Ellis Music Magazine Issue 16 - November 2016

BOO! // G-EAZY // MAD DECENT BLOCK PARTY // YG // BUMBERSHOOT // ECHOS // GHASTLY // TYSSON // THE 1975

featuring BAD SUNS

ISSUE SIXTEEN

EXECUTIVE TEAM

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DANIELLE ELLIS

DANIEL ZWEDE

Owner

Editor

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TRACI SCHUBERT

REBECCA MELANSON

Art Director & Photographer

Graphic Designer

STAFF ANNEMARIE LAROTONDA CHRIS MALDONADO CRISTOBAL ARELLANO DYLAN VILLARREAL EMILLA MIA FELIX TAVERA GREG STRIPP HUNTER LOHR

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JESSICA PADOVER KIMANI GRAHAM STEPHANIE TACY BETSY SCHULLER GABRIELA JASSO KAYLEIGH MARIE WAGNON TJ MARTINEZ

IN THIS ISSUE

Meet The Team................................................................................ 2 Staff Music Picks.............................................................................. 4 BEACH GOTH.................................................................................. 6 COLD WAR KIDS............................................................................. 8 BOO!................................................................................................. 9 TYSSON.......................................................................................... 10 ECHOS............................................................................................ 12 HOLLYWOOD DREAMS TOUR.................................................... 14 KANYE WEST - MEDOWS MUSIC FESTIVAL ............................. 15 G-EAZY RED ROCKS..................................................................... 16 MAD DECENT AZ.......................................................................... 18 THE 1975........................................................................................ 20 TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB........................................................ 22 YG.................................................................................................... 23 ROZES............................................................................................. 24 BUMBERSHOOT............................................................................ 26 GHASTLY........................................................................................ 30 BAD SUNS .....................................................................................31 3

STAFF MUSIC PICKS

YOU ME AT SIX // GIVE Danielle Ellis

PARTLY CLOUDY// LOVE OD Annemarie LaRotonda

CHILDISH GAMBINO// ME AND YOUR MAMMA Daniel Zewde

WATERPARKS// GLOOM BOYS TJ Martine

ALT-J // BREEZEBLOCKS Rebecca Melanson GOODYGRACE // TWO SHOTS Traci Schubert MARTIN GARRIX // SPOTLESS Dylan Villarreal FAMOUS DEX // NEW WAVE Kimani Graham HAILEE STEINFELD/ STARVING Jessica Padover BERNER & B-REAL // VIBES Cristobal Camacho

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THE MAINE// ICE CAVE Hunter Lohr TYSSON// ELECTRIC MOMENT Betsy Schuller BEBE REXHA // I GOT YOU Chris Maldonado SKEPTA // SHUTDOWN Greg Stipp MEEK MILL // YOU KNOW Stephanie Tacy

STREAMING NOW

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RECAP: BEACHGOTH SANTA ANNA CALIFORNIA Written by Annemarie LaRotonda

The weekend of October 22nd 2016, I was able to attend the most unearthly and amusing music festival B ​ each Goth. Beach Goth is based in Orange County, CA near the observatory grounds where anyone that attends this music festival will experience a huge Halloween costume party filled with the best music and people.

Melanie Martinez:​On Saturday October 22nd Melanie took the night away. She performed songs off her debut album Cry Baby, which tells a story about herself, and you can tell the crowd loved every bit of it when you can hear the crowd singing back every word.

Martinez’s imaginative stage setup Saturday was unbelievable. It was designed to look like a nursery, with cartoon characters; One was sobbing on the backdrop, giant toy block letters spelling out “Cry Baby” on the stage floor, and Martinez’s drummer and guitarist/synthesizer player wearing teddy bear ears. Martinez made her entrance from inside a crib at the center of the stage; she was dressed in vintage baby pajamas and continued to pour her heart out throughout the night.

Swmrs: ​The energy at the show was amazing.

Oakland, California-based band, SWMRS, is made up of brothers, Cole (vocals/ rhythm guitar), Max Becker (vocals/guitar), Joey Armstrong (drums), and Seb Mueller (bass). Playing songs off of the new album​ Drive 6

​ North (2016), as well as songs from their EP Miley/Uncool​(2015). All about having a good time and rocking out with people who enjoy the same music; the band rocked off of the energy radiating from the crowd.

