Clash Magazine

Kelela talks album Take Me Apart

Why Musicians are leaving for L.A.

KELELA LOS ANGELES’ KELELA

F E AT U R I N G

FROM S.F TO L.A.

$10 USD / £10 UK

We interview Sasami on her new EP

SASAMI: INDIE ROCK ICON

Spring 2019 / Issue No. 007

THE LOS ANGELES ISSUE

M U S I C , C U LT U R E , A N D T R AV E L

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CLASH MAGAZINE

ISSUE NO. 007

THE L.A. ISSUE

FEATURE ARTICLES PAGE 09

PAGE 13

PAGE 25

FROM S.F. TO L.A.

COVER: L.A.’S KELELA

SASAMI: INDIE ROCK ICON

Ty Segall and John Dwyer talk about why

Kelela talks about her album, her new

We sit down and talk to Los Angeles native

muscians are relocating to the “City of

futuristic sound and takes us through

Sasami Ashworh about her new singles

Angels” to pursue their musical career.

Take Me Apart with Hunter Harris.

and EP, and her past with Cherry Glazzer.

BY ALEX ROSS

BY HUNTER HARRIS

BY CARRIE BATTAN

CLASH.COM

CONTENTS

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SPRING 2019

CONTENTS Issue No.007

Kelela Photoshoot Taken in Hyde Park PHOTO: T YLER SMITH

DEPARTMENTS

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33

Letters to the editor

Top ten live acts of the past year

BY PHILIP SHERMAN

05 Letter from the editor

07 Contributors

55

BY T YLER WILCOX

23

Explore: California waves

Album reviews

A Collection Of West Coast Bands

Jay Som Everybody Works

Are Re-energizing Alternative Rock

Girlpool Powerplant

BY NOAH GREENE

Moses Sumney Aromanticism

12

51 A Guide to the Best Songs about L.A.

31

62 Lists: Including our favorite venues:

Top ten best shows

The Smell in Downtown Los Angeles

Cherry Glazzer at ‘Echo’

The Redwood in the South End

15

NEW MUSIc: Review of Jay Soms debut album Everybody Works PHOTO: PARKER WHITE

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CLASH MAGAZINE

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

THE L.A. ISSUE

POSSIBLE ISSUE ON SEATTLES MUSIC SCENE? I really enjoyed this months Portland issue! I’m really excited to see what your magazine uncovers next.

I loved the review on Yaeji’s new EP, EP2. Her sound is so interesting and layered and different than anything I’ve heard in a long time, and I was really excited that the mags team decided to feature her in your review section. Another note, I think at some point Seattles music scene should be on the list of places to explore.

Of course, Seattle has it’s grunge music, but I think the city has changed a lot musically since the 90s. Right now, I am currently going to school right in Seattle at the University of Washington, and I’ve been going to shows for the last two years I’ve been living here. It’s really crazy how under-reported Seattle’s music scene is nowadays. The punk rock music culture is thriving and even constantly evolving and the scene is just as strong as it has ever been. There are brand new bands constantly forming, and I’m constantly discovering lot’s of amazing unique cross genre bands that deserve

LOOKING TO GET INTO CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY

to have their music heard. For venues, there’s a lot of

I’m a high school senior living in Austin, Texas about

really amazing shows at The Show Box, and I think that

to enroll in art school in Boston. I was recently on

would be a really great place to explore and feature.

the fence about pursuing going to art school, I wasn’t

There is also the Sonic Boom record store which has

sure if I’d be even able to handle the atmosphere and

been known for having the very best record shopping

moving to a new city. The last issue featured amazing

in Seattle, as well as for live music. Again, I loved this

photos by Ben Nugent of Angel Olsen performing at

issue and am eager to read more about unique altern-

Crystal Ballroom and it has inspired me to continue

ative music scenes in the future. Feel free to contact

my own photography career. It’s been my dream to

me you need any more information about anything!

be able to capture an artists essence on stage while they perform and your team of photographers does it so well. What type of cameras does your team use? It looks like a mix of both digital and fi lm, and am curious as to exactly how they even do it and what types of equipment they bring along with them to all of the shows. I was wondering if you hire college level interns during the school year? I’d love to be able to shoot the local scenes and venues around Boston’s suburbs.

I have a few photographer friends already in Boston who want to help out and join along. They are extremely talented and I’m eager now to move to the city and learn some experimental techniques from them.

I really appreciate attention to photographic detail your team makes sure to really capture. It’s great to see that my dreams of becoming a photographer can be a reality! Thanks, looking forward to the next L.A. issue.

EZRA from Austin, TX

CHELSEA from Seattle, WA

ISSUE NO. 007

CLASH.COM

CONTRIBUTORS

SPRING 2019

IT’S MY DREAM TO CAPTURE AN ARTISTS ESSENCE ON STAGE WHEN THEY PERFORM

CAN DIY VENUES BE SAVED IN 2018?

Really interesting article about all of the underground venues in Portland. I didn’t realize how thriving and alive the scene still is. I definitely learned a lot about the scene and am eager to get my friends together and look at more live shows in my area. I’m really eager and want to know more about the know and it’s history in Angel Olsen Live

regards to the importance of the alt scene. I have been

at Crystal Ballroom

looking up information about it, but I really think your

PHOTO: BEN NUGENT

magazine could benefit from digging into the venue’s history and exploring that space altogether. I think

YOUR REVIEW SECTION IS ON POINT!

that the increasing exposure and coverage could help

Thanks for giving my city so much justice & features!

them continue to help their organization and support

I really appreciate you guys featuring smaller & more

the good work that they do. I’ve been to a lot of their

underground artists like The Decemberists, the TV on

shows since they relocated in ’12, and it still seems like

the Radio, and more. I really loved reading about The

they struggling financially to support their collective

Decemberists album process while recording their new

and organization. It’s honestly real unfortunate seeing

album. I can’t even believe it’s been six years since

them go through this because I know how dedicated

their last album! Your articles totally prompted me to

and even passionate the workers are about keeping

buying and also discovering a lot of music that I hadn’t

the venue in tact. If you could let your readers know

heard of. After reading the review on Parquet Courts

more about their venue and to donate anything they

new album Wide Awake I can’t stop listening to it! I

can to the venue’s Kickstarter campaign, I think they’d

love how clever & raw their sound is. I think you guys

greatly appreciate any of the help they can get. I really

said it 100% perfectly when you wrote how influenced

don’t want The Know to struggle anymore, and would

by The Talking Heads their music sounds. I think you

hate to see them have to shut down for good. They’ve

can especially hear their similarities on their track

raised so much money to support local musicians, and

‘Almost Had To Start a Fight’. It of reminds me of The

children in need in their ‘Educated Little Monsters’

Ramones and 1970’s N.Y punk as well. I discovered

program which helps gives children a creative outlet.

that they’ll be playing in Portland soon, and I couldn’t

Please consider featuring them in a future issue.

buy my tickets fast enough. Have you featured any other bands are similar to them in the past? I’m really

ABBY from Allentown, PA

into their whole discography right now, but I think their newest album is by far my favorite. I also discovered King Tuff from your review section recently.

I love how diverse your reviews section is, every issue

TO BE FEATURED IN THE NEXT ISSUE

I read I keep finding new bands! Look forward to more

EMAIL: CLASHMAGAZINE@GMAIL .COM

amazing music in the next months Los Angeles issue.

