10/07/2014

Upcoming Artists: Relics

Tell us how Relics were born…
Individually: probably the same way as you, though it’s possible that one of us might have been delivered via caesarean. I’m not sure. Collectively: Alex and I used to hang out looking moody at clubs in east London when we were 17. Then we formed Relics when we were 18. Then we played around, went on hiatus, went to university, got back together, recruited Theo and Barney and started playing shows.

Relics has post-punk and shoegaze influences from the early 90s. Did you grow up listening these genres?
No, we didn’t. I didn’t like music until I was 15, which is when I started listening to loads of old progressive rock. Alex and Theo used to listen to Metallica and still crack out some pretty gnarly riffs when they’re bored in rehearsal. We all started listening to the kind of stuff that actually influences us now in our mid-teens, I think.

Are you working on an EP or LP?
An EP. Gradually. Probably a single first, though.

What about your summer ‘holidays’? Are you going to play somewhere special?
We’re mostly in London for the summer, actually. We have quite a few gigs booked. None of them are anywhere particularly special, but they should all be pretty fun.

How does it feel to live in London? Has this city influenced your music?
It feels different at different times. I might as well ask you how it feels to live in Milan. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. I quite like the weather but I’m not such a big fan of the enormous disparity in wealth and standards of living. But that’s what cities have always been about, right? However, I think it has probably influenced our music that we all grew up in London. It makes you quite aggressive, quite spiky, quite impatient, which can be both a good and a bad thing and I think is reflected in our music. We’re actually trying to tone down that maximalist, everything-all-the-time feel slightly on some of our newer songs.

What is the coolest place you’ve played at?
Offset Festival was pretty good. We played there in 2010 and it was great to be in a field with loads of great bands and people we knew. That was with the original Relics line-up. Since we started playing shows again, the coolest place we’ve played is The Lock Tavern in north London – it’s so much fun every time we do a gig there. The load-out is a nightmare, though.

How did Straight To The Heart come about? I know that you’ve been to the Total Refreshment Centre…
The song or the video? The song was born in a shitty little basement off Kingsland Road, from the unholy union of a guitar riff by Theo and a chorus by me. (That’s how I remember it, anyway.) The video was born in a warehouse attic a bit further up Kingsland Road called (as you correctly say) the Total Refreshment Centre. There was a lot of coloured ink involved, some of which escaped into the shop underneath the warehouse. The owner was a bit mad about it, understandably, but I think he appreciated it was all in the name of art.

Enrico Chinellato 
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13/06/2014

Upcoming Artists: Frankie Cosmos

Hi Greta! Could you explain your background a bit? When did you start playing and how come you became a musician?
I started playing piano when I was around six years old. My family supported my brother and I in our music studies, which started at a very early age.

With what kind of music did you grow up with? Your sounds reminds me of The Moldy Peaches or Daniel Johnston.
I grew up hearing James Taylor, The Police or The Beatles, which is the music my parents always used to listen to at home. Later, when we were a bit bigger, my brother started showing me some music and I first heard about The Moldy Peaches or Daniel Johnston when I was around 12, so this sound has been with me for a very long time.

You’re very young but you’ve already recorded many songs, something like 50 EPs in only years. Where does this desire to record come from?
It might come from a compulsive place. It’s just an urge to keep track of my life and have a sort of an archive through music. I started playing music as a game, and it still kind of is a game for me, that is why I make so many songs, because, for me, it is just fun. If it weren’t fun and something I enjoyed, I wouldn’t be making music in the first place.

The choice of the name Frankie Cosmos is not accidental; your real name is Greta Kline (that would still be a nice name for a band)…
The name comes from an nickname that my boyfriend made up after I showed him the poet Frank O’Hara, by whom I was very fascinated at the time. Then the band name grew from that.

What role does art play in your life? It looks as it were extremely important to you…
This is a tough question! It plays a huge role, both in what I personally make as well as for the people I surround myself with. All the people I know are in some way artists or care deeply about art. I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t care about it, so it is sort of my basic environment in which I live and work every day.

You play a lot of instruments…During your concerts do you play all of them or just one? And when you record, what kind of equipment do you use?
We have a full band when we play live, I play guitar and sing, Aaron plays drums and sings, David plays bass, and Gabby plays keyboard and sings. When I record at home I use mostly an acoustic guitar and a keyboard, on garageband. We had access to a lot more equipment for the making of Zentropy.

