Ena Marley Addresses Not Being Paid for Gigs in Humorous Animated Video For ‘Where Is the Money?’

The last time we spoke to Madrid/Mumbai/New Delhi artist Ena Marley was in 2021 when she released her emotive track “Just Say.” Since then, she’s released a number of singles and also composed the music for The Doll’s House for the National School of Drama in New Delhi.

Now, Marley is gearing up for the release of her forthcoming debut album called Magic Jazz Masalas. Recently, she shared the record’s first single in the shape of the swing-blues song “Where Is the Money?” The artist has even released an accompanying animated music video with the song. In this interview, Marley talks to us about the story behind the song, what people can expect from the album and more. Read excerpts.

What can you tell me about the story behind “Where Is the Money?”

‘Where Is the Money?’ Is a song I created in 2018, after several experiences in Mumbai. Even If I like to see the funny side of certain things, I should recognize at this moment things turn out to be overwhelming. I was working every day but I didn’t have any economical income, since none of the jobs were paying me, using excuse after excuse for delaying the payments. If I would stop working, it would be a justification for the institutions to finalize the engagement and somehow make things even more complicated. It was a real crisis for me since I needed to be not agreeable and defend myself with determination, something I discovered I was not really used to. You feel insecure, tired, and somehow abused. This is something that happens all around the world, especially to freelancers, but in my case, I experienced it in India in a really high dose during this period of time.

Tell me about what it was like putting the video together.

The video was hard and required a lot of execution and work, on my part and the part of Mel, the animator. This visual tale is completely handcrafted, everything has been articulated from the basics of the imagination, a pencil, and the mind. To imagine every detail, try it, re-think it, and review it constantly until we could see it was working is a hustle. The love for the craft and the visualization of the concept getting represented is the bigger motivation to get it done.

What can people expect from the album and when is it going to be out?

This new album Magic Jazz Masalas is a combination between original easy jazz-folk songs written in Spanish, and jazz songs with little stories of India. The next single of this album is called ‘A Foggy Day in Delhi Town’ based on the Gershwin composition but applied to the foggy city of Delhi. But there are other ones like ‘I Should Switch Off the Phone” about the overuse of mobile phones and the disconnection between individuals, or ‘Hola!’ about the creation of personas or avatars to interact with people in the most well-accepted manner, avoiding any kind of authenticity or real information about ourselves. Also, there are other songs like ‘I Feel Hap Hap Happy Hap’ which are there only because they are cute.

I want to combine this song in a live show with jazz standards that are relatable to my experience in India, creating a performance that will be a dialogue between storytelling, situations of our contemporary society, and easy jazz-folk style. For me, it’s an important album since it recovers the part of music that I like more, the one that connects individuals regardless of their nationality, background or experience, and speaks through universal emotions inherent inside of us.

Watch the music video for “Where Is the Money?” below: