What happens when you combine the music of Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Phish into one live experience?
3 mammoth bands, 3 musical phenomenons, 1 idea inspired by love of the music.
PINK TALKING FISH are in the throws of their official 2018 Tour and are performing at LA's legendary nightspot The Mint Friday April 27th and Hot Tub Johnnie is spinning the dance party for the night. Orange County based Jam band The Higgs are opening, we'll begin at 7:30PM, don't miss this one!
Get your tickets to the show here.
Spinal Tap bassist Derek Smalls discusses solo debut: It 'makes up in grandeur what it lacks in substance'.
Derek Smalls is stepping out on his own — literally. “It’s a bit of a lurch, shall we say, to decide I’m going to go from the back line where I’m the bass player and do an occasional la la la or something, to the front of the stage,” the Spinal Tap bassist says when EW connects with him to discuss his debut solo album Smalls Change (Meditations Upon Ageing). “By the way, I never realized before, but I’m sensitive to the cold and the lights are warmer up front. So it’s a good place to be, to stay warm.”
Though Smalls Change, due Friday, continues the hilarious legacy of Harry Shearer’s satirical rocker, it’s no mere comedy album. For the record’s 14 tracks, Smalls recruited greats including Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, Yes’ Rick Wakeman, Joe Satriani, and Paul Shaffer to help him realize his absurdist rock vision. “We set about creating an album that makes up in grandeur what it lacks in substance and vice versa,” Smalls says. “It tries to cover all these different threads. You can’t cover threads, really, but it tries to follow the threads of all the types of music that were implicit in the Spinal Tap oeuvre and expand upon them. And yet, encapsulate them at the same time. It’s an expanded encapsulation.”
As for why he’s only now striking out on his own, the 77-year-old Smalls has a matter-of-fact explanation. “I was always in bands,” he says, noting Spinal Tap and his Christian rock project Lambsblood. “The band thing was always foremost in my mind — and my pocketbook, to tell you the truth.” (He did record a “never released” EP in the late ’70s named It’s a Smalls World.) Thanks to an (entirely fake) government initiative in his native Britain, Smalls’ circumstances changed. “Fortunately, there’s an agency that’s been set up in the U.K. over the last ten years, I guess using the funds from austerity,” he explains. “The British Fund for Ageing Rockers. They exist to give grants to people like me or in my case, me.”
Smalls connected with EW to discuss how he convinced Rock and Roll Hall of Famers to work with him, the problems with modern technology, and his opinion of “hip-hoppers” and “EDMers.” Read highlights from the conversation below.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You united with some fellow legends for this one — Donald Fagen, David Crosby, and more. How’d these collaborations come about?
DEREK SMALLS: First of all, you can’t approach these people through their representatives. Because they’ll just say, “Don’t do it.” Whoever they’re talking to: “Don’t do it.”
Even when Derek Smalls is calling?
Especially. I was able to make personal contact, because my name does open some doors, while it closes others. You could sum up the response as a “mercy f—.” This year they didn’t have to give to charity. They could just perform on my record.
With its alarming lyrics about accidentally giving your contacts a ring, “Butt Call” is one of my favorite tracks on the record. Does modern technology ever freak you out?
Modern technology has bedeviled me. I’ve had two stints in rehab for internet addiction. In the days when I was addicted, I had a smartphone — or, as I call it a dumbphone. I did a little switch on the name there. I thought, “This is a hellish part of modern life and I fancy myself a bit of a student of hell.” Anything that seems hellish deserves a musical portraiture by me, I think. I think of myself as a portraitist of hell.
Given your relationship with the internet, what do you make of the rise of streaming and digital music?
Like most people in my profession, I would like it if people paid for my work. In my personal case, we like to play it loud. Maybe the louder it is the more you pay or something like that. But, you know, anything to get the music to the people.
How did you decide to honor Tap with “Gimme Some (More) Money,” which references the band’s early single “Gimme Some Money”?
I think that’s the closest acknowledgment of my taproot, so to speak. “Gimme Some Money” was a song before I joined the band, actually. I felt free to acknowledge it without because I was accused of patting myself on whatever you’re supposed to pat yourself on. But it goes back to what you were saying, about streaming and all this stuff. Give me some more money, mate! People [are] thinking “Well, it all deserves to be free.” Well, we all deserve to have free rent then, don’t we? “Gimme Some (More) Money” is just a heartfelt plea for money, when you analyze it. Even if you don’t analyze it, that’s what it is.
Closing track “When Men Did Rock” is an interesting historical survey of rock. As other genres grow in popularity, how do you see rock in 2018? And how do you see your role in rock?
