Category: All Ages

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Pink Talking Fish with The Heavy Pets

Pink Talking Fish is a Hybrid Tribute Fusion Act that takes the music from three of the world’s most beloved bands and creates a special treat for fans of the music.

Pink Floyd, The Talking Heads and Phish are all more than just bands… they are Phenomenons.  Their creations have artistically inspired people and their mindblowing live performances have brought people together to form a special sense of community around the love for their favorite band.

Although the music from each act is different, Pink Talking Fish has discovered that fusing the material together creates an amazing story.  The epic emotion of Pink Floyd…. The funky, danceable layerings of The Talking Heads…. The multitude of styles, unique compositional structures and pure fun of Phish…. to merge these three into one gives music lovers a special experience.

Pink Talking Fish features Eric Gould on bass, Richard James on keyboards, Zack Burwick on drums and Dave Brunyak on guitar.  This is a band created by musicians who love the music of these acts.  It’s purpose is to heighten people’s passion for this music by creating something fresh and exciting for fans.  

Discovering connections is part of the fun:  Pink Floyd’s “On The Run” seamlessly fitting in the middle of the composition of Phish’s “You Enjoy Myself”.  Perfectly placing Phish’s “Sand” into the groove of The Talking Head’s “Slippery People”.  Segued collections from all three acts such as Run Like Hell > Making Flippy Floppy > Piper > Run Like Hell or Mike’s Song > Have A Cigar > Once In A Lifetime > Weekapaug Groove.  These ideas are the spirit behind Pink Talking Fish.

The story is ever evolving.  The experience is always exciting.  Come join Pink Talking Fish for the ultimate fusion tribute and celebrate the love of this music in unique fashion.

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Flatbush Zombies

The Brooklyn crew comprised of Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice, and Erick Arc Elliott made their Internet debut as Flatbush Zombies with a video that celebrated two of their favorite things: weed and waffles. The duo flashed gold fangs at the camera, smoked L’s like its legal, and ate waffles next to Sour Diesel nuggets.

Next came a viral spark that got the attention of hip-hop blogs and a few major labels, but it didn’t stop there. After a string of trippy videos for “S.C.O.S.A.”and “Face-Off (L.S. Darko),” Flatbush Zombies released their first full-length mixtape,D.R.U.G.S., last week. From Kilo Kish’s magnetic appearance on “JupiterSound” to the syrupy, smoked-out “Laker Paper,” D.R.U.G.S. is every bit a strange smoker’s album as it is an introduction to the left-field collective.

On the heels of spitting fiery verses on A$AP Mob’s “Bath Salt,” we decided it was time to find out Who Is Flatbush Zombies? During a visit to the Zombie Palace, the crew kept the weed in heavy rotation while they played quick rounds of NBA 2K12. As expected, rap talk was plentiful, but the conversation also drifted to the meaning of “zombie,” movie influences, “Thug Waffle” hate, and why they can’t stop wearing Supreme. Continue reading for a look at it all and a better understanding of who these rising rappers really are.

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The Front Bottoms

The Front Bottoms are an indie rock duo from New Jersey whose music is a wildly eclectic blend of pop, rock, and punk influences, accompanied by witty lyrics that offer a rapid-fire, slightly surreal perspective on the world around them. The Front Bottoms are vocalist Brian Sella on guitars and vocals and Mathew Uychich on drums and bullhorn. Hailing from Bergen County, New Jersey, Sellaand Uychich have been friends since they were ten years old, and started writing songs together whenSella was in sixth grade. After years of making music on their own, Sella and Uychich decided to take their act to the stage at a high-school talent show, where they played an original song as well as aModest Mouse cover. Sella‘s mother hoped to encourage the boys by buying them some time at a local recording studio, where they managed to record 12 songs in just three hours. With enough original songs to play a set, the Front Bottoms were booked to play an all-ages show at a club in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey with a handful of local bands; there they met Casey Lee Morgan, who was running sound that night and recorded music in his home studio.

