INTERVIEWS
Jack Osbourne Tells Us If 1980s Ozzy Osbourne Would Be Canceled Today
Though it’s executive produced by his son, Jack Osbourne, the new documentary The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne makes little effort to cover up the darkest chapters in the Prince of Darkness’s crazy-train history. Younger fans may be surprised to learn, for example, that in a druggy haze in the 1980s, Ozzy attempted to murder his wife and Jack’s mother, Sharon Osbourne, by strangling her in their bedroom. That kind of domestic abuse would likely end someone’s career today — but at the time, Sharon dealt with it by dropping the charges and sending Ozzy away for a long period in rehab. The attempted murder came after two other lesser scandals involving animal cruelty: He bit the head off of a dove in a board meeting, and a bat during a concert. (He later clarified that he thought the bat was f...
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sumthin sumthin on Persevering as an Artist: “At the End of the Day, This Trauma Can Help Us Grow” [Q&A]
Blossoming California bass artist sumthin sumthin originates from a small surf town, San Clemente, California. His infatuation with music started as a toddler, when he would bang drums, which led him to self-teach himself both guitar and piano in his teens. In 2016, he began releasing his own music as sumthin sumthin and the following year, he released “Bloom,” a breakout song that became a staple in DJs sets and a mainstay at festivals. He’s toured with heavyweights like Bleep Bloop and UZ while playing a wide array of major fests, like Lightning in a Bottle, Shambhala, and Nocturnal Wonderland. “Trauma” is the young gun’s first original tune of 2020, a 3-plus minute track that exudes the enchanting melodics of his past catalogue. “T...
Tropa Magica Uphold Tradition and Mexican Identity With Psychedelic Cumbia Rock
Brothers David and Rene Pacheco, co-founders of psychedelic cumbia act Tropa Magica, remember the moment all their hard work in the L.A. music scene finally paid off. Backstage after playing the 2017 Tropicalia Fest in Long Beach, California, the pair introduced their father to the pioneering norteño Mexican group Los Tigres del Norte, who have released around 50 albums since 1968. “Our dad was like, ‘Ya la hicieron,’ (‘you made it’),” David tells SPIN. Rene recalls that he was on acid — and says the occasion was so magical, he cried (though he also notes it could have just been the acid itself). Even so, the experience affirmed the trajectory of the band’s decade-long career. “To me, that meant the world: just getting to have our parents meet some of their favorite musical ...
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Bob Moses On Finding Light In the Darkness and New Concept EP “Desire” [Q&A]
Catapulted to the forefront of dance music with their 2015 Domino Records album Days Gone By, electronic music duo Bob Moses gained a reputation as one of the hottest acts in the scene. Rising out of the New York City underground, the duo consists of Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance. Taking the electronic community by storm with their one-of-a-kind and dynamic sound, the duo earned two Grammy nominations for their 2015 track “Tearing Me Up” and their 2018 Battle Lines project was named one of the best albums of the year by Billboard. Throughout their career, Bob Moses have released a solid stream of after-hours electronic beats characterized by spectral synths, passionate lyrics, and hypnotic rhythms. Howie’s vocals often steal the show as he sings deeply introspective messages...
Tricky Talks Grief, Racism, Cathartic New LP Fall to Pieces
Although he’s managed to cloak himself in mystery for the last 30 years of his career, Tricky offered a surprising level of candor and transparency in his must-read 2019 memoir, Hell Is Round the Corner. As he documents in the book, the Bristol-born musician has always used music to escape a reality plagued by misfortune, violence and racism. “Well, it’s funny — I actually learned about racism through white people,” he says, almost incredulously, to SPIN. “And with what America’s going through right now, I wondered if they really wanted a book by the name of Hell Is Round The Corner on their coffee table. I don’t know if that’s good timing, but my manager encouraged me to do it because ‘people will understand you more.’” Tricky’s innovative catalog conveys the depth of his brood...
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Watch ASADI Perform a Persian Trap Music Set Live from a Hilltop Overlooking Las Vegas [Q&A]
We may not be able to gather like we’re used to due to the impact of COVID-19, but music will always find a way to bring us together. Last week, Heard It Here First hosted it’s first-ever virtual festival event, Cabin Fever Festival. The fest spanned two days—August 27th and 28th—and raised over $500 towards the Innocence Project, hosting 30+ artists primarily from the bass genre. A delightful exception to this sonic preference came on the fest’s second day, when its headlining act, ASADI, delivered a one-of-a-kind live performance atop a hill near the Las Vegas strip. The Los Angeles-based beatsmith has become a star since storming onto the seen over six years ago. His style of “Persian Trap Music” is a perfect microcosm of the progressive genre fusion of tod...
