Peter Bradley Adams

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No matter the form, when it comes to art, there are a number of different tacks to take. Some artists continually push their work across new horizons. Neil Young, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Joni Mitchell come to mind, in that regard. Others —Claude Monet, Jason Isbell, and Bonnie Raitt, among them —stand a bit more still in order to continually refine the capturing of their vision. Singer/songwriter Peter Bradley Adams falls into the latter category of perfectionists chasing their own perfection. With A Face Like Mine, he may well have caught it.

There's a confidence, a completeness in the song cycle that listeners have gleaned throughout Adams' illustrious career, but A Face Like Mine, his sixth solo effort, brings it all into sharp focus. As Adams sees it, “On the long plod of finding my voice as a singer and a writer, the singing has slowly developed from the sound of a scared guy to someone who believes what he's saying and the writing, I hope, has become less rigid —both in the lyrics and the phrasing.”

Less rigid, indeed. Adams' brand of Americana nestles his often delicate, always heartfelt voice in the warm embrace of gentle guitar, tasteful dobro, subtle banjo, supportive bass, and unhurried percussion. The result is a sonic scape that, in turn, wraps itself around the listener like a soft blanket on a cold day. With A Face Like Mine, Adams further refines the simple musical sophistication that has become his trademark.

Throughout the self-produced set, Adams tells tales of love and loss, homes and hearts. The territory he mines is a deliberate mix of fact and fantasy. “I feel like I'm, firstly, a storyteller, but it's inevitable that my own stuff gets in there deep. And it's funny how, sometimes, I don't realize it until the song is done,” he offers. “At the same time, there are times where I take very directly from an experience or a relationship, but I try to be very careful when that happens. I don't want to ever sound like a journal entry.”

Regardless of the details, there's always a philosophical bent that is often more under than on the surface, firmly grounding Adams' songs even as they stretch outward. By his own admission, Adams is a seeker who spends considerable time wrestling with matters of faith, though he's the first to admit he doesn't have any real answers. “I honestly don't know what the hell I'm doing... nor do I have the language for any of this stuff,” he says with a laugh. “But there is a constant tug on me in that direction and, the older I get, the more present it becomes. Music can often be the most direct way to step into that river.”

That seeker's heart is the tie that so often binds these songs together. Whether the search for place and purpose is of a spiritual or geographical nature, few writers capture the journey as thoughtfully as Adams. An Alabama native, Adams says he feels most comfortable in motion and doesn't have a strong sense of being Southern, even though his music is rooted in that world in so many ways. The first verse of the album's mesmerizing lead track, “Good Man,” exemplifies his plight: “This old house is falling down. Every step I take makes a hollow sound. Should I walk away? Should I push on through? What in the world can a good man do?”

Even as Adams goes on to sing of “laughing eyes with a touch of grey” and walking “a mile across the kitchen floor” in order to set various scenes, he leaves room for the listener to crawl inside his stories and make them their own. Striking that balance is the songwriter's eternal struggle, but one Adams seems to have mastered after years of toiling on his own and collaborating with co-writers like Kim Richey, Caitlin Canty, and Todd Lombardo.

“I don't think I'm very good at co-writing because my process seems so weird and long and tedious to me,” Adams confides. “It's hard to allow someone into that space, but there a few folks where our sensibilities are aligned and we're not just trying to bang out a song in a day. I want to feel as close to the songs I co-write as the ones I write alone. Writers like Kim Richey have such an economy and depth to the ideas that come out of their mouths and hands —there's wisdom there. I want to be more like that.”

In addition to this release, Adams is currently putting his classical composition studies to work on a piece for violin and piano —an aspect of his craft and education that got set aside somewhere along the way to now. “I've wondered a lot why I spent all that time studying music in school and how my composer that fits in with or hinders my songwriting,” he says. “Some of it was definitely useless to me, then and now. But some of it has left its mark on how I listen, and how I think of arranging songs, and how I communicate with players who are playing on them. Also, writing in such an extremely simple and constrained musical language makes all your choices much more delicate, so I spend a lot of time crafting even the simplest melody.”

