The Spotlight Sessions Presents: Nicole and Scotty, Austin Gatus & REL

Nicole & Scotty are a musical sibling duo based in Southern California. The dynamic pair are recording/performing artists, songwriters, musicians, audio engineers, and producers.

Starting a YouTube channel in August of 2013, and making their debut as Elvis Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie Presley’s supporting act that same year, together they have since begun to take the music industry by storm.

Their first single (an out-and-proud Trip Hop song titled “#Queen” has achieved over 100k streams on Spotify. Their follow up single “Can Be Beautiful” has been featured on Billboard Sound and AXS.

www.nicoleandscotty.com/
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Austin Gatus is a singer-songwriter-saxophonist whose style blends musical elements of Synth Pop, Jazz Fusion, and Film Orchestra. As an artist and performing musician, Austin has shared the stage with various artists such as Harry Styles, MAX, Kenny G, Dave Koz, and Rufus Wainwright. His performance credits include opening for Kenny G, sailing around Europe onboard the Dave Koz cruises, and joining Harry Styles’ band headlining Coachella.

In addition, Austin composes music for film, theatre, and other forms of media. His projects include composing music for Rufus Wainwright’s, Rufus Does Judy at Capitol Studios featuring Renée Zellweger and Kristin Chenoweth. In 2021, Austin was recognized as the Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards winner in the “Musical Theatre Composition” category presented by Tony Award winner, Idina Menzel.

A childhood cancer survivor, Austin shares his personal story and experiences through his music to inspire others. He currently resides in Los Angeles and is a UCLA alumnus.

austingatus.com
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REL

I recorded this ep live outside with my dad accompanying me on guitar. We did each song in one take, recorded outside at In the Meantime. My friends, Pop Levi and Luke Muscatelli, had come to a Jeff Buckley tribute show where I played “Hallelujah” with my dad accompanying me, and was inspired to make this live ep. The week after the show, Pop and Luke brought recording gear, and their engineer, I brought my guitar and my dad (and his guitar). Pop, Luke and I wrote a new song to include for the recording. It’s called “Crying in MacArthur”. I sang “Hallelujah”, of course–the inspiration for the EP–an acoustic version of my song, “Stumbling” and one of my favorite unreleased songs, “Green Eyes.” This is the first release of that song, one that I’ve been waiting to release for years now. It’s really special to be putting it out in such a naked form – I’ve never released anything so “naked” – just my voice, one take, live with guitar. And me playing lead! It feels a bit like jumping off the high dive. Stripping everything back and just sharing the songs raw. “Hallelujah” is one of the first songs I really learned how to play on guitar. I’ve always been a singer but the guitar was hard for me for a long time. It didn’t come as naturally. During the pandemic I stayed with my parents and my dad and I would sing and play guitar together; this was probably the first song I really got down on guitar and we would sing and play it together a lot. So, when my dad accompanied me at the Jeff Buckley tribute show it was a very tender moment. Recording it and these other songs was as well.  Pop insisted we do the songs in one take, max two. “Hallelujah” we did in one take. I’ve never released anything so bare. It feels like the beginning of a new era. Not to say my new music is just guitar and vocals, because it’s not! But there’s an emphasis on authenticity and embodiment in this music. Showing up honestly. I hope that this music meets you where you at and makes you feel something, and smile. The EP ends with “Green Eyes,” which is all about hope.

My IG / X / Tiktok handle is @musicbyrel
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