October 2015
Locksmith, Piers & KesI Of
Rudimental Max Frost Firekid
STAFF: Executive Editor
Allison Lanza Layout Design & Issue Editor Addie Whelan Director of Content Gabi Talisman Contributors: Addie Whelan Allison Lanza Alyssa Buzzello Charlotte Freitag Delaney DeAngelis Emma Donahue Eitan Snyder Gabi Talisman Lauren Klonowski Samuel Israel Taylor Cleek Valerie McIntyre
Beyond The Stage is a digital music magazine based in the United States. We are on a 45 day cycle. You can read Beyond The Stage online for free or visit our website to buy a hard copy. Previous issues are always available to read online or order in print. Read the latest news at: www.beyondthestagemagazine.com
Photographers: Addie Whelan Alicia Rangel Allison Lanza Alyssa Buzzello Charlotte Freitag Gabi Talisman Hannah Jones Taylor Cleek Design Team: Addie Whelan Rena Li
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Contents:
Beyond The STage ISSue 7
06 goFeST 09
Max FroST
13 ThrIval FeSTIval 16
edITorIal: MuSIc STreaMIng
18 rudIMenTal 24 alBuM revIewS 28 ISland lIFe 31 FIrekId 37 ocToBer PlaylIST Beyond The stage magazine | 3
passenger new York, new york| september 2015 Photo By: charlotte freitag
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Nick Jonas Houston, tx | september 2015 Photo By: alicia rangel
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GoFest Minneapolis, MN August 2015 Photos By Gabi Talisman
Big Data
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Big Data
Matt & Kim
Matt & Kim
Yelawolf
Big Data
Meg Myers
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Cold War Kids
Max Frost Words by Delaney DeAngelis, Photos & Interview: Gabi Talisman It all started with an old, beat up classical guitar in his parents’ closet. It was the summer Max Frost turned nine when he learned how to play guitar, and things have only gone up from there.
evolved a lot more since he started playing guitar many years ago. “Honestly, this is gonna sound weird, but I’ve seen videos of me playing guitar when I was like 16, and I’m like, man I was kicking my ass,” he laughs.
“I just kinda started picking around on [the guitar],” said Frost. “Then I got a smaller sized one for my small, nine year old body. I put a bunch of Sublime stickers on it, stuff like that, that was my thing.”
Maybe it does sound weird at first, but Frost elaborates on the thought. “Just ‘cause the guitar was my only thing and I was in a band where the only thing I did was guitar. So I just sat around and only thought about that.”
Growing up, Frost says the blues were his foundation and he loved artists like Frank Sinatra, Sam Cooke, and the Beatles. “I was really into, like, Stevie Ray Vaughan,” he revealed. It wasn’t until Frost was a little older when he began exploring songwriting. “I was maybe somewhere between 14 and 16,” said Frost. “I didn’t really start writing songs a lot until I was like, 18.”
Frost’s performance has changed since his days playing in bands. As a solo artist, he’s singing and playing guitar. “Now when I’m on stage, playing guitar is the last thing on my mind,” said Frost. “I guess a lot of it’s become so second nature.”
In his many years as a musician, Frost says that his writing has
As we spoke with Frost, the singer really emphasized why he thinks his writing has evolved more: “Its got an extra dimension to it,” explained Frost. Though he admires musicians who are Beyond The STage magazine | 9
instrumentalists, he talked a lot about the extra dimensions that songs bring to the table. “There’s another level of interpretation you always have to have to the song,” he said. Later, he added, “then there’s the dimension of lyrics, which creates such a specific emotional context that playing an instrument can’t ever quite be there.” Frost began his music career as a single-man project. He was a producer, played a majority of the instruments, and wrote the lyrics. Now, he has begun to collaborate with other artists and producers. “It’s made me a lot more clear about what I want and what I don’t want,” said Frost about collaborating with other producers. He compares the process to going into high school and being introduced to different crowds of people who are all trying to influence you. “They all have their own amazing thing that they can bring to your world, but you have to learn what you’re going to choose to accept and let in the door, and what you’re not.” “I think that anyone with the right mindset is gonna grow from working with other people, as long as they don’t allow themselves to become watered down.” Frost says. “It’s challenged me in a great way to where I feel so much more crystal clear about what my process is and what I can draw from other people.” 10 | Beyond The STage magazine
If Max Frost could produce with anyone else, it would be Quincy Jones. “I’ve met him one time actually, so I know what his vibe is as a person,” Frost boasted. “I’m pretty sure I know why he is as good as he is, because he just really has way more to do with how he is with people than it does with how he is with music…I would love to just see how exactly he puts that into a session now.” Among other artists, he’d love to work with Pharrell, Kayne West, or Timbaland. Frost also compares collaboration to having a spotter or athletes who work with a trainer. “I’m far from being the best in the world, but if I hope to be one day, then I’ve definitely accepted and expect that I’ll always be working with people,” he said. Frost added that working with other producers and artists helps challenge him to come up with the best ideas possible. “It’s kind of key to struggle like that,” Frost said. When talking about his lyrical process, Frost explained that he rarely writes songs that don’t have a melody yet and that it’s easier to make words fit a melody. “I generally am so focused in on the melody and the groove of a melody on the piece of music, that I’ll kind of sing gibberish,” Frost says. “Usually in the beginning, I’m like, this is just filler words.” He then talks about a recording he heard of the Beatles in the
studio. “[George Harrison] he doesn’t have the next part, he’s like, ‘I don’t know what the next part is,’ and John is like ‘just sing whatever comes to your mind.’ And he goes, ‘just sing a tracks men like a cauliflower or something like that,’” he said in his best George Harrison and John Lennon impressions. “If you go for a word that makes no sense whatsoever, then you find what kind of word sounds good right there, and then you can search for what that is,” Frost said. “It takes a while, struggling with words. Words are the hardest thing for me.” He continued, “I have to struggle with them way longer, and then I’ll have some breakthrough. But usually, it’s like ‘I don’t know.’” Switching from the recording process to live shows, Max Frost excitedly talked about his favorite parts. “Paranoia is my favorite song to perform live right now,” Frost said. “I don’t feel like I’m having to try to do anything when I’m doing that song.” He then went on to say that one of his older songs, ‘White Lies’ used to be his favorite song to play live. “That’s just an exhausting song to sing live,” he said. “With ‘Paranoia,’ it’s all set up in this nice way where I’m able to just like, I just feel like I can just kind of hang out, but the energy is still there…I feel more free doing that song. I don’t know why.” Where does Frost like to perform the most? Not the cities you might think. “I’m always really excited to play in Kansas City,” he said. “Obviously, I’m excited to play anywhere.” Later, he goes back to talk about Kansas City, “I don’t know what it is about that town, but they’re just like always the best, the best crowds. The weirdest places in the world have the best crowds. Salt Lake City has amazing crowds.” A