A Face Like Mine's songs were composed all over the world, from Alabama to India, and they dig into topics are disparate as the desperation of addiction (“Lorraine”), the grappling of self-image (“Who Else Could I Be”), the vitriol of politics (“We Are”), and the genetics of suffering (“A Face Like Mine”). “We Are” and “Who Else Could I Be” were originally written for a dance piece that Gina Patterson choreographed for the San Angelo Civic Ballet. Even so, Adams made sure the songs could stand alone in their own world no matter what else was swirling around them —confidence and completeness in action.

As a work of musical art, A Face Like Mine fulfills the promise of Peter Bradley Adams. And rarely has an artist's standing still sounded so divine.

THE SILENT COMEDY

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For a few years, Joshua Zimmerman couldn’t bring himself to listen to his band’s most recent album. Enemies Multiply – the Silent Comedy LP he and Jeremiah, his brother and longtime bandmate, had written and recorded several years ago – felt too personal, too raw to engage with. Born of a rough patch in the Zimmerman brothers’ personal and professional lives, listening to it felt like rubbing salt in healed wounds. Despite the brothers collectively viewing the album as some of their best work in the decade-plus they’d been a band, the project was shelved.

Then the 2016 election happened.

 “And suddenly, at that moment,” while living in New York City and feeling bewildered and frustrated at the country’s new reality, “I realized the feeling of this moment was what we wrote this music for,” Joshua recalls. A certain pall and desperation had settled over the country in the days and week after the election and, in Joshua’s estimation, the album now had widespread cultural resonance. “At this particular moment in U.S. history I felt like a lot more people could take comfort in the songs than ever before,” Joshua notes of the 11-track LP that at long last is set for release on October 19th. Jeremiah concurred: “For the first time ever I just want people to hear it and have it.”

Recorded in Austin, Texas, Enemies Multiply is sonically a big-boned, bruising affair. The brothers channeled an admittedly confusing time of conflict in their lives — as well as the previous perilous years leading up to it, characterized by what Josh describes as “being jerked around by the music industry” — into their most impassioned, hard-hitting, and thoroughly engaging album of their career. Standing at the center is “Sharks Smell Blood,” all bluesy strut, spooky choirboy harmonies and sing-along hook. Likewise, “Avalanche” is framed around a searing guitar line and squelching church organ. Like the album itself, and the band’s own views on it, “that song evolved over time. I’ve loved it in every incarnation it went through, but when I listen to how it ended up I really feel that’s the pinnacle of all of that work,” Joshua explains. Even “No Saints Forgiven,” which begins as a back porch delta-blues confessional, quickly explodes into a Van Halen-esque sing-along at the chorus.

But it’s the messages in the songs  – namely combating malevolence by banding together with likeminded people – that compelled the Silent Comedy to finally release the album. As children, after traveling the globe with their missionary parents only to return to the United States, meander some more, then settle down in San Diego in a house with literally nothing but an upright piano, the two brothers looked to musical collaboration in their mid-teens as a cathartic outlet. “Jeremiah started writing songs, “Josh recalls. “That was kind of his way of processing everything that we’d been through. That’s really when we started writing together.” It was their traveling that also colored their worldview which, when compared to some of their peers, was decidedly darker. “It skewed our perception to see how much suffering there is in the world and how fortunate we are in the United States by comparison,” Joshua explains. “We have always had a little bit more somber view of things.” Enemies Multiply, he then adds, “is a distillation of that worldview.” Jeremiah admits the album “has a lot of stuff in there about people backstabbing each other” which caused some record labels to initially balk at releasing it. And even now, as he wishes that subject matter weren’t so applicable, “I think people are more sympathetic to that idea,” Jeremiah offers. The album, he adds, “is a journey in context.”

Though, as Joshua explains, it’s the album’s most hopeful track, the closing “Peace of Mind,” that he says now connects with him on an intensely personal level. One of the most collaborative songs he and Jeremiah ever wrote, the harmonica-drenched folk lament, on one hand, “is really about being in a desperate place and a hopeless place, but also about taking comfort in banding together.” It especially spoke to him in the past two years, particularly as the world seemed to slip further into chaos. “It still is a really emotional song to listen to and to sing,” he adds.

