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Ace Of Base

 

Photo credit: Philippe Caron / Contributor

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Ace Of Base's "The Sign" Turns 25: How America Fell Back In Love With Swedish Pop

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The Recording Academy takes a look back at the inescapable pop single's influence and legacy
Tamara Palmer
GRAMMYs
Mar 11, 2019 - 11:15 am

Only nine musical acts topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1994, and the publication declared one the bestseller of the year: "The Sign" by Swedish-pop torchbearers Ace Of Base. The song by the now-defunct quartet (siblings Jenny, Jonas and Linn Berggren and Ulf Ekberg) spent four weeks at number one starting the week of March 12, 1994, and returned to reign for two more weeks beginning May 7 after being displaced by R. Kelly’s "Bump n’ Grind" for four weeks in April.

"I got a new life, you’d hardly recognize me, I'm so glad," the Berggren sisters sang with sass on this withering, grooving breakup song. "How can a person like me care for you? Why do I bother, when you're not the one for me? Is enough enough?"

While Swedish duo Roxette hit the American pop charts in the late '80s, Ace of Base’s Stateside arrival coincided with an ABBA revival that brought Swedish music back into the international consciousness.

"I think the comparisons are quite obvious, we are four — two guys, two girls — and we make pop music and are from Sweden, but we have nothing to do with ABBA," Ulf Ekberg said in a French television interview in 1999. "We weren’t listening to them in the '90s — maybe in the '70s, when we were small kids like this, but we were never really inspired by ABBA. And when we started Ace of Base, ABBA was really out, out out. No one talked about ABBA; especially not in Sweden. But we were really lucky that a revival of ABBA came in ‘92, ‘93 with [greatest hits record] ABBA Gold. And we were out with the first single, second single and the album and then suddenly the wave of Swedish music from ABBA came out together with us and we were riding a little bit on the wave for sure."

"The Sign" is the title track to the group’s 1993 album release in America. The full-length was released sans the single as Happy Nation in Europe the year before and renamed The Sign once Clive Davis, the head of their U.S. label Arista, heard the newer song. When Davis got the demo tape for "The Sign," he passed it on to Swedish producers Douglass Carr and the late Denniz PoP to polish.

"They wanted something different from the European album, to make it more special," Jonas Berggren told Idolator in 2014. "I had 'The Sign' only just in my head. The first time anyone heard it was Denniz PoP, who got a rough demo. It was just instrumental and I remember that he thought the verse was the chorus. Arista loved the song!"

"The demo we got was very basic; it sounded like one of those preprogrammed tracks on a cheap family keyboard where you press a button and the band starts playing," Carr told Slate in 2015. "Denniz’s skills for making and mixing fat beats is here in full blast. He knew what the dancefloor needed, and we had the speakers and the volume to know what was going to happen in the clubs.”

What the dancefloor needed was a propulsive bassline, which Carr revealed was a little bit tricky.

“The bass took some figuring out,” Carr remembered. “I remember us talking a lot about the space that the reggae bass players always make in their music, and how important that is—that sense of air.”

The finished version was airy — and loud as hell.

“An interesting part is that the song was so loud that we had to reduce the volume by three decibels compared to the other tracks when we mastered the album,” Jonas revealed to Idolator.

25 years on since "The Sign" became a number one hit in America and the song is still instantly memorable.

“For us, the melody and the hookline come first,” Ulf told EuroMenTravel in 2016. "Lyrics come last. What we do when we write a song is something we call ‘cowboy lyrics.’. Meaning, we simply ad-lib to the music and later form this into actual lyrics. It’s the melody that counts the most. And the hookline has to be there, engaging, drawing you in. Everything else comes at a later time. You see, that really is key to making good music, you have to be passionate about what you do. In the end, making good music is not about making money. It’s about passion."

Öona Dahl

Öona Dahl

Photo: Courtesy of artist

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Record Store Recs: Öona Dahl Tells Us Her Favorite Places To Find Vinyl In L.A. And Berlin

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A master dreamscape creator, the New York-based DJ/producer/visual artist showcases her love of atmospheric sounds with her recent finds from one of her favorite record shops, Amoeba Hollywood
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
May 29, 2020 - 2:53 pm

With the unprecedented global disruption of 2020, it's important to support the music community however we can. With our series Record Store Recs, the Recording Academy checks in with vinyl-loving artists to learn more about their favorite record stores and the gems they've found there.

