State Champ Radio indie
Good Neighbours’ “Home” has been one of the biggest viral success stories of 2024 so far. Here’s how the duo made it happen.
Foundation
Before they were Good Neighbours, Scott Verrill and Oli Fox were literal neighbors in an East London studio space last year, intrigued by each other’s solo work bleeding through the metal windows. “We could constantly hear what each of us was playing,” Fox recalls, “and on a spare morning, we did a bit of free writing together.”
Those sessions hinged on shared influences — Verrill and Fox both draw from late-2000s indie–pop mainstays like MGMT and Passion Pit — and “Keep It Up,” one of the first songs the duo wrote together with its booming drums and yelped vocal hooks, formed a mission statement of sorts while the pair worked through demos in late 2023.
Discovery
In January, Good Neighbours recorded the oversize chorus of “Home,” a bleeding-heart, whistle-packed anthem, and decided to float the refrain on TikTok without finishing the rest of the song. “It started out pretty quickly — a few thousand plays — and we got excited and said, ‘If it hits 25,000, we’ll get a pint!’ ” Fox says.
Within a few hours, the “Home” clip had crossed the 1 million mark, and major labels were reaching out to the duo’s manager, Joe Etchells of Various Artists, who signed the act in September 2023. “Home” was quickly fleshed out to a full song, debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in February and has earned 77 million streams through April 25, according to Luminate. Instead of grabbing that celebratory drink, Verrill and Fox got their worlds upended: “We’re constantly looking at each other and going, ‘This is insane,’ ” Fox says.
Trending on Billboard
[embedded content]
Future
Last week, Good Neighbours announced a global joint venture with Capitol Records and Polydor Records. And after lining up headlining shows in the United Kingdom and Europe for the spring and festival gigs for the summer, Good Neighbours released “Keep It Up” in April as their second single and are finishing more material to be released later this year.
“We wrote a bunch of new demos in January, and we’ve got like 10 from last year — some of which are probably better than ‘Home,’ which is really nice,” Fox says. Still, after recording separately for years before joining forces, Verrill and Fox understand how rare a breakthrough like “Home” can be in the modern music industry. “The whole thing has been such a happy accident,” Verrill says. “We’re still trying to process it.”
This story originally appeared in the May 11, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Los Angeles-based musician mk.gee played back-to-back sold out shows this week at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood, and the performances were no-frills: no opener, no banter, no visuals.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
In fact, mk.gee could hardly be seen amidst the spotlight placed directly behind him for the entire show on Wednesday (April 24). He let his music do all of the talking instead, and while this description might sound uninspired, the real effect was anything but. mk.gee’s performance was more captivating and enigmatic than even his recorded music — a show that kept the spotlight fixed on the artist’s work rather than the artist himself.
After releasing his latest album, Two Star and the Dream Police, on Feb. 9, mk.gee (real name: Mike Gordon) has been amassing his own brand of mysterious indie stardom. He’s always been a musician’s musician, beloved by everyone from Frank Ocean to Anderson .Paak dating back to 2018’s sunnier album Pronounced McGee. But the singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer had yet to hit the radar of many current listeners until Two Star debuted.
Trending on Billboard
This is likely because he keeps to himself. It’s clear mk.gee is not chasing algorithms or clout or money. He rarely does interviews or shows his whole face in photos. The most he’s ever been seen really was when he played guitar in Dijon’s music videos for Absolutely, the acclaimed 2021 album that he co-wrote and co-produced, or the recent time he played on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Even then, viewers in the YouTube comment section were calling him a “Batman of Music.”
It’s refreshing — and shocking — to see a musician like mk.gee in 2024, and his elusiveness and focus on his craft is not something I believed could still work in an era of shameless and constant self-promotion. With mk.gee, the music is enough. What a relief that is.
He came with just two bandmates (Andrew Aged and Zack Sekof), a hard set-up to pull off, especially when the focal point of the performance is on the musicality of the artist on stage. Playing through songs from Two Star, the three musicians improvised over the tracks, patiently and incisively, bringing new emotional heft to songs that already oozed with it to begin with. Sometimes this would go on for minutes longer than the recorded version’s run time, especially after “Are You Looking Up” which marked the end of the set before he came back for an encore, and it was always felt like a gift to hear the trio keep going.
If the set could be compared to anyone else’s, it would probably be that of musical polymath James Blake or of Bon Iver’s 22, A Million performances, which have similarly used backlighting and an artful mix of programmed and ad-libbed playing.
While I was hoping to hear some tracks from Pronounced McGee and The Museum of Contradiction (2020), mk.gee’s set was much more uniform as simply a showcase of Two Star songs, and I could forgive those exclusions for the sonic consistency this choice brought to the show. All in all, mk.gee’s was an incredibly focused, sparse presentation that kept his musicianship centerstage at all times. It’s a must-see for concert lovers, especially those who seek live talent over visual pageantry.
See the setlist for mk.gee’s L.A. show on April 24 below.
“New Low”
“How Many Miles”
“Dream Police”
“You got It”
“Rylee & I”
“Dimeback”
“Candy”
“I Want”
“Are You Looking Up”
—
“Alesis”
“Candy”
In the mid-2000s, indie rock was booming, and major labels swooped in to sign many of the genre’s biggest acts. Two decades later, MGMT,The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse, among others, have emerged from those deals into a wildly different music industry. For artists who are coming out of long contracts, “it’s a whole new era,” says Kirk Harding, a longtime manager and co-owner of label and management company Bad Habit.
Recording contracts changed drastically between 2004 and 2024. There is also a new set of players for artists to choose from — not just the major labels and prominent indies, but a number of distribution companies that offer some level of services. “You can cherry pick what you want to be in your contract to some degree,” says Scott Brooks, the longtime manager of The Flaming Lips, which is currently without a label contract after fulfilling their deal with Warner Records. (Paramore is also a free agent.)
Trending on Billboard
“If we end up signing,” Brooks adds, “it’ll be a different kind of record deal than what we would have signed even a decade ago.”
Throughout the 2000s and into the 2010s, the majority of major label acts signed low-royalty deals and typically gave up ownership of three to five albums for a long period (often forever). On top of that, many agreed to what are known as “360 deals,” in which the label also participates in income from merchandise, sponsorships, ticket sales and more.
In those days, labels could get these kinds of terms because it was difficult, if not impossible, for artists to get national exposure without a record company’s help. Now, artists can build a global presence before partnering with any label. That means they have the negotiating power to ask for, and sometimes receive, terms that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. As a result, industry expectations around deal-making have shifted.
“I don’t think I’ve done a deal with anybody in the last few years where the artist hasn’t had at least 50% of the profit,” Harding says. “The new wars to wage are making sure that the deals and the reversions are short term, so that the artist can get through the deal and get back these new recordings quickly.” (If a band licenses its album to a label for 10 years, for example, after that time, the album reverts back to the band, usually conditional on recoupment of the deal.)
