[SONG OF THE DAY] Dan D'Lion - "Give What You Take"

Oooo y’all I just found a brank spanking new baby band for you!

Fresh out of the box with his debut single only a few hours old, please meet London newcomer Dan D’Lion. His debut single, “Give What You Take” is a vibey blend of electro-pop and nu-funk that deals with the idea of capturing polarizing aspects of your personality. Over the past few years he’s been writing/producing for artists like Salen, Punctual, Delilah Montagu, Zilo, and Feder, all the while working on his debut release.

Drawing inspiration from his time working with artists, writers and producers, both in London and internationally, the music for his personal project is written, produced and performed in full by himself. "This was the first track I wrote for myself where everything started to make sense,” he noted, “As it all came together it felt like a real turning point, and the lyrics actually ended up becoming motivational to myself in a way, taking away the daunting aspect of crafting something for myself."

This is one hell of a first impression. Very anxious to hear what else this Dan D’Dude has up his sleeves.

[SONG OF THE DAY] + [INTERVIEW] Too Many T's - "Patterns"

photo credit: Phoebe Montague

The loveliest London lads known as Too Many T’s are some of the most creative people I’ve had the pleasure of coming in contact with. When they’re not releasing cheeky videos rapping about bees to the tune of Destiny’s Child’s “Jumpin’ Jumpin’” or enlisting Alexa (yes THAT Alexa) to rap with them, the duo have been working tirelessly on visuals to accompany their debut full-length, South City, which was released last year. I delightedly tuned in for the debut of “Hang Tight”, the first ever one-take video shot on Facebook live and have been consistently inspired by their persistence in taking their innovation to new heights with the release of every video.

Their creation to accompany “Patterns” is their latest tour de force, which will be premiering live on YouTube Premier, a feature that allows the creator set its upload like a premiere and watch together with their viewers when the video goes live, and like a live stream on YouTube, both the creator and viewers will be able to engage in a discussion at the comments section. 

Yours truly got a sneak peek of the stunning video, which is the first time that gaming hardware has been used to both capture and render a music video. Get this, y’all: it was painstakingly put together over the course of over 600 hours of production and rendering with the help of triff (born Stuart Trevor), a video game artist who had been exploring motion capture using an Xbox Kinect camera, more conventionally seen attached to a games console. His work repurposes the camera to capture both movement and depth, which he then places within CGI environments created using visual effects software such as 3ds Max, Redshift and After Effects – which is then output through two powerful gaming-orientated graphics cards.

The final result is nothing short of insanely impressive. “Patterns” is a song about overcoming mental health issues and the struggle to escape patterns of bad habits which the band fell into on tour. The scenes throughout the video are meant to showcase how dark and isolating this uphill battle can be. I’d say they absolutely nailed that aesthetic. As if this wasn’t already mind blowing enough, the jaw dropper of a video is set premiere at the prestigious BBC Amplify event at The Rattle in Tobacco Dock with three daily screenings on November 8th - 10th. The screening will include a presentation by the duo on how new artists should innovate and collaborate with emerging technology, and will also include a demonstration by Play On Player - a new interactive app allowing users to immerse themselves within the song by experimenting with the stems of the track, creating their own fan versions. 

As can be expected I had too many Qs for Too Many Ts about all of this but managed to contain myself enough to only shoot over a few to these dope ass dudes. Peep our convo below!

still from “Patterns” video courtesy of Too Many T’s

How did you manage to link up with triff?

Standaloft: On the information highway.

Leon Rhymes: We knew we wanted to create something special for the “Patterns” video - something we’d not seen before. So from the start we knew we needed more brains than just our own.

Standaloft: We began by reaching out to our extended community to see what and who people knew. One of those people was the legend that is Stuart Trevor or as we like to call him, Triff.

In the past you guys have rapped with Alexa, now with Triff's help you've essentially hacked a Kinect to shoot mo-cap for "Patterns", what inspires you to tinker with new technologies in unconventional ways? 

S: Creativity and limitations. 

LR: And the desire to explore opportunity. 

S: We always want to create something that we’re proud of musically and visually and by incorporating new technologies it forces us to think outside of convention.

LR: Couple this with financial limitations of an unsigned band and you get to a special place of creative innovation. 

“We always want to create something that we’re proud of musically and visually and by incorporating new technologies it forces us to think outside of convention. ”

— Standaloft, Too Many T's

How does video extend the narrative of your music? 

S: With the rise of affordable professional camera equipment the accompanying music video to the track has become almost expected.

LR: And the a visual is such a powerful tool - just take a walk down the street or a train across town to see the amount of adverts everywhere. Not only is the visual expected we’re also fighting against more visuals than ever to stand out. 

S: So it’s important to do try and make something different or something only you can do. 

LR: I think the idea of a story is important - it’s why stories are still read and will survive all digital technology. So if you can create a storyline to run alongside the song I think that’s really strong. 

