segment

An Interview with Ashton Nyte (The Week in #Indie Segment)

An Interview with Ashton Nyte (The Week in #Indie Segment)

The Awakening was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1995 as the creative expression of artist Ashton Nyte. Nyte is the sole songwriter, vocalist, producer and primary instrumentalist behind The Awakening, accompanied by hand-picked musicians for live performances. Dubbed “dark future-rock” and “Johannesburg’s Bowie” by the press, Ashton came to prominence in 1997 with The Awakening’s chart-topping rendition of The Sound Of Silence, followed by another five #1 singles and twelve top 10’s. The anthemic single The Dark Romantics became a staple on alternative dance floors around the world, one of the many gems of The Awakening’s catalog of 8 full-length albums, 3 EPs and 2 greatest hits collections.

Ashton Nyte and The Awakening have toured extensively and headlined festivals in the US, Europe, and South Africa, including Ramfest and the Oppikoppi Festival to over 30 000 people. Nyte and The Awakening have been featured in a diverse range of media, from Rolling Stone and Metal Hammer to Dark Beauty and Fangoria.

As a solo artist Ashton Nyte has released 7 stylistically diverse albums in addition to his work released as The Awakening. After relocating to the US in 2008, Nyte released the cinematic dark-folk album “The Valley” which was toured from New York to New Orleans, played on over 200 US stations and drew comparisons to Nebraska-era Springsteen and Johnny Cash.

Nyte toured South Africa in March / April 2014 to promote The Awakening’s “Anthology XV” release, as well as the release of “Moederland”, his first Afrikaans-language album. “Moederland” was named one of the top 10 Afrikaans albums of the year by Netwerk24 and enjoyed two number 1 singles on Afrikaans radio and featured the Nyte-penned duet with Karin Hougaard.

Nyte’s most recent solo album, “Some Kind Of Satellite” (2015) received critical acclaim and was featured in a variety of press including Gothic Beauty, Sonic Seducer, Dark Beauty, Giuseppina and Auxiliary Magazine, among others. The album saw the artist perform a national sold out headline tour of South Africa, in addition to performing with British alternative rock legend, Wayne Hussey. Nyte’s works have been featured on NPR/PRI in the USA, and he has performed live in-studio to 125 million listeners on the international radio show “Border Crossings”. A prolific artist and activist, Nyte has also written and performed in theatrical productions and organized philanthropic events including his “Rock Against Rape” concert series, and presenting a lecture series at US universities focusing on tolerance and acceptance.

2016 saw Nyte collaborate with British guitarist Mark Gemini Thwaite (Peter Murphy, The Mission, Gary Numan) on MGT’s debut solo album, along with Ville Valo (HIM), and a host of other alternative music luminaries. Nyte also completed a 17 date sold out tour, spanning 12 European countries with The Awakening in October 2016. The tour was in support of UK band The Mission’s 30th Anniversary and included prestigious European venues like O2 Shepherd Bush (London), Hard Club (Porto), Markthalle (Hamburg) and many more. The Awakening was the only support for their leg of the tour and crowd response and merchandise sales reflected an ongoing growth for the love of Nyte’s voice and various musical incarnations. Nyte performed with MGT at the Wave Gotik Treffen festival in Leipzig, along with a UK date in June 2017.

In 2018 Nyte co-wrote and co-produced the second MGT album, called “Gemini Nyte”, with Nyte as the only vocalist and lyricist. The album also featured Paul Ferguson (Killing Joke) on drums and was toured with Jyrki69 (The 69 Eyes) across the US in March of 2018. Nyte is currently completing a range of releases for 2019 and has contributed lyrics and vocals to 3 songs on Michael Ciravolo’s “Beauty in Chaos” project, which features members of The Cure, The Mission, Ice-T, Ministry, Cheap Trick and more. The Nyte / Ciravolo composition “Bloodless And Fragile” was used in the television program “The Purge” on USA network. The Awakening has just released a new album, “Chasm” on 26 November 2018 with first single “Back To Wonderland” currently receiving airplay worldwide.

Ashton Nyte ended off 2018 with working on the score of the movie “Relive” with composer Ethan Gold. The movie stars David Oyelowo, Storm Reid and Mykelti Williamson and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019.

Check out the full interview HERE.