In the last years Manhattan has been overwhelmed by young bands. Do you consider it a good or a bad thing?
I don’t really know any other young bands in Manhattan, so I guess this question is not applicable. But in general I say the more bands the better! It’s always good to have an environment where everyone feels safe making and sharing art no matter what their resources or backgrounds are.

Enrico Chinellato 
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30/05/2014

Upcoming Artists: Sunflower Bean

You are very young and the Sunflower Bean were born only a year ago, however, it seems that you know each other for much longer. Maybe you attended the same clubs. Am I wrong?
Yes! The Sunflower Bean is almost a year old, which is on the younger side for a band. We’ve known each other for a little more than a year. We all met through the music scene in Brooklyn, playing shows and hanging out.

Have you found harmony between your musical tastes immediately or do you have completely different preferences?
There’s a harmony between all of our tastes I think, we all love Black Sabbath, NEU!, The Velvet Underground, etc. We share a lot of the same influences.

Now, on your Bandcamp there are only 2 songs, but your sound is already well defined. Do you work hard on this, or just let yourself be inspired by the moment?
Our sound can be a little difficult to describe exactly, but we have dubbed it “neo-psychedelia for the digital age” which actually sums up what we do pretty well. When we write a song, we try to tap into the greatness of our influences without rehashing the past or being “retro.” We are looking into the future by marking the present, like in our single 2013, where we pay homage to the culture that surrounds us, for better and for worse. We record most of our songs at our friend Christian’s home studio, Fox 5 studios. We’ll go over on a Saturday or something and record our new stuff.

Are there any new bands that you really like or someone similar to you style that you appreciate?
One of our favourite bands around is Tonstartssbandht. They are the most inspiring, most talented, and have THE most fun live show around.

You all live in New York – how’s playing in a big city like? Is it easy for a new-born bands as Sunflower Bean to find a place where to perform? How do you prepare for shows?
Being from NYC and living here is the best. There are always bands to play with, and there are always shows to play at. There’s a really good community here. The problem is that most of the all ages venues are closing, which makes it a lot harder for people under 21 to hear new bands, and sometimes it’s really difficult for venues to let you play, just because you’re under 21. We practice a couple times a week in order to stay well rehearsed for the shows we play.

I suppose that playing in a band is not the only job that you do. What do you do in your “real” life? School? Work?
We are all students. I (Julia) am still in high school and I also work at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. Nick and Jacob just finished their first years of college. But music is really what we do everyday, and it is the only thing we really want to do. It’s the dream.

Are you recording new material? Do you have nice surprises set aside for this 2014 ? Releasing an EP maybe?
We have a lot of surprises planned for 2014, new songs, new videos, and hopefully, more shows all over the world!

Enrico Chinellato 
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16/05/2014

Upcoming Artists | Warias

How and why did the Warias project come about?
Warias was born after our last year’s summer tour, where we collected ides, recorded samples, percussion loops, vocal melodies and other stuff that has been looming in our minds during those long hours in our tour van. Other than those random ideas, Warias was born out of my specific need to give space to a parallel project that would be coherent with what I’ve been hearing lately.

Why have you decided to create a brand new band, completely different from your previous experiences?
It all happened quite naturally. For quite some time now, Giulio has been venturing into electronic music and I have been collecting new ideas and experimenting with different things during the last summer. We have been widely influenced by the places visited on tour, which have largely influenced our ideas. After the tour, when I proposed a new project to Giulio, he immediately got on board, without even thinking twice.

Warias has been defined in many different ways – dark, new wave, post punk – how would you categorize it?
If we have to characterize it, I would surely say it has a strong, dark component deriving from new wave and post punk, with a bold experimental and psychedelic side. Even if it may sound as a cliché, I must say that I am not really fond of labelling a band’s work with precise definition. Much of what has been said about Warias is surely right, but, for us, it is first and foremost an experience.

Which bands have influenced your sound during the recording of Wools EP?
While Warias was still taking shape as a project, we were listening to a lot of African music, Tuareg and electronic. As far as the EP is concerned, it was certainly influenced by our passion for analogue instruments, synths, guitars, drum machines – we have used and recorded all those instruments in our studio.

During your live concert, the visual part seems to be meticulously articulated. Who is in charge of your visuals?
Yes, we believe the visuals are a fundamental part of a live experience. There are many artists that put a lot of attention into this aspect and we believe it adds a lot of value to the performance. Our visuals in particular are developed by Mirco Cotugno, a dear friend of ours.

One of you also plays with The Soft Moon. How much has Luis Vasquez influenced Warias?
Well, Luis has certainly influenced a lot of our work since we respect him greatly. It is sort of a natural process when you play with someone and hang out with them in your everyday life.