ALAN from Portland, OR

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CLASH MAGAZINE

THE L.A. ISSUE

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

H I T H E R E C LA S H R E A D E R S . First and foremost, thank you

so much for picking up the latest issue of Clash. This one is really special for us. We’ve worked really hard to bring you the very best of the Los Angeles music scene. If you’ve never traveled to Los Angeles before, after reading this issue, you’ll definetely be itching to explore the music scene around California. L.A. tends to have a bad rep. most of the time. You usually hear about washed-up celebrities, and phony fake California persona’s, but we’re here to tell you the truth about the city of Angels. There’s awesome music scenes beginning to really thrive in the city, you just have to be willing to take the time to look for it, and be ready to explore. With this issue, we talked to some of the most experimental and up & coming L.A natives to help wash away the terrible persona Los Angeles has. It is truly an exciting time for Los Angeles, and the culture surrounding, and we’re thrilled to show you what the city of angels has to offer, and what we’ve found.

HAPPY LIStENING,

ANTHONY LOPEZ / Editor In Chief

IT’S TRULY AN EXCITING TIME FOR MUSIC & ARTISTS IN LOS ANGELES TODAY.

ISSUE NO. 007

CLASH.COM

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

SPRING 2019

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IN THIS ISSUE: We’re thrilled to have been able to have the opportunity to sit down and talk with Kelela as she talks about her debut album.

INTERVIEW BY HUNTER HARRIS

PAGE 13 FEATURE

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THE L.A. ISSUE

CONTRIBUTORS

EDITORS

FEATURES

Editor In Chief

Senior Writer

A N T HON Y LOPE Z

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, in any type of form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system except by our reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper without written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved. Clash Mag 2018

F O R M O R E MU S I C V I S I T CLASH.COM

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CLASH.COM

CONTRIBUTORS

SPRING 2019

Senior Writer / IAN DESENTIS Ian is a genius writer writing for Clash for the last 10 years. His awesome skills come from B.U

Photographer / LELA NEAL Lela Neal is our incredible photographer, and graduate from the School of Visual Arts in N.Y

Illustrator / JORDAN MOSHER Jordan is our talented illustrator coming straight from the Illustration program at B.U.

Lead Journalist / JOE SMITH Joe Smith uncovers the most unique bands and finds the best stories with every single issue.

Researcher / POLY ST YRENE The amazing Poly is our lead researcher, and works alongside Joe to uncover the best stories.

Advertising / PJ HARVEY PJ comes from a background in advertising from RISD and has been on the team for 5 years.

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W O R D S : Alex Ross S H O T BY: David Browne

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ARTI ST S T Y S EG ALL AN D J O N D W Y E R TA L K A B O U T W H Y SO MANY M U S I C IAN S B EG AN LE AVI N G S . F. FO R TH E L . A .

M U S IC AN D ART C O M M U N IT Y

OV E R T H E L A S T F E W Y E A R S there has been a lot of talk about

the San Francisco garage rock scene, primarily because of the critically adored records and livewire shows from bands Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, the Fresh and Onlys, Sic Alps, Mikal Cronin, and many others. Aaron Leitko wrote a 2011 feature about it called “Positive Destruction.” Suddenly, it seemed, Bay Area was playing host to a renaissance of a lot of garage weirdos and also studio wizards.

But all good things must come to an end. Sic Alps have reccently dissolved. The Fresh and Onlys’ Tim Cohen now lives in Arizona. On January 1st, Thee Oh Sees’ John Dwyer decamped to Los Angeles. Segall, who relocated there over a year ago, helped him move. Segall and Dwyer are two in an increasingly lengthy list of artists who have migrated to Los Angeles too.

King Tuff, Kevin Morby, White Lung’s Misty Walshy, Jessica Pratt, and Peach Kelli Pop have all reportedly moved to the City of Angels all semi-recently.

That’s not to say everyone is leaving San Francisco, producer Eric Bauer (Segall’s go-to studio collaborator), and former Sic Alp Mike Donovan, Sonny Smith, Kelley Stoltzes, Isaac Brock, Sufjan Stevens and plenty of others are still around the city. There are still some impressive showings coming from the big city by punk bands like Scraper, LifeStinks, & Headcleaner.

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“Basically I am moving to L.A. for a breath of fresh air (ironic, I know),” he told me in an email. I’ve been in S.F. for ages and I’ll always love it, but it's time for new horizons. Seemingly overnight, [San Francisco] has fi lled up with phone-scrolling, blank-faced wanderers (particularly in my neighborhood). I prefer a taco to a vintage glasses store any day. So yeah, time to shove off. Seems like a lot of artists, visual, musical, etc are hightailing it out of here.”

Ty Segall moved to Los Angeles to be closer to his sister and to be part of the emerging garage rock King Krule Live at

scene. (Segall grew up in Orange County, CA) But he

infections. Do not get me wrong, I love the Bay. I just

Echo Park Last June

does understand why all his friends are really begin-

needed to move to a very big open vast, outerspace

PHOTO: DAVID BROWNE

ning to flee S.F. “It’s hard to cut it out here, man,” he

to be on my own, and fi nd myself, to reinvent myself.

said of the high cost of living, in which poses a harsh

Personally, I’ve found it easier to disappear in L.A.

financial reality for working artists. “If your not makin’

which is very important to me. There is this draw to it,

money, you just can’t cut it.” Segall has friends who

this creative freedom that goes way beyond that

have been evicted from formerly cheap housing and not able to find another affordable living situation.

That’s one of the perks of Segall’s move to L.A. He

“Hollywood dream,” and for those not concerned with that “dream”, it is a place where creative people can come together, swap ideas, etc. It is a place of art-

was able to afford a place with a garage, and now, an

istic cultivation. Plus I think there is a certain seedy,

in-garage studio. When I ask him about his studio, he

creepy mystery that has always lived here. It’s a good

downplays its capabilities, calling it “semi-legit” and

place for the freak, and of course the phantom.

L . A . IS JUST WHERE CRE ATIVE PEO PLE C O M E TOG ETHER S LEY FOR THE ART AND THE CULTURE

“a really weird import bootleg of a

During the fi rst week of December in Los Angeles,

professional studio.” But while it

you could have seen, among dozens of other shows,

may just be Ty’s demo studio, he’s

rapper Murs on the Sunset Strip, O.c. surf-rock outfit

been working on records by the

King Krule in sunny Echo Park, Israeli dubstep hellion

bands like Endless Bummer, the

Borgore in Hollywood, Latin jazz legend Sergio Mendes

Zig Zags, Wand, and White Fence.

at Walt Disney Concert Hall downtown, local psych

Tim Presley, a.k.a White Fence, is

rockers Wolf Alice in Echo Park or even the nu-jazz

another B.A expat who moved

experimentalist Shafiq Husayn in Highland Park. L.A.

to L.A., though he made the big

is a mecca for pop-music fans, and it is also a mecca

journey about ten years ago: I realized I could do

for musicians. A 2012 study by The Atlantic senior

whatever I wanted in this big creative desert. I didn’t

editor Richard Florida determined that Los Angeles

have to answer to aging punks, bitter old ass drunks,

has more musical acts than any other, both on an

greedy landlords, and the fog and cold-inducing sinus

absolute and also just on a per-capita basis altogether.