lot of bands are known for their preshow rituals, and Frost really wishes he had one. “I just try to warm my voice up,” he explained. “I might stretch a little bit.” He’s been asked this before, and said it’s encouraged him to make one. “I need to create a preshow ritual so I can talk about it,” he laughed. Frost’s newest EP, Intoxication was released on September 25, 2015, and he was quick to answer what the hardest part of the project was. “Picking which songs to put on it. Definitely.” Frost explained that he had a lot of songs to pick from for Intoxication. Talking about the process, he said he can’t focus on working on one song at a time. “You’re always trying to stay as close as you can to what it would be like to hear it for the first time.” Going back to referencing the Beatles, he said, “I’m not one of them, who just picks up a guitar and goes ‘Yesterday’ and just has it.” He said he has to struggle through the song before he gets it just right. “By the time you sat there and you listen to something you’re doing a thousand times trying to figure out one word, you might’ve said ‘oh yeah, this is it!’ and then you totally don’t realize that in the bigger picture you’re making something terrible, because you’ve lost context,” he Beyond The STage magazine | 11
offered. “So to keep context, it’s always key for me to just like, step back.” The album artwork of Intoxicated very much represents his music. Musically, Frost has a voice perfect for an indie-folk band, but he juxtaposes it with different electronic and pop musical elements. “I’ve always been a fan of that cover for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” Frost said. “We just kind of talking about the visual world that I’m trying to explore in this next phase of my career. Something, you know, psychedelic that also is fairly gritty but you know is, just has a lot of layers to it.” More specifically, an illustrator from England inspired Frost for his album artwork. “We took the initial illus-
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tration and brought it through a lot of different phases and it’s ended up where it is,” said Frost. “Seeing it in my hand, I’m into it now. I really like it now.” The advice he’d give to nine-year-old Max Frost who just picked up his parent’s old guitar? “Just don’t think about it. Keep doing it.” If you haven’t been convinced yet to listen to check out Frost’s music, he says why you should in one simple sentence: “There’s nothing else exactly like it.” He’s exactly right.
@MaxFrost
THRIVAL FESTIVAL Pittsburgh, PA | September 2015 | Photos By Hannah Jones
Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness
Lights
San Fermin
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Strand of Oaks
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Ghostface Killah
Kevin Garrett
Panic! At The Disco
Oh Honey
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Music Streaming Defined. Words By Samuel Israel
Swedish tech genius Daniel Ek created Spotify back in 2008. Since its release, consumers have seemed to welcome the service with open arms. The fact that some artists such as Justin Bieber can get 20 million streams in one week on Spotify clearly illustrates that this medium of receiving music is a popular one. And with the follow-up releases of TIDAL and Apple Music, one could also assume that music streaming is the new way we will be receiving music for at least a couple of years. However, no one knows exactly how much music streaming should cost. Back in the day, the future of music streaming was not that secure. Spotify battled with record companies and artists for years. Criticisms were lashed out from individuals like Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Yannis Philippakis of Foals. Today, however, Spotify and Apple Music now hold a vast collection of songs, advertising that they each hold at least 30 million tunes. TIDAL was also a victim to these skirmishes, but did not come out on top of this fight. Launched in the Spring of 2015, TIDAL promised that its service would take better care of recording musicians and would provide consumers with HD streaming quality. However, the service tanked just 2 weeks after its release, dropping below the 700 mark of most downloaded apps and firing their CEO and a handful of employees. Arcade Fire’s Win Butler was one of the musicians who partnered with TIDAL during its launch, and said he didn’t regret being a part of it. However, Butler blamed major labels for the service’s demise in an interview with The Independent. “They dictated that Tidal has to cost $20,” he says. “The major label music industry has completely ruined every aspect of their business. At every step of the way they’ve had the tools offered to them to create an industry that works, and they’ve completely blown it. That’s why we never had any interest in signing a contract with one of these companies because they’re clearly completely clueless.” Now, Spotify is considered a powerhouse of music streaming. YouTube, however is by far the most popular form for listeners to access music via stream. Google Android hopes to capitalize on the success of YouTube by creating YouTube Music Key, which offers bundled subscriptions that would allow ad-free watching of music videos. 16 | Beyond The STage magazine
So while these years have taught us that music streaming is and will likely remain one of the most popular forms of music listening, the question of how much it should cost listeners now needs to be answered. YouTube was getting by with free listening supplemented with advertisements, but that method does not quite satisfy record labels. Spotify has been discussing its “freemium” access with major labels, and the labels demanded that Spotify needed to be more restrictive on these users. If Spotify were to do this, then the service may include more advertisements, provide exclusive releases to paying users, and even institute timed use limits for free users, similar to how Spotify Free is used in Europe. One individual has done research on the price of music streaming. Assistant professor at the University of West Virginia, David Touve, measured the supply and demand of services and concluded that the optimal price point for music streaming was 6 dollars a month. However, streaming services are not utilizing Touve’s research, as Apple Music and Spotify both cost 10 dollars a month and TIDAL costs 20 dollars a month. It’s interesting to note that these new questions have more to do with the interaction between labels and streaming sites, and less to do with the artist. The only artist who still seems to be a part of the discussion is Taylor Swift. Even though she has come out against Spotify and her label, Big Machine Records, pulled her entire catalogue from the service, Taylor Swift is still able to sell records, being one of a very limited group to see a 2014 release certified platinum. Maybe the dream is that a group of independent artists would create a service without the dictation of labels. It would be hard to pull off, as no major label would fully agree to work with a system like this, but maybe a power player like Taylor could pull it off. You know what they say— if you can’t beat them, join them. Nevertheless, even though the battle between music ownership and music streaming may be over, music streaming is still in a transitional period. The new industry has now become a competitive one, so expect for the pricing of music streaming services along with the quantity of ads to fluctuate. Observers in the music industry are starting to come to the consensus that downloading music as an MP3 may fade into antiquity like the cassette tape. However, don’t think for a second that music streaming is done experiencing its growing pains.
