Whyd Presents: Austrian Singer-Songwriter James Hersey

All photos courtesy James Hersey’s Facebook Page

Hello James! How did your classical upbringing influence the music you make today?

Hi! I really didn’t like being forced to play by notation, but maybe some elements of discipline and focus filtered through from those times.

Walk us through the beginning of your songwriting. Where did your first inspirations come from?

In the beginning I covered a lot of stuff and copied everybody’s style, teaching myself to write songs on the side. Now I work a lot on my own stuff and look for cool covers to learn on the side.

Tell us about your upcoming, debut album “Clarity.” How long have you been working on it and who else played an instrumental role in making it a reality?

I worked towards “Clarity” for about one and a half years, though a couple of the songs are older than that. I guess the album wouldn’t exist at all without my manager Gonzalo at Manta Ray, my engineer Thomas at Puresound Recordings, and the entire team at Lichtdicht Records.

Who should listen to your new album? Fans of which other artists?

People with open ears and open minds! I think that fans of Coldplay, Foster The People, Phoenix, John Mayer, and The Police will dig it.

Where will you be playing live this year?

Germany, Austria, France, Canada, and the US!

Presenting the Eclectic Sounds of ZEN@

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A brand new artist, one who used Whyd as a tool to help start her career, presents herself after releasing her very first EP, say hello to ZEN@

Introduce yourself! 

I grew up in Shanghai, and went to the States for high school and college. I love wandering around, outdoors, tech and the cosmos. The most interesting thing to me at the moment is “time.” I like to think it as an object and pretending that some things in the scale of time are fixed. 

When did you start writing songs? Can you walk us through your songwriting process?

I started last fall when I was in Shanghai and traveling around Europe. I just write whenever I got an idea, and I picked four to make this album. They were all written in different ways. Both “SoundCloud" and "One Of A Million" had the chorus first, then I finished the whole songs weeks after. "Kairos" was written over an instrumental track that the producer Bravin, gave me. When I first heard this track, I had the melody of the song right away, so I just asked the producer if I can write a song over it. "Treasure Island" was fast. I wrote both the lyrics and melody in one morning. It’s not really or only about Pirates, but it’s based on an Oscar-winning documentary film.

I actually used Whyd to communicate ideas and inspirations with my producers. The playlist is the best feature for that!

Which artists have the strongest influence on your music?

Really a lot. I listen to a variety of very international music, from all over the world.

The strongest influence would be Sia. And even everything evolving around her music is so artistic.

Each of the 4 songs of your EP sound very different, what are some of the common themes that link them together?

Yes, they are! I wanted this album to have songs of very different styles initially, so it ended up like that. I worked with producers from three different countries to make them all sound different. I have many international friends and I love traveling. I guess it’s important for me to make music that has very diverse elements and feels like traveling. These four songs are still not enough to be diverse. It’s an experiment. It could be good or bad. A lot of the artists have their very distinctive music style, but I never want to have a specific style. I like changing, as long as the biggest goal is the true emotion with a good melody and lyrics.

One common theme is that they are all adventurous or about adventures.

Tell us about your song “SoundCloud.” What’s it about exactly?

It’s about graduation from college. I met many cool people in college. They have crazy hair, crazy outfit, crazy attitude, crazy dreams, and crazy cool everything. But when it’s their fourth year, everything changes. They cut their hair, start to wear black suits, delete all their social network accounts and hide in dorms to prepare for the next job interviews, mostly in finance or consulting. They said they want to work in those industries for two or three years. And afterwards, they would do whatever they are really passionate about. This is just blowing my mind.

Then I read two really good essays by Marina Keegan that talk about such phenomenon and graduation from college - “Even Artichokes Have Doubts” and “The Opposite Of Loneliness”. There are some references in “SoundCloud” from her essays. She was going to be a writer for The New Yorker, but died in a car accident just five days after her graduation from Yale in 2012. It’s really sad. She’s so talented and so inspirational.

What are your plans to develop and promote yourself in 2015?

I don’t know if I will have time to promote haha

The priority is to write more good music.

I definitely hope more people will hear my music. I am also designing and building some stuff. It is primarily about music, but it will also be some other things about creativity. I will probably share some of my crazy inventions there, too. I have more songs to be released very soon.

Thanks ZEN@!  

