Category: Music News

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Music News Reviews

Taylor Swift Drops Surprise Album “Folklore”

Taylor Swift surprised everyone today by dropping a surprise new album at midnight. Here’s the track listing of Folklore, ranked by our favorite songs so far.

The 1

This song is the first on the album, and it’s one of the best. The simple beat leads us into where Taylor mind is at the start of the album. She’s doing her own thing, but reflecting on a lost love. “But it would’ve been fun if you would’ve been the one.”

Cardigan

This whimsical song tells the story of a love that felt like an old cardigan. It was the first music video that premiered at midnight when the album dropped, and shows Taylor hopping into a piano to visit a wonderland, before it turns into a stormy ocean. “And when I felt like I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed, you put me on and said I was your favorite.”

Illicit Affairs

This powerful song is about having a secret relationship, and the toll it takes. “And that’s the thing about illicit affairs and clandestine meetings and longing stares, It’s born from just one single glance but it dies and it dies and it dies a million little times.”

Invisible String

This seems like it must be an ode to her partner Joe, and how all along they were meant to be. We especially love the reference to the colors, and how the string is gold (referencing Daylight on her previous album.) “All along there was some invisible string tying you to me.”

August

August, the eighth song on the album (clever) is about a lost love. We’re in love with the outro. “August slipped away into a moment in time, ’cause it was never mine”

Mirrorball

This vintage-inspired song was co-written by Jack Antonoff and is about accepting a lover for the way they are, “mirrorball” referencing a disco ball. “I’m a mirrorball, and I’ll show you every version of yourself tonight.”

Exile

This song features Bon Iver, who actually starts out the song. The lyrics describe the awful feeling of seeing your ex after a breakup. They each share different perspectives of the relationship, and piano keys highlight the heavy lyrics. “You were my crown, now I’m in exile, seein’ you out, I think I’ve seen this film before so I’m leaving out the side door.”

Betty

This sweet acoustic number is the story of our main character, seventeen year old James, who had a fling with a girl named Betty. Something unfortunate happens, although she doesn’t tell us what, and James spends the summer thinking about Betty. In typical Taylor Swift fashion, he shows up at her party to try to win her back. “But if I just showed up at your party, would you want me? Would you tell me to go fuck myself or lead me to the garden? In the garden would you trust me if I told you it was just a summer thing? I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anything, but I know I miss you.”

Peace

Another autobiographical song, this seems to be about Taylor trying to come to terms with the fact that being her partner will always be tumultuous. The simple tempo and electric guitar on this song hold it together with contemplative lyrics. “All these people think love’s for show, but I would die for you in secret.”

My Tears Ricochet

This song was the first written for the album, and is about a relationship ending. It is reminiscent of Teardrops on my Guitar thematically. “Cursing my name, wishing I stayed, look at how my tears ricochet.”

Seven

The seventh song on the album, this is about being seven years old and how beautiful that simplicity is. “Passed down like folk songs, our love lasts so long.”

This Is Me Trying

This ballad is that classic situationship when you’re broken up with someone and trying to figure out how to deal with it. The narrator breaks down, drives to their house, and says, “And I just wanted to you know that this is me trying.”

Mad Woman

Taylor highlights the classic paradox with women in society: they are immediately considered “mad” or “angry” or “upset” when they show their emotion. This song highlights the double standard, in a new folksy spin. She also whispers “fuck you forever” in the song, so we’re here for it. “No one likes a mad woman, what a shame she went mad, you made her like that.”

Hoax

A heartbreaking song, Hoax deals with many themes Taylor has covered in past albums, like believing in someone who lets her down, and the heartbreak of losing love. Her perfectly rhyming lyrics match her soft voice in this song. “Don’t want no other shade of blue but you, no other sadness in the world would do.”

