INTERVIEWS
Leona Naess Opens Up About Revitalizing Her Career
After a 17-year hiatus from making records, British-born singer-songwriter Leona Naess, recently released her highly anticipated fourth record, Brood X, produced by Max Cooke (Ellie Goulding/Winona Oak). Recorded in several countries including Italy, Switzerland and England, Brood X, despite its international landscape, comprises an intimate, personal and sweetly tuneful collection of synth-infused alternative-indie-pop songs. As per her oeuvre, Naess’s characteristically introspective lyrics take front and center as she contemplates motherhood, romance, and friendship, leaving no relational stone unturned. One of the album’s highlights, the hypnotic “Name Across The Sky,” finds Naess, despite its upbeat tempo, desperately trying to mend a broken relationship with a loved one. “I wish that...
Twenty One Pilots on Playing MTV Unplugged, Their Favorite Episodes and What They’re Doing Differently
MTV Unplugged performances, at least during its 1989-2001 heyday, were among the most watched and influential events in music programming. If you were on Unplugged, you made it. Though its influence has waned as artists have moved away from traditional television as a whole, the show’s legacy remains firmly intact. Now a quarterly event, MTV enlisted Twenty One Pilots as the next artist to perform on MTV Unplugged. The show is unlike any other Unplugged predecessor. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun don’t “unplug” in the traditional sense, but they stripped down their songs to create completely different versions than what’s made them radio staples in the past half-decade or so. A day before they recorded their set in front of an intimate audience at Exchange in downtown Los Angeles, we ...
The Suffers Confront Racism and Sexism in the Music Industry
Kam Franklin isn’t afraid to say her piece. As the singer for The Suffers, a Houston-based seven-piece soul group, she’s shared the stage with Chaka Khan, toured with My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, and received advice from Mavis Staples. But when she’s spoken up about the inequalities of the music business, it hasn’t gone over well. “It’s really scary to talk about racism and sexism, and gender pay inequality, and payola in journalism,” says Franklin over the phone from a tour stop at BottleRock festival in Northern California. Outside of singing, she serves as the governor of the Recording Academy’s Texas chapter and as a board member of HeadCount, a nonprofit that works with musicians to get people registered to vote. “Now [I’m] an activist,” she says, with a touch of bemusement. “I didn...
Swardy Explores the Complex Intricacies That Make Us Human In Audiovisual Album, “Compact Objects”
Using new technology to explore the world during a time of forced isolation, Swardy delves into the complexities of what makes us unique on his new album, Compact Objects. A passionate traveler finding himself sidelined due to the ongoing pandemic, Swardy dove headfirst into 3D animation to cultivate new opportunities for adventure. With no experience under his belt, he downloaded the popular animation toolset Blender and began a two-year journey that would eventually culminate in Compact Objects. We caught up with Swardy to explore what went into the development of his visceral audiovisual album. Beginning work in March 2020, Swardy set out to create a dreamlike journey for his endearing mascot, Morne Diablotins. Sharing a name with the tallest mountain in Dominica, he found ins...
Meet The Rave Ref, a Peacekeeping Partier Who Guards Moshpits to Keep Ravers Safe
This isn’t your average Little League game. Wendell Dominguez knows that raves can sometimes get dangerous, especially when DJs overtly call for moshpits and “walls of death.” So he decided to start a persona called The Rave Ref, who dons a whistle and referee shirt in his mission to foster safer experiences in moshpits at electronic dance music concerts and festivals. Watching videos of Dominguez is like an EDM version of Where’s Waldo. If you attend virtually any major bass music festival, odds are you’ll see a black-and-white referee shirt loping around the pit like a zebra in the night. And more often than not, his whistle functions as the starting pistol. EDM.com caught up with The Rave Ref to chat about moshpit culture and why he decided to crusade ...
Go Deep With EDM.com: Wax Motif Talks Musical Origins, Making Fake IDs, DJ Soccer League & More
With an increasingly boundless list of accolades and the talent and work ethic to back it up, Wax Motif is carving his own path in the music world. The celebrated DJ and dance music producer released his stunning, 17-track debut album House of Wax in early 2022 via his own Divided Souls imprint. He’s now hot off the heels of an electrifying performance at EDC Las Vegas amid a prolific 2022 that has seen him release one of the year’s biggest house tracks, “On The Low,” a collaboration with longstoryshort that samples Mario Winans’ 2004 R&B hit “I Don’t Wanna Know.” But before he became the force he is today, Motif came from humble beginnings, discovering raves at the age of 16 and even making fake IDs at one point. And ...