Do you have a tour in mind for 2014?
Yes, we will be playing around Italy this Summer. We have received a few offers for a European tour this Autumn, but we will still need to figure it out.

Are you working on an album?
Yes, we are working on it right now and we already have a few pieces ready. It is a work in progress since it will be quite different from the EP, as the whole writing process is a lot more deeper, less conventional, with a much more emotional and visionary approach.

Enrico Chinellato 
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18/04/2014

Upcoming Artists | The Lovecats

Cecilia and Adele form The Lovecats: how did you two meet and how did you start working together as a duo?
We’ve met by chance in November 2010, and we’ve immediately clicked music-wise. In fact, that same night, we went to a rehearsal room and started playing together and a few days later we’d already decided we should start playing together. The idea behind The Lovecats was born in a 40km radius separating Legnago and Verona, and now lives in 40 square meters in Milan.

Listening to your music and looking at your appearance and visual flair as a female duo, other similar artists soon come to mind – My Bubba, Pascal Pinon, First Aid Kit (it may even seem to obvious) – do you feel a connection with them or do your influences come from a different sphere?
Yes, we are often compared to those artists, and we feel it’s quite normal to sort of compare female duos. Nevertheless, we don’t only listen to Bob Dylan, Joan Baez or Nick Drake, or other folk-ish artists; rather, we are influenced by punk, hardcore, new wave, emo, shoegaze and many more.

How do you write your songs? Is there a process, a recipe, you follow or is it spontaneous?
Our songs are all written quite spontaneously, since they are tied to specific life experiences and emerge directly from those experiences.

The issue of playing in English rather than Italian, is a long and debated one: why have you decided to play in English?
It was a spontaneous choice, mostly due to the fact that we’ve both listened international rather than Italian music. The Italian language is beautiful but its musical transposition is quite difficult. When you manage to do it, the results are amazing, but you have to be extremely talented to do so. On the other hand, English transposition is quite simple to do, whereas writing interesting texts in English is quite difficult. For us, choosing English was a sort of a challenge, while at the same time it was a conscious choice in trying to reach a broader public.

You are both originally from Verona, but currently live in Milan. What are the differences between those two cities, musically speaking?
Naturally, being much bigger, Milan is much more varied and rich, musically speaking. In Verona, there are only a few places where you can play live and it is one of the main reasons why bands born in Verona try to leave the city – to make their music known to a wider audience.

How did you meet your label, diNotte?
The guys from diNotte have contacted us in the summer of 2012, asking when they could hear us play live. They came to our concert in Brescia, and we’ve immediately clicked, it was a really nice surprise.

Have you ever thought about opening your band to other musicians – maybe becoming a trio or a band?
Well, we’re already doing it in part: we have played on numerous occasions with our drummer friend, Niccolò Cruciani, who usually plays with C+C=Maxigross and with whom we work really well. Anyhow, yes, we’d like to grow and change a our formation a bit, but this is something we’ll discuss further in the future.

How did Mi Ami go? It was the first time you’ve played in front of such a large audience.
Yes, for the first time we could play in front of such a large audience and we were really scared. We’ve had some technical problems with the audio, but since we’ve received a lot of positive feedback, all in all it went quite well.

How did you collaboration with Lazzari store come about?
Alice Lunardi, Lazzari’s stylist, has heard some of our music thanks to a friend we have in common and liked us a lot. Therefore, she asked the permission to use one of our songs for Lazzari’s spot and we were, quite frankly, super happy about it. We love Lazzari and working with them was really nice.

We’re already in April, so this question comes a bit late, but what do you expect from this year, 2014?
We’re hoping for a lot of things. We’ll be playing a lot this Summer in some really nice places. We have some other projects we’ve been working on, but we can’t say anything about it yet.

Enrico Chinellato 
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07/03/2014

Upcoming Artists | The Garden

Hi guys! How’s it going?
It’s going.

What is the meaning behind your name?
The Garden keeps on growing and we will evolve just as a pokemon would. That’s why we chose it.

For how long have you been playing together?
More than 12 years for now. It’s been so long we don’t quite remember it even.

How did your recent European tour go?
The European tour was a pretty damn good experience. We’ll be looking forward to the next one.

Where does your sound come from? What are the artists that have influenced you more?
We start from our influence and then try evolving this sound and making it our own. Growing up, it was Fatboy Slim and Prodigy. Nowadays it is Del the Funkee Homosapien or even Shattered Faith.