“All of what we have been through as a band is wrapped up in this new project,” Joshua notes of the Silent Comedy’s realization that conflicts and challenges often reveal themselves as the best source material for artistic expression. The years spent writing the material that became Enemies Multiply, according to Jeremiah, “were exhausting and it was really taking a toll on us. We were in a legitimate struggle. But all the songs started to take on a new meaning. This entire process was saturated with so much frustration and conflict. So to see something like Enemies Multiply rise out of that is awesome.”

 While not always visible in plain sight, rock music has always formed the foundation of the Silent Comedy. The brothers, who were fanboys for bands like Rage Against The Machine and At The Drive-In during their teenage years, first delved into band life via joint membership in a punk and post-hardcore act. But after forming the Silent Comedy in the mid-2000’s, their early albums, including 2010’s Common Faults,, began to incorporate the folk, Americana and the blues they picked up from listening to a healthy dose of Cat Stevens and Simon and Garfunkel. Still, all throughout, their live show was centered on its rollicking, over-the-top, energy. To that end, the Zimmerman brothers felt their studio efforts needed to better match up with their live persona.

“In a way it was only a matter of time before we fully embraced our rock n’ roll roots,” Josh says.  Adds Jeremiah: “The farther we kept going, we realized the stuff that was more interesting to us was the more energetic and rock-focused material. Our energy has been our biggest asset. We wanted to put that on the record.”

If the journey has felt long and at times painful, the Zimmerman brothers feel that with Enemies Multiply now set for release the ends truly do justify the means. “There’s a certain freedom to whatever happens now,” Jeremiah says. “After a while in life you start to look at the bigger picture.”

 

 

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Moda Spira

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Singer, songwriter and producer Latifah Alattas opens her heart and soul with Moda Spira, a project marked by an uncommon emotional honesty and melodies brimming with tenderness. Her intimate vocals are complimented by music that wraps you in its comforting warmth and draws you into the embrace of the heart’s deep core. “In Latin, moda spira means the continual act of breathing,” Alattas says. “I began writing to explore what intimacy means, in all its beautiful and maddening aspects. There are times in relationships that are so intense, you find yourself saying, ‘Just keep breathing!’ Like loving, breathing is something you have to do everyday to feel alive. Moda Spira felt like the perfect title for this project.” 

Alattas has a long resume that includes time as a solo artist and work with Page CXVI, a band that reinterprets traditional hymns, the indie rock band Autumn Film and Sola-Mi, an experimental trio. She has produced albums for indie artists, including A Boy & His Kite, helping them place “Cover Your Tracks” on the soundtrack for Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part II. Her songs have been featured on One Tree Hill, The Gates, Lifetime Films and the film The House at the End of the Street. She’s also composed incidental music for MTV and E! Moda Spira is her return to solo performing. Her sophomore release for Moda Spira is slated for October 2018. 

BRANDY ZDAN

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Although Brandy Zdan calls her new, self-titled album her full-length “debut,” there’s no mistaking this seasoned singer-songwriter for any kind of rookie. For the better part of the last decade, the native Canadian — now living in Nashville, TN— has garnered acclaim as half of the gothic folk/roots duo Twilight Hotel, with two albums, 2008’s Highway Prayer and 2011’s When the Wolves Go Blind, nominated for prestigious Juno Awards (Canada’s Grammy), as a formidable multi-instrumentalist (touring and recording with the Americana all-girl band the Trishas), and even as a solo artist (with LoneStarMusic hailing her 2013 Lone Hunter EP as “a one-woman tour de force.”) But according to the artist herself, all of that was merely a prelude to the aptly-titled Brandy Zdan, the most focused expression of her musical identity to date.

