There are multiple artists with this name;
1) Nile is an American death metal band from Greenville, South Carolina, United States, formed in 1993. Their music and lyrics are inspired by Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern mysticism, history, religion, and ancient art, as well as the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Nile formed in their hometown of Greenville in 1993, from the ashes of a previous band, Morriah, in which Karl Sanders played since the 1980s.
The majority of Nile's music is written by vocalist/guitarist Karl Sanders. It combines traditional and technical death metal. Nile's music is also characterized by its extreme complexity and speed – for which the band has received acknowledgement from many music fans and journalists – and its extremely "heavy" riffing, due to Nile's guitar and bass tunings, which are normally Dropped A tuning.
Much of the lyrical content is based on Sanders' interest in Egyptology and other ancient Middle Eastern cultures, such as Mesopotamia. H.P. Lovecraft also seems to have an enduring influence upon Nile's lyrical themes; the word "Nile" and the title of Nile's first full-length album can both be found in the same sentence of Lovecraft's short story "The outsider". Lengthy sleeve notes are included with the albums Black Seeds of Vengeance, In Their Darkened Shrines, Annihilation of the Wicked, Those Whom the Gods Detest, At the Gate of Sethu, and What Should Not Be Unearthed, explaining the inspiration or source for the lyrics of each song.
2) Nile (born as Jenee Denenne Grevious on February 11) is a trip-hop artist hailing from Ohio. Her father is French, and her mother is Blackfoot Indian. She has an album called ‘Born’, which was released on September 13, 2002 on the Independiente label.
She’s not like a bird. But she does sing to lizards. Welcome to the wonderful world of Nile.
Birth, journey, spirituality: these are the key words in Nile’s story. Think Billie Holliday with a Lauryn Hill attitude and just a hint of Bristol; via Miami, Atlanta, LA and Ohio. Born to a Blackfoot Indian mother and a French father in Ohio, Nile was christened with the poptastic real name of Jenée Grevious. She chose Nile because "I’m an Aquarius and so Nile stood out for me. Plus it’s easier to say."
The youngest of four brothers and five sisters, Nile’s introduction to music began as a baby, sitting atop her mother Bobbie’s piano while she played to the family. "I would say my Mom would be my biggest inspiration," says Nile. "Outside of all the artists in the world, she was the unforgotten one because she was my route to music." Hence the track Bobbie on Nile’s debut album. This early musical induction was bolstered by her Baptist church upbringing. "I sang in church since I was 4 years old," Nile explains. "They called our choir the Rosebuds." This was where she first remembers discovering her taste for performing, but the Rosebud didn’t come into bloom until much later – was 21 before she started writing, "when my life started, seemingly, to get serious".
It’s also when her musical journey took a more literal turn. "Hearing the music in the wind", Nile set off on her travels. "I went to LA and didn’t find any routes of music there, so I went to Atlanta, didn’t find any there, and then I came to Miami five years ago and I kind of forced it to happen here." Hooking up with producer Andrew Darden, Nile got to work, singing each instrumental line to Andrew to put his beat to. "It’s called cooking," explains Nile.
Family, spirituality and nature rate strongly in Nile’s music. "My philosophy is spirituality," she says: "let your heart be your guide. And I think throughout all the books, the religions, the titles we get so caught up in, we forget to follow what we feel. Dictation from others can be blinding and limiting. I’m guided by my inner voice – if you lose that connection, then you lose the purpose. Every life has a chapter, and each song is the beginning of an experience. They all have purpose, they all have meaning. I had to go on a journey because music is in the wind for me. I left my family behind, my sisters, Mom, Dad. While I was going through that emotion, part of me realised how long I had been away, how much I had left my past. So I expressed that, it was in each song."
A country girl at heart then? "Absolutely. I sing to the air." But not just the air. "There are lizards in Miami. Have you ever seen them? Oh my goodness. The grounds are covered with them. And every time I play my music, they dance. The ones that sit on the windowsill, they’ll dance. And it’s amazing, it’s like music for the universe, it’s not just for me: it’s for everybody. The birds’ll sing to it. Like Sesame Street. So that’s when I knew I was on the right track: the animals have a good connection."
Lizards and the birds notwithstanding, Nile’s sources of inspiration are nothing if not eclectic. Alongside musical legends Billie Holliday and Bob Marley, she names Malcolm X, Alfred Hitchcock and a pre-war English mountaineer as her heroes. "There is a guy who climbed Mount Everest," explains Nile; "and his name was Mallory. He inspires me. He disappeared believing in something he wanted to achieve. It’s the same with Alfred Hitchcock, the way he puts his art into the camera: making movies with the heart." It’s that mixture of craft and devotion that is all too lacking in many contemporary stars, but which Nile has in bucketfulls.
But above all, Nile believes in the soothing quality of music: whether it’s in Koko Pelli – an old native American term referring to the magical musician that spreads the love of sound throughout the universe - or Hyde, her own dose of instant karma: "I was hurt, you know? A little boyfriend/girlfriend thing. And I just said you know what? I’ll just leave you to the insects. They’re gonna get you! And I really felt that, and soon as I finished singing it, I’m like OK, I’m fine now. No more grievances."
No wonder Jenée Grevious changed her name.
Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
