Brandon Duhon, formerly from Glasnost has released his last remix on his Soundcloud site, and will be using the Night Drive name moving forward. Here is the latest music video from Night Drive. Expect more from Night Drive in the future.
NIGHT DRIVE – DRONES (Official Music Video) from nightdrivemusic on Vimeo.
By Ivan Guzman
On my first day of SXSW, I got to sit and talk with Sirah, a small little rapping fireball that hails from LA. Her debut album, C.U.L.T Too Young To Die, came out earlier in 2012, and her global collab with dubstep crooner, Skrillex, entitled ‘Bangarang’ won her a Grammy in 2013 for her collaborations on i
At the Moonshine Cafe, we met and went downstairs to escape the noise, to a silent and dark wine cellar – the perfect setting to talk with the rapper about her crazy performances at SXSW with people like Macklemore and Action Bronson, how growing up tough helps her in making her music, and the controversial but always entertaining female rap scene.
How is SXSW so far? Is it your first time here?
-Yes! It’s amazing. I haven’t gotten to see as many people as I wanted to see, but I’ve seen people from the shows I played – Icona Pop, Charli XCX, Macklemore, Action Bronson, Rocky Fresh. I tried to go out last night because one of my favorite bands, Y, are playing, but they were doing a show in the back room where there was Ghostface, Killa, and Iggy Pop, so there was no way to get in.
I heard you played with Macklemore and Action Bronson. How was that?
-Awesome. Action Bronson killed it. At one point I look over, and he picked up a dude that was in a wheelchair and had him draped over his back while he rapped, and I was like, “WHAT IS HAPPENING?”
So, you collaborated with Skrillex on ‘Bangarang’ and won a Grammy. How did that come about?
-6 years ago, I was on tour in Romania, and I got mail on Myspace from Sunni (Skrillex). He was doing this ambient, melodic music as a side project, and he told me that he loved my music and wanted to work with me, so that’s how that came about. With ‘Bangarang,’ he hit me up and asked me to send him 16 bars with a sort of ‘Lost Boys’ feeling – because I grew up like that. Our crew had that sort of ‘Lost Boys’ feel to it.
Did you attend the Grammys?
-Yeah! It was really odd. You watch it on TV your whole life and then you’re there, and it’s surreal.
Your video for ‘My City’ came out in February, and the song has to do with your childhood and growing up. How does that influence your music?
-I think that’s really all my music is – growing up and how I came to this place. But I grew up really hard, whether it was doing graffiti, being in gangs, whatever. I think that not only my music, but my life – being homeless and all – creates my music. I grew up in New York and then moved to LA and basically finished out there. I’ve been writing since I was seven years old, and when I was 12, I started just rapping, smoking blunts with boys, freestyling. I never thought that I could make music. I just did it because I loved to. Then at about 17, I started rapping in South Central at this place called Project Blow, and they really taught me how to actually rap. They boo you off stage, the Black Panthers tried to recruit me – it was mad weird.
Who did you grow up listening to?
-Well, my first show was The Beach Boys, even though they were all kind of dead – it was like the Beach Men. But also Joni Mitchell, Alanis Morissette, Big Pun, Biggy, Eminem – I just love music from everywhere, anywhere.
Dream collaboration?
-That’s really hard. I mean, I love Joni Mitchell so much, but I would never want to work with her. There’s people I love so much that I would never want to collaborate with them, as a fan. They’re just so magical that it would ruin my perception about them. Anytime I really love someone I would never really want to go see their show. I’m more of the person that is inspired by musicians who just have a creative vision, no matter who they are. That’s exciting to me.
What would you say the most common theme is on C.U.L.T. Too Young To Die?
-I think I’m just angry! Haha. I listen to it and think, “I sound so angry!” There were a lot of reasons why I named it C.U.L.T, but I think it was just me being tired of the internet being so grimey and people not taking time to understand who you are – all the misconceptions that I was reading, saying “You’re a hipster,” or “You’ve never rapped in your life!” I was just mad. To quote Dr. Dre, “If you don’t like me, blow me.” So that was what C.U.L.T was for me – how they have no idea what they’re talking about.
How much does the internet play a role in what you do?
