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Following the release of his highly celebrated project 1999, Rich Brian dropped ‘Sydney‘ as his first single of 2021. It has garnered over 7.4 Million streams to date. The track was released via 88rising, distributed by 12Tone Music LLC. Listen to it HERE. With a beat inspired by hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, ‘Sydney‘ blends Rich Brian’s signature deep vocals and laid back flow with some saxophone thrown in, thus once again displaying the artist’s ability to constantly shapeshift and reinvent his sound.
Last month, ‘Sydney‘ served as the new anthem for the PUBG MOBILE Pro League Southeast Final. PUBG MOBILE is a mobile gaming application with over 30 million active daily users and over 700M+ downloads per year, making this a huge moment for the Southeast Asia gaming community.
This past year, Rich Brian released 1999. The EP is a sonically diverse project born out of months of social isolation, with the majority of it both self-written and produced, including features from Louis Bell, Bekon & The Donuts and Santell on production. 1999 received praise from outlets like HotNewHipHop, Hypebeast, UPROXX, Genius and Complex. To date, Rich Brian has garnered over 2.4 Billion streams.
‘Sydney‘ by Rich Brian is out now via 88rising/12Tone Music,
buy/stream it here.
Stay connected with Rich Brian:
Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
Where are you currently based?
I’m living in Sydney, Australia.
How did you first start playing music?
When I was young my Uncle would always play the piano and drums and put awesome music on and I loved it and just knew I wanted to make music.
What’s been happening recently?
I’ve just released my debut EP that I was working on for the past year so I’m so happy to have it out in the world now! I have 2 more music videos for it to release over the next couple of weeks. I’m now working on a few new songs that I plan to release this year. I’m also currently rehearsing for my first gig after releasing my latest music so I’m excited for that!
Your new self-titled three track EP is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting?
I drew a lot of influence from some of my favourite artists old and new. Lana Del Rey and Solange are big influences. I also looked to a lot of old favourites of mine such as Massive Attack, Sade, Fleetwood Mac. I listen to their songs daily and I love how easy listening they are. I had just returned from a trip to Europe so I was living for the summertime which you can definitely tell with the songs being so summery haha. Cala Gonone was one of my favourite places I visited in Italy and I wrote that song in like 20mins! It just flowed out of me. On & On was about a break through in my music and self confidence. Summer Lover is literally describing summer when I was a kid with an added romance.
How did you go about writing the EP?
I wrote about 8-9 songs in my room with basic production to the vibe that I wanted. I took 4 of my favourite ones to my favourite Producers to turn them into what they are today!
Where and when did you record/produce/master and who with?
I demoed them all in my room toward the end of 2019 to early 2020. On & On was recorded before and after lockdown with Matt Hurt in his Balmain studio. Matt and I have been working together for a long time and he knows me really well so he always gets my vibe. Cala Gonone I took to Alex Preston as we had released a couple of tracks together at the time. We recorded that in his home studio in Dee Why. Summer Lover was the last one to finish and I reached out to Xavier Dunn to work with me on this one as I loved his sound and thought he would do a great job with it and he did! Peter Holz did the mastering for me. He’s also mastered my songs Forever Young and Seeing you again in the past.
How did you approach the recording process?
Firstly it was important for me to work on the sound and vibe that I wanted to put out to the world. I listened to a lot of songs to figure out what I liked most about the songs I loved. Once I had these demos it was simply matching the songs to the most suited Producer and sitting with them through the process making sure the direction stayed on track and also a lot of inspiration came whilst in the production process too.
Your EP features the single On & On, how did this track come about and what does it mean to you?
It was the first song I wrote on the EP and it came at a time when I had decided to stop holding myself back and gain the confidence to produce the demo’s myself and really find who I wanted to be as an artist and so this song just came very naturally with that state of mind and new goal I had set myself. I’ve always struggled with my self confidence and can be very shy. I’d say I’m a bit of an extroverted introvert haha. So this song really resonates with me.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
I’m loving Joy Crookes, Cleo Sol, Snoh Allegra, Clairo, Pip Millet and The Internet to name a few. I think you could definitely hear my songs aligning with these vibes.
What do you like to do away from music?
I love to travel, spend time with my friends and family. I love a night out but also love a day on the couch watching movies! It’s all about balance!
What’s planned for 2021?
More music and more live gigs! I have a couple of songs in the works. My first live performance of my EP is coming up 30th of May and I’m so excited for this! I’m wanting to do more live shows this year!
Favourite food and place to hangout?