Panic! At the disco pittsburgh, pa, thrival festival | september 2015 Photo By: stone fenk
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RUDIMENT Rudimental. That’s a name you may not know quite yet, but you should quickly become familiar. Their album We The Generation was released in the United States on October 2nd, 2015. This London-based group of drum and bass heavy instrumentalists features various vocalists and hit number one on the Billboard chart in their home country with their latest release.
Beyond The Stage sat down with three quarters of the group: Locksmith, Piers, and Kesi to discuss their latest release, their recent collaboration with Ed Sheeran, performing, and more. We The Generation is the group’s sophomore effort and contains fourteen songs featuring the likes of the aforementioned Sheeran, Foy Vance, Ella Eyre and more. The release flows top to bottom beautifully and naturally, though of course every artist has a personal favorite song. “You know what? To be fair, it always changes,” began Locksmith. “We play the album quite a lot on the road, and I always find a new favorite. At the current moment, ‘Lay It All On Me’ featuring Ed Sheeran is my absolute favorite in the minute. That’s because it’s opened so many doors in the U.S. and it’s an amazing song. For us, it kind of takes you away from that hard-hitting, electronic, drum and bass feel that we sometimes do, and it takes you away from what Ed Sheeran does. It brings you to the middle of Rudimental and Ed, and that’s why I love it.” Locksmith is right. The song is uncharacteristic of what Sheeran would usually perform, and it tones down the nature of Rudimental’s sound, while maintaining some characteristics of each performer’s style. It’s a blend that works beautifully, and the general public seems to agree as the song picks up radio play. “My favorite track of the moment is probably ‘Foreign 18 | Beyond The STage magazine
TAL
Live Photos By Alyssa Buzzello Interview + Portraits By Gabi Talisman Words By Allison Lanza
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World’ featuring Anne-Marie,” Piers mentioned. “She’s an amazing vocalist and she performs with us live on the road at the moment, and they’ve signed her to our label. And she’s going to be huge in about a year’s time when she releases her own stuff.” With a new album to celebrate, we asked Rudimental to recall the process behind the creation of We The Generation, from the writing down to the featured vocalists. “The new album was a continuation from the first album,” said Locksmith. “We never stopped writing. And the good thing about the first album was that it opened up so many doors for us because it did incredibly well and it allowed us to express ourselves, you know? To really start being open with the music we’re creating. It took about two years from finishing Home to about now.”
on the album is probably Will Heard, who is compelled to do great things. He’s with us, as well, on the live show, playing saxophone and singing obviously. And we’ve got some legends in the form of the late Bobby Womak, you know? And we’ve got Max Romeo and George Clinton. These are people that we have grown up listening to from our older brothers and older sisters and our moms and dads,” he beamed. “It’s pretty amazing and pretty special that they all managed to join us on this album and come together with a whole new generation of music.” The name Ed Sheeran popped up on multiple occasions during our time with Rudimental, and for good reason. The British singer-songwriter’s song “Bloodstream” appears on Rudimental’s We The Generation. The group actually had a great deal of involvement in the creation of the song’s original release, and they put their version on their own record.
“About two and a half years,” chimed in Kesi. “During that process we’ve met so many amazing people, so many amazing vocalists—some unknown, some great legends. And the unknowns come in the form of Anne-Marie,” Locksmith spoke again about the talent of their now-labelmate Anne-Marie. “She features heavily on our live show. She features heavily on the new album.” Locksmith continued, “One of our favorite male vocalists
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“We wrote [‘Bloodstream’] with Ed in Los Angeles. We did a session with him and the gang turned up. We ended up doing six shots with the gang and ‘Bloodstream’ came out of that session as it sounds now. Then he went and made his version of that song with Rick Rubin for his album,” Piers explained. “But it’s such a great song, and that’s one of the good things about Ed. He’s a big songwriter like that, and it’s one of our favorite tracks on the new album, you know? We actually performed it with him at Webster Hall, so it’s a big track.”