All that said, an artist’s leverage in record deal negotiations stems in large part from their ability to generate streams. And this doesn’t always work out in favor of veteran rock bands; rock is the fifth most popular genre when ranked by percentage of current streams, according to Luminate. “There aren’t as many options as one would think right now given what’s going on with rock music and streaming,” says Jordan Kurland, who manages Death Cab for Cutie.
Still, these acts have mostly proven that they can build and maintain an audience — especially on the road, a challenge for many artists who came of age in an era of passive streaming engagement. And some of them have a level of cultural cachet that’s attractive to labels, who always have to think about what will entice the next generation of signings. Friendly deal terms help, as does having artists on the roster that young acts look up to.
Whenever an artist who signed a traditional contract with a major label completes the deal, their old record company typically still has one hook in them because they still likely own the act’s previous sound recordings. “If the label wants you to stay, they have the power to say, ‘We can adjust the royalty rate on your catalog,’ or in rare cases, take your recordings out of perpetuity and set reversions so you eventually get them back,” Harding says.
“That always comes up now in renegotiations,” adds an executive at a prominent indie label. “Artists say, ‘Cool, we’ll re-sign with you, but we want those recordings back in 10 years.’”
This leverage is conditional, of course, on the label wanting to keep the band. In the case of The Flaming Lips, “after American Head, we started the conversation of, was Warner gonna sign us again?” Brooks recalls. “Is Warner even interested? It really came back that they weren’t, to be honest.”
Some veteran bands might still want to find a major label partner for particular services. While radio’s influence continues to diminish, promotion remains expensive, and the majors still have the most radio muscle. “Radio is still a big part of the Death Cab picture,” Kurland says. During “the last Death Cab campaign in ticket sales, for example, if you look at markets that no longer had an alternative radio station, it [negatively] impacted our shows.”
“Could you sell less records and keep more of the money?” Kurland asks. “Yes. But are there other aspects of your business that might suffer by doing that?”
Gandhar Savur, an entertainment attorney who represents Built to Spill and other bands, asks a similar question — but he’s more optimistic about the answer. “If they’re doing really good business as a band, they can sell less records but retain the lion’s share of income and make so much more money,” he says. “That’s why you’re seeing a lot of bands go into situations where they’re no longer doing major label deals or even your standard 50-50 indie deal. They’re looking for something that’s more akin to a label services deal — which is a distribution deal with some services added for publicity and promotion.”
This is the route taken by The Decemberists, who previously released five albums on Capitol, including The King Is Dead, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. For its upcoming album, the band opted to sign with Thirty Tigers, which is distributed by Sony’s The Orchard and offers some services, including radio.
“We found an option that provides label investment and infrastructure without compromising on ownership, and that gives the band and their team real autonomy with the marketing,” says Jason Colton, who manages the band, via email. “It’s a lot of responsibility for a larger release, but ultimately, it’s more investment, more control and outright ownership than we were going to find in a more traditional deal.”
Outside of the majors and major-owned distributors, indie label executives say they have also seen an uptick in interest from veterans leaving majors in recent years. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs signed a deal with Secretly Canadian in 2022 after years of working with Interscope, for example, while PJ Harvey released an album on Partisan in 2023 after a 20-plus-year affiliation with Island Records. MGMT’s new album Loss of Life came out in February through Mom + Pop.
Potential label partners have their own calculations to make. “It’s hard for any label if you only have the new record and someone else has all the catalog, because a new record always drives catalog listening, but you’re not participating in the income,” the indie label executive says. “But there’s always been a thing where labels need and want important artists, even if they’re expensive, to attract other artists.”
“A lot of these bands are in a good position so they can get favorable terms,” the person continues. “Maybe they only do a one-record deal. The hope is we do a good job, the artist is happy, and we renew that contract. Over time, we work with them long term.”
Additional reporting by Melinda Newman.
Killer Mike, Caroline Polachek, Mitski, L’Rain and Wednesday are among the artists who received multiple nominations for the 2024 Libera Awards. The 13th annual ceremony will take place on Monday, June 10 at historic Gotham Hall in New York City.
The Libera Awards are presented by A2IM (The American Association of Independent Music) across 36 categories honoring the best in independent music. This year’s announcement features three new categories: best record from games and interactive media, publisher of the year and distributor of the year.
Trending on Billboard
Partisan Records has the most nominations of any record label with five. Other labels with multiple nominations include Dead Oceans, Domino Recording Company, Matador Records, Sub Pop Records and Light in the Attic.
“Huge congratulations to all our talented and accomplished nominees for the 13th annual A2IM Libera Award,” Dr. Richard James Burgess, president/CEO of A2IM, said in a statement. “The A2IM Libera Awards is the world’s largest award show for the diverse universe of independent music and this year’s event will be the biggest and best to date.”
This year, the Libera Awards will honor Louis Posen, founder of Hopeless Records, with the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his leadership in the independent sector.
The Libera Awards will kick off A2IM’s annual Indie Week conference, which will begin the following morning, Tuesday, June 11, and run through Thursday, June 13 at the InterContinental New York Times Square.
A2IM is a not-for-profit trade association that represents independent music recording owners. Tickets for the awards ceremony start at $299 for a balcony seat and are on sale here.
