Mike Shinoda Discusses Linkin Park, Chester Bennington, 20th Anniversary Retrospective Release
Mike Shinoda Discusses Linkin Park, Chester Bennington, 20th Anniversary Retrospective Release

At first, Mike Shinoda, co-founder of the immensely popular band, Linkin Park, didn’t want to go back to the past. He didn’t want to revisit the early demos, relive the old memories. Why look back? On October 24th, 2000, Linkin Park released its debut LP, Hybrid Theory, which, it turns out, was more like a debut greatest hits record, featuring songs like “One Step Closer,” “Papercut” and “In The End.” But, thanks to some lifelong friends and collaborators, Shinoda was convinced more recently to unearth the lost material. Now, twenty years later, on October 9th, 2020, the band, led by Shinoda, released a 20th anniversary retrospective package of their seminal album that features alternate song takes, forgotten lyrics and decades-old video footage of the group, which their leagues of fans will assuredly continue to enjoy and devour.

Read More
ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Checking In With Those That Made It Happen on Anniversary of ‘Stop Making Sense’
Checking In With Those That Made It Happen on Anniversary of ‘Stop Making Sense’

The gig was so good that Ednah Holt thought she would die when it was done. That’s at least what she told herself as she was experiencing the glee and creative joy on stage and in rehearsals with the Hall of Fame rock ‘n’ roll band, The Talking Heads, for what would become their standard-setting concert film, Stop Making Sense. The live performance, released nationally on October 18th, 1984, has become a cult classic and is shown on movie theaters decades since. Beyond the band’s lead singer, David Byrne, two of the show’s stars are Holt and fellow backup singer-dancer, Lynn Mabry. The two are mirth incarnate, magnets for eyeballs. For Holt, though, the gig almost never materialized. But when it did, she had the time of her life. So much so that she thought her life might have crested right then and there.

“I thought I was going to die doing this gig,” Holt says, with a laugh. “I thought, I just can’t have fun every night! We had fun every night. We had a ball. Honest to goodness, I thought I was going to die when it was done.”

Read More
EssayJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Run the Jewels Wants You to Vote
Run the Jewels Wants You to Vote

On June 3rd, the rap duo Run The Jewels released the album of the year. The record, RTJ4, may or may not win the awards it’s due, but that’s really besides the point. The 11-track album, which features guests like Mavis Staples and Zach de la Rocha, touches on police brutality, friendship, and the American experiment. It became an anthem in the tragic wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, much in the same way that Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly became the nation’s rallying cry in 2015. On October 17, the duo, comprised of Killer Mike (born Michael Santiago Render) and El-P (Jaime Meline), will perform the songs from RTJ4 in a previously recorded show airing on Adult Swim titled Holy Calamavote: Make Yourself Heard. Hosted by Eric Andreand sponsored by Ben & Jerry’s, the show aims to encourage voter turnout in the upcoming November election. We caught up with Killer Mike and El-P to talk about getting out the vote, their love of music, and the future of joy.

Read More
Q&AJake UittiInterview Magazine
Matt Berninger Discusses Solo Effort, ‘Serpentine Prison’
Matt Berninger Discusses Solo Effort, ‘Serpentine Prison’

Matt Berninger, the crooning front man for the popular rock ‘n’ roll band, The National, likes to write songs while riding his bike. The sharp, rapid-minded and loquacious singer-songwriter engages in conversation often like a metaphorical triathlon participant. His brain is chugging along in a marathon, swimming laps and cycling all at once. But amidst all the frantic activity, a logical through-line emerges. So does sonic and melodic clarity. Berninger says lyrics come to him as he pedals, avoiding trees and following traffic signs, because when his mind is focused in on myriad other things, the art can step forward and show itself. Revelations like these are the substance of Berninger’s forthcoming solo record, Serpentine Prison, out October 16th.

Read More
ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Angus Gill Shares His Relationship With Steve Earle, Steady Improvement, as well as $25 and a Meat Pie
Angus Gill Shares His Relationship With Steve Earle, Steady Improvement, as well as $25 and a Meat Pie

Australian country musician, Angus Gill, has a baby face but an aged soul. The 22-year-old, award-winning songwriter first began making music at six-years-old. By the age of 11, Gill had contemporary music heroes like Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash while other kids were donning Batman costumes or playing peewee soccer. Later, Gill began to regularly play at his own high school assemblies with his self-titled three-piece. He’s been rife with ambition since listening to his grandmother’s favorite twangy records as a boy. For his whole life, Gill has been focused on becoming an established artist. And he’s off to a fast start. His latest in this effort is the new 11-track LP, 3 Minute Movie, which will be released Friday and features the legendary songwriter, Steve Earle.

