GRAMMYs

Salvador Santana and Asdru Seirra

Photo by J.A. Moreno

News

Exclusive: Salvador Santana And Ozomatli’s Asdru Sierra Announce New Politically Charged Project RMXKNZ

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With the duo's debut album set to be released this fall, the Recording Academy has your first listen to their joyful debut track, “Canvas”
Crystal Larsen
GRAMMYs
Jul 18, 2019 - 8:01 am

If you look back on decade’s past, you could say that some of the most trying times, whether for an individual or an entire nation, have produced some of the best music. For renowned producers, songwriters and musicians Salvador Santana (son of GRAMMY-winning guitarist Carlos Santana) and Asdrubal "Asdru" Sierra (lead vocalist, trumpeter, and pianist for GRAMMY winners Ozomatli), who have announced a new collaborative project titled RMXKNZ (pronounced "remix-icans") and will release their first album this fall, the point of inspiration was the turbulent aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. 

But what listeners shouldn't expect from the forthcoming self-titled, self-released album, due to drop during National Hispanic Heritage Month later this year, is a set of songs lamenting the state of the country. Instead, the songs on RMXKNZ serve to uplift, make you dance and inspire action. Santana and Sierra are using their new artistic platform not just to call out those to blame for the current contentious climate of society, but as a call-to-action for those who believe we can be the change we want to see.

The first song on the album, and the duo’s first-ever original song, "Canvas," is a funky, jazzy, hip-hop-tinged danceable track featuring the notable sound of Sierra’s trumpet that sounds like a call-to-action itself. Through the lyrics on "Canvas," the duo encourage listeners to look at their lives as a blank canvas with which they can design who they want to be. The coinciding music video further enhances the song's message, depicting the lively Latinx neighborhoods of East L.A. and Downtown Los Angeles and addressing the issues that affect it: women’s and abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration rights, gender inclusivity and more.

“What we wanted to do was [not] just talk about the obvious and create more problems. … We decided that…we want to just wake people up to what is going on,” says Santana.

“Everyone has a blank canvas when they walk into this world,” adds Sierra. “You could draw on it and that’s what your world becomes. It’s really about walking the walk of what you believe. About being the change.”

The songs on the genre-blending debut address the issues that continue to affect the diverse communities of the duo’s city of residence—Los Angeles—including immigration, racism, social injustice, identity and humanity. As Santana and Sierra would say, RMXKNZ is music for the world.   

In an exclusive interview with the Recording Academy, Santana and Sierra discuss the making of RMXKNZ, the inspiration behind the songs and for whom the songs were written. Listen below for an exclusive first listen of the debut track "Canvas."

Let’s start from the beginning of RMXKNZ. How did you guys meet?

SALVADOR SANTANA: We met in 1999 on the Supernatural tour when Ozomatli—Asdru’s band—was touring with my father. It was in the summer, so, since I was in high school, I could go out and hang out with dad and the band. I got to meet Ozomatli, which, at the time—and still now—I was a huge fan of. … Meeting Asdru, and … just everybody that was part of Ozo, it felt like reuniting with a long-lost family. … From day one Asdru has been like an older brother to me.

ASDRU SIERRA: I remember being really young and my wife was pregnant with our first son. Obviously, there was a lot of fear and a lot of wondering what it was going to be like. A lot of [my] anxieties got calmed down when at the Gorge [Amphitheatre in Washington] I saw Sal when he was a teenager sitting in with his dad onstage. I was like, "Wow, that’s cool." … Everybody in the band had families and every time they would see us like all young in our early and mid-20s about to have babies—I guess we looked like babies to them—they all had their turn sitting us down and talking to us and letting us know what it’s like. And just helping us out.

It was actually Sal that introduced Ozomatli to his dad. He showed him the demo and that’s how we ended up hooking up with Carlos. It was all meant to be. Every time we work together, it’s like working with family.

It sounds like it was really an instant connection with you guys. How did the conversation start to work on the RMXKNZ project?

SS: It all just kind of happened organically and naturally. When I first moved into my house that I live in now—it was my new place—Asdru came over and we hung out. I just showed him what I was trying to build—my home studio and everything.

He was like, “Yo, man. I got these couple of demos that I’m working on. I think it’d be really dope if you mixed it up with some lyrics and piano stuff. Just put your fingerprints on it.”

The first song we wrote happens to be the first single, which is "Canvas." And he just played me the beat and I was just nodding my head. For Asdru and I, it either has to make [people] get up and dance. … Or it’s got to have that head nod factor. If you don’t want to dance, then you have to nod your head. So, if it doesn’t have any of those two ingredients, we don’t mess with it. Because it’s just not going to do anything for us, and that’s how we built our sound sonically was between those two things. And it started with "Canvas."

The songs on the album sound very happy and uplifting. Lyrically, there’s huge stories behind every song. What was the impetus for a lot of the songs? What was "Canvas" about and what’s the story behind that?

SS: Lyrically, at the time when we first started writing a lot of [the album], it was during and around the time of the 2016 elections. So, there was a lot on our minds. … We felt like we wanted to express how we were feeling, musically and lyrically.

But [we also wanted to keep] it palatable and not be too preachy. [We wanted to] make people dance. And if you don’t want to dance then just listen to the lyrics. Hopefully they uplift … and rearrange the narrative. At the end of the day, when people put on the record, we just want people to enjoy what we were able to create. 

AS: Watching in 2016, how the world is in that moment, instead of really having a fighting spirit about it, let’s have a realization moment, and understand that we have to be the change that we want to see in the world. … It’s us walking the world as an example for our children. That’s the best thing we can do is just to be that change even though things are a little crazy. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for a lifetime, it’s always been that struggle. It’s always been there. It’s just now there’s somebody out there that’s pretty blatantly being that way and it’s emboldening the evils that are in the world. The divisions rather than the similarities. 

We can put on the canvas the compassion that people need to remember and need to have for humanity before we start dehumanizing everything that we don’t understand. 

SS: We’re all blank canvases when we come to this planet. We’re born here. We have the opportunity to create exactly who we are. To define who we are with our canvases. … The key is to not allow anybody else to paint on your canvas and define who you are. … For us, what was inspiring about the elections and what was going on around that time … was that Asdru and I realized that it’s not about trying to control others, it’s about influencing. And what better way to influence than through music and through uplifting lyrics. 

It’s for the people. It’s for everybody out there that wants a positive distraction from all the craziness that’s going on.

