GeminiCrab's Interview: "HighSoul" Lands in the UK This Spring

Montreal-based duo GeminiCrab—comprised of GRAMMY-nominated Guadeloupean singer-songwriter Malika Tirolien and keyboardist-producer Caulder Nash—have announced a pair of highly anticipated UK shows this spring. They’ll debut their distinctive “HighSoul” sound at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton on May 15, performing two showcases alongside Rizzle Kicks, Blue Lab Beats, Demae, Nia Smith, Aqyila, and Oreglo. The double billing places GeminiCrab among the most talked-about artists in this year’s lineup.

Following GeminiCrab’s electrifying debut with Gen Y Lens, we had the pleasure to sit down with its visionary creators, Malika Tirolien and Caulder Nash. What fuels their genre-bending sound, what drives their artistic evolution, and how does their "HighSoul" philosophy shape the future of their music?

Your debut EP Gen Y Lens is a beautiful mix of R&B, jazz, hip-hop, and electronic elements. What was the starting point for the project, and how did you navigate blending such a wide range of genres into one cohesive body of work?

Malika: GeminiCrab started out as a residency project exploring the binaural technology at the PHI Centre in Montreal. We had to create on the spot and play with the audio space of each layer. We really had a great time and decided to continue experimenting and creating together.

Caulder: We listen to a wide range of music; having access to a plethora of sounds and instruments has led us to experiment in blending different ideas. Trying to find a balance between quirky uniqueness and nostalgic familiarity.

The term “HighSoul” is so unique — can you break down what it means to you both, and how it influences the way you approach songwriting and production?

Malika: “HighSoul” is a term that was invented to describe and introduce the sound for my second solo album ‘HIGHER’ back in 2021. It was co-produced by GRAMMY-award winning producer/musician Michael League who’s worked with Snarky Puppy and myself many times as part of Bokanté. We wanted to find a term that could combine soul, R&B, Hip-Hop, jazz and psychedelic music and reflect the main theme of the album which was ‘AIR’. “HighSoul’ felt perfectly adequate for that. It’s also referring to one striving to reach a higher ground, and eventually taking the high road. The one that makes you grow and elevate. I would love for other artists to adopt this term for their music if they feel like they fall into the description.

Caulder: “HighSoul” to me means something that has hypnotic rhythms and edgy grooves complimented with a sophisticated sense of harmony. 

Songs like "Like Water" and "A Love That Will Last" tap into very different emotional textures. How do you balance lyrical intimacy with musical experimentation when you're in the creative process? 

Caulder: It’s all in the process of trying to articulate the magic that happens at the core of our beings. Whether it be the complexity of our angst or the imagination of our dreams.

You’re set to play The Great Escape and open for Osibisa at The Jazz Cafe — two very different stages. How do you tailor your live performances depending on the setting or the type of audience you’re playing to?

Malika: We don’t. I think the only thing we accept to tailor is the duration of our performance. We created this music because it is fun and we have great musical chemistry. We both love and respect this art form so much. We did not get in this game to please anybody. We just want to be ourselves, glowing from authenticity and sharing good vibes with whoever is up for it.

Caulder: I don’t think we can tailor our performance to any room. We have our own sound and presentation to offer and I hope that wherever we are, we create an invitation into our world and the eclectic collection of our ideas.

Malika, your work with Bokanté and Caulder, your production background, bring rich but different energies to GeminiCrab. How have your individual journeys shaped the duo’s sound and vision?

Malika: I think, coming from Bokanté, I have a very “live” connection with music. I think about a bass line or chords or a melody or a rhythmic pocket in a live setting, as if a musician were to play it right now. I think I’m pretty good at starting a song and bringing an idea or a skeleton to life. Caulder is kind of the opposite, in my eyes. He is a painter of sounds. He can spend hours shaping the sound of one layer because he knows exactly how he wants all the layers and textures to dance together at the end. He sees the bigger picture and I think that makes us very complementary.

Caulder: I've always been into the weirdness of jazz; its freedom, its disregard for conformity and convention. I've always wanted to bring that chaos to the pop realm. I’ve learned a lot from playing and making pop music. It needs to be catchy and it needs to be undeniable. I'm working to find a palatable juxtaposition of these two concepts. Learning the rules in order to break them; taking what works and leaving what bores me.

The EP seems to explore a lot of millennial realities — from growing pains to resilience. How much of Gen Y Lens is autobiographical, and were there particular moments in your own lives that inspired key songs?

Caulder: It is autobiographical to myself and to the idea of who I think we are as a generation. Sometimes I embody the stories of my friends and my loved ones. It may not always be my perspective, but it will always be something I relate to or have lived in some way.