The Art of the Rework - The Avener Answers Your Questions [LONG FORM INTERVIEW]

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A heavily bearded technical team sets up instruments on a packed stage while multicolored lights reflect brightly from the walls of the popular French TV Show “C A Vous.” The kitchen of the hidden studio in the 11ème has elegant-looking appliances. Everything gleans in stark contrast to the rainy grey courtyard outside. 

The hubbub is all for their latest episode, featuring a true Whyd favorite: The Avener, whose track “Fade Out Lines" has been sitting in the top 10 of the Hot Tracks for months on end. It’s in a small office stocked with Mars bars to the side of the studio that we finally meet Tristan from Nice, the French artist who has just released his album "The Wanderings of The Avener,” and who is about to perform for the French public at large for the very first time. 

If he was nervous, it was transmuted into warm friendliness. He sits down, cigarette in hand, ready to answer the Whyd community’s questions. We have 10 minutes. The mic clicks on. 

This interview is translated from French. Tony Hymes for Whyd in bold. All photos, (except the selfie!) courtesy The Avener’s Facebook page.   

In your new album there are a lot of reworks. When you create a remix do you try to break something down, or do you try to build something on top of what exists? 

Tristan: That depends on the song that I use to do my rework. Sometimes I have to do a lot more, to change a lot of the arrangements, and sometimes just adding a bit of salt and pepper is all it takes to season the plate! So it depends, for example sometimes I’ll use a dozen or so tracks, and there are other times where I will use more than 50 tracks! 

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Let’s use your new remix of Rodriguez as an example. 

Tristan: Rodriguez’s (“Hate Street Dialogue”) was a song that was rather easy to create because the heart was already there. All I wanted to do was amplify the rock aspect and make it more appropriate for the club. For that one I used about a dozen tracks to modify it. 

How do you choose the songs that you remix?

Tristan: It’s really just music I like from my years as a DJ. With my DJ background I’ve played a lot of music, from funk to soul to house, and there are tracks that I can’t really play sometimes, because if I did it would empty the dance floor! So I tried to modify the tracks that I wanted to play, but wasn’t able to, and that’s how this album was born. 

You have a classic music formation, notably the piano, but it’s not something that we take from your latest album. So does that serve something for you?

Tristan: Classical music helps me with music in general, with the notes, understanding, and writing sheet music. For this album it helped from a technical standpoint, and didn’t really serve as a source of inspiration. Having a classical background is a big advantage to make music, but orchestrally speaking it’s difficult to bring that into this type of music. 

What do the artists that you remixed think of your remixes? Phoebe Killdeer (“Fade Out Lines”) for example? 

Tristan: She was the first test. Phoebe Killdeer loved the track, but at the beginning she didn’t want to have her name attached to it, because it wasn’t in her overall artistic direction. She was, however, really happy with it. For the other artists, some of whom were collaborators, like Rodriguez, they love it, so it’s a huge joy for me. 

Who are your influences? Who do you look up to? 

Tristan: My music comes from different places. I listen to a lot of music, I’m very eclectic, at home or when I’m DJing. There are a lot of artists that influence me. It’s true that I spent 10 years in classical music so I have a lasting adoration for Beethoven, and Bach, they are THE composers, and no one from today will arrive at their level, they have so much unique musicality. They are still my favorites to this day. 

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Are there artists that you don’t like? Maybe not artists, that might burn some bridges, but are there styles of music that you don’t like? 

Tristan: There are some genres that I appreciate a little bit less. But I am still a student of music, so when there is a style that I don’t like, I try to figure out what the artist was trying to do. I never say “that doesn’t sound good.” There are always good songs in every style of music, you just have to find them. 

You’re labelled as being deep house, but on the new album there is a lot more. Are there other styles that you are moving closer towards? A bit of folk maybe? 

Tristan: Yes! This album is sort of a voyage between different epochs and different styles. And finally I can re-vindicate my eclecticism because it’s not easy for an artist to be so diverse with their music to say “I make all music.” It’s complicated to say that. This album is about sharing, it’s surrounded by my influences, so it’s a journey among lot of different points.

Would you classify your music as being French? 

Tristan: I would like that! I definitely like the “French Touch” period, which had a big influence on me. But now do I bring anything new to this “French Touch” compared to other artists? I hope to have that energy. 

Now I have fans that come from all over the world, not just in France, like Germany, Switzerland, Australia, South Korea, there are lots of people that loved the first single, and that makes me happy! 

