Interviews Archives | MendoWerks

Phish: Page McConnell Offers Revealing Insight on New Album, in GQ Article

5Oct

By John BarryNo Comments

Features, Interviews, Reviews

Phish: Page McConnell Offers Revealing Insight on New Album, in GQ Article

The Something Will Land album cover/Image courtesy of Big Hassle An anchor of the Vermont jamband Phish, but at times more a member of the four-piece school than a breaching dolphin, keyboard player Page McConnell is playing a new tune at the moment and has got plenty to say. McConnell has released his latest album, Something Will Land, and is the focus of a GQ article by Grayson Haver Currin. The album, according to a press release, is “An exquisite space of ambient afterglow…Something Will Land feels as if Page McConnell simply slipped behind his instruments and waited to get lost, arriving at a place for settling in amid all the world’s ever-increasing entropy.” McConnell launched into work on Something Will Land in the wake of his last album, Maybe We’re The Visitors. He ...

Lawrence Fall Tour Details—Revisit Their MendoWerks Interview

4Oct

By SimonNo Comments

Features, Interviews

Lawrence Fall Tour Details—Revisit Their MendoWerks Interview

After wrapping a string of high-energy shows supporting Lake Street Dive, Lawrence is ready to reclaim center stage. The soulful sibling-led collective is hitting the road this fall for a full headlining run in support of their breakout album Family Business, released last summer on Jon Bellion’s Beautiful Minds label. Beautiful Mind Records Known for their explosive live performances and tight eight-piece band, Lawrence has built a reputation for turning every show into a communal celebration. With Family Business—an album full of infectious hooks, emotional harmonies, and horn-driven grooves—the group continues to prove why they’re one of the most exciting live acts in modern pop-soul. Fall Tour The upcoming Family Business Tour kicks off on October 8 in Providence, RI, and w...

10Aug

By Ambur MasenNo Comments

Features, Interviews

Artist Spotlight: Shark4Sale

If you’re looking for a new artist to check out, then you’ve come to the right place: in this edition of 'Artist Spotlight', MendoWerks Magazine sat down with Swiss wave artist, Shark4Sale. You may recognize Shark4Sale from his releases with Liquid Ritual, Tribal Trap, and Wave City - or perhaps, through his participation in a few years’ worth of wave wardubs on SoundCloud. If you’re unfamiliar with Shark4Sale, then get yourself ready for some music that is perfect for feelsy, crying-in-the-club moments. In other words, one of the most intriguing things about his music is that no matter how much drama Shark4Sale manages to pack into a given song, there’s still this lovely, soothing undercurrent that’s present through much of his work. After spending some time with his discogra...

HMU on Music, Collaboration, Dont Die At Work, and More. [Exclusive Interview]

9Aug

By Ambur MasenNo Comments

Features, Interviews

HMU on Music, Collaboration, Dont Die At Work, and More. [Exclusive Interview]

Get ready to meet the Los Angeles-based electronic music producer HMU. Known for his unique blend of bass, hip-hop, twerk, and trap music, HMU is not only a great musician, but he’s also a graphic designer and the founder of Dont Die At Work, an online music community turned music label. HMU's most recent release is a grimy collaboration with London-based emcee, KXNE, called “Pages." It was released via FUXWITHIT earlier this summer. Check the new single out below. Previously a SoundCloud-based music collective, HMU recently relaunched Dont Die At Work as a full-fledged independent music label at the end of 2022. Through the label, he seeks to spotlight up-and-coming, boundary-pushing musicians as well as continue to foster an online community for artists. As as experienced des...

17Jul

By Ambur MasenNo Comments

Features, Interviews

Artist Spotlight: AYDO8

If you’re looking for a new artist to check out, then you’ve come to the right place: in this edition of 'Artist Spotlight', MendoWerks Magazine sat down with California-based multi-genre electronic music producer AYDO8. After spending some time with his discography, I can honestly say that AYDO8 jumped very quickly into my “Top 5 Wave Artists That I Need To See Live ASAP”–especially for an all-original set. It’s just banger after banger after banger. One thing that’s most notable is that AYDO8 truly knows how to maximize the dramatic impact of his vocal samples, like in “To The Edge.” Most recently, he released “Buried (waiting for you)” on Alter/Ego. which also displays this expert use of samples. Another personal favorite is his 2022 DEKTORA release, “Lets Go“. As a die-hard N...

