INTERVIEWS
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...
![Galimatias on Debut Solo Album: “I Promise to Direct a Cinematic Story in Your Mind” [Interview]](https://www.wazupnaija.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/galimatias-on-debut-solo-album-i-promise-to-direct-a-cinematic-story-in-your-mind-interview-1050x600.jpg)
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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...
10 Years and 10 Questions with Kyle MacLachlan: On Dune, The Doors, David Lynch, and Battling Tesla
It’s hard to think of a performer who has aged more gracefully than Kyle MacLachlan. At 61, he’s still got that matinee-idol chin, full, robust head of hair, and the good-natured warmth to go along with it. Yet beneath the leading-man looks beats the heart of a considered, compelling character actor, a sensibility he’s brought to decades of beautifully idiosyncratic work in successes and flops alike. Even when he’s villainous, it’s impossible not to love him. (Except when he’s Mr. C in Twin Peaks: The Return, of course.) That kind of cerebral deadpan is key to his career-long collaboration with fellow Northwestern boy David Lynch, who plucked him from obscurity to star in his sprawling adaptation of Dune, whose disastrous reception nonetheless prepared him to become Lynch’s muse for Blue V...
Gavin Rossdale on ‘Exhilarating’ Livestream, Rising Above ‘Old Bush’ Comparisons
This should have been a huge summer for Bush. Gavin Rossdale and company were set to release their eighth studio album, The Kingdom, in May, followed by a trek across the U.S. shortly thereafter. Once the pandemic struck, things changed, but it didn’t deter Bush. Their release may have been delayed, but the band found ways to push forward, including in the early pandemic-days when Gavin Rossdale performed on Instagram, and more recently, to celebrate their album release last month. The July 18th event, which came a day after The Kingdom’s release, featured a fully produced gig via live stream, with virtual fan experiences. “It was just exhausting and exhilarating as usual to be back in those [rehearsal] studios,” Rossdale tells SPIN about preparing for the arena-style performance. And it’s...
Erasure on New LP The Neon, Why They’re Not Planning Virtual Concerts
Despite the uncertainty of the pandemic, Erasure’s Andy Bell and Vince Clarke are calm and assured ahead of their 18th LP. Even if fans can’t mash to “Hey Now (Think I’ve Got a Feeling”) or fist pump to “No Point in Tripping” at one of the duo’s flamboyant concerts, the band have no qualms about The Neon falling on deaf ears. Erasure started work on the album after wrapping their World Be Gone tour in 2018. Clarke, already spending every day at his home studios in Brooklyn or Maine, quickly pulled together music for Bell to begin writing lyrics. Jumping from song to song in what Bell describes as “auto-writing,” they wound up with “whatever [came] out” — an approach exemplified on the abstract “Diamond Lies.” They shifted locations multiple times, from Clarke’s base in New York to Bell’s h...
Artist of the Month Awich on Tupac, Condensed Milk, and the Death of Her Husband
Artist of the Month is an accolade we award to an up-and-coming artist who we believe is about to break out. In August, we watch as Awich explores the human impulses that extend across cultures. When Awich speaks, her voice is like a passport stamped with all the places she’s lived. Her vowels carry a whiff of subtropical winds while her vocabulary is warmed with American slang, picked up from college and her American husband. Words were her “earliest obsession,” she says; her first source of joy and last line of defense. Born Akiko Urasaki on December 16th, 1986, she grew up on the island of Okinawa, Japan, in the shadow of US military bases. Her family lore is steeped in the trauma of World War II and the Battle of Okinawa. As a girl, a jet crashed into her mother’s school, and when her ...
Gareth Emery Opens Up About Soulless Dance Music Industry in Memoir Excerpt
Gareth “Laserface” Emery is one of the world’s top trance DJ-producers, and while we kind of made up that nickname, the Brit earned it with his 2019 Laserface tour. The two-hour experience packed 122 lasers onto stages from New York City to San Francisco and used cutting edge technology to perfectly sync the beams to his progressive melodies and punchy rhythms. All that said, fans don’t flock to gigs solely because of the spectacle. Emery sets himself apart with intimacy and heart. His latest album, The Lasers, was released in July by indie distributor Create Music Group, explores some of the brightest and most harrowing moments of Emery’s life. “I’d written songs about being on planes that had nearly crashed, personal and professional battles, and major events in my family – but...