Malika: I agree with Caulder and I will add that to me, ‘I’m Ready’ might be the most autobiographical song from the EP. I was alone, in my old living room, thinking about the work I had accomplished on myself after my last failed relationship. I was feeling hopeful because I was realizing how much I’ve grown. I had told myself I had to heal first for so long, it felt amazing to finally sense that I was ready to try loving someone again. I think the chords came first. I wanted a shuffle and some major chords to reflect the hope I was feeling and the topic I had chosen.

 Montreal has such a strong musical identity. How has the city's scene — and perhaps the broader Canadian music culture — influenced your sound and outlook as GeminiCrab?

Caulder: We met through an improvisational music collective called Kalmunity. We would meet weekly to play together and there were over 100 musicians in the collective. Every week a new combination of artists, musicians and personalities. Through this I’ve been exposed to so many flavours and backgrounds. Finding ways to blend my sound with theirs in real-time was a great way to develop and explore.

Malika: I believe everything is a source of inspiration and everything we experience shapes our creativity. We are both based in Montreal and I think this city and all it has to offer, totally influences our sound.

"Ride" and "Outta Your League" have these really vibrant, almost genre-fluid energies. As artists, how important is it for you to challenge traditional genre expectations, and where do you want to push your sound next?

Caulder: I love that! Genre-fluid. That's what we are as a generation. We have most of all recorded music in our pockets. On road trips, we listen to music in the car and within one hour, we ould have listened to 5-6 genres. That’s what we’re up to. Growing up I struggled to find a genre to squeeze myself into and I would always be scared to pursue any specific direction so as to not pigeon-hole myself as a certain type of artist. Taking elements of all my favourite sounds suits my personality and stimulates my explorative side. Finding combinations that tickle me is how I want to push the direction going forward.

Malika: My favorite thing about GeminiCrab is how free we are to explore all the styles we like! That’s why ‘Gen Y Lens’ is so eclectic and why the new music we are writing will seem so different from ‘Gen Y Lens’. I love our freedom and musical curiosity. Who knows what we’ll be exploring with our next album!

You worked with binaural audio technology during your residency at PHI Centre. How has experimenting with immersive sound techniques shaped your ideas about the future of live music and recorded music?

Caulder: I always wondered if it was a good idea to perform in an IMAX theatre because there’s like 200 speakers in there or whatever. It would be cool to do sound design for that space. There are so many layers in our production; there can be so many interesting things we could do with the spacing of it all to make something uniquely immersive.

Malika: We had a listening party before the release of ‘Gen Y Lens’ and we did it in their special room at the PHI Center so all the listeners could actually have the binaural experience at the same time. It was insane. It definitely changed something for me. I would love to try that in a live context.

Looking ahead, what are your biggest artistic dreams for GeminiCrab — whether it’s collaborations, new sonic directions, or simply the type of experience you want fans to have when they hear your music live?

Caulder: I'm inspired by other musicians, so I’d like to play all the festivals everywhere. Hearing them express themselves and being present for that fills me with a sense of community. I’d collaborate with anyone that vibes with what we’re doing. The more we keep each other stimulated, the better we are at connecting with our respective audiences and bringing everyone together through our message.

Malika: My biggest dream for GeminiCrab is finding our audience, finding our people and having many shows around the world. Connecting and sharing epic/transcendental musical moments with them. I also wish us many musical supervisors choosing our songs for great Movies, TV shows or even better: Video games!!

GeminiCrab’s upcoming performance at The Jazz Cafe on May 17 marks a standout moment in their rise, as they open for Afro-rock icons Osibisa—legends whose five-decade career fuses African, Caribbean, jazz, and rock influences. The show follows the release of Gen Y Lens, GeminiCrab’s genre-blurring debut EP, which they describe as “HighSoul,” a bold mix of R&B, jazz, hip-hop, and electronica. With standout tracks like the soulful “A Love That Will Last,” the sharp-edged “Ride,” and the genre-bending “Like Water,” the EP signals a fearless new direction.

The project also marks a return for Tirolien, known for her GRAMMY-nominated work with Bokanté and critically acclaimed solo output, adding depth and legacy to GeminiCrab’s forward-looking sound.

UPCOMING LIVE SHOWS:

• Feb 13th 2025 - Place Des Arts (with Montreal National Jazz Orchestra) - Montreal

• May 15th 2025 - The Great Escape Festival, Brighton (Venue: One Church)

To find out more about GeminiCrab, go to: Instagram / Twitter

To find out more about Malika Tirolien, go to: Instagram / Facebook / Twitter