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Felix Jaehn on Normalizing the Conversation Around Mental Health: “There’s Light at the End of the Tunnel” [Interview]
Holed up in a seaside village in Germany next door to his mom’s house, Felix Jaehn has no complaints. He’s taking walks in the countryside, cooking meals with his family and gardening in his backyard. Last weekend, he celebrated his birthday with a weekend trip to Denmark. It’s almost like he’s a normal 26-year-old, putting a Freaky Friday-like spin on his typical superstar DJ lifestyle. This change-up surprisingly comes as a relief for Jaehn. In 2015, at just 20 years old, he found himself launched out of his tiny, 100-person village and into a global touring schedule, following the now triple-platinum certified release of his remix of OMI’s “Cheerleader.” Since then it’s been life in the fast lane, releasing his debut album, the two-sided I, in 2018 and playing two—sometimes even three—s...
10 Years and 10 Questions with William Sadler: On Bill and Ted, Tales from the Crypt, and Never Fearing the Reaper
William Sadler is a man of many faces. He’s played good guys. He’s played bad guys. He’s been the President of the United States. He’s played an illiterate convict with a heart caked in soot. There’s just no limit to what he can and cannot do. This weekend, he returns to the underworld in the highly anticipated sequel Bill and Ted: Face the Music. As the board game-failing, bass-jamming Reaper, Sadler brings some much-needed humility to Hades. Once again, he steals every scene. In anticipation, we connected with the veteran actor to revisit those faces across 10 Years and 10 Questions. Given his eclectic and exhaustive resume, it was next to impossible to squeeze everything in within the allotted 20 minutes, but we tried our damndest. So, enjoy the stories we did get below. 1989 <img ar...
Disclosure Captures Pure Creative ‘Energy’ on Third Album
When was the last time you tapped into a state of flow? It’s magical being swept up in the moment, a hypnotic trance where your nerves light an electric fire and the spirit of creation speaks through you. You’ve gotta bottle it like lightning, which for Disclosure, means writing 200 songs and whittling them down to 11 that are released today (Aug. 28) as the duo’s third album Energy. “That was the plan from the start, write a shitload of music and pick the absolute cream of the crop,” Guy Lawrence tells SPIN. “By cream of the crop I mean, the ones that were the most enjoyable to make; the easiest to make, where there wasn’t 20 versions of the same song. That’s what we’re referring to with this Energy idea. They are uplifting, big, positive, happy tunes … but the energy we’re talking about ...
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Get a First Look Into Illenium’s New Album with Lead Single, “Nightlight” [Interview]
It’s the moment practically every EDM fan has been waiting for: The return of ILLENIUM at his finest, releasing a sneak peak of his fourth studio album with its lead single, “Nightlight” featuring Annika Wells. Out today via 12Tone, ILLENIUM’s new record label, “Nightlight” is stunningly emotive. Wells’ ethereal vocal tone reverberates through the track’s stunning future bass drops, further reinforcing ILLENIUM’s dominance over the genre. With “Nightlight,” he also continues in the vein of his previous LP, ASCEND, by incorporating rock elements, such as strong percussion and guitar melody lines. At the same time, the track hearkens back to his roots with production techniques reminiscent of his earlier work, like his debut album, Ashes, dubbe...
Disclosure Dazzles on Star-Studded Third LP “ENERGY,” Featuring Kehlani, Common, Aminé and More
Ten years after the release of their first single, “Offline Dexterity,” UK-act Disclosure are releasing their most accomplished work to date. Following the success of 2016’s Caracal, the duo took a year off to soak in life and allow the music to come to them. The result is today’s release of the 11-track album ENERGY, via Capitol Records. Disclosure have garnered nearly five billion streams and five million album sales to date, but on this third album, they prove their art is well beyond chart comparison and destined for longevity. Disclosure originates from Reigate, Surrey, England, but since their debut 2013 album Settle and its follow up, Caracal, were respectively nominated for Best Dance/Electronica Album at the Grammy Awards, they’ve spent mu...
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Galimatias on Debut Solo Album: “I Promise to Direct a Cinematic Story in Your Mind” [Interview]
Within the scope of electronic music, there are producers, and then there are producers: artists, really, whose motivations fall neatly in line with a fascination with sound design, a hunger for sonic exploration and—most importantly—an enchantment with music and its creation. There is perhaps no finer example of the latter than Danish-born artist Galimatias, 29, who, for the last five years, has relentlessly worked to refine and expand his toolbox of music-making skills. He even moved to Los Angeles in 2015 to “focus on [his] craft” following the breakout success of his debut EP, Urban Flora, with Alina Baraz. The resulting music culminates in today’s release of Renaissance Boy, a sophisticatedly arranged and aurally effortless debut solo album crediting Galimatias for the fir...