The Last Great American Dynasty

This song highlights Taylor’s unique ability for storytelling within songs. It’s focused on real-life Rebekah Harkness, who was an eccentric woman in the 1900s. The song ends with Swift writing “And then it was bought by me.” She loves highlighting strong, loud and powerful women, and bringing them in to her own story. This song is no exception, and we love it.

Epiphany

The 13th song on the album, Epiphany, is a narrative Swift wrote about her grandfather in the war. It’s a haunting story of the horrors of war, and her voice is soft and eerie. “Only twenty minutes to sleep, but you dream of some epiphany.”

You can stream the album here, and watch the music video for Cardigan below.

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Music News

Dhruv shows us his Vulnerable side in new single

Dhruv has been a Crowdsurfer favorite for quite some time now, and his next single continues to prove that. Following moonlight, a sweet song about the best parts of love, his newest track, Vulnerable, gives listeners a different taste as it represents the contrast in love; the
highs and lows. ‘‘The song has a bit of sadness to the lyrics, but the track is upbeat production-wise, and I think that is supposed to represent those highs and lows. They both play hand in hand when it comes to relationships and I wanted to show that.’’

Baby, I’m falling into pieces in front of you
My baby, he sees me so vulnerable
So vulnerable
And I’m wasted
Spilling my secrets

‘‘It is a combination of being in an amplified emotional state from the mass of what he experienced along with being intoxicated that led to the concept of the song. I had a crush and on one drunken night, the feelings and alcohol all bundled up so much that I confessed to him that I liked him, got rejected but having that experience made the song. I wrote this 2 years ago, and in hindsight, being rejected was really important to my growth.’’

Incredibly written and heavily emotional, it holds the truth that love and relationships and everything in between is necessary. While dhruv continues to navigate his love life and writes about his experiences, we’ll be listening to Vulnerable on repeat until the next one.


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Interviews Music News

Novarium on New Single “Virus”

Novarium is a gothic-metal group comprised of lead vocalist Jen Janet, bassist Carey White, keyboardist Micah Consylman, drummer D. Anthony, and guitarists Sean Gronholt and Dean Michaels. Novarium just released “Virus,” their first single in couple years, and we’re sure fans are excited that they are back! We got to catch up with the group about their new song, how they’ve changed, and what’s in store!

CROWDSURFER MAG: Your latest single “Virus” just came out! It’s been a while since you’ve put out new music, how does it feel to release this one?

JEN: This is my first original song done with Novarium, so for me it’s really fun and I’m excited to show the song to the world.

D. ANTHONY: It feels great, and satisfying, to finally release this song. People’s attention spans tend to be short and we wanted listeners to know that we haven’t gone anywhere. I think Virus is the best song to re-introduce Novarium to all listeners as it has elements in there for everyone to gravitate to.

DEAN:  It’s been a long time coming.  We went through some lineup changes and released a single in 2018, but aside from that we’ve been low-key and working on new music.  We didn’t want to come up for air until we had something solid, and I think we’ve accomplished that. 

SEAN: I’ve been close to this song for a long time, so I’m really happy it’s seeing the light of day.

CSM: What was the inspiration for “Virus?”

JEN: I’ve always been very interested in history and theology. I think some of the most powerful questions we ask ourselves, is who are we? Is there a god? Is there life after death, or a higher power, or just some bigger meaning to everything? This song uses ancient Egyptian history and religious imagery to move the story along. That period in history was always very interesting to me because the kings and pharaohs were revered as living gods. A lot of people don’t like the idea of a human being a god, but I think it’s fun to think about. If you love someone, for example, you may treat them in a way, like a god. We treat celebrities like gods, sometimes. It’s an interesting concept. This song is about loving someone very much, to the point where they are put on a pedestal, treated like a god. Sometimes this can go to your head, and that person changes, even though they didn’t want to. Ultimately if one wants to change, they need to do it themselves. You can’t save someone who doesn’t want your help.

CSM: This single has a title that is very timely. How do you feel about releasing it during the pandemic?