To experience one of Öona Dahl's DJ sets or immersive audiovisual experiences is to be transmitted to an alternate dimension, where everything has a holographic/rainbow tint. The New York-based DJ/producer/singer/visual artist first tapped into her digital sorcery as a young teen, making beats on Fruity Loops and Acid Pro. After attending her first rave in 2001, she picked up a pair of turntables to learn to DJ, and, a little later at 17, began playing New York clubs.

Over the years, her name and sound has become synonyms with the global underground house scene; she's played countless legendary clubs and festivals around the world including Kater Blau in Berlin, Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, N.M., All Day I Dream parties in many cities, Detroit's Movement Festival, Amsterdam Dance Event, Miami Music Week and Burning Man, to name a few. Not unlike her always-vibrant hair colors, her music is ever-evolving.

Under her name and the trippy-ambient-electro duo Slumber, formed with her close friend Amber Cox, she's released cosmic tracks on esteemed house and techno labels Hallucienda (her partner DJ Three's label), All Day I Dream, Anjunadeep, Watergate and more. Her most recent release, "Love Is All We Need," featuring '90s dance music icon Kirsty Hawkshaw (listen below), is a nod back Dahl's early electronic roots.

For the latest edition of Record Store Recs, we caught up with the "Astral Realm" artist to learn more about the records that give her life and create the backbone of her musical world. We also take a peek into her musical beginnings, a la her (rather epic) first-ever vinyl and CD purchases.

Please pick three to five record stores you love. (The links below have online shopping options.)

Space Hall in Berlin

Hard Wax in Berlin

Amoeba Hollywood in Los Angeles

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Dahl (with Hopkins LP) & Dance Spirit at Ameoba | Photo: Courtesy of artist

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For at least one of your favorite shops, share a recent record or two you bought there and what you love about the record/artist. 

From Amoeba: I Am The Center (various artists) and Jon Hopkins' [GRAMMY-nominated] Singularity.

I would have to say Amoeba in Hollywood has been the record store where I have purchased some of my most prized vinyl. My record collection ranges all over from dance music to psychedelic rock. Over the years it's become clear that I really enjoy collecting vintage New Age sounds. One of my favorite records that I have bought recently from Amoeba is I Am The Center, which is this incredible compilation of "private press" or independently released New Age artists spanning from 1950-1990. I really enjoy waking up in the morning, drinking coffee and listening to music that is uplifting and this vinyl is my go-to!

Another album I recently bought from Amoeba that has been very inspiring sonically in Jon Hopkins' Singularity. What I like about Amoeba Hollywood, and also the San Francisco location, is the range they have with music: you can really lose all sense of time when you start digging. 

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Dahl & her dog Kowe with 'I Am The Center' | Photo: Courtesy of artist

More Record Store Recs: Chulita Vinyl Club On The Best Music Stores In L.A., Oakland, Austin & Beyond

What's an upcoming/super recent release you have your eyes on picking up & why?

Most music I buy on vinyl these days are vinyl-only releases or vintage New Age. One that I have had my eye on that was just released earlier this year is Laraaji & Lyghte's Celestial Realms. It was originally only released on cassette back in 1986 so I look forward to hearing it for the first time on vinyl. There's something about listening to ambient soundscapes on a record that really opens up a sonic space.  

I'm also looking forward to the vinyl edition of my [debut 2017] album Holograma which is coming out this summer on Hallucienda.

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What was the first CD and/or vinyl you remember purchasing when you were younger?

The first CD I ever bought at my local record store was Ace Of Base's The Sign. I'll still put it on full blast in my car to this day. One of the first vinyl records I purchased was when I was 10 years old at a garage sale and saw Björk's album Post. I bought it because of the artwork, not knowing anything about Bjôrk at the time. It was one of the most important music moments in my life that steered me towards the direction I am today.

The first dance record I ever bought was Richard Grey's "Respect in Effect" (from Rescue Recordings) at Powerhouse New York in 2003. It's wild because at the time I was playing a lot of hardcore, trance and DnB [drum & bass] with my friends who were DJs. So my first dance music purchase being a house record is meaningful to me especially because I still play it in my sets to this day.

