INTERVIEWS
Primal Scream: An Oral History of The Howling
“What if this is a movie where the characters have actually seen a horror movie?” –John Sayles By the dawn of the 1980s, there hadn’t been a genuinely successful werewolf film in years. And in the wake of films like The Last House on the Left and Halloween, which brought horror to the cities and suburbs where most Americans lived, torch-wielding villagers and mythical monsters lurking around the European countryside seemed quant. Even when the cinematic werewolf mythology was occasionally modernized in the 1970s, with films like Werewolves on Wheels and The Werewolf of Washington, the results were lackluster. But just as the sub-genre appeared to lose its bite, The Howling burst onto screens and changed everything. The first in a series of three werewolf-centric films released in 1981 — Wo...
Wuki’s Debut Album is “Part Rave, Part Circus, Part Amusement Park, and Part Art Installation”
Just one year ago, Wuki was prepping for the 2020 Grammy Awards, for which his flip of Miley Cyrus‘ “Mother’s Daughter” earned a nomination for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. The most pressing matter on his mind was picking out a suit. “I’m living it up right now,” he told EDM.com last January. That reality now feels miles away, but the pandemic hasn’t kept Wuki from staying sharp in the studio. March 12th saw the official release of his debut album, WukiWorld, via HARD Recs. In fact, the pre-pandemic vision for the release was built around an IRL WukiWorld, which Wuki described as “part rave, part circus, part amusement park, and part art installation,” to EDM.com. “Upon entering, you would be ...
Ingrid Andress on Her Grammy Nominations, Her Love of Megan Thee Stallion and Being a Digital Therapist to Her Fans
When Ingrid Andress found out she was nominated for three Grammys including Best New Artist, it was the opposite of glamour: She was tending to her plants at her Nashville home. With no live shows and a lot of time in isolation, her life as a new artist hitting her stride has been, well, lackluster. But the singer has made it work. Last March, Andress released Lady Like, a confessional, country-pop record that underscores Andress’ unwavering vulnerability and evocative storytelling. From musing about broken hearts to family and unexpected encounters at bars, Andress treats her music like therapy, processing her most complex emotions as a means to learn and heal. <!– // Brid Player Singles. var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ “div”: “Brid_10143537”, “objR...
Ingrid Andress on Her Grammy Nominations, Her Love of Megan Thee Stallion and Being a Digital Therapist to Her Fans
When Ingrid Andress found out she was nominated for three Grammys including Best New Artist, it was the opposite of glamour: She was tending to her plants at her Nashville home. With no live shows and a lot of time in isolation, her life as a new artist hitting her stride has been, well, lackluster. But the singer has made it work. Last March, Andress released Lady Like, a confessional, country-pop record that underscores Andress’ unwavering vulnerability and evocative storytelling. From musing about broken hearts to family and unexpected encounters at bars, Andress treats her music like therapy, processing her most complex emotions as a means to learn and heal. <!– // Brid Player Singles. var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ “div”: “Brid_10143537”, “objR...
Crazy Horse Guitarist Frank ‘Poncho’ Sampedro Goes Inside Neil Young’s Latest Archival Release
By the time 1990 hit, Neil Young and Crazy Horse were in the midst of a resurgence, even if they didn’t realize it at the time. On the heels of the success of 1989’s Freedom, which introduced Young to a younger, harder rockin’ crowd with “Rockin’ in the Free World,” he once again joined forces with the mighty Crazy Horse to kick off the 1990s in style. In this case, the style was a heavier, harder sound. Frank “Poncho” Sampedro had been playing guitar with Young since the mid-’70s, but he knew when it came time to record and play what would become Ragged Glory that they were onto something. So much so that when the group played the first shows of that album cycle in November 1990 at the Catalyst Club in Santa Cruz, Sampedro can still marvel at the raw intensity and powe...
Michael Kiwanuka Finally Relaxed Enough to Make His Best Album
In Michael Kiwanuka’s mind, everything in America seems heightened. When something is good here, it’s “ridiculously good,” according to the British-Ugandan singer/songwriter. And when it’s bad, it’s really bad, which, he says, “is probably why I’m obsessed with America.” This extends to the Grammys, which have always felt otherworldly to Kiwanuka. This holds particularly true this year as his third album, Kiwanuka, which won the Hyundai Mercury Prize in 2020, is in the running for the Grammy for the Best Rock Album, a first for him. “When I started, I used to be jealous of artists that were getting bigger because they seemed to fit in,” the 33-year-old Kiwanuka says from his home in the UK where his connection to the Grammys could not be more remote. “I kept trying to fit in and it never w...
