I really felt its impact. Skating there, so offline and present in the moment, became a form of self-soothing for me. The song is about shedding negativity and finding self-belief, and the many days I spent at that skate bowl perfectly represented that journey—feeling small and unsteady at first, then gradually owning every curve. And I’ve got to shout out the adorable ‘Ecca Train’, a prop that symbolises the back-and-forth ride of building confidence—doing it with style and as if nobody’s watching.”
She adds, ““Cruising to Self Soothe” was actually written in 2018 when I was living in London. My partner and I were listening to so much Fugazi and Jane’s Addiction (Ritual-era) – we definitely owe a serious debt to those great bands whose music, perhaps not incidentally, is so perfect to skate to. Guy Picciotto’s vocals in particular actually had a huge impact on me at the time.”
Ecca’s recent releases are her first in several years and include last fall’s “Bleed But Never Die” and “Then There’s One.” “Cruising to Self Soothe” is her third release after “taking a bit of a breather for my heart, health and art.” In the few months since entering this new era, Ecca’s performance reels have skyrocketed her social media following and generated substantial online buzz. A musical auteur, Ecca Vandal defies categorization, seamlessly weaving together punk, hip-hop, jazz, soul, trip-hop, and electronic influences into a sound that’s bold, dynamic, and entirely her own. Spending her formative years as a jazz musician, her passion for improvisation led her to fall in love with the DIY abandon of punk and foster an ability to effortlessly balance soulful melodies with raw, unapologetic power.
South African-born with Tamil heritage and an upbringing in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia, Ecca Vandal strutted her way onto the musical landscape in 2016 in traditional punk-style with an edgy disposition and something to say. Ecca brings unrelenting energy to the stage with a history of touring alongside global heavyweights such as Queens of the Stone Age, Incubus, Idles and The Prodigy, as well as appearances at a host of iconic festivals including Download, Reading and Leeds Festivals in the UK, AfroPunk in France and Splendour in the Grass, Falls and Laneway Festivals in Australia. Ecca Vandal has also been confirmed to perform at the Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta this fall.
Neither her sound nor persona are fixed for easy consumption. Political, rebellious and tenacious, with a voice demanding to be heard — Ecca Vandal is magnetism personified and exactly what we need right now.
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