Here’s the complete list of nominations for the 2024 Libera Awards:
Record of the Year
L’Rain – I Killed Your Dog (Mexican Summer)
Killer Mike – MICHAEL (Loma Vista Recordings)
Mitski – The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (Dead Oceans)
Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want to Turn Into You (Perpetual Novice)
Wednesday – Rat Saw God (Dead Oceans)
Label of the Year (15 or more employees)
Dead Oceans
Domino Recording Company
Hopeless Records
Matador Records
Merge Records
Partisan Records
Sub Pop Records
Third Man Records
Label of the Year (5 or fewer employees)
Bastard Jazz Recordings
Bayonet Records
FADER Label
Innovative Leisure
Oh Boy Records
Topshelf Records
True Panther
Label of the Year (6-14 employees)
Captured Tracks
City Slang
Lex Records
Light in the Attic
Mack Avenue Music Group
Photo Finish Records
Saddle Creek
Distributor of the Year
FUGA
Light in the Attic
The Orchard
Redeye Worldwide
Secretly Distribution
Symphonic Distribution
Virgin Music Group
Publisher of the Year
Arts & Crafts Music
Domino Publishing Company
Reservoir Media
Rimas Publishing
Secretly Publishing
Sub Pop Publishing
Warp Publishing
Independent Champion presented by Merlin
Bandcamp
Downtown Music Holdings
Infinite Catalog
Light in the Attic
Peanut Butter Wolf
Jorge Brea
Thirty Tigers
Breakthrough Artist/Release presented by Virgin Music Group
BAMBII (Innovative Leisure)
bar italia (Matador Records)
Blondshell – Blondshell (Partisan Records)
Indigo De Souza – All of This Will End (Saddle Creek)
Say She She – Silver (Colemine Records)
Slow Pulp (ANTI)
Wednesday (Dead Oceans)
Music Video of the Year
Black Pumas – “More Than a Love Song” (ATO Records)
Blondshell – “Salad” (Partisan Records)
Indigo De Souza – “Younger & Dumber” (Saddle Creek)
Geese – “Cowboy Nudes” (Partisan Records)
IDLES – “Dancer” (Partisan Records)
Arlo Parks – “Blades” (Transgressive)
Shygirl – “Heaven (feat. Tinashe)” (Because Music)
Best Alternative Rock Record
Courtney Barnett – End of the Day (Mom+Pop)
Geese – 3D Country (Partisan Records)
Hotline TNT – Cartwheel (Third Man Records)
Mitski – The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (Dead Oceans)
Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want to Turn Into You (Perpetual Novice)
Wednesday – Rat Saw God (Dead Oceans)
Best American Roots Record
Charley Crockett – The Man From Waco Redux (Son Of Davy/Thirty Tigers)
Madi Diaz – “Don’t Do Me Good” (feat. Kacey Musgraves) (ANTI)
MJ Lenderman – “Rudolph” (ANTI)
Hiss Golden Messenger – Jump for Joy (Merge Records)
Esther Rose – Safe to Run (New West Records)
Allison Russell – The Returner (Fantasy Records)
Best Blues Record
The Count Basie Orchestra – Basie Swings the Blues (Candid Records)
Robert Finley – Black Bayou (Easy Eye Sound)
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram – Live in London (Alligator Records)
Bettye LaVette – LaVette! (Jay-Vee Records/MRI)
Various Artists – Tell Everybody! (21st Century Juke Joint Blues From Easy Eye Sound) (Easy Eye Sound)
Nick Waterhouse – The Fooler (Innovative Leisure)
Best Classical Record
Chick Corea & Orchestra da Camera della Sardegna – Sardinia (Candid Records)
Doeke – Bewondering (Nettwerk Music Group)
Lara Downes – Love at Last (Pentatone)
Erik Hall – Canto Ostinato (Western Vinyl)
Hauschka – Philanthropy (City Slang)
Will Liverman – The Dunbar/Moore Sessions: Vol. I (Lexicon Classics)
Kelly Moran – Vesela (Warp Records)
Chick Corea & Orchestra da Camera della Sardegna – “Mozart Concerto No. 24 C Minor, K.491: II Larghetto” (Candid Records)
Best Country Record
Mya Byrne – Rhinestone Tomboy (Kill Rock Stars)
Colbie Caillat – Along the Way (Blue Jean Baby Records/Downtown Artist & Label Services)
The Pink Stones – You Know Who (Normaltown Records)
Margo Price – Strays (Loma Vista Recordings)
Tanya Tucker – Sweet Western Sound (Fantasy Records)
Turnpike Troubadours – A Cat in The Rain (Bossier City Records/Thirty Tigers)
Best Dance Record
Aluna – MYCELiUM (Mad Decent)
Braxe + Falcon – Step by Step (Remixes) (Smugglers Way/Domino Recording Company)
Jayda G – Guy (Ninja Tune)
LP Giobbi – Light Places (Counter Records/Ninja Tune)
Peggy Gou – “(It Goes Like) Nanana” (XL Recordings)
Hudson Mohawke & Nikki Nair – Set the Roof (Warp Records)
Romy – Mid Air (Young)
Best Electronic Record
Floating Points – “Birth4000” (Ninja Tune)
Sofia Kourtesis – Madres (Ninja Tune)
Little Dragon – Slugs of Love (Ninja Tune)
ODESZA, Yellow House – Flaws in Our Design (Foreign Family Collective/Ninja Tune)
Overmono – Good Lies (XL Recordings)
DJ Shadow – Action Adventure (Mass Appeal)
Yaeji – With a Hammer (XL Recordings)
Best Folk Record
Julie Byrne – The Greater Wings (Ghostly International)
Laura Jane Grace – “Dysphoria Hoodie” (Polyvinyl Record Co.)
Kara Jackson – Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? (September Recordings)
Aoife O’Donovan – Age of Apathy Solo Sessions (Yep Roc Records)
Andy Shauf – Norm (ANTI)
Sufjan Stevens – Javelin (Asthmatic Kitty Records)
Sunny War – Anarchist Gospel (New West Records)
Best Global Record presented by Redeye Worldwide
Altin Gün – Ask (ATO Records)
Asake – Work of Art (YBNL Nation / EMPIRE)
Bombino – Sahel (Partisan Records)
Pachyman – Switched-On (ATO Records)
Sampa the Great – As Above, So Below (Deluxe) (Loma Vista Recordings)
WITCH – Zango (Desert Daze Sound)
Best Heavy Record
Beartooth – The Surface (Red Bull Records)
The Callous Daoboys – God Smiles Upon the Callous Daoboys (MNRK Music Group)
From Ashes to New – Blackout (Better Noise Music)
Fucked Up – One Day (Merge Records)
Model/Actriz – Dogsbody (True Panther)
Soul Glo – “If I Speak (Shut the Fuck Up)” (Epitaph)
Zulu – A New Tomorrow (Flatspot Records)
Best Hip-Hop/Rap Record
Aesop Rock – Integrated Tech Solutions (Rhymesayers Entertainment)
Atmosphere – So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously (Rhymesayers Entertainment)
Danny Brown – Quaranta (Warp Records)
Conway The Machine – WON’T HE DO IT (Drumwork Music Group LLC/EMPIRE)
McKinley Dixon – Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? (City Slang)
Kari Faux – REAL B*TCHES DON’T DIE! (drink sum wtr)
Killer Mike – MICHAEL (Loma Vista Recordings)
billy woods, Kenny Segal – Maps (Backwoodz Studios/Fat Possum Records)
Best Jazz Record
Joey Alexander – Continuance (Mack Avenue Music Group)
