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The Pitch: What's new in your world?
Reach: My next project will either be the live album I recorded at RecordBar in April 2010 or the new stuff I'm recording with a producer out of New York named Marco Polo. I'd say he's one of the bigger underground producers in the country. I'll have a song on his newest compilation production album; right now, it's looking like I'll be alongside guys like Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and Large Professor on that.
You recording here or there? What's the new material sound like?
Recording here, in a studio called Live Dreams that's over off 85th and Wornall. The new stuff definitely bears some resemblance to what I've done in the past, but Marco Polo's beats have a particular flavor to them. It's mostly boom-bap type stuff, but very dynamically put together.
You also perform frequently with [Afrobeat/funk act and fellow PMA nominee] Diverse. How do you view your role when working with that group?
I think it's like being another part of the band. I look at my voice as an instrument. It's kind of like being a soloist. My voice is just another horn or something. It's all about giving more energy to the music.
Who are you looking to catch at the Showcase?
I'm excited about seeing Dutch Newman with a live band, which will include some of the cats I've been playing with lately, like Reggie B and Johnny Quest. I like the combination of DJ elements with a live band. And then I want to see Ataxic at the Foundry.
Ataxic will be your DJ, too, right?
Right, just me and Ataxic. He's been my only official DJ since I started. We haven't done too much the past year because I've been doing more live stuff. But he's one of my best friends, so when we get the opportunity, we like to play together.
INDIE ROCK
Fourth of July
What's good? "Working on a new full-length album. Lots of upcoming local shows, hopefully touring when the album is done."
Who's in the band these days? "Brendan 'Stylish Ways' Costello, Brian 'Bronco' Costello, Brendan 'The Tangerine Man' Hangauer, Patrick 'Poopy' Hangauer. We are two sets of brothers."
What do you think you sound like? "We sound like what it feels like to be alive right now."
Soft Reeds
What's good? "We're working on a new EP that will be released in the fall. The next thing we have coming up is a few showcases at the CMJ Festival in New York City in October."
What do you think you sound like? "Unthinkably extreme professionalism."
Anything else? "We're shockingly professional."
Thee Water MoccaSins
What's good? "We started this band as a bet, a challenge to make up a band and a set's worth of songs in four days. Nearly two years later, we've managed to hone those semi-improvisations into a full set of some really fun and eclectic psychedelic dance-pop songs. Currently in the studio with Chris Cosgrove — we can't wait to share the recording with you all."
What do you think you sound like? "We call it fractal pop."
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