ODESZA & Golden Features, a.k.a. BRONSON

BRONSON

Photo: Gian Galang

News

ODESZA & Golden Features Explore Duality, Berlin Soundscapes & Creative Boundaries On Collab LP, 'BRONSON'

Facebook Twitter Email
"The beauty of dance and electronic music is that it's essentially limitless," the DJ/producer trio tells GRAMMY.com
GRAMMYs
Aug 10, 2020 - 10:29 am

GRAMMY-nominated dream-house duo ODESZA, formed by college friends Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight in Washington in 2012, are a beloved music festival staple, with their dreamy beats creating the perfect soundtrack for scenic outdoor venues. Their latest album, BRONSON, a collaborative effort with rising Sydney dark-house producer Golden Features (a.k.a. Tom Stell), explores a completely different soundscape, invoking images of dark Berlin clubs and the sunrises partygoers see as they emerge from another all-nighter.

Together, the trio is known as BRONSON; the collective creative exploration they embarked on in creating the new self-titled album, released today, Aug. 7, results in a hypnotic 40-minute journey.

Released on Ninja Tune and Mills' and Knight's talent-filled imprint Foreign Family Collective, which Stell is also a part of, the 10-track LP explores duality with aptly titled dark, industrial bangers like "KEEP MOVING," "TENSE" and "CONTACT" and pulsating, deep-house numbers like "HEART ATTACK" featuring lau.ra's warm vocals, and "KNOW ME" featuring Gallant's enchanting voice. The final feature comes from British alt-electro act Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, which closes things out with an epic seven-minute journey towards brighter days.

We caught up with Mills, Knight and Stell to learn more about the new album, some of their key influences and their biggest hope for positive change.

The latest BRONSON single "KEEP MOVING" is pretty dark and industrial, and the music video is wild. Can you give us the backstory/vision for the visual, and how the track came together?

The music video for "KEEP MOVING" definitely has a lot to unpack. On the surface it's jarring and kind of absurd, but there are many different layers in terms of the societal and cultural subtext to it and its underlying message/meaning. So, we really wanted to leave the interpretation of it up to the viewer, much like the album in general.

The song itself was in part inspired by a sample we ended up using in it, which was of a marching army—it's this driving track meant to propel the listener forward and energize them to—for lack of a better way to put it—keep moving. The vocals in the track serve as an inner-dialogue during "battle" when facing an "opponent." whether that be a mental obstacle or a physical one.

Read: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Finds Calm During COVID-19 With New EP Featuring Birds

And with "DAWN," you and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs take the listener on an epic seven-minute journey towards brighter days. What was the creative process like on this collab? In what ways did this track challenge the ways each of you approach making a track, and what did you learn from it?

Working with T.E.E.D. was such a pleasure—he's a massively talented artist, both as a vocalist and as a producer. "DAWN" was the last song we wrote on the album. When we met up [with him] for the first time in L.A., we showed him a couple of the already finished tracks and discussed the themes and concepts around the album. Within 30 minutes of him sitting with the demo, he was able to put together a couple of really powerful lyrical ideas and melodies that fit perfectly with the working track. We then laid down the vocal pieces and ended up writing and recording almost all of the vocal elements in a four-hour window.

We find that some of our favorite tracks are done this way because it doesn't allow us to overthink and complicate the initial ideas which usually turn out to be the strongest. As we finished the track, we found it was a perfect way to sum up the album, hence the track placement. 

GRAMMYs

Berry, Aus., where the trio spent a week completing the LP | Photo: courtesy of artist

Can you speak a bit more to the theme of darkness and light that you explore on the BRONSON album as a whole? How did the concept develop or shift as you spent more time on the project?

The album is really centered around this concept of duality—of the contrasting elements that balance one another in life. We wanted to explore that in terms of the sonic depth of the album; for example, you'll hear these uplifting, light (almost spiritual), moments in "DAWN" but also these intense instrumentals and driving elements, like in "TENSE." The project as a whole was an exercise in pushing our creative boundaries and allowing ourselves to take risks. We wanted to push the limits of what we could do, yet still create something that made sense as a cohesive body of work.

Your FOUNDATION playlist Spotify is filled gems from across the underground electronic spectrum. Can you speak to some of the artists and scenes that have inspired the BRONSON project?

There are so many incredible artists that have inspired us along the way and influenced this project. We wrote the album over a really long period of time (years), so there were so many different evolutions of the album from start to finish. It's definitely rooted in a darker European sound that we have found ourselves really being drawn to over the years. The whole goal of the project was to create something that felt new and exciting to us. We kind of just let whatever happen, happen during the writing process instead of setting out to create a specific sound or genre-based album. In that process, we found that we were making something that didn't fit in either of our respective projects, something that took on a life of its own.

Listen Up: Gene Farris Talks "Space Girl," Rave Safety & The Return Of The "Bedroom DJ"

What do you believe is the essence of dance music? What makes a great dance track?

The beauty of dance and electronic music is that it's essentially limitless. You have the freedom and ability to combine and work with virtually any genre or any sound you want and build something completely fresh and new. It's quite a freeing environment to work in. One that doesn't have borders or prerequisites. We think this is what makes it so accessible to so many people around the world and in turn gives the scene its underlying power.

"The beauty of dance and electronic music is that it's essentially limitless. You have the freedom and ability to combine and work with virtually any genre or any sound you want and build something completely fresh and new."

Who are the artists that got you interested in electronic music? And when did each of you first start producing electronic music yourself?

Mills & Knight: We started producing around the same time in college and were really drawn to a lot of the more left-of-center electronic music being made around the time. We're big fans of Boards of Canada, Four Tet, Radiohead—the list goes on.

Stell: I discovered electronic music through sneaking into music festivals in the late-2000s. I was lucky enough to be exposed to acts like The Chemical Brothers, Justice and The Presets almost immediately. This lit a fuse and I was making music within months.

This year has been a difficult one, yet one filled with important calls for change. What is the biggest thing you've learned from 2020 so far, and what is your biggest hope for positive change in the coming years?

This year has been so difficult and challenging. We're all just really trying to process the weight of it. The veil has been pulled back on so many global issues that have come to a head during this period, most pointedly regarding racism and the gross inequities of our society. We're in an unparalleled state of crisis and want to fully comprehend the gravity and magnitude of it.

We're trying to listen, reflect and learn, but also be very conscious of our own complicity in this broken system and, moreover, create space for unheard voices. We recognize that we're in a unique spot with our platform and with that comes a great amount of responsibility, so we're trying to navigate that with full awareness.

Cassian Talks Debut LP 'Laps,' Attending His First GRAMMYs & Staying Calm In Quarantine

Mild Minds

Mild Minds

Photo: Andrew Noel & Tegan Butler

News

Mild Minds Talks Debut Album 'MOOD,' Breaking Down "Walls" & Feeling Inspired By Four Tet

Facebook Twitter Email
Ahead of the LP's March 13 release, we caught up with the Aussie electronic artist to learn more about his new project, finding new modes of creativity and inspiration and more
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Mar 16, 2020 - 3:29 pm

On Fri. March 13, electronic producer Mild Minds, a.k.a. Benjamin David, released his debut solo album, MOOD, via Foreign Family Collective. Within its nine tracks, the Australian-born, Los Angeles-based artist explores a variety of emotions and dreamy—sometimes dark—sonic textures. He sings on all of the songs and, on "WALLS," offers a poignant, layered commentary on creating barriers between people with the help of experimental indie act Boats.

David, who has worked in the electronic music space for some time now, first introduced the world to Mild Minds in October 2018, with the SWIM EP, which included his debut single, "Swim." The ford. remix of the track received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Remixed Recording at the 2020 GRAMMY Awards earlier this year. A slightly updated version of the track is also included on MOOD, which the artist says took form around the same time as the EP. Thus, the album is one of new beginnings, creative exploration and shifting moods.

Just ahead of the its release, we sat down with David to chat about the project, reimagining his creative process, finding freedom as an opening act and more.

Your album, MOOD, is dropping soon. What does this project mean to you and how are you feeling about releasing it?

Well, it's my first album, so it kind of represents the project as a whole because it was how it started, essentially. I actually made most of the album before I released the EP that I released about a year ago. It just kind of represents, for me personally, opening up my mind a little bit more. Because I'd been doing music for a long time but it's always been stuck in specific worlds and having to appease certain fans or management or bandmembers. So this was about just stopping the self-sabotaging road blocks, that we all do no matter what our live is.

I just wanted to see what would actually happen if I didn't stop myself. I'd normally make songs like this that were a little bit more underground and be like "nobody's going to hear it," blah, blah. And then I realized that that's not why I make music. You actually make music so that you can experiment and create something new. This was all about just doing that and having freeform structures and trying to learn how to avoid being mediocre and normal or something.

So you finished most of it around the time you were working on the SWIM EP?

A lot of it was made after; it was made in around 2017, mostly over six months. It's laughable because 80 or 90 percent of it was there and somehow it still managed to take two years to come out. And the differences that you may hear between those finished versions and non-finished would be not much.

I feel like that happens a lot. Did you feel like working on it was cathartic or the type of music that you'd been wanting to make for a long time?

Not necessarily the type of music that I'd been wanting to make stylistically or something, but more like the type of music that I probably wanted to make in terms of the way that I created it. Like not having to succumb to those things I mentioned, because it's very self-conscious, you don't even realize. You're in the machine for so long, doing what you have to do, trying to figure out how to keep streams up and things like that. Maybe it's more the way that I should have been making music, I guess. And the way everyone probably should.

I want to talk about the song "Walls," which you released when you announced the album last month. You said that it's both political and personal. Can you tell me a little more about that?

So there wasn't really any major intentions to collaborate with anyone on that track. I just showed it to my friend [Boats] and he started singing on it. He has this very deep voice but the way that he sings is less structured, so it was like smashing two worlds together a little bit.

Beyond that, his perspective was very political and he wanted to have this almost anthem for the political situation that we're in at the moment, probably internationally and also specifically talking about border walls. For me, I don't like political stuff to be too on the nose. I actually like music to be escapism, to get away from current issues. So we came up with this idea of having both meanings in the lyrics. I was singing it one way and he was singing it another way. And mine was more the relationship side of building walls between people.

What was it like collaborating with Boats?

It was a little bit harder in terms of the recording process because the whole point of this project was to be quick. And working with somebody else's voice and having to figure out what they're trying to do with harmonies and things like that, we spent weeks getting the rough vocals together. As opposed to the other songs, which might've been done in two days. So that really drew that song out for a while and I couldn't get it to sound how I wanted, which is probably also different to how he wanted. The process of collaborating on this project maybe gets in the way of the creativity a little bit, but ultimately, I couldn't sing that song and there's no way that it would sound like that without him. So it's the beauty of collaboration and the consequences of it, I guess.

Last month, you wrapped up your California mini-tour with Tycho and you also recently announced a Red Rocks date with Big Wild. What do you think are both the hardest and most fun parts of opening a show?

Well I'm sure there could be way harder parts than I've experienced, because I haven't done it that much. But in terms of supporting Tycho, whose music is almost ambient, coming in and playing something that was quite a bit more electronic and aggressive in some way, I was like, "Oh God, is this too early?" At like 8:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m. or something. But in the end, everyone, except for the first L.A. show, was really cheering a lot more than you would be used to for an opener; they were really supportive. That felt like it went down well, but that would be the hardest thing.

