INTERVIEWS
Ashton Irwin’s Brave New World
Not gonna lie: I’m not a fan of 5 Seconds of Summer. That said, I’m not a “non-fan”, either. There’s a distinct difference between disliking a band’s music and truly not knowing too much about it. I fall into the latter category for absolutely no other reason than lack of exposure and selective listening. Some might say I’m not and never was their target audience. Some might be right about that. Point being, when I heard Ashton Irwin’s solo debut Superbloom I was listening without any preconceived notion of what it was supposed to be, though prepared for whatever boy-band-drummer-makes-solo-album might bring. Before listening, I knew Ash’s influences included Foo Fighters, Nick Drake, Helmet, Silverchair, Stone Temple Pilots, My Bloody Valentine, Curve. How, I wondered, would the sen...
T.I. on His 11th Album, All-Nighters in the Studio With Young Thug and 21 Savage
Clifford “T.I.” Harris is one of the greatest rappers of all time, the self-proclaimed King of the South. He’s also one of the rare MCs whose speaking voice isn’t a faint hint of the voice he raps with: he’s a thoughtful and loquacious guy whose vocabulary gets even more expansive when he’s not contained by a rhyme scheme. And it sometimes seems like he’s constantly holding forth with a continuous stream of thought as he moves from the vocal booth to reality shows to his podcast to film roles, an oratory that you just temporarily participate in when interviewing him for a half-hour. The rapper, who turned 40 last month, just released his 11th album, The L.I.B.R.A., with an all-star roster of guests including Young Thug, Lil Baby, Benny the Butcher, and 21 Savage. But the father of six also...
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How EDM “Revitalized a Sense of Urgency and Passion” in Shaquille O’Neal [Interview]
Music and sports are connected in their ability to bring people together. At the crux of the two—and likely the outright center of attention—is now-retired basketball icon and current mainstage festival DJ, Shaquille O’Neal. While a casual fan may only be familiar with his Hall of Fame NBA career, diehards of the legend know he’s anything but one-dimensional. His passion drove him to carry out one of the greatest careers in NBA history, but when the lights at the arena went out, O’Neal often sought out his second love: music. DJ Diesel first began to learn how to mix music back in 1988 while attending and playing basketball at Cole High School in San Antonio, Texas. DJing excited people and brought in an audience, so he gravitated towards what he does best: entertain. This hobb...
Colin Miller, Unfiltered: Meet the “Candy 2” Director Amplifying Louis the Child’s Colorful Brand
Growing up in Batavia, Illinois, a Chicago suburb with a population of just over 26,000, photographer and videographer Colin Miller never imagined the adventures his camera would take him on. Now one of the many renowned artists for Louis the Child, one of electronic music’s fastest rising acts, Miller has been on stage and behind the scenes at the world’s biggest festivals and venues, traveling in the fast lane alongside the duo’s members, Robby Hauldren and Freddy Kennett, who became some of his closest friends. Just this month, Miller added another notch to his portfolio’s already supersized belt— directing the visual companion for Candy 2, the long-anticipated 36-minute beat tape released by Louis the Child on October 2nd, 2020. Composed of sweeping landscapes, psychedelic color i...
Beabadoobee on Making Fake It Flowers for Her 15-Year-Old Self
Fake It Flowers, Bea Kristi’s debut LP as Beabadoobee, is the series of honest conversations she’s always wanted to have — drawing on childhood memories, new and old relationships and finding confidence in her 20-year-old self. The singer-songwriter emigrated with her parents from Iloilo City, Philippines to Camden in North London at age three. While she settled into her U.K. home, Kristi admits to SPIN that she was “embarrassed of how I looked and embarrassed about the lunch my dad used to pack me — rice and adobo or sinigang,” two popular Filipino dishes. And the desire to connect to her identity flowed into her first encounters with music. “I remember just being like, ‘Why is there no one who looks like me onstage?’” she says. “I had no one to kind of look up to, and it was strange.” Sh...
How Tate McRae Became a Pop Star During the Pandemic
Canadian singer-songwriter Tate McRae has spent years fine-tuning her artistic vision — a collection of moody alt-pop tracks blurring genre lines and videos showcasing her world-class dance skills — and she’ll be damned if she’s not on every Zoom meeting, discussing visual treatments and sending back pages of notes. One tiny issue: She’s only a senior in high school. “I forget sometimes I have school work, too,” the 17-year-old laughs, explaining her hectic schedule. “I have to juggle school, dance training every night, work-outs and all the writing sessions,” she tells SPIN. “It’s pretty jam-packed.” Such is life for the latest pop newcomer to ascend during quarantine. The Calgary teen’s music has been everywhere over the last few months; her pulsing single “You Broke Me First,” released ...
