Kissing Electric (Album Release) & Chelsea Shag (Single Release)
Hotline & Big Brutus
Friday, February 24
9PM // $10 DOS
Kissing Electric
Soul isn’t usually a word attached to electronic music. But Atlanta-based trio Kissing Electric are something of an anomaly. On their self-titled EP, KE extend an invitation to challenge convention and our ideas of what we “should” be hearing. Decades beyond the first synthesizer technology, electronic & software instruments still struggle to sound authentically like the instruments they seek to replicate. KE flip this on us by using live instruments in ways that sound undeniably electronic – most impressively the guitar, which “shouldn’t” sound like a Moog synth as it does on Level Up.
Atlanta-inspired L5P is another highlight of this creative contrarianism. Few would guess they were hearing a guitar unless told. Meanwhile the live percussion is grounded in an age old jazz technique of an offbeat hi-hat.
KE refuse to be constrained by expectation and orthodox methods, pioneering an unexplored soundscape by creating convincing electronic music with the kind of soul only organic instruments and jazz musicians can provide.
Chelsea Shag
Originally from Canada, Chelsea Szegidewicz, better known as Chelsea Shag, has taken the Atlanta music scene by force. With her Fender Stratocaster and her smooth, jazz inspired vocals, Chelsea is reinvigorating and refreshing. Her stage name, coined by using her father’s given nickname in the Canadian Air Force and her own, is being spread throughout Atlanta, her second home which she thanks for her soul.
At only twenty-four year’s old, Chelsea is reinventing the image of females in the world of music using her complex and unique songwriting combined with an equally complex and unique guitar style she’s been developing since the age of 11. She is in full force after the successful launch of her debut album “Colours”, with a sold out show at Paris on Ponce. As described by Immersive Atlanta’s Ben Davidow, “The debut album from Chelsea Shag is as vibrant as its name, filled with swirling horn lines and hip-hop beats that will make your hips weep for joy. Lead single “Us Kids” opens Colours and everything that unfolds after is a heartfelt collection of distinctive works that lock hands with each other despite their many brightly inflected differences.”
When asked how Chelsea is going to stay relevant in a world of thriving artists Chelsea strongly states, “I’m not going to be your typical female pop star. I’m not gonna be dressed up like the men in the industry want me to look. You’re not gonna see me begging to ‘make it’. You’re gonna see me wail on my guitar like I don’t care who’s watching and you’re gonna see me, feel me, and hear me grow as an artist. You’re not going to see me fade out like a trend.”
Backing up this statement, Chelsea has begun recording her next project with her beloved studio Madison Records and well-known music producer, Stefan Skarbek (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen). Taking it all on the road, Chelsea hopes to continue to use her music to inspire and to build a world where all people feel safe to create and love just as she does so fiercely.
Hotline
Hotline is a fresh indie-soul/neo-pop outfit founded around the lifelong collaboration between songwriter Ryan Trauley and synth auteur Tim Matthews.
The duo employs an ever-expanding network of friends and collaborators to cultivate a recorded repertoire and live show that bridges the gap between free-wheeling instrumentalism, and immaculate prepared sonics.
Their debut album was recorded with love at the legendary Fidelitorium in central NC by jangle pop godfather Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Pavement, Let’s Active) and Missy Thangs (Birds of Avalon).
It was released two months later by Friends Records, a pillar of the Baltimore underground that has developed a reputation for spotless curation across all styles (The Snails, Peals, Other Colors, Wing Dam, Moss of Aura, Blacksage)
Big Brutus
“Give me health and a day, and I will make the pomp of emperors ridiculous.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature
But if your health were to fail you, where do you look for such beauty? Over the last year I have had health issues that have very bluntly reminded me of my own mortality. Seeing that up close and in such detail can make you question the legacy you want to leave.
Big Brutus’ first album, (Tiny Box), was a thorough look at the hardships of an ending relationship. There were no simple answers, no clear resolution, and a dark dive into a past that begs to be left alone. It was necessary for me to make this album, in all of its intimacy, but it was never my stopping point. It was an exorcism. A necessary ritual to cleanse myself and move on.
Next I wanted to rewrite my legacy. I no longer wanted to write from a place of pain, but a place of reflection. I began hiking again, climbing rocks, and getting lost in the infinite expanse of nature to realign myself. I made new friends and fell in and out of love. Old song ideas began meshing themselves into new experiences, and soon an album appeared in front of me, and I was just a conduit for something bigger than myself. The songs asked to be shared.
This album, The Odd Willow, explores mortality and the meaning of it all, and why we choose to bury the knowledge that we all must leave this world to make life meaningful. It explores the beauty and scenery of the things we surround ourselves with to stave off these small thoughts that grasp the edges of our mind. That scenery could be a person, a mountain, rock and roll, new love, a tradition. Some things inspire growth and it is important not to shy away from change when it arrives on your doorstep.
How both death and beauty work in conjunction is a mystery, a sort of Yin and Yang to eternity. We all must die, but in order to do that we all must live. And to truly live one must not fear death, but must accept its company and hold its hand. A new path is a second life, and a second chance to rewrite your history for the betterment of others. Sometimes you get this chance to live again. And trust me, Big Brutus wants to live again.
-Sean Bryant, 2016
