Bringin' it Backwards

We had the pleasure of interviewing XYLØ over Zoom video. XYLØ's long-awaited debut album unamerican beauty is out now. Track 1, the title track of the album which is accompanied by a captivating music video, ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRCU4ErcQ7s ) , is a perfect introduction to the overall theme of the album—the many highs and lows of living the so-called "American Dream". XYLØ sings over the haunting dark pop instrumentation "we got the dreamers disease / And this feeling is lethal / Nowhere I'd rather be / A sunny place for shady people." It's dripping with clever satire, as are other standout tracks on the album, such as "red hot winter" and "starfucker". Another track that is sure to be a fan favorite is the last one on the album, "driving". The pulsing ballady beat and wistful, velvety vocals are reminiscent of some of XYLØ's older releases, and the song embodies a feeling that many of us can relate to—the comfort of going for a directionless drive and letting the radio blare, drowning out the noise in your head. XYLØ sings "this seat belt is the closest I've felt to real arms around me" and "I think I'll keep this car forever, the stereo sounds so fucking good." XYLØ Co-written and produced by long-time collaborator Lee Newell, the album follows singles "red hot winter", "sugar free rush", "sweetheart" and "aliens". The music video for "sweetheart" premiered on Rolling Stone (along with the album release date announcement), while the David Lynch-esque music video for the album's lead single "aliens" had fans incredibly excited for the rest of the album rollout. XYLØ also posted a cryptic album teaser before any music released, setting the stage for the debut album. XYLØ's fans have been after the album for years, and the wait has finally come to an end. They've been rewarded for their patience and dedication with a jam-packed album release month full of surprises. Born and raised in the suburban outskirts of Los Angeles, XYLØ aka Paige Duddy found breakthrough success with brooding debut EP America in 2015, featuring viral hit "Afterlife". Following a string of sold out one-off headline shows, a platinum record with The Chainsmokers and over 350 million streams on Spotify alone, XYLØ has been described by Nylon Magazine as the "queen of dark pop". Before finishing her first headline tour in 2019 with sold out shows across the US and UK, XYLØ launched her own indie label Pretty Records where she has since released four successful EPs, pretty sad (2019), yes & no (2019), The Ganglands Of My Heart (2020) and OUTSIDERS CLUB (2020). Now all focus is on the long-awaited debut album unamerican beauty. With her unapologetic lyric-driven songs covering themes of loneliness, self-discovery and feeling like an outsider, XYLØ has cultivated a loyal fanbase around the world. Paige grew up in a large musical family. Her grandfather was a jazz drummer and percussionist who was a huge influence on her interest in music. She started writing and recording music with her brother and in 2015 they released their first song, "America", which led to them signing with Sony's Disruptor Records. After a couple years as a duo they decided to split. Paige continued solo as XYLØ and began releasing music independently. Said Paige "My career started from 0 again and suddenly for the first time in my career I was able to make my own decisions." Long-time co-writer Lee Newell (former frontman of the bands Viva Brother and Lovelife) has continued to work on the project as co-writer and producer We want to hear from you! Please email [email protected]. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #XYLØ #unamericanbeauty #NewMusic #zoom Listen & Subscribe to BiB https://www.bringinitbackwards.com/follow/ Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! https://www.facebook.com/groups/bringinbackpod Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing Dida Pelled over Zoom video. Brooklyn-based, Native Tel-Avivian, Dida Pelled, is widely regarded as the greatest jazz guitarist this side of the Mississippi. Pelled's ambitions took shape as a child, when, entranced by bebop, she sequestered herself from the world and resolved to master guitar, later earning a spot in the Israeli Army band before training at the New School on a scholarship to study jazz. She quickly made a name for herself in the New York jazz scene, recording with Jazz masters like Roy Hargrove and Gregory Hutchinson and touring the world. As her jazz star rose, Pelled felt a pull toward classic American songwriting, shifting her direction and redefining her voice. Love Of The Tiger, Pelled's upcoming album, is the product of a jazz prodigy gone rogue. The record was recorded both in isolation at her home and at Eli Crews' studio in upstate NY, alongside engineer Phil Weinrobe (Adrianne Lanker, Damien Rice), Guy Paz on drums and Andrew Forman on additional guitar. Love Of The Tiger is a love letter to the obscure, weaving across genres, twisting and turning with Pelled's ever-expanding range of musical abilities and interests. We want to hear from you! Please email [email protected]. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #DidaPelled #LoveOfTheTiger #lgbtq #LGBTQ+ #NewMusic #zoom Listen & Subscribe to BiB https://www.bringinitbackwards.com/follow/ Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! https://www.facebook.com/groups/bringinbackpod Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing Luke Revyn over Zoom video. Rising pop-alternative star Luke Reyvn follows the success of his breakout single with "White Lies," a new collaboration with the singer, rapper, and TikTok star Lil XXEL. A propulsive pop anthem about deception in relationships. The collaboration came about after Reyvn posted an "open verse challenge" on his TikTok, leading Lil XXEL to contribute to the track. Revyn cuts a striking first impression befitting of his painfully complicated past - but his story is also a triumphant one: a troubled teen who got the help he needed and bravely got on a plane to pursue his pop star dreams. Revyn grew up in Hawaii where he immersed himself in artistic expression, participating in school theater, band, and chorus programs while playing in fledgling punk bands around the region. As a young teen, he was unaware of his clinical depression and his learning disabilities and directed his frustrations outwardly. He faced brushes with the law, pushed his family and friends away, and dropped out of college fed up with the monolithic curriculum. Upon leaving college, Revyn made the courageous decision to clean up. During this time, he immersed himself in music and put in hours learning how to produce, mix, and study the art of songwriting. We want to hear from you! Please email [email protected]. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #LukeRevyn #LilXXEL #WhiteLies #NewMusic #zoom Listen & Subscribe to BiB https://www.bringinitbackwards.com/follow/ Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! https://www.facebook.com/groups/bringinbackpod Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing Winona Oak over Zoom video. Acclaimed singer-songwriter Winona Oak has announced today's release of her long-awaited debut album, Island of the Sun, available everywhere now via Neon Gold/Atlantic Records. Island of the Sun further includes such critically acclaimed highlights as "Jojo," "Baby Blue," "Break My Broken Heart," "Piano In The Sky," and the album's stunning title track, "Island of the Sun,". Winona – who just wrapped her first-ever North American concert tour supporting British alt-pop duo Oh Wonder – will continue to celebrate Island of the Sun with an eagerly anticipated EU/UK tour alongside Alec Benjamin. For updates, please visit www.winonaoak.com. Born and raised in the Nordic forests of Sweden on a small crop of land called Sollerön – known as the Island of the Sun and the inspiration for her extraordinary debut album – Winona Oak is every bit as enchanting as her origin story. With a childhood spent encountering more animals than people, she grew up a trained horse acrobat and pursued creative expression however she could, writing poetry and songs and playing violin and piano from a young age. After moving to Stockholm to pursue her passion for music, Winona honed her craft and landed a deal with Atlantic/Neon Gold Records. Soon after, the budding songstress met Australian electronic maestro What So Not and the two co-wrote his singles "Better," "Stuck In Orbit" and "Beautiful," which highlighted Winona as the track's featured artist. She then went on to collaborate with The Chainsmokers on their RIAA gold-certified hit single, "Hope" and soon followed with her runaway success debut solo single, "He Don't Love Me." In 2020, Winona released her first EP, Closure, followed quickly by her critically acclaimed sophomore EP, SHE, earning praise from the likes of PAPER, which declared, "Winona Oak is a name you should know." Winona celebrated SHE with a stirring live performance of the title track as part of CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's #PLAYATHOME series, streaming HERE. 2021 saw Winona collaborate with breakout bedroom pop star ELIO on "Nobody Loves Me." Now, with the long-anticipated arrival of Island of the Sun, Winona Oak fully affirms her remarkable promise as one of today's most original and compelling new artists. We want to hear from you! Please email [email protected]. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #WinonaOak #IslandOfTheSun#NewMusic #zoom Listen & Subscribe to BiB https://www.bringinitbackwards.com/follow/ Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! https://www.facebook.com/groups/bringinbackpod Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing G. Love over Zoom video. South of Market Street, south of the Liberty Bell, south of the Walt Whitman Bridge and Pat's and Geno's lies an entirely different Philadelphia: Philadelphia, Mississippi. On the surface, these two Phillies couldn't be any less alike—one, a bustling East Coast metropolis, the other, a small town a thousand miles away in the Deep South—but for G. Love, the connections were undeniable. Produced by North Mississippi All-Stars' Luther Dickinson, Philadelphia Mississippi brings together both sides of G. Love's eclectic career, mixing old school Hill Country and Delta Blues with new school hip-hop and funk to forge a sound that's both wildly innovative and deeply reverent all at once. The songs are loose and spontaneous here, often penned on the fly in improvisatory fits of inspiration, and the performances are similarly freewheeling, bringing together a slew of special guests from blues torchbearers like Alvin Youngblood Hart and Christone "Kingfish" Ingram to rap icons like Schoolly D and Speech from Arrested Development. It would have been easy for G. Love to play it safe coming off his GRAMMY-nominated 2020 release, The Juice, but Philadelphia Mississippi is perhaps his most adventurous, ambitious collection to date, tossing all the rules out the window as it experiments with form and function in an ecstatic celebration of music's power to connect across genres and generations. G. Love's upcoming album Philadelphia Mississippi will be available as a limited edition NFT. After purchasing the initial "Origin" NFT, token holders will be airdropped a second NFT which unlocks both a downloadable and streaming version of the new record, as well as a 180-gram vinyl. A limited number of token holders will be randomly selected to win special edition vinyl pressings, ticket bundles, and more. We want to hear from you! Please email [email protected]. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #GLove #GLoveandSpecialSauce #PhiladelphiaMississippi #TheJuice #NFT #NewMusic #zoom Listen & Subscribe to BiB https://www.bringinitbackwards.com/follow/ Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! https://www.facebook.com/groups/bringinbackpod Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing Peter Muller over Zoom video. Pete Muller is a problem solver. Whether he's writing songs for his critically acclaimed albums, revolutionizing the way Wall Street works through applied mathematics, or crafting crosswords for the New York Times and Washington Post, the hyper-talented renaissance man always seems to have his eye on unlocking some deeper level of understanding, on reaching some higher plane of enlightenment. With his touching new album, Spaces, Muller takes on perhaps the biggest puzzle of them all: himself. Recorded with Emmy Award-winning producer/arranger Rob Mathes (Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Sting), the collection is lush and timeless, balancing head and heart in equal measure as it wrestles with questions of love and connection and purpose and identity. The writing here is tender and poignant, fueled by profoundly empathetic character studies and remarkably vulnerable acts of self-reflection, and the performances are warm and dynamic to match, mixing singer/songwriter intimacy with classic pop charm and jazz sophistication. Add it all up and you've got a rich, moving work of radical honesty, a powerful collection that leaves no stone unturned as it examines the tension between duty and fate, between commitment and escape, between who we are and who we're meant to be. After releasing a pair of early albums, he got married, moved to California, returned to the business he'd founded, and became a father, but the fire in his belly never went out, and in 2014, he returned to the studio to record his third album, Two Truths and a Lie. During the recording sessions for that collection, Muller would be introduced to Avatar Studios, which, under its original name of The Power Station, had hosted the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, David Bowie, and Bob Dylan. Like the similarly legendary (and now lost) Hit Factory, the studio was under threat of being sold and redeveloped as condos at the time, and Muller decided to use his resources in partnership with the City of New York and the Berklee College of Music to save, renovate, and re-launch it as a world-class recording and educational facility. Muller's new album Spaces is about our greatest quests in life, and how they often bring us right back to where we started; our greatest revelations come not from any destinations, but from the paths we take along the way. Sometimes the puzzle is the answer. We want to hear from you! Please email [email protected]. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #PeteMuller #Spaces #NewMusic #zoom Listen & Subscribe to BiB https://www.bringinitbackwards.com/follow/ Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! https://www.facebook.com/groups/bringinbackpod Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing Ez Mil over Zoom video. 23-year-old Philippines-born, Las Vegas-based musician Ez Mil releases his second single, "Dalawampu't Dalawang OO (2200)" a Tagalog-language rap track that pays homage to his hometown, Olongapo City, Philippines. The single is lifted from Ez Mil's second studio album, DU4LI7Y, (Duality), out this summer, under FFP Records and distributed by Virgin Music/UMG. DU4LI7Y, the second LP from Ez Mil due out this summer, is a continuation of his first, 2020 album, Act 1. Where Act 1 envelops Ez Mil in a haze of darkness, DU4LI7Y sees him emerge from that darkness back into the light as he returns to both his roots and to himself. It's a story of repentance and atonement that highlights Ez Mil's unparalleled genre fluidity. The upcoming album's explosive first single, "Re-Up," was his first of 2022, and highlights his aggressive vocal style and ability to expertly turn any beat into his own as Ez Mil seamlessly switches back and forth between Tagalog and English providing listeners with verses in each language. "Dalawampu't Dalawang OO (2200)," primarily rapped in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines, pays homage to Ez Mil's hometown of Olongapo City and sees Mil beam with pride, representing the "twenty-two, double-o." With the latest single, multi-instrumentalist proves he's unlike any artist that has come before him as he swiftly blends cultures and genres to carve out a place all his own, and is only just getting started. In 2021, Ez Mil made a major splash with his hit song, "Panalo," performing it on Wish Bus USA, a video that has since garnered almost 71 million views. Ez Mil then released a special version of the video, celebrating boxing icon and Filipino Senator Manny Pacquiao. Ez Mil then appeared on LA's Power 106 last year, where he performed an emotionally-charged freestyle nodding to Nipsey Hussle and YG. Notably, he boasts 1.1 million likes on Facebook, close to 700,000 subscribers on YouTube, and 343,000 followers on TikTok. "Dalawampu't Dalawang OO (2200)" allows Ez Mil to bring the Philippines with him as he ascends into viral pop stardom beyond his home country and defies all borders and preceding expectations. "Dalawampu't Dalawang OO (2200)" is out everywhere now. Hear the newest music from Ez Mil and more this Spring as he tours the Philippines. Tickets are on sale now here. Ez Mil's forthcoming second LP, DU4LI7Y, is due out this summer via FFP Records. Connect with Ez Mil on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube and stay tuned for much more from the rising musician. We want to hear from you! Please email [email protected]. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #EZMil #DU4LI7Y #Panalo #NewMusic #zoom Listen & Subscribe to BiB https://www.bringinitbackwards.com/follow/ Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! https://www.facebook.com/groups/bringinbackpod Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing Thomas Ng over Zoom video. Musicians on TikTok have become more creative in promoting their music, using tried-and-true methods like song covers and newer crazes like Open Verse Challenges to get their songs out there. Boston-based (with roots in both the UK and Hong Kong) creator Thomas Ng is one of the creators rising on the platform with his ability to bring people together through music. Ng grew a massive following of over 210K followers on TikTok with his lucid R&B vocals on song covers and his own original compositions. Ng's "Duet Me" series has also captured the attention of several music creators on the platform, including Lizzo, who participated in one of the open verse challenges. Thomas Ng's vocals are some of the most calming and captivating I've heard on TikTok recently – two of my favorite covers are his renditions of Ed Sheeran's "The Joker And The Queen" (2.2M+ views) and GIVĒON's "Heartbreak Anniversary." His original music has also attracted attention – a debut snippet of his mellow R&B song "One Last Dance" garnered over 12M views on the platform to date inspiring TikTok users to share their own open verses using the duet feature. Thanks to a boost from his TikTok supporters after its official release, "One Last Dance" boasts over 1M+ streams on Spotify. Through his unique open verse challenges and original music, Thomas Ng continues to foster TikTok creators' appetite for creativity and community. We want to hear from you! Please email [email protected]. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #ThomasNg #TikTok #DuetMe #NewMusic #zoom Listen & Subscribe to BiB https://www.bringinitbackwards.com/follow/ Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! https://www.facebook.com/groups/bringinbackpod Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing Will Wood over Zoom video. Cicada Days is a beautiful singer-songwriter piece by the enigmatic and influential Will Wood. Once known for his manic, high-energy songs, Will is releasing next month the most accessible composition in his new sound, one that is grounded in acoustic instrumentation with a much more mellow vibe compared to past releases. What begins as a melodic acoustic piece with lilting, gorgeous vocal lines, "Cicada Days" builds and later explodes into a sound of controlled chaos, just like the insects themselves. From Will: "Cicadas spend the vast majority of their seventeen-year life cycles underground. They chew on roots for the better part of two decades, crawl up trees, Cronenberg/Kafka into enormous flies, tear out of their alien shells, scream for two months, and die. I guess cicada days could either be a long time spent growing but not emerging, or they could be days spent struggling to become something new that doesn't quite pan out so great, or they could be the two months of screaming. Or maybe it's the height of summer, or the days when you can't stand the noise outside. I guess don't really know. But the words feel kind of right to say. The big, noisy final chorus was kind of a limb I went out on while making the demo for this one. I didn't have a bridge or a last chorus, and because I was no longer looking at songs as needing to always be some anthem-like I used to, I was willing to risk ruining it by trying something new. So I just said to myself, "what if I put another chorus here and just made it really unpleasant?" The sounds you hear are guitarist Mike Bottiglieri (who also played mandolin and lap steel guitar on the track) in a tiny iso booth with his guitar and amp cranked manipulating the feedback. We had to put earplugs and gun range earmuffs on him for safety, and I had to give him visual cues instead of playback to track along with. I feel like this track is a pretty essential example of the ways in which I've changed as an artist and as a person over the past couple of years." - WW We want to hear from you! Please email [email protected]. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #WillWood #CicadaDays #NewMusic #zoom Listen & Subscribe to BiB https://www.bringinitbackwards.com/follow/ Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! https://www.facebook.com/groups/bringinbackpod Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing CeCe over Zoom video. Singer/songwriter, CeCe, recently released her single, "FUEO. The accompanying music video, brings CeCe's new era to life with its high-octane, filmic visuals. As a multifaceted creator, CeCe also created multiple pieces worn in the music video, and can be seen riding her own Royal Enfield motorcycle, for which she is a brand ambassador. Drawing inspiration from her own life, "FUEO" showcases a combination of CeCe's confident writing ability, strong sense of style, and commanding vocals. ""FUEO" is an anthem about instantly connecting with someone, friend or romantic, because you sense they may be damaged in the same ways as you. Inevitably, you spend all your time together, and "hang out till you hate each other," which is the first lyric I wrote for this song. It's a joyful celebration of being broken, together." CeCe explains. Written by CeCe, Chase Stockman, John Samuel Gerhart, and Joe Henderson; "FUEO" was inspired by CeCe's diehard friendships and learning to love her own chaos. Hailing from Illinois, CeCe has always known she wanted to become a singer since the age of 5. Growing up on a farm in a town of about 300 people led her to start singing locally at events such as town fairs. After dropping out of college and spending the following years performing in dive bars and sleeping in a van as she toured the midwest with her first band; CeCe eventually landed in Los Angeles where her creativity started to permeate into nearly every area of the entertainment industry. She quickly honed her skills as a songwriter, but her creativity could not be contained by her music alone. From directing music videos, to working on the design team developing concepts for one of the largest shows on network television, to designing fashion for herself and other artists; CeCe is a force in the industry and has continued to define her own rules for the artist she wants to be. We want to hear from you! Please email [email protected]. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #CeCe #CeCeFray #FUEO #XFactor #NewMusic #zoom Listen & Subscribe to BiB https://www.bringinitbackwards.com/follow/ Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! https://www.facebook.com/groups/bringinbackpod Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/