Morgan began doing sessions with the duo, and in 2008 the Front Bottoms put out a self-released album, I Hate My Friends, and they hit the road, making their way up and down the East Coast and playing any makeshift venue that would have them. Another D.I.Y. album, My Grandmother vs. Pneumonia, was released in 2009, and an EP appeared in 2010. Early on in their touring exploits, Brian Uychich (Mathew‘s brother) joined the duo on keyboards and vocals, but he left the group in 2011 to pursue his education, and the Front Bottoms continued on without him. In 2011 the Front Bottoms signed a deal with respected New Jersey independent label Bar/None Records, and their first album for their new sponsors, simply titled The Front Bottoms, was issued in September 2011. They followed it up with 2013’s Talon of the Hawk, and in 2014 released a six-song EP of previously unreleased fan favorites titled Rose, which is supposedly the first in a series of EPs to be named after the bandmembers’ grandmothers. In April 2015 they released a split EP called Liberty and Personality with rapper GDP, followed by their third studio album, the Fueled by Ramen-issued Back on Top, in September of that year.

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Cypress Hill

Cypress Hill were notable for being the first Latino hip-hop superstars, but they became notorious for their endorsement of marijuana, which actually isn’t a trivial thing. Not only did the group campaign for its legalization, but their slow, rolling bass-and-drum loops pioneered a new, stoned funk that became extraordinary influential in ’90s hip-hop — it could be heard in everything from Dr. Dre’s G-funk to the chilly layers of English trip-hop. DJ Muggs crafted the sound, and B Real, with his pinched, nasal voice, was responsible for the rhetoric that made them famous. The pro-pot position became a little ridiculous over time, but there was no denying that the actual music had a strange, eerie power, particularly on the band’s first two albums. Although B Real remained an effective lyricist and Muggs’ musical skills did not diminish, the group’s third album, Temples of Boom, was perceived by many critics as self-parodic, and the group appeared to disintegrate shortly afterward, though Muggs and B Real regrouped toward the end of the ’90s to issue more material.

DVX, the original incarnation of Cypress Hill, formed in 1986 when Cuban-born brothers Sen Dog (born Senen Reyes, November 20, 1965) and Mellow Man Ace hooked up with fellow Los Angeles residents Muggs (born Lawrence Muggerud, January 28, 1968) and B Real (born Louis Freese, June 2, 1970). The group began pioneering a fusion of Latin and hip-hop slang, developing their own style by the time Mellow Man Ace left the group in 1988. Renaming themselves Cypress Hill after a local street, the group continued to perform around L.A., eventually signing with Ruffhouse/Columbia in 1991.

With its stoned beats, B Real’s exaggerated nasal whine, and cartoonish violence, the group’s eponymous debut became a sensation in early 1992, several months after its initial release. The singles “How I Could Just Kill a Man” and “The Phuncky Feel One” became underground hits, and the group’s public pro-marijuana stance earned them many fans among the alternative rock community. Cypress Hill followed the album with Black Sunday in the summer of 1993, and while it sounded remarkably similar to the debut, it nevertheless became a hit, entering the album charts at number one and spawning the crossover hit “Insane in the Brain.” With Black Sunday, Cypress Hill’s audience became predominantly white, collegiate suburbanites, which caused them to lose some support in the hip-hop community. The group didn’t help matters much in 1995, when they added a new member, drummer Bobo, and toured with the fifth Lollapalooza prior to the release of their third album, Temples of Boom. A darker, gloomier affair than their first two records, Temples of Boom was greeted with mixed reviews upon its fall 1995 release, and while it initially sold well, it failed to generate a genuine hit single. However, it did perform better on the R&B charts than it did on the pop charts.

Instead of capitalizing on their regained hip-hop credibility, Cypress Hill slowly fell apart. Sen Dog left in early 1996 and Muggs spent most of the year working on his solo album. Muggs Presents the Soul Assassins was released to overwhelmingly positive reviews in early 1997, leaving Cypress Hill’s future in much doubt until the release of IV in 1998. Sen Dog had come back for the record. He had left because he felt he did not get enough mike time, but after a few years with a rock band he was more than happy to return. Two years later, the group released the double-disc set Skull & Bones, which featured a disc of hip-hop and a disc of their more rock-inspired material. Appropriately, the album also included rock and rap versions of the single “Superstar,” bringing Cypress Hill’s quest for credibility and crossover hits full circle. The ensuing videos for both versions featured many famous rap and rock musicians talking about their profession, and the song was a smash on MTV because of it. In the winter of 2001, the group came back with Stoned Raiders, another album to heavily incorporate rock music. Three years later, the band issued Till Death Do Us Part, which incorporated several styles of Jamaican music. In 2010 they announced their signing to Priority Records thanks to the label’s creative director, Snoop Dogg. The label released their eighth studio album, Rise Up, that same year.

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Ra Ra Riot

After being a band for a decade, it’s easy to get disillusioned with the tedium of adulthood, but Need Your Light, the fourth full-length from RaRa Riot, is the sound of a band being reinvigorated by their own existence. Correspondingly, the album sees the group—which originated in Syracuse but has now dispersed all over the country—getting back to their house party roots without abandoning the more heady soundscapes they explored with 2013’s Beta Love. The result is an album that’s celebratory without being saccharine, and that sees the group collectively mining their prior experiences to craft something that looks toward the future with an optimistic gaze.

The original plan was for the band—which features vocalist Wes Miles, bassist Mathieu Santos, guitarist Milo Bonacci, violinist Rebecca Zeller and drummer Kenny Bernard—to take the first extended break of their career after the year and a half they spent on the road supporting Beta Love. After a few months, however, they couldn’t help themselves from working on new music. “The inspiration came very quickly,” Miles says, explaining that he decided to fly out to Los Angeles to start fleshing out ideas with previous producer Dennis Herring (Modest Mouse, Elvis Costello). Shortly afterward, the group went on a writing trip to Milwaukee and began the process of creating what would eventually become Need Your Light. To fully realize their vision, RaRaRiot ended up working with a host of previous collaborators, including Ryan Hadlock (who produced 2008’s debut The Rhumb Line); longtime friend and sound engineer Andrew Maury (who co-produced 2010’s The Orchard); and Vampire Weekend producer Rostam (who is also half of the avant garde R&B duo Discovery alongside Miles).

In fact, Rostam and Miles’ approach to that liberating project—which released its debut LPin 2009—helped influence the end result ofNeed Your Light as well. “In January of this year, Wes came to stay with me on the West Coast for five days, and we set out to write songs not knowing where it would take us,” Rostam explains. “There was something I’d heard in Wes’ singing in the earliest days ofRaRa Riot that I felt had never been captured on record.” Influenced by their shared love of U2’s Achtung Baby, the pair spent five days writing the songs “Water” and “I Need Your Light”. “The attitude of these two songs was only able to come because of over ten years of collaboration,” Miles adds. “These two songs were written with no expectations, and wequickly realized that we wanted them to be played live.” So the duo took another week to record bass, drums, guitar and violin in Los Angeles with the full band.

“Working with people we had a history with was comfortable in the sense that it enabled us to continue growing and focus more on the music than relationships,” Santos adds. “ We already trusted everyone.” Additionally, the group collaborated with previous drummer Gabriel Duquette on the track “Bouncy Castle,” and with longtime friend Maury on“ Absolutely,” “ Call Me Out,” and “ Bad Times,”— further expanding the reoccurring theme onNeed Your Light of a band incorporating their past into the future.

Listening to Need Your Light, it’s quickly apparent that the heightened level of experimentation and expansive soundscapes wouldn’t have been possible without the band’s synth-heavy approach to 2013’s Beta Love. This is clearly evident in the opening track “Water,” which starts off with a syncopated groove and minimalist instrumentation before gradually building into a triumphant, 90’s soul call to arms. Alternately, “Bouncy Castle” resides on the opposite side of the sonic-spectrum with its carefree neo-soul refrain. Yet both of the songs were created with the group’s incendiary live performances in mind. “We wanted to make sure all of the songs on this album could be reproduced live because performing has always been our greatest strength and something we felt we got away from with our last record,” Miles says. “A lot of these songs incorporate the same instrumentation we’ve used in the past, but the vibe is somewhere we haven’t gone before, which is exciting.”

Lyrically, Need Your Light parallels the transitional nature of the members’ lives as they enter their thirties and begin leaving Brooklyn to start families without abandoning the band that they’ve spent their lives cultivating. “It’s more of a grown-up record, but with our still invariably raucous attitude,” Miles explains, adding that this evolution was entirely organic. In other words, the aforementioned “ Bouncy Castle” may revolve around an adolescent’s first erection, but it’s not merely an attempt at humor. “On this album we talk about serious things in kind of a funny context, but it’s presented very earnestly,” Santos says. “We really tried to have that type of balance and dichotomy on all of these songs.”

From the carefree, orchestrally tinged vibe of “Absolutely” to the shimmering falsetto pop of “Instant Breakup,” Need Your Light sees the band mining their career to come up with songs that transcend categorization. This ability to get back in touch with their roots was only encouraged by their decision todo a short tour of warehouses and basements late last year before they reentered the studio. The experience reminded them of why they began RaRa Riot in the first place. “Because we started as a house party band, we never wanted to lose sight of having fun and engaging with the audience through visceral live shows,” Santos says.

n the past RaRa Riot have latched onto cerebral concepts like the Singularity or futurism, but with this album they cast a wider net, focusing on everything from sexual relationships to the Challenger explosion. “ It was fun to write songs about Internet affairs and retain a kind of tech-aspect, but it’s much more understated,” Miles explains. The stories are conveyed in such a way that it leaves the listener the chance to attach a more personal meaning to each of the 10 tracks. Whether Miles is singing about something fantastic or mundane, there’s an enduring energy to the songs onNeed Your Light, which illustrates that in many ways, RaRa Riot are still only getting started.

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Santigold

As a solo project with a revolving door of members, the heart and face of Santigold is vivacious frontwoman Santi White. White and John Hill, her former counterpart from ska-punk band Stiffed, use their common backgrounds as production-savvy musicians to make bombastic, bass-oriented songs that fuse punk, reggae, grime, and indie rock with electro. Tribal island rhythms merge with flavorful digital chirps and blips, culminating in an original sound that is comparable to M.I.A. but draws from too many other influences to be considered just another M.I.A. knockoff.

While showcasing her array of vocal styles at a Stiffed show, White was spotted by Martin Heath, who made her an offer to record a solo record on Lizard King, the label responsible for the successful promotion of the Killers. After failed attempts with a few mainstream pop producers, White and Hill(now calling the project Santogold) decided to pair up with a crew of like-minded musicians — includingFreq Nasty, Disco D, Switch, Spank Rock‘s Naeem, Xxxchange, Steel Pulse guitarist Clifford Moonie Pusey, and none other than M.I.A. herself.

In only three weeks, the full-length Creator was completed and scheduled for release in January of 2008, though it took until April for the album (retitled simply Santogold) to actually hit shelves. She spent time supporting headlining acts ranging from Coldplay to Jay-Z for the rest of the year. Then Whitedecided to change the name of the project to Santigold in early 2009 for reasons related to an impending lawsuit from wrestler and “personality” Santo Gold. Although a follow-up under the new name was not immediately forthcoming, she kept busy featuring on tracks by N.A.S.A. (The Spirit of Apollo), Beastie Boys (Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2), andthe Lonely Island (Turtleneck & Chain). She started recording solo again in January 2010. Once the dynamic sophomore follow-up was completed, the release date was delayed when she briefly joined and left Jay-Z‘s Roc-a-Fella Records, but eventually she signed with Atlantic Records, and Master of My Make-Believe was unveiled in April of 2012.

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NOFX

Formed in Berkeley, California, in 1983 and relocating to Los Angeles not long afterwards, NOFX steered clear of major labels and commercial exposure over the course of their career, recording an impressive number of full-length albums plus an assortment of EPs and singles. The band started out as a trio comprised of vocalist/bassist Fat Mike (Mike Burkett), guitarist Eric Melvin, and drummer Erik Sandin (aka Erik Ghint/Erik Shun). Sandin quit in 1985, and his place was taken by Scott Sellers; that same year, NOFX also recorded two 7″ EPs for the Mystic label, No F-X and So What If We’re on Mystic? Sellers quit shortly thereafter and was replaced by Scott Aldahl for only two weeks, at which point Sandin rejoined the band; vocalist Dave Allen also joined in 1986, but his tenure was tragically cut short by a fatal car accident. Dave Casillas joined as a second guitarist later in the year, by which point NOFX’s touring schedule had become far-ranging and rigorous. The EP The P.M.R.C. Can Suck on This was released on Fat Mike’s own Fat Wreck Chords label in 1987. Casillas departed the group in 1989 and was replaced by Steve Kidwiller for NOFX’s first full-length album, S&M Airlines, which was released on the legendary punk label Epitaph; the band remained there ever since, despite the release of several albums — such as 1995’s I Heard They Suck Live — and EPs on Fat Wreck Chords, which gradually grew into a premier stable of punk revival artists.

Having appeared on 1990’s Ribbed and 1991’s Liberal Animation (which was actually recorded in 1988), Kidwiller left the band in 1991, and Aaron Abeyta became the permanent second guitarist (as well as trumpeter), adopting the nickname El Hefe. Dragged into the mainstream spotlight by the mid-’90s success of labelmates Bad Religion and the Offspring, NOFX compensated with albums like 1992’s White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean that were even closer to the anti-commercial extreme, exemplified by White Trash’s accompanying single, “Please Play This Song on the Radio,” which lured un-alert radio programmers with a tight melody, but ends with a stream of obscenities. The El Hefe-anchored lineup continued to blossom with 1994’s Punk in Drublic; often regarded as the band’s best, the album was eventually certified gold. Releases on Fat Wreck Chords continued throughout the ’90s, as did the full-length Epitaph albums, like 1996’s grungier, less uptempo Heavy Petting Zoo, 1997’s punkier So Long & Thanks for All the Shoes, and 2000’s Pump Up the Valuum and Bottles to the Ground; the latter album followed an experimental Fat Wreck Chords EP titled The Decline, which consisted entirely of the 18-minute title track. Next up was the Surfer EP, which showcased select sloppy cuts in spring 2001, with the first 500 copies on colored vinyl.

In 2002, NOFX sifted through countless tapes and recording sessions, eventually collecting 47 songs for 45 or 46 Songs That Weren’t Good Enough to Go on Our Other Records. “Pimps and Hookers,” which was the only new song on the album, was recorded in one day. Later that year, BYO Records got the band to release the NOFX/Rancid split album BYO Split Series, Vol. 3. This particular album had Rancid covering six NOFX tracks while NOFX returned the favor by switching up six Rancid songs. The four-song EP Regaining Unconsciousness came out in March 2003 and served as a teaser for May’s The War on Errorism, released on Fat Wreck and littered with political criticisms. Given the band’s outspoken and leftist nature, it was not surprising when they launched Punk Voter, a movement of punk bands that sought to politically empower disenfranchised youth and vote George W. Bush out of office. The organization still remained in action, even after Bush’s 2004 re-election. Back on the music front, NOFX next released the EP Never Trust a Hippy in March 2006, the full-length Wolf in Wolves’ Clothing one month later, and the live album They’ve Actually Gotten Worse Live! the following year. The band’s 11th studio album, Coaster, arrived in 2009, paired with a documentary of the band’s international 2008 tour in the form of the Fuse network’s series Backstage Passport. In 2012 NOFX offered up a more self-aware set of songs on their 12th studio album, Self Entitled. A number of singles followed, and were collected on 2013’s Stoke Extinguisher, which featured a new track, as well as the b-sides from the previous years 7″ releases. Fat Mike spent much of 2014 writing songs for a punk rock musical entitled Home Street Home. Along with the rest of NOFX, he collaborated with members of Alkaline Trio, Dance Hall Crashers, The Living End and even Tony Award winning vocalist Lena Hall on the soundtrack, which arrived in early 2015 as the final touches were put on the theatrical production.

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Living Colour

During the 1980s, rock had become completely segregated and predictable, the opposite of the late ’60s/early ’70s, when such musically and ethnically varied artists as Jimi Hendrix, Sly & the Family Stone, and Santana ruled the Earth. But bands such as New York’s Living Colour helped break down the doors by the end of the ’80s, leading to a much more open-minded musical landscape that would eventually pave the way for future bands (Rage Against the Machine, Sevendust, etc.). The group (singer Corey Glover, guitarist Vernon Reid, bassist Muzz Skillings, and drummer Will Calhoun) first formed in the mid-’80s, with Reid being the only member with real prior band experience; he was a member of Ronald Shannon Jackson’s experimental jazz outfit, and had recorded with Defunkt, Public Enemy, as well as issuing a solo album with Bill Frisell, 1984’s Smash & Scatteration.