How the Pandemic Gave Rise to VJ Kobra and Illuminated the Importance of Visual Artists
VJ Kobra’s first visit to the state of Colorado was as a runaway. With an idealized dream to head anywhere new, she climbed into a packed car with friends, left her home of South Dakota, and headed West. A few days later, she would be returned home by police, jettisoned back to the mundane locale that thwarted her youth and creativity. Several years later, on a lone trip in the fall of 2020, she would return on her own accord. However, this time around, she was one of the most topical visual artists in the electronic music space. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” This classic opener of A Tale of Two Cities poetically summarizes what was a polarizing, yet somehow career-defining year for many visual artists in 2020. With electronic music’s rise over the last...
Martin Johnson Left Emo Pop Stardom for a DIY Career
Martin Johnson has seen some shit within the music industry. Before founding the synth-fueled project known as the Night Game a handful of years ago, he was the frontman of emo pop-rock act Boys Like Girls and wrote songs for everyone from Ariana Grande and Elle King to Gavin DeGraw and Avril Lavigne. He’s been signed and dropped by labels enough times that he eventually decided to just create his own, and he’s almost certainly written some of your favorite and least favorite songs. He also delved fully into the rockstar lifestyle and the substance abuse issues that come with it. <!– // Brid Player Singles. var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ “div”: “Brid_10143537”, “obj”: {“id”:”25115″,”width”:”480″,...
Reba Russell Rocks the Blues
Anyone who knows anything about the delta blues knows about the King Biscuit Blues Festival, and anyone who knows anything about the King Biscuit Blues Festival knows that it’s not complete until Heaven Came to Helena is performed. Enter Reba Russell: blue eyes dancing with mischief, she flashes an irresistible pirate smile, clutches the microphone, and launches into a set that assures her audience, in no uncertain terms, that this is a woman born to sing the blues. “October came and so did the rain…” The crowd is on its feet. “Came down with the blues on the Arkansas plain.” Some people sing along, some people sway, and some raise their hands like they’re in church. Bubba Sullivan, one of the festival’s founders, observes, “When that Reba’s on stage, she makes things happen.” <!–...
Jasmine Harrison, Youngest Woman to Row Solo Across Any Ocean, on How Music Powered Her Boat
Jasmine Harrison is not a musician. She has never picked up a microphone or downloaded music production software. She’s only danced to one song in her entire life, albeit an embarrassing one. But after making history as the youngest woman to row solo across any ocean, she is living proof that music can propel anyone to do extraordinary things. Accompanied by nothing but a playlist and the mesmeric, repetitive splosh of her oar slicing the ocean’s surface, Harrison, 21, traversed the Atlantic Ocean in 70 days, 3 hours and 48 minutes. However, with a bubbly naiveté rarely found in a barnstorming, record-breaking heroine, you wouldn’t know it when speaking to her. And after the enormity of her accomplishment finally sunk in, even she can’t believe it was her....
Bad Reputation: An Oral History of the Freaks and Geeks Soundtrack
Revisiting Freaks and Geeks is akin to revisiting an old high school friend. As you watch the characters wander the halls of the fictional McKinley High School in Michigan, you can’t help but feel as if this was your own high school experience. It’s all very relatable. And nearing 22 years since the first day of school on September 25th, 1999, the show manages to defy the impossible. Despite only having lasted for 18 episodes (12 of which only ever aired during its initial run on NBC), the show has left an indelible mark on pop culture. In the years that have passed, a massive cult following has built up, only furthered by the fact that every single person has gone on to do bigger things in Hollywood. But no matter how high they have soared and no matter how many years have stacked behind ...
Palm Tree Records’ Petey Martin on Post-Pandemic Plans, Collaborating With Kygo and Vin Diesel
Kygo’s go-to collaborator Petey Martin is no stranger to success in recorded music. As a part of his growing discography, Martin has been a collaborator with everyone from Vin Diesel (yes, the actor) to Ke$ha. Outside of his impressive production accolades, Martin has broadened his brand from an EDM superproducer to an artist that is commanding attention by breaking through across the Billboard and Spotify charts. His latest single, “Come Back Home,” which features the vocal talents of two-time Grammy Award winner Lauren Daigle, landed atop the Billboard Dance and Electronic charts for the week of January 23rd and has already broken in various Spotify viral playlists, showing impressive momentum for a debut single. Martin has proven himself not only a successful producer, but also an artis...