In addition to Punk Rock, you can also note Rap in your work, how come?
We like all kinds of rap/trap/hip hop. The beats and bass make us feel good. So why box ourselves in to a genre? As a band we give ourselves freedom to explore anything we want. We could go straight Beethoven any second.

In the last year, in addition to your musical work, you have also paired with Hedi Slimane in working as models for YSL, how did this come about?
We were spotted by a recruiter while playing a Garden show, got a random email and were then on our way to Paris. Let the good times roll!

Do you pay a lot of attention to your style or is it something you approach casually?
I like to pay attention to my style. I know that Fletcher does as well. It’s fun to build on it and evolve.

I know that you have other parallel projects besides the Garden, could you talk a bit about that?
“Enjoy” is my project, and “Puzzle” is Fletcher’s project. They are good releases for positive and negative energy. I’ll usually do “Enjoy” in my spare time.

Enrico Chinellato 
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05/10/2013

Playlist: Indie-Dance

Blending Electronica, Synthpop and Disco into one almost lubricious musical concoction, with a dash of Punk, will give you a particular strand of dance music, frequently referred to as Indie-Dance. And although we use the term “dance music” with hesitation, as they are quite clearly songs, with intricate lyrics and the typical verse, bridge, chorus structure of a song most of the times, they also make you dance quite effortlessly; Flamboyantly with moving hips and bent wrists in some cases and jumping around ferociously in other.

Chela – “Romanticise”
A great debut release by what seems to be a very promising new artist. Released by Paris-based Kitsune Maison on August 26, “Romanticise” is sweet, catchy and slightly melancholic.

Surahn – “Wonderful” (Aeroplane Remix)
A great remix by Aeroplane, featured on Surahn’s Wonderful EP which was release for digital on September 24.

Holy Ghost! – “Dumb Disco Ideas”
Disco at its best! “Dumb Disco Ideas” is the swinging single from the new Holy Ghost! album Dynamics, released on September 10.

Yacht – “Party at the NSA”
Rocking a little harder, “Party at the NSA” is Yacht’s latest track. Wild, rebellious and the most contemporary incarnation of the Punk spirit, hell yeah!

MAS YSA – “Why”
On the more emotional side, “Why” is the debut single of MAS YSA, nomadic composer Thomas Arsenault’s new project. Something tells me that we’ll be hearing much more of MAS YSA.





Andreas Stylianou 
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31/08/2013

Tracks for the Weekend

Last moments of August have arrived, and we want to give you few music suggestions to stay a moment longer in the last summer month.

Vondelpark – Closer (FaltyDL Blueberry Remix)
FaltyDL fresh from his new label, Blueberry, comes up with Happa to remix a track of the young English trio: Vondelpark. “Closer” shows as a very future garage track that the lovers of the genre will surely appreciate. Listen here.

FKA twigs – Water Me
The Young Turk, label of the XX, puts its hands on that little treat of Twigs, which for the occasion changes moniker in: FKA Twigs. Her debut album, Ep2, will be released in September and will be co-produced by Arca, already seen and heard in Kanye West‘s Yeezus. Minimal and hypnotic track recommended to fans of the XX. Listen here.

Lil Silva – Salient Sarah (feat. Sampha)
Out for the radio transmission of Zane Lowe, the track is a sneak preview of the EP signed by the London producer Lil Silva: The Distance, released in the beginning of August. The track is enriched by the voice of Sampha, new phenomenon of the English post-dubstep scene.

CFCF – Jump Out Of The Train
This track is an anticipation, and we are talking about Michael Silver with his electronic project CFCF. The EP in question is Outside, which will be released on 21th October. “Jump Out Of The Train” is a 6 minutes pearl, very simple and full of synthesized voices.

Supreme Cuts – Envision (ft. Channy From Polica)
Already known for having produced tracks for Haleek Maul, this time to give voice to their base trance / house there is Leaneagh Channy of Polica.



Enrico Chinellato 
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30/04/2012

Kurdish Stockholm Electro by Zhala

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Kurdish Stockholm Electro by Zhala

Zhala Rifat is the most recent act to emerge from the Stockholm electro-scene. After having been the back-up girl to Lykke Li during her American and European tour, she’s about to drop her first album during the year. But Zhala isn’t a newcomer in the industry. Already In 1998, at the age of 11, she was nominated for a Swedish Grammis Award along with composer Klas Widén. However, the release date of her album debut is still, after 1,5 years of production, yet to be set.