My role on that tune is to stand in awe of what was wrought by the rock experiment. As we look back at the people who built Stonehenge, people in centuries to come will look back at rock and say, “What was that about?” As we say about Stonehenge. They’ll look at these songs and say, “Was it a calendar?” It’s just an attempt to encompass this grand achievement of our generation and to say, “You who follow with your hip-hop or your electronica, let’s see if what you do can measure up.”
Do you think they will be able to measure up? Or is rock forever superior?
Of course I would say rock is the best because I’m a rocker. A hip-hopper would say hip-hop is best because he’s a hip-hopper and the EDMer or whatever you would say — I mean, if we don’t like what we’re doing we should bloody well get out of it. I just wanted to take 10 well-chosen minutes to sum up the grandeur of the rock experiment. And to say, “It got this high, this is your bar now, you should bloody well hope to get this high.” I mean “high” in the sense of an achievement. I know they get this high otherwise.
Eric Renner Brown (Entertainment Weekly)
The only things guaranteed in life are taxes, death and Hunnypot Live! will entertain you. Thank you for letting us entertain you. Show #389 started of with pure rock entertainment from DJ Hot Tub's set list. We deviated a bit from the normal format and our guest DJ Stephen Perkins joined us in the hot tub to talk about his history, influences and future after we played his amazing curated set of music. Thrift got our butts moving with that dirty disco rock, Blue Midnight returned to shake pillars with hard modern rock, Stepehen Perkins hit the stage with his band Power Trip L.A. to deconstruct familiar songs like you've hardly heard and Voodoo Kills turned up and turned us out with more rock n roll. The night ended with a killer dance party set. We were entertained. 04/16/2018
Recap by DJ Spectrum (Jeff Gray) Photos by J. Gray / J.Born / M. DeShields-McClure
Iconic Drummer, noise maker and groove machine from Jane’s Addiction/Porno for Pyros, Stephen Perkins. Also known for his work with many different musical galaxies, Methods of Mayhem, Infectious Grooves, Nine Inches Nails, No Doubt, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sheryl Crow, etc.
Based out of Southern California, Thrift is characterized by noisy garage rock tones mixed with pulsating rhythms and powerhouse vocals. The band aims to captivate audiences and listeners with their easily distinguishable sound. Anna Carmela (bass and vocals) refers to their style as "dirty disco," or, in other words, garage rock-meets-pop. Thrift seeks to grip audiences and listeners alike with the in-your-face production style, lead vocal intensity, wailing bass and guitar hooks, and fierce live performances.
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Blue Midnight (Justine Glaser) is a singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and fashion designer from Los Angeles, CA. She began performing music at the age of 8. She knew from a young age that she would deviate from the typical path taken by her family of doctors and lawyers in order to purse her passion for the arts. Her powerful music is a blend of alternative rock, symphonic metal, and grunge. Her influences include Nirvana, Bjork, Evanescence, Muse, The Cure, Kate Bush, Linkin Park, Led Zeppelin, Mozart, and Alanis Morissette.
Blue Midnight has the rare gift of synesthesia, the ability to blend sound and colors in her mind, resulting in her vivid musical imagination. She is lead vocalist and also plays piano, guitar, and harp. She plays acoustic shows solo as well as concerts with her full band, which includes noted musicians in the Los Angeles metal scene.
She is in the process of recording her debut album, Eternal Wish, with producer/composer and cousin, Sam Glaser. The album is slated to be released his summer.
The attitude, soul, vibe and legacy of the Golden State, California bands should always play music from the waist down...And of course....Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel. POWER TRIP LA is a musical blend with several combined decades of real raw power with a relentless musical presence in the international scene. The musicians in Power Trip LA never shy away when it comes to 'Bringing It on and Tearing It Down’ Crossing a musical bridge from 'in the present & aware of our environment' straight into funk jump the sparks reference points meets 60/70ish summer of love psychedelic space travel, a new make over coating...to another wise timeless repertoire. YES...it’s true!
Power Trip LA is:
*Drummer, noisemaker and groove machine from Jane’s Addiction/Porno for Pyros’ Stephen Perkins. Also known for his work in many different musical galaxies, Methods of Mayhem, Infectious Grooves, Nine Inches Nails, No Doubt, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sheryl Crow, etc.
*Music royalty heir and top shelf melody maker himself: Alex Alessandroni Jr, known for his musical director/& keyboards role behind such artists as Christina Aguilera, Pink, Babyface, Whitney Houston, Nelly Furtado, Leann Rimes, Faith Evans, Toni Braxton, Natalie Cole, Don Felder, Bobby Brown etc.-
*The guitar master, shredder & strummer too! Rafael Moreira of Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow, Christina Aguilera, Pink, Steven Tyler, Cher, Brett Michaels, Alessia Cara, and Paul Stanley’s fame, but also a regular fixture on TV shows like The Voice and American Idol.
