Los Angeles based duo Freedom Fry has shared their retro-inspired official video for recent single “Classic,” pulled from their long-awaited debut album Classic out June 1st. Featuring models Madison Paige (profiled in The New York Times) and Jayden Robison, the video is co-directed by the band and Ryan Lumley.
Freedom Fry previously shared their video for “Wild Child,” teasing another track that will appear on their debut album this summer. Following a series of shows at SXSW and a live session with KUTX, the band will bring their kinetic energy to a hometown show in Los Angeles on 4/10 at Moroccan Lounge.
See my post about Freedom Fry from last year, here.
Composed of Parisian-born Marie Seyrat and Michigan-born Bruce Driscoll, Freedom Fry has independently amassed over 50 million streams on Spotify and earned numerous #1 appearances on HypeMachine. They recently shared a #girlpower version of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ “Man On Fire,” which is featured in the new animated film from Intuit, racking up over 20 million views to date. Freedom Fry’s music, which heavily bleeds the warmth and sunshine of their home state of California, skirts the lines between pop, folk, and alt rock and can be heard in over 50 films, shows, and commercials including Judd Apatow’s Love, Showtime’s Shameless, Grey’s Anatomy, and in high-profile ads for fashion labels such as Lanvin and Madewell. They have performed in Europe and throughout the U.S. with the likes of Stromae, Phantogram, and X Ambassadors.
Pittsburgh’s thriving culture of innovation and some of the most cutting-edge tech and art from around the country will be showcased across 100,000-square-feet of free exhibits, demos, and interactive experiences during the fourth annual Thrival Innovation + Music Festival, from September 20-24, 2016.
In just three short weeks, the Thrival Innovation + Music Festival will welcome its most ambitious lineup to date for its two-day live outdoor music experience — headlined by Billboard #1 artist The Chainsmokers, as well as CHVRCHES, Thievery Corporation, Ty Dolla $ign, Metric, Lettuce, and more. Set times below.
The Chainsmokers and CHVRCHES will co-headline Friday night, with the Scottish electro-pop group hitting the stage at 9:00 PM and the meteoric rising DJ duo will close out the night, beginning at 10:30 PM. Festival mainstay funk outfit Lettuce, summertime scion Sir the Baptist, and Pittsburgh-native (and Chainsmokers collaborator) Daya will also perform, with notable local acts Meeting of Important People and the Bastard Bearded Irishmen opening the festival.
Thievery Corporation closes out Thrival 2016 on Saturday night with a full 20-piece ensemble to mark their first visit to the Steel City in their 20-year history. The band of “Thieves” will begin their headline set at 9:30 PM. Recent MTV Video Music Award-winner Ty Dolla $ign performs at 8:15 PM, immediately prior to alt-indie darlings, Metric, who kick-off their set at 9:15 PM. Rubblebucket and Wild Child bridge the afternoon with a marquee early evening set by DJ/producer Hudson Mohawke that starts at 7:00 PM. Wu-Tang Clan member Cappadonna and syndicate group Killarmy will perform with the WuLords and Ezekiel XI on a unique national/local collaboration. For an early afternoon dose of EDM, rising stars The Cheat Codes will get the crowd going at 2:15 PM. Brooke Annibale, Chalk Dinosaur, Beauty Slap, and Balloon Ride Fantasy round out a strong local showing for Pittsburgh.
The two-day show is hosted at the historic Carrie Furnaces, a national historic site just minutes outside of Pittsburgh. A 125-foot-tall blast furnace will serve as a dramatic backdrop between two stages, with performance times staggered so festival-goers do not miss an act.
“So often, festival-goers pay top dollar to attend these events, and they’re forced to choose between multiple acts they very much want to see but can’t due to time overlaps. As such, the experience has a built-in sacrifice for attendees, even though they are paying promoters for the full experience. It’s our approach to ensure that each performer has the stage to themselves, and the audience can celebrate the entire lineup, from beginning to end,” says Thrival Executive Producer, Dan Law.
According to Martin Potozcny, Thrival’s Creative Director and CEO of LUXE Creative, the music is only part of the experience.
“The moment you pass through the gates of a music festival you’re struck with the sensation that you’re on the cusp of a remarkable experience. Our goal is to tap into the deep emotional current that music evokes, and we have a unique opportunity to transport each and every individual to a world where all of their senses are engaged. Whether this is a concert goers’ first festival or tenth, at the forefront of our mind is creating an experience that inspires, surprises and engages — it will be a transformative experience that can only be described as the magic of being part of a growing international festival,” says Potoczny.
On the innovation side of things—- for the first time this year, the festival will transform over one hundred thousand square feet at Nova Place and Alloy 26 — a former indoor/outdoor mall and Woolworth’s five-and-dime — as its home base for its Thrival Innovation programming. A 14,000 square foot “Innovation Hall” will feature highlights from experiential electronic music collaborations through smart devices (CEEMI) to live demos by noted Pittsburgh chefs of a new hands-free cooking assistant app (Yes, Chef). This will be paired with an outdoor “Innovation Playground” that includes aesthetically graffitied demolition derby cars (PGH Art Car), adaptive sports games for people of all abilities (Find Some Flow), and a mobile office bus equipped with 3-D printing, laser engraving, and robotics (Tech Tank).