LINKS:
https://theawakening.com
https://facebook.com/theawakeningofficial
https://youtube.com/theawakeningsa

https://ashtonnyte.com
https://facebook.com/ashtonnyte
https://youtube.com/ashtonnyte
https://instagram.com/ashtonnyte
https://twitter.com/ashtonnyte

Jammerzine interviews Jaki Nelson (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Jammerzine interviews Jaki Nelson (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Two time Top 10, four-time Billboard charting pop/dance artist Jaki Nelson is a singer and songwriter from Los Angeles. Her single, “What We Wanna Do” spent six weeks on the Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart and peaked at #29. Her follow-up single, “Uh Oh”, spent 12 weeks on the same chart and peaked at #9. “Uh Oh” also debuted at #12 on Beatport Future House chart, peaking at #4, and was featured numerous times as a Spotify Discover Weekly track.

Jaki has performed at NY Fashion Week (2016/2017), LA Fashion Week (2017) and prestigious clubs including TigerHeat at the legendary Avalon Hollywood 2018 & 2019 (Previous performers include Lady Gaga) as well as LA Pride Weekend (2018) and a headlining spot on the main stage with powerhouse DJ Hector Fonseca (Beyonce, Rihanna) at San Francisco Pride (2018).

In 2018, Jaki released “Dancing With Strangers”, written and produced with GRAMMY winner Dave Aude who has created over 120 #1 Billboard dance remixes (Madonna, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Rihanna). “Dancing With Strangers” peaked at #10 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart and was the only single by an independent artist in the top ten for her week. Jaki shared the honor with greats including U2, Ariana Grande, Cher, Lenny Kravitz, Kygo, and Calvin Harris featuring Sam Smith. The track also peaked at #41 and debuted above Steve Aoki and Vanessa Hudgens on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Chart.

Now, Jaki is debuting her track “High Wasted” by Rayne & Jaki Nelson, produced and co-written with Rayne (“America’s Got Talent”). The “High Wasted” music video continues the story in “Dancing With Strangers” as a prequel.

Jaki is also the featured artist on “The End” (Want It All), the new single from Disco Fries & LoaX. Production duo Disco Fries have worked with everyone from Britney Spears and Katie Perry to Selena Gomez.

LINKS:
https://www.jakinelson.com
https://www.facebook.com/jakinelsonent
https://www.twitter.com/jakinelsonent
https://youtube.com/jakinelson
https://instagram.com/jakinelson

LUCKYANDLOVE Release New Single 'Soul Alive' (The Week in #Indie Segment)

LUCKYANDLOVE Release New Single ‘Soul Alive’ (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Los Angeles’ LUCKYANDLOVE have announced their sophomore album ‘Transitions’, slated for release in late May. Offering 10 new tracks in this sonic neon rainbow, listeners will be immersed in a spectrum of fuzzy sunset synthgaze, blue-black neon darkwave, and tigerprint electro punk. Ahead of this, the duo is previewing the first single off this album – ‘Soul Alive’.

This album takes you on a multi-city adventure. Within the recesses of your mind, you’ll find yourself jetting around to Chicago, LA, and DC… in a pop underground, clubbing in Chinatown, basking in the south of France, moonlight trekking in a Burmese jungle, having a spiritual love connection, or provoking the DMT molecules that are naturally inside you.

LUCKYANDLOVE is vocalist & multi-synth-pedal-instrumentalist April Love and drummer & multi-synth instrumentalist Loren Luck. Originally from Silver Lake, California, the band formed in 2014, named for The Good Luck bar, where they met. Many mai tai’s and 2 full-length records later, the band is now set for this new release, along with third west coast tour and first UK tour.

“This is a very transformational record. Making it was an emotional journey with both heart-breaking and fun experiences because we are always in transition,” says Loren Luck.

This album follows up the synthtastic debut album ‘Lucky+Love’ and debut video for ‘Digging in the Earth’. As with their debut, the duo recorded ‘Transitions’ with Grammy-winning engineer Be Hussey of The Comp-ny Studio, going to extremes in writing and performing live on this record, often finishing songs in one complete take.

Continually inspired by 21st-century music from Chromatics, Washed Out, Tycho and Phantogram and still obsessed with UK 20th century gems from Cocteau Twins, Human League, Gary Numan, LUCKYANDLOVE’s sound dichotomy is dancing with darkwave vs. synthwave, electropunk vs. indie-pop electronica vs. dreamgaze. This electronic music often sounds indie because their Kraftwork-like analog control voltage synth layers are often reminiscent of noise pop guitars.

