Inspiration can come from anyplace. One Boston-based musician summoned it with an app. Eph See wrote the tune “Malachi the Uber Driver” after a late-night journey house.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Inspiration can strike anyplace, anytime and are available from anyone.
(SOUNDBITE OF EPH SEE SONG, “MALACHI THE UBER DRIVER”)
SIMON: Would possibly even name it up utilizing an app.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MALACHI THE UBER DRIVER”)
EPH SEE: (Singing) Malachi, the Uber driver.
SIMON: A late-night Uber journey led one artist to make this tune and to enter it into NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest. “Malachi The Uber Driver” did not win the competition, however the tune did win the hearts of our music group.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MALACHI THE UBER DRIVER”)
EPH SEE: (Singing) The entire evening getting…
My identify is Felisha Cabral, also called Eph See, and I am an artist, producer and songwriter from Boston, Massachusetts.
SIMON: Eph See has been making music for the higher a part of a decade, however they’d misplaced the spark recently. Then one evening, leaving an artist meet-up, their headphones ran out of battery, and so as an alternative of using house in silence, they struck up a dialog with the one who was taking them house – a person named Malachi.
EPH SEE: He had requested me what I used to be getting back from, and I used to be like, I simply got here from this live performance. So we began speaking about music and streaming and artists not being paid nicely sufficient and all that type of stuff. So I used to be like, oh, this man’s, like, actually educated about music. I’m wondering if he is additionally a inventive. So I requested him, and that is when he, like, jokingly stated, like, oh, yeah, like, I am Malachi. I am worldwide. Have not you heard of me?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MALACHI THE UBER DRIVER”)
EPH SEE: (Singing) Malachi, the Uber driver, jokes and says he is worldwide. He…
You understand, the battle is actual. I do know artists who’re tremendous proficient and, you already know, nonetheless need to work, like, one or two jobs to help their careers. I used to be like, wager. Malachi, the Uber driver, who’s additionally worldwide, I consider you. And yeah, then I had requested him, you already know, like, what sort of artwork do you do? And he talked about how he used to do, I feel, drawing and portray, particularly when he was youthful as a result of his, like, grandmother would at all times ship him artwork provides.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MALACHI THE UBER DRIVER”)
EPH SEE: (Singing) Malachi, the Uber driver, we’re not so completely different, you and I.
There have been simply so many, like, little synchronicities like that of, like, oh, we’re each individuals who discovered artwork a very necessary time in our lives, had particular connections to our grandmothers. And it was simply, like, a stunning dialog with somebody who was keen to attach. And I feel that is one thing that we’re lacking quite a bit today. He was speaking about how, like, he had put the pen down, mainly, as a result of he wasn’t any good. And I used to be like, no, like, it’s best to maintain at it. Like, artwork actually is for everybody.
SIMON: And in flip, Malachi impressed Eph See to maintain going – to maintain writing, singing and strumming, but in addition to maintain connecting with folks.
EPH SEE: On the very finish of the journey, he stated, I will see you while you’re worldwide. And I simply had this second the place I used to be like, I feel you’re, like, an angel that I wanted to get on this automotive with. It was, like, the primary tune I had written in months after, like, such an enormous funk, and it simply spilled out of me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MALACHI THE UBER DRIVER”)
EPH SEE: (Singing) Getting…
SIMON: That is Boston-based artist Eph See. Their tune “Malachi The Uber Driver” was entered into our Tiny Desk Contest.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MALACHI THE UBER DRIVER”)
EPH SEE: (Singing) Drives to move the time and…
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