“I already have many songs recorded, but I’m not sure how I want to put together the album, I’ll take my time. Since you only get to make one debut album I have to make sure I spend enough time on it. Lately, I’ve just been trying to get all the melodies and sounds in my head into songs.”

The Rifat family is of Kurdish-descent, thus; Zhala was raised to the sounds of Kurdistan, a heritage that is very much present in her own tunes.

“Kurdish music has a very repetitive rhythm. I grew up with kurdish music so its a very natural part of me now. I love the feeling kurdish music brings, and the melodies, more than the texture, it feels like techno!”

The other week, her first video was released – “Slippin’ around”. Any efforts of trying to refer the visuals to anything else in popular culture would be somewhat redundant, unless you go for the “Björk circa Volta”-card. The video features Zhala herself as a mix between a surrealistic Middle Eastern-geisha and a Hindu-goddess, and was directed by Makode Linde, the artist which stirred quite a scandal with his anti-racist “Painful cake”-exhibition at Moderna Museet in Stockholm last week during World Art Day.

“I love cake! Makode really understands me and my music, he can express it visually. I try to mirror my experiences with sound, and my experiences are unique. And there’s a reason why he’s the world’s most talked about artist at the moment…”

At the moment, Zhala is busy performing, recording and booking gigs for the summer festivals, and still makes time to organize the lesbian club Donna Scam once in a while. Rumour has it that we haven’t seen the last of this woman.

“The greatest memory I have of performing is at Gagnef-festival in Sweden, performing with my friend Shamoun a couple of years ago. We had a big loving party on stage and I think everyone was peaking at that point. I’ve been practicing music in different ways since forever. The music always takes different forms, that’s just a natural part of my development.”

Petsy von Köhler – photo courtesy of Zhala Zhino Rifat

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14/02/2012

Whitney Houston: Obituary

Whitney Houston: Obituary

It wasn’t much of a shock to learn that Whitney Houston had died alone in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton hotel on the eve before the Grammys. It’s almost too perfect. For the past fifteen years the preeminent 20th century pop diva had weathered the worst and most public of personal demons: cocaine addiction, alcoholism and Bobby Brown, to name a few. Every album she released after 1998’s My Love Is Your Love was touted as her “comeback”, and with every release it quickly became apparent that her head was barely above the surface. Her 2002 interview with Diane Sawyer, best remembered for her claim that “Crack is wack,” became symbolic of Houston’s condition in her later life: Moody, medicated, in denial, broken, yet also determined to persevere and power forward. That is, until she couldn’t.

Her death grimly fits the stereotype laid out by her and others before her—most recently Amy Winehouse and Michael Jackson. Even Whitney herself admitted, in a 2002 interview, that “The biggest devil is me. I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy.” Sure, we may have come to expect a tragic, scripted endings from our idols, but that doesn’t mean we have to like them. We tend to think our protagonists will learn from their mistakes before it’s too late, even when common sense tells us it’s likely not the case.

Thankfully, for all of the cheap tabloid dramas that encompassed her later life, it’s impossible to forget the pop accomplishments that made Whitney so endearing in the first place. Her debut album, 1985’s Whitney Houston, sold millions and broke down massive barriers for women, and black female artists in particular. She won her first Grammy for “Saving All My Love For You”, and then the following year won an Emmy for performing that song on the Grammys. With the release of her second album, 1986’s Whitney she became the first female artist to enter the Billboard charts at number one. She was among the first black women to have videos in heavy rotation on MTV, and played late-night talk shows at a time when the idea of a black woman performing on Letterman seemed as likely as democracy in China. She captivated a nation when she sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 1991 Super Bowl, just as America was getting itself into the Persian Gulf War. Her debut film, The Bodyguard, would produce her most well-known song, a cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.” In all she would sell over 170 million albums worldwide in her lifetime. Those numbers are sure to skyrocket now that she is dead.

Whitney was a role model for a generation, and for women in particular. Her scope and influence cannot be overstated. Today we have pop juggernauts like Mary J Blige, Brandy, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé to remind us of the path she herself seemingly effortlessly blazed on the on the power of her singular, gospel-tinged voice (and, okay, her stunning beauty certainly didn’t hurt). Houston’s career has been so emulated that it’s hard to imagine there was a time when pop divas didn’t exist. For that she remains a singular artist, the first of her kind. In the wake of her messy death and all of the headline-hungry details that are sure to follow in the coming weeks, there is something we can all agree on: There will always be only one Whitney Houston.

Lane Koivu – Images courtesy of Lapresse & Matt Sayles

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