![The Midnight on Seminal Album “Monsters” and the Volcanic Potential of Synthwave Culture [Interview]](https://www.wazupnaija.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/the-midnight-on-seminal-album-monsters-and-the-volcanic-potential-of-synthwave-culture-interview-1050x600.jpg)
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The Midnight on Seminal Album “Monsters” and the Volcanic Potential of Synthwave Culture [Interview]
While typically flying under the radar, synthwave has become ingrained in popular culture. From the soundtracks of movies such as Drive to the iconic opening theme of Stranger Things, and even the critically-acclaimed video game series Hotline Miami, the genre’s sound and trademark aesthetic has pervaded nearly all forms of media. Case-in-point, one of the streaming world’s most popular creators, Dr. Disrespect, has styled his entire persona around synthwave culture, all the while regularly including music from some of the genre’s artists in his streams. However, despite synthwave’s prevalence, many aren’t familiar with the niche community. We spoke with one of the leading acts in the genre, The Midnight, to learn more about the history of the band, their new album Monsters, the future of ...
![Founder of Women’s Initiative GRL GANG on Building a Community of Female Empowerment [Interview]](https://www.wazupnaija.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/founder-of-womens-initiative-grl-gang-on-building-a-community-of-female-empowerment-interview-1050x600.jpg)
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Founder of Women’s Initiative GRL GANG on Building a Community of Female Empowerment [Interview]
In 2018, Jeanette Kats had an idea to create a production workshop for female producers. As she spent more time thinking about the initiative, she became inspired to start a bigger group to connect music professionals from all facets of the industry. In February 2019, Kats officially created GRL GANG, an initiative and platform that lives in Discord, with the goal to expand the presence of women within electronic music. Currently consisting of over 200 members, the GRL GANG community is comprised of music producers, DJs, managers, publicists, journalists, label coordinators, A&Rs, promoters, and virtually every other music-related role. Through its various projects such as sample packs and virtual events, GRL GANG has empowered female producers and music professionals to network and le...
Victoria Monét Sharpens Her Claws on Jaguar, Earns Quincy Jones Co-Sign
Victoria Monét is soft-spoken in conversation — maybe not what you’d expect from the artist behind one of 2020’s most ambitious R&B projects. Despite her gentle tone during our interview, one sound pierces through her surroundings — just like the punchy horn sections on her August release, Jaguar. But the noise wasn’t musical — it was Monét’s instantaneous reaction after being compared to Off The Wall-era Quincy Jones. She squeals with excitement, as if the Grammy-winning songwriter hadn’t already been used as a critical reference point. But she should be used to it by now. “He’s definitely been an inspiration,” Monét says of Jones. “The more that I learn, after watching his documentary, after meeting him and hearing his stories, I’m like, ‘You’re exactly the type of per...
A-List Publicist Emily Tan Celebrates 30 Years in Business
Emily Tan’s 30 year career as a music publicist is equally impressive as the roster of A-list talent she has represented. Her work ethic and values are amongst the highest in the industry. Here is to many more successful years of business and friendship between our respective business! Congratulations Emily! EDM.com: We at EDM.com don’t normally profile publicists or PR agencies, but there’s been quite a bit of buzz lately on your agency, EMILY TAN Media Relations, hitting its 30-year anniversary this summer. That’s quite a feat! EMILY TAN: Yes, thank you! It’s been an eventful trip and I’m still riding this wave. EDM.com: We’re sure you’ve seen some crazy things over the three decades you’ve been in business. Can you sha...
Bully Conquer ‘Paranoia,’ Challenge Societal Norms on SUGAREGG
Alicia Bognanno used to experience a persistent anxiety about her work: needing to be at the center of the entire music creation process. The Nashville indie-rocker’s Bipolar 2 disorder enlarged those fears tenfold. “With [Bully’s 2017 LP, Losing], I kind of had it stuck in my head that I was more concerned about how the record was going to be received and a little bit more concerned about what other people want to hear and what they think is ‘cool,’” she tells SPIN. “I also felt in the past that I had a responsibility to produce my own records because I had something to prove, like I needed to prove I could do it. And if I wasn’t tracking them myself then I wasn’t showing people that I was capable.” Bognanno escaped that thinking by finding a suitable treatment for her disorder. Insp...