As brought into vivid focus on Brandy Zdan, produced by Teddy Morgan in Nashville, TN, featuring a cast of musicians including Carl Broemal (pedal steel) and Tom Blankenship (bass) of My Morning Jacket and drummer Richard Medek (Alternate Roots, John Doe). That vision showcases not just her strong vocals and guitar, steel and keyboard playing, but an affinity for writing mature indie-rock and pop songs with hauntingly gorgeous melodies and edgy arrangements. Ribboned with wide swaths of warm guitar and chilly blue atmosphere, the album buzzes with static overdrive and a bracingly raw emotional honesty. From the assertive opening charge of “Back on You” through to the electronic pulse of the gauntlet-throwing closer, “More of a Man,” its 11 originals fit together seamlessly to form a self portrait of an artist in full, confident flight. And if the result feels more like an arrival than a “debut,” as far as Zdan herself is concerned, it’s all the same.

ELEVATION GROUP

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Formerly part of San Francisco’s Bill Graham Management, Elevation Group formed their independent operation in 2002. Since then Elevation Group continues to provide dedicated full service artist direction and management to artists including The Neville Brothers, the Funky Meters and The New Mastersounds.

LIP SYNC MUSIC

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Lip Sync Music Inc. is a prominent music licensing agency started by founder and current owner Lauren Harman. Since the inception of the company in 2009 Lip Sync has worked with an impressive array of artists both established up-and-coming, including Au Revoir Simone, Cults, Hanni El Khatib, Rhye, Local Natives, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Mayer Hawthorne, Snoop Dogg, Bloc Party, Digitalism, The Naked and Famous and more. The labels they have represented have included some of the most prestigious tastemakers in the world including Delicious Vinyl, Daptone, Innovative Leisure, DimMak and more.

At the core of the company is Harman’s philosophy of having a small focused roster of diverse and talented artists. This philosophy has propelled Lip Sync into into being one of the top film & tv/music representation firms in the US, generating millions in sync revenue every year for their artists through an impressive flow of placements in  films, television, commercials, trailers, video games and online & industrial videos.

The company has worked with marquee brands such as Target, Nike, Windows, Amazon, PlayStaion, The Gap, Miller Lite, Honda, Audi, Lexus and more. Their clients music has been heard in major motion pictures and television shows such as Magic Mike, the Scream franchise, What to Expect When Your Expecting, Showtime’s Shameless, The Newsroom and Californication, HBO’s Girls and Entourage, Netflix’s hit show Orange is the New Black, ABC’s Nashville and Grey’s Anatomy, Fox’s Glee, AMC’s Breaking Bad , CBS’s NCIS and CSI and many, more.

JACK MOSBACHER

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“There’s something really brave…about being unabashedly happy.”  

Hearing Jack Mosbacher’s voice for the first time is like stumbling on a sunflower in the middle of a city sidewalk. At first, you’ll wonder if it’s real (it is). Then you’ll want to take it home (you can). His thoughtfully crafted traditional hooks and cheerful Motown vibes have drawn comparisons to The Temptations, Hall and Oates, and Otis Redding, exuding the old school power of Alabama Shakes with the pop sensibility of Andy Grammer and Ed Sheeran . Mosbacher revives the best of past eras with timeless warmth and modern charisma. In a world of confusion, chaos, and division, he is determined to make you smile. 

Jack’s music is his means of “accessing a higher joy” passed down from traditional greats of bygone eras. And at first listen, one can see why. His old-school style and joyful lyricism bear a uniquely innocent power. Invoking the past with an eye on the present and future, Jack Mosbacher’s original music is an uplifting delight for old souls of all ages.  

“I had a teacher once tell me: ‘You’re either in the lighting business, or the heating business. You’re either doing something new, or you’re bringing forgotten warmth to people who need it. I’ve always wanted to be a combination of both.”  

His journey into the ‘heating business’ began in early childhood, upon finding The Temptations in an old cassette drawer. It was an “unbelievable, mind-exploding moment” that ignited his spirit with fervor. But Jack hadn’t yet been exposed to the painful adversity his idols faced, or the turbulent era that he would himself enter as an adult. Today, Mosbacher harbors no illusions about what it means to honor their work.  