“We’re having fun; at the same time, there’s much reflection on fun moments, like dancing in clubs or going to the beach… But we transition, going deeper into the unknown. On our first debut record, there were a lot of sky and space concepts introduced. For this second album, we get downright spooky. Like my brain keeps imagining a transition into ‘rainbow body’ while I’m playing ‘Soul Alive’” says April Love.

“I play typical loud and bassy, control filter synths, and Loren has psycho beats and our spoon bending lyrical concepts brush up against danger, and suspense like in ‘Dangerous Run Away’. These songs are up for interpretation cause this ride is totally up to you.”

The Nile Deltas Release Their New Single 'Dust Me Down' (The Week in #Indie Segment)

The Nile Deltas Release Their New Single ‘Dust Me Down’ (The Week in #Indie Segment)

The Nile Deltas (from the East Midlands) is a rock ‘n’ roll band on their own terms, an unashamed ‘song’ band with a voice up front drenched in soul. Soaking up the influences of their influences, The Nile Deltas have arrived at their own place – a very British rock band with an American flavor, think early Whitesnake with a feathering of The Black Crowes, Free with a faint aroma of Blackberry Smoke.

Vocalist Craig Blencowe soars over a band that is committed to providing just the platform to allow him to do this; serving the song, yet providing an irresistible no frill, larger than life rock ‘n’ roll sound. With two guitarists and a Hammond/Piano player, the band dishes it up old school, with dynamic interplay and intuitive respect for the song.

‘It’s all about getting six guys in a room, shooting for this big beautiful noise and STILL leaving space in the whole thing.’

The six-piece have had an interesting year since their successful performance at Ramblin’ Man Fair 2017, writing and then recording new material at legendary Rockfield Studios before releasing their debut EP ‘LIFE’ in December 2018.

LINKS:
http://theniledeltas.com
https://facebook.com/theniledeltas
https://twitter.com/theniledeltas
https://instagram.com/theniledeltas

Skyfever Drop New Single 'Kings' (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Skyfever Drop New Single ‘Kings’ (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Skyfever is a rock band from Ireland who is breaking through in a big way, with their music being selected for play in a number of famous sports stadiums. Their infectious rock music has filled the stadiums of Liverpool FC, Chelsea FC, the Tennessee Titans, the world famous New York Yankees and also at the Carolina Panthers 75,000 seater Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. With this band, rock finds its rightful home!

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper is a fan, and last year he endorsed the band by not only playing their track, The Returning, to listeners of his worldwide-syndicated radio show, Nights with Alice Cooper, but also by personally sharing their track on social media and praising their talent. In fact, radio stations across the USA have recognized Skyfever and they have been played on stations from Philadelphia (WCLH) to Chicago (WZRD) to Nashville, Tennessee (Under the Gun Radio).

The UK has got behind Skyfever too, with Jim Gellatly (Amazing Radio) playing their music and the renowned Fred Perry Subculture website name-checking them alongside Otherkin, Heathers and Squarehead as ‘Top 20 Dublin Bands to Watch’.

Skyfever is Luke Lang on vocals, Brian Clarke on guitar/sounds, Tyson Harding on guitar, Ciaran O’Brien on bass and Karl Hand on drums.

LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/Skyfevermusic
https://twitter.com/skyfever1
http://www.skyfevermusic.com
https://www.instagram.com/skyfevermusic
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4HPFvyJT6JkaEaoZFFUurl
https://www.snapchat.com/add/skyfevermusic01

Aliens Release Their Single 'Long Way To Run' (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Aliens Release Their Single ‘Long Way To Run’ (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Since September 2016, Aliens potent mix of Alt Rock, Pop hooks and politically engaged social commentary has been firing up live audiences, reviewers and DJ’s across the UK. Long Way to Run is the lead track from their new album, Terradome.

Aliens were created as a music/film collective by composer & producer, Iain Harvie, (best known as the Rock guitarist for million sellers, Del Amitri) and filmmaker, songwriter & singer, Tim May. They were soon joined by Helen Turner from Paul Weller & Style Council on keys, Martyn Barker from Shriekback on drums, The Bible’s Leroy Lendor on bass, and hot new talent Tommy Sheen on guitar. Now, Iain has confined his Aliens duties to mixing and producing, while Tim and the band play live.

Their last single, Desolation Angel, written with Jungle’s Fraser MacColl, was released in aid of Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity, and swiftly became BBC Radio Scotland’s record of the week. Terradome brings both tracks together with a whole load more that are destined to bring Aliens the wider attention they deserve.

“Maybe the world changes one conversation at a time, one idea, one slight shift of perception, if so Aliens are as vital as any more obvious rallying cry.” Dave Franklin. Scene and Heard.

LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/blackoutlockdown
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1cdiplXHN22XQZ1qieLtEu?si=_yBEoR8eT2elQVb7ReTlvw
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmeJb7YdDx0C4AzkAok8FLQ

Beauty in Chaos Release 'Un-Natural Disaster' Ft. Dug Pinnick, Zakk Wylde & Ice-T (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Beauty in Chaos Release ‘Un-Natural Disaster’ Ft. Dug Pinnick, Zakk Wylde & Ice-T (The Week in #Indie Segment)

‘Un-Natural Disaster’ (Collide Mix) is the first song to be previewed from the soon-to-be-released album ‘Beauty Re-Envisioned’, which will contain an extremely wide variety of remixes and alternate versions of many of the tracks that appear on their debut album ‘Finding Beauty in Chaos’. Both albums are produced by Ministry’s Grammy-nominated producer Michael Rozon at Ciravolo’s own SAINTinLA Studio.

This track breaks the constraints placed on the debut album, not only due to the addition of synthesizers but also in the wicked unleashing of a blistering guitar solo by guitar guru Zakk Wylde.

“Zakk plays more notes on this solo than I did on the entire album, but with taste, technique and a ton of flair,”
Michael Ciravolo laughs.

For this project, Ciravolo – a New Orleans native – teamed up with King’s X’s dUg Pinnick, who previously lived in Houston. Their shared experiences and memories of the chaos caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey, along with the ‘beauty’ of those who came to help the victims, profoundly shaped the song’s music and lyrics.

“When Michael sent me the music and asked me if I would sing and play on it, I immediately said yes. I think it rocks!! And some deep lyrics were my thoughts. Since I come from Katy Texas, where it flooded a few years ago very badly and, not very far away, it was the same for New Orleans, I thought it was appropriate to sing about the un-natural disasters that are happening due to man’s ignorance,”
says dUg Pinnick.

“It was fun putting my bass part on the track and a big surprise is on the same song with Ice-T and Zakk Wylde. What a great opportunity, I’m glad to be a part of this project. And the video shoot was wet!! Lol! And so much fun… and even captures the serious topic of this song.”

Ice-T, famed rapper, actor and frontman of Body Count, also spits out a poignant exclamation point to the extent of these tragedies.

“This song really hits close to home as I was born and raised in New Orleans. I lived in Los Angeles when Katrina hit, but watched as friends and family lost everything. My elderly Aunt was evacuated as the city’s services shut down, and sadly she did not survive the move to Alabama. She along with at least 1200 others lost their lives as a result of this devastating hurricane,”
says Michael Ciravolo.

Vicente Cordero, who directed the accompanying video, also directed the three previous Beauty In Chaos videos, delivers a visually stunning interpretation of this song. Production credit for all four goes to Industrialism Films.

Originally from New Orleans and now based in LA, Michael Ciravolo has played guitar in Human Drama for the past 30 years, most recently on ‘Broken Songs for Broken People’ (2017). Perhaps best known as President of Schecter Guitar Research, he has also played live and recorded with Michael Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel since 1998.

The debut album ‘Finding Beauty in Chaos’ features numerous music luminaries, including Wayne Hussey (The Mission), Simon Gallup (The Cure), Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), Pete Parada (The Offspring), dUg Pinnick (Kings X), ICE-T (Body Count), Michael Aston (Gene Loves Jezebel), Michael Anthony (Van Halen), Dirk Doucette (Gene Loves Jezebel), Ashton Nyte (The Awakening), Pando (A Flock of Seagulls), Evi Vine, Betsy Martin (Caterwaul / Purr Machine), Marc Danzeisen (The Riverdogs), Kevin Kipnis (Purr Machine / Kommunity FK), Rudy Matchinga (Red Scare), Johnny Indovina (Human Drama), and Tish Ciravolo (StunGun/ Daisy Rock Guitars).