When you are aren’t making music, what do you do for fun?

Tristan: When I don’t make music I play music! :) 

I have a second passion, aviation, so I’m in the process of getting my private pilot’s license. 

Awesome! At least you’ll have a great soundtrack to fly to! 

Tristan: Voilà! 

Music Creation, Heartbreak + Intercontinental Collaboration: DYLLAN Interview

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Hello DYLLAN! How’s it going? Can you take us through a quick recap of your musical life? You’ve been at this since you were quite young! 

Hello! It’s going well, thank you! Yes, I’ve been writing songs since I was twelve and started playing shows in my hometown (Los Angeles) at fifteen. In high school I recorded my first EP and I recorded my second, “Anything But Scared,” my first year of college. 

I studied music there but I also studied film and literature. I lived in Paris for a year where I studied le cinéma français and le dessin. I played some shows there and connected with some great musicians. After college I moved to Brooklyn where I’m now living, producing music out of my apartment. 

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Why did you start writing music? Were you inspired by themes in your life? Or were you inspired by other musicians? 

My first influence (and constant idol) is Joni Mitchell. And Jeff Buckley. There is so much depth to their work - their lyrics are poetry. I had always wanted to sing but I was too shy, so I picked up a guitar first. Eventually I sang along, and then started writing my own stuff. To this day I am constantly writing songs, and yes, they are usually about heartbreak. 

Songwriting is therapeutic for me. It’s a necessity. I am not a diligent worker, though, so going out and seeing shows is what inspires me to sit down and write. Or to go out and play!

How did you start working with THYLACINE? How did you end up coming to Paris in the first place? 

As I said, I moved to Paris for my junior year abroad in college. Ironically, it wasn’t until after I had left that I discovered THYLACINE’s music and decided to contact him. I thought he might be interested in working with me and he was. This was how we did our first collaboration, “Distance.” I had written a song called “NYLAPARIS" and sent it to him. He took my vocals and composed original music around it. I think the result was quite beautiful and unique. 

Our second collaboration, “Closing" was yet another virtual collaboration but with the opposite arrangement - he sent me an instrumental track he had produced and I wrote, recorded and arranged the vocals at home in Brooklyn. I’m also very pleased with the result and amazed that he and I have still never met in person! I look forward to him making a trip to New York soon so we can fix that. 

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What can we look forward to from you in 2015?

I have quite a few projects to release this year! Notably, the single and music video for my new song “Moments Like These” will release in March. We funded the whole thing through Indiegogo so I am really excited to share it. Following that, I’ll release my next new single “Try” in April. Stay tuned and thanks so much! 

The Dreamy Electro Folk of Isaac Delusion [LONG FORM INTERVIEW]

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Rain patters quietly on the windows of La Fée Verte, a cozy café on the normally raucous Rue de la Roquette a few Eiffel Towers from Bastille. It’s late afternoon, some Parisians tap away their last work emails. The beer taps open for a couple of new arrivals. 

In through the door come two new visitors to the café, Loic and Jules, a.k.a. Isaac Delusion. Their friendliness is immediate. I explain to them that we had sourced questions from their fans on Whyd. They are excited to answer, at ease with anecdotes and information, outgoing and happy. 

The following is translated from French. Tony Hymes for Whyd in bold. All photos courtesy Isaac Delusion’s Facebook Page.    

Tell us about the origin of the group, was this originally something that kind of came together, or was it something that you were really trying to make work?

Jules: We have known each other since middle school in Vincennes, and we each made music in our own ways, we decided to do something together. 

And when you say “made music,” you played the violin? 

Jules: No, neither of us has a formal musical training, but Loic played the guitar, composed music, sang. He had a folk group. And I made electronic music, at home on my computer, making little tracks.

So it was really the desire to do something musical, not really something that came from the structure of formal musical training expectation. 

Jules: In fact we never thought about releasing an album, or how we would perform on stage. The music was between us, we saw each other on Sundays, went to the cinema, and afterwards made music together. 

So what was the first moment working together?

Loic: Jules had traveled a lot, and he had just come back from Australia, and I had advanced with my music group, and I started singing, because before then I didn’t sing, I just played the guitar. I started singing in a way that was heavily influenced by the jazz greats like Chet Baker, and Jules told me, “That sounds good! I like when you sing like that, let’s try to do something with it.” At the start it was just for fun. I went to his place, we played around for a few hours, singing “yogurt” and in doing that we succeeded in creating a song! 