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Take That in 1995

Photo: Dave Hogan/Getty Images

 
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Someday Soon This Will All Be Someone Else's Dream: 25 Years Of Take That's 'Nobody Else'

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The Recording Academy looks back at the English pop heroes' third and final album before disbanding in 1996
Ana Leorne
GRAMMYs
May 9, 2020 - 6:00 am

The single mix of "Never Forget," the last track extracted from Take That's third studio album Nobody Else, appropriately begins with "Tuba Mirum" from Verdi's Requiem followed by an intro by the Henllan Boys Choir. Their last LP before disbanding in early 1996, Nobody Else (and "Never Forget" in particular), would mark the departure of Robbie Williams, who left the band precisely during the promotion of this single.

The track's impromptu opening would prove to be weirdly fitting in the short run, not only because a Requiem always presumes some sort of death or loss being publicly mourned, but also due to the choir used as the track's prologue eerily evoking the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed closer "You Can't Always Get What You Want"—curiously their last album to feature fifth element (and founding member) Brian Jones. Uncannily enough, both albums were released amidst a series of tumultuous events that turned both 1969 and 1995 into anni horribiles for those who had once been considered fundamental and arguably the most charismatic members of their respective bands: Brian Jones would be found dead in his swimming pool before Let It Bleed even hit the shelves; Williams would mercifully have better luck, but for a moment there it certainly didn't seem like it.

Although he had always been the most difficult to "tame" by manager Nigel Martin-Smith, by 1995 Williams' increasingly erratic behavior and public drug usage (just like Jones) had become a nuisance to the band. After a near-overdose in November of the previous year on the eve of the MTV European Music Awards that almost led to the cancelation of the band's performance altogether, Smith, Barrow and Orange confronted Williams, eventually leading to the latter's departure from Take That in July. He would remain virtually idle music-wise, not releasing anything until the following year—this not only due to a clause in his contract that prevented him from dropping any solo material until Take That's disbandment, but also (if not mainly) because of a direction-less, self-destructive attitude that could've easily costed him his life.

Nobody Else—and "How Deep Is Your Love" as its inevitable epilogue—would probably have been the honorable final opus from one of the greatest boy bands of the 1990s had Barlow succeeded in having the solo career he had always dreamed of, and apart from the occasional reunion whenever royalties' money happened to run low should've been the last we had seen of Take That as an active group. Although the album is by no means of the careless, constant quality of its predecessor—Everything Changes takes itself much less seriously, which arguably makes it superior in the Pop department; it encapsulates a powerful symbolism regarding the self-undoing of a phenomenon that would be impossible to replicate (or even create) on purpose. Where "Sure" and "Back For Good" lead as two of Take That's greatest singles ever, "Never Forget" follows as a prophecy by bringing the band full circle and referencing their roots in the weird, untimely tribute that constitutes the music video, but also by marking the exact time their deterioration would begin: following Williams's departure, the remaining quartet would also go their separate ways in less than a year. The fact that the song features Howard Donald on lead vocals also evokes a replacement, again unpremeditated and prophetic, and a bitter aftertaste is left unresolved until the reprise of the Bee Gees' classic.

Suddenly, they sounded so old. By 1995 it seemed they'd been about it for too long, reaching that critical point between freshness and consecration most acts find increasingly hard to overcome the bigger a phenomenon they are. In Take That's case, this crisis also derived from what is tactfully put as "personal and artistic divergences," with Williams wanting to embark in a new musical direction by growing dissatisfied with the puppy-eyed ballads that seemed to propel the group forward—but how could he even begin to argue with the insane explosion that was "Back For Good"? At the tender age of 21, Williams was given the choice of either get with the program or quit it altogether—the latter being what he ended up doing, not without a grudge against his former band colleagues he'd hold for many years to come, preventing him from rejoining the group or even agreeing to the odd appearance (remember he bluntly refused to meet the gang for the 2005 iTV documentary For The Record). His feud with Barlow in particular would feed a tabloid thirst for blood when, at first, "Forever Love" and "Love Won't Wait" seemed to allow Barlow to hold the upper hand—unsurprisingly so, since he had been Take That's main songwriter. But with "Angels" the tables turned, and the rest is history. The hatchet would nevertheless take a while to bury: the publicly reconciliatory "Shame" wouldn't arrive until 2010.

