Hil St Soul

Hilary Mwelwa was born in Lusaka, Zambia and relocated to London with her family at age five. As a child she adopted her father’s love of music, as their home was immersed with the sounds of traditional Zambian music along with American R&B/ soul icons such as Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. As a graduate of London’s Westminster University, Hilary had early ambitions to go into the science field and earned a degree in biological sciences.

Hilary had early ambitions to go into the science field at London’s Westminster University, where she studied biological sciences. She shares, “While I was in school studying sciences, I started to explore my musical interests and I decided that I wanted to pursue music more seriously. ” She took a year off from school and at that time, recorded her first demo a cover of the Aretha Franklin classic ‘Until you come back to me’ (featured debut album Soul Organic). She says she’s never had formal musical training but was brought up on a diet of soul, R&B, Gospel and pop music from an early age. Luckily for us Hilary Mwelwa’s path has led her to follow her heart and her music. Source HilstSoul.com

Personally I have been a Hil St Soul fan since her first recording. Of course I, like many others here in the states, had no idea that she was not American until I heard her speak. That heightened my curiosity , much like it did when I first heard AWB live then heard the fellas speak. A definite haha moment. But with Hil I heard a voice that is captivating, one that touches the soul. She has such a vibrant and infectious vibe when performing live. Regrettably I missed her last year when she had a mini east coast US tour. She performed in my home town of Washington DC at Blues Alley. Of course she gave a performance that my homies still talk about to this day.

USA Today described Hil St Soul’s vocals as “Always enticing” while The Associated Press declared “Hil St Soul has an organic soulful sound that is all their own.” On behalf of Hil St Soul fans worldwide I say I Concur. Hil understands the importance of remembering one’s roots. When that is applied to her music, you can hear the influences of jazz, soul and R&B. When I asked Hil’s good friend and artist representative Bernard Hill about the idea of interviewing Hil for my magazine, he said it was a great idea. Bernard told me Hil is down to earth, witty and knowledgeable about the music business. As my Music Director, First Lady Of Smooth Jazz, Gail Jhonson prepared for the interview we both realized that Hil and Gail are label mates with Shanachi Records. The ice was broken and I enjoyed recording and just listening to two profession entertainers. The First Lady Of Smooth Jazz and the Queen Of UK Soul.

Gail Jhonson, Indie Incognito Music Editor, speaks one on one with Hil St Soul edited by Tony Smith

G. Hello Hil, it is such a pleasure to speak to you today. Oh, I just realized we are label mates at Shanachie . Wow, what a small but wonderful world.

H. Oh wow. I had no idea either, My new release with Regi Myrix is on Sanachie .

G. So Hil tell us, how is the music scene in the UK ?

H. The music scene is a mixture, melting pot with the mainstream pop charts and then the underground independent which I guess is a bit like you guys have in the states where a lot of talented singers and artists doing their thing. My thing is the soul scene.

G. Have you ever played any instruments ?

H. Dad put me up for piano lessons at a very young age. I think I did 3 or 4 lessons and I really didn’t like it. However not sticking with it is one of my regrets.

G. Yeah I haven't ran into anybody that says Oh I am so glad I stopped those piano lessons, Oh I am so glad I stopped taking those violin lessons…nobody ever says that ( laughter ). I have given many piano lessons so I am extending an invitation to you if you would like.

G (Q). So what’s next…what are you working on ?

H. Well everybody is experiencing this crazy time, making it a bit restrictive of what you can do. I am trying to be as creative as possible, writing and recording, working on my next album project. Gail I am trying to stay motivated which is so difficult because of this unprecedented time of Covid 19.

G. Yeah I know. As artists we are used to the rehearsals, jam sessions and just kicking it. With this pandemic all of that has come to a halt so we have to be very self motivated. Tell me about the creation of Hil St Soul. Was, is, it an artist, a band or what exactly ?

H. Actually it was a band when I first started with producer Victor Montoya, he was part of a UK Hip Hop act over here. He was classically trained and we met and started vibing. I did the singing and writing the songs and he did the producing. Our very first album was kind of like a duo thing but in the same token he didn’t really want to be in the front. He relished being in the background. So as far as promoting the album I was the face of Hil St Soul even though is was actually a duo. As time progressed and the notoriety came, I began to do much more traveling and collaborating with other more prominent artists which is exactly what the labels I was with wanted.. When I started doing that there was external, sort of, productions and songs working with other people and we became less of a duo and became more of a Hil thing. The majority of the work was still produced by Victor but I began to work more and more with other producers and singers.

Hil St. Soul Invites Us To Celebrate Life, Get In The Music, Get Lost In The Groove & Remember We Only Have “One Life” (Produced by Regi Myrix For Myrix Media Group)

Well fast forward to today, I am now working with the amazing producer Regi Myrix who produced One Life and there is much more to come in the future. So I am excited because my last recording was 2009.

G. So who’s in your playlist?

H. Wo. Gosh, well my playlist is kind of a mish mash of old school soul.

G. Just tell me you are going to remake one of the old Lover’s Rock songs ( referring to the legendary music which was the Motown of the UK back in the day music of raggare fused with soul). Oh I really loved that music Hil.

H. Gail that would be kind of cool and thanks for suggesting it. Actually the Lover’s Rock music was not your traditional Reggae. There was a definite soul vibe and feel to it. Well that would be an interesting thing to look into and try out.

G. Well Hil this has been amazing. Thank you for sharing some time with me today. Be safe, stay blessed and we will get together soon we hope.

H. No no, thank you guys for thinking about me. This was amazing. Thank you Tony Smith for making this happen. God Bless you guys.

Follow Hil at hilstsoul.com