*One of a kind Producer/bassist Fabrizio Grossi with a long string of successful and award winning collaborations with the Supersonic Blues Machine, Steve Vai, Billy F. Gibbons, Eric Gales, George Clinton & P-Funk, Joe Bonamassa, Leslie West, Warren Haynes, Robben Ford, Steve Lukather, Glenn Hughes, etc.
*Garrett Holbrook on lead vocals. A young name fairly unknown to the public at large, but very much on the radar of producers and session players for his talent and delivery consistency. Garrett fronts a few different ensembles, spanning from Acoustic Blue-Grass-Country to Prog-Metal, Garrett has been making a serious name for him self and with Power Trip LA he found a great window to entertain and showcase his worth.
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Voodoo Kills is a 4 piece band based in Los Angeles but comes from France, Australia, Mexico and America. Think Rock n Roll meets 90’s grunge with a punk spirit.
Thank you to Brooke Trout for writing a piece on Hunnypot Live radio stream in Music Connection Magazine. In this article Brooke shares her experiences at the Hunnypot Live show #383 January 22nd 2018 and proves thoughts on each artist. Music Connection Magazine is a monthly music-trade magazine based in the United States which began publication in 1977. It caters to career-minded musicians, songwriters, recording artists and assorted music-industry support personnel.
Brooke Trout is a multifaceted singer/songwriter and writer for Music Connection Magazine. Brooke is apart of duo Brill with former band member Dave Strauss. They are known for their polyphonic blend of rock, blues and surf tones. The group has just released their debut album Fish Out Of Water on CDBaby as well as on iTunes.
Trout's article is transcribed below:
Hunnypot Radio produces a bimonthly showcase for The Mint. This particular show consisted of five fun and very different indie acts, following an interview with musician and music supervisors Tiffany Anders.
Little Monarch
The Players: Casey Kamenson, vocals, guitar; Lanita Smith, vocals, keys; Justin Anders, guitar, bass
More than a few audience members noted similarities to Nia Simone and Sade. This blend of two ladies harmonizing to what they self-categorize as indie-pop was frequently funky, with solid lead chops by Andres. Kalmenson and Smith both swap and show on lead vocals. The group also knows how to get the audience to participate, so it was a fun experience.
Power Trip
The Players: Stephen Perkins, drummer; Alex Alessandroni, keyboards, Rafeal Moreira, guitar; Fabrizio Grossi, bass; Garrett Holbrook, vocals.
It’s not surprising that this all-star band’s first appearance as a had the polished feeling of being performed with a fresh take that worked the crowd into a frenzy, including no less The Beatles’’ Come Together,” The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” and even an unexpected choice of Stevie Wonder’s “Living For The City.” The Group stayed faithful to the originals while managing to convey a style of their own – a remarkable attribute of a good band. Power Trip really stole the show for the night.
Trouadour Adam Road
Hailing from Israel, this group blends Spanish and Middle Eastern musical scales. But that just seems to be the formula to put you under a trance before hitting you with straight head rock from a band full of solid musicians. The only complaint to found about this act was the appearance of two man-buns: with all seriousness the ladies in the audience wanted to see that headbanging hair come-out.
Lauren Lakis
It was incredible how much atmospheric sound Lauren Lakis was able to craft, simply with the use of a bass. She switched between other instruments to keep things interesting. Toward the finale, Lakis’ keyboard flew off stage prompting Hunnypot show host Hot Tub Johnnie to remark that it was a finish with a plenty of Pete Townshend style. A courageous solo performance.
Alessa Ray
This Musician’s Institute grad knows how to put a show. Whatever your taste in music. There is something worth watching when synchronized dancers make a preformance. Alessa Ray interacted well with her dancers and made her two-song set both theatrical and memorable. – Brooke Trout
Melbourne's Tiny Little Houses release their 2nd single from their Idiot Proverbs debut LP. "Short Hair" follows the single "Garbage Bin" which we played on the Hunnypot Radio Show a few weeks back. Tiny Little Houses put a refreshing new spin on nineties era indie rock. Hunnypot approved!
Hunnypot video pick! Check out “Crayons” by the Chicago rapper/singer CupcakKe. DJ Spectrum’s (Jeffrey Gray) favorite song of the last couple months is a “punk rock spirit lyric, latinesque dance boogie tune that celebrates sexual freedom and equality with a little shade thrown on the hypocrisy of some fetish preferences.”