What did you think about this first track? Did you think, “shit, we can share this with people?” 

Jules: I still love that first song, it has very few elements, it’s very simple, but it’s something that works. It’s really a chill track. Voice, guitar, a little beat. 

The style of your music is really the music of dreams, like a pillow on a Sunday morning, pleasant. Is that because you love to sleep? Or is it the style that you like the most? Or is it just because you’re really good at producing it? 

Jules: What I like in the music is a mix of grooves, sexy rhythms, and dreaminess, the mix of these emotions is something that I like to create. 

Loic: I think it’s also just the mix that we make, Jules has ideas that develop around the things that are more groovy, hip hop, soul. And I am a bit more indie, electro, listening to a lot of Postal Service. The more we listen to this type of music the more we get towards the groovier side, or listening to Thom Yorke, things where there is rhythm but it’s still floating. 

Yeah, it’s not music that’s really well-defined, crystalline, it’s more nebulous. 

Loic: Yes, that’s it!

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In about a month, you are going to play at the Olympia. You’ve already played at some awesome venues in Paris but the Olympia is still a rather mythical place. How do you feel about that concert? 

Loic: Create magic, that’s the most important.

Jules: We are going to try to deserve it. Do something that aligns with our styles: dreamy, mystique, nebulous. Something that comes out of the water. 

Is there pressure?

Jules: Yes there is a bit of pressure, but we don’t really feel it that way. 

Loic:  There is also the thing that because it’s the Olympia, we have to make sure that we are perfect, we have to come well-dressed, but the best way to succeed at a concert is to not stress, but to think about it as only happiness. For you, and for the people that are going to come and listen to you. If you think about things like “The Beatles played here…” no, you have to be cool. The music is cool, the music is relaxed, we have to be the same. 

Jules: That’s true, and in talking about the big venues, Trianon, etc. They were concerts where there was a pressure, it’s your head on the flyer, it’s a big room, and when we feel that stress we have the impression that it doesn’t go as well. We aren’t in the pleasure of the moment. As soon as there is a bit of stress there are emotions that become parasites, and we can’t let that block us when we plan for the concert at Olympia. 

You have to remain faithful to the music, it’s already made, so stick to it. Share the happiness. 

Loic: Voilà

We have a couple of questions from your fans about your cover of Lou Reed’s “Take A Walk on the Wild Side.” Which was a Whyd track of the weekend. How did you approach this cover? Where did the idea come from?

Loic: It was a track that I always listened to, it’s a monument. It’s true that I just started to pick up my guitar and I found the chords by ear. I started singing along and my girlfriend was behind me and she said “I really like how that sounds, that’s really cool. It’s great how you sing it.” So I thought OK! And I recorded the piece in one take that evening with my son singing along in his baby talk. 

In fact that’s the second question from your fans, because people didn’t recognize your voice. 

Loic: That was because my son, who has started to speak little words, was going “bah, bah, bah” and at the beginning I wanted to remove it. But I shared it with Jules and a few other friends and they said no! Keep it! 

Jules: It’s going to be difficult for the royalty payments…:)

After how well that cover worked out, do you plan on doing more of them? Maybe in the same style?

Loic: You know, with the Lou Reed cover, I thought it was a little presumptuous to take on a huge track like that. So I think the best way to approach a cover is to make it simple. Try to build something that works on top of the song that’s already been created, respecting it. 

Is that the same idea with remixes? Because you remixed La Fille aux Cheveux de Soie by Fránçois and the Atlas Mountains. Or is that something different?

Jules: To make a remix is to do something different, to leave the realm of the song for something different. It’s not the same as a cover. 

And do you continue to make remixes? There are demands now from fans to release new music. Do you feel like you have to release things?

Jules: No, not really. We’re going to release a new single very soon, that’s just a little track so that we continue to write and release music. We still do a few remixes, not a ton, but yes a few. We’ve got a new one coming out soon. You can’t disappear for too long. 

Loic: I think that the evolution of music is a path. It’s starting to become like a free-for-all, as soon as artists have ideas they communicate all the time, they release EPs, albums, there aren’t rules anymore. I think for us we try to stay in the cycle of creativity, always with new ideas but not necessarily thinking about the marketing behind it. 