JEN: We actually already had the title “Virus” for this song before anyone had even heard of COVID-19. We started writing this a long time ago. We decided now was a good time to release it because the video was finished, but the timing was actually a coincidence.

D. ANTHONY: Luckily, or unluckily, we had that title before the pandemic hit. We actually wanted to postpone any ideas of releasing the video, and single, until things calmed down. We wanted to treat the events with respect and not attract unwanted attention due to the title and the chaos that was to follow the pandemic.

DEAN: We were sensitive to the timing and had even talked about whether this was the right time to release a song called “Virus”, but ultimately we knew that our song had no relation to what was going on.  We filmed the video back in September 2019, so if we’d released it when we wanted to it would actually pre-date COVID.  I remember when the nation experienced anthrax scares and the band Anthrax came out and said, “We’re not changing our name”.  The same goes for our song, “Virus”.  Our song is about human nature, and even during a pandemic, human nature is tested.

SEAN: Kinda like a jerk at first. On the one hand I was concerned that it would be crass or come off as cavalier for us to just drop a song with that title on to a world that’s been hurting under the strain of a virus for months now. But I’ve never been a fan of self-censorship, and as a smarter man once wrote, “Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.” Now my only concern is that the title will be seen as unoriginal and cliched.

MICAH: Times are pretty rough right now. One small silver lining is that if you are home all the time, you can really let your inner goth kid out. I certainly have.

CSM: Tell us about shooting the music video! What was it like being on set and getting to tell the story visually? And what’s your favorite part of the video?

JEN: Being on set was great – we worked with a property in Pennsylvania who allowed us to use their space. It was a very large warehouse with a few different rooms. I made a storyboard for the video previously and we all put some creative ideas into it, so we knew how the story would go. Basically for the music video’s story, the band plays characters that have died in different ways, and passed on. My character is sort of a “goddess of the underworld” type of person. She appears to each person, one by one, waking them up in the afterlife. They are injected with a substance, and then transform into Novarium. We wanted this to be the story for the video to show that Novarium is back, and we figured it would be fun to have the members in normal, plain clothes first, and then transform into costumes later. On stage for live shows everyone looks very gothic and we keep that aesthetic, so it was fun to have both sides in the video. My favorite part of the video to film was actually the end when we are all performing, just because I haven’t been on stage in a long time.

D. ANTHONY: Shooting the music video was a fun event but it took a lot of work. I for one felt weird during the acting parts as I am far from being, and don’t aspire to be, an actor. The live part during the 2nd half of the video was the most fun for me. I just enjoy playing with fellow musicians and having a good time. You have to play the song over and over for different camera angles so you better like the song!

DEAN:  The hard part was telling our entire story the best we could using what we had available  for the time allotted.  We had it story-boarded out,  we had minimal equipment and wardrobe, and we had never been to the set before.  We weren’t sure if what we had planned was going to work because we couldn’t scout it out ahead of time.  Luckily the people we worked with were very accommodating and understood what we were trying to do.  They were filmmakers themselves and were on scene from time to time to watch the process.  I did a few takes for my hanging scene, and on the second take I realized that I had an audience watching me.  I’m not much of an actor and it was a bit awkward, but you suffer for your art!  I think we were there for 12 or 14 hours and my favorite part only lasted a few seconds on screen: the part where we all open the bay door, having been awakened, and enter where we are “made” for the first time.

SEAN: Personally I’m proud of the noose I tied for Dean. I’d never made one before, but when your friend asks for a noose for himself, what are you going to do, say no?

CSM: Your album Omicron came out in 2016. How would you say your sound has changed since then? How would you say you as a group have changed?

D. ANTHONY: The songs on Omicron started forming as far back as 2008. As you can imagine, we’ve progressed as songwriters since then. The new songs have more collaboration from all band members. Omicron is a great debut album and allowed us to share stages with great musicians and travel, but I feel like we’ve matured as musicians. When you first become a band you are starting to get to know each other and sometimes it takes a few songs, or an album, to figure out the formula.