LINKS:
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/bic-blog
https://www.facebook.com/beautyinchaosmusic
https://www.instagram.com/beauty.inchaos
https://twitter.com/MichaelCiravolo
https://soundcloud.com/33-3-music-collective
https://beautyinchaos.bandcamp.com

Soundbytes: Andy Cooper Exclusive Interview

Soundbytes: Andy Cooper Exclusive Interview

‘The Layered Effect’ by US rapper/producer Andy Cooper offers a punchy reminder of the creative fun to be had in digging for breaks, stringing up loops and layering up strata of sound. Brimming full of delightful inflections from the world of Jazz, Easy Listening, Film Soundtracks and Hollywood voices, it’s a perfectly stitched sound patchwork that pays loving homage to the classic, funky days of early rap. A touching testimony to the joys of Hip Hop then and now.

More than just the skinny white dude who’s into old school beats, Andy Cooper has won his stripes after a twenty year stint with Hip Hop trio Ugly Duckling, then a couple more hanging out with The Allergies, not to mention the recent release of eight 7” singles, an EP and now his second solo LP. What is utterly charming is how enamored and respectful he is how it was at the beginning AND of how it still should be. Far from being the “old timer/delusional revivalist” he describes in ‘Last of the Dying Breed’, Cooper cares not about color or age, but that rap stays fresh, exciting, competitive, similar to a precious martial art.

For Andy, rap is a noble form. He’s a wordsmith extraordinaire, snappy and audacious, tipping his hat “to all the microphoners who still bring that dedication and expertise to their craft” and choosing to work with equally rapid sparring partners like Blabbermouf and MC Abdominal. Ownership of the genre is a constant theme throughout the LP. Like a contact sport, you punch and fight your way to the mic and once there “no one can take it from me”. Reverance is constantly being paid to the dons that went before, overtly Rick Rubin & the Def Jam crew, but covertly the Reggae sound systems and jazzers of old.

Not a sloppy note or shabby rhyme here. It’s an album that pops and fizzes with quirky beats and funky rhythms from start to finish. With production lines neater and sharper than a pair of sta press trousers, it’s impossible not to be seduced by the sheer buoyancy of the lyrics, beats, and intention. A refreshingly entire body of work with no low points, only head-nodding highs. It’s good to stumble across a Hip Hop album that has you giggling, thinking, singing and wearing out the soles of your shoes all at once.

LINKS:
http://www.youtube.com/user/uglyducklingvideos
http://www.instagram.com/andycooper75
http://www.facebook.com/acooper75
http://soundcloud.com/rocafortrecords/sets/andy-cooper-the-layered-effect/s-qKLg0
http://rocafortrecords.com

Soundbytes: Kristin Hersh Tour Announcement & Interview

Soundbytes: Kristin Hersh Tour Announcement & Interview

Set to take place at London’s Southbank Centre on June 15-24, this year marks the 25th edition of this iconic festival. This special celebration, curated by The Cure’s Robert Smith, offers a jam-packed line-up of unique performances. Apart from Kristin Hersh, this year’s line-up includes My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails, Mogwai, The Psychedelic Furs, Manic Street Preachers, The Libertines, Deftones, Placebo, Mono, 65daysofstatic, Alcest, and The Notwist.

Kristin Hersh has been confounding expectations and breaking rules since founding her influential art-punk band Throwing Muses at the age of 14. Her solo career spun off in 1994 with the release of ‘Hips and Makers’, a widely acclaimed album which included ‘Your Ghost’, a duet with R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe. Since then, Kristin has released a steady stream of distinctly individual solo albums, including 2010’s ‘Crooked’, her first release in the inventive book/CD format for which she is now known. She played all the instruments on her latest release ‘Wyatt at the Coyote Palace’, an explosive work defined by blistering guitars, powerful drumming, and Kristin’s signature visceral vocal technique. Her poignant true stories bring the listener into what the BBC calls Hersh’s “dark and dizzy world”.

Throwing Muses first gained traction in the early ‘80s playing with similarly singular artists like The Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. They continue to release groundbreaking music and tour the world, most recently with 2013’s double CD masterpiece ‘Purgatory/Paradise’.

In 2004, Kristin formed the noise rock power trio 50FOOTWAVE, releasing a series of frighteningly intense mini-albums, mostly available for download free of charge. The most recent ‘Bath White’ EP, which is like “a series of loud explosions, of velvet like dreams all intermingled at the same time” (Liverpool Sound & Vision).

Kristin’s writing career has flourished with the highly acclaimed ‘Paradoxical Undressing’ (released as ‘Rat Girl’ in the USA) and the award-winning ‘Don’t Suck, Don’t Die’, a personal account of her long friendship with the late Vic Chesnutt, in addition to the enchanting books that now accompany each record release.