And then the best thing is that it's a totally different experience in terms of when you're the headliner, the pressure, it's almost like if something went wrong it wouldn't really matter. So it's way more enjoyable and stress-free and you're finished by 9:30 or 10. But also just with this project in general, I don't have as much gear. It's very quick. I've loved seeing that opener perspective and getting to enjoy playing in front of people and doing a show and playing, these were all really nice venues. I don't know how to put it other than that, that it is cathartic in a way. It's not stressful and it's a different experience of performing.

When I was listening to the album, I felt a definite summer mood. What you think makes a great summery, chill house track or playlist?

I always get questions like this no matter what music I make. So there's definitely something there about what comes out of me, but I feel like I never get those opportunities to have a pool, summer playlist, really. I don't really sit by the pool, I don't get to go the beach and stuff.

So you need a vacation.

Yeah. And I always let other people take care of the music or I listen on headphones to whatever is new. I never have specific playlists, because I'm always working. I would rather be listening to music that's going to have an impact on me. And thinking about creating more, than just relaxing by the pool too much. And if it is, then I let someone else pick that [music].

I would argue there's much more summer music than this, for me. This is my nighttime album. But I do know what you mean. They are, in the middle section and even a little bit at the start, it's definitely got a dreamy, upbeat feel to it.

Especially "Embracer," for me.

I think also more "SWIM" and "FORMATIONS," which they actually feel happier. But yeah, the second half of the album I feel like is more of a darker thing, which I really liked because it's different to what I normally do.

In speaking to, like you were saying, music that gets you in this space of working on your own music, who are some of your biggest musical influences? I see lots of vinyl over there.

Yeah. I have to be careful because I want to talk specifically about this album and not just in general. For this, it was not any specific person at all. There was definitely a moment where, something like Four Tet was a bit of an eyeopener, because I always assumed that music like that, non-vocal music, very extended, would be not listened to by many people.

I've known about him for a long time, but I started to realize, sure, his career took a long time to build, but it didn't really go down in any way. That gave me a lot more faith in terms of making music, and not caring so much about having to fit to the system and be this hyped up thing within like two years, even though that is still happening. This music's not as minimal as Four Tet, but definitely taking inspiration from the fact that you can have a career over a slow build and stuff like that. So that was a big inspiration.

Also, I was in this ambient bar in Japan and they were playing lots of more ambient, droney music which, for me, I didn't listen to. It totally changed my perspective on music because I always usually start with drums and stuff. I was like, "Wow. You don't actually need drums." Or if you do, it can just be this tiny pulse. It doesn't have to be big, upfront drums. That experience was a big influence, but I can't really put it down to a specific artist. And that's another cool thing I'm trying to do, take influence from experiences, not [just] music.

When did you first start listening to electronic music, and when did you start exploring production or making it yourself?

[I started making it] probably when I was 14. That was the beginning of computer programs that came with loops and then I learned how to make my own loops. But it was just fun to create things. In primary school you want to do the fun classes, right? It was something I naturally gravitated to and I was always interested in the technical side of things, so that played a part.

I was into electronic music pretty straightaway. Not when I was 13, 14, an angsty teenager, where rock was more of a thing at the time, like Limp Bizkit and stuff like that. But as soon as I discovered good electronic music, I definitely made the shift. It seemed like it could be much more creative and more, almost, design-influenced. The visuals are usually much prettier than say live music kind of projects, historically. That's opened up a lot more now. But rock in the late '90s and early 2000s was a specific thing. It was either extremely dark or extremely basic, and I've always preferred colorful kind of things. So, electronic music was pretty early on, probably about 16 or something.

And do you have any artists that you were like, "Oh dang, this is cool."

I mean the first thing that really switched me over was Air and Daft Punk because they had the most interesting sounds. It didn't just sound like a generic house track, which is what you would get on the radio through the late '90s and 2000s, or electro house and stuff like that. It was the first time that I was hearing what seemed like super creative things, that I'd never heard anything like before. And it had this '70s vibe but with synth, so much more synth than say, something you would have actually heard from the '70s, like America. Do you know that band America? They have a song "A Horse With No Name."

Downtempo but dreamy, like Supertramp or something. [Air and Daft Punk] really brought in all these new sounds. So I was very influenced by that at first and now, because I did that for so long with other projects, I just wanted to almost do the opposite. And I was like, "Okay, well what is the opposite?" And I started listening to U.K. garage-influenced stuff and non four-four beats and completely odd structures to get out of that. Then you can satisfy both sides and have two different mindsets.

What are you most looking forward to or feeling hopeful about this year?

The hardest thing is juggling all the projects at the same time, which I have to put a lot of work in this year. But I was really, really hoping that I could go into a second album for this by now. That was the goal, that I really wanted to carry the momentum while it's strong and get something out maybe the start of next year.

So more time in the studio with Mild Minds?

Yeah, especially if I refine the way that I do it and I have less, I don't use outside vocalists and I don't layer up my vocals heaps and I just keep it simple, which actually does sound better if you just do it properly once, as opposed to 25 times, finding the key that you're supposed to sing in. Two or three songs that took forever, it was really just me tweaking the vocals and rerecording them over and over because they were out of my range. And trying to layer a high vocal with a low vocal rather than just have a nice medium vocal.

I think changing a few little things like that, I could put an album together in three months. So that's the aim.