-Now it doesn’t. I don’t read anything. It does happen where I’ll read something and be like, “What?!” After C.U.L.T came about, I just had a lot to say about all these misconceptions bothering me, but it doesn’t have any affect now. When people get really wild on the internet, I just kind of bug them out more like, “You need a hug. What’s up, are you okay?” I don’t even really use it to promote my music. I’m not that type. When people like my music, I’m still just kind of surprised. I think it’s an awesome tool for artists nowadays to even have that option, but I also think it’s a matter of just letting people get to know you – not promoting yourself.
What’s your favorite part about the music-making process?
-My favorite part is after spending days and days making something, the moment when you take it home from the studio and you’re in your room when you just know that you’ve created something that will last forever. That’s the thing about music. At some point, we’re all gonna die, but whatever it is your create, it’s going to outlive everything. In 5o years when nobody gives a shit, some kid is going to find it, and it’s going to mean something to them. Or sample it! I could pay my future kids.
A lot of female rappers are starting to pop up – Azealia, Iggy, Angel Haze – how do you feel about the upcoming female rap scene?
-I just actually saw Angel Haze perform at the Grammy pre-party, and she was really dope. She has an Aliyah vibe to her, while is so cool. Both Azealia and her have that vibe, which is maybe why they fight. I heard just the other day about Azealia getting in a beef with Brooke Candy, and it’s like, I wish us girl rappers wouldn’t have to fight so much. There’s only like 8 of us! I’m not all about that “let’s stick together” shit, but I’m also like, “why do we have to fight so much?” There’s so much to fight against when you get to the platform we have, and it’s just so hard to do this. Any girl that has come up, I would give mad respect to. But I think Azealia Banks is dope. I like her music. I guess hip hop has always been about beef, but I’m just not about that life anymore.
Since we are Indie Houston, who are some of your favorite indie artists that we can listen to?
-Oh! My favorite band, Why? I’ve always loved them. I don’t know if The Limousines are still unsigned, but I love them. They have this song ‘Internet Killed The Video Star.’ [starts singing]. I listen to a lot of indie music. I’m really on this rapper right now, who is actually upstairs – Jinx the Flyer. He’s from Connecticutt. He’s produced for so many big rappers. I even feel like there’s this weird folk and R&B resurgence happening right now, and I love it. I’ll hit up my fans and ask, “What are you listening to right now?” Because I just love new music in general. It’s exciting.
Watch Sirah’s video for ‘My City’ below.
By Ivan Guzman
Charli XCX and I took a seat out in the glistening sun at 10 AM on my second day of the adventure that was SXSW. The dark bubble-goth pop diva was dressed in some, I would say, 7-inch, black platform boots with a green plaid, high-waisted school girl-like skirt and dog collar choker – a 90′s, soft grunge style that is always apparent in what she does.
Her debut album, True Romance, was released a few weeks ago, and many have been inclined to stick her in with the new batch of young, underground pop girls that have been recently spotlighted. She DID appear on the cover of V Magazine with Sky Ferreira and Grimes, after all. But I think XCX is making a way for her own material to prevail, even more so after being able to gain some insight about her – face to face.
Read what Charli had to say about how, and IF, she can categorize her sound, being featured in a horror movie, and her surprisingly long road getting to where she is in her current career.
How is SXSW so far?
-Crazy, stressful, manic – but amazing. Just wild. I love the craziness of the shows, and how many shows you get to play in a short period of time. The craziness of the shows. Everything.
You are featured on and wrote the song , ‘I Love It’ for Icona Pop. How did this collaboration come about and how does it feel now that it’s such a big hit?
-Well, to be honest, it hasn’t really sunk in yet. I know it’s doing well, but since I’m still kind of distant from it and am just watching it grow and do its thing, it’s really strange for me. It’s amazing, though.
What had happened is that I went to Sweden about a year ago to work with this guy, Patrick Berger, and he sent me some tracks when I landed and was like, “Yeah, have a listen. I’ll see you tomorrow,” – that kind of thing. He sent me one which I wrote my song, ‘You’re The One’ over and one which I wrote ‘I Love It’ over, and I wrote both of them in about an hour in my hotel room, went to the session the next day, and he was really impressed. From the beginning, I knew that it wasn’t right for me, so when Icona Pop came down and heard it, they really wanted to fuck with it, and I said, “Sure! Do it.” And they did.
What can we expect from your debut, “True Romance”?