It took the fledgling band a few years for their sound to gel, as they honed their act at N.Y.C.’s famed CBGB’s. But the group found an unlikely supporter in Mick Jagger, who took the band under his wing, produced a demo for the quartet, and helped them secure a record deal with Epic (just prior, Glover had to take a brief leave of absence from the band, as he landed a role in Oliver Stone’s Vietnam War epic movie, Platoon). Living Colour’s debut album, Vivid, was issued in the summer of 1988, yet it would take a few months for momentum to build. By the winter, the band’s striking video for their anthem “Cult of Personality” was all over MTV, pushing Vivid to the upper reaches of the charts and to platinum certification. Living Colour also took home their first of several Grammy Awards, as “Cult” won Best Hard Rock Performance at the 1989 ceremony, and the band supported the release with a string of dates opening stadiums for the Rolling Stones’ first U.S. tour in eight years that autumn.
Starting with Vivid and continuing on future albums, the band showed that rock could still convey a message (as evidenced by such tracks as “Open Letter to a Landlord,” “Funny Vibe,” among others). The quartet regrouped a year later for their sophomore effort, Time’s Up, an album that performed respectably on the charts but failed to live up to the expectations of their smash debut. An appearance at the inaugural Lollapalooza tour in the summer of 1991 kept the group in the public’s eye, as did an EP of outtakes, Biscuits. Skillings left the group shortly thereafter (replaced by studio vet Doug Wimbish), as their darkest and most challenging release yet, Stain, was issued in 1993. Although it failed to sell as well as its predecessors, it retained the band’s large and dedicated following, as Living Colour appeared to be entering an interesting and groundbreaking new musical phase of their career. The band began writing the following year for what would be their fourth full-length, but an inability to settle on a single musical direction caused friction between the members, leading to Living Colour’s demise in early 1995.

In the wake of Living Colour’s split, all of its former members pursued other projects. Reid issued a solo album, 1996’s Mistaken Identity (as well as guesting on other artists recordings), while Glover attempted to launch a career as a solo artist, issuing the overlooked Hymns in 1998 and finding time to appear as a VJ on VH1 and acting in the 1996 movie Loose Women. Calhoun and Wimbish remained together and launched a new outfit, the drum’n’bass-inspired Jungle Funk, who issued a self-titled debut release in 1997 (Wimbish also issued a solo album, Trippy Notes for Bass, in 1999). With Living Colour out of commission for several years by the early 21st century, Calhoun and Wimbish teamed up once more with Glover in a new outfit, Headfake, playing often in the New York City area. A few days before Christmas in 2000, Headfake played a show at CBGB’s, and were joined on-stage by Reid, which led to rumors of an impending Living Colour reunion. The rumors proved to be true, as Living Colour launched their first tour together in six years during the summer of 2001. In 2003, Living Colour returned with a deal with Sanctuary and their most experimental release to date, Collideøscope. Two years later the rarities collection What’s Your Favorite Color? was released, followed by Everything Is Possible: The Very Best of Living Colour in 2006 and the all new Chair in the Doorway in 2009.

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DAYA

Grand like Lorde but also sunshine-bright like Katy Perry, singer and songwriter Daya first climbed the charts as a 16-year-old high school junior. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she began taking piano lessons at the age of three, and moved on to voice lessons at the age of ten. Songwriting came later, and in 2014 she signed with the Z-Entertainment label based on her demos. A year later, her single “Hide Away” took off thanks to early adopters like Tyler Oakley, Perez Hilton, and other superstar bloggers. In 2015, Daya released her debut, self-titled EP on Artbeatz.

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Logic

Sir Robert Bryson Hall II (born January 22, 1990), known by his stage name Logic, is an American rapper. He was born and raised in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He has amassed a large internet following and is a member of the RattPack, his group of friends that he works with. Logic has released three official mixtapes, most recently Young Sinatra: Undeniable. He is currently signed with the independent record label Visionary Music Group.