Jules: And as soon as we do a track we can always find things wrong with it so we have to push it out otherwise it will never be released! 

Loic: I’m a huge fan of Sufjan Stevens, in terms of productivity the guy is incredible, he’s always releasing stuff and I appreciate his generosity. 

Last question. When you’re not making music, what do you do for fun? 

Jules: We love the cinema. 

Loick: Yesterday we went to see Whiplash, it was incredible. 

WiseSound - Playlist Series, Live Reviews + Albums of the Month [INTERVIEW]

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Hello! When did you start WiseSound? How did you get the idea?

Hello Whyd! Before I was in the habit of sending a bunch of MP3s of new discoveries in electro-pop, rock, or techno-house in monthly emails to about 50 of my friends, along with a list of concerts coming up that month with the question: “who’s coming with me?” Basically it was to share my new favorites and have some company when I went to see their shows… The lists got longer and longer and a few people recommended that I put it online. WiseSound has existed since January 2014. It’s our first birthday! 

You do a lot of live reviews on WiseSound. What are the fundamental parts of a good live review? Do you ever give bad live reviews?

To give a great show, you need emotion. Whether it’s the crazy jumps of Birth of Joy or the crystal voice of Goldfrapp with a classical orchestra, the performance must be felt like a trance that connects the group to their audience. I try not to be objective, that’s not the goal, but to be faithful to what I’m witnessing in that moment. I even admit sometimes to shedding a tear, completely transported. 

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I also write when I am disappointed about shows, when I was bored with the nonchalance of The Drums or the last sloppy performance of WhoMadeWho who seemed like they preferred to have fun rather than playing their tracks properly. I describe the scene but also the audience, and in doing that there are also a couple of fun bits that come out of it all. 

For festivals, I would like to do more video reports like for the Plages Electroniques but I don’t have a good camera yet! Check this out! 

How do you pick which album of the month to review? 

Now that is purely subjective. The album of the month is supposed to be the album where I appreciate every track without skipping any of them. For example I didn’t find an album like this between the new Black Strobe in October and the Ghost Culture album in January, so I didn’t do the feature. 

Sometimes, I feature an album that’s not very recent, like PVT's album from 2013 for example, where I just absolutely had to talk about it, so much had I listened to it enthusiastically on repeat. Taking a step back, I realize that these are usually very rich albums presenting sonic research or unexpected rhythms, and an explosive mix of multiple genres. The group must not close itself into producing the same pop track from 1 to 12, that's boring as hell. So that's why I love groups like Bot’Ox, those who touch everything and with verve! Everything that stays in my electro-pop, rock, and techno-house head, of course. 

How do you select tracks for your playlist series WiseList? Who should listen to these playlists? 

Everyday, I listen to the latest releases and the small lines in festival line ups to find new tracks, I also keep up to date with magazine, blogs, and other publications. And as soon as one resonates with me, hop! I add it to Whyd. Then I go through those tracks every two weeks cutting out everything except for 20 straight up bombs. 

Who should listen to WiseLists? Well everyone in the world, of course! The alternative rock barflies, just like the dancers at electro parties, or people let down by what’s on FM wavelengths. Maybe even people with a penchant for underground or those who are sick of commercial dance and R&B.

From the synth-pop to the house-techno passing by rock, the specter is rather large to please everyone. Dare to discover something else: very talented artists who need you to hear them or simply to continue to create!

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Do you have any plans for 2015 and beyond?  

For the moment the project is still small and new but ideas are coming together. Maybe starting to build a voluntary team, constructing partnerships around events, finding a webmaster to improve the site and propose different interactions between visitors, bring in video formats for interviews. I’ve received a few propositions, need to consider them… In any case, I will continue to promote people that deserve it and I will try to bring more and more people with me to concerts using contests with free places to win! 

Milky Chance Interview: Passion, Spontaneity, and Creating “Sadnecessary”

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You know their song “Stolen Dance,” you know how well it rhymes with their name, but what else do you know about Milky Chance? The German duo answers your questions in this Whyd interview:  

Your humble beginnings are well-documented. When you were in your home-made studio cutting “Sadnecessary" what were your realistic expectations?

We did not have any expectations. We just enjoyed the time making music and producing. There was nothing special we wanted to achieve. Music was just always our passion! 