Extreme moshing, a crowd partition to allow more moshing, crowd surfing, drum solos, toe-crushing dancing, lots of hair motion and more ground-trembling rowdiness are just some components that make up a SWMRS show. Your ears are drawn to the Beckers while your eyes can’t help but fall on the other half of SWMRS. With Joey lovingly pounding on his drum set with unparalleled focus and passion, and Seb nonchalantly hanging somewhere both on and off stage slaying the bass, you’re swallowed by intrigue. You realize that without them just another talented punk band would be before you, but with them an element of rock-star mystery hits hard. All of them, together, create both balance and chaos.

James Blake:​James Blake finally made it to the OC while travelling for his tour. When the sun started to set he came out and started singing songs off his album, The Colour In Anything, and his voice to simply put, was jaw dropping.The dark setting gave the perfect mood for the stage setting Blake had in store for us.His angelic voice made Saturday the perfect night.

Continued to next page

Hunny: ​On Sunday October 23rd the ​opening group Hunny played songs off their EP Pain/ Ache/Loving released earlier this year. They are an extremely high energy band, they managed to get the crowd jumping around enjoying the early morning with such good vibes. Jason (lead singer), throughout their set, managed to connect with the fans in the crowd thanking everyone for coming and to enjoy Beach Goth. Their energy as a band is so radiant that out of all the bands on Sunday they were my favorite.

Hunny The Band - Santa Anna Calfornia Shot by Annemarie LaRotonda

James Blake (left) Santa Anna California Shot By Annemarie Larotonda

Melanie Martinez (right) Santa Anna California Shot By Annemarie Larotonda

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PHOTOS: COLD WAR KIDS Photographed by Felix Tavera

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RECAP: BOO! PHOENIX ARIZONA Written and Photographed by Greg Stipp

BOO! sure did not spook attendees. The one-day music festival held in Chandler, Arizona was put on by Insomniac Events who is famous for their big music festivals such as EDC, Escape from wonderland and many others. The insomniac team did a fantastic job with the stage design and light configuration. Between lasers and strobe lights as well as the giant inflatable skull that was the center piece of the festival, it really captured the attention of festival goers.

The stage wasn’t the only thing that captivated festival goers. The intense lineup of heavy hitting, bass infused artist such as Knife Party, Snails, Ghastly, and Nghtmre.

Excision pictured above

Snails pictured below

These artists combined gave attendees their money’s worth by playing many different tracks that had the speakers bumping all night long. Not only that, but the festival’s attendees were able to dress up in Halloween costumes which added to festivals spooky vibe. There were outfits from the famous DJ Marshmello to Freddy Kruger. All in all the festival was one to remember and I know Arizona electronic music fans hope for its return to the state next year.

G Jones pictured left Ghastly pictured right

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INTERVIEW: TYSSON Interviewd by Betsy Schuller

Your 80’s to present pop and r&b influence is very prominent in your current work, who would you have to say have been your biggest musical influences and why?

Alvin: Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Prince, Earth Wind and Fire. They’re legends. Their resumes speak for themselves. All classics.

They all had very distinct sounds while appealing to a lot of people.

JM: David Bowie and Prince are two of my big ones. This year was kinda rough for the both us. Like Alvin said, I kinda miss when musicians and pop stars had a more distinct individual sound. It seems we’re in a period where a lot of people sound fairly similar.

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How do you strive to be different in your art everyday?

Alvin: It’s not so much of a thing of “striving to be different” but it’s more of a thing of creating honest music that we really feel.

JM: Yeah, the most important thing to us is trying to make something that is distinctly us; something that we can truly stand behind. The more the music is real to us, the more special it feels and it ends up being different just because we’re individuals, ya know?

If you had to describe your style and the bands style in one word, what would it be?

JM: Colorful Alvin: Tasteful

In a world where lyrical content is sacrificed to make popular music, how important is lyricism to you when writing new songs? Do you consciously think about it?

JM: Lyrics are super important. Our songs go through drafts and drafts of lyrics.