There’s a song on there, "Make it Betta." It sounds like a call-to-action, like you’re giving people tools through music for how they can do their own part to make the world a better place. How do you think each of us can do our own part to make sure the future canvases that come into this world aren’t corrupt or negative, but peaceful and loving?

SS: Basically, we walk around with this flame. And every single person that we meet has a pilot light. Some people’s pilot lights are out. It’s not that they’re lost or forgotten. It’s just the pilot light is out. And they just need to be ignited. And that’s our job. Especially on songs like "Make it Betta." We’re not trying to tell people what to do. We’re just reminding them of what their purpose is and what we’re all here to do, collectively. And what better way to do that than through music? Through uplifting and conscious lyrics. That was our overall mindset with creating this whole album and that song in particular. 

AS: Martin Luther King [Jr.] had this quote about people that know that something is wrong, and they stay in silence just letting it happen without saying anything. …  The best way we can make it better is to be those lights in darkness. To speak up when these things are happening. It doesn’t necessarily mean to go out there and cause a fight. It’s not about fighting. But to hold accountable everything that we see in this world. If that means speaking up, that’s fine. Just let evil know that you see it because only the ugliest things happen in darkness. 

"Martin Luther King [Jr.] had this quote about people that know that something is wrong, and they stay in silence just letting it happen without saying anything. …  The best way we can make it better is to be those lights in darkness. To speak up when these things are happening."

I want to switch gears and talk about each of your upbringings. Sal, you were raised in San Francisco. And Asdru, you were raised in Los Angeles. How do you think the environment of the cities in which you were raised shaped the music you’re making today with RMXKNZ?

SS: I was always encouraged to just understand as much as you possibly can. There’s not just one culture. It’s one world but there’s so many people and cultures and beautiful things that people offer and make up, musically and sonically. For both Asdru and I, both in Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay Area, we just heard pretty much about everything. It’s not that we gravitated toward one music or one style or one sound, we just took a little bit from each so that we could create our own sound. And I think that’s what makes our album and collaboration so unique because you hear all of the sounds and music that inspired Asdru and I from all the cultures that make up both the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles.

AS: I grew up in Glassell Park in L.A. It was a small town in Northeast L.A. But I was there in the '80s before all the gentrification and everything now. Back in those days there was a lot of gang violence, there was a lot of drugs, there was a lot of poverty, but for the most part it was like maybe 10 percent of the population was about the gangs. When you would watch the movies, it was everything else. On my block everyone was a hardworking homeowner. Latinos just trying to make the best they can in the world we lived in. But again, there was a lot of gang influences and that was something that we as a community tried to deal with, you know?

Through my community, that is what defines what I do with music. … It’s a trip because in my world when I was a kid there was a lot of things going on. But the only thing that I saw was a battleground. … I saw a lot of people get shot. I guess because we’re minorities it didn’t really matter to the news or something. But with that said, it’s all these neighborhoods in L.A. that the only way that I could speak up about it was with music. 

Other than preaching to the converted or singing to the same choir, we have to let somebody in the middle of America know what’s going on. The best way that I know how to do it is with music. Just to let them know that it’s just a stereotype they’re seeing. … There are a bunch of people that were cartoonists, that were artists, that were actors, that were people. What happened to the children of all these gang members? What kind of journey did they go through? The immigrants. It doesn’t always look like they’re out there trying to get your jobs. Other people are just trying to escape from whatever craziness is going on in the countries that they’re in and seeking asylum. There’s so many things going on in this world and the best way that I know how to explain it is by that same canvas. That same music. At the end of the day, I’m ultimately trying to reach the people that don’t understand it.

SS: [We want to] reach out to those that need to be woken up. They’re still asleep. They need to be awake to understand what we’re talking about. But also, to acknowledge those that want to say, what we have the opportunity to say with our platform, with our microphone and with our studio and with our ability to be able to express that.

Would you consider yourselves activists before musicians, or vice versa?

AS: I know activists. I know real ones that dedicate their lives to it. I play a little guitar but I’m not an activist. I like to say that I have been active. As activists, [people] have died, they’ve been shot at, they’ve been beaten by clubs by the police. … As a member of the human race I had to be involved somehow. When real activists would actually call me to support the cause I would show up. But it’s hard to call myself an activist. 

SS: Being an activist is not a part-time gig. You’re either in it or you’re not in it. For me, it’s just about being a musician and supporting activists that we know. … So as opposed to necessarily calling us activists, we are of service to those in the community to be of service.

We’re going to continue through our music to just wake people up and make sure that they stay woke because that’s really what it is at the end of the day.

The activists you’re talking about that are out there doing the work full-time need people like you who have the platform to be able to continue to spread that message in a different way.

SS: Exactly. Both of my grandfathers and Asdru’s were living in a different time and era where it was illegal just to be who you were. The skin tone, where you come from, and how you immigrated here. It was illegal just to be you and that is just crazy to me. For me at the end of the day that’s why I’m just so grateful to be able to use our platform, our talent, our passion, which is music, to be able to express and abolish that old way of thinking.

AS: We answered the call to arms. We show up at the marches. But calling ourselves activists, there’s a certain humility about that.

SS: We’re musicians that aspirer to inspire. That’s who we are.

What’s the meaning behind the name RMXKNZ?

AS: If you look at who we are—both Sal and I—we’re of Mexican descent. [But also] there’s Irish in my family. I have freckles. And obviously Salvador has African-American in him. Mexico is very similar to the U.S. in many ways. It’s not just the natives who are the original Mexicans. … It kind of plays into wordplay about doing remixes and stuff and the fact that we’re Mexicans, with the "mix." It kind of makes sense. The world is a lot bigger and smaller at the same time. 

SS: It’s paying homage to who we are and highlighting who we are. But at the same time, it’s also leaving room for how we’ve evolved. We’re not just Mexican. We’re a little bit of this; we’re a little bit of that. It shows in the music. It shows where we come from and our upbringing.

AS: We also don’t want to limit ourselves either, just because we’re of Latino/Mexican/Latinx decent. Just because we’re that doesn’t mean we only do Latin things. It could be from Africa. It could be from the Middle East. It could be Mongolian. 

It sounds like that ties in to what you were saying earlier about educating people. Letting them know there’s many different types of people all over the world. 

SS: We didn’t mean to, but I think in making this record, we stumbled upon a new genre of music. So, when people say, "What type of music is RMXKNZ?" Asdru and I, we play life. It’s life music. All the music that is in our lifetime that we have loved and just continued to dance to, nod our heads to, inspire to. Is life cumbia? Yeah. Is life Afrobeat? Yeah. Is life hip-hop? Yeah, it’s all that stuff. That’s what we play.

You’re calling this music for the people. It’s heavily influenced by the current climate of society. Who did you write these songs for?

AS: For me, and I think this resonates for Sal, everything we do echoes back to our children. Whatever we want to change is what we want to do. For me, I just want to create a world in which my children can live comfortably long after I’m gone.

SS: When my son was born, I literally watched the future being born. And like what Asdru’s saying, it makes us now as parents realize, man we gotta set up the future right. We gotta make sure we teach these kids right so that they’re good for whatever they’re going to encounter in the future. To make sure that they know that they can have either control or especially influence in what happens in the future. For me, that’s what it’s all about. 

Salvador Santana and Asdru Sierra are involved with the following causes and non-profit organizations: Change.org petition, and Letters of Love to Kids, along with Al Otro Lado and Haitian Bridge Alliance, two groups at the forefront of the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Jennifer Lopez circa 2000

Jennifer Lopez

Photo: WireImage.com

Feature

1999: The Year Latin Pop Conquered America

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1999 saw an unprecedented dominance of Latin pop sounds in American music, opening the public's ears to multilingual songwriting
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Oct 6, 2017 - 3:15 pm

The U.S. music scene in 1999 saw an unprecedented surge in the popularity of Latin pop.

Hispanic artists and various elements of Latin sounds dominated the charts to such an extent that by the end of the year even artists with no Latin heritage to speak of were looking to capitalize on the movement by recording Spanish-language versions of their singles in hopes of activating the crossover market.

Sure, there were prior Latin crossover rumblings — remember Dru's Hill's 1998 Latin-inflected Top 3 hit "How Deep Is Your Love" from Rush Hour? But most argue that it all started with Ricky Martin.

Ricky Martin

"It was completely sudden, and it had a lot to do with Ricky. After his performance at the GRAMMYs, everyone was on alert, so to speak, and expecting his new album. The first hit, of course, was "Livin' La Vida Loca" with that sensational video. I think that was the beginning." — Leila Cobo, executive director of Latin content and programming, Billboard

As a young man, Martin came to prominence between the ages of 12 and 17 as a member of the GRAMMY-nominated boy band Menudo. The Puerto Rico native was also a successful actor and solo recording artist before he burst onto the U.S. music scene in 1999. In the '90s, he acted in TV series such as "General Hospital" and "Getting By," telenovelas and stage plays, and he'd released four successful Spanish-language albums.

Martin won his first career GRAMMY — Best Latin Pop Performance for Vuelve — at the 41st GRAMMY Awards in 1999, but it was his show-stopping performance of "La Copa De La Vida" that same year that made it clear something big was on the horizon.

Martin's "Livin La Vida Loca" was released one month after his spectacular GRAMMY performance, and quickly became his first-ever No. 1 charting single, holding the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks. 

The singer's self-titled fifth solo album — his English debut — was released two months later, and hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 almost immediately. The most successful album of Martin's career, it has gone on to sell well over 15 million copies worldwide. Needless to say, 1999 was a big year for the Puerto Rican pop star.

Leila Cobo, executive director of Latin content and programming for Billboard, was working as Miami Herald's pop music critic at the time, recalls one event that served as an interesting tell sign.

"I went to cover [the signing] and found a line of hysterical girls at 11 a.m. on a school day that went on for blocks," she says. "I had never seen anything like this, ever."

Writing for Billboard roughly a month after "Livin La Vida Loca" hit store shelves, Michael Paoletta, now executive producer, A&R and music supervision for Comma Music, commented prophetically, "In the weeks since [the GRAMMYs], it seems like every record label exec has been in a heated search for the next Latin hottie."

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez had worked as a successful dancer and actress during the '90s, notably appearing as a Fly Girl on Keenan and Damon Wayans' sketch comedy and variety show "In Living Color." In 1997 Lopez earned a huge breakthrough in the leading role as GRAMMY-winning Tejano singer Selena in the titular biopic about her life and tragic death. The Bronx native's performance in the film was lauded by critics and fans alike, putting her in the entertainment spotlight and at the same time making her ripe to become the breakout female star to help propel the Latin pop movement.

Lopez's debut single, "If You Had My Love," was released in May 1999, just a week before Martin's self-titled album hit the shelves, arriving at the perfect time to sate the appetites of stateside listeners. The single climbed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the best-selling singles in the U.S. for 1999. Lopez's first studio album, On The 6, released a few weeks later, also skyrocketed, debuting at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and ultimately earning triple-platinum status.

"Waiting For Tonight," the second radio single from On The 6, would go on to be nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 42nd GRAMMY Awards.

J.Lo, Pharrell Williams, Lady Gaga: 13 Iconic GRAMMY Fashion Statements

The same month that saw Lopez release On The 6 also saw another well-established Latin pop star blow up in the U.S.

Enrique Iglesias

Enrique Iglesias had previously won his first GRAMMY for Best Latin Pop Performance for his first self-titled 1995 studio album. The Spanish singer also came from an impressive musical pedigree, being the son of GRAMMY-winning Latin pop crooner Julio Iglesias.

"Bailamos," the junior Iglesias' inaugural English language release, was selected for the 1999 blockbuster action flick Wild Wild West, thanks in part to a request from GRAMMY winner Will Smith. The single would top the Billboard Hot 100 and become an immense success, eventually selling more than 5 million copies worldwide.

Almost certainly the biggest success story of the 1999 Latin pop explosion, however, was to be the eponymous band led by then-52-year-old guitar god Carlos Santana.

Santana

"We connected with hip-hoppers. … We connected with middle white America, we connected with Latin America, Africa, Asia, Australia. It's like the Champs-Elysées in Paris: This CD is connected to all the streets." — Carlos Santana on Supernatural, 1999

When Santana's 17th studio album, Supernatural, was released in 1999, the group had been playing live together for longer than the likes of Martin, Lopez and Iglesias had been alive. The album's lead single, "Smooth," featuring Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas, was an absolute phenomenon that year. It spent an astonishing 12 weeks in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Santana's first chart-topping song.

For The Record: Carlos Santana

Supernatural would net Santana a total of eight GRAMMYs at the 42nd GRAMMY Awards, including Album Of The Year and Best Rock Album, with "Smooth" taking home Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. Commercially, Supernatural would eventually sell more than 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Due to its equally strong chart performance, "Smooth" would be the final song of the decade to stand atop the Hot 100.

The Latin GRAMMY Awards

Following the incredible explosion of Latin pop music in 1999, the year 2000 heralded the inception of the Latin GRAMMY Awards, hosted by the Latin Recording Academy, which was established in 1997 as a counterpart to the Recording Academy.

Nuyorican Marc Anthony would become the first artist to take home the inaugural Latin GRAMMY for Song Of The Year, Record Of The Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "I Need To Know (Dímelo)," from his Top 10 1999 self-titled album.

While some later argued that the 1999 Latin explosion was a brief high-gloss blip on the pop culture radar, its impact cannot be underestimated. The 2000s and beyond have seen a steady stream of Latin artists dent the Billboard charts — including Shakira, Juanes, Luis Fonsi, J Balvin, and Nicky Jam, among others. The past year has seen the continuing dominance of Latin sounds in the modern pop scene, with crossover hits such as Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" serving as but one example.

And the Latin GRAMMY Awards has emerged as The Biggest Night in Latin Music, honoring top Latin music talent and featuring top-shelf performances that thrill millions worldwide — a testament to the staying power of Latin music.

"To have a song in Spanish, and to be in the top of the Hot 100, that's something that rarely happens," Fonsi told CNN regarding "Despacito." "I'm just very proud that Latin music has grown so much and people are just really connecting to it."

GRAMMYs

Soccer Mommy

Photo by Brian Ziff

News

Soccer Mommy On 'color theory,' Impulse Depop Shopping & The Demon Living In Her House

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Ahead of her sophomore album, out on Feb. 28, the bedroom-pop player spoke to the Recording Academy about defining her latest recordings in colors, how astrology ties to her need to express herself and more
Lior Phillips
GRAMMYs
Feb 24, 2020 - 10:20 am

"A lot of people think I have synesthesia," Sophie Allison laughs. "But I do connect a lot of emotions with colors." Throughout her new album as Soccer Mommy, Allison separates the darkness in her life into three sections themed to different hues. Color theory begins in a "Blue" territory focused on depression and being a loner; "Yellow" follows, with songs centered on physical and mental illness; and the album ends in "Gray," ruminating on mortality and death. Across these borders, the young Nashvillian shares a very real relationship with pain, self-doubt and insecurity, delivered without pretense. The lyrics are unvarnished and personal, yet engulfing in their relatability. And though those three emotional areas may feel closely related, the difference between colors is palpable. 

Allison deals in intimate detail, yet her curiosity and compassion bring the listener closer with each syllable. We all have our demons—some both literally and figuratively. "God, I keep promising myself I'll stop talking about demons," Allison says, midway through discussing the record, which arrives on Feb. 28 via Loma Vista Recordings. But the potential of an evil spirit inhabiting her home is only one item on the list of concerns powering Allison’s songwriting. 

The record’s complex take on indie pop and alt-rock is also indebted to other women familiar with darkness—Allison reveling in '00s MTV icon Britney Spears and '90s chamber-pop luminary Tori Amos in equal measure. The spiraling patterns of "circle the drain" daub her paranoiac depression in a deceptively warm swathe of Clinton-era acoustic guitar and splashy cymbal. The expansive "lucy," meanwhile, finds Allison dealing with heartbreak embodied in a devilish form, her voice floating by in daggered falls. The seven-minute epic "yellow is the color of her eyes" explores her mother’s battle with cancer in a sparkling churn at once heartbreaking and endearing.

Allison spoke with the Recording Academy about the mood-building of defining her album in colors, how astrology ties to her need to express herself musically and the potential of a demonic presence living in her walls.

What are you up to today?

I'm at Target, looking at some blenders. I just want to start blending! I want to make smoothies and to stop having to eat meals. Only liquids, that's what we're working toward. I don't have to use a plate, I could use the same water cup I've been using for days. It's great!

2020, the year of the liquid. I’m new to America and Target is fascinating.

Target has everything. I don't like ordering things online. I need instant gratification. The one exception is that I'll Depop stuff because it’s just other 25-year-olds who posted their clothes trying to make 20 bucks.

I got stuck on Depop the other day, scrolling for hours—imagining the life that each little piece of clothing can have.

"My life's going to change when I get it." And then, in reality, nothing's going to happen. It's a problem. It triggers an insane impulse shopping thing that I didn't even know was alive in my body. I used to have to go to the mall and it'd be the whole day, but now I just sit and scroll, and then buy a million things. 

I do it a lot in the back of the tour van. When I'm on tour, I don't have many outfits, and I start getting really depressed about the fact that I don't like any of the clothes I own. It starts becoming this insane meltdown situation. Then I buy a new wardrobe on Depop, and once I get it, it's really fun—for a couple of days. I'm just going to go through this cycle for the rest of my life, over and over again. 

I was completely absorbed by your new album. It's one of those all-consuming records—but it didn't overwhelm.

That's good. That was the worry for me honestly. It is very dark. There are definitely going to be fans that are like, "This is destroying me right now." And I'm like, "Sorry! Oops."

These songs are so confident and self-assured. There's that inkling of doubt laced in, but you are singing right from the authentic core. How did it feel to get this all out?

The writing helps. The thing is, I'm still dealing with the stuff I wrote about. I've never found it hard to write about dark things, but I do find it hard even to tell people when I'm feeling dark things. I'm very much the type to be in denial. I've gotten better at it, but I still would joke about it more than actually talk about it. Writing isn’t different than saying it to myself in my head a million times a day. It would probably be really hard to write about that stuff without it destroying me if I wasn’t used to it. But the place I was coming from when writing the album is already kind of destroyed.

Clean was all about not denying your feelings, and now there's this commitment to the now, to what's happening to you. There's a lot of pain and difficult emotion, but it’s entirely relatable rather than overly dark.

Yeah. It's literally the stuff that was happening to me at the time that I was writing—especially some of the stuff in the "Yellow" section, like "crawling in my skin." It's not metaphoric. It's about having sleep paralysis and really bad paranoia and hallucinating and not sleeping very much. It's hard to not be honest. But in some ways, I could have been more honest.

How could you have been more honest?

There's always more I can say. One thing that's really important in writing about really heavy subjects is to not get bogged down in the moment when you're feeling really upset. At least for me, I go through mood shifts. I'll be really intensely low about something and then later it's like it never happened. So for me, it's partially about finding the balance between over-exaggeration and the normal feeling.

Are you writing in the phase where you're feeling down, or are you writing in the aftermath, where you're a little bit more separated from the emotion?

It varies. You can usually hear the difference. Some songs are way more reflective, while a song like "royal screw up" is laying the intensity on the whole song. I wrote that song in five minutes, sitting in my bed at my parents’ house. I just started singing lines and tweaking it until it felt right. 

Is there anything on the album that is the antithesis of that song, something that you labored over?

"bloodstream," definitely. That was one where I had the chorus and all these visual ideas for the lyrics, comparing blood to a river and looking back on childhood. But it was very hard to piece it all together and have it sound like lyrics. It just sounded like a bunch of words.

Not a lot of artists talk about self-harm. It's something that people intentionally hide, but you explore it with tenderness and subtlety. How did it feel to sing those lyrics in the booth?

Honestly, it felt great. It's not fun to have this public image and pretend to be fine all the time when I'm not. I want people to know that I'm not fine so that they won't take advantage of thinking I'm fine. That’s especially hard with social media. I want to give fans stuff they want, but at the same time, it triggers mood problems for me because I'm thinking too much about what people think of me. It's just too overwhelming and I can't stand it.

The songs allow you a moment in time to step back from.

Maybe. To me, it honestly feels more like when I listen to Britney Spears songs from before she kind of lost it. I'm like, "She's screaming for help!" I'm telling everyone about it. I'm telling anyone that's riding in the car with me. I'm like, "Do you hear that line?" I'm being a really big freak about it and I'm kind of like, "I hope someone's at least noticing that I'm also kind of losing it." [Laughs.] 

In "night swimming," you contextualize the themes by pairing the emotion with ambient crowd noise. You acknowledge implicitly that the audience might be going through the same darkness.

That's a really good point. I really wanted the record to sound like early 2000s pop music—the most fun music. When you’re with the girls and trying to party, you put on early 2000s throwbacks. I wanted it to sound like that, but also like I'm trapped in the body of a doll and I'm trying to get out. [Laughs.] I wanted it to have that feeling of relief from hiding in something. It is really common to feel trapped in that way. A lot of people don't want to be a burden with their emotional stress. It is stressful! It's stressful having your friends burden you with a lot of emotional stress. But we do it because we care about people.

There’s also a lot of '90s influence—Tori Amos, Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple.

Tori Amos is actually one of the only direct influences I can cite for this album.

I really heard her in "gray light."

I literally was like, "To Venus and Back, let's do it on this track!” I'm glad that came across. Tori Amos is the energy that we're channeling on all of the drum machine sounds. 

I was so struck by how interconnected all three of the album's themes could be—fear and sadness and physical sickness. But when you put a color to each, it's easier to differentiate them.

It's a whole mood. The songs in the section don't have to be exactly on the same topic to be about the same energy. I’d been steadily writing since the last album, and we recorded about a year from the release of Clean. I've written other stuff in between, including this song that I wrote around last January for a horror movie called "The Turning." That was really fun. It was really easy. I would love to keep writing songs for horror movies because I am really connected to these horror ideas, having experienced hallucinations and paranoia and stuff. Also, I think there's a demon trapped in the walls of my house. Everyone keeps saying it’s an animal. But I know it’s not an animal. I had a demon possessing me and following me around, and now it's in my walls.

Wait, seriously?

I connect a lot of my paranoia with monsters and horror stuff, probably because I watched a lot of that sh*t growing up. When I start getting paranoid that someone's watching me and following me, I'm like, "It's a mythical creature."

I used to think the demon was in my brain, but I got it out and now it's in my house, in the walls. I said this incantation to banish it from my body while I was in my living room, and then all of a sudden we started hearing noises in the wall. I saged the entire house except for by my bed, because my boyfriend was in it and I didn’t want to sage his face. And then that night I wake up at 5:00 AM and it's right there behind my pillow, some noise, something crawling around. 

You need something stronger than sage.

Yeah, I know. I need to get some help. But the point is, I love writing songs for horror movies. When I wrote "Feed," I thought, "I'll just talk about demons. I can do this all day." 

It takes courage to speak so openly. I’m thinking specifically of "yellow is the color of her eyes" and "gray light."

In terms of braveness, I still can't talk to my mother about these songs. She'll be like, "I like the new song. I'm so happy to hear—." And I'm like, "Stop. Please. I can't. I get it. Thank you. You like it. I feel good. That's all I can take from you.” I don't want to have a deep convo. I'm uncomfortable with that kind of stuff too. The reason I write it out is my Taurus Mercury. My communication is very solid if I get the words in a way where I'm like, "This is it. It's complete."

Did your mom listen to those songs?

Yeah, she's heard the album. I'm close to my mom. She understands I don't want to talk about anything emotional. I'm not very good at doing interviews and stuff like that because I’ll ramble and I can't concisely say exactly what I'm trying to say. When I write something, it’s the finish line at the end of a bunch of rambling. I want to get the words right so I can feel at peace with it, satisfied. When I don't feel like anyone is fully understanding what I'm trying to say, it's internally frustrating.

Do you have a different relationship with Clean now? 

The songs are really good songs, and I feel really happy with them. Lyrically, some of it sticks hard and it's gonna stick forever, but some of it is just not the life I'm living anymore. Honestly, a couple of months after an album comes out, for me, it loses the sense of attachment because it's not mine anymore. It's not something I'm sitting privately recounting and listening to and being like, "I got this right and this means a lot to me."

Do you think about your place in this world? 

I think everyone does, regardless of what they're doing for a living. I'm hoping my purpose is to keep playing music. I'm hoping I'm blessed with that ability to keep doing this for the rest of my life. I will always play music but I'd love to be blessed with the ability to perform and be an artist for the rest of my life. 

Courtney Barnett Talks Life, Music And (Almost) Everything

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Huey Lewis & Jimmy Kimmel at the GRAMMY Museum

Huey Lewis & Jimmy Kimmel

Photo: Alison Buck/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

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Huey Lewis Talks New Album 'Weather,' Legacy Of 'Sports' & Staying Hopeful

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The leader of the legendary GRAMMY-winning band talks new music, staying positive amidst hearing loss and finding the heart of rock and roll in Cleveland
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Feb 18, 2020 - 4:57 pm

In 1983, San Francisco blues-rock outfit Huey Lewis & The News released their third album, one the world would never forget, Sports. They hit it out of the park with six of the nine tracks landing as hits, including classic jams "The Heart Of Rock And Roll," "If This It," "Heart And Soul" and "I Want a New Drug."

Now, 37 years later, the GRAMMY-winning band has released their 10th studio album, Weather, on Feb. 14. The seven-track project is made up of jubilant songs they finished recording before Lewis suffered an intense episode of Ménière's disease—an inner-ear disorder that affects hearing and balance in varying intensity—in 2018. Because of this heath issue, Lewis hasn't been able to perform, record or even listen to music since—but he is hopeful things may improve in the future, and is grateful for his many rockin' memories.

Ahead of Weather's release, the "Hip To Be Square" singer treated GRAMMY Museum guests to a heartwarming and enlightening conversation with his celeb bestie, Jimmy Kimmel. The dynamic pair dove deep into Lewis' long musical career (all the way back to busking around Europe with his harmonica at age 16), living with hearing loss, Weather and the new "The Heart of Rock & Roll" musical.

The GRAMMY Museum event opened with a special early preview of the star-studded "Her Love Is Killin' Me" music video (which you can watch above), featuring Kimmel, S.F. Giants' former manager Bruce Bochy, legendary S.F. 49ers quarterback Joe Montana, Andy Garcia, Brandon Flowers,  June Lockhart, Topher Grace, Brad Paisley and many more. During the chat, Kimmel shared his excitement about finally fulfilling his dreams of staring in one of their videos, while Lewis revealed that his original idea for the video was for Kimmel to lip-sync the whole song. 

Before Lewis and Kimmel's conversation, Huey graciously spoke to the Recording Academy about Weather, the legacy of Sports, living with hearing loss and where the heart of rock and roll is still beating (hint: it's in Ohio).

The band's first album of new music in almost 20 years, Weather, is coming out soon. How are you feeling?

Yes. Friday, Valentine's Day. I'm very excited. I honestly think it's among our best work. I have these hearing woes, so I probably shouldn't be trying to do interviews and stuff, but I've tried to give the songs a nice sendoff. We're very proud of the record, and we're trying to make some noise with it.

"I honestly think [Weather] is among our best work…We're very proud of the record, and we're trying to make some noise with it."

Can you talk a little bit about the message behind "While We're Young"?

Yeah. It's written from the point of view of someone who's not that young, but not dead yet either. I think that's the idea. [Grins.] It's how do you handle middle age, let's say.

"We'll take a nap in the afternoon." That's just part of the fun.

I love that lyric.

So much of youth is wasted on the young.

I was just having that conversation with my coworker today—what should we be doing now that we're going to be mad we didn't do when we're 50?

See? [Grins.]

Can you talk a little about your experience living with hearing loss?

Yeah. It's something I've lived with for a long time. I lost my right ear 35 years ago, or 80 percent of it. [Points to left ear.] This just happened two years ago. Unfortunately, the left ear fluctuates. When my hearing's good—I wear hearing aids—I'm okay. I can hear speech and everything, and I might even be able to hear music enough to sing. But I haven't been able to find that out because I'm never good long enough to book a rehearsal. My hearing turns crappy again like it is now. When it's bad like this, I can't hear anything, I can barely hear the phone. I can hear you when you're 24 inches away, that's about it.

Has it been hard emotionally for you? Do you just take it day by day?

In the beginning, it was very, very hard. I spent my first two months in bed really, just fasting and taking steroids and trying everything, hydrating galore. I lost 18 pounds, but my hearing never got better. I was really depressed.

My kids are great and helped me through this all. It turns out you can kind of get used to almost anything. I have to realize that there are lots of people worse off than I am. I have to be grateful for what I have. It's hard sometimes, but it's only right. That's what I try to do, try to look on the bright side.

That's important.

Not always easy, but I try.

"Our dream is to play music for a living, period. That was it, to be able to do nothing else but play music. And so, Sports was the record that proved to us that we could do that."

What did the success of Sports feel like to you at the time?

Well, it was a relief for us because our dream is to play music for a living, period. That was it, to be able to do nothing else but play music. And so, Sports was the record that proved to us that we could do that.

But it's an interesting record because it was a record of its time, it came out in 1983, but we recorded it in '82. If you think back to that time, it was completely a radio world, Contemporary Hit Radio ran the whole show. Even MTV, which had just started, its playlist exactly mirrored radio's playlist. And so, our job was to make a hit single. If you didn't have a hit single, you didn't exist.

This was our third album, and if we didn't have a hit with it, it was going to be all over. So we insisted on producing the record ourselves because if we're going to make those commercial decisions, we wanted to make them ourselves. Because you've got to live with that stuff. So our manager went to bat for us. Our label was in London, so they couldn't really control us. We were 6,000 miles away, so they allowed us to produce it ourselves.

We aimed pretty much almost all the songs at radio because we knew we needed a hit. We didn't know we were going to have six of them. Each with different styles—one was kind of a ballad, one was a rocker, one was kind of a bluesy thing, one was R&B-based, not knowing which one would work. Now, when I look back at the Sports album, I see it as a record of its time, a collection of singles because it was a singles world back then.

Read: Michael Kiwanuka On His New Anti-Alter Ego Masterpiece 'Kiwanuka,' '70s Psychedelia, Songwriting & More

As the group came together in San Francisco back in the '70s, do you feel like '70s S.F. had an influence on your music or career as a musician?

It was a great time for music. Even before that, live music was abundant when we grew up. That was the entertainment of its day. There were four or five clubs in Marin County, which had live music all the time. And so, it was a great, great place to learn your craft. I was in a band called Clover that played five nights a week for years.

And then this band, we played clubs and concerts. We've played thousands of shows probably, certainly more than a thousand. A lot of groups today don't get to do that. In fact, it's a mistake if you do. It's better to make a nice video or screen time thing, and let that work and don't go out there and blow it. And so, it was just a different time then.

In our day, the way you broke a record was you released it and then you go play the country. You started in Seattle, go to Portland, go to San Francisco, go to L.A., go to San Diego, cross Tucson, Phoenix, then Texas. And in each town, you invite the radio stations and the newspapers, and hopefully, when you leave, you get a nice review and the radio stations will be playing your song. You do that all across the country, about 50 shows. When you get to New York at the end, hopefully, the whole country is playing your record. But even if they aren't, you've just done 50 or 60 shows. So that's how we learned our craft. It was very much a live performance thing. I think today it's less of that.

A lot of cutting your teeth, hustling that music.

Yeah, a lot of cutting your teeth. We weren't playing with machines, so we're ad-libbing more. It was a different deal.

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Where do you think now the heart of rock and roll lives now?

Well, it's probably still beating in Cleveland. Cleveland is a cool place. I wrote that song because we had played a gig there and, you know, we're from San Francisco, and we'd always heard that Cleveland is a great rock and roll town. I thought to myself, "How could Cleveland be a great [city]—we're from San Francisco!" We had the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Sly & the Family Stone. [Jimi] Hendrix played the Fillmore [West]. Then we played the gig and it was amazing. The audience was amazing. It was really one of our best gigs when we were first coming up.

Driving out of town on the bus, somebody had a T-shirt on with the smoky skyline of Cleveland that said, "Cleveland, you got to be tough," or something. I looked at the shirt and, mindful of the great gig, I said to the guys, "Hey, you know what fellas? The heart of rock and roll really is in Cleveland." I said, "Wow that could be a song." And the guys went, "The heart of rock and roll is in Cleveland? I'm sorry, that's not very good." I changed it to make "the heart of rock and roll is still beating," but that was the inspiration.

I think it's probably still beating in Cleveland. It's beating in a lot of places, but just not as loudly as it once was.

What gives you the most hope right now?

Wow. My kids, my family. [Grins.] My kids are so positive. I get notes from my daughter, like just now [points to phone], she says, "Love you dad, and I know you're looking at an upturn any minute." They're just so positive and so wonderful. It's really wonderful to have a great family.

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Micheal Kiwanuka

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Michael Kiwanuka On His New Anti-Alter Ego Masterpiece 'Kiwanuka,' '70s Psychedelia, Songwriting & More

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"What you see is what you get," says the eclectic British singer/songwriter, who also talks about working with Danger Mouse and Inflo on his new self-titled LP
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Feb 12, 2020 - 11:09 am

Whether grabbed by its striking album art or its name on high-profile top 10 lists, Michael Kiwanuka's latest LP has probably hit the radar of most music enthusiasts by now… and for good reason. Kiwanuka is an adventure into a world where R&B, folk, funk, and psychedelia collide with purpose and power. But combining these elements, as it turns out, wasn't a process of reinvention, but rather of introspection.

"I decided whilst making this record that I would [concentrate] on who I am more so, and just accept that instead of trying to fit myself into something else," Kiwanuka told the Recording Academy. "And that's the anti-alter ego, just Michael Kiwanuka."

The plan worked. The album, Kiwanuka's third full-length, ambitiously breaks new sonic ground underneath remarkably personal and vulnerable songs and performances. But for all its stylistic exploration, his cause to make the album true to himself centers on his captivating vocals. As The New York Times points out, "the grain in his voice is equal parts weariness and persistence."

Currently out on the road in support of the new album, Kiwanuka checked in with the Recording Academy to talk about making what he proudly considers his new masterpiece, working with Danger Mouse and Inflo, his songwriting philosophy, what music he's had on repeat and more.

Let's start with the tour. What can you tell us about this time out on the road?

Yeah, man. Yeah, I'm super excited for the tour coming up. I actually love touring the U.S., because it's quite so unique. Every place, every continent's different, every country. But yeah, man, the plan is to play a lot of the new record. I've only done a two-week tour so far with this new album because it's still just fresh out, I guess. I did a European tour in November. A lot of the new record is quite a long set, in a way, because there's a lot of songs off the new record, plus songs from the last, and a few from my first album.

I'm trying to give people an experience similar to how I was trying on the record, where you turn up, and then once the music starts, you can get taken away to another world almost, and just forget all of what's going on in your life and all the stresses, and really have a time just being still. And that's my plan with this record, very soulful, very colorful and vivid, and that kind of vibe.

I love what you said about calling it an anti-alter ego album, and I guess for a self-titled album, that makes sense, to a degree. But how did you arrive at that direction on your third full-length?

Yeah. It came to me because over the years, I've always had this thing of I'll try and look, even since my early teens, I'll try and look towards someone on the TV that played guitar or music, a musician, that seems to do the same thing that I wanted to do or someone I could relate to. And I guess with the kind of music I make, there wasn't so much of that around. So I always, because of that, had this imposter syndrome slash I don't feel like a bonafide act that someone would stereotypically go and see. Because some people can have the uniform, whether it's rock and roll with the skinny jeans and that kind of Keith Richards look, or if you're a hip-hop artist, there's is a certain way.

And I just didn't really have any of those things. And so, I kept looking outside for approval, I guess. And then, you get to the third album, and it gets in the way of you really being present and enjoying what your music [is] and what you do, and how amazing the job is. And it also takes away some confidence.

So I decided whilst making this record that I would switch that and be concentrated on who I am more so, and just accept that instead of trying to fit myself into something else. And that's how I came up with the title. And I was thinking that all the alter egos that people make, All of the legends have done it, whether you change your name, or you have Ziggy Stardust or Sasha Fierce, or whatever it is. I have nothing against it, but that's just not me. So I thought, "Well, I'll go completely the other way, and that'll be who I am." And that's the anti-alter ego, just Michael Kiwanuka. What you see is what you get.

You must be quite self-aware to make that kind of artistic decision based on identity. What are some things you do to stay mentally healthy, and especially when you're on the road?

Yeah, man. That's a really cool question. And I'm lucky to have, on the road, have a really good team of talented musicians and people, but also really grounded, good people. And some of the band, I've known since I was a teenager. So, that keeps me in check and in place. I'll always try and wake up, have a routine, and try to eat healthy as much as I can. And even though it's fun, you get excited when you go on tour, but you're laying back on some drinking sometimes really does actually help. And you're slowing the pace because you get carried away and you're going to lose yourself. But essentially, I just try and stay close to the music, and that's what keeps my mental health relatively stable, is focus on the music, whether it's really getting into the gig and then making sure I'm doing the best I can. Or even in the downtime, going to watch a show, going to a guitar shop, going to see an exhibition writing my music. Just staying connected to what got me into it in the first place. That's what keeps me level and keeps me in the right headspace.

Very cool. Well, and as a songwriter, how do you like to write? There's a couple of schools of thought: sit down and make it happen no matter what, or wait for the inspiration to shine through you. Do you have a preferred process or philosophy?

Yeah. It's interesting. As I've been learning and put out records, I'm like, each time, you learn a new facet of the process of being creative… Working in close relationship with Danger Mouse and Inflo, they have their ways, and they've taught me quite a bit, there's basically... The best times are the inspired times where a song pours out of you. But I've found as well, being ready and working to that place can help.

So sometimes, I'll just sit and play and play and write and write. And I know that a lot of this stuff will be not very good, but it opens my brain, the creative side of the brain, to be open and really maybe to let inspiration come through.

So now, it's a mixture of waiting for the inspiration, but also being quite specific about going and just creating, and trying something, and just going and going until your brain loosens up and stuff begins to flow. And this stuff that flows is always the best stuff, but sometimes that hard work beforehand gets you ready for it, you know?

Can you pick one thing about Danger Mouse and one thing about Inflo they brought to the table on this album, one thing about working with each of them that helped shape this sound?

They brought so much, such great, great artists and producers and creators. They brought so much, even really from the way you think about making a record to an actual musical idea, everything. Ideas and production and mixing, all of it.

But a particular thing could be, for example, all the interludes and sections that tie songs together, I remember early on in the process, I really wanted to have an album that flowed end to end and felt like one whole piece. And I was really interested in skits on records that people used to do… And I was always sitting there and just really thinking, "How can we do that?"

I remember mentioning that to Danger Mouse, and he got into the idea, and sat there with headphones and his laptop, and came up with all these samples… and mangled the music that we already had been making to get the music to flow between records. And that was one massive thing that he brought to the record that was pretty exciting. Amongst everything else. That's such a small section.

And then, Inflo's really cool. I really love when I'm writing my lyrics, he always pushed me to be as open and as creative as I can. So yeah, I remember with a song called "Hard To Say Goodbye," we just sat in the studio. I remember the first verse, we must've ended up being in the studio in London for five days, Monday through Friday, and just listening to the chords and melody. And then slowly, slowly coming up with something that made it sound like me or someone sitting down and just pouring their heart out, and it's so effortless.

But I remember we sat at lunch for a long time, just listening, thinking, "What could I write that could be true and beautiful?" And he was always really good at pushing me to find the interesting metaphors and pictures and things. Here are these lyrics, "You are my air to breathe, just like honey to a bee." And I really love that line. I came up with that, but that definitely came with being pushed and pushed and pushed to the point, on the Friday from the Monday, thinking, "Oh, that sounds good." So, he's really good at pushing me to be way more vivid and abstract as I can.

It's a great lyric. And yeah, sometimes you got to sit with it and take your scalpel out and carve it a little bit. Is there a song that's changed and evolved, as far as what it means to you since it came out?

Oh, yeah. That's cool. I think definitely "Final Days." It's funny. In the studio, that's really evolved the most for me personally, in terms of what it means to me. I remember when I first started making that in the studio, I remember Inflo was like, I remember he had a baseline and a drumbeat, and I was like, "What is this?" And it was just bare-bones, and I kept putting it off, putting it off, putting it off.

And then, eventually, he'd worked on it, and then it turned into something that I thought, "Wow, that's really unique. I never thought... I used to hate this." I didn't think it would make the record. And then it became one of my favorites to listen to. And then, when you start playing it, I was thinking, "Well, playing it's going to be weird. It doesn't sound like what I usually do, I may skip it on shows. I don't know."

But then, I started rehearsing, and it was almost the, not the easiest to play, but kind of played itself.

And I really, really reengaged with the lyric and the melody of that song. And then, just what's been happening in the world, with the climate in Australia and… in Indonesia, and just the craziness of the climate. That's what's going on. "Final Days" is really apt now. Really, in my head, I had these ideas of space and leaving the planet, and it's the end of the world. And then, now it feels like, when I sing it, it just feels like something that's happening today on Earth. So that song's really, really changed in the time I've written it and played it on tour.

You've been very outspoken and inspiring in addressing racial and social issues. Do you feel like the industry has changed in the decade or so since you started as an artist? Is it any different now for a black artist doing what you do, making records, touring, building a fan base?

Yeah, I think definitely. I think in a positive way, yeah. I think definitely from when I put my first album out in the U.K. to now, in whatever genre it is, I think it's been a huge change. And I think the fact that I'm able to have a third album titled Kiwanuka, and have the artwork on the front of the page, and it's so proud and bold, like an African chief… And that being so easily consumed in the West, where we live.

And seeing, in the U.K., grime music just take off, and in the U.S., hip-hop music's always been huge. But it just blowing up and keeps becoming bigger and bigger. And also seeing a lot of black artists doing things that remind me of maybe what inspired me so much about '70s music and '70s soul. Seeing artists like H.E.R., an incredible musician, guitar player, bass player, like a modern Prince. That hasn't been around for a while, and that's something that young people are really excited about and into and inspired by.

I didn't feel like that was happening in my early teen or my early 20s. So yeah, I feel like the growth and the inclusion and the excitement of black artists is really, really changing and pushing. Even a Tyler, The Creator album like Igor, for him to just be going, him to have an album like this compared to what he was doing 10 years ago, you wouldn't see that coming. And I think there's a confidence and excitement that's come through, more acceptance of black artists that's happening now. So I definitely think it's really exciting being a young, black artist at the minute.

What are you listening to these days?

Well, last year, towards the end of the year, I was enjoying the new Tyler, The Creator album, Igor. And I enjoyed that at the end of 2019. I've been listening to Nino Ferrer… I've been listening to him because I just really love that '70s psychedelia.

I'm into this group called Thee Oh Sees. I love Thee Oh Sees, a song called "Sticky Hulks" in particular from a few years ago. Now, I've really, really been enjoying is from 2018, is seeing a producer who sadly passed away called Richard Swift. He's amazing. He's got an album called The Hex. It's a really, really beautiful record. That's been on repeat.

How about outside of music: what do you do for fun and to unwind?

So yeah, I've been into a few different things. [When I have] spare time, I love just taking photos. I'm into amateur photography for fun. Learning how to use film, .35 mm photography, whilst I'm on tour, just snapping anything when I'm almost done in the studio. I really love doing that in my spare time. That's really fun. I guess that's another creative outlet.

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