S: That’s something we did with the music video for “Panther”. 

LR: For “Patterns” the video enhances the mood and feeling within the song. For “Panther” it was more of a simultaneous (and different) storyline running alongside the track. 

still from “Patterns” video courtesy of Too Many T’s

What's the symbolism behind the different scenes depicted in "Patterns"? 

LR: This was very much led by Triff. We’d always seen the song as a whole but he broke the track up into  6 scenes + an epic intro. 

S: What this did though was treat all the scenes and characters in isolation which really works in the world of the song and that feeling of being alone with no one to turn to but your demons. 

LR: It enhances the overall feeling throughout the song.

How do you manage life on tour so you don't fall into the same patterns that inspired the song?  

LR: Honestly!? Not gonna lie, it’s difficult - can resist anything but temptation! 

S: Late nights can help you lose the days and we’ve had to be professional when on tour this year. We’ve grown up (slightly) and learnt to know our limits. 

LR: You need to make mistakes sometime to learn about yourself. 

What's next for you guys? 

LR: We’re certainly not stopping here and really excited about the next 12 months!

S: We’ve had a really successful year in France so we’re working on a French connection project with our label Banzai Lab and all the artist we’ve met out there - stay tuned for that cos its gonna be sick! We’ve recently started writing some new tunes for the second album as well. Watch out 2019, you’re getting had!

LR: More immediately we’re going on tour in Australia and South East Asia for three months January to March with gigs in Melbourne, Sydney, Bangkok, Chang Mai, Hanoi, Phnom Pehn, Tokyo and more TBC.

UPDATE: “Patterns” premiered LIVE today (11/6) on YouTube at 7:30PM GMT (2:30PM EST). Check out the video below!

[SONG OF THE DAY] Crush Club - "Trust"

The boys are back in town! The boys are back in town! The boys are back in town! The boys are back in town! Of course I’m talking about the dopest disco dudes to roam the New York City streets in a minute, Crush Club. The delightful duo are back home from their tour with SOFI TUKKER and LP GIOBBI, but of course when you’re as high energy as they are there’s no slowing down. Yesterday my new favorite humans dropped another single, “Trust”, a song about the complexities of feeling like you can’t be 💯 with a partner due to lack of trust. As vocalist TC Milan explained, “‘Trust' is about how sometimes the hardest thing to do is say what you need. Love can blind and confuse you, and when I was recently in this emotional state the thing I needed the most was trust. I didn’t get it. So we wrote this song.”

Been there, TC bb. It sucks.

NY fam I wasn’t exaggerating about the fellas slowing down at all. They’ve got a set tonight at Brooklyn Bowl + a couple more this week so make sure you go dance and hug it out with them.

CRUSH CLUB LIVE IN NYC

1/3 @ Brooklyn Bowl w/ Escort

11/8 @ Ted Talk Salon (Private)

11/9 @ Club Cumming (DJ Set)

side note: do we think I could sneak into a private Ted Talk event? I feel like that would be the most *me* thing I could ever do in my life (Ted Talks + electro pop). 😂

[SONG OF THE DAY] DAVID44 - "Truth"

photo credit: Samy Khabthani

IT

IS

FRI-YAYYYYYYY!

We know how much I love leaving you with some feel good dance vibes to start your weekend off on the right foot and today is no exception. In fact, this very much so leans into the feel good aesthetic on multiple levels.

Today sees the release of Denmark-based electro-pop artist DAVID44 (born David Olafsson)’s latest single, “Truth”, a song about the universal struggles we all have with self-image. It can be incredibly frustrating to see someone not love themselves as much as we love them and Olafsson perfectly articulates the perspective of desperately trying to get someone to see their self-worth. “It’s about speaking the truth but also how reality and words can be twisted by the one hearing it,” Olafsson explains, “It’s about having a misunderstood self-image, not believing in yourself or accepting your true self. These can be very dangerous thoughts and I wrote ‘Truth’ to boost the missing self-esteem.”

“Truth” is the first single from his forthcoming debut full-length album which is due in 2019.

Here’s to dancing your way to loving yourself this Friday, fam. I hope y’all know that you’re some kind of awesome. 💖

[SONG OF THE DAY] Sakima - "Apps"

Yooooo London’s Sakima is out here raging against the hookup culture machine and I am HERE THE FUCK FOR IT, Y’ALL. His latest single, “Apps”, from his forthcoming debut full length, Project Peach, speaks to the overall disillusionment from the current state of modern dating. Although he’s speaking to Grindr related careless hookup culture, yer girl knows first hand what it’s like to come back from a bathroom break on a date and see a dude swiping away on Tinder to kill time. App dating is garrrbbbbaaaaaggggeee fam please for the love of everything in your being just go meet people at shows ffs.