Around that same time, the magic that is their U.S. breakthrough, “Lay It All On Me,” was born. “We had that song written a bit, like, sitting in the banks. And then we played it for Ed and we were touring with him in America. He loved it and wanted to vocal it.” Piers recalled. “We only got to the studio and vocaled it a couple of months ago. It was kind of the last piece of the puzzle for the album. We reworked it a bit and out came ‘Lay It All On Me,’ and that track really marked the finishing point of our album, and a kind of bold move as both of us as artists. Kind of do something, you know, unique.” Rudimental’s music videos usually focus on real issues, which is one of the things that makes this band so unique and intriguing. The band released an emotional video focusing on immigration and the life of refugees for the song “I Will For Love,” featuring Will Heard this past September. “’I Will For Love’ is to document what a family would go through to seek a better life,” began Kesi. “I think it’s an
issue that is quite important to us, because, you know, at some point our parents or their granddads were immigrants. I mean, Amir (fourth member of Rudimental, unavailable for our interview) was a refugee as well, and he’s not here to explain the story but he’s been through a lot. So I felt like it was an important issue for us and our music. We like to document real life situations that people might not know about, and that song is kind of proof of doing something for love. Love of your family or your loved ones. So, it definitely is what is represents.” “It’s definitely important to just document reality,” Locksmith stated. “I think there’s too much falsified to be under our ears, and now we see a lot of gold chains and champagne and beer, but that’s not reality. Reality is sometimes hardship and the lengths you have to go through with those hardships. That’s what I like and that’s why ‘I Will For Love’ is amazing.” The group has been performing and touring for years now, between headlining dates and playing festivals and beyond. “One of my favorite performances was Wildlife FesBeyond The STage magazine | 21
tival, which is our own festival,” Kesi informed. “Us and Disclosure came together and we started a festival in the U.K. and I think we sold about 70,000 tickets in under a week. It was crazy. We got to curate a lineup of basically a dream festival. We had Nas performing and the Wu-Tang Clan and MNEK and some of the U.K. talent coming through. It was a pretty special moment when we got to go onstage and the crowd was just so out there.” “That festival was so important to us because it allowed us to create a lineup that we had been influenced by throughout our careers. Our album has been influenced by it. And it shows that, you know, our sound is not just a drum and bass influence band. We’re a band that plays all types of music. We like to fuse with all of those flavors together, hence why we got the likes of Nas to, our sort of U.K. DJ, MNEK, to just mix their art. It turned out great,” elaborated Locksmith. “We’re going to do it once every year from now on,” offered Kesi. Even with a hugely successful festival under their belt,
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the band still has arena-sized goals they are looking to achieve. “A dream venue, I would say, although we have played there—we’ve only done a DJ set there—Madison Square Garden. I would love to go there, live, and do our show. That would be an amazing memory,” mentioned Locksmith. “It’s very important to us that our music keeps going. And that there is a longevity to it,” Locksmith explained. “In ten years, I want to know that when we are dead and gone, our music is still living on through the eyes of our children’s children’s friends. That’s so important to us. I mentioned we’ve got Bob Womack on the track, and I wasn’t around to experience his prime, but I still knew about him, and now we’re fortunate enough to have him on our album. That, for us, is the long-term goal. That’s the longevity we strive for. And honestly, we want to carry on to play as many venues as we possibly can around the world and spread our message and music to as many countries and areas as we possibly can. And if we stick to what we are stubborn about, hopefully it will happen.”
The maine mission, tx | september 2015 Photo By: alicia rangel
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Album Reviews Firekid Firekid Atlantic Records
Show Me Your Fangs Matt Nathanson Vanguard Records For diehard Matt Nathanson fans across the world, Show Me Your Fangs was a delight to their ears as the album downloaded onto their iPhones and was added to their Spotify playlists. With some of his best songs yet, Nathanson released his eleventh studio album which went straight to the top of the Rock charts. With funkier beats much funkier than he has used in the past, Nathanson is showcasing his vocal talents across the entire album with songs like “Adrenaline” and “Bill Murray.” “Bill Murray,” the ballad from the album, describes his dreams about meeting the famous actor which turns into an incredible moment, showcasing Nathanson’s emotional side. He sings about advice he has given with the sole accompaniment of a piano, which is unusual for Nathanson. His vocal range extends from the highest of notes to the lowest of lows on the song, and it is one of the best tracks on the album. Bringing back old school vibes, “Gold In The Summertime” is one of the singles off of the album, with its own music video and album artwork. Nathanson hits his upper range backed by a groovy bass line and horn line and displays his true personality through the song. “Headphones,” the final track on the album, is tied to Nathanson’s philanthropic side benefiting the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Instead of creating a video for the track, Nathanson used the music video funding to give hearing aids to those who wouldn’t otherwise have a chance, and closing out the album with a powerful song was a great choice. Nathanson truly hit the ball out of the park on this album, with Show Me Your Fangs topping the charts as well as fans’ “Top 25 Most Played” lists. Show Me Your Fangs is filled with some of Nathanson’s most powerful lyrical, vocal and musical abilities and is an amazing straight-through listen. 5/5 - Addie Whelan
With a revolutionary new sound, Firekid blends together pop, rock, folk and country music to create his unique style. In his self-titled debut album, Firekid has more than just catchy lyrics or a catchy beat, but all of the elements mixed together. Listeners will be catching themselves stomping their feet and playing air guitar to the entire album. With previous history opening for bands like Parachute and Passion Pit, Firekid has shown promise from day one. With some country flair, Firekid’s album is filled with songs like “Die For Alabama,” showcasing more than just lyrical ability. This track is filled with vocals that will have listeners consistently singing along. The guitar solo halfway through brings up all sorts of air guitars and has every listener waiting for the next track. Not often does the music industry find an artist like Firekid. He is explosive, with a brand new kind of sound, creating music everyone will enjoy. Even in the opening track “Magic Mountain,” Firekid announces his musical talents with incredible vocals and guitar skills. Firekid is known for his guitar playing, which is definitely demonstrated throughout some of the biggest tracks. These skills continue to show as the album rolls through without a single track to skip. Rarely do listeners come across an album that’s a straight through listen, but Firekid succeeded at the difficult task. Firekid displays both incredible promise as well as a debut album that tops some of the biggest releases in music history. He has already burst onto the scene with a new kind of sound and continues to impress listeners through the entire album. Firekid has a unique sound that blends multiple genres, leaving the listener waiting for more. 5/5 - Addie Whelan DOWNLOAD: “Magic Mountain,” “Die For Alabama,” “Boomerang”