MICAH: I’ve been collaborating with Novarium from the start. They have always been a talented band. They seem to be progressing toward tighter, heavier, more melodic writing and performances, with really sexy keytar players. The group has changed a lot since getting a sexy keytar player.

DEAN:  Omicron was a collection of songs by a band that was still finding itself.  We knew we wanted to blend a few different elements together, but we hadn’t worked out the ratios yet.  There are a lot of songs on that album that were written and re-written to fit into a mold that was constantly evolving. We were too heavy for the goth crowd, and too goth for the heavy crowd. We also had a different line-up.  Any time you change members, you alter the DNA.  Once we got our bearings and fell into a rhythm, we realized that instead of writing specifically for an audience, we would get better results if we just wrote for ourselves. We’re also experimenting more with vocals than we have in the past, blending what we call “beauty and the beast” style stuff between Jen and the rest of us.  Sometimes the vocal melodies inform the music, so the tracks are a lot more cohesive than before. You could say the band is more mature these days, but I’d like to think that we just stopped worrying so much about how we were perceived and just focused on writing the best songs we could.

SEAN: As a group, we’re more professional now. We have spreadsheets, deadlines, scheduled teleconferences. Only thing missing now is an HR department and performance reviews, which is fortunate for me. But really, we’re a well-oiled machine these days, and we’re far more effective than we were in years past.

CSM: How has the pandemic changed your writing/production/creation process?

JEN: For us it actually has not changed at all. We were already a remote band with members all across the US, so we were already writing remotely and sharing files back and forth.

D. ANTHONY: Our songwriting process is actually still the same. Due to how hard it is to juggle having a career and establishing your band, technology starts becoming your best friend. Even more so when not all band members live in the same state.

SEAN: Yes. Now I actually have to practice my instrument instead of my usual formula of just giving excuses. Like, “I have to go to work.” It’s a tough time to be a procrastinator.

DEAN:  Yeah, not a whole lot changed with the process during the pandemic.  If anything, it gave me a chance to finally sit down and concentrate on finishing a few things!  A lot of the pandemic has been us preparing to release “Virus”, retool our social media and web sites, and create content, so we’ve been pretty busy. 

CSM: “Virus” will be on your upcoming EP. What can we expect when it comes out? Can you tell us anything about it?

D. ANTHONY: You can expect the same elements that form the core of what Novarium has always been, with new and improved sounds.

DEAN: “Virus” set the tone for our new chapter. The EP is chock full of gothy goodness, songs about human nature, various tempos, and includes our previous single, “Christian Woman” for all the Type O (Negative) fans. 

CSM: I know the year is very much up in the air, but what’s next for Novarium?

D. ANTHONY: What’s next is releasing the first EP with our current lineup, finishing the 2nd EP, new merch, and some tours to come.

MICAH: Bass, heavy screaming, and blazing keytar/guitar leads.

DEAN: We’re finishing up the release of other singles associated with our first EP, starting work on a second, and gearing up to head to the West Coast for one of, we hope, a few performances out that way.  We also hope to shoot a new music video – the first to feature our new keytarist, Micah.

CSM: Anything else you want everyone to know?

JEN: We would love to stay in touch with anyone who enjoys our music!

Instagram / Twitter / Facebook / Youtube / Website / Bandcamp

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Interviews Music News

Kyle from The Unlikely Candidates on Latest Single “High Low”

You probably know The Unlikely Candidates from their hit song “Novocaine,” which just topped Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart in March. We got to talk with lead vocalist Kyle Morris about their latest single “High Low” as well as making music and staying creative during this pandemic.

CROWDSURFER: It’s been about a month since “High Low” came out, and I wanted to say I absolutely can connect with it. Where did the inspiration for this song come from?