“So much of American music and popular culture…was driven by heroes and geniuses of color, or from some kind of background that is not like mine,” he says. “The things I’ve seen, and my faith, have taught me that you really run into trouble when you’re not acknowledging who your influences are, and all the systemic injustices and hardships that inspired artists before me to write a lot of this music in the first place.”  

Jack underwent a rigorous period of education – in school and in the real world - that would inform and empower his perspective. He eventually graduated from Stanford University (while playing on the baseball team and writing for the school paper) with Honors in Political Science. He credits this education for laying the bricks of his platform and social awareness. “The vast majority of people whose art has significantly shaped my life have looked different from me, and have gone through things I’ve never had to deal with,” he says. “There’s a huge sensitivity there. Everything white artists have done has been influenced by artists of some kind of ‘other.’ And the main thing that really strikes me about all of it is that I fell in love with this music before I knew what any of that was. There was an innocence there that I’m trying to retain while also being mindful of my own place in all of this. And a sense of purpose in being an ally, in respecting and advancing the message.” 

Mosbacher is vividly aware of the dichotomy between innocence and struggle in music, particularly in regard to race and identity. “There is such a cultural importance, and a continued relevance, to acknowledge and respect. But music is also the one place where we can all come together, where we’re able to shed these differences and presuppositions in a way we can’t in any other part of our lives and our world.” 

For Jack, authenticity is key. Audiences are more educated, connected, and responsive than ever. He trusts that they know when it’s real. “Regardless of how I look or the differences I have from artists who wrote this in the past, this music is my heartbeat. It raised me.”  

His radiant sound has evolved to exude the old school power of Alabama Shakes and Leon Bridges, with the pop sensibility of Andy Grammer and Ed Sheeran. Today, Mosbacher aims to add happy elements to the next generation of soul. “There’s a lot of darkness out there,” he says. “Joy isn’t what you regularly see on the front page of the paper, or on your Facebook feed. I’ve been so incredibly fortunate, and it seems like the least I can do is to try to spread some light.”  

Prior to pursuing music, Jack was an accomplished athlete and student. International affairs and human rights were (and are) deeply important to him. At Stanford, Jack played on the nationally ranked baseball team and was awarded a special grant to write a thesis on income inequality and oil politics in East Africa as part of an international development program. He has since traveled to 13 African countries and published pieces in Foreign Affairs and The Washington Quarterly; with that, a career in journalism and policy seemed like a foregone conclusion. But Jack’s family, friends, and mentors pushed him to follow his heart, and it called him to music and entertainment. Once he listened, he never looked back.  

He dove headfirst into musicals on the east and west coasts, dazzling audiences in cabaret shows and Off-Broadway hits such as Sondheim’s ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ and ‘Napoleon.’ But as Jack prepared for his first headline cabaret show in San Francisco, one of his oldest friends was killed in an accident.  

In the wake of unthinkable loss, mourning friends and loved ones still came to the show, looking for an evening of relief. Being able to raise the audience’s spirits redefined the concept of entertainment for him. “The purpose of my music became solely to lift everyone in the room out of whatever darkness they are fighting and join them in the light, even for a fleeting moment.”  

Since recognizing his true purpose, Jack’s songwriting has been unstoppable. The San Francisco Chronicle heralded the young talent as “a star on the rise.” But Mosbacher stays rooted in his craft and the responsibility he feels to his listeners. His only goal is for people to leave his shows happier than when they came.  

“Music has never been my means of justifying myself, to myself or to anybody else,” he says. “It’s simply my way of giving something back.” 

Mosbacher’s recent collaboration with Nerf Herder’s Linus of Hollywood and Letters to Cleo’s Michael Eisenstein resulted in over a dozen new songs, set for release in 2018. His inaugural single, “The Second Time Around,” debuted on December 1. “These songs are full of energy and an almost naïve innocence,” he says. “They’re the best representation of what I’ve wanted my music to be to this point, and I hope that the trajectory is only upward as we continue to write, record, and perform.”  

