very thoughtful interview. LOVE kids in the street and recently saw them at troubadour and definitely agree their live show has only gotten better. doing my best to spread the word about this album because not enough people know about it! also, random side note totally saw tyson walking by the UCB theater two nights ago...and have to be honest had a bit of a fangirl moment lol.
i still need to listen to this whole album. same with the new Used album. i don't really like either band anymore, but i figure i might as well give their new CDs a chance. even if its just one listen.
The first lines of that excerpt are simply incorrect, lol. Alternative music is thriving in the top 40 arena in a way it hasn't in about ten years. Fun., FTP, Gotye, etc. and those are just the big guns. The sample/mash up craze has brought band-oriented music to a demographic that typically would scoff at it.
The first lines of that excerpt are simply incorrect, lol. Alternative music is thriving in the top 40 arena in a way it hasn't in about ten years. Fun., FTP, Gotye, etc. and those are just the big guns. The sample/mash up craze has brought band-oriented music to a demographic that typically would scoff at it.
I get what you're saying, but honestly, those artists will (unfortunately) only be big for a song or two, whereas straight-up pop is thriving much more. Katy Perry and Rihanna will continue to have four or five massively popular singles per album, though.
The first lines of that excerpt are simply incorrect, lol. Alternative music is thriving in the top 40 arena in a way it hasn't in about ten years. Fun., FTP, Gotye, etc. and those are just the big guns. The sample/mash up craze has brought band-oriented music to a demographic that typically would scoff at it.
This.
It kind of sounds like that they just admitted that they sold out and used that as an excuse.
The first lines of that excerpt are simply incorrect, lol. Alternative music is thriving in the top 40 arena in a way it hasn't in about ten years. Fun., FTP, Gotye, etc. and those are just the big guns. The sample/mash up craze has brought band-oriented music to a demographic that typically would scoff at it.
Actually, I think those that you listed are the only big alternative acts and none of them are really rock songs.
I get what you're saying, but honestly, those artists will (unfortunately) only be big for a song or two, whereas straight-up pop is thriving much more. Katy Perry and Rihanna will continue to have four or five massively popular singles per album, though.
This is true, but I still think popular music is in a more balanced state than it has been in some time. There's been more on the radio for me to enjoy now than there has been since like Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand was everywhere lol. I have to give Rihanna credit; the girl works with the right people to hide her flaws and she is always in the studio churning out new albums.
Actually, I think those that you listed are the only big alternative acts and none of them are really rock songs.
Cage the Elephant and Silversun Pickups are other examples, too. Add that to the resurgence in popularity for acts like Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, and Beach Boys and we have a much larger acceptance for rock oriented music than when Foo were dropping In Your Honor(minus Best of You) and Bruce released The Promise. The success of Jack White's solo debut also comes to mind.
This is true, but I still think popular music is in a more balanced state than it has been in some time. There's been more on the radio for me to enjoy now than there has been since like Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand was everywhere lol. I have to give Rihanna credit; the girl works with the right people to hide her flaws and she is always in the studio churning out new albums.
Cage the Elephant and Silversun Pickups are other examples, too. Add that to the resurgence in popularity for acts like Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, and Beach Boys and we have a much larger acceptance for rock oriented music than when Foo were dropping In Your Honor(minus Best of You) and Bruce released The Promise. The success of Jack White's solo debut also comes to mind.
Right, but even the Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam (though doing well on alternative charts) haven't had a Top 40 hit in years.
Guitars are present but not really as much, for sure. I still think fun. getting really popular is really a shining light in the radio world. With me, it doesn't matter what is used to make a song, whether it be guitars or synthesizers, as long as it's real. There are too many songs in the world about the same "shut down the club" motif. A couple are interesting but it is graining now. The biggest problem is that the lines that divide each artist on the radio are thinning and dissolving. A Katy Perry song sounds just like a Rihanna song. A Chris Brown song sounds like a Jason Derulo song or even an Usher song. The voices are all autotuned heavily now so the tones in their voices are being lost as well.
If anybody's heard that song "Brokenhearted" by this new chick Karmin(?), maybe you'll agree; I thought it was Ke$ha. Even Nicki Minaj's "Starships" is an obvious cash-in. My opinions of her being a dreadful rapper aside, how is that by any means a viable style for her to stay in the realm of hip-hop? And as hit-or-miss as I am with him, and as much as I sometimes think he's a whiny bitch, Drake's at the very least identifiable.
Anyway, great interview. I love Kids in the Street a lot.
"Pop radio is literally just pop music now. There’s no guitars to be found, so we kind of saw that coming. It’s a different place and we made a different record. It’s not like a singles record, it’s actually a record. That was our concentration from when we were recording. We knew we were making a fucking record. Fuck the normal system of singles and all that stuff. Obviously, it’s going to get worked by the label, but we wanted to make something we were proud of as a record, first and foremost, and we did that."
Bahahaha. These guys are ABSOLUTELY a singles band. The hits dry up, so will their audience. There's a reason they still play 1000-capacity venues.
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