languages languagesicone
site loader
site loader
August 26, 2020 In conversation with experimental pop singer That Brunette

In conversation with experimental pop singer That Brunette

Madeline Mondrala, well-known as That Brunette, is a Brooklyn based Experimental Pop songwriter and performer who began writing and performing music from the young as of eight years old. Mondrala would later attend the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College in New York with peers like Mitski, Verité, and Sean McVerry. She released her first EP Cloud in 2013 and Madelin in 2017. The musician was scouted as a writer and artist BMG Publishing and would work with producers like Dem Jointz (Brandy, Rihanna), Larzz Principato (Dua Lipa, Halsey) and Ryan Marrone (Nicki Minaj). Madeline released her single ‘Coolest Girl’ last month, and is soon to release her EP Millenium Fig on the 28th of August. 

We find out more about this singer and songwriter below.

What are some of your earliest memories of music?

Listening to Motown in the car with my mom on my way to school, Playing Hole in my headphones under the blanket in my room when I was supposed to be asleep. Rummaging through my dad’s cd collection and discovering Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell. Magical…

Take us through your songwriting process. Are there any particular steps you take when putting music together?

I usually like to start with me and a piano. I typically come up with a baseline, melody and lyrics simultaneously. Once I’ve written the song I’ll think about the type of production I envision for it. From there I’ll present to the producer I think would be the best fit to help bring the song to life. If they’re into it, we’ll get to work producing the track together.

Studio work and music creation or performing and interacting with a live audience, which do you prefer?

That’s a toss-up, but I think I have to say that I like the process of creating music a little bit more. That’s what made me fall in love with music in the first place. I love the feeling of birthing a new piece of music. Every song is my favorite song I’ve ever written when I’m writing it.

What is the most memorable response you have had to your music?

I remember and cherish any time anyone has ever told me either in person or online that one of my songs meant something to them. There’s no better feeling than knowing you had a positive impact on someone through a melody you crafted or words you wrote.

If you could put together a radio show, what kind of music would you play?

It would be the perfect mix of bright shiny pop, hip hop, alternative pop, indie R&B, and musical theatre.

Name five artists and their albums who would appear on your radio show

Right now I would definitely be spinning Kah-lo’s latest single ‘Melanin’, some Caroline Polachek, Sudan Archives, Taylor Swift’s latest album Folklore, and Avenue Beat’s jam ‘Fuck 2020’.

What would you like to achieve with your music? What does success look like to you?

I would like to achieve a sense of fulfillment within myself in creating authentic songs that represent my life experience. I make music because it brings me joy. I always go back to that truth if I start to feel societal pressure to “be somebody”. Success means being me, and I’m already myself. When I look at things through that lens, I feel very successful indeed.

One last thought to leave your fans with?

Hang in there. Every day is a new opportunity. Rest when you need to. Eat nourishing delicious food. Take a bubble bath. And listen to my new EP Millennium Fig

Follow That Brunette:

Website | Instagram | Spotify | Twitter

August 21, 2020 Band Phantom Isle release surreal music video

Band Phantom Isle release surreal music video

Directed by Matthew Nelson, the video for MAR V is as surreal and chaotic as the world that we’re living in at the moment, reflecting the pulsating energy of the song itself – wall-to-wall with everything from flashes of a latex-clad gas-masked dancer to tour and lockdown antics.

Discussing the video, director Matthew Nelson explains: “The concept behind the video was a glorified tour vlog turned nightmare. I took influences from directors like Darren Aronofsky and the 90s dance track “Killer” by ADAMSKI.”

Some of the footage used in the video was from the last show that the band played just before lockdown, which was in front of a 1,000-strong crowd at MaNo-Musikfestival in Germany. Drummer, Sam Thorne says “I’d say that the video sort of represents our experience over the last 5 months. The craziness of MaNo and those amazing gigs, all the people and parties, and then a different kind of craziness once we crash landed into lockdown straight after.”

Lead singer and guitarist, Peter Marchant continues: “We had all this footage of us on tour, in the studio etc. which is all well and good, but we wanted to throw some kind of bizarre fly in the ointment. So Matthew suggested we film lots of extra footage in our flat, and use whatever bonkers ideas that came into our heads. We had a lot of hilarious moments shooting these ideas all night.”

Consisting of hypnotic synth lines, goosebump-inducing rhythm and a hint of dark and mysterious atmosphere, Phantom Isle’s latest release, ‘MAR V’ sees the band stray from their art-pop roots with great success; highlighting their effortless capability to blend genres and moods for maximum effect – think LCD Soundsystem/Hot Chip style indie-house.

Keyboard player, Joshua Pullen who took the lead with writing the music says: “The song started as a remix of our previous single ‘I Am Urs’ but became a very different beast when I was messing about with a new drum machine I bought. I was listening to a lot of Soulwax and Simian Mobile Disco at the time and loved how they would produce songs with a pounding single-note loop throughout.” 

Despite its upbeat and energetic feel, there’s a dark side to ‘MAR V’. Lyricist and drummer, Sam Thorne explains: “The lyrics were actually written about feeling anxious and alone” comparing that feeling to an old friend that follows you through life, saying “you almost miss it when you leave it behind”. Singer and guitarist, Peter Marchant adds, “the song pretty much became the soundtrack of MaNo-Musikfestival in Marburg, Germany, where we headlined in March this year”. 2,000 fans jumped and danced frantically to MAR V’s hypnotic pulse at the festival’s closing show, seen in the single’s official video along with a montage of mischievous and surreal footage from the band’s journey so far. The band arrived in Marburg on March 5th (hence the romanised title, ‘MAR V’), they saw and conquered.