Mosbacher fell in love with music by hearing The Temptations, but he never could have guessed that his future would bring them front and center. David Ruffin, the band’s original lead singer, was forced to abandon a solo record following struggles with addiction and a tussle with Motown Records. 30 years later, an independent label acquired the album and quietly released it. Mosbacher jumped at the chance to honor his late hero’s forgotten work. In collaboration with Michael Eisenstein and an eclectic array of musicians, Mosbacher covered four of Ruffin’s previously unreleased songs in a classic Motown session: all of the instruments in one room, making music until they got it right. 

“I’ll never be David Ruffin,” he says. “That was never the point. It was just incredibly exciting and fulfilling to pay my respects to the guy I grew up trying to be.” 

In early December, Mosbacher closed out a home-run year by performing new songs at the Peppermint Club in LA. He’s scheduled to kick off 2018 with a springtime tour of the West Coast, appearing with Train, Michael Franti, Robert Randolph, and more on the fifth annual Sail Across The Sun cruise.  

But even as big breaks roll in, Jack stays humbly nonchalant. “Exuding unapologetic joy and happiness has never really been ‘the cool thing,’” he says. “Fortunately, I don’t really care about being that cool.”  

Given his unique talent and authentic drive, Mosbacher’s rise to musical prominence seems almost inevitable. But whether good fortune comes knocking or not, Jack is too happy to care.  

“…I know what I love, and I know why. And I want to bring just as much of it into the world as I can before I’m through.”  

We’re listening.  

GRIZFOLK

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Since their very first days as a band, members of the Venice, California-based alt-rock quintet Grizfolk have made full use of their disparate origins and distinct sensibilities. Drawing on wide-ranging backgrounds both musical and geographical — frontman Adam Roth, bassist Brendan Willing James, and drummer Bill Delia hail from different corners from the U.S., while keyboardist Sebastian Fritze and guitarist Fredrik Eriksson come from opposite coasts of Sweden — the band textures its songs with a heady mix of graceful melody, sprawling guitar work, and lush but edgy electronics. Their latest single “In My Arms” features Jamie N Commons and was featured in Alternative Press’s “10 New Songs You Need to Hear This Week” and has garnered over 2 Million streams on Spotify.

Formed in 2013, Grizfolk marks a new era for a group of musicians who have devoted much of their lives to various musical pursuits: Roth, James, and Delia were previously bandmates in an L.A.-based Americana act, Eriksson has played in rock bands since he was 13, and Fritze got into beatmaking while studying music production in college. With its roots in an old nickname of Roth’s (“Griz Adams”), the band’s moniker refers to “folk not as a genre, but as in the idea of a community of people working together,” explains Fritze. To that end, Grizfolk began as a laid-back but earnest attempt at creating a fresh new hybrid of electronic music and rock. “It started off as a fun experiment to see how we could bring in different musical styles and make something that we all love,” recalls Eriksson. “But then it worked within the first few songs, so we kept going with it.”

The idea for “In My Arms” started when Adam Roth was recovering from surgery on a on a hemorrhagic polyp, and was unable to speak for two weeks and unable to fully sing for two months. “Those two weeks of sitting in my apartment alone, literally speechless, were some of the most interesting and important days of my life, “ says Roth.  “Jamie came along at almost the exact time that I was losing my voice, and we suddenly had our first duet. I pretty much thought about everything a guy could think about during those weeks, and for the most part realized how I took a lot of things for granted in my life. I wake up everyday and remind myself how fortunate I am to be able to still do what I love.”

“We would often get together to write at one of our places, and we would start the sessions with kind of a current events in the round discussion,” says James. “ When Jamie came by one day for a co-write we had a beat and a start of a melody already but no theme. I mentioned that idea of the ‘falling dream,’ the one that I’m pretty sure we all know, where you sort of jolt awake right before, or as you hit the ground, in sort of a breathless state. Then we took the effects of that into a relationship sort of situation, where those ripples would affect a person next to you. ‘In My Arms’ came from a place of wanting to comfort someone in times of trouble and distress, which couldn’t be more important in any given time, but especially right now.”

“In My Arms” is the band’s first new song since the release of their debut album Waking Up The Giants that  deliver an arena-ready sound that lead to tours with with artists like Bastille and X Ambassadors and festival appearances at Firefly, Hangout, Bottlerock and Voodoo. At the same time, it also steadily builds a warm, intimate mood that echoes the closeness of their collaboration.