KYLE MORRIS: The song is about growing up, really. I think the older you get, the more people kind of spread out and do their own thing. I wrote this about coming home from tour and realizing that this has kind of happened even more. But I wrote it a week before quarantine happened, and then I rewrote it during quarantine. It took on a new life because the whole thing takes place in a guy’s apartment where he has nothing to do but think about his friends.

CS: You were in tour when things shut down, right?

KM: Yeah, it really sucked. As we were touring, we would hear that the last venue we were at was closing. We were like, this is catching up really fast. Then we played in the middle of nowhere Wyoming and there was a blizzard. So we stayed there in a cabin, completely snowed in, and we had to make the decision to leave tour. It kind of felt like the end of the world.

CS: Was the process of making this song different because of restrictions of the pandemic?

KM: Usually I’ll go and track the vocals at my producer’s studio, but we couldn’t do that. So, I basically had my producer on Facetime and he would help me, but I was just in my closet at home. So that song was recorded in my closet! Like the old days.

CS: We’re all working from home, even in the music industry! Speaking of, what has it been like for you during this odd and difficult time for the industry?

KM: It’s been rough because we had a #1 single, and this was the year that we were supposed to harvest the fruits of our labor. And we didn’t really get to do that. So we started Flatten the Hump Day, our weekly stream, to give people something to do. We’re coming up on our 16th week of doing it which is absolutely insane.

CS: I’m so impressed by that!

KM: Yeah, I think we’re doing it to stay sane at this point! We’re running out of ideas though. We only have so many songs, but we’ve been trying to mix it up. One week we did emo week and covered our favorite emo songs. We all dressed up with black wigs and fingerless gloves, it was pretty ridiculous.

CS: Well, I definitely want to watch the emo week one.

KM: The emo week one was pretty good. Not gonna lie, it was a little rough to sing. Those voices are pretty high!

CS: I realize it might be hard to answer this question, but what’s next for The Unlikely Candidates?

KM: Just trying to write as many cool songs as possible. Last year I didn’t get to write that much because we spent a lot of time promoting “Novocaine.”

CS: Do you think you’ll be able to get out to LA for recording or will there be more closet songs?

KM: It’s basically all closet stuff. But it’s pretty dope! I’ve had people ask me if I’m going to keep doing this afterwards, and I’m like yeah. I think that this works just as well.

CS: Anything else you want us to know?

KM: We have a video coming up for “High Low.” And stay tuned for Hump Days 19-55! Maybe a drive-in theater, too. I’ve been trying to set one of those up.

CS: We’re fans of drive-in concerts, so I hope you get to play one! Thanks for taking time to talk today!

KM: Thank you! Keep watching Flatten the Hump Day at 3PM central!

“High Low” is out now, and you can listen to it here.

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Concert Photography Music News

Drive-In Concerts: The Start of Something New?

Many industries have been hit hard or wiped out completely during this pandemic, and live music is one of them. Summer in St. Louis usually means hanging out on the lawn of an outdoor venue with friends, drinking a beer, and listening to your favorite songs. Now, that’s been taken away. Or has it?

The first of many drive-in concerts took place on May 21 at the POWERplex. Tickets could be purchased ahead of time or on arrival, and cars were spaced out so that you could have an area next to your vehicle to bring out a lawn chair and sit without compromising social distancing.

Molly Lovette kicks off the drive-in night

The stage was big, giant screens broadcasted the video feed, and you could tune in to a radio station if you didn’t want to get out of your car to hear the music. Staff, all wearing masks, came around as servers to those VIP spots on the turf and served orders of food like hot dogs and popcorn. People were dancing, singing, and honking to show their approval!

With a 450 car limit for this event, 200 tickets were purchased ahead of time. By the time they converted the setup from drive-in concert to drive-in movie, capacity was nearly full! It certainly seems like people are down to come out for this form of entertainment during a time where we’ve been without concerts and movie theaters! And at these events, you get both a movie and music.