Read More
ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Deep Sea Diver Frontwoman Jessica Dobson Shares Monumental Experiences That Went Into ‘Impossible Weight’
Deep Sea Diver Frontwoman Jessica Dobson Shares Monumental Experiences That Went Into ‘Impossible Weight’

Jessica Dobson, frontwoman and principle songwriter for the Seattle-based band, Deep Sea Diver, was adopted. While this is indeed a very personal bit of information it is also pertinent to the story of the band’s new LP. Any work of art takes a lifetime to create. While, in truth, from first note to final mix, a song may take, say, a year or two, the work is, in actuality, a culmination of a person’s entire existence. It wasn’t until recently that Dobson met her birth mother, which was both monumental and fascinating for the expert musician. The encounter is one of several recent marvelous moments for Dobson and her percolating, neon-electric-sounding group, which is set to release its latest LP, Impossible Weight, on Friday.

Read More
ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Miles Davis’ Family Continues The Celebration Of His Influence Beyond Music
Miles Davis’ Family Continues The Celebration Of His Influence Beyond Music

Legendary musician, Miles Davis, would often exhaust the songs he played. He never performed the same piece the same way twice. It’s why he would change time signatures, song lengths and even keys when he would perform the cuts off his world-famous records live. It’s also why he changed genres so effortlessly, frequently and masterfully. The trumpet player, who burst on the scene with his smooth, cool, muted sound, would later evolve into one who did stadium tours, performing with distorted rock musicians and their fuzzy guitars. Indeed, Davis was far-reaching. And the artist’s most recent (posthumous) release, Rubberband, hit stores in 2019 (and soon after number-one on the Billboard contemporary jazz chart). The record is the latest in a seemingly never-ending string of songs from the musician who touched so many with his extensive sound.

Read More
EssayJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Behind the Song: “100 Years” by Five for Fighting
Behind the Song: “100 Years” by Five for Fighting

John Ondrasik, aka Five for Fighting, released his hit song, “100 Years,” on November 24th, 2003. The track, which followed the artist’s 2001 mega hit, “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” solidified Five for Fighting in the American cannon. The track, which follows the course of a life from birth to old age, hit number-28 on the Billboard charts and has since earned U.S. platinum-status. “100 Years,” which boasts some 50-million YouTube views to date, came as the result of a great deal of work and craft for Ondrasik. We caught up with the songwriter and asked him about the song’s origin, how he became so skilled on the piano, what he loves most about the song when considering it today and much more.

Read More
Q&AJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Terrace Martin Shares Influence of Snoop, Love, What Inspires Dinner Party Music
Terrace Martin Shares Influence of Snoop, Love, What Inspires Dinner Party Music

Los Angeles-based musician-producer-songwriter, Terrace Martin, didn’t grow up in a safe place. Born in 1978, Martin came up in very dangerous areas of Southern California. He was forced to make his own safe places, while never truly feeling protected. Music became his safe place. It became his time machine, too. It became the keyhole through which the entire universe began to unfold. It was also the thing that bonded him with now longtime friend and collaborator, Snoop Dogg. Martin met the rapper over 22 years ago. Ever since, they’ve held together through love of life and song. This shared, heartening bond is the hearth that continues to warm Martin’s creative soul. It is the furnace for his speeding locomotive of production. And it was the model for the musical supergroup he co-founded – Dinner Party – and the band’s latest album, Dessert.

Read More
ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
9th Wonder Discusses Dinner Party, His Pursuit of Happiness
9th Wonder Discusses Dinner Party, His Pursuit of Happiness

Many music fans can remember where they were when rumors of Jay Z’s The Black Album began to swirl on early blogs in 2003. One of the most notable aspects of that particular record’s announcement was the inclusion of the then-underground producer, 9th Wonder (born Patrick Denard Douthit). At the time, Jay Z was one of the biggest names in entertainment (still is). For the rapper to reach to the underground to bring up 9th Wonder was remarkable – a bridge to a new generation’s sound. Ever since, 9th Wonder’s career has taken off. His appreciation for music validated by fans all over the world. But, perhaps first and foremost, that validation began with family – his mother, his older brother. And that familial inspiration continues to permeate 9th Wonder’s music today, including in the songs he makes in the supergroup, Dinner Party, which released its latest record, Dessert, on Friday.