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FEATURE ONE

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for new and emerging creatives. Then there are the influential parties — Low End Theory, Da Bunker, the Do Over, Funkmosphere, which all serve as breeding grounds for creative types. You’ll find exciting stuff

IN THE L AST FIVE R SO YE ARS , L . A . HAS S E E N ITS MUSICAL GROW TH .

everywhere, from the Sunset Strip to backyard punk shows in East and South L.A. Aspiring musicians find their true niches in neighborhoods such as in Echo Park, Highland Park, Koreatown, Chinatown, and

Venice or any other of the cities most thriving spots.

In these creative neighborhoods, people take chances, Even the ‘Lost Dog’ signs look great.

But it’s not just the quantity it’s the good quality as

White Lung seem like they are due for some new

well. Whereas cities including Nashville, New York,

music hopefully coming sometime soon. There are

Atlanta, Detroit and Seattle have all claimed the title

also debut albums coming out from the most impres-

of “America’s musical epicenter” over the years, it’s

sive newcomers like Cherry Glazzer, Wavves, Best

hard to dispute that Los Angeles is currently the best

Coast, all due sometime this summer. Ty Segall is also

place for music in all of the land. “In the 1980s, L.A.

working on some material for a record, getting the

was kind of stumbling around and didn’t really have

Segall Band back together with the Muggers later this

as a scene as New York,” says Liz Garo, who booked

year for the first time in years, & producing albums

shows for the Echo and Echoplex since they opened

for a bunch of other smaller bands. It goes without

in early 2001. “In the last 5 or so years, L.A. has seen

saying, but some new things are definitely brewing

its musical growth in the city all over.”

Lance Barressi, co-owner of Permanent Records

in Los Angeles lately, an, incredible city positioned for a potentially huge 2018. Hear and download audio

and member of the Endless Bummer, moved to L.A.

of this interview at our new website clash.com for more

from Chicago to open a new Permanent location. He

interviews and features, as well as album releases. ○

said he’s begun to notice more artists moving to the area: I don’t think that the underground scene here is as vibrant or even communal as it is in Chicago, but as more bands are moving here, I think it could even be just as good, better. I think a lot of people avoided moving to L.A. because they have all the wrong ideas about what L.A. is all about. If you visit L.A. and end up getting stuck on west-side Hollywood, you might not think L.A. is the place for you to live.

However, if you’re into the kinds of things we’re into and you visit Northeast L.A. you will probably have a much better experience. The Northeast part of Los Angeles is rapidly becoming one of the raddest places to be in America, especially for people who into going to live shows, buying old records, and going to cafes, bars, and restaurants, and all things different.

Of course in L.A you’ll find the requisite corporate music-industry behemoths: the Grammys, major labels, PR companies, Beats by Dre and Diddy’s Revolt TV, for starters. Equally as important are our even smaller cultural institutions, including the Smell, Pehrspace, Vex Arts, Dublab the Do Lab, real breeding grounds

Ty Segall recording his last album PHOTO: DAVID BROWNE

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INTERVIEW

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KELELA’S DEBUT ALBUM DEFY’S EVERY GENRE, MORPHING SOUND AND ARTISTIC EXPRESSION

INTE RV IE W BY: Hunter Harris

H E R E X C E L L E N T D E B U T manages to evoke mega star cruners from

S H OT BY: Ian Desentis

decades past, cyborgs from the future, and unmistakingly the defyning sounds of alternative R&B’s present. Desire and distance, heat and cool course through Kelela’s debut album Take Me apart. It’s a digital phantasm, a layered matrix of synthetic sounds enfolding countless tracks of Kelela’s vocals. Yet for all its electronic metamorphoses, the goal it achieves is intimacy, as she whispers and coos about all the shifting modalities of getting close to someone. She makes sure that virtuality leads back to physicality. The great surprise; Take Me Apart isn’t Kelela’s effortless synthesis of the disparate realms of the contemporary music landscape, although her skills as a curator is undeniable.

The title tracks mixture of cavernous industrial percussion and squeaking, PC music esque accents is the sounds of a master selector at work, reflected by its unlikely lineup of producers; alt-pop hit maker Ariel Rechtshaid rubs up against electronic wunder-kinds Arca and Jam City, with English experimentalist Kwes & Empire State of Mind Al Shux thrown in. We speak to her about about her debut album and the pressures she faces.

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Our chat’s occasion is for her ingenious debut album, Take Me Apart, soon to be released on Warp records.

Kelela is never one to rush — she worked for four years on her first mixtape, 2013’s Cut 4 Me, then followed it up with six more tracks on 2015’s Hallucinogen — a nd

YOU CA N HE A R TH AT, I THINK—L I S TENING TO TAKE ME APART,

her album is the work of someone who, after a period

THE S OUND S FEEL MUCH MORE A MB I T IOU S TH A N A N Y THING ON

of struggle, has become in-tune with all parts of her-

THE PRE V IOU S A LBUMS H A LLUC INOGEN OR E V EN ON CU T 4 ME.

self. Take Me Apart deepens her relationship with the

I worked with a lot of different people and the sound

alternative music world, but it’s fully grounded in R&B’s

I’m trying to create is a synthesis of a many things.

brave emotional honesty. And now, having risen up

There isn’t a singular producer or artist that embodies

through the Los Angeles music scene, Kelela is ready

that intersection [that I want] and the way that I hear

to be an indie pop star. Read the interview below,

it. So, it sort of took me bringing people together that

and hear about Kelela and her process for her album.

aren’t necessarily a part of the musical world, I guess.

HUNTER HARRIS: WHEN DID YOU START WORKING ON THE ALBUM?

Y O U W O R K W I T H A L O T O F D I F F E R E N T P R O D U C E R S — A R C A , A N D

K E L E L A : It’s hard to point on to the impetus, or the

JAM CIT Y, FOR E X AMPLE. HOW DOES THAT REL ATIONSHIP WORK

beginning of it, because it began as I was working on

W HEN YOU’RE M A K ING A TR ACK OR E V EN ON A NE W A LBUM?

the mixtape. With certain producers or certain songs,

There are many different ways that it’s worked. It was

Kelela’s Debut of Her New Live Show

there were things that feel too epic or too album-y.

all part of my experiment: so it's like, let’s find out

Some of the songs on the album are actually from bef-

what are all of the different ways you can arrive at the

ore I made the mixtape, or during the mixtape. So it

thing? There are very few tracks that just exist and I

spans over that large of a period of time, but the pro-

sing over — I think there’s probably one like that. One

cess of writing was very highly collaborative for me.

of the ways was to sit with the producer and compose from scratch together. Jam City when we did that, it was just so light and fun and fluid — I know that he just gets what I’m trying to, and the things he intuitively does is just so everything. Then the next level I would say is tracks I heavily altered — I wouldn’t be there during the inception of instrumental, but then I would do so much to make it my own. So that would mean asking this producer over there to do drums, and asking another person to do the synth asking, “What is the

PHOTO: IAN DESENTIS

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SPRING 2019

Kelela Shot in L.A. in Ian’s Photo Studio

synth I’m looking for?,” trying to find the sound that fits. And so working with several people on the same track can be really long especially when those people don’t live in Los Angeles, so this is kind of my reality I’m happy to deal, but it’s something that takes time.

HOW DO YOU DEC IDE W HICH PRODUCER S TO WORK W I TH OR WHO TO COLL ABOR ATE W ITH? IT MUST BE A LIT TLE DIFFICULT?

