Atlanta has been home to Alternative "Urban" or Urb-Alt music for decades. This episode I speak with Cufrock, formerly of Atlanta-Based Major Label (Virgin/Arista)group El Pus. We talk about the beginnings of his sound, the early 90s Atlanta scene and how his sound graduated into fusion from Hip Hop.
We talk about connections to Tony Rock (Atlanta Hip Hop pioneer), Anthony David, Proton, Hollyweerd, The Dolldaze, Heavy Mojo, 100 Monkeys, K.I.N (Sol Messiah, Saul Williams, et al), The Micronauts and more...
Here’s the go-with-the-flow part one. I was leaving a subpar brunch and heading back to the hotel to get some work done when I see this brotha getting ready for his set at a venue next door. Turns out it was Sharif Iman, who I’d met at The Bellrays show on Friday. He performed a quick 30 minute set and, yes, I was thrilled to find out that his description of himself—“Seal meets the Foo Fighters”—was spot on. Great voice, strong songs. Basically he rocked with an acoustic guitar and some percussion provided by local musician Mikel Urdy, much like he does in the video above.
Nexcyx
So I run into Theda Sandiford, who tells me there’s this incredible black rock band and that I need to see at the Barbados Tourism Tent, of all places. Sorry, but I’m not expecting to see any kind of rock at the Barbados Tourism Tent.
But I’m very impressed with the band Nexcyx (pronounced “nexus”). Led by Mahalia Phillips (above), Nexcyx is a high-energy pop/R&B group with a decidedly rock edge. And I’m not surprised that she’s also got a nice MC flow: After all, hip hop is the lingua franca of many. Combine all that with their solid song writing and you’re standing there tapping your feet, nodding your head. You get it. Right away. The band’s tight, Mahalia’s got a great voice.
The band has already had some success, having opened for Erykah Badu and Angie Stone. But therein lies the challenge. I told both Nexcyx and Sharif basically the same thing: The things they’re doing now are special and it makes them each unique. It’d be a shame if either of them didn’t hold onto that, going for least common denominator music in an effort to gain mass appeal. That’s the exact opposite of what they should be doing.
The world is looking for unique voices. In order to provide that, both of these artists will need the courage to hold onto what got them to this point in the first place. Here’s hoping they have it.
Kayte Grace
Back in NYC at the baggage claim at Laguardia, I met singer-songwriter Kayte Grace. I know it’s 2010, but I think it’s still relatively rare to see a black woman with a guitar. So you know I had to go over and see what’s up. Turns out she was also coming back from some showcases at SXSW. From the very little I’ve heard and read since then, she’s very much in the folk/acoustic vein. She’s gotten some press in the Columbia newspaper, where she’s a student and in the Washingtonian. If you’re looking for something on the mellower side, check her out and let me know what you think.
Boldaslove caught up with Atlanta Electronic musician Ethereal. Originally from College Park, GA., Ethereal took time to talk with me about his sound and his projects just before playing a show at Apache Cafe in Midtown Atlanta.
Atlanta Afro-Punk quartet Tendaberry stops by the studio to talk about their experience as a group forming and beginning to come into their own in the Atlanta music scene. In this pod we talk at length about the Atlanta Indie Rock scene, the AUC (Morehouse, Clark-Atlanta & Spelman) music and arts scene and about what it means to them being Black Post-punk musicians.
We discuss their rubbing shoulders and working with ATL-scene acts like Jaspects, Deep Cotton, Janelle Monae, London, Spree Wilson, Lmarr the Great, Smalleyez & now defunct group The Slack Republik.
The interview is a walk through the gritty streets of Atlanta's west end, a re-introduction into the University of Georgia's college-town music scene in Athens and a discussion of what it takes to persevere as musicians toeing the line of soul and punk.
For more interviews on Atlanta's literary, art and music scene please check out dominickbrady.com
Music heard in this pod from Atlanta groups:
-Tendaberry
-Jaspects ft. Janelle Monae
-Small Eyez
-The Slack Republic
Tendaberry has also been kind enough to share a song with us, "Prophets" from their EP Am I Still Illmatic?:
The Bots are two brothers, Mikaiah Lei, 16, and Anaiah Lei, 12, sons of a Chinese father and an Afro-Caribbean mother.
Shout out to '68's Brian Tate, who sent me the link to this video. It was forwarded to him by his guitarist, Eddie Alsina, who said in a note, ". . .they rock tha fuck out." Actually, The Bots performance is quite impressive, given their ages.
Their site says their sound is a combination of Punk, Ska, Rock and Reggae, and that they cite The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Rancid, Bad Brains, Led Zeppelin, The Artic Monkeys and Vampire Weekend (to name a few) as their influences.
The Bots are ones to watch. I'm looking forward to hearing their full album.
I just decided to start a new category called "New Bands". They're not necessarily brand new bands, just new to me. Truthfully, there are, quite literally, more bands than you can shake a stick at. So as I hear things that I like, I'll give you a heads-up and you can check them out and decide for yourself whether or not you like them.
This first list includes:
California King: They're actually out of Brooklyn. Driving psychedelic rock.
Mad Man Films: The lead singer of this intense and groovy Massachusetts trio reminds me of a black Bruce Campbell from Army of Darkness. "Surgery" is dope.
A Race of Angels: Oozy electronic LA soul provides the frame for a voice that at times makes me think of a deeper-voiced Maxwell
Know of a band that should be on the list? Send me a link at rafields [at] gmail [dot] com.
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