Nobody Else is a solid album that in spite of lacking the freshness commonly associated with boy bands delivers exactly what Everything Changes had promised two years prior: the maturity of a phenomenon that would implode if forced to remain static. But it is also terribly melancholic and fragmented, not so much in terms of style but in the way it seems to address a lost youth dream when most members were still in their mid-20s. For what it's worth, Take That as we knew them stopped then and there, and the revival over ten years later just felt like a completely different band.

Celebrating Nobody Else as the closing piece of the band's original trinity (Take That & Party and Everything Changes complete the lot) seems easier now that 25 years have gone by and we are granted the appropriate hindsight to appreciate it as more than a frivolous ephemeral fad. An essential bridge to understand the road U.K. Pop music carved between '80s Hi-NRG and '90s Britpop explosion, Take That predictably bowed out as the infamous Oasis/Blur single battle showed both the press and the public had long shifted towards a different focal point: after having filled a very specific gap in time and place, Nobody Else sounded like the proper goodbye. Ideally, with no reprises.

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RAINNE

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Meet RAINNE: L.A.'s Dark-Pop Duo On A Meteoric Rise

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Inside their journey from GRAMMY Camp and GRAMMY U to the Hollywood Bowl opening for some of music's biggest stars and the event that raised over $450k for MusiCares
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Dec 20, 2019 - 4:09 pm

Even if you aren't yet familiar with RAINNE, the L.A.-based duo consisting of singer/songwriter Annie Dingwall and saxophonist/engineer Justin Klunk, you're definitely familiar with the artists they opened for on Oct. 19 at "We Can Survive" at the Hollywood Bowl: Taylor Swift, Lizzo, Camila Cabello, the Jonas Brothers, Billie Eilish, Becky G, Halsey, and Marshmello. So how did they get there?

The short answer is RAINNE was selected out of over 14,000 artists who entered the Opening Act contest, 97.1 AMP Radio, and Radio.com, ultimately winning the grand prize opening slot on the bill and $10,000. Remarkably, the event also raised a whopping $450,000 for MusiCares  toward its efforts to ensure music people have a place to turn in times of financial, medical and personal need.

The long answer stretches back nearly a decade, to when Dingwall and Klunk first met as part of the GRAMMY Museum's GRAMMY Camp music industry program for high school students. Their journey to the Hollywood Bowl stage also went through GRAMMY U, the Recording Academy's university network for college students, and USC's Popular Music Program, which they both attended.

Now, with the momentum of their Hollywood Bowl debut and a string of infections singles like "Psycho Killer," Hollow" and the newly released "Sin," RAINNE are just getting started. The Recording Academy caught up with the rising dark-pop duo to hear about their experience at "We Can Survive," the evolution of their sound and more…

First of all – for the uninitiated – tell us more about RAINNE's music. Where do you feel your unique dark-pop comes from?

Dingwall: It has definitely been a journey to find our own sound. Both Justin and I have a wide array of music influences, so it’s been fun to draw our favorite aspects from those different genres and incorporate them in our music. From a songwriting perspective, the songs we put out all have a couple common threads that weave them together – both musically and lyrically – and darker sounds and lyrics are definitely one of those motifs that define our sound.

Klunk: Our music and ‘voices’ have been evolving since we met, and this is where we feel the most comfortable expressing ourselves right now. 

That's right, you met at GRAMMY Camp. What do you remember about the program and has it helped you in your career?

Klunk: Personally, GRAMMY Camp was a major part of my musical education. Prior to the camp, I was really oblivious to the other jobs and responsibilities involved with putting on a show, or creating a record. The only thing on my mind was to play the saxophone, and the camp really opened eyes to the industry. It was inspiring for me to see while I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do for a living. And the program still affects us to this day. We keep in touch with a bunch of GRAMMY Camp alumnus, and it’s great to see how everyone is pursuing and thriving in their own endeavors.

In January, I’m actually going to be a part of the GRAMMY In The Schools Alumni band, so that’ll be a ton of fun to see some familiar faces.

Dingwall: I don’t think I realized back then just how impactful going to GRAMMY Camp would be on my life and career. It was a huge part of my musical foundation and introduction to Los Angeles – and introduced me to my best friend and band mate! I am so grateful to have met and worked with so many amazing people at Camp and so happy that they continue to be a part of our lives.

After GRAMMY Camp, how did you two start RAINNE?

Dingwall: RAINNE was a long time coming for us. After Camp, through college, and for a good time after graduation, Justin and I were playing shows together, but at the same time pursuing our own solo interests and projects. Justin released a few instrumental saxophone EPs and toured with Ariana Grande, Saint Motel, and many others, and I released some solo material and was writing for other artists and tv/film projects, but all the while we continued playing shows together. I think over the years we both felt the most comfortable and creative when performing together, and decided that we wanted to do that more than any of the other things we had going on. We decided to become a band a couple years ago and haven’t looked back since.

As a duo, how do you like to work together? What's your songwriting and production process?

Klunk: Our approach to the band is to utilize each other’s strengths and pick up the slack where one of us may fall short. We each bring a different set of skills to the band that compliment each other very well. Historically Annie has been the main songwriter for the group and I have focused more on the live band arrangements, but as we grow we are both becoming heavily involved in every aspect of the band. We have teamed up with amazing producers who understand the sound we are trying to achieve and help us make recordings we are proud to share with the world.

I also understand you participated in GRAMMY U. What was your experience like?

Klunk: GRAMMY U was wonderful. We got to attend and participate in a ton of events while we were in college – even a battle of the bands. There were even a few GRAMMY Career Days we was able to participate in, which were a blast. The various panels in L.A. and at the GRAMMY Museum were really great to check out.

Dingwall: The opportunity learn directly from successful people in the industry is something that not everyone has access to, and we were grateful to be a part of an organization that afforded us those possibilities.

How did you get involved with the Opening Act contest for "We Can Survive," and what do you think set you apart from the thousands of entrants?

Dingwall: Funny enough, Justin saw an ad for the competition on Instagram. He entered us and didn’t tell me about it until a few days afterwards. To be honest, we thought it was such a long shot, but we ended up progressing through the multiple rounds and when we got into the Top 16, we thought “Hey! Someone from the Top 16 has to win – and that someone could be us!”. The outpouring of love and support we received throughout this whole process was amazing and incredible. We are so honored and grateful to everyone who helped us get to the Hollywood Bowl. Not only that, but a portion of the votes was donated to MusiCares – which is an organization we fully support and had been involved with in the past. They do amazing things for the music community and we are happy to contribute in any way that we can. “We Can Survive” is a really special night at the Bowl and we loved to be a part of such a magical night supporting a great cause.

How did it feel performing at the Hollywood Bowl, especially on such a stacked bill. Any surprising moments?

Klunk: It was INCREDIBLE! We were obviously a bit nervous; not only was it an iconic stage, but a ridiculously stacked lineup. We just made sure to over-prepare during our rehearsal process so that we were ready for any curveball that could come our way. We found that the entire production team and staff were the kindest people ever, and they really treated us just like any of the other artists or bands on the bill. Words can’t describe how smooth they made that process and how welcomed they made us feel. 

With such a prolific and successful 2019 behind you now, what's next for RAINNE in 2020?

Dingwall: We are definitely looking forward to seeing what is in store for us in 2020. Right now we have big plans to release tons of new music and grow our fanbase.

Klunk: We also really want to tour and play even more shows than we played this year. We’d love to be opening for another artist on the road. Our shared love for performing is what got us started and we want to continue sharing that with as many people as possible! 

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Photo: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

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Philadelphia Celebrates 25 Years Of Musical Love

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As the Recording Academy Philadelphia Chapter celebrates its quarter-century anniversary, we take a closer look at what makes it such a prolific creative incubator
Brendan Menapace
GRAMMYs
Dec 11, 2019 - 1:48 pm

Philadelphians are a proud people. New Yorkers like to say it's a little brother complex that makes them squirm when it's called the Sixth Borough. Really, Philadelphians are just fine differentiating themselves from other cities. I mean, the sports teams have been using "No one likes us, we don't care," as a battle cry for a few years now.

But, for as much as the city loves to paint itself as the underdog in so many ways, it's a place that's on level ground with any supposed artistic mecca that costs double for an apartment or a cup of coffee. It's also a city that fiercely looks out for its own. So, that may be why so many artists and musicians have called Philadelphia home over the years, whether they were born and raised here or made it their adopted home to grow as artists and music creators of all types.