“The debut of Innovation Hall and the Innovation Playground this year will take Thrival to an exciting new level — offering festival-goers and city residents alike a chance to experience some of the most dynamic art and tech from Pittsburgh and from around the country,” says Law.
“We started with a blank slate of huge spaces on the North Side of Pittsburgh. We took on the challenge of transforming it into an alternate universe — and definitely an experience people won’t forget,” says Kenny Chen, Thrival’s Director of Innovation.
Highlights include:
Tinker with and explore how “old” synth technology is inspiring new generations of music creators with music industry stalwarts Roland, Pittsburgh Modular, and Novation while engaging with Shutterstock Music, SpaceoutVR, and OpenArc in Thrival’s interactive tech tent.
Pick up official merch through Pittsburgh-based street wear pioneers 412 partner with Thrival for the first time this year, introducing a brand new line of festival gear aimed at a new generation of culture creators, athletes, musicians, and original thinkers.
Participate in an eclectic mix of DIY projects led by Kelly Malone, founder of award-winning makerspace Workshop SF, who is returning from California’s Bay Area to reboot in Pittsburgh with Workshop PGH (tagline “Drink Beer. Make Stuff.”).
Experience awe-inspiring industrial production through live iron pours on the concert site with Rivers of Steel Arts.
Multimedia troupe Squonk unveil a first-time artistic collaboration of the group’s “Pneumatica” structure paired with the both quirky and surreal “Cycle Sonic” performance.
“…the first single, “Sea of Dreams,” an ethereal torch song that showcases Mr. Kittrell’s haunting KD-Lang-esque vocals, exploded on the Web.” – New York Times
“…I love the threat of a trance song lurking beneath such sleepy-eyed vocals…” – FADER
“…Sea of Dreams, which channels The Smiths with it’s dreamy, light dada-rock production – think soft, romantic rock that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. His debut EP ranges from playful to emotional, but always leaves you impressed.“ – Disco Naïveté
“My dreams are never like Chris Kitrell’s “Sea of Dreams,” but I wish they were.” – NPR’s Bob Boilen
After releasing their critically acclaimed self-titled debut EP in June, Baby Alpaca has spent time in Los Angeles (opening for Best Coast) and recorded and played in Seattle, Portland, Chris’ hometown Cincinnati and their home in New York for the CMJ Festival.The band is working on a full-length album, but before that they’ll release the Strictly Sexual EP on March 2nd via Atlas Chair. The EP consists of remixes by Shaun J. Wright & Alinka, Druzzi from The Rapture, Alex Suarez & Illyse / aka asis, Turbotito, TheArtSnobs and WYNN from Twin Shadow and showcases a wide emotional landscape around the gorgeous original song structures.
Today, NOWNESS has premiered the Chris Kittrell directed music video for “Sea of Dreams” (Turbotito Remix) which you can see here.
Last year, Vice’s NOISEY premiered the official “Wild Child” music video directed by Brian Leckrone and Adrian Stucker in the outskirts of Palm Springs in between the Coachella weekends. You can hear two brand new tracks “Island of Love” and “When I See You Again” in their recent Daytrotter session HERE.
When trying to identify the music made by NYC band Baby Alpaca, it’s perhaps easier to try and figure out what the music is NOT. Judging by the music on the band’s first proper EP, it’s easy to say that this is definitely not your standard indie rock fare: an autoharp is involved, as well as both live and programmed beats and a smattering of guitars. The music eschews any musical tropes typically assigned to wispy bedroom electronica, beardy folk music, or the new wave of alternative R&B, but it could perhaps exist as a distant cousin to all of those things. Buoyed aloft by the winsome vocals of front man Chris Kittrell and shaped by the guitar styling of Zach McMillan, Baby Alpaca make music that is both romantic, vaguely tropical, and sufficiently futuristic—music that seems born of a million dramatic road trips that might provide a suitable soundtrack for a million more.
The four songs on the Baby Alpaca EP make for a striking, remarkably blissed-out statement of intent. The EP’s first single, “Sea of Dreams” (whose Dada-esque video premiered earlier this year via NPR.org) is as fitting an introduction as any band could hope to have: all echo-chamber vocals that seem to be haunted by reverby guitar lines and gently-played piano notes that drift through the song like ghosts. Tracks like “Wild Child” and “On The Roam” evoke a palpable sense of modern restlessness, something that permeates all of Baby Alpaca’s music. It’s a feeling that Kittrell attributes to his own meandering youth—a time spent experimenting, studying, travelling, and trying to locate his own creative voice.
“A lot of this music is about running away,” explains Kittrell, “I don’t mean that in a escapist kind of way, but more in terms of exploration. So much of my life has been about running away from tradition and traditional ways of thinking, which seeps into the music we make together. It’s about discovery. It’s not so much about running away from something bad, but rather running towards something really beautiful.”
Baby Alpaca continues to turn heads with their sublime use of sound and vision, both in a live setting and via the creation of new songs and video productions.
Baby Alpaca – Strictly Sexual remix EP track list:
01. Run With You (Druzzi Remix)
02. Run With You (asis Remix)
03. Wild Child (WYNN Remix)
04. Sea of Dreams (Turbotito Remix)
05. Wild Child (Shaun J. Wright & Alinka Remix)
06. Wild Child (TheArtSnobs Remix)
Musically Amusing 