Get to Know: Era Lø [Exclusive Interview]

12Jul

By Ambur MasenNo Comments

Features, Interviews

Get to Know: Era Lø [Exclusive Interview]

Earlier this year, we connected with Reno's own music producer, singer, virtual music festival founder, and mental health advocate, Era Lø. We chatted about her background in social services and how this experience has informed her artistry as well as about some exciting events she's been working on all summer, including her very own virtual music festival, which is scheduled for September. Coming up this month, Era Lø will be performing at Cypress in Reno as part of a Fem DJ Showcase on July 20, as well as during a benefit stream for Palestinian Families on Twitch on July 27. Without further ado, let's dive in. A Chat with Era Lø AM: Thanks for chatting with us! Would you please take a moment to introduce yourself to our MendoWerks readers? Era Lø: Hola Mariposa...

11Jun

By Ambur MasenNo Comments

Features, Interviews

Artist Spotlight: LYFFE

If you're looking for a new artist to check out, then you've come to the right place: in this first edition of MendoWerks Magazine's 'Artist Spotlight' column, we are highlighting LYFFE, an up-and-comer in Chicago's underground electronic music scene. Something we really appreciate about LYFFE is that he creates music that actually gets people dancing--even if, like me, they aren't the sort of folks who often dance. Throughout his discography, you will find nothing but high energy tunes that are going to inspire movement in one way or another. At the same time, despite the energy, some of his tracks retain that particular kind of moodiness generally found in the slower, softer OG wave music that's best saved for a deep listening session rather than the dance floor. As LYFFE has rel...

Saint Samuel Tells the True Story Behind New Song, “Hit and Run” [Exclusive Interview]

4Apr

By Ambur MasenNo Comments

Features, Interviews

Saint Samuel Tells the True Story Behind New Song, “Hit and Run” [Exclusive Interview]

"When the world is crazy, that's exactly what humans need the most: music."Sam mccoig (Saint Samuel) If you're looking for a fun pop-rock bop to jumpstart your Spring playlists with, then we invite you to check out "Hit and Run" by Saint Samuel. Based in Richmond, VA, Saint Samuel is a self-produced singer-songwriter whose roots in Americana and pop-punk meld together in interesting ways. This new song follows the artist's January EP, Going Through It, and in a way, is based on a true story. While the song itself is generally fun to listen to, with its catchy hook and playful transitions, the inspiration behind "Hit and Run" is anything but 'fun'. You can learn all about this song by reading our conversation with Saint Samuel, below. Listen to "Hit and Run" by Saint ...

On Glitch Art, Internet Music, & More: a Conversation with skxllflower [Exclusive Interview]

13Dec

By Ambur MasenNo Comments

Features, Interviews

On Glitch Art, Internet Music, & More: a Conversation with skxllflower [Exclusive Interview]

"I feel like I came home after taking a long trip around the music industry–I’ve realized I felt most at home working on tunes like this."- skxllflower If there's any Liquid Ritual release that you need to pay attention to this year, we truly believe that it's this one: "distance2" by skxllflower, a newcomer to the wave scene who has, to our surprise, only been at it for about three months. skxllflower's recent turn towards making wave music isn't the only surprise we ran into over the course of this exclusive interview with him, but it may have been the most shocking revelation, especially given just how good this new track is. See for yourself: check out "distance2" by skxllflower, via Spotify. "Are we dreaming?" "distance2" has this gorgeous, inimitable daydream-...

An Artist with a Boundless Vision: NOANNE on debut single “Goodwill”, AI-assisted creative process, and more [exclusive interview]

28Nov

By Ambur MasenNo Comments

Features, Interviews

An Artist with a Boundless Vision: NOANNE on debut single “Goodwill”, AI-assisted creative process, and more [exclusive interview]

The use of Artificial Intelligence in the arts is something that’s been heavily discussed online; that’s not news. If you’ve spent any time on Twitter in the last several months, you may have gotten lost in the “should/n’t” of it all—in visual arts, in publishing, in education, in music, in film, you name it. You may even remember the AI-related aspects of the SAG-AFTRA strikes, the results of which are believed to set a precedent for other industries moving forward. However, like with all hot topics on social media, we feel it’s important to dive into the details and have conversations about a topic in order to fully understand it. This belief led to us connecting with NOANNE, a Prague-based artistic multi-hyphenate who is able to “[shed] the veil of self-consciousness and [step] into the...