Genesis P-Orridge, Throbbing Gristle Founder, Avant-Garde Artist And Industrial Music Pioneer, Dies At 70

The Chemical Brothers perform live in 1995

The Chemical Brothers perform live in 1995

Photo: Mick Hutson/Redferns

News

How 1995 Became The Year Dance Music Albums Came Of Age

Facebook Twitter Email
In the mid-'90s, then-scrappy acts like The Chemical Brothers, Leftfield, Goldie and Aphex Twin released landmark albums, upending misconceptions about electronic music and setting the standard for a new dance generation
Jack Tregoning
GRAMMYs
Jul 19, 2020 - 7:00 am

Back in 1995, years before the rise of Coachella, Lollapalooza was the U.S. festival to beat. Founded in 1991 by Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell, the multi-city roadshow quickly became a peak summer institution. 

Lollapalooza's 1995 lineup featured alt-rock royalty like Sonic Youth, Pavement and The Jesus Lizard alongside artists as diverse as Beck, Cypress Hill, Sinead O'Connor and Hole. For all its genre-hopping, though, the festival largely missed one sound close to its founder's heart: electronic music. Even Moby, the former punk and sole raver on the bill, turned up with a guitar and his best rock snarl. 

Across the Atlantic, iconic U.K. festival Glastonbury took an alternative view on 1995: In its universe, electronic music was on the ascent. For the first time in Glastonbury's then-25-year history, the festival introduced a Dance Tent, which featured trip-hop collective Massive Attack alongside homegrown DJs Carl Cox, Spooky and Darren Emerson. 

Elsewhere, from the main stage to the Jazz World stage, Glastonbury lined up the best and brightest of U.K.-made electronic music: The Prodigy, Portishead, Tricky, Goldie and Orbital among them. That June weekend, a musical movement coalesced on a farm in the English countryside. 

One year prior, The Prodigy's Music For The Jilted Generation lit the fuse on the momentum to come. Released in July 1994, the album was an immediate outlier in a golden age of alternative rock. Soundgarden, Green Day, Pearl Jam and Nine Inch Nails loomed large Stateside, while in the U.K., Blur's Parklife and Oasis' Definitely Maybe battled for Britpop supremacy. Liam Howlett, The Prodigy's beatmaker-in-chief, came from a different world. Music For The Jilted Generation cut the grit and aggression of punk rock with the ecstatic highs of raving, producing indelible anthems like "Their Law" and "No Good (Start The Dance)." The album topped the charts in the U.K., but it failed to break through in the U.S. 

By the next year, a varied cast of then-newcomers was ready to make its mark. Not all fit The Prodigy's fast and furious mold. The crop of albums released in 1995, including several remarkable debuts, showcased the many moods, textures and possibilities in electronic music. The year brought legitimacy and studio polish to the format, while also sparking an era of intense, analog-heavy live shows. 

Released in January 1995, Leftfield's Leftism reached for a more transcendent plane than the rave anthems of the day. "At the time, a lot of people thought dance music was this fake thing," Neil Barnes, one half of the duo, alongside Paul Daley, told The Guardian in 2017. "[Leftism] came out in the middle of Britpop, which we didn't really understand." 

Leftfield called on surprising voices, including Toni Halliday of alt-rock group Curve and The Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon, to challenge the demarcation of dance music. While the album was nominally "progressive house," its songs channeled the thrum of London through dub, reggae and pop hooks. Over two decades later, Leftism remains thrillingly true to its time and place.

Across the country from Liam Howlett's Essex studio, Bristol natives Massive Attack had their own designs on the jilted generation. Where The Prodigy raged, Massive Attack seethed. Like Leftfield's Leftism, Massive Attack's Blue Lines (1991) and Protection (1994) drew on dub, reggae and soul, arriving not at house music, but at the slow creep of Bristol's signature trip-hop sound. Protection collaborator Tricky broke through in 1995 with his own trip-hop masterpiece, Maxinquaye; its opener, "Overcome," is an alternative version of Protection cut "Karmacoma." Björk, a then-recent '90s transplant to the U.K. from Iceland, also called on Bristol connections for her startling second album, Post (1995).

Read: 'Post' at 25: How Björk Brought Her Ageless Sophomore Album To Life

Meanwhile, in London, motor-mouthed DJ/producer Goldie emerged from the basement clubs with a fully realized debut album. Released in July 1995, Timeless exemplified the drum & bass genre in LP form, stretching from deep and sonorous atmospherics to heads-down jungle roll-outs. Audacious to a fault, Goldie packaged his star-making single, "Inner City Life," inside a 21-minute opening track. (The opener on his next album, 1998's Saturnz Return, runs an hour long.) Grounded by vocals throughout from the late Diane Charlemagne, Timeless brought widescreen validation to an underground culture. Recognized as a key moment in dance music history by The Guardian, the album became a surprise Top 10 hit in the U.K. "Timeless was a f*cking good blueprint," the producer told Computer Music in 2017. "There were ten years of my life in that album." 

The mid-'90s also introduced one of the dominant dance headliners of the next 25 years, sharing a tier with The Prodigy and two French upstarts called Daft Punk—that is, if Daft Punk played the festival game. 

After a couple of releases as The Dust Brothers, including the propulsive steamrollers "Chemical Beats" and "Song To The Siren," Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons became The Chemical Brothers with 1995's Exit Planet Dust. (The Dust Brothers name already belonged to a songwriting/production team out of Los Angeles.) 

Exit Planet Dust contains none of the reticence you might expect from a debut album. Right from the sleazy chug of opener "Leave Home," it's a dance record with classic rock heft. Even the hippieish cover art, lifted from a 1970s fashion shoot, references a world beyond the rave. (A favorite of early fans, Exit Planet Dust set the stage for the true breakout of 1997's Dig Your Own Hole, which featured the group's career-defining single, "Block Rockin' Beats.")

Crucially, "Chemical Beats" and "Song To The Siren" put The Chemical Brothers on lineups alongside fellow gear geeks Underworld, Leftfield and Orbital. Each act brought a version of their studio hardware to the stage, working the synthesizers, drum machines and mixing consoles under the cover of darkness.