I worked with a lot of the producers that I worked with on the EP, along with new people. Essentially keeping that sound sort of centered around a club lens: the lens of somebody who listens to underground music, the lens of somebody who loves vocals and listens to the tradition of R&B, the lens of somebody who listens to gospel and jazz from a very nerdy place. The other criteria for me was that the songwriting is just as strong as everything else. That for me was what I was trying to do and I worked with a

Kelela’s Take Me Apart album cover designed

by Daniel Sannwald

lot of people to make that all happen and executive produced the entire thing through with their help. fit into something. I wanted to create a space for us to I N J U LY Y O U T O L D T H E R I N G E R T H AT Y O U W R I T E F O R B L A C K

not be subject to any confines, especially when it comes

GIRL S, W HICH, A S A BL ACK GIRL I LOV ED. W HILE THI S WORK

to my sound. I guess for me, those are the politics

I SN’T OV ER TLY P OL I T ICA L, I T RE A LLY DOE S FEEL R A DICA L TO

behind it all. That is exactly what I am trying to do.

E V EN HE A R THE SE S OUND S COMING FROM A BL ACK WOM A N.

Depending on where you are in your career — who

When I say that, I really mean that when I’m thinking

you’re already speaking to, who you’d like to be speak-

about lyrics and when I’m thinking about sonics, I’m

ing to, etc.— we decide what genre we’re going to be

thinking about the black women who haven’t really

for each record on a case-by-case basis. It is pretty

felt perfectly shaped for the spaces that have been

strategic, you know? And crafty. I guess this is one of

made for them. Or the black women who are trying to

the ways [my politics] comes out: how you talk about sound can intersect with your politics as the muscian. The last couple of projects that I’ve chosen were experi-

The sound of my politics is very much inside of this new record. I think there is a tenderness with that, that I’m really trying to just explore. mental, and that is because I want to say that that is black too. Sometimes it’s purposeful for me to be R&B, and call it R&B. But sometimes it’s critical for me to just be electronic in the same way that you’re digesting, you know, like really heady experimental music.

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- a nd there had to be a range. The things that I was committed to was criteria that was unrelated to specific sounds–my goal was to be expansive, while reconciling disparate things. That is part of my sonic identity, and I feel like I’ve established that through the album in a way that I’ve never been able to with previous albums that I was releasing which is exciting.

IS THAT WHAT TAKE ME APART IS?

PEOPLE HAVE REFERRED TO YOUR MUSIC AS RETRO-FUTURISM OR

It’s the place that I made this from, and also, I guess,

NEO-SOUL . HOW DO YOU WANT TO DESCRIBE YOUR GENRE?

there’s tenderness paired with that. This for me is

I just want to shed light, illuminate and to even turn

highly political, just not overtly political maybe. The

the spotlight over to all of the black people who have

sound of my politics is very much inside that record.

been futuristic and innovative since instruments were

It was incredibly difficult to make because the feedback

plugged into a wall. With computers, machines, and

from peers, from people in the industry, from people

new music, black people have been contributing to that

outside — everybody falls in line in terms of grouping

a great deal for a while. That is the first thing that I

and who likes what and who thinks this needs work.

would want to speak on, in terms of where I am really

It is really interesting because that’s when I know I do

coming from. I want to be adding to that. I am still

not feel here nor there. It’s just something I notice.

coming from a very very long tradition; my reference

e

points are so black. I am not thinking about Brian W I TH YOUR E A RL IER WORK THERE WA S A LMO S T A GR IME S OUND

Eno, I am not thinking about Massive Attack. I am just

ALL THAT VERY ABR ASI VE PRODUCTION. AND WHILE THERE ARE

thinking about Prince. I am thinking about Stevie

E L E M E N T S O F T H AT S T I L L , O V E R A L L , Y O U R A L B U M F E E L S L I K E

Wonder, Herbie Hancock. I’m thinking about the way

Y O U ’ V E P U L L E D T H AT B A C K A B I T— L I K E I T I S P O W E R F U L I N A

that machines were used in that music, in R&B.

DIFFERENT WAY ? DO YOU FEEL L IK E THE SE S ONG S A RE A S TATEMENT OF W HERE YOU A RE AT R IGH T AT THI S T IME, S ONICA LLY ?

The first mixtape was definitely more heavily leaning towards grimeiness, but I have never really had a really specific idea of what the album was supposed to sound like? I just knew that it had to sound new

I just want to shed light, illuminate and even turn the spotlight to all of the black people who have been futuristic and really innovative.

l

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18

SPRING 2019

Kelela on set for her music video for ‘L.M.K’

R&B; as basic. And I think that it’s essentially racist, so it’s one of those things that it is so problematic. It does not reflexively make me even feel so happy. But I also appreciate that people are appreciating it. I will just always be reflexively pointing to the tradition and [to the] people who came before me who have been innovating, who have been making [R&B]; weird and cool and new and making it feel very layered.

l

WHAT CAN CONCERTGOERS EXPECT FROM YOUR UPCOMING LIVE SHOWS? ARE THERE ANY SURPRISES IN STORE FOR THEM? ANY GUESTS OR BANDS COMING OUT TO SUPPORT YOU?

When it comes to these shows that are coming up, I’m always trying to innovate my own set and my own music. I’m trying to make new versions of my songs.

I’m always trying to present people with something that they haven’t seen—even if you have gone to every single Kelela show, there’s an experience to be had at the next one that it is different from the last. I know I was just [there] in October or November, so for me, it’s really important to me that the people who come to every show have a reason to come to the next, and the next, and to the next, because the fans are always constantly and always chasing a unknown experience.

YOU BEGAN RELEASING MUSIC IN ’12, JUST THREE YEARS AFTER WRITING YOUR FIRST SONG, AND YOUR MUSIC SOUNDS SO DIFFERENT THAN ANYTHING ELSE OUT THERE RIGHT NOW. IT’S GOT TO BE HARD TRYING TO DO THIS WHILE TRANSITIONING INTO NEW SOUND. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THESE NEW CHANGES?

Yeah, it is. My intention was to find a new place for me it feels like it matches up with how I feel. It so feels

BOSTON / PARADISE

familiar and other-worldly at the same time. Trying to

05.02.2019

tread that line throughout the whole record took lots

NEW YORK / BOWERY

of my own time and intention. I experimented with a

05.05.2019

lot of different things and I’m excited to share this.

e

05.01.2019

WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO TAKE ME APART BEING VIEWED AS A REDEFINITION OF R&B? DOES THIS PHRASE BOTHER YOU?

The subtext there is that I think that there is some

D.C. / U STREET MUSIC 05.06.2019

DURHAM / MOTOROCO 05.08.2019

music that people think of as inherently innovative,

ATLANTA / MASQUERADE

inherently futuristic, inherently advanced, and inher-

05.10.2019

ently complex and layered. Usually that is attributed

NOLA / GASA GASA

to white work. When it comes to black people’s work, [the work] is still valued, but it seen as intuitive, just sort of coming straight out of the person—more rudimentary and less complex, and less intentional.

So the subtext here is that any old time [someone] puts “innovative” in front of R&B; is that people think of

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a

PHOTO: IAN DESENTIS

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20

Kelela Walking Around Her Neighborhood in Western Los Angeles

IN AN AGE WHERE RELATIONSHIPS ARE FORMED ONLINE AND ON APPS, PEOPLE SEEM TO TREAT RELATIONSHIPS SO CASUALLY, AND THERE CAN BE A LOT OF CRUELT Y. ARE YOU PRO DATING APPS OR ARE YOU MORE OF A TRADITIONALIST WHEN IT COMES TO DATING? ON THE ALBUM, YOU APPROACH SEX AND DESIRE IN A VERY RAW

I’m really into 2017. I think that the internet is more

AND VULNERABLE WAY—BUT ALSO THE LYRICS SEEM TO REFERENCE

layered and complex than just hating it or liking it. I

SOMETHING MORE CASUAL. I', NOT SURE IF YOU SAW THAT THING

find it to be purposeful to talk about the ways that it’s

BJÖRK HAS SAID HER NEWEST ALBUM WILL BE HER “TINDER ALB-

conducive for relationships and making connections.

UM”? DO YOU THINK, SIMILARLY, WHAT YOU’RE CREATING IS A

There are so many people who felt so alone before the

REFLECTION OF RELATIONSHIPS OVERALL IN 2017?

internet and now they don’t fucking feel alone, and

I would say that yes, it’s about relationships in 2017,

that really matters to me. I am one of those people.

but also just relationships in general. Relationships;

I’m very clear that we need to take more time to be

how they have always been. The goal for myself is to

with each other and think about what we want to exp-

articulate the layered-ness and the complexity in

erience, and it would mean a lot if my impact was to

those interactions, and I always try and pair multiple

I want to be able to articulate vulnerability in my own sounds.

help people slow the fuck down — but also to they speed

sentiments within the same

through the things we just don’t need to do over and

song. So, yes while I am indeed

over again. To create some solace for the feelings that

saying those interactions — and

you think you should not be having and also create

I always try and pair multiple

urgency for you to get out of the other feelings that you

sentiments within the same

simply don’t need. Thats truly how I feel about it all,

song. So while I am saying like,

I’m really excited about the future of technology, etc.

“Oh, I love you so much”, I’m

also saying it like, “Something is not really not ok here”,

I think the future is in these types of websites and apps honestly. I don’t see the issue people have with

but also “Everything is going to be just alright.” I’ve

these services. I’m all about people connecting, and

always wanted to articulate that you can really feel all

discovering new parts about themselves honestly. ○

those types of things at once because I think that how things really are. I come from this small school of being most moved by tender music, and vulnerability is a

BUY KELELA'S ALBUM TAKE ME APART NOW AVAILABLE

cornerstone in every artist I’ve ever really been truly

ONLINE, AND IN SELECT STORES INCLUDING; BEST

obsessed with, and it’s totally the one thing I want

BUY, AMOEBA MUSIC, AND OTHER INDEPENDENT STORES

to try to articulate. My lyrics often try to talk of all these

ACROSS THE COUNTRY. VISIT CLASH.COM FOR MORE.

interwoven topics, especially on my new album.

21

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THE L.A. ISSUE

ALBUM REVIEWS INDIE / ALTERNATIVE

The text feels more open to interpretation, “I know I’m the weekend selling Sunday morning”. The Clever one-liners pop — from, “I’ve had crumbs in my pocket all week,” on Corner Store, “I faked global warming

BEDROOM POP

just to get close to you,” on “It Gets More Blue”— but there’s fewer of them, devoid of Girlpool’s revealing sensibilities early on.

GIRLPOOL Powerplant RELE A SED M AY 1 2, 2017

8.6

Certainly there’s less pressure now to hang a song on their lyrics alone. Yet the

JAY SOM Everybody Works RELE A SED M A RCH 10, 201 8

9.2

emotion evoked by their words is like cryOutside of their alt native L.A. DIY scene,

stal behind the fingerpicking that shifts to

Melina Duertes wise, and excellent album

Girlpool fi rst became known for eerie

sludgy feedback, and piano that add cheer-

is the rare solo debut which expands the

nursery rhymes about standing up to slut

iness. ‘123’ takes hold about a minute in

borders of genre. It's not just bedroom-pop

shaming. Still teenagers, the best friend

when Tucker and Tividad start shouting,

because it sounds a certain way, but beca-

duo of Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad

but it’s a slight drum roll that builds up

use it feels so intimate. Virtuous though it

spoke bluntly in dull-knife harmonies. It

the tension just beforehand. ‘Soup’ is an

may be, patience is difficult to capture in

was the power of small sounds taking hold.

example song that wouldn’t have worked

rock, a medium that much prefers urgency.

By the big arrival of their debut 2015 full-

as well on Before the World Was Big; it is

Perhaps that’s why the L.A. based multi-

length, their songwriting had turned into

likely would have been little more than

instrumentalist’s reverence for human ca-

towards introspection—being young but

deadpan rising slightly over the course of

pacity to wait and think and grow comes across as a revelation on the album.“Take

feeling old, totally brimming with equal

two minutes, before retreating back to a

parts hope and fear, and marveling at (to

whisper about how it turns out life can be

time to figure it out,” she advises on ‘The

borrow a phrase) “how strange it is to be

a lot. But here when they hit the climax,

Bus Song.’ In its context, she’s caught bet-

anything at all. With just a guitar, bass,

the guitar drop out as they sing “Can you

ween relationships, assuring the object of

and two voices, there wasn’t a single place

feel it?” Immediately afterward, a surge of

her fi xation that she will “be the one who

to hide in their music.

distortion answers the question.

sticks around.” As an introduction to an

Girlpool have properly beefed up their

In obvious ways, Girlpool’s world got

album full of reminders not to rush things,

sound, recently adding drummer Miles

bigger. But the thing about growing up is

Wintner. In turn, their sophomore album

that the possibility of it all can make you

Powerplant sounds just like everyone else,

burrow deeper into personal crevasses,

meaning by the year — not just as techn-

echoing second-wave emo sourness and

forcing you to consider what you care about.

ology creeps closer to erasing distinction

loud-quiet-loudness throughout it. But

No longer teenagers, Cleo and Harmony

between studio and home recording, but

Tucker and Tividad are wise enough not

seem no less overwhelmed by the world,

also as the pop musicians associated with

to abandon what makes them distinct—

but their methods for coping have chan-

it develop taste. Duterte made the aesthe-

that unsettling magic that exists between

ged. What Girlpool seem to crave is a mom-

tic hers on ‘Turn Into’, tracks she uploaded

them when they sing.

ent to be together. “Tell me you are here/I

to Bandcamp over a year ago and released

hope I’ll fi nd you/Static somewhere,” Cleo

with Polyvinyl. Although, Its not a bedroom

and Harmony sing as the album closes.

pop album because it sounds a way but

On Before the World Was Big in ’15, they would often pair an abstract scene with

though, the line is a relief.

Bedroom pop is a genre that loses it’s

mantras (“Do you feel restless when you

because it feels so intimate. Duterte’s ela-

realize you’re alive?” before peppering

borate songs could be mistaken for a full

the whole thing with their friends’ names)

band compositions, yet her preference for

The proper names and imagery remain,

writing and recording in solitude imbues

but now Girlpool’s lyrics feel less tangible.

each one with an introspective quality,

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FOLK POP liberated from conforming to one sound,

resonance in our current cultural moment

Duterte investigates different genres.

in which the leader of the so-called “free

With its heavy keyboards and bass line,

world” sees no problem in putting down

‘Baybee’ comes on like an R&B jam, but

black men protesting their own derogation.

instead of steaming up the windows, it is

Sumney’s songwriting examines the

about seducing yourself into seeing your

blasé cruelty that defi nes our swipe-left

beloved through a rough patch: “If I leave

era. Sumney also reminds us how much

you alone / When you don’t feel right/I know we’ll just sink,” she declares softly.

But the most arresting songs are the

same-sex marriage battles have managed

MOSES SUMNEY Aromanticism RELE A SED SEP T EMBER 2 2, 2017

9.6

ones that defy categorization. The fi rst

to reshift millennials’ interest in normalcy and the pursuit of intimacy into the age of Tinder. Sumney’s music is woeful, but still

minute of the album, on ‘Lipstick Stains’,

The debut album from Moses Sumney is the

sexy: ‘Make Out in My Car’, replete with

sounds the way instruments might upon

soulful, cosmic embrace of loneness. His

jazz flute, repeats the hook: “I’m not tryna

waking from an afternoon nap, stretching

deep blue songwriting examines the blasé

go to bed with you/I just wanna make out

in sunlight. When the vocals do kick in,

cruelty that defines intimacy in our swipe-

in the car.” Aromanticism helps envision a

Duterte’s murmur is just as blissful: “I like

left era African American writer, poet and

loveless universe by way of sensuous mus-

the way your lipstick stains” she breathes.

activist Langston Hughes penned these

icianship: The production is atmospheric

Everybody Works closes with ‘For Light’,

unsentimental lyrics in 1946: “The night

and bold: Aromanticism’s quietude and

an epic ballad that transforms a whis-

for me is not romantic/Unhook the stars

calm sensitivity deliver a musical detox-

pered promise —“I’ll be right on time/Open

and take them down.” On Moses Sumney’s

ification from the exhausting stream of

blinds for light/Won’t forget to climb”

debut, the art-soul singer-songwriter taps

information that constitutes a day of news.

Duterte has totally absorbed more of life’s hard lessons than most of us do by

into the enduring resonance of Hughes Sumney’s got a jones for drifty, slo-mo

The album caters to pessimists who argue that our culture’s ‘brain-dead’

ambience. His raw harmonic progressions

emphasis on romance and love distracts

*doesn’t* reflect the naïveté of a kid who’s

recalls Brazilian jazz deities like Gilberto

from the inevitability of racial and class

age 22. The patence that suffuses the album sure she has unlimited time to chase her

Gil as much as they do the contemporary

power struggle. It might confound others

ambitions and find love; it comes out of a

jazz of Flying Lotus. Fused together from

who don’t think that the pursuit of those

mature view of relationships and the ten

stylistic influences, his raw sound borrows

necessarily opposed. Frantz Fanon, writer

years of work she has already put into her

from the musical style of every decade since

on colonial politics and colonial love in

songwriting to become the musician she

the 1970’s, but doesn’t seem beholden to

the 20tH century, was also a skeptic, not

is today. Everybody Works is Duterte’s own

any specific one. The concept of aroman-

unlike Sumney: ‘Oh my body’, he fam-

resentment at how easily success seems to

ticism—the very incapacity to reciprocate

ously wrote in the 1952’s “Black Skin,White

come to the “indie rock star” who make

romantic feelings or love—runs throughout

Masks, “always make me a man who asks questions.” But he believed that romantic

her wonder, “Did you pay your way thr-

Broken, isolated, Moses Sumney is like

ough?” She makes Everybody Works her

Melville’s forlorn Bartleby staring somb-

love was possible—that, above all else, was

mantra, repeating the phrase as though to

erly out the window into the void. But he

why love was worthy of critique and dis-

remind herself of the way other people’s

fi nds his radical politics in foreclosing the

mantling. Sumney, for his part, seems to

painstaking efforts can be invisible to us.

possibility of finding lasting intimacy and

have gone down another path: diving into

love with a partner. On the burnished song

the bleak void in search of answers, giving

‘Doomed’, he sings: “If the lovelessness is godlessness/Will you cast to the wayside?”

Sumney’s embracal of aloneness and dissociation—his nihilismus, to borrow a phrase from the writer Amiri Baraka—has

us sumptuous music along the way.

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Not three minutes into the conversation with Sasami, I knew she had obtained that dream of which human beings spend forty lifetimes over in pursuit and still don’t achieve: to do what you love, & be damn good at it.

I N T E R V I E W: Kennedy Farifax P H O T O G R A P H Y: Lindsay Ellary

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W H E N S O M E O N E R E A L LY L OV E S WHAT THE Y DO FOR A LI V ING,

it’s one of the first things you can notice when conversing with that individual. It’s virtually impossible for that love, passion true sincerity of appreciation not to shine—even when you speak to that person on the telephone separated by a staggering distance of two thousand miles.

But of course, attainment of this large caliber by no means happens over night, as the musician does humbly note. From learning at a young age classical training to playing in various bands, including LA scuzz rockers, Cherry Glazerr, and

I know that you just released “Not

teaching weird music scoring for films and new

the Time” and “Callous,” that was

commercials, you can name, a musically-involved

your first solo songs since Cherry

vocation and SASAMI has truly been there, done

Glazerr. So, can you tell me about

that—and did not forget each lesson that each

your creative thoughts that went

phase of life taught her along the way. With the

into these pieces, and the ideas

recent release of two new lead singles, SASAMI is-

you wanted to try & communicate

focused on the making of her debut album shine.

to your audience now that you’re solo artist? Does this matter at all?

Well, “Not the Time” and “Callous” are two new pieces that I’ve been working on for the last two years. Since I’ve been off tour, I’ve been working on songs, so they aren’t really necessarily two of the most recent songs — more like two pieces within an entire record. They were just the two that I was most excited to put out, considering how hard I worked on the songs, It’s been a process.

You’ve said that “Not the Time” was about those unsent messages—those drafts that you write but never send to the intended person, correct?

It’s funny because I have been making music for such a long time — I studied classical music and I’ve been playing in bands for years and years and years—but this the first time that I really had an urgency to write songs with lyrics. So, this record came from a place of needing to do it. I wasn’t like, ‘I’m gonna make a record!’— I was just in Leeds or some random place at the time and just had to write. That’s where it came from.

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So, the decision is pretty much made for you! What’s your favorite food to eat on the road? Are you a junk food person?

Oh my gosh — favorite food to eat on the road? I love eating Tom Yum—it’s a really spicy Thai lemongrass soup. It’s really good, especially if you have a cold because it makes your fucking sinuses start running— you’ll be really stuffed up and then all of a sudden you’ll be fine. It’s a magical soup—it’s fucking magical.

That’s great, because traveling is good at making people super sick. I really hate, it happens to me, almost every single time.