Rows of cars came out to see Exit 180 and Molly Lovette perform

The two bands that played are local to Missouri and mostly sang covers, but nonetheless the audience was excited to be there. Could this work for a touring artist? Probably not. But until we can return to shows the way we used to know, we’re glad to see people being safe and enjoying live music at the same time.

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Music News Reviews

NOTD Partners With Astrid S in New Single “I Don’t Know Why”

You might know electronic duo NOTD from their songs “I Wanna Know” featuring Beat Miller or “So Close” featuring Georgia Ku, which came out in 2018. NOTD continues to prove that they can create hit after hit with their latest single called “I Don’t Know Why.”

The song, released today, features Astrid S. Her ethereal vocals complement the upbeat track, resulting in a mix that will make you want to dance and sing along with her. We dare you to try to not break out any dance moves during the chorus! Catchy from beginning to end, you’ll find this song stuck in your head. Even if you don’t know any other words than “I don’t know why / oh, I don’t know why,” we bet you’ll be humming the tune throughout the day.

Images provided by Island Records

Take a listen here, watch the official video here, and be sure to keep your eyes and ears on NOTD! We sure will be!

Categories
Music News Reviews

PUBLIC Follows Up Hit Single “Make You Mine” with “Honey In The Summer”

PUBLIC released a new single today titled “Honey In The Summer,” following up their hit “Make You Mine,” which you’ve most definitely heard on TikTok. And if you’ve been searching for the perfect anthem for this summer, look no further! You might not think that such a song could exist for a season tainted with coronavirus, but PUBLIC succeeded regardless.

“Honey In The Summer” proves that we can do this social distancing thing and still have a great time. “But I don’t have a sweetheart to hold when I’m alone / So I just grab my keys and snag my favorite CD / Cruisin’ and it’s just me in the front seat” sings lead vocalist John Vaughan, reminding us that listening to this song at full blast, windows down, and an open road ahead is all we really need.

Photos provided by Island Records

But don’t just listen to the song! You should also check out the lyric video. Giving us a lovely mix of live action and graphics, our animated band cruises down the road in a bright yellow SUV. It makes you want to hop in the car with PUBLIC as a cute little animated version of yourself and belt out the lyrics alongside them!

So what are you waiting for? Go listen to “Honey In The Summer,” watch the video, and then head out to your car to welcome the summer season!

Categories
Interviews Music News

Industry Interview: Beth and Maggie of Real[m]

Concert photographers Beth Saravo and Maggie Friedman have been spending their quarantine doing a lot more than binge watching Netflix like the rest of us. When all concerts were cancelled for the foreseeable future, they decided to take their industry knowledge and music network and with their combined expertise, they created an online interview-style show for creatives and artists alike.

The new project, titled Real[m] (we’ll tell you why in the interview) is an informal conversation and Q&A with photographers, musicians, creatives and industry professionals, hosted of course by Maggie and Beth. We had a chance to chat with them about their exciting new endeavor and their upcoming guests this week. Check out the interview below.

Crowdsurfer: When did you guys conceptualize the idea to do an interview-style show?

Maggie: When the whole quarantine thing happened, I’m the type of person that needs a project to work on. I just keep myself busy or I go crazy. Beth and I really both agree on the fact that we both love working. So I was thinking, “Oh, what can I do?” So I decided to do an Instagram live every single day with some friends and we’ll just chat about photography. I didn’t really expect to be a project. It just was something that I could do every day to keep me busy.

So I did it for a few episodes. And then I messaged Beth and I was like, “Hey, it would be really cool if you did this with me. And she was like, “Cool, let’s do it next week.” And then I got really sick and I kind of stopped doing it. And then a couple weeks later, when I was feeling better, I texted her and I said, “OK, look, I really want to start this up again.” And she said, “Well, what if we did an interview series together?”