Sometimes there are multiple drafts to make sure that everything is getting to the point of the song. Sometimes the drafts are to make it simpler. I think our goal is to tell stories but we want them to come across like a conversation.

Along with the last question, when you begin to write a song what do you think about? Do you draw from personal experiences, feelings or other things such as books, movies or art?

Alvin: Is there an option D (All of the Above)?

JM: Songs have to be personal. You can tell when a singer doesn’t believe what he/she is singing. We are constantly talking about travel and our experiences. Our studio has a ton of art on the walls (Kara Walker posters, Basquiat posters, Rothko, Ashley Longshore). We were also watching a ton of Blade Runner and Twin Peaks while making the EP. Knowing that you two met at the Jazzfest Gala and are both originally from New Orleans, how would you say you two like to incorporate your roots into your music?

Alvin: Definitely. Our heritage, roots, and culture definitely plays a major part in our sound. Especially, when we try to bring the rhythms of New Orleans but the songs and melodies of someone like Allen Toussaint.

Not to mention our love for early Cash Money and Bounce music. The influence isn’t always obvious but it’s in there.

Both coming from relatively independent backgrounds with music, how is it to have a partner in crime now where you both have similar visions and feelings for the music you make?

Alvin: Two is stronger than one. It makes the creative process much easier. We lean on each other to make it happen.

JM: It’s a real blast to have a partner that is literally great at my weaknesses. Alvin has this way of hearing what something should be. His arrangement skills are unreal.

When did you know you wanted to make music for the rest of your life?

Alvin: When I was 5 playing in church. I knew I had fucked up in school and I knew I was gonna get my ass beat when I got home but when I went to rehearsal I forgot about all of that. I remember exactly where I was; on Louisiana Ave in Uptown New Orleans JM: I was convinced that I was going to play professional baseball when I was young, but then everyone else grew and I didn’t.

Lol. My old man got me a guitar and told me that in music, it didn’t matter how tall you were or if you’re dad was the coach of the team. Music became my identity at 10. I could do something that none of my peers could do. It was really liberating.

c @TYSSON d @WEARETYSSON f @WEARETYSSON 11

INTERVIEW: ECHOS

by Danielle Ellis

Where are you from?

Tal – I moved around a lot but I grew up in Santa Cruz California Lexi - I’m from the middle of nowhere Washington, close to Vancouver Washington.

How long have you guys been together?

Tal – almost four years Lexi - I was nineteen when I met you

Who makes up echo’s?

Me, Tal Richards and Lexi Norton on the vocals, I (tal) do the producing and some backing vocals. I (Lexi) do all the lyrics.

How did you guys meet?

Lexi - We were both releasing music through the same blog which at the time was dubstep.net and we were both on the charts quite a few times and was like, “Hey man wanna make music?” And I have the original email still that we keep. We both lived in different states and were working on the internet for about six months then our manager at the time wanted us to live in the same state. So Tal road-tripped out to Oregon and moved in with me and my parents and we started making music together everyday.

How is Portland Oregon to be based out of?

Tal – for me its an awesome change because I’m from Santa Cruz California and just the environment, I don’t know if there is much of a scene here but I kinda like that cause it lets you be secluded and watch the rain and write moody music and its amazing. It’s the perfect environment for writing the style of music we make I think.

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How did you decide on your sound?

Tal - a lot of trial and error, we have a lot of demos that were a lot more dubstep and more electronic and we didn’t release anything till we thoguht we were in the right vane, even now like a lot of the older stuff you can tell where it’s headed but it was kinda like the first version of what were doing with this ep and everything.

What are the pros and cons of being a duo?

Lexi - I think the pros of being in a duo is you get to do everything with your best friend you know like my favorite thing to do with Tal is travel and work on music together. A built in travel buddy, you know its someone to bounce ideas off of and someone to be like hey man you’re doing a good job and push each other Tal - I would say the best this is we hold each other to a higher standard than we would hold ourselves and I would say the con is there’s definitely times, usually our writing style starts with Lexi writing something on piano and then I take it and do a bunch of work on it and we kinda go back and fourth and get together and write at the same time but sometimes you make something and the other person isn’t as enthusiastic as you and you kinda have to find that middle ground.

