DownBeat Magazine • December 20, 2018

Despite Growing Pains, L.A. Jazz Scene Continues to Blossom

Australian bassist Anna Butterss is one of many young jazz musicians thriving since her move to Los Angeles. “It just turned out to be surprisingly fantastic,” she said. “I’m working more than I ever worked in my life and I think probably more than I would have if I’d been in New York.”

WeTransfer's WePresent • July 22, 2019

Calmatic: "I became obsessed with the process"

Over a prolific career spanning less than a decade, the Los Angeles music video director has shot witty, eye-popping clips for the likes of Anderson .Paak, Vince Staples, Lizzo, Zayn Malik, The Internet, Tyler the Creator and his latest collaborator, Lil Nas X.

DJ Mag • February 18, 2020

Dirtybird: And the Beak Goes On

Husband and wife duo Barclay and Aundy Crenshaw run Dirtybird Records out of a nondescript building behind their San Fernando Valley home. It’s at the end of the property, behind the swimming pool and sprawling yard, where a pair of chickens called Cassius and Disco live.

DownBeat Magazine • September 20, 2019

Poncho Sanchez: "When I perform, it's my life story"

The first jazz record Poncho Sanchez bought with his own money, when he was about 12 years old, was "Coltrane"—the saxophonist’s 1962 studio album for Impulse.

WeTransfer's WePresent • January 25, 2019

"I Can Play the Violin and Be Lit"

Sudan Archives' music is something new — a futuristic fusion of African sounds with soul, funk and an electronic palette that seems wholly her own, especially when combined with the hypnotic plucks and drones of her primary instrument, the violin.

DJMag.com • December 12, 2018

Nicole Moudaber is one of techno's most tireless ambassadors

Nicole Moudaber loves to keep moving. Everything about the DJ, producer and label boss evokes constant motion, from her propulsive, percussive music to her trademark mane of raven hair, which shakes as she DJs as if blown by its own wind.

Los Angeles Magazine • November 26, 2018

What to Sip on a Trip to the Antelope Valley's Wine Country

It looks like a mirage: grapevines standing in neat rows amid the Joshua trees of California’s high desert. But tucked away in the windswept town of Littlerock in the Antelope Valley, about an hour’s drive north of downtown Los Angeles, is Golden Star Vineyards—one of dozens of working wineries within L.A. County.

DownBeat Magazine • September 19, 2018

Christian McBride & Bootsy Collins: ‘All for the Funk of It’

“Greatest day of my life,” declared Christian McBride without a hint of hyperbole. Even for a six-time Grammy-winner who’s shared stages and studios with dozens of jazz, pop and r&b luminaries, few experiences can top his first meeting with one of his childhood heroes: funk legend Bootsy Collins.

Los Angeles Times • September 25, 2018

The 'Song Exploder' podcast analyzes music’s DNA, one track at a time

“I don’t think there’s [any] part of a song that I immediately think is not interesting,” says podcast host Hrishikesh Hirway. “I think that’s sort of the underlying principle of the show — all of it is potentially interesting.”

billboard • September 25, 2018

Not Impossible Labs, Zappos Hope to Make Concerts More Accessible for the Deaf - and Cooler for Everyone

Can Music: Not Impossible's vibro-tactile harnesses “increase audio inclusion” by allowing deaf and hearing music fans to experience the same concert in a similar way?

Los Angeles Times • August 28, 2018

For outsiders and outliers, Danny Fuentes’ gallery is a place to call home

For five years, Lethal Amounts has provided a home to what owner Danny Fuentes calls “stuff that’s weird and curious and doesn’t necessarily have to fall into a category of fine art.”

Noisey - Vice • August 27, 2018

The Story of Indigo Ranch, the Improbably Beautiful Birthplace of Nu Metal

For six years, a 60-acre ranch in Malibu, surrounded by craggy rock formations overlooking the flat blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean, reverberated with some of the harshest music ever put to tape. And then it all burned to the ground.

Rolling Stone • April 5, 2018

Beyond 'Blurred Lines': How Forensic Musicology Is Altering Pop's Future

"Ever since this case began, people want to know what a forensic musicologist is," says Sandy Wilbur, who has worked in the field for more than 20 years and served as an expert witness for the defense on the "Blurred Lines" case. "The last two years have been my busiest years ever."

FLOOD • July 31, 2018

“Masseduction” Goes Massive: St. Vincent and Philippa Price Roll with the Punches

By constantly tweaking her sound and aesthetic, Annie Clark has continued to reinvent herself even as she’s built one of the most distinctive bodies of work of any artist of her generation.

Los Angeles Magazine • July 26, 2018

Cyclists and Drivers Battle Over Bike Lanes and the "Road Diets" Needed to Build Them

On a late afternoon in May, about 50 bicyclists gather in the Rose Bowl parking lot, some sporting black armbands. They’re here for the annual Ride of Silence, one of several such events taking place around the world—including in North Hollywood, Fullerton, and Thousand Oaks—to honor cyclists killed in traffic accidents.

WePresent • June 21, 2018

Wajatta: It shouldn’t be painful to have fun and make art

When Reggie Watts and John Tejada began working on the project they would eventually dub Wajatta — a portmanteau of their last names — their musical chemistry was immediate. Two of the tracks on their debut album, Casual High Technology, were recorded on their first day together.

FLOOD • May 16, 2018

From Backyard Parties to Coachella, Cuco Is Moving Hesitantly Toward Stardom

The old Honda CR-V parked outside Pulse Recordings may not look like much, especially next to the Beemers and Audis that otherwise occupy the swanky Silver Lake studio’s parking lot. But it’s about to be famous thanks to its owner, a nineteen-year-old from the nearby LA suburb of Hawthorne named Omar Banos.

FLOOD • May 30, 2018

The Breeders Splash Again

March in Dayton, Ohio, is not pretty. So says Kim Deal, one of the city’s most famous residents. “The daffodils are poking their little heads out of the soil,” she reports. “But it’s also kinda super ugly because it’s really brown still."

Los Angeles Magazine • May 3, 2018

All of Your Favorite NYC Bands Live in L.A. Now

When Dave Sitek of New York indie rock group TV on the Radio first moved to Los Angeles in 2008, “it was kinda dead out here,” he recalls. “Everyone thought I was crazy.”

billboard • May 3, 2018

Work-For-Hire Websites Give New Life to Established and Developing Songwriters, Producers and Beatmakers

Want to hire the drummer from OK Go to play on your next record?