-You can expect emotional brooding, but still light-hearted pop music at times. It’s all love songs on the records – the album is about love and is dedicated to romance. I wrote it while growing up, so it’s kind of like a coming of age record for me. I guess I have changed my views on love and life while writing the record, so it’s all of my different view points on that. It’s a pop album with pop perks, but it’s done my way.
You call your music “pop,” however, you have toured with Coldplay and Santigold, who are kind of unrelated in a sense. Would you say you have a distinct sound?
-I think I do! When you hear the record, it will all come together for them. Since I’ve done so many mixtapes, EP’s, features, etc., I feel like some people may only have a random dubstep track I was featured on ages ago or something, so if they don’t have all the pieces, this album puts everything together. I like to call it “purple pop” music – it’s dreamy, dark, floaty, and emotional, but the songs are still structured pop songs.
So do you think you have a distinct audience for your music as well?
-I don’t know, actually. I personally don’t care who the audience is – if they like it, they like it, and I love that they like it. I don’t just want to play to hipsters, because hipsters are boring. I want to just let go and be free – performing for whoever.
You started at 14, writing songs and playing shows, but what do you think was that first specific moment that got everything started and sparked your interest in music?
-I’ve always wanted to be a musician. I suppose I just started putting songs online, and people started noticing, so I realized that, “Oh, I guess I might as well just keep going.” I was never a stage school brat with pushy parents – it was never some Macaulay Culkin shit or something like that. I’ve just always loved music and playing the piano when I was younger.
Are you a trained pianist?
-I am. I did my grade seven, but I can’t read music, so it’s pointless.
You came up with the name Charli XCX when you were 14 as well. Where did the idea come from?
-It really was just a scrambling mess. I met this guy Chaz who was running raves and parties in East London, and he asked me if I wanted to play a rave. I was like, “Wow! A rave! That sounds so cool. Yes!” He asked me what I wanted him to put on the flier, and I didn’t have a name. I would always sign off on my MSN chat as “XCX,” which stands for “kiss charli kiss,” and I guess it just stuck.
It took you a relatively long amount of time to make it to where you are right now in the industry. Was that at all a struggle?
-No, not really, because I think that, even though I’ve been making music and was signed when I was 15, my label never pushed me. They just had me there. I wanted to finish school and everything, so they were never like, “Why aren’t you writing a hit?!” They were just like, “Yeah, let her do her thing.” Then one day, just about 2 and a half years ago, I wrote my song ‘Stay Away.’ That’s when it all fell into place. Then half a year later we released it, and that was just about one year ago. So I feel like I actually started a year and a half ago. Before that, I just had some coverage online, but I wasn’t really doing anything in those years. I was still growing as a person.
You’ve done a lot of writing for other people – I even read that you did a score for a horror movie. Do you feel more comfortable in the studio or on stage?
-Yes! It was actually THAT guy’s horror movie, Elfie Hopkins. *points to young, scruffy movie director Ryan Andrews sitting behind us.* To be honest, I love performing. I feel so free and alive when I perform, which sounds cheesy, but it’s true. I think both. That’s why I do it – because I love all aspects.
What are some current artists that you draw inspiration from for your music?
-When it comes to drawing inspiration for writing my own music, I look more at films, photographers, and magazine pop culture – things like that. Chris Cunningham’s music videos for Bjork, The Horrors, Portishead, the Marilyn Manson video for tainted love, David Lachapelle’s photography, Sophia Coppola. I kind of look down those lines to get an atmosphere generated in my head for my music and lyrics.
You’re touring with and are close friends with Marina and The Diamonds, who has gotten pretty big. How is it like touring with her?
-I know! Last night her song was on ‘Glee’, which is so good! It’s great. We’ve got to know each other over the Coldplay dates when she was also opening for them. It’s just fun – a girly, sleepover vibe all the time. We get on well, and it’s nice going on tour with someone who isn’t an asshole. You always hear horror stories of girls going on tour together and it being a nightmare, but that’s not the case with Marina. She’s great.
Since we are Indie Houston, who are some of your favorite indie artists we can check out?
-I’ve just started getting really into Peace. I love them. I’m also freaking out right now over Kitty Pryde. I’m trying to see her show today. Sky Ferreira, of course. I’m a big fan of her EP. Also, IO Echo and Kitten, who is my girl. She’s the coolest.
Watch Charli’s new video for ‘What I Like’ below!
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