RECENT ARTICLES

Seattle-based producer Jake One (aka Jacob Dutton), is a legend in the hip-hop community. Drake, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, De La Soul, Brother Ali, 50 Cent, and Macklemore are just some of the names featured on his extensive music catalog. Jake, who has been in the scene for nearly two decades, has also worked with other up-and-coming local artists like Parisalexa and Travis Thompson. His output is often comprised of epic-yet-soulful compositions born from his own instrumentation and samples found on records from around the world. Talk to anyone in Seattle who loves hip-hop and Jake is at the top of their collaborative wish list. Ten years ago, he released his acclaimed solo album, White Van Music, and to celebrate the anniversary of the release, we caught up with the producer to talk about his love of music, how his career began, and why he continues to work with many new artists.

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Josiah Johnson, co-founder of the Seattle Americana group The Head and the Heart, has dealt with a lot of change in his life. From discovering a type of musical magic with the band’s co-founder, Jonathan Russell, ten years ago to playing on stage to thousands of people to leaving the group to get sober to working through new songs and a new solo career path, Johnson has had to adapt many times over. But now, feeling more confident in his own skin, Johnson is setting out to play shows – including one tonight at Ballard’s Hotel Albatross – and release a new solo record in 2019. We caught up with Johnson to preview the upcoming gig and talk about the new record and much more.

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George Clinton has mastered the musical ecosystem. He knows how to adapt. He knows how to push the right buttons to send the right message. And he’s a legend as a result. For the man who helped invent funk music, leading a band is as much about delegating as it is standing in front of the mic and moving a crowd. As a result, he’s helped many careers blossom and blossom again. Clinton, who will perform in Seattle Tuesday and Wednesday at the Neptune Theater, took the time to talk with KEXP about his history as a musician and what he remembers most about being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, being a barber in New Jersey, and how he’s ended up portrayed in so many famous cartoons.

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Columbus, Ohio-based music producer, RJD2, aka Ramble Jon Krohn, is one of the world’s most accomplished music producers. The musician burst onto the international scene in 2002 with his debut solo record, Deadringer, with hits like “The Horror,” “Smoke & Mirrors” and “Ghostwriter.” In other words, if you were a hip-hop head in the early 2000s, his music was a part of your everyday soundtrack. The songs from the album are so beloved that you can still hear them in both clubs and national commercials to this day. His most recent solo album, Dame Fortune, came out in 2016, but earlier this year, he released the album Tendrils, his second LP under the alias The Insane Warrior.

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On December 6th, Moby, the legendary songwriter and music producer, will grace the stage of Seattle’s McCaw Hall for an intimate-yet-sweeping orchestral performance that will showcase his many career hits. The night, which will feature members of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra and Emil de Cou conducting, will most assuredly be memorable, epic, and one-of-a-kind. To preview the event, we wanted to catch up with Moby (aka Richard Melville Hall) and ask him about the performance, which will also be included in an upcoming documentary. The film, which will look unflinchingly at the repercussions of fame and material success, is set for release in 2019. In addition, we asked Moby about his choice to go sober, what opening a vegan restaurant in L.A. has taught him about people, and why he loves collaborating with musicians from the Pacific Northwest.

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Michael Franti is a generous soul. Franti — who is coming to the Moore Theatre on Monday, November 19th to debut his documentary, Stay Human, and play an acoustic set — is thoughtful and talkative when it comes to questions about anxiety and depression, spreading joy and listening to people’s stories. As someone who has battled mental illness, Franti says he’s learning more and more to lean into connecting with people, rather than keeping isolated in his art. Along his world tours, Franti says he tries to inspire the people he meets, advising them to channel the energy of their pain and push forward as the world seems to be crumbling all around us. And to preview Monday’s event, we caught up with Franti and asked him about the new album and movie, what his goals are for the works, and why he doesn’t ever wear shoes.

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Sean Daley is the rapper, Slug. And Slug is one half of the Minneapolis, Minnesota, hip-hop group, Atmosphere, which released its latest LP, Mi Vida Local, on October 5th. With an upcoming national tour slated for the group, which includes a stop in Seattle at the Showbox SoDo on March 2nd, we thought we should catch up with Atmosphere’s frontman and talk about the new album and what tour life is like. For such a prolific duo, which has created underground hits like “God’s Bathroom Floor” and “Trying To Find A Balance,” we wanted to talk to Slug about the idea of a perfected song and how he maintains the energy to write, record, tour and manage his outstanding independent record label, Rhymesayers.

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Los Angeles-based rapper and artist, Charlie Stewart (aka Chali 2na), who is perhaps best known for his role in the beloved hip-hop group, Jurassic 5, is coming to Seattle on November 8th. Playing with Blackalicious at the Nectar Lounge, the deep-voiced emcee, who has worked with everyone from Ozomatli to Nelly Furtado, will bring his charming, insightful and booming rhymes to the crowd in Fremont for a night to remember. But before he graces the famed Emerald City stage, we wanted to catch up with the emcee and ask him how his career started, how he got his name, how he developed his signature baritone and much more.

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When you hear Texas native, Leon Bridges, sing, you observe a galaxy of things. But the star around which all the man’s many attributes circle is most assuredly his innate sweetness. There’s gentleness and kindness embedded into all of his music and it’s because of these that Bridges’ soulful songwriting shines. And, not surprisingly, these same traits come through when you talk on the phone with the singer, who will perform tonight in Seattle at the WaMu Theater. But before the big show, we caught up with Bridges — who’s worked with Emerald City standouts, Macklemore and Odeaza, on recent tracks — to chat with him about his early days as a young musician at open mics, how he developed his other-worldly voice, and what he thinks about love at this stage in his life. His most recent full-length, Good Thing, is out now via Columbia.

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Brooks Nielsen has a golden voice. The lead singer for the California-based “Beach Goth” band The Growlers, who play Seattle two nights this weekend at the Neptune Theater (Sep. 7th and 8th), sings like his vocal chords are made of precious metal-encrusted bouncy balls. The prolific group, which just released a B-sides album called, Casual Acquaintances, worked in the studio with Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, to produce a more condensed sonic vibe. And while The Growlers keep experimenting with their stuff, the band is perhaps best known for their deliciously eerie LP, Chinese Fountain, a pastiche of poetry and musical profundity. Prior to their upcoming Emerald City weekend shows, though, we wanted to catch up with Nielsen to ask him about The Growlers’ early days, how his vocal tone developed, and how he feels when he writes a new song.

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Tacoma-born musician, Jerry Cantrell, is thought by many to be a guitar god. A co-founding member of the wildly popular grunge band, Alice In Chains, Cantrell’s prowess on the electric guitar along with his ability to write and sing devastating vocal harmonies, has carved out a place for him forever in rock ‘n’ roll history.

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KEXP is excited to announce a new host for the Pacific Northwest’s longest-running local music radio show, Audioasis. Beginning September 8th, Eva Walker will become the new host of Audioasis on KEXP, airing 6-9 PM on Saturday evenings. Walker, of Seattle rock ‘n roll band The Black Tones, is a born and raised Seattleite, a music teacher, and a lover of music of all kinds.

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