Mainly self-produced and recorded everywhere from the band members’ living rooms to the famed Sunset Sound Studio, Waking Up The Giants takes its title from the album’s epic centerpiece. “There’s that cautionary phrase about being careful not to wake the sleeping giant, but we’re kind of going for the opposite of that,” says James. “We’re saying, ‘Let’s not be scared, let’s wake the damn thing up and make some waves in the world.’” Offering anthem after anthem, Waking Up The Giants never shies away from emotional truth, but ultimately inspires a deep and powerful sense of hope. “The lyrics in ‘Waking Up The Giants’ can relate back to anyone who might have an idea that they’re afraid to express, but that might spark something that winds up changing their life for the better,” says Roth.

With its sweeping, cinematic feel, Waking Up the Giants came to life by way of a songwriting approach that Grizfolk describe as visually oriented. “A lot of the time when we’re writing, we’re picturing some sort of landscape and inserting story and characters into it, and then creating the song from there,” says Fritze. “They’re often stories of people traveling, not having a destination, living in the moment wherever they are right now instead of trying to go off and find something better.” On the album-opening “Into the Barrens,” for instance, Roth assumes the role of “a lonely wolf wandering,” his soulful vocals set against a cascade of surging rhythms and hypnotic synth. From there, Grizfolk slips into the heavy groove and gritty guitar of lead single “Troublemaker” (a track written on the road and inspired by “the thought of someone who’s so good you just want a promise that she’ll still be there when you get back home — although it never really works out like that,” explains Roth). On “Bob Marley,” Waking Up the Giants serves up the consummate driving song, complete with whistled melody, surfy drumbeats, spaghetti-western guitar tones, and a touch of reckless romanticism. And on tracks like “Bohemian Bird,” Grizfolk show a softer side without losing any intensity, fusing stark beats, spectral guitar lines, and hushed harmonies to stunning effect. This unique approach to songwriting drove the success of the album and led them to some of the biggest performances of their career. The band performed  “Hymnals” on The Late Show With David Letterman and later “Troublemaker” on Conan. Their music also began to appear on the radar of publications like BillboardSPINand Paste Magazine.

DESI VALENTINE

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“I’m not a perfect pop star.” Once or twice a century, a sound comes along that belies all comparison. There’s been a Nina Simone, an Otis Redding, and an Amy Winehouse. But Desi Valentine is the first of his nature. He’s a recording artist, singer, and songwriter with a modern mind and a timeless sound. Desi Valentine wears a balanced medley of enticing contradictions: he’s traditional, and he’s innovative. He’s peaceful, and he’s disruptive. His voice is of velvet and smoke, with a timbre beyond definition.

To truly know Desi is to listen. Born and raised in Catford, London, he initially followed his heart to musical theatre success in West End and Broadway shows. This victory could have signaled a happy ending for many. But when a stranger asked Desi if he’d thought to try music, he fell forward into new dreams. “I started soaking myself in the world of music,” he says. Desi moved to Los Angeles in 2012. “As soon as I arrived, I knew I was supposed to be here. It really opened itself up to me…very quickly, I knew this was the next step of my story.” But immersion in the music industry was one thing…finding his niche was another. “The type of music that I first made was a rock-pop kind of sound,” he says. “I had a big mohawk at the time, very different style. People said all along, ‘you should do a rockabilly throwback kind of thing.’ [But] I didn’t identify with that [at the time]…I honestly didn’t want to be another black guy doing soul stuff.”

It took years of starts and stops for Valentine’s unique style to find him. Today, he credits those alternate routes as guideposts toward finding his space. “You’ve got to listen to your gut and your instincts for what you want to do, because the music won’t be good otherwise,” he says. “I had to go through rock, hard rock, hearing metal for the first time, in order to bring me…back to where I started.” Adele’s “21” heralded this epiphany. “[The album] really touched me. I thought…this is the next revolution of me as an artist.’ It all of a sudden just clicked into place.” This shift in perspective brought the journey full circle.

