Roots to Grooves

This week we are doing a special listener suggestion episode, from Kyle Brown, who releases music under the name "Kite Vendor".

"DIIV" are a four piece indie rock band based out of Brooklyn, New York.

The project originally started after lead songwriter and frontman Zachary Cole Smith left the band "Beach Fossils", for whom he was playing drums for. Cole started by writing and demoing material in his bedroom, not knowing if anything would come of what he was creating, or if anyone would ever hear it. However as his confidence grew he decided to share his new material with the label managers at Captured Tracks, the label Beach Fossils were signed with. The label liked what they heard and decided to put out a couple singles. Off the success of these singles Captured Tracks decided to put out Cole's full-length debut album "Oshin" in 2012.

To hear the full story, and a selection of tracks, check out this weeks episode of R2G.

To learn the full story, check out this week's episode of Roots to Grooves!

"Roots to Grooves" is a production of SIGNL.

• https://www.signlradio.com
• https://www.instagram.com/signlradio
• https://www.twitter.com/signlradio
• https://www.facebook.com/signlradio
• https://www.mixcloud.com/signl
• https://open.spotify.com/user/96mhz6qfjoztxbl2dpm0uj903?si=aAZpsoEnRAKdx85kr1QWhg

"Django Django" are a British art rock band based in London England.

The four piece originally met while studying in Edinburgh. The genesis of the project came from drummer/producer David Maclean, who approached music from a DJ background, primarily beat juggling hip hop before getting into other genres of dance music. When David discovered the drums he would initially record short live loops to incorporate into his DJ sets. It was this approach that led David to create his own beats, and eventually to the initial ideas that would form the basis of Django Django's self-titled debut album.

Frontman Vincent Neff started out by teaching himself guitar, by studying the Beatles. It was a process that led him to eventually mess around writing his own songs.

"Django Django" was initially a melding of David's ability to write beats and instrumentals, and Vincent's ability to craft songs, lyrics and melodies. Not long after they began to collaborate, they drafted in fellow students Jimmy Dixon on bass and Tommy Grace on synths.

To learn the full story, check out this week's episode of Roots to Grooves!

"Roots to Grooves" is a production of SIGNL.

• https://www.signlradio.com
• https://www.instagram.com/signlradio
• https://www.twitter.com/signlradio
• https://www.facebook.com/signlradio
• https://www.mixcloud.com/signl
• https://open.spotify.com/user/96mhz6qfjoztxbl2dpm0uj903?si=aAZpsoEnRAKdx85kr1QWhg

"Jordan Rakei" is a multi-instrumentalist singer, songwriter and producer based in London.

Jordan was born in New Zealand but moved to Australia as a child. He got into music via his parents record collection which included artists such as Stevie Wonder and Pink Floyd. As a musician it was the music of Stevie Wonder that would inspire Jordan to tech himself the piano, originally studying Stevie's chord progressions.

Based in Brisbane, Jordan would begin to produce his own music, originally using Fruity Loops. He created a SoundCloud account to upload his music and it wasn't long before he put together his debut EP, "Franklin's Room" which he self-released in 2013.

Despite being able to make a living solely from music while living in Brisbane, Jordan thought that his life was a little too easy, and not challenging enough. It was this feeling that eventually led him to move to London, where is he currently based.

Fast forward to 2022, with many albums under his belt and a record deal with Ninja Tune, Jordan continues to explore his version of electronic soul, mixed with his unique lyrical approach.

"Roots to Grooves" is a production of SIGNL.

• https://www.signlradio.com
• https://www.instagram.com/signlradio
• https://www.twitter.com/signlradio
• https://www.facebook.com/signlradio
• https://www.mixcloud.com/signl
• https://open.spotify.com/user/96mhz6qfjoztxbl2dpm0uj903?si=aAZpsoEnRAKdx85kr1QWhg

"Angus & Julia Stone" are a brother and sister indie folk duo originally from Sydney, Australia.

These siblings grew up with music in their veins, given the fact that their father, John Stone, was a fledgling musician throughout their childhood. In fact some of Julia's earliest musical memories were that of hearing the bass vibrations coming from their household basement as she was falling asleep, and as her father would be rehearsing with one of his bands.