CupcakKe in only about 3 years in to her real music career and this could well become her 2nd equality anthem after the success of last year’s “Cartoons”. Get out of your “box”, paint the world with your colors and don’t forget to turn up the volume and dance.
Hunnypot sprung a Spring thing last night. Hot Tub brought golden April showers with his bookend DJ sets for the night. Malachi Mott jumped in to the tub to talk about the decade of music production since he met us, The Eiffels bunny hopped up for some pop rock Easter eggs, Princess Fortier may have sprung flowers of music genre mashups, Grace Blue returned to the Hunnypot stage like a messiah to help us dance, Basement Beat Revival gave us a basket of musical goodies and the night closed with a revelation level dance party. 04/02/2018
Malachi Mott is a music producer originally from Long Island, NY and currently in Los Angeles, CA. His long and diverse career includes engineering at Interscope Records, producing indie artists and teaching music production at Icon Collective. He has worked with Ty Dolla $ign, Sia, Zedd, Polow Da Don, The Game, Ester Dean and more. Now he spends his days empowering artists to create the art the world deserves.
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Relix Magazine describes The Eiffels' "sleek dance rock" as "contagious." Yahoo Music raves, "Los Angeles buzz band, The Eiffels, has the music scene in a swirl with its catchy '80's synth pop." And PureVolume calls their songs, "shimmering electro-pop anthems."
The week of its release, their debut EP was hailed by Baeble Music as an “opening salvo that any band would dream of,” and was the 15th most added record on U.S. college radio. They’ve since received support from major radio stations from Los Angeles’ KROQ and KLOS, to San Diego’s 91X and Z90.
After an ambitious United States tour, continuous buzz, and seeing their music featured in hit television shows like MTV's Are You The One?, and The Only Way is Essex, The Eiffels are ready to release their new EP, complete with the same diabolically catchy hooks and an even bigger sound.
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Miss Princess Fortier is an International Pop artist. Her career in music and acting found her while studying Neuroscience and French in college. She wasn't always clear that she could have a career in the very thing she loves to do. Thanks to some direction from special key figures in her life, the world now has access to a moving, touching and inspiring force. Princess has trained in multiple musical instruments including vocals, violin, flute, xylophone, trombone and classical piano under the direction of Donna Glover, Art Coleman, Collins Peters, Gary Catona, Nicholas Cooper, and Scott Johnson. Since the age of four, Princess could be found singing gospel tunes with her sisters at local community events in Stockton, CA, singing jazz tunes at local corporate events or performing one of her many instruments in Jazz band, Marching Band, Concert Band or Drumline. In addition to the multiple musical achievements, she also has been showcased in several theater performances as well as on film & television.
Currently, you can find Princess performing internationally in major cities, including: Seoul, Korea; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Beijing, China; Muscat, Oman; Tucson, AZ; Los Angeles, California; Stockton, California; Selma, Alabama; Hengelo, Netherlands; London Olympics 2012; Monaco Grand Prix 2013.
Miss Princess is able to adjust to any cultural environment, is adaptable, and flexible to an international audience. In addition to the multiple musical achievements, she also has been showcased in several theater performances as well as on film & television.
"There's always a slight moment where Its a little nerve wracking to step outside of my comfort zone. But all I want to do is perform. There's nothing in the world like it."
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Grace Blue is an alternative-pop music duo based in Los Angeles, California.
The music duo, that consists of vocalist Grace Mogz and keyboard player Joseph Arazi, have decided to move to Los Angeles this past May in order to pursue their passion and hunger for music.
Their debut music video for the single "Our Eyes" was released June 4th and had reached over 100,000 YouTube views, followed by their self-titled debut EP, that has been released July 29th.
Their music is a combination of dark emotionally driven vocals, alongside catchy, up-tempo alternative-pop.
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Born in NYC and recently relocated to Los Angeles, the Basement Beat Revival is a band whose sound lives somewhere at the crossroads of The Black Keys and David Bowie - next door to the Clash and Lenny Kravitz. Call it "GlamWave", the modern love child of glam and new wave with a healthy dose of psychedelia and soul.
Formed in 2015, BBR immediately began playing the local club scenes in New York, Philadelphia and Boston. Their mission has, and will always be, to keep the torch lit brightly for a bedrock of influences that inspire their sound. Influences such as The Arctic Monkeys, White Stripes, The Doors, The Killers, The Cure, T Rex, The Strokes, Slade, Television and The Beatles - to offer but a few examples.
Driven by deep lyricism, their sound is built around vintage guitars, classic synths and deep rhythms. From the dreamy lyrics and instrumentation of numbers like "Stars & Scars" to their rock-meets-Motown homage to the 70s club scene "New York Doll" and the haunting ballad "Time Stands Still", BBR takes their musical experimentation in endless directions.