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How long had you been writing the songs on “Sadnecessary?” The depth of the lyrics implies that they are polished, or were those songs more spontaneous?

Stolen Dance took two and half years to write! We had some parts very early but the rest came to us very late. But there were other songs who came into existence in the studio within 15 minutes. In whole the album took us about two years… in any case, sometimes there are these strong feelings that make you write a song in a very short time. 

You probably get asked this all the time, but where does the name Milky Chance come from?

There is no story behind the name but there are often days when we ask ourselves how we came up with this stupid name :)

It was just that we had always several bands where we played, and we had written down some potential names and there came the day we had to choose one - we decided spontaneously! 

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What was the best concert you have ever attend?

One of the best we’ve been to was the concert of James Blake, last December. 

What was it like to perform at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC?

It was our first gig in the USA, so a very big step for us! 

Collective Soul: Playlist of Reference

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Another week, another installment in our new series delivering you trendy subgenre Playlist of References curated with love and attention from our community of music lovers. But it’s not enough just to accept the music, we also want the story behind the curation. This week it’s Collective Soul curated by the creator of Underground Playlist, Sal Cannata.  

When did you start listening to Collective Soul?

Collective Soul is a recent addition to my playlist catalogue on Whyd. Soul music has always been one of my favorite genres and I have seen a big change in how it has been implemented in music the past several years. Generally when one thinks of Soul they tie it in with R&B but with all the cross-genre experimenting going on, a lot of Soul-based music has translated into a unique style of Indie music that touches the boundaries of other genres. Despite the different genre influences of these particular songs they all sound so right when placed next to each other. I thought it would be great to put together a sample of this kind of music that we feature on Underground Playlist and showcase a new wave of Soul music to the Whyd community.

Did you ever have a moment when you felt like Collective Soul started speaking to you?

Totally. I live for this kind of music. Soul singers bring a lot of passion to each lyric. The artists in these songs have a great way of conveying emotion and I connect with that a lot. It seems like whether these particular songs contain certain elements of Pop, Rock, R&B, or Electronic, the aspect of Soul brings everything together and connects with me in a big way.

What are some example situations when you would listen to this playlist yourself?

I find that the overall tone of this playlist centers around relaxation. That could be useful in pretty much any situation except for maybe the dance club. For me, I’ve found this playlist to be a great listen towards the end of the day as things wind down. Everyone listens to music differently so this playlist can be used for all sorts of things like during work, cooking dinner, lounging with your friends, the list goes on!

If you had to choose just one track from this playlist, which one would be your favorite?

It’s hard to choose just one track out of the 80+ in the playlist. From a Whyd experience the Robin Schulz remix of “Waves” is one of my favorite finds on Whyd. I remember just browsing around and clicking on the song to see what it was about and instantly became a fan. I love how a bootleg can turn into a mainstream hit a year or so later. It’s rare and awesome that I was able to witness that journey early in the game. When I would hear the song on the radio in front of my friends I’d make sure to let them know how long ago I first heard this song and where I found it. Thanks for the bragging rights Whyd! :)

From a more musical standpoint, Ben Howard’s cover of Keisza’s song “Hideaway” blows me away every time. I love how an artist can flip a song and give it a brand new feel. A few others that never get old to me are Jordan Bratton - “The Grey,” Harper - “Animal,” Shy Girls - “Renegade,” Ari Lennox - “Bound,” The Prince Fox remix of Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me,” and the newly added Kevin Garrett - “Coloring.” There are so many that I love but those are some standouts in this playlist. Stay tuned as I plan to update Collective Soul with new additions as time goes on!   

Thanks Underground Playlist! Check out the personal account of the creator of Underground Playlist, Sal Cannata for more Indie Soul and extra tracks! 

Selecterz: Playlists by Artists You Love

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Hey Pierre! How’s it going? Can you tell us about the main goal of Selecterz?

Hello Whyd! Everything is really good. The year started strong with the launch of the new version of Selecterz. The idea is simple: artists that I like make selections to share so I can discover new music. The site also proposes playlists, music videos, a focus on record labels, music channels, magazines. The goal: offer the best of what’s being made today, without being limited to style, and to guide music lovers through the vast desert that is the internet. 

How do you choose the artists that make playlists for you?