Logic was born in 1990 in Gaithersburg, Maryland. His mother is white and his father is black. Throughout his childhood, both of his parents suffered from crack addiction and alcoholism. His father was not a part of his childhood, but they are in contact with each other now. He attended Gaithersburg High School but did not graduate. Since his mother didn’t fight it, Logic was expelled and instead put his time and effort into pursuing his music career. In hindsight, he wishes he would have stayed in school and received that proper education and always encourages his fans to do so. “I remember telling the kids [at my old high school], ‘All you kids that are here today to watch me speak to you guys have people that actually love you and care about you that make you go to school.’ And I said, ‘There are people in this auditorium as well that have nobody, but you’re still here and those same people are stronger than even I was.’ So education is a real big deal.” Logic left his mother’s home at 17, lived with a friend and got two jobs. Since then, he and his mother are not in constant communication.
At the age of 13, Logic met his mentor, Solomon Taylor. He says Taylor is a humongous part of who he is today. In 2009, Logic was going by the name Psychological because, “One name that really stuck was Psychological. I just loved this word because it was about the mind and I knew that’s what I wanted my music to consist of; something that really challenges the mind.” He released an unofficial mixtape titled Psychological: The Mixtape. under his original stage name. Later on, Logic opened for Pitbull, EPMD, Method Man, Redman, and Ludacris at a show in Maryland. Shortly thereafter, he shortened the Psychological moniker to Logic, which is the science of reasoning, to broaden his horizons.
On December 17, 2010, Logic released his first official mixtape, Young, Broke, and Infamous. Following its release, he dropped three music videos from the project, “Prime,” “Stain in the Game,” and “BackPack”. The mixtape caught the ear of Chris Zarou, who wanted Logic to be a part of his upstart independent record label Visionary Music Group.
Logic released his second mixtape, Young Sinatra, on September 19, 2011. Young Sinatra received a mass amount of positive feedback from multiple sources including XXL. He released music videos for songs such as “Live on the Air,” “Mind of Logic,” and “All I Do”. The All I Do video was the first for Logic to hit over one million views on May 2, 2012. On March 15, 2012, Billboard declared Logic as the Next Big Sound, meaning he was the fastest accelerating artist across the internet gaining fans. On March 20, 2012, Logic officially signed with Visionary Music Group. Logic stated in an interview, “Visionary Music Group is like Roc-A-Fella. Damon Dash, that’s like Chris Zarou of Visionary Music Group, I like to see myself as a Jay. In no way am I arrogant or cocky, I have to see it in order to do it. They did it independent and when they signed with a major, they did it the way that they wanted to do it.” Others signed with VMG include Jon Bellion, Logic’s videographer and photographer GRVTY, and Logic’s producer/DJ 6ix. In July/August 2012, Logic completed his first national headlining tour, the Visionary Music Group Tour, along with Tayyib Ali. The tour sold out 20 of its 25 stops.
Logic released his third mixtape, Young Sinatra: Undeniable on April 30, 2012. On the mixtape, Logic addresses such topics as his future, his fans in various parts of the world, his father’s drug use, getting kicked out of school, and his mother getting stabbed. The overall sound is on a bigger level than his previous work and does an outstanding job at showing his versatility. “Fans tend to think that if you fall in love with an artist because he makes this kind of sound and then he gets bigger and he grows and he starts to make a different sound, ‘He’s changing on us.’ But with me, I created all types of sounds from the get go, so you can never say I’m changing, you can never say I’m going mainstream or I’m selling out.” In an interview, Logic states, “There’s stuff on there for the motherfuckers that don’t pay attention to lyrics and just want to have fun, but every line is constructed with such depth that the real lyricists and nitpickers have something to listen to and analyze as well.” One of Logic’s main goals for his music is to make music with a positive message, telling people to follow their dreams, whatever it may be, all while walking with honor and peace. March 2013 will be Logic’s first time touring Europe. His fourth mixtape, Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever, is slated for a spring 2013 release.
Logic first got into rap by watching Kill Bill at the age of 15 and finding out that RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan did the score. He started listening to Wu-Tang and delved deeper into hip-hop from there. The first hip-hop album he bought was The Roots “Do You Want More?!!!??!” Other big influences include his mentor Solomon Taylor and friend Lenbo, who let Logic live with him and make music in his basement.
Although he is a hip-hop artist, Logic is heavily influenced by Frank Sinatra. As a child, his mother made him watch old black and white movies, which formed his love for Frank Sinatra and influenced how he represents himself with the way he speaks and how he interacts with others with peace, love, grace, positivity, honor, and valor. Because of Frank Sinatra, Logic says he does his best to carry himself in an intellectual and kind manner. Just as Sinatra had the Rat Pack, Logic has his RattPack (an acronym for “Real All The Time” and consisting of friends such as his manager Chris, his producers 6ix and OB, and friend/fellow rapper C Dot Castro). Logic describes Sinatra as a man who was, “suave, debonair, honorable, respectable, with valor and grace.” Logic’s female fans are also called BobbySoxers just as Frank’s were. He describes BobbySoxer girls as beautiful, intelligent, elegant, educated, classy, hardworking, young women. Logic also refers to himself as “Young Sinatra.”
Logic has said that a never ending list of artists has influenced him including Wu-Tang Clan, Big L, A Tribe Called Quest, Jay-Z, Drake, J. Cole, and Nas. He has also stated that all music inspires him, including The Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis. He says that all the classic artists are what really gave him a foundation, but the newer artists are also his inspirations, and he brings the best of both worlds to his music. Logic says, “I love all subgenres within hip-hop and all genres of music and I think that’s what allows me to make the music that I do, because of my appreciation for the music.”