However it was her brother Angus who would first pick up the guitar and start writing his own songs, eventually revealing his creations to Julia and teaching her how to play the guitar.

In their formative years Angus and Julia would each write their own songs and perform them around various open mic nights in Sydney. Despite performing separately, they would each show up to the others shows, and support by providing backing vocals.

Eventually Angus and Julia realized it might be cool to join forces and write and record together. This led to their debut release, the EP "Chocolate and Cigarettes", which attracted the attention of a publishing deal and eventually a record deal.

To hear the full story as well as Jay and Jesse's musician selections, tune in to this latest installment of Roots to Grooves.

"Roots to Grooves" is a production of SIGNL.

• https://www.signlradio.com
• https://www.instagram.com/signlradio
• https://www.twitter.com/signlradio
• https://www.facebook.com/signlradio
• https://www.mixcloud.com/signl
• https://open.spotify.com/user/96mhz6qfjoztxbl2dpm0uj903?si=aAZpsoEnRAKdx85kr1QWhg

"Beach House" are a dream-pop duo formed in 2004 by singer/keyboardist Victoria Legrand and guitarist/keyboardist Alex Scally.

The duo came together over a mutual interest in similar musical tastes, with influences ranging from Neil Young to Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. At the time Victoria was already in a band and recruited Alex to play bass, but the project became frustrating for Victoria since it wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't long before Alex suggested that the pair split from the band and do their own thing. They started writing songs and despite not specifically trying to achieve a "dream-pop" sound, it was a genre that could easily be labelled on the music they were writing together. Their first self-titled 2006 release was the result of just 2 days of recording on a 4 track recorder in Alex's basement studio.

Since those early days the duo have gone on to put out 7 studio albums and tour the world.

Join Jay and Jesse as they explore the sonic world of "Beach House".

"Roots to Grooves" is a production of SIGNL.

• https://www.signlradio.com
• https://www.instagram.com/signlradio
• https://www.twitter.com/signlradio
• https://www.facebook.com/signlradio
• https://www.mixcloud.com/signl
• https://open.spotify.com/user/96mhz6qfjoztxbl2dpm0uj903?si=aAZpsoEnRAKdx85kr1QWhg

On this edition of Roots to Grooves, Jay and Jesse discuss the sonic world of elusive producer/artist "Bastien Keb". We say elusive, because despite putting out 3 full length albums since 2015, he hardly gives any interviews and most press coverage is limited to reviews of his releases. Whether this is intentional on Bastien's part or not, it's certain to say that his music speaks louder than any other supplemental words or reviews could offer.

His sound is jazzy, percussive, off-kilter, groovy and "like sunshine in your face" as Jay describes it on this episode.

Bastien's real name is Sebastien Jones. A multi-instrumentalist, and commercial music composer by day, he calls out Tom Waits as being a major influence on him, as well as Dr. John's 1968 album "Gris Gris", which you can hear a snippet of in this episode.

Join us as we explore the music of Bastien Keb!

"Roots to Grooves" is a production of SIGNL.

• https://www.signlradio.com
• https://www.instagram.com/signlradio
• https://www.twitter.com/signlradio
• https://www.facebook.com/signlradio
• https://www.mixcloud.com/signl
• https://open.spotify.com/user/96mhz6qfjoztxbl2dpm0uj903?si=aAZpsoEnRAKdx85kr1QWhg

Formed in 2011 "Alvvays" are an indie pop band currently based in Toronto.

The five piece have actually known each other since childhood. Lead singer Molly and her best friend keyboardist Kerri were next door neighbors, while the three other members grew up separately but were introduced after guitarist Alec met Molly at a show. 

Molly comes from a large family were music was always present, "The Rankin Family" being the group that her father and other family members formed and toured under, and which Molly got the chance to tour with when she was younger. This background eventually led to her picking up the guitar, writing original material and releasing her first solo EP in 2010 under the title "She". When it was time to follow up with her debut LP she enlisted the help of Alec in the studio. These sessions would lead to Molly realizing this may be more of a "band" sound rather than a solo project. Soon after Molly decided to enlist her childhood friend Kerri on keyboards and with Alec bringing in his two childhood friends to fill in the lineup, "Alvvays" was officially born.

