INTERVIEWS
After 17 Years, Rebelution Continue to Make Poppy Reggae-Rock That They Want to Hear
In the world of reggae-rock, Rebelution remains one of the staples that have held together the scene for the last decade-and-a-half. Along with peers like Pepper and Iration, the four UC Santa Barbara alumni have churned out one album after another of reggae Billboard chart-topping hits. Ever since bursting into the scene with 2007’s self-produced Courage to Grow, frontman Eric Rachmany and his band have drawn crowds all over the world — performing on the biggest of stages and even earning a long-overdue Grammy nomination for 2016’s Falling Into Place. Now, Rebelution is back with their seventh full-length album, In The Moment, this Friday (June 18 via Easy Star Records). But for those expecting nothing but classic reggae jams, this isn’t quite Bright Side of Life part two. In The Moment g...
Foxing Haven’t HIt Their Ceiling Yet
When you’re a member of Foxing, it often feels as if you’re throwing pearls before swine. Here you are, Foxing guitarist Eric Hudson. It’s Spring 2018, and you’re opening for Circa Survive, trying to spread the word about your band’s wildly ambitious, upcoming third album Nearer My God. You’ve just ripped into the lightning-fast, hilariously bizarre guitar solo on “Lich Prince,” a stunning moment that finally answers the long-pondered question of what it would have sounded like if Eddie Van Halen had a Mars Volta phase. And what do you get for trying your damndest to just fucking go for it in an underground rock scene wherein just fucking going for it just isn’t really the vibe anymore? Non-stop disrespect. “There was a super fan of that band in the front row, and I remember looking down r...
How Laura Stevenson Made Peace With Her Rage
Laura Stevenson is sitting in her cluttered bedroom, struggling to think of the right word to describe her songwriting process. It’s on the tip of her tongue. “I don’t have, I don’t have…” she says over Zoom as she mentally rifles through her vocabulary. Her eyes scan the baby bottles and children’s toys scattered around the room. “See, this is what happens to your brain when you don’t sleep for an entire year,” she laughs. Finally, the word she was looking for strikes her. “Discipline! I don’t have discipline.” Stevenson is at home in the Hudson Valley in New York, and has a rare hour to herself. Her in-laws have taken her one-year-old daughter off her hands for the afternoon, and Mike Campbell, her husband and bandmate, is in the Florida Keys on “a fuckabout,” as she puts it, relaxing an...
The Relentless “Magic” and Optimism of TOMORROW X TOGETHER
Just two years into their career as TOMORROW X TOGETHER, Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Hueningkai have stacked up an impressive collective resume. A small sampling of the highlights: They were named Rookies of the Year at the 2019 Melon Music Awards and Asian Artist Awards; they were the first K-pop group to cover Teen Vogue; and as of press time, they’re enjoying life in the No. 5 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart. When asked what they would tell their debut selves if they could, Taehyun smiles. “Just enjoy,” he tells Consequence softly over Zoom. The quintet released their second full-length Korean album, The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE, on May 31st, following the euphoric quarantine-themed 2020 Blue Hour EP. TOMORROW X TOGETHER (often shortened to TXT) have steadily begun to ear...
Kids Just Wanna Have Fun
Pop-punk has always been for the kids, but for the kids? As in toddlers? Well, that’s an entirely different story. However, The First Rock Band on Mars is aiming to make music that rocks the little ‘uns. The group includes Kellin Quinn (Sleeping With Sirens), Ryan Key (Yellowcard), Howi Spangler (Maryland Beach Rock), and musician and author James DiNanno, most of whom, you guessed it, have young kids. And what better way to introduce their offspring to the music their folks play than by performing it in a way that resonates for kids. Makes sense, right? Since they’ve taken the path of making kids’ music — releasing a self-titled EP on June 11 — we asked the members of The First Rock Band on Mars to pick their favorite children’s songs and albums. Fellow parents, maybe you’ll get som...
“I Was Living Under a Veil My Entire Life”: How Worthy’s Coming Out Reawakened Her Passion for Music
Amidst the dozens of glimmering discoballs that hovered above the dancefloor, a radiant energy pierced through what was already a jovial crowd. Her exuberance soaring with each thump of a kickdrum, she elevated the spirits of those in attendance. It’s a passion that she, herself, recently reconnected with. The adoration for her craft was losing steam, a train to nowhere slowly stalling in its tracks. However, as she came to terms with her own identity, she inadvertently reignited her love for the art of DJing. In December of 2020, as the world coped with the ramifications of the pandemic, Worthy was dealing with major repercussions of her own after announcing that she is transgender. Worthy performing at Dirtybird CampInn in May 2021. Dirtybird Worthy, who cofounded the famed d...
“Be Unique and Be Relentless”: Destructo On Growing as a Music Producer, New Song With TroyBoi
Since first stepping foot into the world of dance music in the early 90s, renowned producer and entrepreneur Destructo has done it all. From DJing at the world’s largest music festivals to helming the fabled All My Friends brand to founding the fabled HARD series, Destructo changes the game with each venture. His latest musical release finds him dropping a collaborative single with fellow electronic music superstar TroyBoi. Their new song “You’re The One For Me” is a feel-good, summertime bop reminiscent of Destructo’s childhood in New Orleans. With a disco-influenced rhythm and melody, the track perfectly fuses funk and house into a unique blend. The single also arrived alongside an official music video directed by...
Iconic Singer INNA on Her Love of Dance Music, the EDM Scene in Romania and Her Sultry “Maza Jaja” Video
INNA is an international EDM phenomenon from Romania. Her house-influenced dance records have made clubs, speakers, airwaves, and concert-goers around the world come alive for years. For the European icon, it all started with a hit 2009 record called “Hot.” In 2012, INNA became the first European woman to reach 1 billion YouTube views. She currently has over 3.5 billion views on YouTube—that’s more than Madeon (311 million), Flume (981 million), Kylie Minogue (820 million), and Diplo (960 million) combined. Not bad for a singer from a small seaside town in Romania. Stats and facts aside, INNA just wants to make people happy through her music. Although the nature of dance music is predicated upon making people feel and express emotion, INNA’s songs send a special kind of dopamine to the bra...
Jim Ward Doesn’t Care If You Only Like Him in At the Drive-In or Sparta, He’ll Keep Rocking For Himself
It’s hard to form a band that’s going to stand the test of time. Having a big hit is one thing, but launching an act that’s going to remain influential and draw crowds of devoted fans for decades is generally a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience. Unless that lifetime belongs to Jim Ward. Ward (the revered guitarist, not the voice actor of the same name who apparently has better SEO) co-founded a little band called At the Drive-In before his 18th birthday, and then when that stopped being a thing (the first time around), he spun off into Sparta. And that’s not even including the success he’s seen with the country-tinged Sleepercar and acoustic solo work. Long story short, the 44-year-old El Paso native knows a thing or two about writing, singing, and strumming some of rock’s most influen...
Wire Look Back With Fondness at Post-Millennial Work
Wire is your favorite band’s favorite band. Guided By Voices’ Robert Pollard professes reverence. My Bloody Valentine covered a song on a Wire tribute record. Henry Rollins characteristically enthuses about them. And Robert Smith has pointed to them as a direct inspiration. If you haven’t heard of them, they’ve lived up to their cult status and you’ll soon be initiated. It’s almost like a music-listening rite of passage: Once you discover Wire, you achieve a certain milestone in your palette — a failsafe to rely on in case people find out you like something sonically abhorrent. But really, what better way to find music you’d potentially like than by seeking the favorites of your favorite? The experimental quartet emerged with their influential first LP, 1977’s Pink Flag, now th...
“Trashion”: This Woman Picks Up Your Trash at Music Festivals—Then Makes Art With It
Music festivals are some of the most magical, exciting, and glamorous spaces in the world. For a few days, music fans can come together for an indelible experience. They can dance to their favorite music, make new friends, fall in love, and live their lives to the fullest. But what happens when the festival ends? After festival-goers pack up their stuff, head out, and move on with their lives, people like Sophia Nielson are left to clean up the mess. At just 26 years of age, Nielsen operates her own company, WEgenerative, with the aim to educate people about waste. She promotes sustainability at music festivals by designing and implementing waste infrastructure, contracting with events, managing volunteers who pick up trash (usually the largest crew on the festival grou...
Danny Elfman Is a Big Mess
Within seconds of joining a Zoom interview, Danny Elfman is already running at speeds that would make the White Rabbit feel like the calmest being in Wonderland. “That’s where my name came from, I’m pretty sure,” the composer hurriedly explains. “Elfman means ‘11th man’ in German, and in the Jewish religion, all ceremonies start with 10. The 10th man into the ceremony is called the minyan, and when the 10th man arrives, everything begins. My ancestor was always late. He was always the 11th man. The one who comes in and says ‘I’m here! I’m here!’ and they’re already going, like ‘Yeah, yeah, sit down. You’re late.’ Well, this is my own personal theory at least. I have absolutely nothing to back it up with, but it just makes sense. Where else does ‘11th man’ come from? Especially with the sig...