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Dub Village Sundays ft: Dezarie with Stephen Marley

Roots empress Dezarie blessed the reggae community in 2003 with the deliverance of one of the most potent musical albums of all time “Gracious Mama Africa.” Released on the Afrikan Roots Lab record label, this album emerged from the seeds planted on her amazing debut album of 2001 “FYA”.

Gracious Mama Africa transports the incredible voice of Dezarie to a whole new level – the highest heights. Her foundation is firmly established on songs such as “Travelers” and the title track. The brilliance and clarity of Dezarie’s voice is reverently unveiled on “Exhalt.” Gracious Mama Africa abounds with pleas for social justice and racial equality with selections like “Poverty,” “Strengthen Your Mind” and “Justice”.

But to this listener, the strength and power of Dezarie is most strikingly displayed in her condemnation of ‘so-called’ civilization. “Gone Down,” “Not One Penny,” “Law Fe De Outlaw”, “Slew Dem An Done” and “Judgment Come” all deliver conscious punches that penetrate the soul. After receiving Atlanta’s “Best New Female Reggae Artist” award in 2001, Dezarie returned to her native island of St. Croix. Since that time, she has been working closely with Midnite’s Ron Benjamin.

2008 saw the release of “Eaze The Pain,” an album in which Dezarie’s devotion for H.I.M. provide the book-ends for poignant political and social messages on songs like “The Truth,” “Set Da Flame” and “For The People By The People.” A similar template is employed on the 2010 release “The Fourth Book.”

Her newest release “Love In Your Meditation” takes the music of Dezarie to an even higher plane with outstanding vocals and harmonies punctuating powerful lyrics on selections that include “Download De Criminal,” “Return To Sender” and “Constructing Destruction.” Once again, Ron Benjamin provides exquisite instrumentation, production and vocal harmonies on this album that includes the hair-raising ballad “Stronger.”

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Saosin featuring Anthony Green

California-based Saosin burst onto the post-hardcore scene in March 2003 with their explosive screamo-tinged debut EP, Translating the Name, on Death Do Us Part. For the recording, the band was comprised of vocalist Anthony Green, drummer Pat McGrath, guitarist/vocalist Justin Shekoski (ex-As Hope Dies), and former Open Hand members bassist Zach Kennedy and guitarist/vocalist Beau Burchell. The band’s name comes from a Chinese proverb that means “small heart,” as in love cautiously. Shortly after the EP’s completion, Kennedy exited (going on to join Ashlee Simpson’s band) to be replaced by Chris Sorenson, and since McGrath had been enlisted solely to play drums on the album, Saosin weren’t solidified until that July with the addition of permanent drummer Alex Rodriguez (also formerly of Open Hand).

Even though Translating had been out since March, the band didn’t make its on-stage debut until June. Their powerful live performance and heavy Internet presence were coupled with high praise for their EP (comparing them to the emotional catharsis of Glassjaw), cultivating an impressive underground following. The guys hit the road nationwide that summer with Boys Night Out and Anatomy of a Ghost. Green parted ways with the band in February 2004 for personal reasons, later going on to front the emo/post-hardcore outfit Circa Survive. The other bandmembers pressed on without him, however, and though they had yet to find a permanent replacement, stayed true to their Warped Tour obligation with Story of the Year’s Phil Sneed taking the mike. By the summer’s end, Cove Reber had become the band’s new singer. Saosin spent time on winter’s Taste of Chaos tour before hooking up with Capitol Records in March 2005. After numerous compilation appearances, a self-titled EP of demos and live cuts appeared that August; summer was spent on co-headlining dates with Anberlin. Saosin continued work on their eponymous full-length debut with Howard Benson, finally releasing the long-awaited disc in September 2006. Plenty of touring followed well into the next year, including dates with bands like Senses Fail, Bleeding Through, A Static Lullaby, and Poison the Well. In March 2008, Saosin released Come Close, a live CD/DVD. The band toured relenetlessly playing festivals and headline gigs throughout 2007 and 2008. Despite their touring schedule, they managed to record and complete In Search of Solid Ground, their proper sophomore full-length effort, and release it in September of 2009.