Archives: press_release

Brooklyn Based Musician Explores How It Feels To Be A Woman In Today’s Society

Brooklyn, NY – Synth-pop singer-songwriter Birch delivers her feminist concept album, femme.one, showcasing her own personal experience as a woman in today’s society. Birch uses lush instrumentation of electronic and acoustic elements that put you in her eye while sharing the relationship she has developed with feminism. The album is now available on digital music platforms worldwide.

Following the release of her singles “femme.two,” “Labor Fruit” and “Spelling Lessons,” Birch reveals the rest of her songs that hold a full and cohesive synergy reflecting a celestial vocal approach, with backing from beautiful synthesizer elements and accompaniment by subtle and present drums. “The main theme of this album is to explore how it feels to be a woman in this ever changing world,” affirms Birch.

Co-produced by Ariel Loh, the album opens with title track “femme.one,” a soothing, delicate and empowering lyrical dawn that leads into a miscellany of electronic, acoustic and vocal contributions that speak to the world of Birch’s potent concepts. This is exemplified in succeeding songs such as “Spelling Lessons” and “Bury It,” delivered flawlessly into this nine-track album. “femme.one is a personal narrative and feminist concept album because it expresses how it feels to be a woman today while trying to find my place in the world,” explains Birch. “By running a chronological exploration of my relationship with feminism, many of the songs share musical elements and even bleed together as you’ll experience with the bleeding of my last two songs.”

Featured on femme.one are a variety of synths from the Prophet-5 to the vintage Korg Delta, flugelhorn by Chloe Rowlands, and guitar rhythms by Cape Francis. Birch also makes use of modern technologies using Ableton Live to create vocal glitches. “One of my favorite things to do in the writing process is play with vocals by running them through a vocoder or chopping them up and playing the notes on my midi keyboard which creates the glitchy affect you’ll notice in so many of my songs.”

After keeping her songwriting to herself for the majority of her life and immersing herself in a cocoon of music theory and composition at Kenyon College of Ohio, Birch now emerges on new wings and pursues to give voice to women all over the world. With sounds similar, but not apparent to The XX, Bon Iver and St. Vincent, Birch’s provides listeners with a very heartfelt and genuine approach to an important message she wants to convey to the world in a time that lacks compassion, empathy and common courtesy amongst women. femme.one is now available for streaming and digital download worldwide. Keep up with Birch by visiting BirchMusicNYC.com.

Denver Rock Duo Rallies Punk and Skate Culture in New Fan Filmed Music Video 

Denver, CO – Illustrating the energetic similarities of both punk rock musicians and skaters alike, In The Whale‘s new music video for “Teeth” delivers a rowdy experience worthy of proper chaos. The new partially fan filmed music video is now available to stream on YouTube and marks the second single from the band’s EP, Dopamine.

Coming fresh off their most recent EP titled Dopamine, In The Whale’s new music video for their song “Teeth” provides a first-hand encounter of the rock duo’s exhilarating live performances on tour. Covered in dirt, grime, and absolute grunge, “Teeth” captures In The Whale’s explosive sound and energy on stage and on the road. “We got the idea for the music video while in Florida on our summer tour in 2018,” explains lead vocalist and guitarist, Nate Valdez. Wanting to emulate the connection between punk rock musicians and skaters, the band included fan-shot footage of their live shows as well as skate sessions spent with pro skaters in the new video. “We had the chance to hang out and watch a skate session with pro skaters and Earth Skateboards endorsees Jeromy Green and Eli Reams. In the video, we wanted to convey of the kinship between punk musicians and skaters, as well as show the similarities between the energies of both worlds.” Earth Skateboards released a custom In The Whale “Teeth“ deck last year that both Green and Reams ride on. “Teeth” comes off of their most recent EP Dopamine, which was recorded at Foo Fighters’ legendary Studio 606 with accomplished punk rock and heavy metal producer Steve Evetts (Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die). Dopamine’s first week of sales earned a spot on Billboard Heatseekers, Independent Albums and Heatseekers Mountain (#1) charts, all without the support of a label or mainstream radio play.

Celebrating their eight-year anniversary in 2019, the Denver natives continue to turn heads, melt faces, and build a die-hard fandom thanks to their relentless tour schedule and high intensity live performance. Catching the eye of promoters, they’ve played festivals like Riot Fest, Lollapalooza, Warped Tour, Austin City Limits, and Afropunk. In The Whale has also shared the stage with acts such as Jane’s Addiction, The Descendents, The Offspring and more.

Always on the move, In The Whale heads out as direct tour support for fellow Denver natives, The Yawpers through May. Stream or download Dopamine on available digital music platforms and watch the new video for “Teeth” on YouTube. Keep up with In The Whale’s tour adventures at InTheWhale.com.

Retro-Soul Artist Channels Euphoric New Love In New Visual

Toronto, ON – Jordan John releases his first music video with “I Keep Falling In Love With You,” the single from his EP entitled My Heart. The song was written for My Heart, which contains seven original songs that act as a snapshot of Jordan John’s own humble beginnings. The video is now available to stream on YouTube.com.

“I Keep Falling in Love With You” is a vivid reflection of John’s influences that include Prince, Vince Gill, Marvin Gaye and his acclaimed bassist father, Prakash John.  The track encapsulates feelings of bliss, devotion, and elation that resemble classic moments of falling in love. In the music video, John shows off his overwhelming charm and charisma with endearing scenes shared between him and his lady. Accompanied with an uplifting and optimistic instrumental, John and company deliver a smooth song and visual guaranteed to pull at your heartstrings.

“The lyrics attempt to embody the contentment of finally finding true love while experiencing inexplicable completeness (and a touch of helplessness) that sweeps you away when you fall in love,” explains Jordan John. Featured on the song are his father and mentor, world renown bassist Prakash John (Parliament-Funkadelic, James Brown, The Blues Brothers) on bass guitar and background vocals, Dave McMorrow on piano, with contributing background vocals from Dylan Burchell and Julien John. “I Keep Falling In Love With You” carries the spirit of classic R&B, similar to the beloved tracks of the 60’s and early 70’s while paving the road for John’s own originality.

The EP, My Heart, was recorded and mixed under the Johnboys Music label at Kensington Sound located in Toronto where the record was produced. Engineered by Ben Pelchat and Vezi Tayyeb, John performed the vocals and most of the instruments including drums, electric and acoustic guitar, Moog, Wurlitzer, B3 Hammond organ and the clavinet. My Heart also features supporting efforts by aforementioned Prakash John, Al Cross, Jorn Andersen, Dave McMorrow, Dylan Burchell and younger brother, Julien John.

The video for “I Keep Falling In Love With You” is now available to view on YouTube. My Heart is available to download and stream on music platforms worldwide. Stay up to date on all things Jordan John by visiting JordanJohn.com.

Malaysian Emcee and Songstress Opens Up With Highly Anticipated EP Release

Los Angeles, CA — Following the release of her emotional and raw single “Z vs Z,” Zamaera proves she is a lyrical rap force to be reckoned with. Zamaera’s debut EP, Z, dives further into the young artist’s growth and reflection of her own personal relationships and changes over the past few years.  She’s gained recognition as one of the hottest female rappers out of Southeast Asia and proves she is ready to take on the world with her riveting and highly anticipated debut EP. Z is now available to stream and download on music platforms worldwide.

Wearing her heart on her sleeve, Z follows a central theme of how we take on life’s ever-changing challenges, including the trials and tribulations of heartbreak. “When it comes to growth and progression, I think personal reflection and love stands out the most as a common theme that others can relate to,” says Zamaera. “All four songs required me to really think about the changes that occurred within myself over the past few years.” Zamaera’s song “Truth” off of the EP features a softer poetic R&B flow, while “KMS” (her rendition of the classic “Killing Me Softly”) includes a much harder and lyrical hip-hop rhythm. Zamaera’s ability to flawlessly transcend mainstream hip-hop norms with her artistic duality in Z validates her place as a one-of-a-kind emerging female rap artist.

The promising emcee worked on the entirety of her EP with producer and pianist Floyd “Timeless” Thomas, a 14-time Billboard-charting producer and musician, alongside The Matt Jones Orchestra. When asked about what she thought the Matt Jones Orchestra brought the record, Zamaera stated, “Hip-hop is not exclusive to digital creations only… classical music lives in everything that we do.” Additionally, Zamaera added that the EP is open to the listener’s interpretation. “Any underlying message they capture from the music has to be their own.”

Zamaera started her professional music career as a singer-songwriter. As she grew personally and musically, her life experiences shaped and molded her love for rhythm and poetry, supporting her already developed talent of songwriting. In 2017, she dropped two singles; “Helly Kelly” and “Wanita,” earning her an artist development deal with international recording label Lakefront Records along the way. With two successful singles under her belt, Nike approached her with an endorsement opportunity. Capitalizing on the momentum of the endorsement, Zamaera dropped her first mixtape titled, Don’tZzOnMe. She also secured millions of views and gained a ton of new fans with her captivating performance on MTV Asia’s Yo! MTV Raps Cypher. The impressive performance prompted the network to reach out and offer Zamaera a position as host of Yo! MTV Raps for an entire season. Her music has been praised by publications including NYLON,  HipHopDX and EARMILK; the former lauded her track “Z vs. Z” saying the song, “toes the line of lyricism and fine instrumentation as she spits fevered bars over a full-scale orchestra.”

Z is available to stream and download on music platforms worldwide. Keep up with Zamaera at Instagram.com/Zamaeraaa.

Indie Pop-Rock Single  “Remember” Gets Four Unique Dance Floor Renditions 

Los Angeles, CA – Lace up those dancing shoes because Payson Lewis has been suited and rebooted with his new record, Remember, The Remixes, featuring remixes from Majurakk, The Klassiks, Melomatic and Tom Zmuda. The remixes strip down and electronically rebuild the heartfelt and reflective original while still keeping true to the sound and the message that Lewis intended to portray. Remember: The Remixes is now available for streaming and download. 

“It’s been such a wild ride getting to reimagine this song of mine with such insanely talented artists and producers… Each different version is an interpretation of my music that I couldn’t see on my own,” Lewis explains. Majurakk, originally a producer from Guatemala, has a style that is known for weaving in and out of those future bass, housey and chill style vibes in his works. He approaches “Remember” with a slow building and sentimental inclination with a tropical shakedown that puts the listener into a world that sounds like palm trees popping up around Lewis’ lyrics.

Los Angeles native Joey Mora aka The Klassiks approaches “Remember” with electronic emotionality that includes a mellow crunchy bass line and a gorgeous string section that would attract the approval of names like Diplo and Calvin Harris in a heartbeat. The Klassiks is an up-and-coming act whose music and scores have been previously featured in Vice and Netflix and whose performances have spanned to large festivals like Las Vegas’ Life is Beautiful where he dropped his remixes for Wolves and Anthony Starble. When it came to working on the remix with Mora, Lewis said, “…it was such a cool experience getting to work with him on one of my own. It has such an edgy vibe that is worlds away from the original, but suddenly feels just so right.”

Melomatic takes a big room EDM approach with the song, exemplified by dreamy tones and textures surrounded by church hall acoustics. His eclectic production style extends beyond genre to fuse modern electronic elements with classical orchestral scores inspired by notable genre-defining electronic music producers like Flume, Porter Robinson, San Holo and NGHTMRE.

Tom Zmuda, a friend of Lewis, co-wrote the original with him and was thrilled to be a part of the remix record. Zmuda’s interpretation boasts a unique R&B style remix that is both mellow and airy, accented with a raw synth, and a well placed verse featured toward the end of the track by rapper NAStea.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Payson Lewis has always had a close relationship with music as he joined the choir and taught himself piano prior to attending University of Southern California as a Music Industry Major. While at USC, Lewis landed a spot on the university’s award winning a cappella group, the SoCal VoCals. Post-graduation, Payson Lewis was a contestant on NBC’s The Sing Off, a show known for starting the career of the Grammy winning group, PENATONIX. Lewis explored acting and appeared on shows How I Met Your Mother,Revenge, and The People vs. OJ Simpson.

With Payson Lewis’ anticipated remix EP for “Remember,” listeners will get to experience these sensational renditions that reveal immense creativity from the other artists and producers that have the vision to take a new approach to Lewis’s sound. Payson Lewis’ remix EP, Remember: The Remixes is available everywhere now. For more information visit PaysonLewis.com.

Silicon Valley Pop Singer Unveils Magnetic New Pop Anthem 

Los Angeles, CA – Anja Kotar brings youthful pop music to the forefront of the millennial generation with her latest single, “Kids.” Accompanying the spirited pop anthem, Kotar teamed up with her longstanding creative partner, Jani Ugrin to bring the song to life with a multicolored music video. “Kids” is now available to stream and download on digital platforms worldwide. The video can be seen on YouTube.

Adopting the classic pop formula of upbeat tempos and synthesizers, Kotar lays out the mantra of the new year for everyone: “We’re just kids!” The song captures the joyful innocence of pop music through its catchy chorus and explores the relationship between youth and technology. “‘Kids’ serves as an exposition to the millennial generation. It looks at our relationship with each other, to the world around us, and ultimately, technology and how that affects us as we’re being young and engaged in the modern age,” explains Kotar. The song, produced and mixed by Josh Leibhson, includes layered vocal tracks that create an influential choir of voices chanting, “We’re just kids!”

Hailing from the Silicon Valley, Anja Kotar drew from its idiosyncratic themes and evaluated the intricacies of young adulthood. “The song lyrics refer to common denominators among young adults my age: from our obsession with nostalgia and using it as escapism to get away from the current socio-political climate, to communicating with our friends online, but never actually taking the time to meet them in person,” says Kotar. “Kids” shines a light on the modern-day technological dependency that now encompasses the traditional coming of age story. The music video itself, is full of metaphors as the white background represents the cold, harsh reality of the true life we live and the flowers represent the fairytale life we represent online through social media. Each flower has a meaning that describes a characteristic of the millennial generation: pink means vanity, blue means melancholy, yellow means felicity, purple means apathy, red means romance, and green means boredom. “Throughout the video, I carry more and more flowers in my hands, alluding to getting caught up in the online fantasy and progressively exaggerating it.”

Thought-provoking lyrics paired with the celestial music video isolates the listener in a moment of time that allows them to escape reality and dance wistfully along to the beat. The 21-year old has captivated audiences across Europe and North America and has garnered upwards of 230k streams on Spotify. Showing no signs of losing momentum as we enter the new year, Anja Kotar plans to tackle the complexities of our digital lives with lyrical turn-of-phrase and visual symbolism, taking inspiration from Black Mirror and incorporating fashion at every opportunity.

“Kids” is available now to stream and download on all digital music platforms worldwide. The music video is available for viewing on YouTube. Keep up with Anja Kotar by visiting AnjaKotar.com.

Synth-pop Singer Songwriter Debuts Hypnotizing Single Ahead of Album “femme.one”

Brooklyn, NY – Feminist synth-pop artist channels her personal experiences and music production into an enchanting persona, Birch. Putting a synth-driven spin on tracks reminiscent of legends like Bon Iver and St. Vincent, Birch debuts her ethereal single, “Spelling Lessons.” “Spelling Lessons” is now available for streaming and digital download worldwide.

Accompanying the soft, feminine production of “Spelling Lessons,” Birch introduces the world to her angelic, almost whisper-like voice. On top of the soothing vocals, the song’s lyrics powerfully express a woman’s fear of speaking out in today’s society. Inspired by the 2016 election, Birch found herself writing while trying to understand her place in the world as a woman. Pairing that newfound understanding with her extensive background in music comprehension, “Spelling Lessons” gracefully embodies the confusion she felt. “‘Spelling Lessons’ is a song about first experiences with sexist behavior. The first time I was taught that girls exist FOR boys, not WITH boys,” explains Birch. “I was in 6th grade and I bent over in the library to grab a book. My shirt rode up a bit showing part of my back and the librarian standing nearby chastised me telling me, “Young lady, your back is showing. I won’t have you in here distracting the boys.” I was shocked, confused and embarrassed. Too young to have been sexualized yet, I couldn’t understand why my body would somehow distract the boys from learning. Instead of yelling at girls for their clothes being too short, why can’t we just teach boys that girls are not objects?”

Utilizing her education from Kenyon College in Ohio, Birch brought her knowledge of music theory and composition into the studio. Working alongside co-producer, Ariel Loh (Yoke Lore, Cape Francis), “Spelling Lessons” infuses lusher instrumentation and a blend of electronic and acoustic elements. Loh captures listeners by marrying the intangible feeling of nostalgia and longing in Birch’s voice to the soft tempo changes and horn samples throughout the song. “Spelling Lessons” is the latest single off Birch’s forthcoming album, femme.one, a feminist concept album that follows a chronological personal narrative of being a woman in today’s society.

As a voice for female empowerment, Birch strives to remind everyone that we are all human. Birch is ready to make waves with her upcoming album, femme.one, available April 5, 2019. “Spelling Lessons” is now available for streaming and digital download worldwide. Keep up with all things Birch at BirchMusicNyc.com.