Photo by Maggie Friedman

Beth: For me, I didn’t want it to be questions that you always hear. I wanted the questions to be a little bit deeper than, “When was your first show? Who’s your favorite band?” I want someone who’s not even a music photographer to come in and sit down and say, “Hey, this is interesting because her story is so cool or his process is so different or it gives me the tools to be creative.”

And the community base, just because we are reaching out to people in our community, people who literally inspire us and inspire others, and that’s what makes this thing grow. Even last week we had two guests with really large communities come and they’d stay and overflow and maybe they listen to someone that they’ve never even heard about. And that’s kind of the goal in my head.

Photo by Beth Saravo

Crowdsurfer: How’d you come up with the name Real[m]?

Maggie: Anyone who’s ever started any kind of brand or business or anything can relate that naming is probably the hardest thing ever. It has to be catchy enough that people remember it, but it also makes sense to what you’re doing. And it just has to be perfect, essentially. And we were listing our words on a Google doc and Beth said the word “realm.”

And I said, “What if the the ‘M’ is like the manual sign on a camera because we’re both photographers?” And the synonym for realm was human connection. So it has a double meaning of like it’s a realm of creatives, but it’s also about human connection. So somehow we managed to find a word that encompassed everything that we were trying to promote. And I don’t know how we did it, but I’m really proud of it.

Crowdsurfer: The logo is really cool, too. Are there any hidden things or meanings you have in the logo?

Real[m] logo

Beth: There is one of my photo laminates in there. Also there is a Photoshop screen open which we liked.

Maggie: Beth also uploaded a festival wristband. So if you look on the top right corner, there’s a festival wristband right in the corner and that was kind of a fun Easter egg.

Crowdsurfer: After almost your first month of shows, what’s it been like to hear all the initial feedback and excitement for the show so far?

Maggie: We’ve had such amazing, informative and supportive chats with people and it’s been such an amazing opportunity to connect people with each other and show people that we’re all in this together. The first week we talked to Jake Chams and he was like, “I’m not immune to this either. I had tours get canceled. I’m sitting at home, too, like we’re all experiencing the same thing right now,” which in my opinion showed we are all on the same level right now; we’re all on the same page. It helped to further foster that community and trust.

Crowdsurfer: What is the concept for the show and where do you see Realm going in the future?

Maggie: Our whole concept is we want people to learn in an approachable way. We also want people who aren’t concert photographers to be on it. We want it to be all different types of creatives, all different types of people in the music industry. Honestly, there hasn’t been a week where I haven’t walked away feeling like I learned something, too. And I think the biggest thing we really wanted was for it to feel accessible and interactive, like we wanted the people who were watching to feel like what they were saying and their input and what they had to ask was equally as important as what we were asking. We wanted it to be that if you had a question for that person, here is your opportunity to get that question answered. So we’re thinking about how can we be interviewers that think outside of the box and involve people in a way that not only photographers are going to care about this, but anyone who’s watching this can.

Photo by Maggie Friedman

Crowdsurfer: Who do you have on the show this week?

Beth: This week is really good. I’m super stoked. We’re starting with Steve Sweatpants. He is an iconic photographer in New York City. He began back with street photography when going underground and then roof topping was a really big thing. And he he started Street Dreams Magazine, which was a really iconic magazine within that culture. And he’s a Sony partner, and Emmy nominated videographer. So I want to have a professional conversation with him, like I know you’re just a kid with the camera going around, literally shooting the street. tell us about how you made that marketable.

And then second, we have Sam Miller, who was the lead singer for Paradise Fears, and now he has released his second novel, and it is a New York Times best seller. We’re going to talk to him about how he uses music in his writing and all that fun stuff.

Then lastly, we’re talking to Miranda McDonald, who is an amazing female in the industry in Los Angeles, shooting a lot for Shawn Mendes and Julia Michaels.

Photo by Beth Saravo

Crowdsurfer: How can people check it out and get involved?