DOWNLOAD: “Bill Murray,” “Headphones,” “Show Me Your Fangs”
Start Here Maddie & Tae Dot Records Republic Nashville
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Country duo Maddie & Tae may have started their career as a lightning rod for controversy because of their bro-country skewering debut single “Girl In A Country Song”, but their debut album Start Here proves they are capable of more than just that. The duo wears their influences on their sleeves, with the harmonies and traditional twist on modern country music of “Your Side of Town” evoking The Dixie Chicks in their prime, the bouncy, fun country pop of “Shut Up and Fish” sounding right out of the Shania Twain songbook, and “Sierra” sounding like a 21st century update of Chely Wright’s “Jezebel”. Though the duo certainly pays homage to the neo-traditional country of the ‘90s, these girls have a contemporary sound and strong songwriters’ voice that are all their own. This is most evident on the pulsing “Right Here Right Now” and their singles, the witty and powerful “Girl
In A Country Song” and the poignant “Fly”. These girls and their team deserve a lot of credit for this album. “Girl In A Country Song” hit at such a perfect moment to make an impact that they had the potential to become one-hit wonders. Start Here proves that they avoided that fate entirely. Maddie & Tae’s most impressive accomplishment on this album is to mix a youthful, biting wit with an earthy, mature wisdom. Though they sing about the downsides of growing up at the end of this album, age and experience will only benefit these budding young singer/songwriters. This album achieves everything a debut album should: it shows artists with a sense of who they are while also showing potential for growth in coming albums. 5/5 Eitan Snyder DOWNLOAD: Fly, Sierra, Waitin’ On A Plane
Album Reviews (continued) BADLANDS Halsey Astralwerks One of the year’s most highly anticipated releases, Badlands, establishes newcomer Halsey as an artist to really look out for in the upcoming months. We were left wanting more after the release of her stellar EP Room 93 back in November, and Halsey managed to deliver a record that completely shattered our expectations with Badlands. Halsey has created a collection of songs as part of what is considered a concept album. The now twenty-one year-old singer explained to Complex. com that “the idea of Badlands was creating a space in sound,” and she most certainly achieved the sound she had hoped for. The songs on the album have a way of captivating listeners, making you feel as if the massive sound of the album is surrounding you. Badlands carries a dystopian feel throughout, which is continued into the video for the album’s most recent single, “New Americana,” a song that Halsey introduces at live shows as a song about “a generation that is unafraid of diversity” and has been a fan favorite since its first release. Heavy-hitters on the album include “Colors,” a song whose lyrics any Tumblr user probably would be familiar with whether they realize it or not, “Drive,” a sexy, somber song with complimenting car sound effects, and dark, power-driven anthem “Castle.” Halsey is on her way to prove herself as queen of the alternative-pop scene with this impressive collection. And if you are debating between purchasing the standard or deluxe editions of Badlands, the song “Gasoline” itself is worth the extra $3 you may shell out on the deluxe. The angsty song packs a harder punch than any other song on Badlands, and our only complaint is that it is not available on the standard edition. With a debut album as fantastic as Badlands, a huge world tour in the very near future, and endless amounts of potential, Halsey is an act you will most certainly want to keep an eye on. 5/5 - Allison Lanza
Inanimate Objects Atlas Genius Warner Bros Entertainment Australian indie band Atlas Genius has released their highly anticipated sophomore album, Inanimate Objects after a long two years. When their first album debuted in 2013, it made it to the Billboard top 200 charts and got all the way to number ten on the Top Alternative Albums chart. “Trojans”, “If So”, and “Back Seat” were played on the radio for months. Atlas Genius developed quite a fanbase thanks to their radio play, leaving fans very excited to see the band’s progression in their new work. Fans will definitely not be disappointed with Inanimate Objects. The album kept a lot of their old influences, replicating a sound similar to that of Phoenix and vocals a bit reminiscent of St. Lucia. This album differs in that, not only did it have a solid reliance on guitar to carry the melody, but a lot more electronic production was incorporated. Vocal distortions were added, creating a changed sound for the band. There was an even distribution of sweet love songs in equal amount with sad breakup songs, and some songs in between. The album cultivates the sense of longing that love creates, and the mark it leaves when it is gone. The lyrics were beautifully arranged, and the band did an amazing job changing their sound while still marketing it to the same audience, and keeping it in accordance with their fans’ expectations. One criticism for the album is the track order. Although with digital listening it is tempting to hit shuffle on an album, one of the most important ways to truly connect to the band’s message is to listen to the album in the intended order so the message comes through. The album displays themes of falling in love, difficulty, breakups, regret, and return to old relationships. However, these themes were not organized in this order in the track order. It comes off as a bit disruptive to the emotional flow of the music. Overall, Inanimate Objects is a great album, more emotional than their last, and will not disappoint dedicated fans. 4/5 - Emma Donahue DOWNLOAD: Molecules, Friendly Apes, and Where I Belong
DOWNLOAD: “Castle,” “Roman Holiday,” “Colors”
Beauty Behind The The Weeknd Republic Records
While the abrasive opening guitar riffs of “Real Life,” the first track on Beauty Behind The Madness, bears a striking resemblance to the distorted acoustic strains of The Weeknd’s 2011 breakout hit “Wicked Games.” The similarities between The Weeknd’s old aesthetic and his new one do not run much deeper than that. Poised to become the biggest popstar in the world, he has cautiously abandoned the angel-voiced Madness debauchery that made him famous to instead sing with a more approachable, radio-friendly demeanor. To say this startling transformation happened overnight would be lazy; The Weeknd’s shift from a cult favorite to a household name has been in the developing stages since he signed to Republic Records in 2012. His previous efforts to break into the mainstream evidently fell flat; the million listeners who bought Trilogy were the exact same fans who had been supporting him since his mixtape era and public reception of his misguided 2013 effort Kiss Land was lukewarm at best.