Kristin Hersh, 50FOOTWAVE and Throwing Muses continue to create gorgeous, exciting music, with new releases expected online and in the stores as this year progresses.

The Meltdown Festival is the UK’s longest running artist-curated music festival. Smith is the lead singer and principal songwriter of The Cure, and its only constant member since the group formed in 1978. A defining band, The Cure took ‘alternative rock’ mainstream around the world and received numerous awards including a Brit Award for Best British Band, an MTV Icon Award, a Q Inspiration Award and NME’s Godlike Genius Award. Smith has also been presented with an Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement.

An iconic figure in his own right, Smith’s influence reaches across popular culture, film, art, and fashion. His many collaborations include performing and recording with artists as varied as David Bowie, Billy Corgan, Blink 182, The Stranglers, Placebo, Crystal Castles, Faithless, Korn, and 65daysofstatic.

Meltdown is one of the UK’s most anticipated music events each year, in which an iconic artist curates their own personal festival, revealing their interests and influences. Robert Smith follows in the footsteps of such legendary curators as Patti Smith, Nick Cave, Yoko Ono, Massive Attack, Ornette Coleman and 2017’s M.I.A.

“I am honored and excited to be curating the 25th Meltdown. More than 30 of my all-time favourite artists – some of the most exciting, inspirational, intense and influential performers of the last 40 years – will make sure this 10-night extravaganza is the must-see event of the summer!” says Robert Smith. “as each invitee confirms, as each shimmering piece falls into place, I pinch myself – this is really happening… And the complete picture will undoubtedly be out of this world!”.

Kristin Hersh says that “Meltdown is an opportunity for musicians to present what they do in a different light: music from the musician’s perspective. A private thing, a world unto itself.” Hersh will be playing the festival on June 21.

The Veldt Release 'The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur'

The Veldt Release ‘The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur’

Schoolkids Records have released The Veldt’s wonderfully titled ‘The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur’ Mixtape EP worldwide. The band is also presenting a new video for ‘One Day Out of Life’ (Andrew Prinz/ Mahogany Remix) to accompany this release.

This EP comes on the tail of their successful Record Store Day 7” single ‘Symmetry / Slow Grind’.

The album is a solid, fully loaded weapon in the shoegaze arsenal. I say this knowing how much of an oxymoronic phrase that is, given the very nature of shoegaze itself, but this is true. ‘The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur’ is a pure sonic adventure that grabs you by the ears and penetrates your mind for days afterwards. Each track is layered in multitudes of well-placed instrumentation over soothing and crooning vocals in such a way that some artists may want to rethink the way they are doing things.  To make such a varied album without compromising what makes the group what it is is a sign of true musicianship.

“The Veldt could never be pigeonholed, no matter how hard the world tried to put the African-American brothers and their bandmates into a box… with songs that should have been massive hits… anthems that demand to be heard.”
– Pitchfork

“Their passion is infectious, their commitment to the unique sounds and rhythms in their perfectly calibrated guitar tones do the awesome work of elevating beyond stereotypes. In so doing, they are crafting both a loud and a quiet revolution. It is really hard to not fall in love with this band.”
– Huffington Post

“With Danny’s enveloping hooks, Daniel’s swooning falsetto… the new songs invite paradoxical praise: serenely assaultive, vertiginously soothing.”
– The Guardian

“Atmospheric sounds… their presence in and of itself is historic.”
– Noisey / VICE

“The Veldt are a unique and singular, musical proposition – authentic American soul music, without post-modern irony, without cliché. They are Kane’s kissing kousins.”
– Rudy Tambala (A.R. Kane)

“Awesome wobbly psychy guitar music and from-the-heart soulful vocals…myself and Robin Guthrie are just 2 screaming fans.”
– Creation Records’ Founder Joe Foster

“For black artists, doing anything outside of the bubble, beyond what’s derivative of what white kids are doing, being able to express yourself honestly, is not celebrated at all.” So when I heard these guys, it gave me confidence.”
– Doc McKinney (The Weeknd, Drake, Estherio)

LINKS:
http://www.facebook.com/The-Veldt-154526351270221
http://twitter.com/veldtthe
http://www.reverbnation.com/theveldt
http://theveldtmusic.bandcamp.com

Scroll to top