andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

At andPOP we spend a lot of our time thinking about deep philosophical questions. What’s the meaning of life? If a tree falls in a forest and nobody is around, does it make a sound? If your Birthday falls on Valentine’s Day does that mean you get double Birthday Sex? Well the last question we found an answer from Jeremih, who is the expert on Birthday Sex. And good for Jenn as her Birthday is on Valentine’s Day. Watch to find out more.

Breaking news: Adam Young, the artist behind the electronic/pop project Owl City reveals exclusively to andPOP that he he hates owls. In the Q&A, Young — whose single “Fireflies” continues to top charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 — dishes on a possible collaboration with Lights, insomnia, Canada and of course, his “intense dislike of owls” (sorry Owl Society).

“I really hate to pop your bubble, but I in fact have an intense dislike for owls,” admits Young. “I mean, honestly. Does anyone really like owls? They eat vermin and puke up nasty pellets. If I owned an owl I’d name it Toilet Face.”

While he may dislike owls, what he does love is music. Young, whose voice closely resembles that of Death Cab for Cutie frontman Benjamin Gibbard, describes his music like so: “It’s like a flock of sweaty sheep in gym clothes at Anytime Fitness relentlessly running on treadmills and eating powdered sugar donuts simultaneously while watching ‘Brady Bunch’ reruns on overhead TVs. It’s also like grass.”

READ MORE »

The best way I can describe Spiral Beach’s music is “ghoul punk”. Yes, that’s ridiculous, but I stand by my claim. Considering how young the members of this band are, they have an impressively well-developed sound and style. Spiral Beach puts on one of the craziest live shows in Toronto, and their recent album “The Only Really Thing” is a great listen. Check out our interview and hop on the bandwagon.

Jason Derulo gets giddy with excitement when discussing his feeling as artist with a hit debut single like Watcha Say.

Not because of the fame that tags along with it’s No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, or 750,000 sold copies, or invitation to join Lady Gaga on her Monster Ball Tour,  but the anticipation, knowing that he has so much more potential to unleash.

And the industry doesn’t even realize it-  yet.

“I’m just beginning man,” Derulo tells andPOP from Los Angeles. “It’s definitely an interesting feeling. It’s almost as if I feel like people have no idea of what I can offer as an artist, the impact that I can have.”

READ MORE »

For those of you under 20 years of age, there used to be these crazy things called VHS and Vinyl. VHS were these tapes that played movies and all sorts of video, in machines hooked up to your TV. Vinyl were these big discs which contained music that you played on something called a record machine. Sadly as Emily told Jordan, her newest projects, Hannah Montana The Movie will not be available on VHS and her newest album will not be available on Vinyl. Ah well.

When Iyaz received a message in his MySpace inbox from Sean Kingston, he initially thought it was a joke and ignored him. But when Kingston didn’t stop pursuing the artist, Iyaz reconsidered.

“I ignored him for like a week,” chuckles Iyaz, 22, during an interview with andPOP. “Come on, that’s like Jay-Z messaging you and telling you that he’s interested. I just thought he was a fake or a knock-off, so I even gave him a bogus number at one point. He was in Japan at the time, and eventually I gave him my real number, and he flew me out to see him.”

The rest was history.

The two soul-infused artists clicked immediately, and within two weeks, Iyaz was subsequently signed to Kingston’s freshly-formed company, Time is Money Entertainment.

J.R. Rotem, the talented songwriter and producer behind most of Iyaz’s tracks, subsequently signed Iyaz through Time Is Money/Beluga Heights, which has a new label partnership with Warner Bros. Records.

In fact, Iyaz doesn’t even consider the label in business terms, rather just with affection. “It’s like being a part of a family. I don’t even consider it a label, I consider it my family. We love producing music together, performing together. It’s an amazing atmosphere, we have a lot of fun.”  He even laughs that Kingston’s mom is just like his.

Iyaz, whose actual name is Keidran Jones, was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands but raised in the British Virgin Islands in Tortola. He attributes much of his musical passion and talent to the influence his home and family had on him as he grew up. Son of two extremely musical parents, the talent has apparently passed on to their children. He describes his sound as “reggae infused, with pop, and R&B. You never really know what you’re going to get. There’s that island sound as well.”

READ MORE »

So there we are having a nice conversation with the boys from Parachute about their recent success and their debut album Losing Sleep, and guess who crashes the party? Chris Rochon from andPOP Radio decides to sneak up on us and take over the interview. Nevertheless we had a good chat with the Parachute boys about music, being on the road, picking up women, and the TV show Friends.

Turntables are becoming as much a part of a touring rock band these days as a guitar or the lead singer’s skinny blue jeans. But it’s still a novelty when someone actually knows how to use them.

Kid Koala is no rookie. After four solo albums all promoted with elaborate interactive tours, and opening slots for the likes of Radiohead, Bjork, RJD2, DJ Shadow and Beastie Boys (on their Hello Nasty tour, no less), the man knows his way around the booth.

By association, then, Kid Koala’s project called The Slew was a guaranteed success from the outset, despite the outlandish nature combining his fusion-jazz turntable leanings with a hard-rock rhythm section.

Making up The Slew is Wolfmother’s rhythm section (bassist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett), as well as Koala’s frequent collaborator Dynomite Dan (Dylan Frombach), under the studio direction of Mario Caldato Jr. (who produces the Beastie Boys).

READ MORE »

Well saying he is the next John Mayer is a bit of an overstatement, but nevertheless Jesse is a talented guy. This artist has been grinding it out for a few years now (including some time busking around Europe) and the Toronto native is ready for his big label debut. We sat down for a drink with Jesse where he also was nice enough to give us a live performance.

Ko is a particularly unique artist, with a particularly interesting story. Not only was he able to defeat his drug habits and turn his life around, but he has fulfilled his wildest musical dreams, creating his eclectic debut album “Let’s Blaze” and sharing the stage with hip-hop giants like De La Soul and Snoop Dogg. Oh, and Ko likes smoking a lot of weed.
If you like what you hear, be sure to check outhttp://www.ko-nation.com/