Interview, Music

|Interview| Sandra Vu of the Dum Dum Girls/SISU

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Transitions aren’t easy. For some, change comes easy and they slide into the new routine, for others it’s a bit more difficult to adjust. Sandy Vu of the Los Angeles-based band Dum Dum Girls falls somewhere between the former and latter. Vu, who entered the scene as the drummer for Dee Dee Penny’s all-female project steps out from behind the drum set on a new venture of her own, SISU. Where she was a moving part in the Dum Dum Girls, Vu is free to creatively express herself with the new band, moving about from on instrument to another and crafting a sound that is wholly hers. The transition hasn’t been an easy one though. As anyone with a lot on their plate can attest to, starting a new band while in another is no easy task. I caught up with Sandy, who plays The Empty Bottle in Chicago tomorrow night, as she was just getting out on tour with Dirty Beaches in support of her upcoming album, Blood Tears, out on Mono Prism September 17th.

Jake: Tell me a bit about the tour and opening for Dirty Beaches.

Sandy: We have been super excited to play with Dirty Beaches, I met him about two years ago now when Dum Dum Girls did a tour with him and it’s just going to be special because we’re all family at this point. Their tout manager is our good friend and stuff so it’s kind of like a big reunion party. Continue reading |Interview| Sandra Vu of the Dum Dum Girls/SISU →

Interview, Music, RubyHornet

North Coast Music Festival: Interview with Cherub

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Photos by Bobby Reys

Cherub has been steadily building a name for themselves since crossing paths three years ago with a common musical goal. It was simple, guitarist Jordan Kelley had a sound he wasn’t quite sure how to achieve, Jason Huber had just the voice and production skills to make it happen. Having found each other in Nashville, TN, the pair created Cherub, a hybrid dance/funk electro-pop that has drawn comparisons to Prince and Pharrell. Over the past two years the duo have watched their stars rise exponentially, playing Bonaroo and Electric Forest, along with a successful SXSW in Austin last year buoyed by supports from the Red Bull Sound Select series. This year Jason and Jordan  jumped on tour with Gramatik in the spring and, with festival season out of the way, will begin a Fall tour with ProbCause, Mansions on the Moon and Pell. We had the opportunity to sit down with the pair before the played the Dos Equis stage, check out the conversation below. Continue reading North Coast Music Festival: Interview with Cherub →

Interview, Music, RubyHornet

North Coast Music Festival: Jesse Miller of Lotus

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Lotus has carried the flag for their own genre for awhile now. “Jamtronica”, the band’s signature blend of electronic elements paired with a creatively unique jam band aesthetic that has kept them at the forefront of both genres for close to 15 years now. Lotus’ ability to master a wide range of disciplines musically has allowed the Indiana-based group to constantly tinker with it’s sound and evolve the band’s dynamic. Lotus is a fully adaptable animal, with the ability to go from rock to dance to hip hop all in one rocking set and, largely without vocal aid. I had a chance to catch Lotus frontman Jesse Miller while backstage at The Last Stand Stage, check out the interview below. Continue reading North Coast Music Festival: Jesse Miller of Lotus →

Interview, RubyHornet

|Interview| North Coast Music Festival: U-God

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Like most anyone involved with hip-hop music or pop culture in general, I grew up listening to Wu-Tang Clan and vividly remember ODB crooning through the speakers of my Mom’s Ford Explorer when I was a kid hijacking the radio. So, waiting on the elevator with two photographers to meet and interview U-God during North Coast was one of the crazier moments I’ve had in my life.  The two of us said hello, settled in and enjoyed the view from the 29th floor of the Hard Rock Hotel, check out the conversation below.

Continue reading |Interview| North Coast Music Festival: U-God →

Interview, Music

Mad Decent Block Party: Interview with Big Gigantic

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The Mad Decent team has been steadily criss-crossing the country with an also-steadily changing group of performers. As the summer begins hitting the homestretch, Mad Decent heads to Texas for an all ages performance at the Whitewater Music Ampitheater before the festival series heads off to the west coast for a pair of final dates in Los Angeles and San Diego. The New Braunfels stop includes headlining sets by Major Lazer, Bauuer, Dillon Francis and Flosstradamus, as well as Big Gigantic who we were able to catch up with before they hit the Lone Star state for a brief Q + A. Check out the interview below with drummer Jeremy Salken and head here for tickets if you’ll be in the area this weekend.

Jake: Last time I talked to you two, you were preparing for New Year’s Eve in Chicago. How have things been since?

Jeremy: Wow that was a long time ago! Now we’re prepping for this tour and New Years in NEW YORK!! Things have been freaking incredible.  We literally just finished up our summer festival season and it couldn’t have gone better.  We didn’t play as many festivals as last year but we headlined a few which was a huge step up for us! Cant wait to be back in Southern TX though! Things tend to get a little crazier down there! Continue reading Mad Decent Block Party: Interview with Big Gigantic →

Music, Video

[Video] Chicago Attic Jam

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Photo by RaRa Mosa

Sometimes it’s good to just get away and listen to some good music. Last Thursday, some of Chicago’s most talented young musicians got together for a jam session on the north side of the city to do just that. Former Kids These Days members Nico Segal (aka Donnie Trumpet), Lane Beckstrom and Greg Landfair (Stix) took part while Peter CottonTale handled work on the keys and Chris Mathien kept pace on lead guitar. Check out the video below, shot by Nico Hagopian and be sure to keep an eye out for future work coming out of the Attic!

Music, News

[Album] Lil Wayne: “Dedication 5”

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By Jake Krzeczowski

For the better part of a decade, Weezy’s Dedication mixtape series has served as a platform from which to premier the latest Lil Wayne to the masses and is often credited with shaping the mixtape culture of today. On his latest offering, Wayne does it again in true Weezy fashion. The release date of the tape was pushed back as Wayne waited on a last minute track from Chance The Rapper produced by Peter CottonTale, Cam Osteen of J.U.S.T.I.C.E League and Nate Fox, “You Song”. A late night call last Wednesday sent the production trio, along with Chance, to Classick Studios in Chicago where they shaped the song in an all-night session before sending it off later that week. Chance is truly blowing up, along with some superbly talented producers out of the Midwest. Check out the mixtape below and keep it locked on RubyHornet for exclusive content on “You”.

News

‘Acid Rap’ Nominated for ‘BET Best Mixtape’

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Photo by Nolis

“Better than I was the last time/Did a ton of drugs and did better than all my alma mater”
Words have quickly become reality for Chancellor Bennett, better known to the rest of the world as Chance The Rapper, whose latest release, Acid Rap, was nominated this week for a BET Hip Hop Award for Mixtape of the Year. Continue reading ‘Acid Rap’ Nominated for ‘BET Best Mixtape’ →

Music, News, Video

[Album] Stix Jam Pack

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Greg Landfair, aka Stix, former Kids These Days drummer and current backing for Chance The Rapper, released his drum pack for producers today via Hiphopdrumsamples.com. The pack features over a hundred sounds garnered from a number of sessions with artists including Jeff Tweedy, Beastie Boys producer Mario C at the Sonic Ranch in El Paso, Texas. The sounds are almost directly out of his work with Kids These Days and include a variety of sounds including elevator snares, snares in the shower, live claps, gongs and full drum loops, among others. Check out the promo video below by Bryan Lamb (@Fragdfilms) & myself and download the full pack via Hiphopdrumsamples.com.

Features, Music, News

Day Two Recap: North Coast Music Festival

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Photo by Geoff Heano

Day Two of North Coast Music Festival in Union Park went off much smoother than the 2013 debut a day earlier. With the sun finally shining down and the heat pounding festival-goers, things got off to a fast start. Chicago’s own Porn and Chicken got things going with their 2:30 set at the Last Stand Stage, picking up where frat-dance kings Milk n’ Cookies warmed up the stage earlier.

 

After floating through the following sets and checking out a truly inspired set from Conspirator, I found myself torn between the silky smooth tones of Aloe Blacc, the rough-edged hip hop of Flatbush Zombies and the endearing DJ sounds of Thibault. I ended up making the rounds to each briefly, unfortunately missing most of Flatbush due to simply not being able to navigate the festival properly. Between Bondax, Gramatik, Future Rock and the smattering of EDM/Dance acts on the Tent Stage, the Saturday afternoon air was soon completely inundated with the glitchy sound of digital music. Being a big fan of both Gramatik and Bondax, it was disappointing that organizers pushed so many similar acts together and brought about memories of monotonous EDM festivals of earlier months.

 

Emerging from the dense electronic jungle, Nas took the North Stage to close it out for the day. The New York MC showed precisely why he is one of the most decorated hip-hop acts in the history of the genre, filling his hour-long set with tracks from his entire discography. Dipping back to Illmatic for timeless hit (“The World is Yours”, “Life’s a Bitch”, “Memory Lane”) and peppering more recent work from several albums (God’s Son, Stillmatic, Life is Good), Nasir Jones put on a show that won’t soon be forgotten at North Coast.

 

EDM made it’s way back to the stage in two forms to close out Saturday, with Big Gigantic and Afrojack bringing up the rear as the day’s headliners. Jeremy Salken and Dominic Lalli continued their string of impressive Chicago shows by performing their instrumental take on the genre that includes live drums and saxophone, drawing one of the biggest crowds of the weekend. A meet and greet organized through Thissongissick.com kept the pair standing stage-side for hours. For his part, Afrojack held things down, giving fans a grittier dance experience from the other side of the festival grounds and closing out what was easily the biggest day at North Coast for anyone trying to dance.

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