The Philadelphia Chapter Celebrates 25 Years

For the past 25 years now, the city's music community has had a support system, a place where music people look out for one another. The Recording Academy Philadelphia Chapter is celebrating a quarter-century of playing this crucial role, creating a feeling more like a family than anything by providing resources and programming to grow and strengthen the its music community from within. The Philadelphia Chapter has galvanized its members, rallying them behind legislation to support creators and showing up to support one another not just in the crucial times of making music, but also in life. Over the years, this unique, close-knit community built on hard work is what sets the city apart.

"Philly has always been really, really rich in talent and hard-working bands," says Bruce Warren, general manager for programming at WXPN. "All these artists, whether you start in the '60s, '70s, '80s, all these artists worked really hard to get to where they were at. And I think on a certain level it's easy to work hard in Philadelphia. You don't have the same challenges that you have in New York or Los Angeles or Chicago. Philly's just a boot-strapping, hard-working city. The ethic is there. And I think a lot of bands really adhere to that ethic."

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Warren grew up here, and as a kid fell in love with the Sound of Philadelphia, and soul and R&B acts like the Delfonics, and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. Over the years, he got into rock bands like Cinderella, Tommy Conwell and the Hooters. The '80s and '90s saw the boom in hip-hop acts like D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Lately he's been into the indie rock acts like Dr. Dog, the War On Drugs and Kurt Vile.

"It's not just one genre of music," he says. "I just referenced a dozen bands across genres. Patti f*ckin' LaBelle! Schooly D! Jill Scott! Come on!"

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A lot of the lore of Philadelphia is a little exaggerated. You're probably not going to get pelted with batteries at Lincoln Financial Field just for showing up in another team's jersey. But, it's an honest city. The people will tell you what they think, whether it's praise or criticism. But there's no guessing intentions or keeping up appearances. If they show you love and support you, it's genuine.

"Philly is real," said Carol Riddick, a singer/songwriter and former President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Recording Academy. "Everything we say and do comes from a place of love, whether we're in agreement or not."

"People here are honest, and demand honesty in their music-making," says songwriter/producer and Recording Academy Philadelphia Chapter Trustee Ivan Barias. "[There is a] "No B.S." factor in our sports, our food or in our music. Realness—you have to come in with that to collaborate here."

Part of that could be that the city really does breed talent on levels beyond what some might expect. There's so much talent across so many genres, the city doesn't need to phone anything in or accept anything less than what it knows it can do. The same way those rowdy fans will boo their beloved sports teams because they know they can and should be winning, Philadelphians know their musical history and the greats that come from every corner of the city, so they expect a certain level of output. For young artists growing up, that's all they know, so they set themselves a higher bar and hold themselves to a higher standard.

And the thing about Philly is that it's not a hip-hop city, although it's been the home for renowned acts like The Roots, Meek Mill and Tierra Whack.

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It's not a rock city, even though it's indie rock and punk scene has become a destination for bands all across the world, with bands from The Dead Milkmen and Hop Along carrying the Philly banner.

And, despite its history of R&B and soul, it's not just a soul city. It's an everything city.

"It's a very diverse city," Warren says. "Creatively, you could draw from a lot of different colors."

You can find everything you need in Philadelphia – world class recording studios, venues of all sizes, a media that loves to sing the praises of local artists, and, most importantly, fans. There are a million and a half people in the city.

"There's always been a built-in music industry in Philadelphia that takes itself very seriously, but doesn't clap itself on the back as hard as New York or Los Angeles or even Nashville," Warren adds. "There's always been a fair amount of humility in what we do here I think."

Singer/songwriter/producer and Recording Academy Philadelphia Chapter Trustee Terry Jones is a bit less humble about things.

"We have the best musical talent," Jones says. "Everyone comes from other towns to our town to take advantage of our musicians, songwriters and producers. Our music creative community [is] serious about honing their craft. Everyone says there is something in the Schuylkill water system—they call it Schuylkill Punch. This could be the secret to our razzmatazz."

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It might be something in the water. Or it might be the fact that the city has bred a mentality of hard work, honesty, perseverance, and support for your own that has boosted the careers of bands starting from the Philly streets as children, or people from all across the world looking for a place to play, create, write, make friends and grow.

If you're a part of Philly—and you'll know if you are—it looks out for you. It might tell you some brutal truths in the moment, but if anyone tries to undermine that talent, Philly will fight like hell for you.

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