Lexi - even thought that’s a con its kinda a pro in a way because then it challenges you to discover something new I feel like whenever we have that issue of not likeing the other persons demo we always sit down and find a middle ground and sometimes something cooler comes out of it.

Can you talk a little about the EP? Lexi - well the process of the ep started for us when we were working with speaking blue and he was like I think you need to write more honestly and I want to challenge you to do a 30 day song challenge where every single day you have to write one song no matter what you’re doing that’s your goal and you have to turn it in by 1am or else he had some high stakes for us.

Throughout that process we found that we had the bones of an EP or an album and then we went back through and picked our favorite ones and fine tuned them I think we wrote 30-40 demos to find the 8 that we have on the EP, seven full tracks and one intro so it was a very interesting process because we wrote it almost separately since we were each writing demos and we would come together the next day and write on top of the demos from the day before.

The recording process of it was beautiful because we got to go to this beautiful studio in Portland called the map room and tal engineered all the vocal sessions for me and that was like two days of 15-16 hours of singing.

and before we were echoes he’s one of my old friends in music and we’ve been trying to colab for at least for years now and this was the first time it worked out. He was working on this album and he wanted us to do the vocals for that song cause in his mind that was the title track. He sent us over a pretty completed track and we made a few tweaks and Lexi pretty much freestyled the whole thing in one sitting. Basically what you hear is what she wrote on her first try and then we just tweaked it.

Did you grow up with music or find it later?

Lexi - we both grew up with music I started singing when I was five and started songwriting when I was eight. I would come home and try to pretend I was Avril Lavigne or like Amy Lee and just scribble out all the things that would happen to me during the day. I’ve had the same vocal coach since I was like thirteen so music has been a huge pieces of my life.

Tal - for me my dad was a huge Grateful Dead fan I got into gutire in sixth grade and played all the way through college kinda lost music my first semester of college then found electronic music.

Make sure to check out their new EP Out Now!

Do you have a favorite track on the EP? Tal - yes mine favorite is probably gold Lexi - mine is say it You worked with illeminum how was the recording process of afterlife?

Tal - so we’ve been friends with nick (illeminum) since before he was illemium 13

PHOTOS: HOLLYWOOD DREAMS TOUR Photographed by Stephanie Tacy

JAZZ CARTIER (ABOVE)

LARRY JUNE (ABOVE & BELOW) JAZZ CARTIER (ABOVE & BELOW)

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PHOTOS: KANYE WEST - MEDOWS MUSIC FEST Photographed by Felix Tavera

Kanye left the stage early due to a family emergency

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REVIEW: G-EAZY LIVE AT RED ROCKS

Written and Photographed by Cristobal Camacho aditonal photos by Danielle Ellis

Fresh off his Endless Summer European Tour dates, Rapper G-Eazy teamed up with co-headliner and R&B singer Kehlani, as well as Bay Area natives, DJ Daghe and Rapper Marty Grimes, for a sold out show, literally, up in the mountains. 10,000 fans from different parts of the country came together on Sept. 22 at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO, to witness one incredible experience.

Opener DJ Daghe started the show with nothing but energy. He had the crowd out of their seats during his set, as he had his turntables spinning hit record after hit record. By the time Marty Grimes stepped onto the stage, he had the crowd ready for more. Grimes knows how to move crowd and his hit singles Bang Bang, 101, and The Famm had each fan singing every lyric from front to back.

Shot by Cristobal Camacho 16

Shot by Cristobal Camacho

[Kehlani Pictured Above] The R&B Singer made quite an entrance with her Tsunami mob and took over the stage. she performed songs from her successful mixtape You Should Be Here, as well as her latest single CRZY. Half way through her set, Kehlani stopped and brought a fan on stage. The fan ended up bringing his girlfriend onto the stage to propose to her in front of everybody. After saying yes to the proposal, the crowd yelled as the couple kissed.

