Welcome to KDUP’s artist of the week, where members of Street Team will throw out different artists for you to dive into and enjoy. These artists of the weeks may not be conventional, may not be played on the radio, and may not be anything you’ve heard of, but will certainly make that chemistry test you have to study for or that paper you have to write a little more bearable. This week, we have Mitchell Tang and Sam Leicht with electronic and rock. Sam Leicht is a freshman music major from Illinois who firmly believes that there’s no aspect, no facet, no moment of life, that can’t be improved with pizza. Mitchell Tang is a freshman biology major who hopes to share with you one of his passions in life, music.
Rock: Terry Malts
by Sam Leicht
Terry Malts (Phil Benson, Nathan Sweatt, Corey Cunningham) describe themselves as “displaying a slick, intelligent take on modern chainsaw pop,” which is a better description than any I could think of to describe this San Francisco-based trio. Regardless of how you categorize these guys’ music, the plain truth is that it’s just fun to listen to. They’ve got a distinct Clash/Ramones vibe that’ll make you want to tap your foot and nod your head along to their caffeinated drum beats and distorted, addictive guitar riffs. If shouting or screaming usually turns you off to more aggressive music, fear not: Benson’s singing remains consistently melodic and tame, almost ironically so compared to the harsh instrumentation. Some favorites from 2012’s Killing Time include “I’m Neurotic,” “Where Is The Weekend?” and “Can’t Tell No One.” For less of a Ramones-y feel and a cleaner sound all around, try 2016’s Lost At the Party.
Electronic: k?d
by Mitchell Tang
The artist that I will be featuring this week is k?d. In 2016 he has grown a big fan base. As of now he has 54 thousand SoundCloud followers. This year alone he has released 18 songs, with 13 remixes and 5 originals. While he mostly posts his music on his own SoundCloud, he has done remixes for Wall Recordings and Big Beat Records. He has been killing it this year with many of his songs getting over 500 thousand plays. All of his songs are great and deserve to be heard. K?d will be an artist that will break out on the scene in the next year. He has shown that he has the connections and skills to make it to the next level.
While putting his very own unique spin on the genre, the type of EDM k?d produces is future bass. With great sound design and production, he creates a great track every time. The way he layers synths creates an atmosphere that, along with his ability to express sadness and ache that transitions and builds, makes you get up and dance every time. K?d’s intros usually start with some keys or vocals, following with leading synths, then drums or more layers. He is able to engineer his synths to make them sound ugly, but beautiful at the same time. This is able to add to the environment to the song, where constant tension keeps you on your toes. K?d is able to perfectly use drums in combination with all the sounds. In his songs the drums are very defined and cut through everything else like butter. The drums are able to balance all of the chaos happening in other parts of the song. The way he is able to keep building tension till the drop is one of his specialties. One thing he does is make a long drum fill before every drop. At the point of the most tension, he cuts everything else and makes you wait and hear to drums, making you long for the resolution-providing drop. One great example of this would be in his song “Discover ft. RKCB”. Make sure to check this song and his other ones on his SoundCloud. K?d has created a style that is his own and I cannot wait for what he has in stored next.