It’s just the artists that I like. There is no logical choice. The feeling that leads to it cannot be described. It comes from everyone. It’s also the feeling that makes me want to share. Know who listens to what. Smile when listening to certain tracks. Realize that an artist will be able to add tracks to their playlist that are completely separated from their universe. I tend to say that we are what we listen to, and I want to share these “stolen” moments, where we can get into the artist’s head for a few seconds. These playlist are also the best way to discover new tracks. 

Tell us about the new design for the site!

The new version is more user-friendly. You can finally search for the artists and playlists by style, shuffling from one style to another, learn about an artist, listen to their tracks on Soundcloud, YouTube, Deezer, and Spotify, and share them on Whyd! I wanted to make the site more visual, more attractive, and offer fast access to music without having to search. 

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What are your objectives for 2015?

Keep evolving the site, developing new functionalities, welcoming new collaborators, and continued to make people discover new music from the ears of the artists. 

Follow Selecterz on Whyd and Like Selecterz on Facebook. 

After Being Separated From His Homeland By War, Batida Finds His Link Back To Angolan Afrobeat [LONG FORM INTERVIEW]

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In a small restaurant tucked behind République, the Melotron radio is stationed. There are tables, small and square, and the typical chairs that stud brasseries across this country. Colorful macaroons wait atop the bar. The kitchen is still cleaning the remnants from the lunch hour. Team Melotron is setting up the gopro to stream the upcoming set. Featured today: Batida, an Angolan-Portuguese musician whose energy is as apparent in his music as it is in his manner. 

Few interviews flow so naturally. He starts talking, a running stream of autobiographical information, Angolan history, and of course, music: both the music he makes and the music he loves. We start at the very beginning.

Tony Hymes for Whyd in bold, all photos property of Whyd.  

I grew up in Lisbon, but I’m from Angola. Because of the war my family went to Portugal or Brazil. The war was supposed to last a few years, but it started before I was born, and it ended 30 years after. That marks my growth. It’s reflected in how I deal with everything. You are in a different place, but the people around you all came from Angola. You keep listening to all of these stories, the music, the food, it’s all different at home vs. everywhere else. So it’s kind of growing into different realities. When you get to a teenage age you want to be involved in the place you are, you don’t connect with your parents stories anymore, now your friends are from here. Why should you keep listening to their old music when people are listening to new music?

When the war ended I had the chance to go back to Angola, almost in the same year and then I could understand a lot of things that I had in me that I was trying to avoid, or overlook, but it was impossible, certain sounds of guitars melodies, still today if I’m not aware it makes me creep. 

It’s like your mother’s music, something you dont want to listen to it, but after all this time I’m happy to listen to this music. 

Did you recognize a lot of it when you went back? 

Yeah, certain songs are historical, when you are a kid you don’t get the lyrics. A pop record from the 70s I listened to a lot as a kid, the lyrics were about going back, tomorrow we will go back. This is one of the most listened to songs at my house, I thought it was fun, Brazilian style from Angola, and one of the artists was a friend of the family. But now when I listen to the track I can understand what it’s takling about, going back to specific situations that people relate to. It’s very human, talks about very specific things. It has to do with the warmth of people, the look in the eye, the fact that people touch a lot, the hugs, social dancing. 

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Does that warmth get into your latest album?

Definitely I try to get close to the people I work with, I try not to work with people that I don’t know only if I’m as close in other terms like with Fránçois and the Atlas Mountains. I didn’t know them but I got so involved with the record that when I finished the song I felt it was something special, and I met them afterwards, and played with them, and it made sense since they are so sweet, especially Fránçois. 

For the first track I found this old afro beat from Angola. When people think of afro beat they dont think of Angola. They think of Nigeria and I heard this vinyl from the 70s, an afro beat without drums, but it is afro beat. And I felt so happy because its something I’ve been tracing back to the 70s in Luanda, when it was a modern, cosmopolitan city, aiming for social and culture revolution, you can find a lot of modern things that I feel proud of there. 

The image that most people have of African cities is mostly crime, messy, or they aim for the ethnic or exotic look, it’s not something that’s very well promoted: sophistication. A city is a city, new things happen, a new synthesis happens, and in Angola specifically there is a new energy, the fact that the city was more modern, more modern even than Lisbon, makes me inspired. Like pretending to go back before the war started, how would you do it differently? Let’s go back and do it the right way, one people one nation, but there were lots of things that were missed, especially in music.