Follow Phantom Isle: 

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify | Youtube | Soundcloud

August 21, 2020 Musician Zeb Samuels brings positive vibrations with new EP

Musician Zeb Samuels brings positive vibrations with new EP

Ease into the weekend with the fresh sounds of Zeb Samuels and his newly released EP, Vibration Exploration. Premiered via CLASH Magazine, the EP features three remarkable songs however, ‘Yellow’ in particular stood out for us. Described as “intoxicating with its prevailing ethereal laden air”, the single is guaranteed to find itself at home on any Sunday afternoon mix. 

“I’m really happy to be able to present a purely instrumental EP that displays my exploration as an instrumentalist and producer. Writing vocal-driven music takes on a very different approach to my music and really happy with the outcome.” – Zeb Samuels, speaking with pride about his latest release.

Follow Zeb Samuels

FacebookTwitterSoundcloudInstagramSpotify

August 21, 2020 Bad Seeds guitarist George Vjestica shares new Bandate song

Bad Seeds guitarist George Vjestica shares new Bandate song

Photo Credit: Michael Dent

When not performing with the Bad Seeds, George Vjestica is the driving force behind Bandante, a moveable feast of a band, recording and performing George’s music for which other musicians, artists and film makers, are brought in to contribute.  It is the experimental nature of Bandante and in particular his work with Tim – the overlapping of lenses through a collaborative process – that allows George to develop new, interesting and unexpected creative dynamics and outcomes.

Bandante’s debut limited edition vinyl single (Bang Bang b/w My Friend) earned critical acclaim – a vinyl of the year at Rough Trade and a UK Official Vinyl Singles Chart entry. 

So This Is Now is the latest offering from Bandante where music and imagery are seamlessly combined in a video piece made by the artist, Timothy Shepard.

Work on So This Is Now  began at Vale Studios with the recording of an instrumental piece written by George. Joining him were musicians, Ian Matthews (Kasabian) on drums, Nikolaj Torp (The Specials) on Hammond and Mellotron, and Tim Hutton (Dub Pistols, Prodigy) on horns.  From this session came an intense 5-minute blast of killer riff-driven music, inspired by 60’s American psychedelia, Arthur Lee’s ‘Love’ and the Haight-Ashbury/Monterey scene – a soundtrack that George had always imagined being set to film. 

I wanted the chorus to feel like a call to arms, to hear a cacophonous fanfare of blaring trumpets – a massive release, with a verse I wrote to be full of tension and suspense.” George explains.

Timothy Shepard is an American contemporary fine artist based in London who uses collage (in a very broad sense of the term) working in 2d, film making and music composition. He has been a regular collaborator with Bandante, creating videos for Bang Bang/My Friend as well as super 8 films projected at Bandante’s immersive shows. He has previously worked with other musicians including Paul Weller (a series of country walks which resulted in the cover for 22 Dreams), the quite possibly deceased enigmatic film maker CS Leigh, and a very close collaboration with Kevin Ayers on the making of his swan song album The Unfairground.  

George continues the story. “After the Vale Studio sessions, I got very busy with the Bad Seeds whilst the track I had recorded kind of went in the drawer. One morning in mid-June, during lockdown, while going through some playlists on my laptop, I found a file labelled, ‘Protest/Revolt into Style/Vale Studio‘. I put it on and was blown away. It sounded and felt like what was going on outside at the time when it seemed that an unstoppable momentum was building for a summer of protest.”

“I’ve known Tim for a while – he lives up the road from me in Notting Hill and we’d often meet for a coffee. Our conversations always ended up trying to figure out what the fuck was going on around all the talk of Trump, Brexit and the rest of it. This continued during lockdown over the phone. I asked Tim if he would make a short film set to this piece of music I’d recorded in Vale Studios, “it’s all the stuff we’ve been talking about.” I said.  He chewed on it, I heard him draw hard on his E cigarette, pause and say to me in his laconic Bostonian drawl, ‘Let’s see’.”

He came back with what was, to me, a stunning piece of art. The music had the soul and the film, a ‘visual lyric’, had the mind and the conscience. It’s a hopeful, sad yet defiant, audio/visual collaboration that, in some visceral way, reflects the times we are living in right now.”

For the project, Tim made a film comprised of hundreds of sequenced cut-up and collaged images, in which we are shown a world through a dystopic like window of now, teetering on collapse and chaos with a message of only-hope that,  “the power of the people is greater than the people in power”. 

We are at a moment of choice,” Tim explains. “George and I would talk about this a lot, and in great part the collaborative process with George and what informed the making of the film were these conversations – about how this point in human history is so pivotal –  when we either have global social, economic, and climate collapse or we don’t.” 

Tim continues: “It is by no means impossible that we can achieve an understanding whereby we can live sustainably and flourish. There is this idea of decentralizing the power which is very interesting – whether it’s the media or politicians or whatever force that is enacted in order for us to behave in a certain way or impart some ‘truth’  – and in place of all that we could bring about a more collaborative sense making approach. We’ve all “had enough of reading things by neurotic-psychotic pig-headed politicians”. 

“To get ourselves to a good place we’ve got to take an honest and positive look at ourselves – realise and empower ourselves. But because we’re all guilty of something, if not the same faults we point out in others. Change must start with ourselves and be enacted upon even more urgently than the call for others to change.”

So This Is Now is currently available to watch on YouTube –  it’s something that’s just out there. 

Meanwhile during Lockdown George has been busy in his studio, there are plans with Tim for a sound and vision installation and whilst touring and performing remain on hold we can expect the two of them to bring a whole bunch more of overlapping lenses.

Follow Bandante:

Website | Facebook | Twitter