As Sakima told Highsnobiety about the inspiration behind “Apps”,

“I was dating someone in particular and it was going really well but by the end of it, it transpired that even though this guy really liked me he just wasn’t ready to give one person his attention. Not because he wanted to sleep around or anything like that, but because there’s just so many endless opportunities to meet someone new 24/7, how can I compete with that? I’m the kind of person where if I like someone I get rid of all the hook up and dating apps on my phone and give whoever it may be my full attention to see where things go, and I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the same in return. So through the frustration and psychological stress that comes with feeling like you’re not good enough to compete with an entire world of new possibilities through an app, I sort of found this inner voice in me that was much stronger and self-knowing than before all this dating apps shit that’s ruining potentially meaningful relationships.”

“Apps” is a departure for Sakima, who typically relies on his angelic voice to be the central focus for his songs. Instead, he enlisted the production stylings of Robokid, who also contributed a verse on the song about dudes being “glued to [their] phone looking to get [their] dick sucked.”I especially appreciated Sakima’s jab at the end of the song about people being too disillusioned to vote. Impeccable timing considering we’re a week out from Election Day here in the US.

Suffice it to say if I didn’t already hardcore stan for Sakima I sure as shit do now.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Humans - "Going Late"

Good news, everyone! We’ve finally got a release date for the new Humans record!!!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻Oh my good Lorde do I need this batch of vibes like yesterday but I suppose I can wait until November 16th. The Vancouver duo chose to unveil the details alongside dropping the title track, “Going Late” complete with a video that’s basically a walking advertisement for the dope ass bomber jackets they sell as part of their merch offerings (the “Girls” edition of the Boys & Girls bomber is like legit at the top of my Mixmas List).

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to see about selling one of my kidneys so I can look cooler than all of you every fall for the rest of my life.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Saro - "Please"

photo credit: Josh Nixon

Proceed with caution as LA based queer musician Saro (pronounced “sorrow”) has a voice that can completely wreck you if you’re not prepared for it. Ever since my first taste of his 2017 EP Boy Afraid, his songs have firmly cemented themselves in my heart and I’ve been eager to hear what he would share with us next.

Yesterday he unveiled his latest single, “Please”, which upon first listen can be interpreted as a song about a lover, but as he explained in an interview with PAPER,

"'Please' is a reflection of my search for something lasting in this increasingly disposable world.The past few years, I've kept a distance between myself and any sort of permanence, caught in a revolving door of temporary homes and temporary people. Temporary has become my constant— the only stability in my life has been music. Now, I find myself reckoning with my growing desire for stability and my willingness to exchange volatility for something more concrete. I wrote this song about longing for something lasting, all the while knowing that nothing is forever."

If you happen to be fortunate enough to be in Los Angeles, you can catch him live next month on November 19th at School Night.

#SKOASelfCare: Wilderado Shares Their Mental Health Maintenance Tips From The Road

Wilderado outside of Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, CA. Photo gently lifted from their Instagram.

Touring is often looked at by musicians as a necessary evil due to how taxing it can be on their mental health. No matter your tour budget, finding moments of self care on the road can be tricky to come up with when you’ve only got so much time before load-in, so I’ve decided to start asking around for ideas from bands while they’re mid-tour.

Since I’m seeing them tomorrow night (10/27) at Music Hall of Williamsburg, I decided to hit up Tulsa rockers, Wilderado (who you hopefully checked out in this week’s diSKOAver weekly playlist) to see what’s been working for them on their tour with other SKOA favorites Sure Sure. Gotta say, I am loving the tips that singer Max Rainer sent through! From my brief stint in tour managing I can tell you that some of these are a hard agree from me.

This is “Thieves”...it smells pretty awesome and supposedly makes you less susceptible to germs. Our drummer’s wife sells this stuff and i dump it on everything (my bag, backpack, arms, neck).

Buy: Young Living Thieves Essential Oil 15ml

Reading books helps me not think so much.

Buy: Fight Club: A Novel

I’m not so sure if this stuff actually benefits me in any way other than tasting great and feeling good. I just like having it around, the name says it all.

Buy: Cold & Flu-Lemon Echinacea Throat Coat

I currently have bronchitis, so maybe i shouldn’t be the one doing this, BUT, these multivitamins are amazing. This is the first time I’ve been sick on the road, and these things are keeping me alive.

Buy: Source Naturals Wellness Formula Wholefood Multivitamin With Vitamins & Antioxidants

Listen to something other than your own music that you’re playing over and over and over. Sometimes I’ll even just hang out listening to the calm app... it sounds so real.

Grab the Calm app on iOS & Android

NY fam come hang with me tomorrow night (10/27) at Music Hall of Williamsburg to catch these guys live. Should you need a refresher of their sound you can find their latest single, “Sorrow” in this week’s diSKOAver weekly playlist below!.