RECENT ARTICLES

Baltimore, Maryland-based dream pop band, Beach House, will play Seattle’s Moore Theatre on May 8th and 9th. That means for two evenings, the city will be vastly enriched by the group’s fantastical sounds, which are part-Goth waltz and part-glittering sonic castles. Beach House, which formed in 2004, released its latest LP, 7, a year ago. The album features an array of songs that offer the mind a cloud-hammock to lay in and explore existence in a more pleasant state. To preview the upcoming shows, we caught up with Beach House’s front woman, singer and keyboardist, Victoria Legrand, to talk with her about her origins in singing, how Beach House has stayed together now for 15 years, and what she remembers most from conversations with her fans.

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Seattle electronic music producer, Chong the Nomad, creates layered sounds that resemble both a single butterfly landing on a blade of grass and the cacophonous thunder in the big sky that shakes the creature from its perch. She is also one of the fastest rising songwriters in the city. The musician, whose given name is Alda Agustiano, has a new series of singles she’s set to release monthly for the next four months, leading up to what will likely be a slammed summer of shows for the DJ-performer. And KEXP is proud to release exclusively the first song in the set, “Two Colors,” a track about a new, important romantic relationship. To celebrate the release, we caught up with Agustiano to ask about how she started in music, what it’s like grappling with writer's block and how she feels about the idea of "story."

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Seattle native and Guns N’ Roses bassist, Duff McKagan, oozes rock ‘n’ roll. The man has seen it all. He’s toured the world, lived great highs, and great lows. He is the author of a New York Times best-selling book and has played to hundreds of thousands of people around the globe. Most recently, McKagan found himself on tour with his Hall of Fame band. And during the course of those two-and-a-half years on the road, he noticed a few things. He began talking to people. In an age when there seems to be so much social division, the musician found that people aren’t so different after all. On tour, he thought he’d write a book about his experiences. Instead, though, he wrote a new solo record, Tenderness, slated for release May 31. To get a sense of what went into the recording, we caught up with McKagan and asked him about it. 

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For years, the Northwest-based indie rock band, Built To Spill, has inspired and entertained music lovers of all kinds with the group’s signature circusy melodies and curious, endearing lyricism. Fronted, of course, by the sonic wizard, Doug Martsch, Built To Spill will play two consecutive sold-out shows March 26th and 27th at the Columbia City Theater. To preview the back-to-back events, we reached out to the songwriter to ask him about being one of the region’s most beloved rockers, what he’s learned about the business of music after achieving so much success, how he fell in love with the game of basketball, and what he finds freeing about song composition.

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Tacocat has a new record out! Well, almost out. The highly anticipated album, This Mess is a Place, will be released May 3rd on Sub Pop Records. Produced by local legend, Erik Blood, the 10-track album features the band’s signature high-energy music and quirky-thoughtful-introspective songwriting. To whet the proverbial whistles of their fans, Tacocat recently released the album’s first single (and accompanying music video) for “Grains of Salt,” which you can watch below. To celebrate the release, we caught up with the band’s frontwoman, Emily Nokes, to talk about the genesis of the album, how the group prepares for an extended tour, and what it’s been like to grow older and wiser over the years.

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Infinite Sound & Color is the new artistic, collaborative project from Pearl Jam guitarist, Mike McCready, and bi-coastal visual artist, Kate Neckel. Their work features unbridled enthusiasm and a sense of organic freedom that comes from like-minded creativity and vulnerability. The duo, who began working together about four months ago, will showcase their work during two nights on March 22nd and 23rd at Seattle’s Winston Wächter Fine Art Gallery. (Both performances are sold out, but the work will be on display through May 18, 2019.) To preview the event, we caught up with both McCready and Neckel to ask them how they met and began working together as well as to get a sense of their creative relationship and what they hope to discover through their work together.

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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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