I’m obsessed with Pad Thai and basically all pasta! I love to hang out at the beach or in a bar/restaurant at sunset with the people I love.
Photography: Billie-Jean Bullard @billiejeanbullard
Julie Title is a folk singer-songwriter based in Toronto, Canada. Her style is influenced by 70s folk as well as the wave of confessional women songwriters she grew up with in the 90s such as Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann and Mazzy Star. Her original music has been featured on ABC’s hit TV show “The Fosters” as well as as the popular CBC drama “Burden of Truth”. Title’s music has also been featured regularly on the SiriusXM program “North Americana” as well as CBC radio and roots stations across Canada, the US and the UK. Nashville’s Music Mecca recently described her songwriting as “lucid and poetic… open-ended and timeless.” Currently Title is releasing singles leading up to the reveal of her first full length album featuring local heavy hitting talent and touching on themes surrounding heartbreak, healing and hope.
https://www.facebook.com/julietitlemusic/
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Today, Philadelphia indie punk band Mannequin Pussy share “Perfect,” the title track from their upcoming EP due out May 21. The track follows previously released “Control,” which graced “Best New Songs” lists for Entertainment Weekly, Fader, Guitar World, NPR, Paste, Pitchfork, Stereogum, and more.
CHECK OUT “PERFECT”
WATCH | LISTEN
“Perfect” comes out of months of social isolation & internet-fueled anxiety, examining the practice of condensing your daily life into a manicured stream of images for social media. “Last year, I found myself spending more time on my phone than I ever had in my life. Physically separate from other people, I spent hours of time watching other humans perform on my rectangle. I realised that through years of social media training, many of us have grown this deep desire to manicure our lives to look as perfect, as aspirational as possible,” explains the band’s vocalist/guitarist Missy on the inspiration behind the track. “We want to put ourselves out there, share our lives, our stories, our day to day – and these images and videos all shout the same thing: ‘Please look at me, please tell me I’m so perfect.’ It’s simultaneously a declaration of our confidence but edged with the desperation that seeks validation from others.”
Mannequin Pussy are ready to take you to the Sugarbush High 10-year Reunion in the music video for the track. The video, directed by the band’s vocalist/guitarist Missy, references the 1997 comedy film “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.”
Check it out here.
At the start of 2020, everything was looking up for Mannequin Pussy. The band had released their third album, Patience, and was touring steadily behind it. After nearly a decade of playing, the band finally had gotten the chance to turn music into a full-time occupation. And then, COVID-19 reached the United States, rescinding life as many people knew it. For a while, it seemed like maybe the lull would be temporary, a brief pause before things could resume as they were. And then the numbers ballooned, and the months stretched on, and memories of rooms packed with strangers started to feel alien, dangerous even in imagination. Mannequin Pussy’s new Perfect EP bursts forth from those sprawling months of social isolation and internet-fueled anxiety.
After spending most of the year apart from each other and everyone else in 2020, Mannequin Pussy decided to book studio time and work together in person again. They brought two pre-written songs into the session, but opted to write new material together on the fly from the excitement of reunion. “We just figured if we forced ourselves into this situation where someone could hit ‘record,’ something might come out,” Missy says. “We’d never written that way before.” What came out of that compressed session time with Grammy Nominated producer Will Yip, are some of Mannequin Pussy’s most furious, incandescent songs yet.
Mannequin Pussy is Missy (vocals/guitar/keys), Colins “Bear” Regisford (bass), and Kaleen Reading (drums).
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Follow marinelli:
Twitter || Instagram || Dew Process
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Introducing Leroy Macqueen. A self described cowfolk diva and gender non-conforming alt-western crooner. You might know Leroy as one half of wild garage punk duo The Gooch Palms, but since Leroy and partner in crime Kat Friend retired the band in early 2020, right before Covid made it’s way to Australia, Leroy has been working tirelessly on getting this new solo project up and running. After already flooring audiences across the country with a sold-out headline tour over the past summer and winning hearts as main support for DZ Deathrays and Skegss recently, it’s finally time for the release of ON THE RUN – Leroy’s debut single. A classic, western-style tale of two lovers on the run from the law, with driving vocal rhythms and Leroy’s signature smooth, deep delivery, you better believe that this banger is an instant classic. One for the ages! ON THE RUN was written in Leroy’s studio apartment during the harsh Melbourne lockdown and was promptly recorded around the corner at their storage shed turned recording studio as soon as they were granted their freedom! Leroy, being the ultimate DIY queen/king they are, performed, recorded and mixed the track themselves. With an EP looming and more touring in the pipeline, Leroy will be getting back to what Leroy does best, releasing ear-worm-stuck-in-your-head- But for now, sit back, relax and sink into the hypnotising dreamworld that is – ON THE RUN. |
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Today Wolf Alice release their uncompromising new single ‘Smile’. The track was inspired by lead singer Ellie Rowsell’s desire to fight back against those who try to define her, and is the second single from their highly-anticipated third album, Blue Weekend, the follow up to the Mercury Prize winning Visions of a Life.
‘Smile’ is carried along on a tide of visceral energy, a song destined to be a live favourite. The band envisaged this during their time recording Blue Weekend in Brussels during lockdown. Rowsell states, “this is one of the songs we wrote thinking that we would play it live. I miss that feeling of singing on stage. It’s like screaming into a pillow or something — you can get away with being more nasty. There’s a whole other part of me missing.”
‘Smile’ is accompanied by a video directed by Jordan Hemmingway (Gucci, Raf Simons, Comme Des Garçons), the band’s second collaboration with Hemmingway, following previous single ‘The Last Man On Earth’ (watch). The saturated visuals of the band in full-flow, combined with the casting of riotous punk extras and pub locals, provide the ideal hedonistic backdrop to the track.
‘The Last Man On Earth’ spent 7 weeks on the BBC Radio 1 A-List. It was premiered by Annie Mac as her Hottest Record In The World, further cementing a longstanding relationship between the band and Annie. Last week, the band released a special live version of ‘The Last Man On Earth’ which can be viewed below.
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New Zealand born, Sydney based singer and songwriter, Lauren Day, has announced the release of her new self-titled debut EP Lauren Day, available today.
LISTEN HERE
The highly-anticipated EP is made up of three tracks: Summer Lover, a dreamy, indie-pop song produced by Xavier Dunn, about a summer romance which evokes a warm and nostalgic feeling for the listener through the vinyl crackle and harp, accompanied by dreamy harmonies; On & On, a 90’s inspired production by Matt Hurt which references pushing through self-doubt and re-igniting your passions and the final track, Cala Gonone Nights, a cool, feel-good summer song inspired by long, balmy European summers, produced by Alex Preston and featuring live guitar and saxophone samples set to put anybody in a good mood.
Lauren grew up in Wellington, New Zealand and has always loved music and singing. Since moving to Sydney, Lauren has recorded seven tracks and produced six music videos as an independent artist, working with some of Sydney’s upcoming talents to bring her visions to life. Her music encompasses smooth, soulful vocals and contagious hooks, combined with effortless delivery through dreamy, chilled out, lo-fi pop with RnB and neo soul influences. Through her music, Lauren sings about love, nostalgic romances, chasing summer, emotional struggles and relationships aiming to empower her female listeners.
“I wanted to create music that was uplifting but also easy listening. I wanted the songs to spark a memory whether it be about a holiday or summer with friends to that feeling of over-coming a hard time.
I’m really attracted to dreamy, whimsical sounds so when I wrote the songs I had used a lot of bells/marimba type sounds that we then replaced with instruments like the harp and saxophone in production. At the time of recording the EP, I had just returned from an amazing summer holiday and was about to get married which is why two of the songs are very summery and reflect on love,” says, Lauren.
On & On was written about a personal breakthrough I had in my music and my self-confidence to stop doubting myself and take time to discover who I am. The repetition in the chorus of the lyrics “on and on, and on and on” really represents the slow process of working through challenges day by day.”
For more information on Lauren Day visit laurenday.net
Catch Lauren performing live at The Foundry 616 in Sydney at 5pm on Sunday 30 May
Tickets available HERE
Listen to Lauren Day:
Follow Lauren Day:
What is your name and role within Run Over Dogs?
My name is Szabolcs Czeglédi and I’m the singer and guitarist of Run Over Dogs.
How did you first start playing music?
Listened to a lot of Nirvana and Pixies as a teenager and got my first guitar when I was 14.
Where are you currently based?
We’re based in Budapest.
How did the band form?
We’re childhood friends with Máté (Máté Gál – bass) as we’ve been playing in rival bands in a small Hungarian city called Kecskemét. I always knew we’d form a band together once we both moved to Budapest. I met Maxi (Tamás Juhász – drums) and Roni (Áron Vilczek – guitar) when I moved to the capital in 2009, started to play music together in 2011 and were waiting for Máté to move to Budapest and form the band in 2012.
You’ve just released your new album ‘Now Let The Monsters Shine’ what influenced the sound and songwriting?
The sound and songwriting were both influenced by feelings this time. Looking back over the past five years, it seems like a minute where I’m sitting on a propeller plane during turbulence, the chips bags and other merchandise products are flying in the air like colourful Tetris pieces as they land on top of each other in the wrong order so every second is game over and a new game starts. What’s even worse is that while I was sitting on this plane, a series of events – incomprehensible to common sense – shook the world. I got stuck in the room for weeks during the first months of pandemic, sometimes I walked in random forests and for the first time in my life I’ve been thinking soberly and realistically about what had happened to me in the last 30 years and especially in the last 5. Then we’ve spent a lot of time experimenting with the sounds to make sure we’ll express these feelings the best way we can.
How did you go about writing the album?
Most of the songs were written on an acoustic guitar and got their final forms later in the studio. I felt much stronger after composing the songs, I became addicted to writing for weeks and it might even be perceptible that the last songs were written by a more balanced person than the ones before.
Where and when did you record/produce/master and who did you work with?
The album was made in the RH studio – that is also the rehearsal room of the band – so the calming work pace and environment were ensured. Máté Gál, the band’s bassist was the album’s sound engineer, he was responsible for record / mix / master and Soma Nóvé (Middlemist Red, Mordái, Samurai Drive) was the producer of the album. Soma has a prominent role in the orchestration, the dramaturgy and the structure of the songs, and he also brought a new approach with striving for perfection in all details, which was less typical of the band before.
It’s been a while since the last release, any reason for the break?
We’ve had very intense writing and touring periods between 2012 and 2017 and we burnt out quickly. I didn’t find my place on the stage in the last three years whilst I also lost my self-confidence as a composer.
How did it feel to be writing and recording again?
After each recorded track, I felt like I was taking a brick out of my bag and walking home more and more lightly from the studio.
What do this album mean to you?
Now I really think I asked for my first guitar as a teenager to write this album because it made me realize how important it is to me to express my feelings through lyrics and music.
Please tell us about the connection with trauma processing and the creation of this album:
Every track on this album is a monster that for thirty years I raised in silence until they took control over me and forced me into living my life as a monster with them. For the past five years – since I began to reveal my secrets that guarded them – they have grown into giants and delivered coordinated blows against me at the most unexpected times. Writing this album exorcised my demons, my monsters.
If Covid permits do you have any plans to tour?
We’d love to play an album release show early fall 2021 in Budapest, fingers crossed. Our second US tour is also planned for fall 2022.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
I think Big Thief, Amen Dunes and Perfume Genius are my top 3 favorite artists these days.
What do you like to do away from music?
Exploring cozy restaurants while traveling with my wife! And playing tennis!
What’s planned for 2021?
Finding the smoothest way to get back to the circle of life.
Favourite food and place to hangout?
My favorites are the tapas plates of Pata Negra Budapest, especially the Chorizo Al Vino Tinto and the Jamon Con Espinaces Chorizo.
All PLATFORMS
Growing up, my parents made me learn classical piano (which I hated), but in retrospect I’m grateful to have that foundation and understanding of music. I ended up completing AMEB 8th Grade piano, however my heart has always been in contemporary music. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I started to write my own songs, around the same time I became obsessed with pop punk music (e.g. Avril Lavigne and Blink-182). That’s when I bought my first guitar and naturally started writing and singing my own songs. For many years I just kept these songs to myself. It wasn’t until I went to uni that I first performed live at an open mic night in Melbourne.
Shortly after relocating, I enrolled in Ableton’s Music Production Course at the Liveschool education facility in Sydney. Through completion of this course, it widened my musical theory and curiosity for composition outside the electronic dance-pop genres (i.e. outside my existing project FLUIR). Naturally, I started writing and producing music to explore these new avenues and to further develop my own songwriting and production skill sets. During this stage of personal development and growth musically, I wrote a handful of ambient melodic house compositions including ‘Retrograde’. Given the contrasting genres when comparing my existing project FLUIR (dance indie-pop) to the melodic tracks I wrote during lockdown, this led me to launch my new project FORWARD FOX.
Where are you currently based?
S: Belgrave bitches. T: Brunswick East!
How did you first start playing music?