The Regrettes on the Magic of Making A ‘Fuck It’ Album
Lydia Night is raging against the machine. And the machine drinks a warm cup of lemon water first thing in the morning. “Seeing all these people that are doing so well, drinking lemon water, and going on a run at 5 am and they’re so happy because of that,” said Night. The 21-year-old singer and rhythm guitarist of L.A. pop-rock upstarts, The Regrettes, is talking of the kind of people who inspired the songs on their energetic third album, Further Joy. The rest of the band chuckles. Guitarist Genessa Gariano says Night was always someone she could turn to when it came to mental health. When they formed their band, normalizing those teen insecurities — exploited by a multi-billion-dollar wellness industry — became a central focus of the music on their debut, Feel Your Feelings Fool! [embedde...
Obi-Wan Kenobi Writer on Reviving Vader and Leia For the Disney+ Series
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 3.] The morning after the first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi premiered on Disney+, writer and executive producer Joby Harold went to Disneyland with his kids. “We were at Rise of the Resistance, doing the Star Wars Disney of it… Please click the link below to read the full article. Obi-Wan Kenobi Writer on Reviving Vader and Leia For the Disney+ Series Liz Shannon Miller [flexi-common-toolbar] [flexi-form class=”flexi_form_style” title=”Submit to Flexi” name=”my_form” ajax=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”post_title” class=”fl-input” title=”Title” value=”” required=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=...
Get a Chance to Get on With It Twice: The Return of Algernon Cadwallader
A decade of tireless advocacy from unofficial street teamers, emo “best of” lists, Twitter threads and worshipful bands shaped in the image of “Spit Fountain” has finally willed an Algernon Cadwallader reunion tour into existence. But it’s the intrepid and typically unsung YouTube cover artists that will ensure that these shows might actually happen. “I’m looking forward to announcing so I can ask people to show me how to play this stuff,” guitarist Joe Reinhart jokes. “Who’s got tabs?” Both Algernon Cadwallader and those lucky enough to witness them in their heyday remembers the band’s music the same way – a cracked, anthemic take on Cap’n Jazz and their Midwest emo progeny, distinguished by inventive instrumental technique that would’ve been hailed as wizardry had it not been played with...
Japanese Breakfast Breaks Down Her First Pitch Debut
In case you missed it, last week Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner celebrated a career milestone. No, we’re not talking about performing on Saturday Night Live, we’re talking about throwing out the first pitch at the Phillies vs. Mets game at Citi Field. On Saturday, we caught up with Zauner backstage at Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival to learn more about her pitching technique and how she prepared for her Major League Baseball debut. (Credit: Elsa/Getty Images) SPIN: How did the pitch-throwing opportunity come about? Japanese Breakfast: My manager told me that we got asked to do it and I was like, “oh no.” But then I felt I had to do it. My drummer and our producer Craig Hendrix used to play baseball and he’s a big baseball fan, so I felt like it was something I had to do for the team. [L...
Maneskin Shares How the ‘Mix of Emotions’ While Living in L.A. Inspired ‘Supermodel’
Maneskin unveiled their latest single, “Supermodel,” on May 13, and members Damiano David, Ethan Torchio and Thomas Raggi recently sat down with Billboard to discuss the meaning behind their ode to Los Angeles’ clout-chasing culture. The song, which features lyrics such as “When you’re not looking, she’s stealing your Basquiat/ Low-waisted pants on OnlyFans, I’d pay for that,” was inspired by living in L.A. for a long period of time, which frontman David says felt like “a mix of emotions.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “What shocked us was there’s a lot of people who only try to get something from others and they want to be at the top of the spots and under the spotlight,” he explains. “But then you see that they’re playing a characte...
Saba Is Building an Independent Rap Legacy With His Friends
Saba was overwhelmed with memories in the glare of a thousand fans’ phone screens. The 27-year-old rapper shouted “We was 16, in the library!” as he introduced members of his band on stage at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom earlier this month, reminiscing about the teenaged studio sessions that led him to headline in his hometown a decade later. In the early 2010s, Saba practiced rapping at open mics, libraries, and eventually a studio constructed in his grandmother’s home. He emerged from neglected West Side neighborhood Austin and stood out among a talented class of young Chicago musicians (Lil Durk, Noname, Mick Jenkins, Chief Keef) thanks to his vivid writing and tongue-twisting style, indebted to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and fellow West Siders Crucial Conflict and Twista. In 2018, Saba earned g...