Louis Cole – Some Unused Songs (Brainfeeder)
Sam Gendel & Marcella Cytrynowicz – AUDIOBOOK (Psychic Hotline)
Robert Glasper – In December (Loma Vista Recordings)
John Carroll Kirby – Blowout (Stones Throw Records)
Christian McBride’s New Jawn – Prime (Mack Avenue Music Group)
Best Latin Record
El Búho – Strata (Wonderwheel Recordings)
Bebel Gilberto – João ([PIAS])
Helado Negro – “LFO (Lupe Finds Oliveros)” (4AD)
Carla Morrison – “Todo Fue Por Amor (de la película “Con Esta Luz”)” (Cosmica Artists)
Pahua – Habita (Nacional Records)
Tagua Tagua – Tanto (Wonderwheel Recordings)
Best Outlier Record
Anjimile – The King (4AD)
ANOHNI – My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross (Secretly Canadian)
Khruangbin – Live at Sydney Opera House (Dead Oceans)
L’Rain – I Killed Your Dog (Mexican Summer)
Tirzah – trip9love…??? (Domino Recording Company)
yeule – softscars (Ninja Tune)
Best Pop Record
Belle and Sebastian – Late Developers (Matador Records)
CHAI – CHAI (Sub Pop Records)
Becca Mancari – Left Hand (Captured Tracks)
Samia – Honey (Grand Jury Music)
Suki Waterhouse – “To Love” (Sub Pop Records)
Best Punk Record
CIVIC – Taken by Force (ATO Records)
Mannequin Pussy – “I Got Heaven” (Epitaph)
Neck Deep – “Take Me With You” (Hopeless Records)
Scowl – Psychic Dance Routine (Flatspot Records)
Snõõper – Super Snõõper (Third Man Records)
Soul Glo – “If I Speak (Shut the Fuck Up)” (Epitaph)
Best R&B Record
Emily King – Special Occasion (ATO Records)
Sampha – Lahai (Young)
Emeli Sandé – How Were We to Know (Chrysalis Records)
Jorja Smith – falling or flying (FAMM Limited (Jorja Smith))
Cleo Sol – Gold (Forever Living Originals / TuneCore)
Jamila Woods – Water Made Us (Jagjaguwar)
Best Record From Games and Interactive Media
Jon Everist – The Lamplighters League (Original Soundtrack) (Lakeshore Records)
HEALTH – “HATEFUL” (Loma Vista Recordings)
Mr. Sauceman, ClascyJitto, Post Elvis – Pizza Tower (Materia Collective)
Matt Creamer, Retroware, Professor Shyguy ft. Nur-D – Prison City Original Soundtrack (Screenwave Media)
Best Reissue
Cymande – Cymande (Partisan Records)
De La Soul – 3 Feet High & Rising (AOI Records)
The Exploding Hearts – Guitar Romantic (Expanded and Remastered) (Third Man Records)
Jerry Garcia – Might as Well: A Round Records Retrospective (Round Records)
Jason Isbell – Southeastern (Southeastern Records / Thirty Tigers)
Neutral Milk Hotel – The Collected Works of Neutral Milk Hotel (Merge Records)
Best Remix
Sudan Archives, ODESZA – “Selfish Soul (ODESZA Remix)” (Stones Throw Records)
Christine and the Queens – “To Be Honest” (SG Lewis Remix) (Because Music)
John Summit, deadmau5, Kaskade – “I Remember” (John Summit Remix) (mau5trap)
Jerry Garcia & LP Giobbi – Garcia (Remixed) (Round Records)
Margo Price – “Change of Heart” (feat. Sierra Ferrell) (Loma Vista Recordings)
Best Rock Record
Be Your Own Pet – Mommy (Third Man Records)
Blondshell – Blondshell (Partisan Records)
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Weathervanes (Southeastern Records)
Manchester Orchestra – The Valley of Vision (Loma Vista Recordings)
The National – First Two Pages of Frankenstein (4AD)
Queens of the Stone Age – In Times New Roman… (Matador Records)
Ratboys – The Window (Topshelf Records)
Best Short-Form Video
Blondshell – “Kiss City” Reel (Partisan Records)
De La Soul – Tribute to Dave (AOI Records)
IDLES – “Grace” Teaser (Partisan Records)
John Carroll Kirby – “Oropendola” (Stones Throw Records)
Mitski – The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (Dead Oceans)
Best Singer-Songwriter Record
Indigo De Souza – All of This Will End (Saddle Creek)
Madi Diaz – “Same Risk” (ANTI)
Angel Olsen – Forever Means (Jagjaguwar)
Jess Williamson – Time Ain’t Accidental (Mexican Summer)
Jenny Owen Youngs – Avalanche (Yep Roc Records)
Best Soul/Funk Record
Betty Davis – Crashin’ From Passion (Light in the Attic)
Black Pumas – Chronicles of a Diamond (ATO Records)
Robert Finley – Black Bayou (Easy Eye Sound)
Neal Francis – Francis Comes Alive (ATO Records)
Say She She – Silver (Colemine Records)
Best Spiritual Record
Blind Boys of Alabama – Echoes of the South (Single Lock Records)
Lecrae, Tasha Cobbs Leonard – “Your Power” (Reach Records)
Katy Nichole – Jesus Changed My Life (Centricity Music)
J Rocc – Beatitudes (Stones Throw Records)
Lori Vambe – Space-Time Dreamtime (STRUT)
Best Sync Usage
Cat Power – Cover of Rihanna’s “Stay” in A24’s Past Lives trailer (Domino Recording Company)
Brittany Howard ft. Childish Gambino – “Stay High” in You People (ATO Records)
Refused – “New Noise” in The Bear (Season 2) (Epitaph)
Sharon Van Etten – “Anything” in Priscilla trailer (Jagjaguwar)
Nilüfer Yanya – “Midnight Sun” in The Boogeyman (ATO Records)
Creative Packaging
Aphex Twin – Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / in a room7 F760 (Warp Records)
De La Soul – 3 Feet High & Rising (AOI Records)
Jerry Garcia – Heads and Tails: Vol. 1 (Round Records)
Neutral Milk Hotel – The Collected Works of Neutral Milk Hotel (Merge Records)
John Prine – The Oh Boy Singles Box Set (Oh Boy Records)
Various Artists – Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 8 (Sub Pop Records)
Marketing Genius
Blonde Redhead – Sit Down for Dinner (section1)
Blondshell – Blondshell (Partisan Records)
De La Soul – De La Soul Catalog Release (AOI Records)
Peggy Gou – “(It Goes Like) Nanana” (XL Recordings)
Killer Mike – MICHAEL (Loma Vista Recordings)
Mitski – The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (Dead Oceans)
Self-Released Record of the Year
Laurel Halo – Atlas (Awe)
L’Queer – “Fuck Ron DeSantis” (L’Queer)
Michigander – It Will Never Be the Same (C3 Records)
Paris Texas – MID AIR (Paris Texas LLC)
Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want to Turn Into You (Perpetual Novice)
Tenacious D – “Video Games” (Tenacious D)
When Katie Crutchfield, the 35-year-old singer-songwriter better known as Waxahatchee, released her country-tinged fifth album, Saint Cloud, in March 2020, its intimacy connected with listeners in early-pandemic lockdown and it topped Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart. “I didn’t expect for Saint Cloud to mean as much to people as it did,” she says. “That was obviously a beautiful thing; that’s still, to this day, the thing I’m the proudest of.”