Shot by Cristobal Camacho

Shot by Danielle Ellis

The venue went from glowing to complete darkness as the villain made his appearance. He had the crowd anxious as his raw track Random began to play and smoke filled the Amphitheatre. Not only is G-Eazy a great performer, but so are his stage upgrades. Fire and sparks were a new upgrade to his set and added more of a kick in between bass drops. G-Eazy knows that he has a voice and a major platform now to speak and have people listen. By the end of FDT, he had everyone in the venue shouting, “F*ck Donald Trump,” security guards included! Aside from the political track, the crowd lost it when the intro to Stay High came on and G-Eazy brought out special guest performer Mod Sun for a rare performance! The two had the venue up in smoke…which was only right since it is Colorado.

G-Eazy ended the show with the classic finale track, Loaded as confetti filled the venue and he jumped up and down. After giving his all and putting all

his energy on the stage, he still remembers to thank every single fan that made all his dreams possible and have supported him through his journey.

Shot by Danielle Ellis 17

REVIEW: MAD DECENT AZ Photographed & Written by Greg Stipp JACKAL (BELOW)

heat up. Jackal’s set started off strong and continued the whole way through with bass pumping, dubstep and trap music which got the crowd going. After Jackal preformed, Illenium took the stage and wowed the crowd. Illenium is known for using a drum pad while he performs in order to play live music for fans, and he did just that. He played his very popular remix of don’t let me down by the Chainsmokers and the crowd went nuts. After Illenium’s amazing performance, Brillz took the

The Mad Decent Block Party stopped off in Phoenix for two days of nonstop madness.

Between the 16th and 17th of September, Arizona was getting mad with artists such as Diplo, Tchami, Flosstradamus, Lil dicky and many others.

The festival kicked off with What so not on Friday as he opened the festival with his unique set of music playing some of his most popular songs like Jaguar and High you are. His trap vibe began to get the BRILLZ (ABOVE) crowd excited for the rest of the evening.

Jackal followed the performance of FKI stage and shook the ground as the bass 1ST. This is when things really started to pounded throughout the festival. Tchami followed Brillz with his deep house techno sound and had the whole crowd dancing and moving to the beat. Finally, closing out day one, was the Mad Decent man himself Diplo. Had the crowd bouncing playing songs like Revolution and Major Lazer hits like lean on. All in All, after day one closed out festival goers didn’t know what to expect for day two except for a guaranteed good time.

Day two started off a bit slow with Le Youth and Justin Martin, but the crowd ILLENNIUM (ABOVE) 18

was moving and bobbing along the whole time. The tempo picked up when he went on. Grandtheft played his song with Sleepy Tom “Hold On” and the crowd was moving and grooving to the beat. Lil’ Dicky followed Grandtheft and rapped about how to “Save Dat Money” and sang the national anthem. Baauer was up after Lil’ dicky preformed and threw down some nasty trap beats. Baauer known for the Harlem shake had the whole crowd shaking. The crowd then entered dada land as the Swedish duo Dada Life had the crowd jumping and smiling the whole time. Dada life did not only put on a killer set, they also threw large GRAND THEFT (BELOW) inflatable bananas into the crowd and had a large pillow fight. After the crowd entered Dada land the final act of the festival, Flosstradamus. Flosstradamus was the hardest set of the weekend. Mosh pits were everywhere in the festival crowd and they were loving it. Needless to say, Mad Decent Block party was a big success. Arizona was one of the only cities to receive a two-day festival so that means that the EDM scene in Arizona is finally on the rise and that also means that larger better festivals will be coming to the state and fans will love that.

LIL DICKY (BELOW)

LIL DICKY (BELOW)

LE YOUTH (BELOW)

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REVIEW: THE 1975

Photographed & Written by Greg Stipp

070 SHAKE (ABOVE)

If there was one word that could be used to describe the 1975 concert in Phoenix, it would be electric. The energy, the music and the band provided an electric and euphoric experience for thousands of fans all around the state. The night started off with New Jersey rapper 070 Shake who got the crowd excited to see the infamous British band. 070 shake played some of her most popular songs including “Trust Nobody”. The energy that she put off while dancing and singing on stage was incredible. She was getting the crowd excited and amped up to see the 1975.

MATTY HEALY (ABOVE) 20

After only playing 4 songs, she left the stage as the stage crew came out to prepare for the 1975. 15 minutes later, the crowd was ready to see a performance they sure would not forget.

As the band took to the stage the whole venue had a sense of energy that was completely different then every other show.

The lighting display was intense and cycled images of a city skyline and other many creative visuals. Not to mention the hanging rectangle lights which reminded fans of their album. The band played their hearts out making sure to give Phoenix one of the best shows yet. They played their popular hits like “Robbers” and “Chocolate”, but they also played one of their older songs “Undo” which fans loved. The lead singer Matty Healey even tweeted after the show “I loved that show. Playing ‘Undo’ was a real moment. Set will change every night.

Love you thank you so much x”. This not only shows how much fun the band had but how quickly the band adapts to change.

Needless to say, the night is something fans won’t forget for a long time.

THE 1975 (ABOVE)

PHOTOS: THE 1975 Photographed by Greg Stipp

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PHOTOS: TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB Photographed by Felix Tavera

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PHOTOS: YG

Photographed by Stephanie Tacy

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INTERVIEW: ROZES Intervirwed by Betsy Schuller

4. How have you handled the increase of stardom from being featured on a song that became an overnight hit?

I never thought “Roses” would be THIS huge, but I am so glad that so many people connected with it. It’s always amazing as an artist to see people fall in love with your work. As an artist, I still have so much left to say, and seeing how many people loved “Roses” has given me so much encouragement.

1. Let’s start with the basics, where are you from and where do you currently reside I am from the suburbs of Philadelphia, and I currently reside (When I’m home) in the city of Philadelphia.

2. You have such a unique pop/electric sound that blends insanely well with EDM, do you draw many of your influences and inspirations from that genre or others?

I actually never thought I would find myself in the world of EDM, but it also wasn’t the biggest thing when I was starting my career as an artist. Most of my influences are old school classics like Fleetwood Mac, Amy Winehouse, and No Doubt.

3. Can you explain how you attained the opportunity to be featured on Roses with The Chainsmokers? Were you sought out by them or vice versa?

They followed me on Twitter, actually… and then proceeded to “slide into” my DMs. They found me through a song I did called “Limelight.”

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5. I recently followed you on Instagram and your posts are so fun, optimistic and, for lack of a better word, kick ass. They also focus on being a strong and independent woman, is this an important trait for you to display to your fans? Why? Ah! Thank you! I think it’s important for my listeners to see that I am just a goofy girl, but I also know my value. I want that for others as well. I want people to know what they’re worth, but sometimes, I am not always as strong as I should be. Sometimes I let depression and anxiety take me over, but it is so important for me to show my fans how raw and real I am because I want to be a positive role model in a world where so many get caught up in flaunting the superficial.

6. In a world where lyrical content is sacrificed to make popular music, how important is lyricism to you when writing new songs? Do you consciously think about it?

My lyrics are my truth. I will only ever sing about things I have been through, or things my friends or loved ones have been

through or are currently going through. I never want to give my fans a false hope. I have built my life around being so honest with my emotions that it’s manufactured into my writing.

7. If you could share one of the most important pieces of advice you have learned with other aspiring artists, what would it be?

That hard work never ends and the success is infinite.

made it out okay, or not. I want to be there for my fans and have them know that they aren’t alone in whatever they’re facing.

c @ROZESSOUNDS d @ROZESSOUNDS f @ROZESSOUNDS

8. Last but not least, my favorite question, when did you know you wanted to make music for the rest of your life?

When I realized I have a story that so many others can relate to. I needed an artist to look up to while I was growing up. I needed to hear those stories and hear that they 25

PHOTOS: BUMBERSHOOT Written by Danielle Ellis

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INTERVIEW: GHASTLY Interviewed by Greg Stipp

Ghastly is a big name EDM producer from Arizona who is known for songs such as Crank it, Fuk wut you think, 666, and many others. Ghastly is known for breaking the barrier of genres and creating his own unique sound that is redefining the music industry today. Here’s what he had to say: How did you come up with the name Ghastly?

I think I tell a different story every time. I remember it but I don’t remember it. But I guess it came from my love for words and just the definition. It was never about the Pokémon, I never wanted it to be that but it did. Don’t get me wrong I like Ghastly a lot and we share the same name and all but if I had to name myself after a Pokémon it 28

would’ve been mewtwo. I should have just called myself mewthree.

