Indie pop musicians Nelly Ellinor (NLLY) and Julia Zech aka Lightning Jules have used the pandemic to reflect, write songs and also try out new collaborations. The two decided to write a song over Zoom. This was mainly due to the fact that Nelly had recently found a second home close to her favourite surf spot in Portugal whilst Julia was cooped up under quarantine in her apartment in Cologne.
Starting from a guitar riff and a long talk about waves, moon cycles, being an artist and thinking about motherhood they crafted a song about the sacrifice and pain women have experienced over generations. Listening to each other and all the stories we have been told by strong women surrounding us, „Oh Mother” was born, a powerful dreamy indie ballad.
When they thought about producing the song and a music video it was obvious they had to assemble an all-women team: female musicians for bass and drums, a female videographer, female performers and a female promotion agent. At the end of 2021, Julia flew to Portugal and they recorded a music video on the coastline in the Alentejo region, portraying strong women that are leading the way in a very male dominated surfing scene.
NLLY is the solo project by Nelly Ellinor. She is also part of the queer-feminist collective VooCha and tours with Chicks on Speed. When she is not on stage she spends her time on her surfboard in the ocean. In the Alentejo she found her second home and creates music and plays concerts with her Portuguese band.
Lightning Jules is the indie dream pop project of the German songwriter Julia Zech. She shares her time between Cologne and Paris and tours with her folk band Stereo Naked, where she plays banjo.