But for her follow-up (and ANTI- debut), Tigers Blood, out March 22, Crutchfield kept a healthy distance from the acclaim of Saint Cloud. “Internalizing people’s praise is just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than internalizing criticism,” she says from her Kansas City, Mo., home. “I really try and shut all of it out.”
Trending on Billboard
Tigers Blood carries on in Saint Cloud’s alt-country vein, and like that record, it was made in just two weeks at Texas studio Sonic Ranch with producer Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Snail Mail). But the album has a character all its own, thanks in part to Crutchfield’s new backing band: Cook’s multi-instrumentalist brother Phil, drummer Spencer Tweedy and ascendant rocker Jake “MJ” Lenderman, whose vocal harmonies and guitar leads course through the songs. “With Brad, my records are like a great slice of homemade bread with a fresh slice of tomato, a little olive oil, salt and pepper,” Crutchfield says. “The ingredients are so simple. Why overthink it?”
Allison Crutchfield, your sister and longtime musical collaborator, is an A&R executive at your new home, ANTI- Records. What was that signing experience like?
It’s a crazy situation, right? And it feels so correct. She has always been my most trusted confidant. When she started working A&R at Anti-, she really stepped into that role so naturally, and like has such a unique sort of flair, and like take on being an A&R person. When my [Merge] contract was up, I knew I wanted to make a change. I considered my options, but I’m not going to have that type of connection with anybody [else]. And I already just loved ANTI-, their roster and their ethos and approach.
What has Anti- been like as a label partner as you’ve been getting this album off the ground?
They’ve been so perfect. It’s crazy how well it suits me. The team is just so enthusiastic and hardworking and pure of heart. The president of Anti-, Andy Kaulkin, is such a visionary and such a unique person in the music business – like, a true head. He really cares about music and he just wants me to be an artist; he doesn’t want me to be anything I’m not. There’s a lot of mutual trust there.
[embedded content]
Saint Cloud was a creative risk for you in how strongly you embraced country sounds for it. How did you decide to continue in that stylistic direction with Tigers Blood rather than making another hard pivot?
With Saint Cloud, there was no pressure; we were doing something totally new and just going for it. With Tigers Blood, early on […] there was some pressure that Brad Cook and myself were feeling. There is such a weird allure to reinventing yourself – like, that is sort of looming when you’re thinking about what to do next, you’re like, “OK, what pivot am I going to take?” We ultimately landed on the confident choice [being] to double down on what we did before and change a couple of little, small elements and just trust that it’s going to feel new.
Brad Cook is a longtime collaborator who you worked with on Saint Cloud as well as 2018’s Great Thunder EP and your collaborative 2022 album as Plains with Jess Williamson. How has that relationship evolved?
He’s one of my very, very, very best friends now. Finding exactly the type of collaborator that he is has been a lifelong goal of mine, something that I’ve been subconsciously searching for. Since I’ve been working with Brad, I’ve learned a certain amount of self-awareness about exactly what it is I bring to the table. I bring the songs, I bring the voice, I bring a certain amount of vision, of aesthetically how I want this to be. Brad brings a lot of the other stuff — he is a person who knows how to execute a vision. There is this complementary dynamic to our whole thing. We’ve really built this shared world and this shared taste. It just keeps getting easier and better the longer that we make records together.
Jake “MJ” Lenderman has also had a successful few years as a solo artist and as part of the band Wednesday. What did he bring to these sessions?
Brad and I, when we talk about music, a lot of the time we use food metaphors. And he was like, “Jake is a really potent spice — you’re going to taste it.” I really liked that. It’s kind of fun to throw that spice in the mix — that mixes things up for us, too. He just has amazing taste and this great, exciting, youthful energy that we really fed off.
He came on the Plains tour [in 2022] and opened. I came up in this small DIY scene and I had always approached my music career as like, the main thing is artistic integrity and creative integrity – it’s all about the work and it’s about being close with my people and just like having fun with it. And then having this big year with Saint Cloud, this big year with Plains, not that I like got so far away from that, but I got pulled away from it a little bit. I didn’t even totally see that. So when I was on that [Plains] tour, before we made Tigers Blood, with him and his band and seeing how alive their set was every night and how they built this sweet community and they’re in such good spirits and having so much fun with it – and there’s all this buzz around him and his band, but they really don’t see it or care about it. That really realigned me with my own values. I just really appreciated it. My record wouldn’t have landed the same or been the same had I not had that experience.
[embedded content]
Tigers Blood is the second consecutive Waxahatchee album recorded at Texas’ Sonic Ranch. How did the studio impact your headspace while working on the album?
You feel like called home or something – that’s how I feel at Sonic Ranch. It has worked so well for me to be that removed from my own life. It’s just so beautiful and so expansive and the environment is really conducive to being focused on what you’re doing. It’s like summer camp or something, too, because it’s like a compound; Sublime was working on something right next to us. There is this sense of community but there’s also privacy. I wish I had more excuses to go there. I’m jealous of someone like Brad who gets to go there a lot.
Tell me about your reverence for country music and how that has increasingly bled into your own.
It’s foundational to my songwriting. I grew up on Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn and George Jones and all these great country duets and classic country music. And I grew up in the ’90s, when pop country was so huge. All of those things are imprinted on my songwriting DNA. For all the early years, I really rejected that — and so I have been on a journey to reconnect with that. The big artist that helped me bridge that gap is Lucinda [Williams], who is still, to this day, my very favorite songwriter. I’m on a journey with it. It works its way in, always.
How excited are you to tour this record? Is MJ going to join?
I’m really excited to go on tour. MJ is not going to be on the tour. He will pop up here and there. He’s going to have a very busy year himself. He’s gonna do his thing, but of course, he knows there’s an open invitation. And we have a couple of little things planned, so I’m really excited about that. My band this year is really exciting: Spencer’s gonna join me on the road, and the person that’s going to fill the Jake role is Clay Frankel from the band Twin Peaks.
What was the most fun moment of the Tigers Blood sessions?
It was like so magical. We just really bonded. We all lived in this little house on this other side of the property of Sonic Ranch. We were cooking meals for each other and watching basketball and jamming and staying up late and talking and just having the best time. I miss it a lot.
This story originally appeared in the March 9, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Indie star Angel Olsen is among the group of artists that has joined the lineup of Ecliptic, a singular four-day festival in Arkansas that will feature music performances, science presentations, expert panels and a one-of-a-kind view of a highly rare total solar eclipse.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
On Wednesday (Feb. 28), Olsen, Dengue Fever, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists and Mythbusters host Adam Savage joined a lineup that previously included Allah-Las, Blonde Redhead, Deerhoof, Shannon and the Clams, Sun Ra Arkestra, Mary Lattimore and a variety of speakers and specialists. Presented by Atlas Oscura, Ecliptic will be held at Cedar Glades Park outside Hot Springs, Ark. from Apr. 5-8.