Maggie: Go to twitch.tv/realmchat for the live shows, and our socials are a really good way to find out who’s gonna be on it. People can also get involved by telling us what you want to hear from us. And give us suggestions of people you want to see on the show. And also just watching it. I think the best way to understand what we’re about and what we’re doing is to tune in when we’re live.

Make sure to follow Maggie and Beth on Instagram and head on over to Twitch on Thursday afternoon to catch their next live episode of Real[m]!

Categories
Music News Videos

Yoste shows us his “Flaws” in new music video

Yoste (rhyming with “lost”) shares his new release, Flaws, produced by Tones and I, (of Dance Monkey fame) member, Konstantin Kersting, along with an authentically driven music video representing raw and real footage of Yoste, as the main focus, being submerged into a pool, that can be interpreted as to how our flaws remain a part of ourselves at our truest forms, like when Yoste submerged.

The video was filmed by Yoste’s father, none other than Anthony Sines, an award winning Australian cinematographer.. The song surrounds the concept of personalities in a relationship in which each person has their own set of flaws that get in the way and hold weight over them.

The lyricism is incredibly real and simple, yet remains complex. Especially at the Chorus section:

I’m not typical lately
I’m so difficult when we
Go outside, fall apart
Kitchen lights, break my heart
You were right, it was hard

Going back to the original idea of rawness that our flaws stem from, the part where he confesses his difficult traits as a flaw, speaks a hard truth. The performance is captivating but not so much distracting from the low-key production that supports it. Yoste describes his music and songwriting as the process of navigating life as a young adult, trying to express the highs and lows of relationships and personal struggles.

Yoste earned his credentials gaining attention from success of stand-out singles Arc and Blue from his debut album, try to be okay, released in 2019, amassing over 85 million streams throughout his discography. Touching into the atmosphere of ambience and pop landscape, he is
heavily influenced by artists such as Jonsi, Bon Iver, The Cure, and The 1975, in which you can hear the little aspects of each within his music. Check out his music video for Flaws, and let us know what you think in the comments!

Listen to “Flaws” HERE
Watch the music video:

SOCIALS | @soundsofyoste

Categories
Music News Reviews

Shallou creates pure magic on debut album, Magical Thinking

Whether you’re social distancing at home or driving to your (essential) job, consider putting on a track or two from Shallou’s newest album, Magical Thinking. It contains thirty-eight minutes of pure emotional joy that deserves to be thoroughly listened to. The first few seconds of the intro track immediately brought me back to a past summer and pushed all worries I had from this difficult time out of the way. Nothing like a nice drive with ‘‘Forget’’ playing in the background to make you feel like the world is back to normal, even if it isn’t. 

The album surrounds the concept of memory loss, holding onto those intimate moments before they become out of reach. It shifts from the sadness of memory loss to represent the seasons with all of it’s changes and how that relates to people. The album holds an emotional aspect to it; maybe it’s from the introspective lyrics, or the spacious, light tone of the vocals, but it definitely left me with a heavy heart and a breath of fresh air. The production seems slightly opposite from emotional as it stems from joyous electronic pop but does a magnificent job keeping the allure of ‘‘whimsical sadness’’ that Shallou describes in his music. 

The album features collaborators; Ashe, Daya, Zachary Knowles, and many others, that makes it all even more worth listening to as each artist brings their own flair without compromising the overall message in each track. 

My favorite track would have to be, Older featuring Daya. It’s everything you need in a song from the combination of Daya’s vocals, Shallou’s production, and the top-notch songwriting putting it at my number one track on-repeat. The lyrics, ‘‘Maybe one day when I am older, I might understand why love doesn’t happen to everyone who wants it’’ is so beautifully written and performed, it is just the heart-breaking, ambient ear candy we were all looking for. Shallou has built a name for himself as one of music’s most organic artists who successfully gained over three million streams thus far. I cannot wait to hear more from Shallou and expect nothing less than something magical from him on the next release. 

LISTEN HERE