This series spotlights musical artists from The Nasiona‘s first compilation album, Volume 1: Petrichor.
San Palo’s tracks “Rainy Day,” “Fall,” & “Try“ are featured in the volume.
San Palo
William (AKA: San Palo) Broughton is a California-based composer/producer that crosses many genres from Jazz, classical, electronic, hip hop, and others. His work has appeared in many media forms such as podcasts, short films, art shows, commercials, and collaborative albums. He is currently composing for a comedy television show that is in pilot. Needing an experimental creative avenue away from commercial writing, William created a secondary artist persona known as San Palo. San Palo Way is the street William grew up in suburban Las Vegas, Nevada. The name San Palo honors his musical upbringing in Las Vegas and humbles him on why he creates music. His debut album as San Palo, Beatudes Vol. I, captures the melancholy of nostalgia with the raw emotions he went through in creating the album.
INTERVIEW
What does countercurrence mean to you, and what is it like to make music when you are outside those mainstream voices that are usually given a platform?
Countercurrence is when you rise above as a unique voice that can speak truth to people where they feel and sympathise with what message you’re putting forward. An artist usually achieves this by finding their own personal purpose in creating their art. Also looking for a sound that speaks to them and how they change as an artist.
Would you always have turned to music as an important avenue through which you express your BIPOC identity? Or have you always found ways to do this, which happen to include music?
What are the differences or similarities you perceive in online and physical music communities, especially when our relationship to proximity has been indelibly altered?
Online music communities are a great tool to learn new techniques, new approaches to theory, and discovering music that your local community would otherwise not introduce to you. However, online music communities could never replace in-person communities especially for performance. When you’re in person, performing or talking music, there is a certain rhythm and feel that is almost ascending or even religious. The best way I could describe is when you hear your favorite song live. It brings a whole new elevation to the song that you would never get from the recording.
Do you believe in breaking down the barriers that have long kept BIPOC musicians away from the same opportunities as their white peers, or should BIPOC musicians be looking beyond those traditional guidelines to success?
BIPOC have always had to break traditional guidelines to gain opportunities and success. This is especially true if they want to have full rights of their work. I believe BIPOC will create the new industry standard when it comes to music rights, studio-based contracts, and paths to success because of their experience of having to create their own path in the music industry.
If you had to solely choose between walking in the legacy of a musician/musical tradition you admire, or forging your own path and inspiring others yourself, which would it be, and why?
As a musician you have no other choice but to forge your own path because an artist path is a personal journey. The success of our musical heroes came from them finding their true expression and honing that, along with their exceptional skills as a musician. Your success as an artist might not look the same as your musical Idol but you might find a more fulfilling path that is true to your journey.
Volume 1: Petrichor
About the Album
This first volume of The Nasiona’s music series encapsulates all the glorious highs and the searing lows of navigating the world as an empathetic, curious individual. The works contained in this volume — from mournful piano compositions, dazzling spoken word, spellbinding vocal layered-songs, to beautiful instrumentals — express the intricacies of being an artist of color in a too-often indifferent world; and like the scent that lingers long after the downpour, these masterpieces ask you to sit awhile, to close your eyes, to pay attention.
MUSICAL ARTISTS
ALBUM PRODUCERS
Music and oral narrators have always told stories that are as powerful, as moving as personal essays, and we at The Nasiona want to honor these tradition. For the second compilation audio volume of our BIPOC Music + Spoken Word Series, we seek submissions of tracks that align with our vision of centering, elevating, and amplifying Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, shedding light on neglected and intersectional identity experiences, while also celebrating our beauty, intelligence, creativity, and joy.
Whether you record your music or spoken word professionally, or whether you have gone the DIY way throughout; whether you are an emerging indie artist, or have never released a track or album; or whether you have simply felt overlooked by the mainstream musical landscape: we believe in your voice, your story, and your talent; and we want your work!
Tell us about growing up as a third culture kid, about living through trauma, about being misgendered, about slice-of-life instances of resolution. Tell us about your elations, your sorrows, your moments of quiet tenacity, your rallying cries of rage. Send us a track (or two, or three!) that tells a story, whether in words or through instrumentals. If it matters to you, it deserves a platform.
All genres and languages are welcome. If you identify as BIPOC, we want to showcase your work and profile you.
We can’t wait to experience to your work!
Note that we are here to center, elevate, and amplify your work. You keep all the rights to your work.
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