The festival site is situated along the Path of Totality, allowing for a unique view of the eclipse that will occur in the afternoon of the fest’s final day. The next total solar eclipse that can be seen from the contiguous United States will occur in roughly two decades, on Aug. 23, 2044.
Trending on Billboard
“We are thrilled to host this joyous celebration of the solar eclipse,” says Megan Roberts, Atlas Obscura’s VP of Experiential. “With science and nature by day and music by night, there will be something for everyone — including 3.5 minutes of otherworldly midday darkness and thousands of fellow revelers to share the experience with. Whether attending the full weekend or just spending the day at this stellar eclipse viewing site, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience a rare cosmic phenomenon in a truly unique way.”
In addition to the music lineup, Ecliptic will offer sunset solar meditations, stargazing sessions, educational science seminars, film screenings and hiking explorations. Atlas Obscura is presenting Ecliptic in partnership with Low Key Arts, the producers of long-running indie festival Valley of the Vapors.
Click here for more info on Ecliptic Festival.
Recently, d4vd found himself feeling happy – as it turns out, maybe a little too happy.
“Not that being happy is wrong,” clarifies the genre-blurring artist behind Hot 100 hits “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me” and who last year scored an opening gig on tour with SZA. But, he says, “I started going into these sessions making songs. I wasn’t making music. I’d go in and be like, ‘Let’s make the best song ever.’ But then I wasn’t being as introspective as I used to be, and I was making such surface-level music. It felt like it wasn’t even d4vd anymore.”
This story is part of Billboard’s Genre Now package, highlighting the artists pushing their musical genres forward — and even creating their own new ones.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
And that’s the irony of an artist like d4vd – when things feel too defined, he himself feels lost.
The artist born David Burke is a bit of an anomaly. Born in Queens, New York and raised in Houston, Texas, d4vd grew up on a range of influences from Mozart to Chet Baker to eventually Lil Pump. After a classmate introduced him to Soundcloud, he quickly became a fan of then-underground and sonically diverse rappers like Lil Uzi Vert, XXXTentacion and Smokepurpp. (Even today, he says the platform’s algorithm fits his taste “to a T.”) All the while, his gaming obsession (with Fortnite in particular) led him to discover more indie-leaning rock, which he says predominantly shaped his own approach to making music – a venture that started at first as a means to avoid more copyright strikes on the gameplay montages he would post to YouTube.
[embedded content]
Having made his first two EPs (Petals to Thorns and The Lost Petals, both released on Darkroom/Interscope Records) in his sister’s closet using his iPhone and BandLab, d4vd’s music has a refreshingly stripped-back, DIY aesthetic – or, in his own words, an “ethereal nostalgia.” He believes identifying his music by a mood is more important than being defined by any one genre – a belief his managers and label supported from the jump.
“There was a drive to keep things organic and not change the formula,” he says of his early communications with Darkroom. “To let the creativity flow from where it usually came from…and not subjecting myself to any of the boxes of genre.”
Below, d4vd talks with Billboard about his own unusual relationship with genre and whether he thinks the concept will have much of a place in popular music’s future.
You previously told Billboard it’s an honor to be a gateway for music fans, especially young Black music fans, into alternative music. Why is that role so important to you?
I feel like the most important thing right now in the past five years of music has all been image. The driving force of marketing and promotion and everything has been [about] an artistic image.
[At first] I didn’t show my face at all, because I knew the music that I was making wasn’t what Black kids usually would make when they go into music. I had so many friends I tried to get into music and they instantly went for the hip-hop sound or the alt-rap sound or whatever was going on at the time, underground. But then I started making the indie alternative stuff, and I was like, “What if people didn’t know what I look like?” And that was the most important thing for me, because I wanted the art to speak for itself.
SZA spoke in her Billboard cover story about the “luxury” of trying something new and how it’s harder as a Black woman. When you were on tour with her, what did you learn from watching her blend so many influences into one seamless live show?
We didn’t talk about music that much during our time together, but I can see the career trajectory she’s built. And now SZA has become this sound that everybody’s so used to, but it’s all new people finding out about SOS first, and then not contextualizing her past projects. So that’s the thing about music too, there’s so many new ears hearing you every day. And your work isn’t always fully appreciated because of where you started. And people always see where you are [now]. So it’s interesting to see an artist that prolific have such a passion for making everything.
But then there’s a certain demographic that will only listen to one thing, so it’s kind of hard to kind of expand. I think Lil Yachty is doing that the best right now with his [Let’s Start Here] project, and always bringing in new fans to these sounds that have been around for a long time but aren’t fully appreciated because of the culture.
Who do you think your fanbase is?
I wouldn’t say for sure that I have a target audience yet. Although I’ve been making music for like, a year and a half, done a couple tours, we’ve seen the people that come to the shows… but I don’t have a certain group of people that I’m marketing to. So that allows me to kind of be free with the way I create. Right now, the people that listen to my music are people that are fans of certain sounds, not certain artists. So I don’t have to be compared to anybody else, because the fans like the sounds and not the person behind it.
Do you think that’s a specific trait of Gen-Z and how they consume and even discover music today?
I mean, completely. There’s no more artist development now. It’s like, people are marketing songs before artists, and it works sometimes. But the rest of the time it’s like, I’m hearing a song 50 times a day and I still don’t know who made it. And it’s in my playlist too. And I couldn’t care less about the artist. We’re in a weird spot right now, but I think more people are figuring out how to break through. And it’s just interesting to see internet kids take over the music industry.
Do you think in the next few years that we will still be defining music by genre?
Oh, absolutely. I feel like there’ll be even new genres. We’ve created so many subgenres that subgenres are becoming main genres. So I can’t imagine like, years down the line, how music is even categorized.
Have you ever with your team or friends made up a subgenre that could apply to d4vd?
You know what? No, I haven’t done that yet. I should, to be honest. It’d be like, hyper-alternative indiecore. I don’t know. [Laughs.] We can hashtag that.
How do you describe your music to people who may be unfamiliar?
I like to make old sounds new, I did it best with “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me.” It’s kind of like the old Morrissey from The Smiths, kind of Thom Yorke Radiohead rawness and passion that was lost due to over-technologized music. Now everything is layered with like, 50 vocal stacks and 50 harmonies and this, that and the third.
And kids’ brains are getting oversaturated with so much stuff. When they hear raw [music], it’s refreshing now – when it shouldn’t be refreshing, it should be how music is. I feel like I’m just taking advantage of the fact that kids are not hearing this kind of stuff around anymore. I feel like Steve Lacey is doing it the best right now, too. Dominic Fike, he’s doing crazy right now too.
And that’s the thing too, with genre. It’s like, we got to bring back the weird people making music. I don’t think I’d ever see Thom Yorke come on Tik Tok like, “Did I just make the song of the summer?”
Do you think some of that weirdness is lost because of social media? Are people too concerned now with how they come across?