I know! Your immune system is low & you probably didn’t sleep the day before because you had anxiety about traveling, and all the germs, and you don’t How has your music experience and

have your regular routine. So, yeah it always happens.

interdisciplinary musical education informed your creative process or the

I know you’ve done a whole bunch of new

cultivation of your sound and taste?

collaborations, but it seems for most

I think it’s just inevitable that your education in any

of your career, you’ve worked in groups.

area affects you all the time, because it becomes

Now that you’re working on your own,

part of you. In a lot of ways, my musicianship is always

what have difficulties in your solo work?

informed by this rejection of my schooling, of my

I mean, my issues with it are much less artistic and

classical training. Being obsessed with bands like

creative, and more of just realizing that you have to be

My Bloody Valentine and Gang of Four, and ang-

the boss of your own work—show up and be the boss

ular guitar music, and super noisy guitar music is

of my instrument. I have to hire a band, and also hire

rejection of really clean classical music. I’m sure

a manager, pick a label, pick which tours I want to do.

my arrangements and songs are informed by this knowledge of music theory and voice leading and shit like that. It’s been a journey for me to accept it.

How do you determine when a song is finished, or when an album is complete?

Songs, when you record them, are really not super different from the demos, and demos are pretty much made in a day or two. This whole record was definitely made on impulse. There are some decisions that were changed in the studio on a couple songs, but I would say for 80 percent of the songs, the demos are really similar to the finished product. I tried really hard to keep everything as stream-of-consciousness as much as possible. And then with a record, after a certain point, I’m ten minutes over the vinyl limits.

Sasami performing at The Echo Theater last month for new EP

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I get a lot of my sadness, my anxiety out in all my songs.

The rest of the time, I’m really just this fucking weirdo.

SPRING 2019

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01

CLASH MAGAZINE

It's so important to be honest about your intentions with being a musician — if your intentions are just to make art.

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SASAMI’S NEW EP FEATURING NOT THE TIME & CALLUS IS OUT NOW VIA DOMINO RECORDS. YOU CAN STREAM THE EP ON SPOTIFY AND APPLE MUSIC TODAY.

and make sure that I’m playing new shows with people that I’m aligned with. Just so much non-musical stuff to deal with when, before, I would just roll out of bed and smack some keys, drink some kombucha and then do it all over again. So, it’s kind of different now, but its cool. It’s gratifying, and it’s fun to connect with the audience in a little bit more of a direct way.

I’ve always felt like I need to be my own boss because I don’t like to listen to

outlet,’ or you get to the point where you’re just like, ‘I don’t want to have another job, I want music to be

people, and I’m a big picture type of girl,

my whole life,’ but when you hit that point, you kind

so the nitty gritty details always elude

of have to accept some of the realities of compromise.

me—I don’t think about them, but they’re

Not necessarily creative compromises, but you kinda

so important and I often forget that.

have to start making decisions in your life that open

Totally, it’s hard. I mean, you’re a writer, so you’re an

you up to opportunities that allow you to play music

artist, and I feel like artists are a little more loosey

all the time—to put a record out with the right amount

goosey—I know I am. My sister is a therapist and she’s

of resources. It’s important to be honest with yourself

so black & white, she just tells it like it is, you know,

about what your intentions are in being a musician—

like ‘You said you were gonna be here at 11 ‘o’clock,

if your intentions are just to make pure art. This is also

yada yada yada,’ and I’m just like ‘I really just had to

very dependent on your socio-economic situation.

do this thing.’ Meanwhile, I’m probably like popping

Some people are just rich kids, and can just be music-

a pimple or something—I’m so floaty, even though

ians and don’t have to worry about money, but I’m

I’m Korean. My Korean side is definitely the one that’s

not like that. I’m the person that paid a hundred grand

like, ‘Finish it, right now!’

to go to music school, and am still paying it off, and working through school, was a music teacher, played

What would be your advice for musicians,

in other peoples bands. I had to work. I just started

or any artists who wants to get started?

making songs when I was 28, but music has always

Yeah, I mean — I’m trying to phrase this in a way that’s

been a job for me, and I’ve always felt super lucky

not super demystifying of the art world—but I feel

because I loved my job so much.Some people have

like you get to a certain point where your like, ‘I have

a different relationship to music, but for me and my

a job and music is my hobby, and it’s very pure and

friends, and colleagues who are successful musicians,

it is unaffected by anything other than this creative

I have realized that there was just this super clear understanding that this is my job, and I am privileged to have this as my job. There is a lot of work involved, there are a lot of decisions, and a lot of hard realities to be faced, so I think for people who are starting, I would say don’t make it your job very fast necesarily. ○

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TOP TEN LIVE ACTS ’18

MITSKI’S SHOW WAS ONE OF THE MOST BREATHTAKING PERFORMANCES I’VE ,SEEN. — c at s t e v e

MITSKI “Be The Cowboy” Tour EL RE Y T HE AT RE While Mitski usually played guitar on her previous tours, she left all of the instrumentation to her backing band, who were tucked into the shadows of the stage.

Untethered & also free from guitar cables, Mitski treated the show as equal parts rock concert and art performance. As three screens projected images like floating rose petals, smoke plumes, desert highways and calm lakes, Mitski danced and swayed, her hands extending like swan necks during the rollicking Washing Machine Heart, and she low-key vogued during the disco-pop gem ‘Nobody’, both of which are from her critically acclaimed new album, Be The Cowboy. (The setlist was a mix of songs from Be The Cowboy, her breakthrough album, Puberty 2, & 2014’s Bury Me At Makeout Creek). Mitski did not disappoint & was able to create such a unique performance at the El Rey.

ISSUE NO. 007

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BEACH HOUSE “Seven” Tour HOLLY WOOD FORE V ER Beach House gave a mystifying show, at Hollywood Forever, that explained why they are the anti-thesis of the mainstream.

While most radio hits go for the depression or bliss of life, Beach House go for the emotional limbo; the place in our soul that does not feel right, but does not feel wrong. There is something devastatingly exciting abut being in an emotional limbo; we are mutually hopeful for a Heaven and threatened by hell. With this mind-frame Beach House’s music feels like symphonic chaos. You are warped through craters and constellations, which is why their backdrops can go from images of stars to the pictures of sparking fl ames.

Their melodies cusp your mind to hypn-

SNAIL MAIL “Lush” Tour

otize you, of which watching a sold out

BOOT LEG T HE AT RE

crowd sway and tap their feet in harmony was glorious. We were all matching in

On stage, there’s nowhere to hide as the

sentiment and synchrony with Victoria

audience stares and sings along about

Legrand and Alex Scally’s vocals. It

JAPANESE BREAKFAST “Soft Sounds” Tour

confusion, self-awareness and youth. She

was an experience to be had that night.

BOOT LEG T HE AT RE

takes the sometimes sleepy malaise of the tracks from Habit and clarity into lyrics

Japanese Breakfast totally thrives in music

like, “Baby when I’m 30 I’ll laugh about

and in performance. Like Zauner, the

how dumb it felt/ when I’m 30 I’ll laugh it

audience was fi lled with people that know

out,” she sings on ‘Dirt’. One of the best

what it is like to not be asked to dance at

parts of the set was the blending between

prom, and that is far from an insult. In this

the drummer, Ray Brown, and Jordan’s

world being unique and being weird are

guitar. From the influence of alt rock bands

interchangeable, and stems from the idea

like Sonic Youth, the range of pitch is so

that you, as a person, do not feel, look,

dissonant, that it’s hard believe they’re as

or act normal, to songs, ‘Road Head’,’12

hypnotic as they are. They feel like the

Steps’, and ‘Till Death’ feel like a cata-

model for a ‘cool’ band and watching them

logue of every moment when you felt like

is to watch them become cooler. It makes

you were watching the crowd & drea-

you feel like you want to be in a band,

ming of being either apart of it or praised

their band, and shout all of the things that

by it. Hence, Zauner’s soft bladed vocals,

they’re shouting about. After the set is

like a gentle razor, seem perfect to cata-

done, you’ll realize that they are the band

pult the jabs & jolts of her music theme.

that you wished you were in when you

When you are an outcast you never lose

were in high school playing to a room of

your desire to be apart of a group, but

strangers that get what you’re singing

you get used to the idea that such an opp-

about, even though you’re still figuring it

ortunity will be rare, which is why you

your whole life out every single day.

admire Zauner as a total kickass artist.

