Kiwi-Brazilian artist Bianca Grigg, aka Bandi, is warming the ground ahead of an upcoming debut EP with the release of her new, colourful single Ain’t Nobody. An energetic fusion of Afrobeat and atmospheric RnB, with her signature sense of fun and catchy bubblegum pop, it’s the second single taken from her February 2023-planned EP ‘Bittersweet’. 

Ain’t Nobody was created on a day when I went into the studio with Tom Lee [Lee Mvtthews]. We were actually meant to work on a completely different project, but were both feeling super creative that day and itching for something new. So we decided to start a song from scratch.

I had just done a photoshoot with Reagen Butler which was all very cutesy with bright, pinks, purples and blues, so I wanted the new song to replicate that shoot and create a bubblegum pop song. We started off by brainstorming what kind of song we’d like it to be.

We wanted to make a song inspired by my Brazilian roots using the afrobeat/samba style drum patterns and mixing that with my signature sound. If you listen closely to the beginning of the song, you’ll hear actual recordings from the streets of Brazil. The song starts off with a blissful upbeat guitar melody and up-tempo South American rhythm, the beat doing a one-two on your ears! It has a strong melodic sense and visual presence.

Tom Lee decided to play the guitar and recorded that in, played the bass, recorded that in, sang backing vocals, and assisted in writing. He’s truly a musical genius.

It all happened pretty fast because Tom and I were on a roll and our creative juices were flowing, he created the beat while I wrote. We recorded that same day and then met up a couple more times to refine the track. It’s one of those songs that just worked so perfectly and happened so fast because we were so inspired.

Something I learned from the whole process of recording Ain’t Nobody is to listen to your body and to what mood you are in. If you’re feeling creative and wanting to start something from scratch, even though you have a million other songs to work on, do it. Take those chances cause that’s when the best music is created.

Ain’t Nobody is really about how it sometimes takes a little refresher to realise what you have in relationships. Often the things that made you fall in love with someone become so normalised or expected with your day-to-day life routine, and so are taken for granted. All it takes is a little refresher, which could be some quality time, or giving yourself the time to pause and consider, to re-ignite your love.

I’m also really looking forward to releasing the music video for the song, made with the support of NZ On Air in collaboration with world-famous Lego master Brandon Wike. He designed and built the whole music video using thousands of digital Lego pieces to create my dream world. It was filmed by Tom Grut, edited by Jodo Valley and co-directed by myself. The music video is a play on my version of the American dream.

In the Ain’t Nobody video there’s no apparent deep connection between the actors. It’s the day-to-day happenings in a typical relationship, two people together 24/7 but noticing and appreciating the little things they do and sharing small gestures of love!

This is my second single and Ain’t Nobody I believe truly sets the tone of who I am, and what’s to come from me…