“One Day at a Time”: NERVO on Persevering the Challenges of Breast Cancer
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It’s a time when we set aside our own issues and work together to foster the conversation around one of the deadliest types of cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately one in eight women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in their lifetime—a heartbreaking figure that NERVO is all too familiar with. Back in March 2014, the mother of the barnstorming sister DJ duo was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. Considering the fact that their family did not have a history of the disease, the diagnosis was a metaphorical punch in the gut. Olivia and Miriam Nervo’s mom’s cancer was detected through a routine mammogram, a fortuitous happenstance that underscores the importance of early detection screeni...
Pallbearer’s Joseph Rowland Talks Forgotten Days and the Importance of Releasing Music During the Pandemic
Pallbearer are a true heavy metal success story. Arising from the humble Arkansas metal scene, the band sharpened its craft in the underground and forged its own artistic path, rising up the food chain to become one of the most respected American doom bands. This would eventually lead Pallbearer to heavyweight label Nuclear Blast, who signed the group last year. Symbolically, it signaled that Pallbearer had officially arrived, and that the years of work had paid off. Like the great doom bands of yore — Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, Cathedral — Pallbearer infuse their doom with a palpable emotional weight that verges on spiritual. Good riffs are only part of the equation. It’s the human energy and expression that drives the band’s music and spine-chilling live performances. That energy hit...
Jeff Bridges on How His New Line of Eco-Friendly Guitars Abide by the Environment
When you’re buying a coffee table for your home or building a shed in the backyard, do you ever stop to think about where that wood came from? What about when you buy a guitar? Well, at Breedlove Guitars in Bend, Oregon, they are doing more than just creating environmentally friendly instruments; they are facilitating a new way of thinking. According to Breedlove, “owner Tom Bedell has traveled to each forest in Suriname, the Republic of Congo, and the Swiss Alps to verify individual harvest, chain of custody, and sound ecological practices.” Though what this company does is outside the norm, all it takes are the actions of one to create a chain reaction and potentially spark a huge wave of change. No one understands this concept more than Jeff Bridges. We all know the prolific actor for h...
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Sub Focus and Wilkinson Talk New Album, Exploring Live Instrumentation, and More [Interview]
For years now, Sub Focus and Wilkinson have dominated the drum & bass scene with their timeless anthems and cutting edge production. Earlier this year, the duo collaborated on three tracks—”Just Hold On,” “Illuminate,” and “Air I Breathe”—igniting the world of drum & bass and showcasing the producers’ diverse range of sounds. In September, it was revealed that those three singles were part of something greater after the announcement of Portals, the new album from Sub Focus and Wilkinson. Just under a month later, Portals has arrived, and fans are elated. The album explores new facets of both Sub Focus and Wilkinson via live instrumentation and experimentation with tempo, but remains unmistakably true to each a...
Jeff Bridges on Finding Zen, the Dude’s Musical Skill
I can’t stop staring at Jeff Bridges’ refrigerator. I’m fixated on it throughout our 40-minute Zoom call. Like everything other visible inch of his Montana home, the all-white appliance looks about two decades too old for an Oscar-winning movie star and cultural icon. Or is that exactly what I should have expected from the Dude? Just like his free-spirited protagonist from the Coen Brothers’ beloved The Big Lebowski, Bridges feels beautifully out of step with the rat race of modern life. But he does have pressing real-world concerns: The actor-musician is online to chat about his new signature Breedlove guitars, all sustainably sourced and emblazoned with his “All in This Together” motto. “Ruining our forests is a silly thing to do,” he says. “We’re trying to encourage all instrument maker...
GRiZ Preaches the Tao of Now, Talks Chasing the Golden Hour Pt 3
Grant Kwiecinski, better known to fans as sax-playin’ bass DJ/producer Griz, seems to have it all figured out. The international headliner has collabs with Snoop Dogg and Bootsy Collins. He plays charity shows each Christmas in Detroit, makes an annual pilgrimage to Thailand, and on “Know Time Like The Present,” the intro track of his latest release Chasing the Golden Hour Pt. 3, he gets real deep, talkin’ about “I’ve stopped trying to try … The universe just is / Being is the answer.” All that said, Kwiecinski wants you to know, he certainly does not have his “shit together.” “I’m a mess,” he laughs, “but I’m also not a mess. I’m a multi-faceted being who is balancing. I tip the scales, and then they get tipped back … [I’m] not always balanced and can’t be, because that’s just not how it ...