Instead of embracing the influences, the ruling parties nominated Simba as the national music, and lots of people were killed. I like to go back and find that moment, so I found that record, I played around with some beats, and I got to know the author of the sample. I am very happy when I am able to hug the sample, to play that song for a person, and to see their reaction, if it’s something he can feel passionate about too. 

Mataditi heard the first seconds and he said I thought there is a technical problem, and I said it was like that, and he made a strange face, and the music starts and he starts dancing, and he calls his wife and she comes and starts dancing, and they start laughing with each other, happy that something new was created with his music. 

When I was a kid and my family would get together, I would get all the kids and put on shows with choreography and I’ve done that for 20 years, it was something passionate about that. When I see a small child I pay a lot of attention because I think that most of our personality and character are already there, your ambition, the most important things are there. Then sometimes life pulls you in different ways. It happened like that for me, I was not growing up in my context, I was a bit mixed. But I’m happy it happened that way because I can relate to people in Lisbon, in Luanda, in Paris. So it’s great. Sometimes I feel like I have the ability to translate everyone to everyone. That’s what I try to do naturally. 

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I think your music appeals more widely than music that’s more focused on a specific genre. You have this big world sound, to take the “batida,” which is Brazilian Portuguse for the drink meaning “shake,” it’s a big world sound, does that come from the name batida?

The name has to do with this imaginary growing up, hearing about adults talking about something else, that you don’t connect to, you can’t know what they are talking about so you imagine. It’s like when it’s winter and rains, but in a place where when it rains it’s fantastic, and people don’t know what that means. There is a dark side of that too before the independence. 

The planet is not on the same level around the world, but you have a lot of apartheids still going, and people just over look it. It’s related to those memories, but it’s also that batida is the name that everyone gives to a compilation. People’s favorite mixes that are sold on the street. You would put your own track on the batidas to get to the masses. Musicians going to curators and saying, “put me on the next pirate tape!” 

I said if I did something it would be to showcase others, and also if no label appears I will do it anyway. That was the main inspiration for the beginning of the project. It started as a radio show, let’s make a track, let’s promote artists. But then it evolved to music. I used the same software, Ableton Live, to make the radio show and I make music with it. 

I used to make radio shows since I was 16 and that was what has occupied my life. My stepfather was a jazz musician. I listened to music everyday, people playing bass in the living room. But since my relationship wtih him was not positive I stayed away from music, but eventually I couldn’t stay away. 

I started experimenting mixing things, sounds, then mixing tracks, and eventually there was a track Bazooka that came out of those experiments and the feedback was so great that maybe the way would be showcasing music of others or provoking producers with my other attempts to do things in a different way. 

I relate a lot to that more organic approach. Organic is a very strange word, but people said organic is like, an egg. When I say organic it’s more about looking for the life inside of that record or person. I could trace that in some productions but the majority was going after the world to conquer it, something that will never happen. 

Has the reception been notably different in Angola than Europe? How do Angolans view you? As a native son or foreign? 

I was worried about that actually, I show these tracks to friends and the biggest compliments I have were from the people where this music was produced and they didn’t believe me that I made the track, and I had to show them, and in the end they say “wow this guy actually did it!” And I feel organically related with everyone, to the place I was born, it’s not an album I made, this is something that only an Angolan could have made. Angolans pick out these little moments and it’s a bit sad because it sounds nationalistic but I like that I can push some of their buttons and relate personally to them. I like to do that in Angola, but I like to do that in Paris too, it’s about bringing people together, not separating people. 

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What are your expectations from your latest album? Is this a step in the process of making more albums? 

I have a couple of other things I’m working on. I never thought to make just one album. I thought about doing two albums then do radio or documentaries, but the way that I’m able to do everything, docs, dances, radio, producing videos, I’m not just making records I’m doing everything.

I’m not subtracting but I’m adding forms of expression, so for me that’s fine, if I could keep doing everything that’s fine. For me everything is related, communicated, and in terms of music its about the rhythm and bringing people together to dance. 

And developing as a person, I’m not focused on commercial success, but the focus is to keep it going naturally, and in a way that’s possible, real, heartfelt. 

Do you have other hobbies? 

Helping other artists, helping on video shoots, photo shoots, to be involved but not on a professional level.

And the sea, I need to be near the sea.  

Buy Batida’s latest album on iTunes!