Yeah, cause people are too worried about what works. Back in the day nothing worked. Nothing was working. So many things are working right now. Even the way people approach different genres in the same way. I don’t like seeing techno and EDM being promoted the same way an acoustic song is on TikTok…it’s like, I’m dancing to this and I’m crying to that, but they’re being marketed the same way and I’m confused.
Is there an artist or band that you would want to work with that you think would shock people who have listened to you before?
Deftones. I want to work with Chino [Moreno, Deftones frontman] so bad. So bad.
This story is part of Billboard’s Genre Now package, highlighting the artists pushing their musical genres forward — and even creating their own new ones.
Are there any producers that you’ve come across that you would want to work with?
Coming up, it was all YouTube beats, ‘cause I had no connections to anybody in the industry. So I’d go on YouTube and search up this type of beat and that type of beat. And that’s another thing, I wouldn’t go and search up: “indie type beat.” It was like a certain sound or feeling instead of a genre.
Like, if I get [the top spot] on New Music Friday and a bunch of new people are hearing this for the first time, I’d rather them ask, “Why is this on top of New Music Friday?” than have them be like, “Oh yeah, I understand why it is.” I like my music to make people think about why it’s in the position it is. And “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me” did that, and I loved it so much because people didn’t know why [they were taking off]. I want you to not be able to figure it out.
[embedded content]
For artists who are just starting out, is identifying with one genre helpful or hurtful?
It can be both. I feel like whatever makes you confident in your music and your sound, go for it. But I feel like there’s more freedom in not associating yourself with anything. And I feel like most people that start doing music forget that there’s freedom and are going off based on what they see around them. I see the benefits of being like, “Yeah, I just made this song so now I’m gonna make a hundred more like that and see if people like it.”
Whatever makes you confident in your music and your sound and helps you stick to it and not lose the passion for the music…You can lock yourself in a box and also break out of that box later if you want to. So just do whatever you want.
It’s been a busy year for M83, and it’s not done yet. After releasing his ninth studio album, Fantasy, this past March, the French musician has been on the road with his band for a 30-date spring and summer run in the U.S., Europe and Mexico, immersing audiences in the lush, cerebral, often thrilling dream pop that’s made the artist, born Anthony Gonzalez, a revered figure since his 2000s breakthrough (and particularly the release of the 2011 classic Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming).
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The fall leg of the Fantasy tour launched last night (Oct. 3) in Tacoma, Wash. and extends through mid-month with dates throughout the Pacific Northwest, California, Nevada and a final show at Austin City Limits on Oct. 15.
Amidst praise for the new album — 13 tracks of transportive, deep, pretty and emotionally evocative music — Gonzalez has also gotten attention for the monster mask he’s wearing on the cover art and in all the promotional materials, a slightly scary but now seasonally appropriate guise he says is “a way of hiding myself from the world.”
He did, however, hit a wave of unwanted attention after a March interview in which he said that “EDM is probably one of the styles of music that I hate the most,” expressing disdain that his era-defining hit “Midnight City” is so often played by “these bro EDM DJs.” Gonzalez later clarified, releasing a statement that “I do not hate the EDM community. No! I am forever grateful for the love and support,” but adding that he does hate “DJs using my music without any permission.”
Here, Gonzalez shares if any DJs have asked for this permission, why he’s more comfortable in the monster mask and why he doesn’t believe in guilty pleasure music.
1. Where are you in the world right now, and what’s the setting like?
Just arrived in Seattle to start the last leg of the Fantasy tour. I always loved this city. It feels like Seattle has a soul and spirit that is highly inspiring.
2. What is the first album or piece of music you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?
A cassette of the album Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden, which was sold to me by my brother’s friend Fred. I was immediately attracted by the fantastical cover art and the sound that felt like discovering a new planet. I was 10 years old and suddenly hooked to rock music.
3. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid, and what do or did they think of what you do for a living now?
My mum was the owner of a very cute little fabric store in the heart of Antibes old town, while my dad was a police inspector. Neither of them had anything to do with music, though my mother always pushed my brother and I to play a musical instrument. I feel extremely lucky that my parents always supported us in our choice of being a musician and a movie director. We always had the freedom to do what we liked.
4. What’s the first non-gear thing you bought for yourself when you started making money as an artist?
I actually don’t remember buying anything but musical instruments when I started to earn money with my music. It has always been my sole obsession.
[embedded content]
5. If you had to recommend one album for someone looking to get into electronic music, what would you give them?
I think it would be a Tangerine Dream album called Phaedra. It’s a dark but rewarding album that takes you on a journey to very strange places. One of my very first shocks as a teenager listening to electronic music.
6. What’s the last song you listened to?
“Pygmy Love Song” by Francis Bebey.
7. You’ve been on the road behind Fantasy since April. Has there been anything surprising or particularly interesting to you about the way the album has come to life in the live setting?
To me, it’s the team I’ve put together for the tour that keeps me wanting to play more. I love my band and crew. They always have my back and they keep inspiring me every night on stage. I don’t think I could have done it without them.
8. I understand you’re about to release “Mirror,” the unreleased Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming-era track. Why, and why is this the right time?
Simply because it’s a track that never came out digitally and we close our shows with that song. The response of the audience has been great so far, and it’s an unknown song that deserves to be properly released in my opinion.
9. The creature that’s on the cover of Fantasy and in a lot of your promotional materials for it — what is that creature? What motivates it? Why does it represent this album?
It’s a way of hiding myself from the world. I absolutely hate seeing me. It’s starting to scare me to know that so many photos and videos of me are online. Ideally I would like to be able to have control over such images, but it’s just practically impossible. So I choose to protect myself and just fight to make sure that my music stays the main protagonist in what I do.
10. You wrote on social media that “I want to keep having fantasies about worlds that I don’t know and creatures I don’t understand, and that’s the story behind this record.” Unpack that a bit more for us — have you kept having those fantasies? Why is this important to you?
I’m just a dreamer, and anything related to being an adult in a modern world is boring and terrifying to me. The ultra-connected aspect of our society is making life more stressful. Emails, socials, my phone, they are all my worst enemies. My imagination saves me from turning insane with it all. Music helps a lot.
11. Based on things you’ve said in previous interviews, it sounds like you’re ready to move away from Los Angeles. What did the city give you while you were there? Why is it time to leave?
I’m not gone yet, but I’m seriously considering it. L.A. will always be the city of dreams for me. When I moved here almost 15years ago I felt like anything was possible. It really helped me to be a better artist by allowing me to be close to more talented and successful people than me. In that way it pushed me to be a stronger person and to work more.
But I miss France a lot, my family and friends, my culture and my roots. I’m lucky that I can share my time between California and France, even though traveling has become more and more difficult. A lot has changed in 15 years, and not in a good way. Just going to an airport now is such an exhausting and draining experience.
12. What are you seeking elsewhere?
Peace of mind. A quiet life making music close to my loved ones, far from the noise and superficiality of a big megalopolis like Los Angeles.
13. You made headlines around the release of Fantasy with some comments about EDM and about how you wish DJs would ask permission before playing your music. Have any since asked for that permission? If so, did you grant it?
A few have asked yes, and I thank them for it. Of course I grant it. I know that DJs helped my music to be more popular, and I’m thankful for it. It’s just a different world with different rules. I have to learn to let go sometimes.
14. But, surely there are DJs who play other peoples’ music that you enjoy. Maybe? Was there a particularly great set you’ve been to recently?
I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a DJ, no. It’s not my culture and [I’ve] never been attracted to the club scene.
[embedded content]
15. What’s one song you wish you had written?
None. I’ve never been envious of anyone. I have respect yes, and there are so many artists that I love to death, but that’s all. I believe we need to accept that some artists are more talented and successful than yourself. So many songs and albums move me in a very deep way, but even so I never wished to be someone else. I’m already trying to accept myself as an artist, which is an extremely difficult process to me.
16. Do you have guilty pleasure music?
No, I don’t like this expression of guilty pleasure. If you get pleasure listening to something then it’s just good!
17. The proudest moment of your career thus far?
Being myself and making the records I want.
18. What’s the best business decision you’ve ever made?
I hate the word “business.” I don’t like talking about success, money etc. Being able to make music is a gift, and that’s all I care about.
19. Who was your greatest mentor, and what was the best advice they gave you?
Justin Meldal-Johnsen. Moving to L.A. and meeting him was a blessing. He helped me find myself in so many ways. I always go to him when I need guidance. He’s like a brother to me, and I love the fact that he always says what he thinks, even when it hurts.
20. One piece of advice you’d give to your younger self?
Be happy, music is cool.
Late last year, Ben Gibbard was staring down a pair of significant milestones: Death Cab for Cutie’s breakthrough album, Transatlanticism, would be turning 20 in 2023, as would Give Up, the lone full-length that Gibbard and electronic artist Jimmy Tamborello released as The Postal Service. Death Cab’s management suggested separate 20th-anniversary tours, but Gibbard envisioned a two-for-one nostalgia jamboree.
“I was like, ‘People are going to lose their minds if this is one tour,’ ” he recalls. “And I think the initial response and ticket counts were certainly a vindication of my approach.”
Indeed, the Give Up/Transatlanticism joint tour will bring both indie touchstones to arena and theater crowds beginning Sept. 5, with stops at New York’s Madison Square Garden and two hometown gigs at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena among 31 scheduled dates (up from 17 when the tour was announced in December). Gibbard will naturally pull double duty — performing Transatlanticism front-to-back with Death Cab and all of Give Up with Tamborello and Jenny Lewis, who provided backing vocals on six album tracks.
[embedded content]
For Gibbard, the tour will revisit the most pivotal year of his career. Death Cab, which formed in 1997, famously came close to breaking up in late 2001 after touring and recording at a breakneck pace. The subsequent downtime gave a then-25-year-old Gibbard the space to craft the foundation of Transatlanticism, as well as work with Tamborello on an indie-pop side project by mailing CD-Rs to each other (hence the name The Postal Service).
“All of a sudden, I found myself with a lot of time to meander creatively,” recalls Gibbard, now 47. “I felt very confident, and maybe a little bit cocky. I could musically wander and explore the space, and it was very fruitful for me.”
Give Up turned into a blog-adored cult classic, while Transatlanticism took Death Cab “from indie-rock popular” to “popular popular,” as Gibbard puts it. Although Give Up peaked at No. 45 on the Billboard 200 and Transatlanticism at No. 97, they’ve earned 1.8 million and 1.1 million equivalent album units, respectively, according to Luminate.
[embedded content]
Looking back, Gibbard is grateful that his breakthrough with both albums occurred a half-decade into his career. “We had [already] gone through some very difficult times together, and come out the other end,” he explains. “I can’t say with any certainty that if things were like they are now — a band puts out a three-song EP and is selling out shows and has people putting cameras in their faces — there’s no way we would have survived that.”
While Death Cab was just on the road in support of its 10th album, 2022’s Asphalt Meadows, the upcoming tour will mark The Postal Service’s first concerts in a decade, since Give Up turned 10. For Gibbard, these Postal Service shows will be slightly different — unlike in 2013, Give Up will be played in order, without B-sides or covers — but performing again with Tamborello and Lewis will be just as fulfilling.
“These are two of my best friends, that I get to spend extended time with on this trip,” says Gibbard. “We get to celebrate this record that we made, that became this kind of lauded moment in indie rock — but also, it’s a celebration of our friendship.”
A version of this story will appear in the Aug. 26, 2023, issue of Billboard.
On Aug. 18, Jagjaguwar will release a five-album box set titled Epoch, which will include unreleased music along with a 114-page story on the short-lived indie-rock band DeYarmond Edison. The four-piece act boasted Joe Westerlund and Phil and Brad Cook, all of whom later formed the psych-folk band Megafaun, along with Justin Vernon, who went on to form and front Bon Iver.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
On Thursday (June 22), a new two-pack single from the forthcoming release has arrived: “Hazelton B/W Liner.” The stunning and stripped-down songs laid the groundwork for what ultimately became the Bon Iver standout “Holocene,” off the band’s second album, Bon Iver, Bon Iver. “Holocene” received Grammy nominations for record and song of the year a dozen years ago. Bon Iver won best new artist and best alternative music album that year.
“Hazelton B/W Liner” is not only the oldest song that would become part of Bon Iver’s catalog — Vernon first recorded it between July 2005-May 2006 for his third solo album, Hazeltons — but also arguably the song that caused DeYarmond Edison to split. One month after Vernon’s Hazeltons arrived (released only on CD, with just 100 hand-numbered copies made), DeYarmond Edison played its final show. Less than one year later, both Bon Iver and Megafaun would release its respective debut albums.
Hazeltons will be one of the five LPs included in Epoch. The physical edition will include an exclusive live version of “Hazelton” that Vernon recorded with Aaron and Bryce Dessner in Paris. The box set’s other albums include All of Us Free, recorded between November 1998-July 2005 when DeYarmond Edison was a group of high schoolers making music as Mount Vernon; Silent Signs, DeYarmond Edison’s second studio album that has been remastered and pressed to vinyl for the first time; Epoch, Etc., which chronicles the band’s move from Eau Claire, Wisc., to Raleigh, N.C.; and Where We Belong, which houses buried treasures found after the band’s breakup.
As the box set’s executive producer and biographer says of Epoch as a whole, “This is the sound of sorting through an overabundance of new info, mostly for yourself. And, even in the rather fraught process, finding out just where it is you’ve been headed your whole life.”
Listen to “Hazelton B/W Liner” below.