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THE L.A. ISSUE

TOP TEN LIVE ACTS ’18 SOCCER MOMMY “Clean” Tour T HE ECHO Nashville singer-songwriter Sophie Allison has been zipping through the country on tour that included her fi rst Los Angeles headline stop Tuesday night at The Echo.

Though the air conditioning seemed to be broken, Allison was excited to bring her songs to the warm West Coast. A handful of songs into the set, single “Your Dog” drew the biggest excitement. “I don’t want to be your fucking dog / That you drag

MAGGIE RODGERS “Sister Sister” Tour

around,” Allison sings in the opening verse

T HE T ROUB A DOUR

of the song about being in an abusive relationship. The song “Flaw” is a great

Maggie Rogers creates music for a modern

tune and the song had the crowd follo-

time with the ancient lyrical tools of a

wing along her crystal-clear vocals. Soccer

poet. She used a sort of musical onomato-

Mommy’s cover of Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” was great, and it followed “Cool”,

poeia to describe the inhalation of air in “Alaska,” even as her breath did what she

one of the recent singles which had just

described. Meanwhile, her use of alliter-

came out. The hour-long set seemed to just

ation in “Dog Years” softened this mourn-

breeze by, though I also had found a spot

ful fatalism: “swimming in sevens, slow

by a fan in the back that probably helped.

dancing in seconds.” In all, there was this sense that Maggie, two shows deep into her fi rst ever debut tour, has been handed an off-the-shelf, “how to be a popular headlining musician” kit, and a set of marching orders. That is not to say that the performance did not showcase this raw talent, because it did. There was an unaltered clarity in a voice that accompanied her fi rm grasp of percussive elements.

The show was fi lled with vibrance, a sense of pure talent, and Maggie’s confidence.

SOPHIE’S ENERGY ON STAGE IS UNLIKE ANYONE ELSE. SHE CAN PUT ON A PERFORMANCE. — J E S SE K A N DA

ISSUE NO. 007

CLASH.COM

LIVE REVIEWS

SPRING 2018

BLOOD ORANGE “Negro Swan” Tour T HE GREEK T HE AT RE Touring in support of his recent record, Negro Swan took stage at The Greek Theatre on September 18th. Featuring the singer-songwriter, dancer and composer Devonté Hynes, it was a night of powerful musical messages and a true remarkable mix of artistry. Devonté stunned the crowd with his impeccable vocals & stunning range which sounded as clean as his recorded songs. Not only is Devonté a true talented musician, as evidence by his voice and prowess, when it came to his own instruments, he was a captivating stage presence. Watching Devonté dance & and vogue on stage for the audience was a scene that stole the hearts of everyone in attendance. Negro Swan is an album that is

COURTNEY BARNETT “THYRF” Tour T HE GREEK T HE AT RE

trademark Blood Orange. It oozes quiet storm and dreamy pop sounds, while also preaching themes of sexuality, and hope.

There’s this effortless charm Australian singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett gives. Her lyrics are whimsical but cunning, and her vocals are a lot more powerful.

She’s also an incredible guitarist to boot, taking on the lead (& pretty much only) guitar parts in her songs in addition to the vocals. While her performance and her songwriting style is more speak-sing, she manages to find an appropriate time to incorporate some yells and her screams, driving the crowd totally wild. During hour-and-a-half or so set, she performed mostly songs off her latest album, Tell Me How You Really Feel. She addressed the crowd, “Hey,” before diving right into the set, starting softly with just her and her guitar for the slow opener, the first track on her latest album, “Hopefulesnness.” & other hits. Courtney gave all her energy, something you really shouldn’t miss out on.

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CLASH MAGAZINE

THE L.A. ISSUE

CHRISTINE & THE QUEENS “Chris” Tour

MIYA FOLICK “Strange Darling” Tour

T HE W ILT ERN T HE AT RE

BOOT LEG T HE AT RE

On stage, Chris is unabashedly bold, chari-

We got into the Bootleg Theater for Miya

smatic, and more comfortable than ever

Folick’s EP release party thinking it’d

(both in lyric and in performance). There

be a pretty intimate gig. People trailed in

is a confidence that resounds on stage as

as the sound guy checked levels with

Chris hits every key, sliding around stage

his iPad, but it looked sparse. No one was

with this trope of well-versed and well-

staking claim to the tables in front of

choreographed dancers. At times it’s easy

the bar stage. Then, five minutes before

to get lost in the performance, which

the set, a flash mob fashionably swar-

borders on cinematographic at points (the

med out of the theater end. Shannon Lay

lights, smoke, and movement meld in a

of Feels started the night with songs

surreal whirl to the backing of songs like “Goya! Soda!” & “Girlfriend”). The entire

from her solo debut Holy Heartache while Alaska Reid (Alyeska) traded banter &

evening is enthralling and leaves little to

set fire with her newest single “Medicine

be desired. Christine and the Queens is

River” Folick’s performance, enhanced

easily one of the best live acts of the year.

with the visuals of Vinyl Williams, drew a

In a time marked by unease and in des-

crowd so tight the photographers could

perate need of acceptance, Chris stands as

barely move. Lena Fayre’s ethereal voice

a warrior—flexing her muscles and by

drew the night to close with songs from

walking the fine line between the inventive

her summer EP “Is There Only One?” spin-

and avant-garde, haute couture as well

ning in-between sets, overall the show

as counter culture surrounding Christine.

was an incredible night of music and art.

ISSUE NO. 007

CLASH.COM

CONTRIBUTORS

FOR SOMEONE WHO’S SO NEW TO THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, MIYA IS SURE TO STICK AROUND. — PAU L T HOM A S

SPRING 2019

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ISSUE NO. 007

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THE L.A. ISSUE

SPRING 2019

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CLASH MAGAZINE The Los Angeles Issue No. 007 Clash magazine would like to thank its contributors, editors, designers artists, and photographers for continuing to support and build the most amazing music magazine possible. Without all of your incredible talent and skills, this magazine would not be nearly as successful as it is. We would like to thank the following people for their hardwork: Ian Desentis, Victoria Modesto, Katherine Hughes, Anthony Leone, Michelle Wang, Kate Bush, Angela Clark, Angela Kelly, David Byrne, & Shelley Brown E MA I L :c L AS H MAG @G MA I L .c OM tO B E A c ONtR I B UtOR I N tH E N E Xt I S S UE OF c L AS H .

JAPANESE BREAKFAST PHILLY DIY SCENE Find out where the best DIY venues are

We sit & talk with the Philly indie star

F E AT U R I N G

PHILLY’S JAPANESE BREAKFAST

We look at the best Philly based AO T Y

LISTS: OUR FAVORITE ALBUMS

THE PHILIDELPHIA ISSUE

Winter 2019 / Issue No. 008

M U S I C , C U LT U R E , A N D T R AV E L