Since those early days the band have only put out one more album but have focused a lot of time on touring internationally, and opening for acts such as "The Strokes".

Join us as we explore "Alvvays" early days, their approach to music and spin some of our favorite tracks.

"Roots to Grooves" is a production of SIGNL.

• https://www.signlradio.com
• https://www.instagram.com/signlradio
• https://www.twitter.com/signlradio
• https://www.facebook.com/signlradio
• https://www.mixcloud.com/signl
• https://open.spotify.com/user/96mhz6qfjoztxbl2dpm0uj903?si=aAZpsoEnRAKdx85kr1QWhg

The four piece Brooklyn indie rock band "Grizzly Bear" originally started out as a collection of songs written and recorded by frontman Ed Droste, however feeling that he didn't want to release a solo project, or shine the light on himself, he ended up recruiting fellow musicians Christopher Bear, Chris Taylor and Daniel Rossen in order to bring his project to the live stage, and for a debut US tour.

Since those early days the band have released five studio albums and toured the world, opening for massive acts such as Radiohead, and have even composed songs for the "Twilight" movies.

Their last album dropped in 2017 and Ed Droste has since announced he has left the band. The future for "Grizzly Bear" may be uncertain, but what is for sure is that they have put out a solid back-catalogue of impressive material and in this episode Jay and Jesse discuss the band's early formation, their approach to music and the guys spin some of their favorite tracks from across the five albums.

"Roots to Grooves" is a production of SIGNL.

• https://www.signlradio.com
• https://www.instagram.com/signlradio
• https://www.twitter.com/signlradio
• https://www.facebook.com/signlradio
• https://www.mixcloud.com/signl
• https://open.spotify.com/user/96mhz6qfjoztxbl2dpm0uj903?si=aAZpsoEnRAKdx85kr1QWhg

"Sen Morimoto" is a producer, artist and multi-instrumentalist based in Chicago, who brings an often witty but always observational style of lyricism to his style of modern off-kilter R&B.

Born in Japan but moving to the USA when he was just a small child, Sen kicked off his musical journey by learning Saxophone under the tutelage of Charles Neville, a legendary jazz musician from the New Orleans scene. It was an experience that taught him a lot not just about playing Sax but in how to bring out the emotion and feeling in any song within your given instrument.

After a solo move to Chicago Sen would begin to meet many other likeminded musicians and producers, leading to his first album release, 2018's "Cannonball!".

There is a lot more to know about Sen's early years, and his approach to music, and of course that's just what Jay and Jesse are talking about on this installment of Roots to Grooves.

"Roots to Grooves" is a production of SIGNL.

• https://www.signlradio.com
• https://www.instagram.com/signlradio
• https://www.twitter.com/signlradio
• https://www.facebook.com/signlradio
• https://www.mixcloud.com/signl
• https://open.spotify.com/user/96mhz6qfjoztxbl2dpm0uj903?si=aAZpsoEnRAKdx85kr1QWhg

"Black Midi" are a four piece rock band from London, often described as a mixture of noise rock, post-punk, jazz and progressive rock.

Black Midi's members all met while studying music at the BRIT school, an infamous school in the world of UK music whose former pupils include King Krule, Amy Winehouse and Adelle. They would spend their time outside of studying to get together and jam in the school rehearsal rooms, a process which eventually led them to perform live at Brixton's "Windmill" live music venue. It was at this venue that music producer Dan Carey saw them play and offered his services to record and produce some of their material, an opportunity that would see them record in a studio for the very first time.

Fast forward to late 2021 and "Black Midi" have released two full length albums as well as a selection of EP's and live recordings.

These guys are young, incredibly talented and produce some very intense and intricate music. On this episode of Roots to Grooves Jay and Jesse dive deeper and play some of their favorite tracks.

"Roots to Grooves" is a production of SIGNL.

• https://www.signlradio.com
• https://www.instagram.com/signlradio
• https://www.twitter.com/signlradio
• https://www.facebook.com/signlradio
• https://www.mixcloud.com/signl
• https://open.spotify.com/user/96mhz6qfjoztxbl2dpm0uj903?si=aAZpsoEnRAKdx85kr1QWhg