T: Ever since I can remember, Sean has played music. One day as an early teen, he picked up mum’s abandoned acoustic guitar and found after tinkering, he could play pretty much anything… this was the same with any instrument you put in front of him. I, on the other hand, came to it way later. At 28, It was like a light got flicked inside my brain and I couldn’t stop the flow of these strange & archaic songs from pouring out of my brain. Accompanied with a plastic toy tambourine, I recorded everything on the voice memo app of my phone & went for it. I sent every strange and childlike song to Sean, which led to us finally recording this album together.
How did The Urban Crowley Collective first come to be?
T: When we were kids, (children of the 90’s) we’d record ourselves on our tape deck. We’d do covers of Elvis and Beach Boys… and cheesy 90’s commercials- Decore (a shampoo commercial) being a popular favourite of mine. After one particularly banging rendition of Decore, Sean back announced to our millions of imaginary fans… “That was, THE URBAN CROWLEY COLLECTIVE!”
That cassette then just sat in a dusty cupboard for years, and by chance it was found whilst we were making the record. So that’s the genesis of the name. Sean’s now a film composer and I’m an Actor, so we would occasionally work together on other peoples projects. So when out of the blue I decided that I was a musician too, Sean was where I turned … now we have an album.
What’s been happening recently?
T: We’ve just released our first single and music video ‘A God I Can Relate To’, so all my attention has been focused on this. Also a series I acted in at the start of the year named ‘Hard Times To Fall In Love’, has also just premiered online over at hardtimestv.com It’s been awesome celebrating this gem with the world.
Your debut album ‘Born of A Dying Star’ will be released later this year, what influenced the sound and songwriting?
S: I think I was just having one my periodical 60’s/70’s throwback sessions after Bowie died. So I was listening to a bunch of Bowie, Beatles, Beach Boys and even getting into Wings for the first time. So after that I made the conscious decision to write what I call “songy” songs, when Tegan hit me up to start making music together. So timing really.
How did you go about writing the music?
S: I just demoed all the tracks using different toys at different times, and then used the demo’s to arrange for Tegs’ new vocal parts. And then we charted the tracks for a small ensemble, so we could track them using more traditional recording processes, which was super fun.
Where and when did you record/produce/master and who did you work with?
S: My go to man for all my work across the last decade has been Luke Postill, who plays a whole bunch of guitars, bass and pedal steel on the record. So he helped track the original band sessions and then we both shared all the Producing and Mixing tasks.
How did you approach the recording process?
S: Luke, Tegan & I performed all the rhythm section parts together with BJ Morrizonkle on piano, who I was already a mega fan of and Daniel Brates on drums, so it def felt like an pretty special band. Everything they did was pitch perfect. And we smashed the spine of the record out in one massive 14hr day in a big empty basketball stadium. All live, spill in mics, the whole shebang. Then we added a few years worth of over dubs. Orchestra’s, percussion, tons of vocals. It’s pretty dense sonically.
What programs/equipment did you use?
S: Luke & I share a portable Pro Tools rig which we use for band sessions. Some very sweet sounding mics and pre’s. It’s nice feeling a little bit pro at this stage in our career.
The first single ‘A God I Can Relate To’ was released on 23 April 2021, what does this track mean to you?
S: All the tracks on this album tend to reflect a perspective on mortality in one way or another. But this is a funny one for us to start with, as lyrically it’s about yearning to be successful and watching others get ahead, and then dealing with that never ending narrative as we age and gain new perspectives. Ya know 🙂
You also have a second single ‘Oh Lord, Please Bestowesth Upon My Son His Daily Dose Of Dimethyltryptamine’ to be released 16 May 2021, how did this track come to be and what is the significance to you?
S: This is an oldy, and has appeared once before on a weird little EP I self-produced years ago, but I’ve always thought it had more life in it. It’s another reflection on what it means to live a life, and plays out a funny little pantomime between someone who has just died and is now standing at the pearly gates reflecting on what was the whole point of it all. I’m not religious myself, but I do like the using these type of archetypal characters in my work. God’s a gas. But there are few gems in the lyrics.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
T: Sappho’s debut single ‘Flex’!!!! Also Lana Del Ray’s new album, and I’m loving Maple Glider’s new tracks.
What do you like to do away from music?
T: Acting always!… taking pics, surfing & hiking with my fella and spending time with my gals!
S: We’re both like writing. We’re both separately working on books at the moment so watch this space. That and raising my three manic humans.
What’s planned for 2021?
T: Same thing we do every year…. try to take over the world!
Favourite food and place to hangout?
T: NYALA Ethiopian on Brunswick St!!! Also… home hahaha. Going back to Mum & Dads for Mums cooking. yum.
Vinyl pre-sale: https://www.pozible.