Read More
ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Savannah Cristina Starts in One Place and Ends in Revolution
Savannah Cristina Starts in One Place and Ends in Revolution

Today, important notions of mental health, support systems and self-love are in the public consciousness more and more. And rightly so. As they say, you can’t put someone else’s oxygen mask on without first putting on your own. Miami, Florida-based R&B artist, Savannah Cristina, has taken that idea to new and scintillating heights. Cristina, who released her anticipated EP, Self-Care, earlier this month, thinks of her songs like contained, miniature therapy sessions. Instead of paying someone for a 30-minute Zoom consultation, Cristina says, just put on one of her new tracks and lose yourself in the necessary revelations and the repetitions of self-confidence and personal appreciation.

Read More
ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Casey Abrams Discusses Teaming With Cyndi Lauper for Reimagining of “Eve of Destruction”
Casey Abrams Discusses Teaming With Cyndi Lauper for Reimagining of “Eve of Destruction”

For Idyllwild, California-based songwriter and former American Idol contestant, Casey Abrams, music can often induce a good cry. Just the other day, the artist was driving and tears filled his eyes as he listened to Sixpence None The Richer’s “There She Goes,” The Beatles’ “Yesterday” and Iron & Wine’s “Naked as We Came.” Once the emotions have run their course, Abrams says, he feels renewed, refreshed. Ready. For the musician, much (if not all) of life is about vibrations. We are vibrations. Music is vibrations. Light is vibrations. So, to be alive is to engage in the interplay of vibrations. And these waves can summon passionate emotions and feelings, just like in his latest single: a reimagined cover of “Eve of Destruction,” which features the legendary songwriter, Cyndi Lauper, and is out today.

Read More
EssayJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Future Islands Shares How Shows Helped Shape The Music, Discusses ‘As Long As You Are’
Future Islands Shares How Shows Helped Shape The Music, Discusses ‘As Long As You Are’

In art school as a college student, Sam Herring, front man for the Baltimore-based post-wave band, Future Islands, studied sculpture and stage performance. He was a conceptual and performance artist. But – maybe it was laziness, he says, maybe it was the Mary Jane – his work wasn’t taking him where he wanted to go. His sculptures weren’t of Michelangelo’s caliber. But he had a revelation. Herring combined the two subjects. He began to, in a philosophical manner, consider himself to be his clay. The body was the sculpture. He adopted a bombastic stage persona, “Art Lord,” striking Shakespearean poses (or jokingly doing the “Robot” dance). He started a band with good friends. He gesticulated wildly. It worked. The local bars – and then the world – noticed. Now, his group is set to release its highly anticipated sixth LP, As Long As You Are, on October 9th.

Read More
EssayJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Summer Walker Is In It For The Songs She Loves To Make
Summer Walker Is In It For The Songs She Loves To Make

Atlanta-based artist, Summer Walker, is all about the process of making music. Attention from journalists? Eh, whatever. Accolades and fame? Sure. She’ll take it if she has to, but she doesn’t strive for it. Instead, what Walker wants is the freedom to continue to make more music, to invest in the muse and simply write. Which is why her 2019 LP, Over It, is so aptly titled. Walker, who’s worked many odd jobs to support herself (including stripper, while also teaching herself guitar in off hours), has put in the time and made the sacrifices. Walker has also seen what a life without music at its center may lead to and she wants none of it for herself. Instead, she’ll continue to coyly and expertly write her songs, perform on massive stages (digitally and in-person, when allowed) and grow her passion. We caught up with the creative mind to ask her how she came to love music, how she found her band mates and why she always seems so in-charge.

Read More
Q&AJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Lachi Gained Confidence Through Music, Now She Is Pacing EDM in NYC
Lachi Gained Confidence Through Music, Now She Is Pacing EDM in NYC

If you’d only just met her, it might be hard for you to believe that accomplished New York City-based EDM singer and songwriter, Lachi, grew up shy. The charming, loquacious, effervescent personality, who can soar and glide on a dance track, grew up quiet, resigned. She didn’t always want the spotlight on her but today she’s making up for lost time with enough sonic power and force to get any other like-minded wallflowers within earshot out of their chairs or off their relaxed poses and onto the dance floor to show their stuff. Lachi’s latest musical endeavor is the perceptive, candy-sticky track, “Messages,” which we’re happy to premiere here.

“It wasn’t until college that I opened up,” Lachi says. “I gained confidence through joining different music groups and sharing my talent.”

Read More
ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine