NYS Music 202​0

Tag: new music

  • Chaz Shepherd Pays Tribute to George Floyd in Powerful New Video

    Philadelphia based actor/singer-songwriter, Chaz Shepherd, is well-versed in the arena of soulful, R&B music, but he has more to offer. The musician recently released a powerful tune about protest and standing up for one’s rights.

    Music is an expression and I felt that this sound expressed the time and the movement that is happening now.

    Chaz Lamar Shepherd
    chaz shepherd
    Chaz Lamar Shepherd

    Shepherd reflects on his latest musical accomplishment, “We Will Breathe,” a song of protest.

    The album that I’m currently working on is about love and and unity. It will be a representation of me. “We Will Breathe,” however, is about protest. It’s about being sick and tired and says, enough is enough.

    Chaz Shepherd

    Much like many artists, Chaz Shepherd is happy to use his platform to stand up for what he believes in. He says it’s not a musician’s job to create a political or social stance, but he knows that has always been him.

    Growing up in Philadelphia, the actor/singer found his love for music in the upbeat, loud, soulful church he attended as a kid. There, he was able to expand his vocals and create the passion you can hear in his music today.

    Along with his musical career, Shepherd had memorable roles in many different movies and shows over the years. From the early 2000s show, 7th Heaven, to the popular Netflix feature, Marvel’s Luke Cage, Shepherd has always seemed to flare the screen with his acting.

    The global pandemic hit the music and film industries hard: venues shutting down, workers losing their jobs and live music stopping. In-person music events seem like a thing of the past. Shepherd looks at these isolation days as time to work on his music and better himself in every way.

    I’ve been able to live very comfortably and work on my creativity. I am thankful every day that this virus hasn’t affected me the way that, unfortunately, half of the planet was affected.

    Chaz Shepherd
    chaz shepherd george floyd
    George Floyd

    The well-rounded artist says his inspiration for “We Will Breathe,” was provoked by the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020. Throughout the year, Shepherd has been an activist and supporter of the Black Lives Matter Movement, along with other organizations that support equality. According to him, this song isn’t about love. It’s about standing up for human rights.

    I became more than what I thought I was. I directed and produced a video I also performed in. I just want this video to become more popular and to contribute to, not only, the BLM movement, but also all over.

    Chaz Shepherd

    “We Will Breathe,” can be found on all platforms. The video itself is featured on Shepherd’s very own YouTube Channel, Chaz Shepherd Official. Soon to come, is an album featuring soul, R&B, gospel and more.

    “We Will Breath” by Chaz Shepherd.

  • System Of A Down Releases New Music For the First Time in 15 Years

    System Of A Down released new music on November 6, 2020 for the first time in 15 years. The band dropped two songs, “Protect The Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz” both speak of the dire and serious war happening in their cultural homelands of Artsakh and Armenia. 

    The heavy metal band, System Of A Down, formed in Glendale, California back in 1994. They are an Armenian-American band who have released five studio albums throughout the years. Three of those albums debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and were even nominated for four Grammy Awards. Their most well known song is “B.Y.O.B.” which won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance back in 2006. The band is made up of  founding members Serj Tankian who does lead vocals/ keyboards, Daron Malakian who does vocals/ guitar and Shavo Odadjian who plays bass/ backing vocals as well as John Dolmayan who plays drums. John Dolmayan replaced original drummer Andy Khachaturian back in 1997.

    The new songs “Protect The Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz” are the bands way of trying to inspired people to speak out about the horrific injustices and human rights violations occurring by the hands of the Azerbaijan and Turkey (along with Isis terrorists from Syria). They have attacked the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh which we as Armenians call Artsakh. Civilians young and old have been awakened day and night by the frightful sights and sounds of rocket attacks, falling bombs, missiles, drones and terrorist attacks. People have had to find sanctuary in makeshift shelters while trying to avoid the fallout of outlawed cluster bombs. Their attackers have set their forests and endangered wildlife ablaze using white phosphorus, another banned weapon.

    The band asks people to donate and help those who have been affected by the ever growing accounts of crimes against humanity currently happening to the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. In return the band offer downloads of the two new songs for just $2. These funds will be used to provide crucial and desperately needed aid and basic supplies for those affected by these hideous acts.

    For more information on the release and reasonings behind “Protect The Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz” visit System Of A Down’s website.

  • Wiley Watson Releases Pop Rock Late Night Bar Anthem “The Kid”

    Brooklyn based artist Wiley Watson today releases his new single “The Kid,” taking listeners on a journey inspired by a rambunctious night in York, England, post-breakup.

    Wiley Watson

    The song features a variety of styles blended to construct the party-induced instrumental. The vibe you can expect going into this track is cheerful regret, its the type of music that plays in the background of a dive bar with a PBR in hand and, that is what makes it “indie” in the best way.

    The instrumentals fuse influence from across genres including pop, indie rock, and hints of hard rock but, with a heavy reliance on a new-wave funk swagger.

    The alt-rock/pop artist promises to bring all the energy on his new track exclaiming, “The song is a party/bar fight type song,” exclaims Watson. “I want the listener to listen to this song before they go on a night out with the lads. It’s all about bad decisions, poor choices, and having a legendary night with your pals.” A statement which, is swiftly delivered as the track progresses.

    Wiley Watson

    Wiley is genuinely giving in his approach to writing his music and it’s content. You can feel robust with his upbeat rock anthems, can transcend into a memory with his melodic guitar riffs, or even feel melancholy through his sadder, ‘lost love’ songs. His style can be credited to a broad range of influences from classical composers, heavy metal shredders, arena singing pop stars, and even spaghetti western films; Wiley’s influences broadens his sound which allows for a wide audience appeal. 

    A former college athlete, Watson returned to New York City, a place that influenced his childhood and now lives in Brooklyn. Here is where Wiley would begin to challenge his sound and grow with influences of contemporary indie rockers such as Bleachers and F.U.N. 

    To find out more about Wiley Watson, visit his website, and for more music, check out his Soundcloud.

  • CMJ Music Marathon Returns Under Amazing Radio

    The CMJ Virtual Music Marathon will return virtually this year, now under the ownership of Amazing Radio. Amazing Radio also has begun their new show One Night Stand, a weekly live performance which will feature up and coming artists broadcast on AmazingRadio.tv.

    CMJ Music Marathon

    One Night Stand was kicked off June 15 with a special introductory show featuring The 1975, Alvvays, alt-J, Daughter, and Wolf Alice and included informational interviews with Amazing Radio founder Paul Campbell and CEO DJ Andy Zicklin. One Night Stand will showcase two new artists each week through music and interviews. Starting June 19, the show will begin broadcasting regularly every Friday night from 8-8:30PM EST. 

    On June 19, fans can watch or listen to interviews and performances by Huw Edwards of KOYO (Leeds, UK) and Grace Gillespie (London, UK), and additional performances by Needshes (Moscow, Russia), Daring Greatly (San Diego, CA), Firstimers (Denver, CO), and James Alexander Bright (Hampshire, UK). The audience will be able to tip the artists directly. 

    Launched in England in 2007, Amazing Radio’s mission is to “[help] new and emerging artists get discovered and make money, without getting screwed.” Its North-American branch kicked off in 2018. Amazing Radio helps undiscovered artists gain media attention in an ethical way. Several iconic artists have been discovered by Amazing Radio, such as Alt J, Haim, London Grammar, Bastille, Chvrches, The 1975, Royal Blood, Sam Fender and Dua Lipa. Billboard called the station “a powerful promotional machine.”

    CMJ Music Marathon

    Amazing Radio now also owns CMJ, the College Music Journal. CMJ was founded in 1977 and began hosting an annual music festival showcasing new, undiscovered talent in New York City in 1980. The festival helped artists like Lady Gaga, Mumford & Sons, and Arcade Fire gain notoriety. Unfortunately, the CMJ Music Marathon has not taken place since 2015. However, CMJ and Amazing Radio are happy to announce that the festival will be returning virtually this Summer. Although the festival cannot be in person, it will still maintain “its spirit of new music discovery,” and will now span “New York and beyond.” 

    All emerging artists can submit their music for the CMJ Virtual Music Marathon by becoming Amazing Artists on Amazingradio.us. Doing so offers the artists several benefits, including the chance to be considered for One Night Stand. Additionally, new artists who sell their music on AmazingRadio will keep 100% of their profits and donations.

    Be sure to watch or listen to One Night Stand on AmazingRadio.tv or AmazingRadio.us respectively every Friday night from 8-8:30PM EST and submit your original work for the CMJ Virtual Music Marathon.

  • Hearing Aide: Carter, Shipp, Parker, and Cleaver ‘Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1’

    After playing together for years, long-time jazz musicians Daniel Carter (tenor sax, trumpet, flute), Matthew Shipp (piano), William Parker (bass), and Gerald Cleaver (drums) have collaborated to release their first album as a group, Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1.

    Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1

    Carter and Parker have been working together since the 70s early into their music careers. Shipp began playing with the duo in the 80s, and Cleaver joined the mix more recently. This is the first recording which features the trio along with Cleaver. The four work together extremely well and manage to create an album which is easy-listening while still incredibly interesting. The three songs are a feast for the listener who is taken through a journey with each minute.

    The album kicks off with “Majestic Travel Agency,” which effectively sets up the tone of the whole album quickly with piano that seems incongruent from the other instruments; this incongruence, surprisingly, brings the whole piece together. Things may seem slightly out of place, but in a clearly purposeful and harmonious way that makes the music all the more interesting. “Scintillate” is the shortest and brightest of the three, but still has an edge to it. The album’s ‘harmonious incongruence’ is shown most clearly in the final song, “Ear-regularities,” which is significantly darker than the two before it.

    Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1 is available on Bandcamp. The album’s second volume will be released at a later date.

  • Hearing Aide: Blacktop Mojo “Static”

    Artists strive to develop, grow, evolve. Blacktop Mojo’s latest release, Static, is certainly a product of that ethic.  A 4 song EP that it is a get in your car, roll down the windows, crank it up, and drive recording. With their first three albums laying the groundwork, Static represents a defining moment in this East Texas based band’s career.

    Blacktop Mojo

    Issued as an EP, it equates more to a perfect album side. The bond between the songs begs for it to be played in its entirety. No singling out a song or two, you need to play them all. On first listen, I was so hooked that I played the EP through a second and third time before taking a breath. Simply put, this is a rocker. Raw, hard and an unfiltered.

    Statoc = Blacktop Mojo

    Twist the antenna around

    Is there something wrong

    There’s nothing but white noise now

    The signal’s gone

    “Signals Gone” – Blacktop Mojo

    Blacktop Mojo has set a high watermark for future projects. If you are new to the band, what a place to start. For those those who have been in the know, Static will live at the top of the collection.

  • Jay-Jasmin releases new interstellar single “Bitch I’m From Venus”

    “New” and “single” refuse to encapsulate the anthology of neo-futurisms encased in the declaration from Jay-Jasmine in “Bitch I’m From Venus.” Ten-thousand lens shatters post-modern divides between interstellar imagery laced to ancient industrial breakbeat trance-pop, all to be reconfigured in Jay-Jasmine’s mythical resonance.

    Jay-Jasmine’s non-conforming, non-binary and cosmic celestial opus unifies contrasting mediums into parallel summits tracking a visceral explosion of sensory. “Bitch I’m From Venus,” doesn’t long for a lost downtown meets uptown outburst of vogue vibrancy, it details a blueprint where concrete runways adjoin synthetic neon lights stripping lineal wisdom into self-defined bodies. The canvasses Jay-Jasmine’s melodic articulation jar offers no delusion of the intended revolution it embodies.  

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CAYDXCbp8LZ/

    The track is inspired by ancient Divine Feminine energies of the goddess Venus who has 10,000 names. “Earth is experiencing a return in these energies and I wanted to make music showing that in the form of an alien invasion in NYC”. JAY-JASMIN is very inspired by fantasy and sci-fi and uses a blend of styles to create a work that has not been seen before and illustrates a new dimension. The main message of the song is to overthrow the patriarchy and raise the vibration of the planet through a revolution of love and freedom. 

  • Hearing Aide: Palm Suede’s latest single “Fight or Flight” remains relevant amidst global crisis

    New York-based electro-pop duo, Palm Suede, is delighted to share their new single “​ Fight or Flight​” that premiered May 15. The song continues the two’s exploration of battling anxiety while dealing with everyday situations

    Palm Suede renders the duos new single “Fight or Flight” balanced in vibrational techno-pop frequency lining a rapture of uptempo synth-balladry. The anthem unclenches the tightly knitted anxieties of windswept dispatches to find symphonic solace in the eye of the storm. The duo dares the frame that social distancing entails disconnection. In primal chemistry of intimacy, mindfulness, and allure the cadence breaks from expectation to fight gravity in every breath of Ellen Hodges’ aerial vocal register.

    In the trial between two poles stretched across oceans, the sound transcends the current with an international claim. Crossing over Palm Suede splices lyrical expressions from geometric cadence to take flight in the indulgence of the song’s entrancing backbeat. The duo specially produced Fight or Flight to be able to seductively lure escapism in being centered in one’s own energy. 

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B99lS75Fyon/

  • PEAK releases a unique psych-funk fusion sound with “Hot Clips Volume 1”

    Based out of Brooklyn, indie-funk artist PEAK is eroding the border between techno and funk with their new album Hot Clips Volume 1.  The collection is PEAK’s latest release that explores a wide array of emotion, and doubles as something techno-funk and indie enthusiasts look to for a unique fusion of both worlds.  Imagine as if you’re riding in a ship through a space galaxy, and you entered into a psychedelic time travel where influences of authentic 60’s bands and modern funk-rock combine seamlessly; PEAK would be the pilot of this ship and the realm is Hot Clips Volume 1.

    The album takes off with “What It Is About Her,” a track that’s experimental right off the bat with a techno beat growing into a full acoustic drum sound.  The vocals join the steady instrumental flow, and provide as a comforting blanket through exploring emotion about a girl.  Throughout the track, the band proves their unique dynamic changes with the blend of rock and bright electro-synth solos.  PEAK is able to take you on a comfortable roller coaster, with the peak (no pun intended) being the psychedelic journey track “Baromtric Pressure,” followed by the funky feel-good track “Win Some, Lose Some” that brings you back down to earth.  Once you start the adventure of listening to Hot Clips Volume 1, it’s hard to snap out of the attractive trance brought on by the upbeat dance beats and wild keyboard solos.

    Hot Clips Volume 1 is the launch of a live series from PEAK featuring Jeremy Hilliard on guitar on vocals (Turbine), Kito Bovenschulte on Drums (Particle), Josh T. Carter on Bass (Hayley Jane and the Primates) and Johnny Young on keys and vocals (Mick Taylor, Artimus Pyle). PEAK released their debut studio album Electric Bouquet (produced by Dave Brandwein of Turkuaz) in 2018, and have since since been steadily touring to perform at prominent venues, and releasing music for everyone to enjoy.  

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_DhBH9p4yz/

    Written over a period of time from Fall 2019 to Winter 2020 during tour, this collection of songs were some of the band’s favorite jams until they were solidified with the help of keyboardist and mixing engineer Johnny Young.  With all of these great influences brought to one table, the band was able to bring these jams to life and capture their emotion while maintaining a fun techo vibe.

    Key Tracks: What It Is About Her, Baromtric Pressure, Wild Ride, Can’t Love Somebody

  • Listen to Queens Duo Runitup Apply ‘Pressure’ on latest single

    A breakout single isn’t the easiest thing to find. If it were, millions of aspiring rappers would have landed record deals. And although the ball seems to get rolling after that first big hit (save for the one-hit wonders, of course), an artist is still dependent on their initial ability to connect with an audience. For most, the components of the ever elusive-hit record seem to be simple (distinctive instrumental vocals, engaging lyrics, etc..) yet, the subtle ways in which they are applied often escape aspiring artists. Which is why when one finds one of those elusive records, they hold on to it, play it and share it to the world.

    “Pressure,” the latest release from cousins and Queens duo Runitup Rich and Runitup Sho feels like one of those songs. With a Lil Uzi Vert-esque flow and delivery throughout, the Runitup duo seem to have found the exact medium they had been searching for. “The sound we started with was just something we mimicked and thought it sounded like a bump and as we kept going and following music trends, we decided to start trying to be more melodic,” says Sho. “With my background and singing and Rich’s chop-and-go flow, we came up with a sound that was still us but gave an opening for a broader spectrum of music.” 

    It isn’t just the distinctive guitar riffs nor the infectious chorus, but the duo’s effervescence throughout the song that will likely coax listeners into joining them in sing-a-longs. With the record also falling shy of two minutes, there will be plenty of people playing it on repeat. 

    As Runitup continue to establish themselves, they refrain from thinking about fame and opulence. The duo is more focused on growing, exploring their sound, evading any hastiness. “Who knows what the future holds as we continue making music. We get to see more of what the supporters of our music want, and we can form a better direction for Runitup as a whole.”