This period of live innovation dovetailed with the superstar DJ phenomenon, ushered in by landmark mix albums like Sasha & Digweed's Northern Exposure (1996) and Paul Oakenfold's Tranceport (1998). A new rank of DJs, predominantly British and male, commanded skyrocketing fees, foreshadowing the excesses of America's own EDM boom more than a decade later. In the run-up to the 2000s, DJs and live acts struck a sometimes-uneven alliance. Fast-forward to Miami's dance massive Ultra Music Festival in the 2010s: DJs represented the main stage status quo, with live acts neatly billed in their own amphitheater.

In the pre-Facebook days of the mid-'90s, dance stars turned to magazines to vent or cause mischief. Aphex Twin, who released his bracing third album, …I Care Because You Do, in 1995, enjoyed derailing interviewers with fanciful responses. Goldie took the opposite approach, talking on and on without a filter. Ed Simons of The Chemical Brothers, on the other hand, got right to the point. 

"I'm amazed at the low expectations which have always been centered on dance music," Simons told Muzik Magazine in 1995. In the same interview, he rankled at the critique that his music lacks soul: "Not everyone wants to be like Portishead, making music for people to put on when they have little dinner parties." (Later, in a 1997 Paper profile, Björk mocked America's adoption of The Chemical Brothers as electronic saviors: "The Chemical Brothers are hard rock!")

In the U.S., the top-selling album of 1995 was Hootie & The Blowfish's Cracked Rear View, ahead of the likes of Mariah Carey's Daydream, 2Pac's Me Against The World and The Lion King soundtrack. 

Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill went on to win big at the 1996 GRAMMYs, picking up the Album Of The Year award. For now, dance acts were left watching the party from the kids' table. (The GRAMMYS would later introduce the Best Dance Recording category in 1998.)

By 1997, dance music's outsider reputation was starting to shift, thanks in large part to the streak of groundbreaking albums two years prior. The Prodigy, previously overlooked in the U.S., sparked a label bidding war for its third album, The Fat Of The Land; Madonna's boutique imprint, Maverick Records, won out. Propelled by a polished big beat sound and the introduction of livewire hype man Keith Flint, The Fat Of The Land went to No. 1 in the States. That year, the floodgates opened, delivering Daft Punk's Homework, The Chemical Brothers' Dig Your Own Hole and Aphex Twin's still-creepy Come To Daddy EP. 

Lollapalooza's 1997 lineup, in turn, looked a lot different from its 1995 run. This time, founder Perry Farrell brought electronic music to the fore. The change-up had mixed results: Attendance overall was down, The Prodigy protested the venue choices, Orbital and fellow U.K. beatmakers The Orb had to follow Tool, and Tricky felt askew sharing a main stage with Korn. But Lollapalooza's gamble signaled changing times. 

Coachella debuted in 1999 with The Chemical Brothers, Underworld and Moby among the headliners. Like Glastonbury before it, the new desert festival even had a dedicated dance tent: the Sahara stage. At last, the underdog genre of 1995 had stepped into the light.

How Will Coronavirus Shift Electronic Music? Maceo Plex, Paul Van Dyk, Luttrell, Mikey Lion & DJ Manager Max Leader Weigh In

House Gospel Choir

House Gospel Choir

Photo: Dan Reid

 
News

Meet House Gospel Choir: The London Vocal Group Bringing Faith To The Dance Floor

Facebook Twitter Email
GRAMMY.com caught up with House Gospel Choir to discuss their debut album, 'RE//CHOIRED,' their creative process, and how the band's multicultural and multifaith composition creates a welcoming space for both its members and audiences
John Ochoa
GRAMMYs
Oct 30, 2020 - 6:49 pm

Anyone who's ever spent time at a club or festival has experienced the divine power of the dance floor: the rolling bass, the pumping rhythms, the vibrant atmosphere. While the blinding lights of the stage can often look like the gates of heaven opening, it's the communal feeling shared among fellow ravers and concertgoers that truly defines a proper dance floor. 

House Gospel Choir (HGC) know this better than anyone. Uniting the uplifting force of spirituality with the kinetic energy of dance music, HGC is a London-based vocal group bringing faith to the dance floor. Their unique style pairs two very distinct sounds—house music meets gospel—many would never think to combine, but that actually share a musical lineage. While house music is rooted in disco, the genre's pioneers and early tracks sampled gospel singers and hymns and featured spiritual lyrics: See trailblazing house classics like Joe Smooth's "Promised Land" and Underground Ministries' "I Shall Not Be Moved."

HGC now continue this musical legacy on their debut album RE//CHOIRED, released this month (Oct. 23), which sees the group completely reimagining house classics, like "Gypsy Woman" by Crystal Waters, as well as current dance anthems, including "Latch" by Disclosure featuring Sam Smith. The album also features original tracks from HGC, including collaborations with house legend Todd Terry, and contributions from leading dance producers like DJ Spen, GRAMMY winner Alex Metric, Wookie and Toddla T.

GRAMMY.com caught up with House Gospel Choir creative director and founder Natalie Maddix and member Laura Leon to discuss their debut album, RE//CHOIRED, the group's creative process, and how the band's multicultural and multifaith composition creates a welcoming space on the dance floor for both its members and audiences.

The concept of House Gospel Choir is very interesting and unique. I'm curious to learn more about how you came up with the idea of a gospel choir that sings house music.

Natalie Maddix: I came up with the idea because I love to sing and I love to rave. I love house music and I love singing. I think there's a really strong tradition of gospel vocalists singing all the house tunes I love. Gospel house as a genre, it exists and it's been around for a long time, but I wasn't aware of any other choirs singing [house music] … So yeah, it's mainly just because I like to party, and it's that feeling of being on the dance floor and getting to sing with everyone …

Beyond that, I'm a massive fan of vocalists, and I was always a bit confused as to why I never knew the singers' names on some of my favorite house tunes. So I just started digging and I just found all these other great songs with gospel vocalists on them or vocalists that started off in church, I suppose.

And it just kind of clicked. It actually clicked because I saw there was a Frankie Knuckles quote I read when I was doing some research just about gospel house, and it was, "House music is church for people that have fallen from grace." You know when you read something and it just hits you in your chest? And I was like, "Yeah, that's what that feeling is." 

That's what I love about raving, that community, that communion. I've had some nights out that do feel very spiritual and transcendent in some ways. I think Frankie Knuckles, being the godfather of house, just summed it up perfectly.

Your debut album, RE//CHOIRED—a very clever, fantastic title, by the way—features covers and reimaginations of house classics like "Gypsy Woman" by Crystal Waters as well as newer classics like "Latch" by Disclosure featuring Sam Smith. Can you tell me more about how you approach your song selections when it comes to your covers?

Maddix: The main thing is [House Gospel Choir] started off with the live show. The intention was to have it feel like a DJ set. So the songs were seamlessly all mixed together, but you had live vocalists with it and you had a blooming gospel choir with the DJ. Through just practice and doing vocal arrangements and trying things out, it's like I come to the table with all of my favorite house tunes, and some of them should [be] left alone, should not make gospel versions of some of them.

Then there [are] other songs that really lent themselves to this way of reimagining what the song is. I think the vocal arrangement, the ability to make it into a House Gospel Choir sound, is one side. But the other bit is actually the message ... "Beautiful People" was the first song that we ever learned, and that was the first song I brought to the choir. I just think I needed that message at the time ... the messaging behind that [song] really was one of the big reasons we decided to do that one.

[For] "Gypsy Woman," we listened to it for so many years, and it's just like one of the biggest party records ever made ... and I don't think I'd ever really listened to the words. And then I sat down and I was like, "Wow, she's actually singing about someone being homeless." I found an interview where Crystal Walters was talking about the lady this song's about, and it just really struck me that there [are] so many people that don't have a home.

Like in a really basic way, we're talking about displaced people across all walks of life, not just homelessness. We started thinking about refugees. So the song just took on a totally different meaning and we felt it was a great way to just remind people, encourage people to look around when you're out on the streets. As much as you hear this song all the time and as much as you might walk down the same street every day, there are other things going on inside of that.

The album also features original tracks from the group, like "My Zulu," a collaboration with Todd Terry. Tell me about the creative process behind your original tracks.

Maddix: Our intention behind those originals was most definitely "future classics," because we were like, "We have to be able to make tracks to stand up against these absolute massive hits." Obviously, it's a huge task, but we just thought, "Let's try, let's just do it." We started off with a bit of a wishlist of who we wanted to collaborate with. And we've kind of crossed everyone off that list. It's been an amazing journey ... We just really wanted to pay homage and make sure that those original creators [of the songs] really gave this project the stamp of approval that it deserves. We've taken all the time to make sure that everyone is fully aware and supportive of what we do.

Laura Leon: With the originals, creatively, there's been quite a few different processes; it's not always been the same ... But I think, all the time, the intention is there; we go into the session, we say, "What is our intention?"

There are several tracks on RE//CHOIRED that reference religion and God. It reminds me of conversations I've had with ravers and dance music fans who've said they found religion and salvation on the dance floor. There are a lot of songs and artists who've talked about this "God on the dance floor" concept as well. Could you speak on this house-meets-religion concept? What is the theory there? And how does it relate to what HGC is doing?

Maddix: I grew up in church. So I went to church before I could speak, I suppose. And I did Sunday school religiously for years. I got to a point where, as a teenager, I was probably a little bit confused about the Christian faith I'd, in a way, been given, been born into as more of a birthright than a discovery of that faith. I went to Pentecostal Sunday school, I went to Anglican primary school and a Catholic secondary school. And they were all very different explorations of Christianity and the Bible; I think I was just a bit confused.

I still go to church, but I snuck into my first rave when I was about 13. It was an under-18 [event], so don't worry. Immediately, the feeling of being on the dance floor and singing songs ... I immediately felt the same way I felt like [in] my favorite days in Sunday school when we were all singing and just being together and that sense of community. I found it instantly on the dance floor in a way, but with less restrictions ... So that connection between the two things, having that community and togetherness feeling, is there.

Beyond that, the originators of the sound would have come out of a gospel tradition or a religious tradition, and that is reflected in the music, especially in the early house tracks; I'd say to a certain extent even in current house [as well], but the link is just not directly there. For me, it's the same experience, it's the same expression.

Watch: Positive Vibes Only: Kierra Sheard And Karen Clark-Sheard Deliver Striking Performance Of "Something Has To Break"

I think House Gospel Choir's project is really important because there doesn't seem to be any conversation about faith in mainstream culture at the moment. So it's just to have that conversation. I consider myself to be a spiritual person. There are loads of different types of faiths within the choir … We have people from all walks of life within the choir. We have people that came [who] have no faith and are figuring it out. My only thing is, there is definitely something, and I'm all right with people not being able to describe it or explain it.

But when we sing a gospel song and you look into the audience of people that maybe have just come for a rave and they're crying or they're having those moments, I think it's just worth a conversation, and House Gospel Choir is here to facilitate that conversation rather than pretend it doesn't exist. Because there's just so much we can't explain. As clever as human beings are, there's a lot going on that we don't have access to. So why not look and share experiences and ideas and faith?

The idea and practice of religion can often be a dividing topic, particularly here in the U.S. where you have the so-called "religious right" and dedicated faith communities heavily involved in politics as well as a rising atheist population. Seeing how your music discusses religion so openly, how have fans been reacting to your music and your approach to religion? Are fans accepting of the religious themes in your music? Are you seeing any backlash or negative reactions?

Maddix: I think for people that love dance music, house music, electronic music, there's a real acceptance of this style of music and the message has been there for a long time, so there's almost no problem there ... These are songs that are explicitly about faith and gods and the Bible that maybe people aren't even aware of, but they accept them because they move them in some way. When you encourage conversation about the meaning behind songs or the message behind songs, people are quite open to it. That's how I feel about it, and that's what I found most dance music fans have felt.

We actually do have a lot more religious followers or Christian followers, I think, especially since lockdown when we started doing our a cappella videos. We did a cover of "Optimistic" by [vocal group] Sounds Of Blackness, and I think that resonated with people at a time where they just needed to feel optimistic … So I think it just brought more people into the space.

If you go through our followers on Instagram, it's really surprising. Some of [their handles] are like "prayedup97" and someone else might be "danceallnight81." And they're all there, they're all in the same room. And that is essentially what House Gospel Choir is. It's us with all of our different beliefs, all of our own issues, all of our own struggles—being in the same room. I think that's what is reflected in our fan base.

There's definitely been some questions from our more religious followers, once or twice, about the length of our skirts and such and such. But I don't think it's possible to rave in a long skirt, personally. [Laughs.]

I'm glad you brought up the composition of the group itself. I read that it's composed of more than 150 members from all religions, all backgrounds, all ethnicities. Tell me why that was a deliberate choice.

Maddix: We live in London, man. I think it's similar to New York. If you are able to share what you have with the biggest audience possible, it's just good. I think because we came at it [from] an angle from two things: singing, which anyone of any race of any religious belief can do; and raving and being together. I think those two things are real good levelers or nice entry points for a lot of people.

Being in London, having such a diverse population, it just happened naturally … Our members are from all over the U.K., actually. There [are] Scottish people in there, there [are] people from outside of London. In the same way that New York has that kind of migratory aspect to it—someone might not have family members in that town or that city—London's a similar thing. I think it also brings together people that want to belong somewhere ... It's just a home for anyone that wants that experience.

Watch: Jekalyn Carr Speaks To The Unifying "Power Of Love" | Positive Vibes Only 

Leon: It provides like a second family, like you said, because there are a lot of people from outside of London ... To be able to come together in a safe space where you can just be yourself—even from personal experience, from a mental health perspective, it really helps being together with like-minded people that just want the same thing and to just let your hair down ...

But no matter what, everyone's got each others' backs ... I think we're all just aiming for the same thing, so [we're] all on the same page. Essentially, Nat is the driving force behind this movement. So it is her final word, and everyone respects that. Everyone just wants to work for the greater good and provide a space to fully be yourself [with] no judgment at all.

What is House Gospel Choir's mission statement? What is your ultimate goal for the group?

Maddix: My main thing was always to remind people that we are one. It's my mantra. I've noticed that so many people are using it now ... So many people are waking up to the idea that there's more that unites us than separates us. All these things that are supposed to make us so different, when you really get down to it and sit in a room or share space with people that feel very different to you, you realize there's not a lot of difference between who you are as human beings.

That is the message at the top and the end of our live show. That's how we always wanted people to leave feeling. I think during the pandemic, that's expanded a little bit more as well. It's about joy and it's about finding those moments and pockets to enjoy life and really witness and experience beautiful moments and beautiful things with anyone that's near you. It's just to remind people that joy is still required. With everything going on, just remember that you can feel two things at once. You can be sad and still find something joyful in your day or in your week. And singing is a good way to feel joyful.

Hispanic Heritage Month: Lucía Parker & Henry Alonzo Talk The History & Globalization of Latin Contemporary Christian Music

Grammys Newsletter

Tchami

Tchami

Photo: Anthony Ghnassia

 
 
News

Tchami Talks Debut Album 'Year Zero,' New Single "Faith" And Producing Lady Gaga's 'Chromatica'

Facebook Twitter Email
GRAMMY.com caught up with the Parisian DJ/producer to talk about how he experimented in the studio on 'Year Zero,' Lady Gaga's fearless approach to music and his ongoing chase to "master the alchemy of making great records"
John Ochoa
GRAMMYs
Sep 29, 2020 - 6:27 pm

Tchami might be having the best year ever, and in 2020 no less. Over the last decade, he's performed at some of the biggest festivals in the world, amassed hundreds of millions of online streams and launched the future house genre. This year, the Parisian DJ/producer upped the ante: As one of the featured producer's on Lady Gaga's latest hit album, Chromatica, he's put his magic touch on one of the year's biggest pop releases. 

After first working with Gaga on "Applause," the lead single from her 2013 album, ARTPOP, the pop queen once again tapped Tchami for Chromatica. He co-produced four of the album's tracks, including lead single "Stupid Love" and mega radio hit "Rain on Me" with Ariana Grande. 

"The vibe in the studio was open," Tchami said of the creative process behind Chromatica. "[In] the end, I was just happy to be there and come back when my help was needed."

As the overwhelming success of his earworm tracks continues to build, Tchami is closing out the year with the release of his forthcoming debut album, Year Zero. Set to release later this year, the album is an "illustration of where I am right now as an artist and also as a human," he explains. 

So far, Tchami has rolled out five singles off Year Zero, including his latest, "Faith," released Sept. 25. The up-tempo house track centers on a haunting sample from legendary soul-jazz singer Marlena Shaw's 1969 song, "Woman of the Ghetto," a stark portrait of Black life in America during the tumultuous decade. 

"There is a fascinating aspect about sampling in the way that you're able to bring something from the past and its aesthetics into a new time and place," Tchami says of the distinctive sample driving "Faith."

GRAMMY.com caught up with Tchami to talk about how he experimented in the studio on Year Zero, Lady Gaga's fearless approach to music and his ongoing chase to "master the alchemy of making great records."

Your new single, "Faith," samples Marlena Shaw's 1969 song, "Woman of The Ghetto." How did you discover the sample in the first place?

About two years ago, during the first studio session for the album, DJ Snake came to me with this idea to sample "Woman of the Ghetto" by Marlena Shaw. I made the first sketches around the a cappella that we extracted from the original version. The creation process around it was really similar to doing a remix.

What drew you to the sample for this specific song? What made you want to use it for "Faith"?

In the early 2000s, I was buying a lot of vinyl records in France. It could be any type of genre, and as far as I can remember, I always liked to incorporate samples in my music. There are ups and downs due to clearances, but it's definitely not new to me. There is a fascinating aspect about sampling in the way that you're able to bring something from the past and its aesthetics into a new time and place. Again, nothing new here, but that's my thinking behind all my sample choices. 

I called it "Faith" to punctuate Marlena Shaw's powerful message in her original song. I don't write lyrics at all, even if I try to, and, like many others, my words often fail to express my intentions. That's why I mainly choose to stick to the musical side to express myself; I have found just that in electronic music. I can't hide the fact that I have been touched by records with a powerful message in my life and I wanted my first album to represent that as well.

Read: Record Store Recs: Chicago House Hero Marshall Jefferson On Representation In Dance Music 

You're releasing your debut album, Year Zero, later this year. How do you plan to make the album stand out from your previous releases and projects? 

I surely went deeper in my sonic explorations, tested new BPMs and song structures. I also wanted to be in a studio creating with songwriters. Since I mainly make music from home, I wanted to shake [up] my creative process a little bit. We had some wonderful moments during these sessions. If I have an obsession in life, it's definitely knowing enough about making a record from scratch, alone or with other people in the room. Everyone's energy is important and I pay attention to everyone. 

The main reason for this album to exist is that I wanted to challenge myself. At some point, I was asking myself, "What's next for you Tchami?" Another EP? Countless singles? [There's] nothing wrong with that, but the challenge wasn't there. And as a listener, I just love the album format. But the main wall I kept hitting was, "How are you going to keep the listener engaged through the whole album?" Well, I guess I'll have the answer soon enough.

The term "year zero" carries a lot of different meanings and definitions. For instance, it's used to describe "the beginning of revolutionary change" or "the beginning of any new system or regime." What does Year Zero mean exactly in the world of Tchami?

I think Year Zero is a good photograph/illustration of where I am right now as an artist and also as a human. I have lost family members during the making of the album, I had to terminate some friendships that were unhealthy. Those who know me know that I can be too agreeable most of the time because I believe in people's vision and want to help them achieve it. The cost is putting myself aside. I also think this is a good reason why I'm a good asset in the studio for other artists. But all this led to an inner revolution that started with the Tchami project and continues with this album. 

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy healthy collaborations; that's what this LP is about. Music is a therapy for me before being a job. I am also conscious that the title can resonate in other ways, especially during these times, and I can't stop people [from thinking of] it. Once the album is out it's up for debate and interpretation. It's meant to be shared, experienced, and maybe be a part of you for some time.

You co-produced several tracks off Lady Gaga's new album, Chromatica. How did that opportunity come about for you?

[GRAMMY-nominated producer] BloodPop and I were introduced to each other by a mutual friend, as simple as that. I think he wanted to work with other electronic music producers to shape the Chromatica [album] with him and Lady Gaga, so I'm glad I was one of them. 

Beyond the fact that this is an exciting project to work on, the vibe in the studio was open, and as far as I know, I had full latitude to work on every song of the album. [In] the end, I was just happy to be there and come back when my help was needed.

Have you always been a fan of Lady Gaga's music? Or is this a more recent development?

What I like the most about her is the big picture she paints, not only with her music, but with all her artistic and aesthetic choices. It always makes sense. She is not afraid to challenge herself in other music genres and makes it look effortless. I think it's powerful not to let people put you in a specific box; if you want to do something else, you should be proud and praised, too. 

Read: Jayda G Talks New EP, Promoting Diversity In Dance Music & Sharing Joy 

Lady Gaga has always kept one foot in the pop world and one foot on the dance floor. For example, electronic artists like David Guetta, DJ Snake, Infected Mushroom, Zedd and Madeon have produced for her. Does this dance-pop crossover make it easier or harder for your individual sounds and styles to come together when producing for Gaga or a similar artist?

Unless I'm asked to, I never try to bring the Tchami sound forward when I work on somebody else's project. Bringing my best game means sometimes getting Tchami out of the way because we're trying to write a whole other story. I make all kinds of music in my studio that never sees the light of day, so working on other projects is always an opportunity to surprise people. Maybe the most important thing isn't the sound signature, but the creative process and being able to co-create something unique each time.

Do you have plans to continue experimenting and producing in the pop world? Are there any other genres you're interested in exploring or experimenting with as a producer or artist?

Pop music is a vast world, plus it is one of my guilty pleasures. So why not? I'm interested in other genres, too; maybe [working] with live instruments a bit more. I'm also deeply invested in the mixing and mastering aspects of a record. I think it's one of the key reasons why a record is satisfying to one's ear and potentially timeless. [More so] than genres, I'd like to master the alchemy of making great records.  

Your label, Confession, has helped globalize several breakout electronic artists, including Malaa. What's the label working on for the remainder of 2020 and going into 2021?

2020 is definitely a year we take to reflect on the label's direction. We will continue to give a voice and a platform to emerging artists, but also to initiate and engage more in collaborative efforts such as new compilations and live events. 

Aluna On New Album 'Renaissance' & Making Dance Music Inclusive Again 

Grammys Newsletter