Be on the lookout for their upcoming EP release "Heavy" due in early 2018.
Electro-pop music with orchestral influences, Pershanoush takes you into a wide, feminine, sensible and sensual atmosphere. Both strong and fragile, violent and soft, it plays with the paradoxes of emotional complexity.
THE VIDEO
Former director herself, Vanessa Giangrande has since the beginning thought of her musical project in association with the visual aspect. Movie fan and musician since her youngest age, she built Pershanoush around both of her passions.Her first music video Mesmerizing, directed by Régis Raffin, is a very stylized film,with a pin-point editing rhythm, and an emotional crescendo held by shots andvisual effects that stick perfectly to the sounds of the music. She wanted a video who played on the codes of present films and TV shows opening credits (American Gods, Glow etc). Beautiful compositions, multiple exposures, symbols and slow motions are part of the film-making.
NEWS
Mesmerizing is part of the original soundtrack of Jérôme de Gerlache feature film LOOV, Là où l'on va ( Marty est une entreprise production ), to be released in automn 2018. Home to me was used by Canal + in TV trailers for the Festival de Cannes 2017, and to promote the 2016 independent film festival “l’Autre festival” on the Ciné +channels. Free as us was used for the promotion of the independent film festival “l’Autre festival” in 2015 on the Ciné + channels.
BIO
Vanessa Giangrande was born in Paris from a Sicilian father and a French mother. A the age of 7, her father hears her play by ear on a friend's piano and decides to buy one to allow his daughter to develop her obvious taste for music. She learns classical piano. Later, worthy heir of the MTV generation, she is a fan of music videos and therefore decides to follow audiovisual studies. At first she works as an editor of movie trailers for the cinema, then she directs short programs, music videos and fashion films. In 2012, she composes a track for the film she's making for the Parisian brand Lorafolk. She then moves towards music composition for films and eventually gives birth to her personal project Pershanoush. The first EP will be released April 6th 2018 on the Minty Fresh label.
Her childhood piano remained her faithful companion, on which she composes all her songs.
Toronto trio Little Coyote released their debut album The Trouble With Teeth this winter and have released the title track as a single/video.
In this stark video, we watch lead singer Teagan Johnston perform to an empty room and venture out into a snowy day. “[The] winter backdrop served as a reflection on this album release and a farewell to this past winter promoting it,” Johnston tells us. Throughout the video, we also see Johnston flossing her teeth, a pretty mundane task until things get really bloody and the act takes on a whole new meaning.
“The album and this song in particular is really about struggling with a relationship and the fear of losing someone, and letting that fear drive you to places that might actually break that relationship instead of saving it,” explains Johnston. “I was watching my husband flossing his teeth and bleeding one night and I thought it would be really interesting to do a hyperbole of that situation for the video,” she adds.
Hunnypot represents the Little Coyote catalog for licensing, master and publishing so dig in!
Michete always manages to turn heads in the best of ways and her new video "Rihanna Kraft Singles" does just that. This is Michete's first single from 'Cool Tricks 3' and as her previous efforts it was written, produced, directed and edited DIY style. Ask John Anderson (Hunnypot) about licensing.
Michete is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to visually stimulating her audiences. If it’s colorful and messy, it’s Michete. But “Rihanna Kraft Singles” isn’t just a technicolor snapshot into the pop star’s life. It’s a hybrid of sexual tension and pop culture influences. Michete exudes this powerful sensual confidence and domination throughout the entire music video. Through coy eyes and bold fashion statements, Michete draws the viewer in with her carefully ~krafted~ set. From dry cuts to parking lot structures, the imagery symbolizes her statuesque attitude within a structure as strong as her: concrete.
“Rihanna Kraft Singles” feels like the best snapchat story you’ve seen - but good luck recreating this. Execution is Michete’s strong suite. But the clever antics don’t stop at her visual escapades, it lies within her lyricism. If you're a fan of pop culture references, clever jabs and self love - this track is for you. I can’t help but notice though this song isn’t just another bop from your favorite underground pop star, it’s more of a sound off. Michete is here and that bitch is ready for you.
People talk about taking the crown, but few do it or even attempt to go full throttle. What makes this bop stronger than any other is that it’s Michete’s come and get it anthem. Take the line “The girls know that I’m a threat” if catchy digs was a sport, Michete is Queen. Love the video for its eccentric colors and its homemade production but don’t forget this is a siren call. Michete is up to bat and she’s telling you all to get ready. Enter if you dare. - Sasha Gonzaléz (Distinction Music)
