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

Robert Plant

Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage

News

'Digging Deep' Into Robert Plant's Solo Catalog

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In honor of the Zeppelin frontman's new seven-inch vinyl box set, we've rounded up one track from each of his 11 studio albums (and two collaborative records), showcasing his elite artistic range
Ryan Reed
GRAMMYs
Dec 13, 2019 - 10:51 am

In a decade when most of his '70s rock god peers have either retired or settled comfortably into life as a nostalgia-fueled touring act, Robert Plant reached a creative zenith. The former Led Zeppelin frontman released two of his most cinematic LPs, 2014's lullaby… and The Ceaseless Roar and 2017's Carry Fire, in his late '60s—the latest artful chapter in a five-decade career of continual surprise.

Since his former band's demise in 1980, Plant has shape-shifted from style to style—often adding his own color to the canvas of contemporary radio (the hard-rock/New Wave hybrid of 1988's Now and Zen), sometimes using trendy sounds as a launching pad for experimentation (the wacky art-pop of 1985's Shaken 'N' Stirred). At one point or another, he's reveled in blues, Americana, psychedelia, art-rock and country—but it's really all just felt like Robert Plant.

The singer-songwriter surveys that nonlinear evolution with Digging Deep, a new seven-inch vinyl box set featuring cuts from across his solo catalog. To mark the occasion, we've rounded up one track from each of Plant's 11 studio albums (and two collaborative records), showcasing his elite artistic range.

"Pledge Pin" (from 1982's Pictures at Eleven)

It was a strange year: Five months before Led Zeppelin closed the curtain with their final LP, rarities compilation Coda, Plant ventured forth with his stylish debut solo record—which paired the muscle of In Through the Out Door-era Zep with a more polished production style befitting 1982. The centerpiece is "Pledge Pin," which taps into a Police-like mood with its punchy, reggae-rock riff and Phil Collins' bombastic tom-tom fills.

"In The Mood" (from 1983's The Principle Of Moments)

Working again with guitarist Robbie Blunt, a chief collaborator on the first three solo albums, Plant recaptured his debut's contrast of heaviness and buoyancy on The Principle Of Moments. But where Pictures At Eleven thrived on atmosphere, pieces like the minor hit "In The Mood" were more blatantly melodic: On the verses, Plant wrangles maximum catchiness out of two notes, his staccato rhythms dancing over Blunt's dreamy licks and Phil Collins' funky, syncopated groove.

"Hip To Hoo" (from 1985's Shaken 'N' Stirred)

Plant detoured into New Wave quirkiness on Shaken 'N' Stirred, exemplified by the jagged, idea-per-second arrangement of opener "Hip To Hoo." The track opens in a dark prog landscape that recalls period King Crimson, but the storm clouds part into a carnivalesque synth-pop swirl with a tinge of Talking Heads surrealism.

"Ship Of Fools" (from 1988's Now And Zen)

Plant was clearly a fan of Phil Collins' drumming, having enlisted the Genesis member's services on his first two albums. But this atmospheric ballad suggests he also admired the art-rock side of his songwriting. "Ship Of Fools," a minor hit featured in an episode of Miami Vice, finds Plant belting about the rocky tides of romance over a muted drum machine pattern and Doug Boyle's intricate hammer-on guitar riff.

"I Cried" (from 1990's Manic Nirvana)

Like most pop artists operating in the mid-to-late '80s, some of Plant's material from that period feels frozen in ice—defined by neon-tinted production and dated synth sounds. The singer leaned into a renewed hard rock style on Manic Nirvana, but most of the songs feel processed within an inch of their lives. One exception is "I Cried," which conjures Led Zeppelin III vibes with its ghostly acoustic guitars and Plant's subdued croon.

"Calling To You" (from 1993's Fate of Nations)

Plant draws on Eastern-tinged anthems of Zeppelin past with "Calling To You," which recalls the grandeur of both "Dancing Days" and "Kashmir." The guitars squeal with zeal; the drums boom with a Bonham-like thud; and the strings carry the singer's rallying cries out "beyond the river, over the sea."

"Shining In The Light" (with Jimmy Page) (from 1998's Walking Into Clarksdale)

Expectations were impossibly high for Walking Into Clarksdale, the lone studio project from Page's reunion with Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. And the duo's heavy, pummeling LP—recorded with producer Steve Albini, best known for working with Nirvana and Pixies—did not clear that daunting bar. But the album is full of majestic moments, like opener "Shining in the Light," which pairs mellotron strings and country-rock strumming over a "Ramble On"-styled groove.

"Morning Dew" (from 2002's Dreamland)

Plant assembled a brand-new backing band, Strange Sensation, for his seventh solo LP, reinterpreting deep cuts and standards from blues, folk and classic rock. They offered an expansive facelift to the Bonnie Dobson folk tune "Morning Dew," draping the song's post-apocalyptic words in shimmering guitar effects and droning electric piano.

"Freedom Fries" (2005's Mighty ReArranger)

Plant's second record with Strange Sensation vastly improved on the first by experimenting further with progressive arrangements and non-rock instruments. One highlight is "Freedom Fries," which recalls the staggering splendor of Zeppelin's "Black Dog." Over a greasy blues-prog riff and an impossible drum groove counted in nines, Plant gazes out at a war-torn wasteland nation.

"Killing The Blues" (with Alison Krauss) (from 2007's Raising Sand)

After building momentum in a rock band setting, Plant naturally decided to tear the whole thing down. But it was a wise move: Raising Sand, his team-up with country star Alison Krauss, opened new doors, both creatively and commercially—allowing him to roam purely Americana terrain while picking up five GRAMMYs in the process (including Album of the Year). Their breezy cover of Roly Salley's "Killing the Blues"—which took home Best Country Collaboration With Vocals—follows the duo's voices in a perfectly symmetrical harmony, their balanced timbres supported by brushed drums and tremolo guitar. It's the sound of reclining in the middle of a grassy field, no idea what time it is or why you'd want to check.

"Silver Rider" (from 2010's Band Of Joy)

Plant revived the moniker of his obscure '60s band for his ninth album—covering traditional spiritual tunes, folk standards and songs from a surprising range of modern artists, including slowcore act Low. Band Of Joy's interpretation is more monolithic, with the singer's breathy moan navigating waves of shoegaze-y fuzz.

"Rainbow" (from 2014's lullaby… and The Ceaseless Roar)

Another album, another band: The Sensational Space Shifters, featuring several returning members from Strange Sensation, pushed Plant to explore a hybrid of East and West, electronic and acoustic, unsettling and soothing. The sparse backdrop of "Rainbow" allows the singer to showcase the purity of his voice, ascending to a divine falsetto on the chorus.

"Bones Of Saints" (from 2017's Carry Fire)

Plant ruminates on the senseless destruction of gun violence throughout this tense, bluesy rocker. "I hear the children scream/But then the fear abound," he sings over a crunching riff and pounding drums. "And ask a leading question/Where all the money come?/And say, who makes the bullets?/Tell me, who sells the guns?" The sound feels ancient, but the message is, sadly, more current than ever.

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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.

Inside Roots Picnic 2019 In Philadelphia

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."

Staying Spontaneous With Diplo

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.

What Makes Roots Picnic Different: Inside Philadelphia's Annual Musical Celebration

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Robyn Hitchcock

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Robyn Hitchcock On Nashville Living, His 'Planet England' EP, John Lennon's Legacy & Making "Beatles Music"

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The delightfully eccentric singer/songwriter also discusses working with XTC's Andy Partridge, his cinematic single "Sunday Never Comes" and what other new projects he's got hidden up his colorful sleeve...
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Dec 8, 2019 - 3:34 pm

Chances are, you've never met anyone quite like Robyn Hitchcock. The beloved British singer/songwriter has spent the better part of the last five decades earning a sort of self-adjudicated PhD in all things rock and roll, poetry, folk, America, philosophy, the human condition, psychedelia and, of course, the Beatles.

"If there was a genre called 'Beatles music' rather than called '60s pop or psychedelia or something, that would be what I play," Hitchcock said. "There are other influences there, but the harmonies, the guitars, the tempos, the sounds, essentially, in my head anyways, [come from the Beatles]."

But don't let Hitchcock's reverence for the Fab Four fool you – he's one of the most imaginitive and original artists of his generation, which is saying a lot for someone who came up in the hotbed of '60s rock. From his early–and highly influential–work with the Soft Boys in the mid-'70s to his impressive catalog of 21 albums, either solo or backed by incredible bands such as the Egyptians and the Venus 3, Hitchcock has consistently released records that inspire the imagination, delight the ear and defy the norm.

These days, Hitchcock calls Music City, U.S.A. home, and plays with the aptly named Nashville Fabs. He's also recently diversified his psychedelc folk portfolio, penning the haunting number "Sunday Never Comes" for the remarkable Rose Byrne and Ethan Hawke 2018 movie Juliet, Naked, and releasing a new collaboration EP with XTC's Andy Partridge just a few months ago titled Planet England.

The Recording Academy had the surreal honor of speaking with Hitchcock over the phone from his home in Nasvhille to hear about his ongoing project with Partridge, his love for the Beatles debates, John Lennon's looming legacy, and why what he's working on next is keeping him "incrediby busy."

By moving to Nashville, you bring an eclectic flair to its ever-widening creative scene. But what has living there brought to your life?

Well, it's brought great people to play music with. And you can also get anywhere in the bloodstream of the United States and Canada, anywhere east of the Rockies in about two hours by plane, which is fantastic. It's a very good place to tour from. Touring the States is my job, it's what I do for a living.

But I think all of the recent recordings I've done have been here with other people based in Nashville, and it's a joy that a great bunch of people just come around and run through songs in your living room. And then you find some other place to play, and then you can do a show or make the record. I haven't been in a community, such as small local, specific community of people all engaged in the same thing, since I was at what y'all call high school in my teens.

I see, regularly, people that do the same thing as me, and that I work with and play with. There was a little bit of that in the Soft Boy days in Cambridge, which was another small scene, but [Nashville] is bigger than that, much more professional. Very few musicians make it out of Cambridge alive. And Cambridge, U.K., it tends to kind of eat its own sons and daughters. But Nashville, it's a great hive. People are swarming, taking off and landing and get to the airport and it says, "Welcome to music city!" I love that element. It is great.

Being surrounded by songwriters like that, has it changed your writing process?

No. No, not at all. I haven't done that thing of getting into a cage with another songwriter and trying to co-write. Nashville wears a Stetson for publicity purposes, but all kinds of music goes on here. I think the commercial end of it is still quite country-ish. And my connection to country music really doesn't go any further than "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" by the Byrds, which I love and gave me a crash course in some elements of country, but it doesn't influence me on the whole. Every so often I'll come up with a kind of pastiche country song, but I don't have to be in Nashville to do that. I think the last one I wrote, my last faux country song was written in Norway and probably the one before that, I was living in London. Being out here hasn't made me any more twangy.

"Nashville wears a Stetson for publicity purposes, but all kinds of music goes on here." -Robyn Hitchcock

Yes, I thought I heard it for a couple notes of twang on your new EP with Andy Partridge, Planet England, but I was mistaken. Maybe I was looking a little too hard for the Nashville influence, but I'd love to ask you about that project, too. You've said it could have been made any time in the past 53 years. Why was now the time for you and Andy to do this together?

I think because of the stage in our life cycles that we're at. We actually wrote those songs and did the basic recordings 12 years ago. We were in our early-to-mid-50s, but we didn't finish it off until last year for a whole variety of reasons.

I think Andy and I probably were quite suspicious of each other when we were young indie rockers, and then we were kind of both on the alternative charts in the States in the 1980s. By the time we were over 50, I think we were kind of able to approach each other really. Now we're heading into our late 60s. I go around to his house in Swindon when I'm back in Britain, which is fairly often. It's just down the road from my sister. So I could easily see a day's gone where I can meet him in Swindon and get back to Bath. And I've got country roots anyway, so you know, it's my parallel life. It's two old psychedelic pensioners rocking away in a shed in a back garden. It's just everything that Americans probably dream of, these quaint little Brits in some damp shed in a backyard with primitive equipment.

But actually Andy has the equivalent of the entire firepower of Abbey Road's Studio One in his shed and has always maintained it completely state-of the-art sonic libraries. So he's capable of summoning out any kind of sound that we want for our proto-psychedelic music. We're two guys who had been 17 when the Beatles broke up, still looking for that missing Beatles album. And so we're sort of basically trying to make it ourselves. I mean both of our careers have been that to some extent. And we think that the Dukes of Stratosphear [Partridge's band] really nudged it.

When I make a rock record or I play with a band, it's always some kind of basically playing Beatles music, and there are other influences there, but the harmonies, the guitars, the tempos, the sounds, essentially, in my head anyways is just kind of- If there was a genre called "Beatles music" rather than called '60s pop or psychedelia or something, that would be what I play and largely what Andy plays and, As we're getting the arc of our careers, we're getting to the point where that's what we really like making. So fingers crossed, two songs into another project and I'm supposed to see him in Britain at the end of next month so we'll see what we can do.

The Beatle gene runs deep…

Well you know, again, it's what people have in common. I've got this show tomorrow night with my band the Nashville Fabs. They're all Beatles freaks, and we do a ton of Beatles encores with guest singers, and I'm doing one. Everyone just disappears into the corner of their own mind trying to work out whether something is a major-seventh or a relative minor-third. Is it a minor-sixth or is it actually a seventh of the relative-fourth? I mean, it's fantastic watching people debating and playing. Now they've all got the Beatles on their phones, and they just sort of hold the phone up to the microphone, and we can all hear this transistor radio sound, on whatever it is, "You Won't See Me," or something. "I think it's a minor-" "No, it's not actually, it's-" "Oh, gosh, they're singing a D over B or is it a B over D?" You know, nobody's ever completely sure. I love that, they get excited about defining it.

Yeah, it's like one, big, first chord of "Hard Day's Night." Everybody's going to be debating what it is until the end of time.

It is! It's the library in Alexandria that the Romans burnt down, the repository of all human knowledge, hanging on the first chord of "Hard Day's Night."

Well, we're coming up on the anniversary of John Lennon's death [Dec. 8, 1980]. I thought maybe you could say something about what John, specifically, meant to you.

John Lennon, to myself and probably millions of other kids, including probably Andy Partridge, was a sort of an elder brother, you know, he was the cool, daring, kick-ass, wise-but-foolhardy older brother, the one who took the risks, the one who went out and got hit, the one who challenged authority, but also the one who had success, you know, the trappings of success. You could think, "Oh wow, John Lennon's got a house. John Lennon's got a plane. John Lennon's got a beautiful wife. John Lennon's got a drug habit. John Lennon's paranoid. John Lennon's beautiful. John Lennon's falling out with Paul McCartney. You can look at anyone you admire and the way they are on a pedestal, you can never be them. In another way, they're just like you, if somebody's too alien, they're very hard to kind of connect with, you know?

And I think there's that thing about idols with feet of clay. I think people do want a vulnerable hero, and John was just that. He was vulnerable, and in the end he was killed. How's vulnerable is that? It was awful. I am still grieving Joan Lennon much more than I grieve my parents. And you know both of them lived a natural lifespan. I mean there's so much now for John Lennon to live up to, that if he came back, he couldn't. Since he's died, he's been the good cop. McCartney's had to be the bad guy because he lived on. It's been "St. John" for nearly 40 years and you know, he obviously wasn't.

But he, as Richard Lester [director of 'Hard Day's Night' and 'How I Won The War,' both featuring Lennon] said, he made you care about him. I think he's a real emotional touchstone. The Beatles always make me feel very human. A lot of people I like, Captain Beefheart or Syd Barrett, they're kind of elsewhere, or David Bowie, there is more of a kind of, "I'm outside of this human orbit. I'm not down there in the mud with you lot. I'm somewhere apart." And Bob Dylan, you know, they're kind of insightful, mythical creatures on the edges of things. The Beatles are right in the center, and John was right in the center of the Beatles. And then he couldn't keep it together, couldn't keep up with Paul, who was actually probably tougher than him, but didn't get the knocks. John was the ice-breaker, he was the one who started it, but also [got knocked].

But I also don't think John was better than Paul, you know. I think it works because they were so evenly matched. And then George, became as evenly matched as them, and it was too much, a mouth with too many teeth in it, time for them all to leave home. But the tension on that journey is sort of, John starting it, and then Paul coming up, and then George coming up – what that did to them still produced incredible records. I love the Beatles. Really. Lennon could rubbish the myth all he wanted. It doesn't really matter what you are, it's what people think you are, especially once you've gone. It was for him to demolish the Beatles, but even he couldn't really, the myth is as strong as ever. And you know, as you can see, I have a lot to say about John Lennon.

Indeed. It's a tough time every year when this anniversary comes around to remember that loss.

It's awful and I feel for Yoko [Ono], and Julian [Lennon], and Sean [Lennon] because it's a personal loss for them. And for the rest of us, we're all sort of projecting, a person we never knew but had a relationship with.

Absolutely.  I also want to ask you about "Sunday Never Comes," specifically the new video you've made, which leaves you with a very beautiful and disconnected feeling, much the way the song does. You wrote it for a film, but how did it feel to have the song survive that process, and kind of come back to you in this way with the video?

We deliberately decided to do a proper recording of it because the only thing that was out was my demo for the Juliet, Naked movie, and I really liked the way Ethan Hawke sang it, but I wanted to see what it'd be like if I did it properly. So I recorded it with the Nashville Fabs, and then our friend Jeremy [Dylan] actually did that video. He was our roommate for a while, and he very sweetly makes these videos for us. He made that in Sydney. My partner Emma Swift, who sings with me sometimes and is working on her first full-length record here in Nashville – in fact we're doing some recording in LA next week – Emma's in there as my kind of- I'm this artist in an abandoned apartment somewhere. Nobody's decorated since the 1960s. Somehow the electricity is still connected, and I'm watching obsolete programs on dead televisions, and then Emma appears, my muse, but I can't get at her. She's somewhere else across the world looking desolate.

Most of my videos have always had some humor in them. I don't like taking things that seriously, I guess. I just think there's always got to be a laugh in there somewhere, or it's- Life is pretty unbearable [laughs]. And this one, we didn't put any jokes in. There's nothing funny in there at all. It's just me. I start drawing her at one point, and then I see her on the telly, but it's very unresolved. Sunday never comes, and Emma never turns up, whatever Emma represents, my enigma, my muse. But it's quite a sad one for me, but I'm sure whatever I do next will be a million laughs. [laughs]

Robyn Hitchcock performs "Mad Shelley's Letterbox"

Well, you latest LP [2017's self-titled album] was not only your 21st album, it was one of your best. What are you working on next? What are your goals and interests these days?

Well, whatever I put out, if I put out a 22nd one, I want it to be as good as the 21st. So right now I'm rather avoiding that by working with Andy and working on Emma's record, and whatever I've actually written. I never write the songs that I want to write. I write the songs that appear. "Sunday Never Comes" was a commission. But even then I didn't know what I was going to write. They just said, "Write a Robyn Hitchcock song." So that's what popped up. So what I've got lying around or what I'm working on is a collection of piano songs, rather somber piano songs. And I guess when Emma's record is done, because I'm part of that, I'm part of the hive mind working on that, guitar and arrangements. And once Andy and I are well into the Partridge record, hopefully next year, I will start recording these piano songs.

"I never write the songs that I want to write. I write the songs that appear." - Robyn Hitchcock

I bought a four-track cassette machine and a reel-to-reel. I want to do it on hissy, compressed tape with tape delay so it sounds like something that was done years ago. I mean, I know Elliott Smith was doing it 20 years ago, there's nothing new about retro sounding. But kind of how I used to take demos in the 1980s, I want to kind of get a sound that's all my own before I bring anyone else in. And then, you know, it might be a long time before anything comes out, but I'm totally working on it. And I've got lots of other projects, visual stuff. I'm supposed to be doing some paintings, and I'm got a collection of lyrics with illustrations. That's probably going to be the next thing to be "on sale," if you like.

So I'm incredibly busy. You wouldn't think so, but actually there's a hell of a lot going on. Plus, I play a hundred cities a year and I have to get to them all. So I've got L.A., Chicago, New York before New Year's and then it all starts up again.

Robyn Hitchcock will be playing at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles on Friday, Dec. 13, and tickets are available here.

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