With Beauty Behind The Madness, The Weeknd is finally able to launch himself into the pop stratosphere. The album is characterized by a series of fascinating contradictions; the production is bouncy but maintains an avant-garde edge, the lyricism constantly vacillates between unfiltered eroticism and sappy insincerity, and the mood of the project ranges from upbeat to dark and brooding. The LP’s most vital constant is The Weeknd’s confidence, which does not waver at all throughout the album’s fourteen tracks. While Beauty Behind The Madness might sadden his core fanbase with its overt commercial appeal, it does not signify the death of his artistic integrity. The album showcases a matured version of The Weeknd who has merely decided to make music with a full palette of colors rather than a monochromatic one. 4/5 - Charlotte Freitag DOWNLOAD: “Losers (feat. Labrinth),” “Acquainted,” and “Tell Your Friends”
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Album Reviews (continued) What A Drag Beach Weather Independent Beach Weather appeared out of seemingly nowhere several months ago. Fronted by A Rocket to the Moon’s former singer Nick Santino, Beach Weather’s debut EP is already here via 8123, titled What a Drag. Clocking in at just under twenty minutes, What a Drag is five tracks of slick pop catchiness. The band’s name couldn’t be more appropriate; Beach Weather inspires images of the west coast, driving with the roof down, palm trees, warm sun on your skin, and the wind in your hair. The band shows a promising amount of variety on this first release. Ranging from upbeat guitar jams (“New Skin,” “Rebel Sun”) to a slower, creeping tempo (“Swoon”), What a Drag has something in store for anyone with pop sensibilities. This is a record you can dance to and at the least you’ll be nodding your head without even realizing it. The riffs are hypnotic, the beats hit you in all of the right places, and any established fans of Nick Santino will be pleased to find him in top form. While actual beach weather may unfortunately be on it’s way out for many of us, What a Drag is a record you’ll want to keep spinning no matter what the season. 3.5/5 - Taylor Cleek
Sorry Meg Myers Atlantic Records There is a new alternative artist over the horizon by the name of Meg Myers. Her debut album Sorry is a perfect debut and music junkies will fall in love with the album. Not only that, they will also be asking for more of Meg Meyers. Sorry is an alternative album that has many diverse sounds and songs. The album opens with “Motel,” a song about sadness and being alone. Along with the sadness theme, “Sorry” is a track that seems apologetic and about regretting a lost love. We leave some of the sadness and self-loathing behind with the track “Parade,” a slow down song about love and settling. “Lemon Eyes” is a pure alternative-rock song that hits you in the chest and might be a fan favorite. Meg Myers has made a great debut with Sorry. It’s diverse both musically and lyrically. From alternative-electric to a straight alternative-rock sound, Sorry is an album to have on repeat, not to mention it’ll leave you wanting more from Myers. 4.5/5 - Valerie McIntyre DOWNLOAD: “Sorry,” “Lemon Eyes,” “Desire”
DOWNLOAD: “Wolf ”, “Swoon”
Anthems For Doomed Youth The Libertines Virgin EMI Records
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The Libertines’ latest album Anthems for Doomed Youth comes more than ten years after the band from Britain came out with their last LP. Back in 2005, The Libertines was a household name in the UK, with Pete Doherty and Carl Barat having devil-may-care attitudes in and out of the studio. But as many know, the band split up in one of the worst of ways. Doherty became the UK’s most beloved drug addict for a period of time and it seemed like he and Barat would never work together again. So with the announcement of their reunion and the creation of a new album, even the best fans were skeptic. Jake Gosling, the producer who worked with nice boys like Ed Sheeran and One Direction would do the album’s production. So while the recipe seemed to suggest that this album was doomed to fail, The Libertines’ comeback album Anthems for Doomed Youth was released. And to much surprise, the album worked. Song by song, Anthems swings around from anger to joy to self-pity. Doherty and Barat as they have done
in their past albums continue to write about their own story. Call it narcissism or something else, but this is a band that knows that mischief and tragedies can be put into some great songs. Sometimes the lyrics can be a bit too childish in songs like in “Fame or Fortune,” but other tunes like the title track and “Heart of the Matter” perfectly pick at how this band rose and fell. A lyric in the title track, “Was it Cromwell or Orwell who first led you to the stairwell” reminds you that this band was indeed a British staple. Sure, BBC radio may not play The Libertines like they did 2005, but it’s certainly nice to know that The Libertines didn’t end their legacy as a joke, but instead as a band that reminded us that some cynicism and songwriting can go a long way. If this were to be The Libertines last album, it would be a suiting one. 4/5 - Samuel Israel DOWNLOAD: “Gunga Din,” “Heart of the Matter,” “Anthem for a Doomed Youth”
Album Reviews (continued) Wild Troye Sivan EMI Music Australia
That’s The Spirit Bring Me The Horizon Sony Music
Many artists we know today got their start on YouTube, and Troye Sivan is no exception. Sivan has been an active “YouTuber” for nearly eight years and has always shown his love for music on his channel (alongside funny tag videos too).
Bring Me the Horizon is a band primarily known for being a deathcore band. With their newest release, That’s the Spirit, the band really reinvented their sound. That’s the Spirit can really be categorized as a rock album, with influences from metal, pop, and electronic.
Following 2014’s TRXYE EP, we have WILD, an EP that shows an artist who has truly found his niche. Sivan has locked into what makes his music, his. This EP still has the pop sound from the last release, but this album is just oozing with honesty. Sivan’s lyrics feature everything from excitement to disappointment; feelings that come straight from his own heart.