Out of all the places you have been and shows you’ve played what place do you remember the most?

For the craziest country I’ve been to it has to be Japan. It’s just amazing over there.

The craziest venue I’ve venue is in Cologne, Germany. They show up almost as a team.

They all work together to make that place crazy as possible, it’s like a mosh pit for every song.

I know you are from Phoenix, so when you are on tour what do you miss most about home?

Family and friends first and foremost, but I do miss the desert from time to time.

How long have you been producing music?

Since I was 12, the first time I picked up the guitar. The guitar was the first instrument that I got acquainted with and then when I was 16 I started making what today would be considered Indy electronic music, but I didn’t know what I was making at the time it was just sounds. None of it was synchronized, I was just trying to make beats that were perfectly sequenced because that was what was popular at the time. I didn’t discover the type of music I wanted to make until I was 19 and that’s when my career really began.

Did you always grow up with a love for music or did you discover it at a later age?

Yea, my parents always tried to make me like country and the one sure way to make sure someone doesn’t like something is to tell them you like it. The one thing that they didn’t like was metal music which my brother introduced me to. When I was like 13, I came how to all of my brothers’ cd’s like AC/DC, Metallic, Slayer etc. were all smashed and put in the Garbage. This made me realize how if someone can feel so threatened by music that they have to destroy it that music is one of the most powerful things out there. Music is a stronger langue than mathematics, yea it involves mathematics, but it also involves emotion.

Describe your music for me?

Little brain children that somehow came out of my head so I just adopt them and give them to anyone who is willing to listen You just released a new track a couple weeks ago “Fuk with u” featuring James Thieves, what is your favorite part about the track?

The fact that the track starts off as a house song and then transitions into something completely different: something that is pushing boundaries. The whole point of the track was to quote un quote fuck what you think. We are approaching a day and age to where there aren’t any genres. You can’t really put this song into a genre, you can try and call it something, but at the end of the day it’s like a mix of 5 different genres.

You are currently signed to Owsla, what’s your favorite part about working with such a unique team of artists?

They are all some of the nicest people I’ve ever met in the music industry and some of the most humble people that I have ever met as well, and like they always have your back and they are some of the realest cats in the world and if it wasn’t for that label I would have nothing. It’s a blessing and an honor really.

How do you start producing a track? Is there a certain environment or place you have to be?

I used to require a very stabilized clean and organized room with all the proper padding and all that jazz and I thought I needed that every time and then I realized that as you Contined to next page....

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travel more the only way you’re going to get a record done is if you just get up and do it. So I really just do it where ever I am. It all starts off differently too, like inspiration doesn’t happen it strikes. It’s like a friend who just shows up every once and awhile.

Once started what is the process that goes into creating something that sounds so unique?

I think the specific things happen at the end of the production process because that’s when you’re cleaning up the track and making sure that everything is balanced and sounds right. But as far as the creative process goes, it’s all about getting the sound out. I go from tweaking a serum synth, to going to YouTube and taking a sample of an acapella rapper and using that. I recently just made a beat out of kitchen doors and like pots and pans. I 30

guess when it comes to the creative process it’s just balls to the wall do your own.

Every artist has their own way. You have to create what personal to you because there is nothing more personal than your representation of yourself as art. There is a million and 1 ways to produce music, make it unique to you.

Finally, what was your favorite part about being here at boo?

All of it. The whole entire thing as a whole. I can’t pick a moment; it was all special. That was the first time I’ve invited all my friends out so that was really cool to hang out with all of them.

PHOTOS: BAD SUNS

Written and Photographed by Danielle Ellis

Bad Suns sold out their biggest show to date in Dallas Texas November 13th. Track back nearly three years ago at South By South West 2014 - the first time I saw them.

Bad Suns played a tiny bar on Rainey street in Austin Texas.

I found them by accident on iTunes. They only had one single out, Cardiac Arrest. It was the free single of the week on iTunes in January and one of my favorite songs of 2014. Fast forward to this year and they came back to Texas this time headlining their own SOLD OUT show.

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