Desi looked back on his childhood, hearing retro classics with his parents. “The house was full of Otis Redding, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Marley, Sam Cooke, and classical composers like Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Bach…Little did I know that it was shaping the artist that I am today. I couldn’t see it, and couldn’t feel it until it was the right time for me to do so. Now it’s at home with my music.” Since his debut, Valentine has worked with the likes of Leona Lewis and Elton John. “Being on the 02 stage [with Elton] was one of the most inspiring and incredible experiences I’ve ever had,” he says. “Getting to work with him is…an incredible thing.” As with the West End in London, this milestone inspired even bigger goals. “I want to stand on [the 02 stage] in my own right, at some point in my career,” he says. “I love a goal, I love a challenge. And the 02 is a significant one indeed.”

In 2016, Valentine went on tour with Andra Day, whom he credits as a major influence in the next chapter of his story. Desi recalls a particular moment in which Day skipped a break during a show, just to ask Valentine if there was anything more she could do for him. “Her songs are so huge and take so much,” he says. “You get five minutes to just…relax for a moment, [but] you take your support act aside to see how you can include them more in your show? I can only aspire to be that kind, to be that sort of person when it’s time to pick a support act and take them on.”

In the wake of the Charlottesville riots, Valentine wrote a song in response called Love is Love. “I’ve never written a song that’s really inspired by current events that way…[but] it’s been a very illuminating time.” The song is less about politics and more about humanity, Valentine says. Solving today’s social crises can be as simple as practicing love. “I would love a world where peace is celebrated that way that war is prepared for,” he says. Valentine is no stranger to adversity. When "Fate Don’t Know" You landed on Spotify’s Viral 50 internationally, Desi had just been laid off from a bartending job. “It was so strange to be wildly celebrated on one hand, and then really struggling on the other,” he says. When the song went up on the charts, Desi was rehearsing to open for Blondie, making plans for Bumbershoot festival, and then going to 7-11 for dinner because “a hot dog was $2.99.” To make rent, Desi was driving for Uber.

Meanwhile, "Fate Don’t Know You" landed the coveted season finale of Suits. “I was like ‘wow, my song is top 50 around the world… but I would love to know how I’m going to eat tonight,’” Desi laughs. Looking back on tough times, he has no regrets, and credits success to hard work. “That is the thing that really outlasts anything else. When you struggle, just be inspired by the struggle and draw from it… Life is for living - the ups and downs - and you’ve got to embrace that.” This mindset contributed to the creation of his anticipated new single, "My Worst Enemy." The song arose from a place of intense, but unrequited longing. “Sometimes, somebody can just make you forget yourself,” Valentine says. “[Rejection] is such a knock to the ego. It derails who you know yourself to be.” Valentine partnered with Morgan Taylor Reid to bring the single to life, and the result is disarmingly catchy. When My Worst Enemy drops on October 6, audiences can expect to be emotionally moved…and moved to dance. From mid-October through November of 2017, Valentine will be touring with Vintage Trouble throughout the U.S. and Canada. He looks forward to two shows in particular: The Wilton in Los Angeles (November 15), and The Fillmore in San Francisco (November 16). “It’s going to be great to have a hometown show [at the Wilton]. And the Fillmore, that’s one of those venues that legends have performed in. I’d love to see everybody come down.” With a packed touring schedule and brand new single, Valentine is not slowing down. Fate Don’t Know You has made its way to the upcoming season premiere of A Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce (Bravo). Another song made it to the mid-season finale of Queen Sugar on OWN. Valentine’s new EP is set to debut in early 2018. This will be his first collaboration with STINT, the Grammy nominated producer behind Gallant’s critically acclaimed –Ology, as well as Grammy nominated songwriter and Cheers to the Fall producer, Jenn Decilvio. The EP weaves a modern twist through silky, old school vibes. As Valentine moves forward, he doesn’t look back. “Don’t stand in the way of your music growing and evolving. Create something brand new, even if it’s drawing from something that’s quite old.” There is beauty in memory, but truth lives in change. The music, for Desi, is both.