Frontman Oliver Sykes is known for writing deeply personal lyrics, and That’s the Spirit is no different. Like many of Bring Me the Horizon’s songs, the lyrics focus on darker themes. Unlike past songs, the themes are not as abstract or hard to figure out the meaning. It’s easier for listeners to find the something to connect to. There are songs about addiction (“Oh No”), betrayal (“True Friends”), depression (“Doomed”), among other themes. Not all the songs are dark, however. “Follow You” is a love song to Sykes’ wife Hannah.
The album opens with the title track, “WILD” a catchy, upbeat track that gives a look back to his last EP with an added taste of maturity. The chorus is sure to be in your head hours after hearing it, but you won’t be complaining. The album continues with “BITE” a somewhat haunting track with a simple melody and heavy lyrics like “Kiss me on the mouth/ and set me free/but please don’t bite.” “FOOLS” is easily the catchiest song on the album while simultaneously containing one of the best stories on the album. A story of regret and loss is sure to pull the listener in. Another notable track is the closer, “DKLA” featuring Tkay Maidza. “DKLA” stands for “Don’t Keep Love Around,” and this song offers a different environment for Sivan to showcase his vocal range as well as different musical elements. Overall, WILD is a great EP that will be sure to please fans as well as those who are willing to give him another chance if they didn’t love his previous release. 4/5 - Lauren Klonowski
Though they have experimented with more vocals in the past, there is a bigger balance between the screaming and singing on this album. Sykes really puts his vocal abilities out there, bringing a whole new element to the album. Vocals can really convey the emotion and tone of the song, and screaming can only do that to some extent. With the combination of both screaming and singing, Bring Me the Horizon can really effectively show the true emotion behind the song. Songs also include chants, heavy breathing, and other noises that also add to the tone of the song. There is no doubt that this album will bring the band new a new group of fans. With loud arena anthems, more singing, and more electronic and pop elements, this album shifts Bring Me the Horizon to a whole new genre. To put it simply, That’s the Spirit is a mind-blowing album that showcases the talent of the band. 5/5 - Delaney DeAngelis DOWNLOAD: “Follow You,” “What You Need,” and “Oh No”
DOWNLOAD:: “WILD,” “FOOLS,” and “THE QUIET”
If I Should Go Before You City and Colour Dine Alone Music
From a year of silence, comes the fifth studio album from Dallas Green, better known as City and Colour, titled If I Should Go Before You. Like his other albums, If I Should Go Before You is filled with lyrics about resurrecting love and wishing he hadn’t made a mistake. Green’s latest album includes tracks like “Runaway,” “Woman,” and “Lover Come Back,” all attributed to the love of his life leaving him. While in his true personal life, Green is happily married, he portrays the feelings of being heartbroken through his newest release. Most noted for his appearances on teen drama One Tree Hill, this album is unlike any of those in the past. City and Colour’s sound has always been described as quiet, with each album slowly stringing together into one unified discography. But rather than the soft sound of acoustic guitars and piano, If I Should Go Before You is filled with electric guitars and heavier drums. “Woman,” the opening track, is nothing short of this change. “Woman” is just short
of nine minutes and is filled with the new sound of electric guitar as Green looks for his woman’s love. Apologizing for his mistake in his soprano voice leaves the listener wishing she would just forgive him already. The title track from the album is familiar to old City and Colour listeners, with a slow beat and sweet lyrics, Green’s voice is back into where it belongs. “If I Should Go Before You” fits Green’s old sound and brings the reader back to his life performances on the TV dramas and back to the sound listeners love to use as driving music. With powerful vocals and a new sound on the horizon, Green displays true passionate hard work in If I Should Go Before You and easily will be at the forefront of minds everywhere. 4/5 - Addie Whelan DOWNLOAD: “Woman,” “Lover Come Back, “If I Should Go Before You”
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New York, New York | September 2015 | Photos By Gabi Talisman
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Kiesza Shawn Mendes
Ansolo
Nick Jonas
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American Authors
Nick Jonas
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Kiesza Shawn Mendes
Firekid
Words & Photos By Gabi Talisman
Earlier this fall, Beyond The Stage sat down with Dillon Hodges, the mastermind behind Firekid, the soulful, poppy folk band that was missing from major label releases (until now). The new self-titled Firekid album is available now and is a stand out from its peers. With incredible musicianship and finesse, the album is a masterpiece front to back. Standouts include “Anna Lee,” “Gospel” and the show-stopping album opener “Magic Mountain.” We discussed his background, his music, his love for playing live shows all over the country and a lot more. Like Hodge’s music, his answers feel not only personal, but inviting, and are best absorbed as a story. Read on for the short first chapter of what is sure to be a long story that is the band Firekid. ------BTS: Where did the name Firekid come from? Firekid: I grew up playing Bluegrass music in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and I was like 11 or 12 playing with people who were 50 and 60 years old. They were my best friends. And the age divide was so much, that almost everyone called me “kid” and, you know, a couple of years ago when I started working with Beyond The STage magazine | 31
Sam Hollander on this project, he would call me kid as well. And it reminded me of those days. One day he said my guitar playing was fire and he called me “Firekid” and the name felt right, so it just kind of stuck and it turned into the group name and into the project name. BTS: So you mentioned bluegrass, do you have any other musical influences behind Firekid? F: Totally. When I was growing up playing bluegrass, I had blinders on and I only listened to bluegrass music. I didn’t really know that there was another world outside of it. I entered in these guitar contests on the weekend and sort of like Toddlers and Tiaras situation and pageants but for guitar players. And I ended up with my life goal, which was to win the national guitar championship. Most people win when they are 40 or 50, and I won when I was 17, which was totally unexpected. I went back to my high school and told all of my friends that I won the national flatpicking competition and they were like “what’s flatpicking?” and that’s when I was like “I should probably listen to something other than this world, because I want it to be bigger than that.” So that’s when I started listening to the radio and writing pop songs. I still play guitar, but that’s kind of became secondary to something bigger. The Firekid project came from a collaboration with Sam Hollander, who comes from an urban music background. So us coming together was like a mixture of rural music that I was playing or the music that he was making, which was unique, I think.
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BTS: What made you want to become a musician? F: Both of my parents worked at a college in Alabama. They have a football team and a marching band. I would always go to the football games, but I didn’t care about the football. I loved the marching band and I would go sit in the stands or I would go sit with the drum line and they would let me play the drums. It was, just, the music was always a part of my life. I always wanted to do it, but my parents never really wanted to invest in lessons. I had never stuck with anything before. So eventually, my uncle, behind their back, gave me one of his guitars that he had gotten at a yard sale. So they were like, “We are going to have to figure something else out, he’s going to have to play it.” But they weren’t going to pay for lessons either. My neighbor offered to do it for free and that’s how I got into music. BTS: Do you have a city that you are most excited to play on this tour? F: Yeah, we’ve played Irving Plaza once before, it was last year on Christmas Eve, I think. The show was amazing and the venue I really enjoyed. So we’ve been looking forward to playing Irving Plaza specifically. It was the last show of the last tour and now it’s the first one of this one, so I love Irving Plaza. We played TLA in Philadelphia last time and it was fun. You know, it’s one of those things after you play a place one time and you either love it or you hate it. But this tour I was excited when I saw where we were playing. There were a few that we were familiar with that we get to return to.
BTS: Your debut album is on the way, can you tell us a little bit about that? F: The album comes out September 25. We just announced [the release] yesterday, which is super exciting. I’ve been working on it for a while, so it’s exciting. What do you want to know about it, the process of making it? BTS: Whatever you want to tell us about it! F: It started off as me working with my friend Josh Evanson. He was a good friend of Sam Hollanders. So the three of us started writing on the project together. We ended up with about thirty songs and we narrowed it down. We could have probably made three albums because we had so much different stuff. We had poppy stuff, we had really folky stuff, and then we had all of this stuff in the middle. We took all of the album’s stuff because it had similar themes of escapism or oppression and then we put in love songs. We ended up with a perfect mixture of themes, both light-hearted and dark. The whole album itself is a dichotomy of urban and rural, acoustic and electronic and dark and light. And I think that if you could take one thing out of the album, it would be that it is diverse and is cohesive with itself. BTS: That’s what we like to hear! What song do you currently have out that best represents your music? F: Right, when we were working on the record, we had a group of four songs that we just wrote first. And we were all big on one
or the other, so Hollander and Josh and I went into production. The song that jumped out immediately as “this is what Firekid needs to be” was “Magic Mountain”. It sounds like that perfect mixture of acoustic and electronic music. It’s like beat heavy but also feels rootsy at the same time. And another song that isn’t out yet but will be out on the album is called “Gospel.” It also falls under that category of a good mixture, but it’s also its own category. It sounds like it’s always existed but you’re just now hearing it and it’s still unique. BTS: If your song could appear in a TV show or movie, what TV show or movie would it be? F: It depends on the song! I think that like True Detective would have been amazing for some of the darker songs like “Magic Mountain” or “Die For Alabama.” But I mean, come on. Like I wouldn’t hate for one of the guilty pleasure shows that I watch to have my song, like Bachelor of Paradise. That show is a trainwreck. Basically, I watch it because I live with two girls. Their best friends live next to us, so I feel like I live with five girls. So I either have to keep to myself and be completely anti-social or I have to be social. Bachelor or Bachelor in Paradise is always on TV and everything they are always going through. It’s such a trainwreck. I can’t say I even call it a guilty pleasure because I don’t even get pleasure out of it. I don’t really get any pleasure out of it. I just feel guilty. Beyond The STage magazine | 33
BTS: Is there a song out there today that you wish you wrote? F: Yeah! “When A Man Loves A Woman” by Percy Sledge. Let’s see, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.” Bob Dylan wrote that one, I would have taken that one. “Heart of Gold” by Neil Young, I wish I would have written that one. “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” by Celine Dion. Yeah, it’s all of those. Yeah, I think that most songs I like, I’m like “Damn! I could have written that.” BTS: Why do you think people should listen to your music? F: I think that that the music is easily accessible and that it’s easy to enjoy almost no matter who you are. But at the same time, it’s challenging if you dig deeper and listen to the themes. So I think it comes in layers. And if someone wants to get into Firekid, it’s sort of a deep well. But you can still enjoy it from a surface level. If you just want to put it on in the background or you want to dig deeper and find out what it’s really about, that’s there too. BTS: Where do you see yourself in 3 years? F: I don’t know, working for the United Nations? I don’t know, I’m just kidding. I feel like I want to be doing what I am doing now, which is playing shows and making fans, one fan at a time. I want to do exactly what I am doing now, playing as much as possible.
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Ben Rector chicago, il | september 2015 Photo By: Addie whelan
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Best coast cleveland, oh | september 2015 Photo By: taylor cleek
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ISSUE
7
RNC[NKUV 1 Get Away / The Internet
10 Drowning / Banks
2 Tell Your Friends / The Weeknd
11 Envy Me / Denzel Curry
3 Wavybone / A$AP Rocky, Juicy J, UGK
12 I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times) /
4 Wanna Be Cool / Donnie Trumpet & The
Jamie xx, Young Thug, Popcaan
Social Experiment
13 Clubhouse / Mac Miller
5 2SEATER / Tyler, The Creator 6 Antidote / Travi$ Scott 7 Paper Trail$ / Joey Bada$$ 8 Lemme Know / Vince Staples, Jhene Aiko 9 Down On My Mind / Vic Mensa
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Photo By Gabi Talisman