00:00
DJ Beowvlf
Off the Record is a show from 88.1 WKNC in which DJs talk with artists about everything from their music to upcoming tours to former bandmates birthdays. Make sure to follow WKNC on SoundCloud and Tumblr so you never miss a beat. Enjoy.
00:16
vitamin e
Hi guys. You're listening to WKNC FM HD1 Raleigh. I am Vitamin E and we have a special treat for you guys today. In the studio with us is GRRL, Amazing artist from Durham. So stick around and you'll hear an awesome interview. I'm joined by m'.
00:35
m'lady
Lady. So yeah, we'll be on here from one to two roughly. So yeah, this is our first interview, so just letting you know. But we're really excited that GRRL is here and you can say hey. Do you want to say hey? Okay, sweet. So you can go ahead. Do you want to just.
00:58
vitamin e
Yeah. All right. So the latest track you released was called Vault and you put that out in January of this year. So tell us about that.
01:07
GRRL
That one was kind of me trying to replicate the sounds of like old like 90s XL recordings. Like jungle and drum and bass stuff that I think is really inspiring. Yeah. And I hope it like it worked.
01:20
m'lady
Yeah, you're good.
01:21
GRRL
Yeah, I don't know. Just like really fast and also like very inspired by the work of the composer Hideki Naganuma, who did a lot of stuff for Sega back in the day, like on the Dreamcast, like Jet Set Radio and like some Sonic stuff. Cool version of that.
01:36
m'lady
And we saw. I don't know if I was reading too into this, but like your new song has like a car in the picture and then there's like car ominous sounds. And what is your inspiration for your next release?
01:49
GRRL
You're thinking is definitely like very inspired by. Do you know the manga like Initial D?
01:55
m'lady
I don't. I would.
01:57
GRRL
No, that manga, Initial D and then Fast and Furious, Tokyo Drift and then throw in like a handful of like random PS2 racing games.
02:05
vitamin e
Oh my gosh.
02:05
m'lady
So need for Speed.
02:06
vitamin e
Yeah. I have to say I'm a huge fan of Tokyo Drift, Fast and Furious, so it makes me very happy to hear that. So your new album is coming out on June 7th, I believe, and you're releasing it with Gang Records is basically.
02:20
GRRL
Just me saying it's the label.
02:22
vitamin e
So you're totally self.
02:25
m'lady
Self published. That's awesome.
02:26
vitamin e
So cool.
02:27
m'lady
We also saw that the track list is 25 songs.
02:30
vitamin e
Yeah. How long have you been developing this album?
02:33
GRRL
Yeah, I've been working on it. Kind of like in the background since 2016. So kind of like 3ish years, but also like doing other life stuff and like releasing the other music. But then like it kind of finally kind of like came together like last year and I've just been polishing it since then and then getting ready to put it out.
02:49
m'lady
Yeah. Hence like 25 songs, long time coming. That's awesome. If you're just now joining us, we are interviewing GRRL from Durham, a local electronic artist. So yeah, we also had some questions like when did you start making music?
03:07
GRRL
I think it was like 2013 or 2014.
03:10
m'lady
Wow.
03:10
GRRL
Which is when I downloaded the Ableton demo and then I was like too afraid to open it for like six months straight.
03:15
vitamin e
Right. Yeah.
03:16
m'lady
And then I finally did and did you just. Were you self taught you just like.
03:19
GRRL
Lots of YouTube tutorials?
03:20
vitamin e
Yeah, yeah.
03:21
m'lady
Cool. Yeah, I know it's a little. It's definitely overwhelming, especially to start out with.
03:25
GRRL
There's like so many buttons. It's ridiculous.
03:27
m'lady
That's crazy. So how old were you? You don't have to tell us how old you are now because it's okay.
03:33
GRRL
I'm like 21.
03:34
vitamin e
Okay.
03:34
GRRL
I'm not like too old or anything, so I was probably like 14.
03:38
vitamin e
Wow.
03:39
GRRL
Between 14 and 16.
03:40
m'lady
That's cool.
03:40
vitamin e
That's awesome.
03:42
m'lady
Did you grow up playing music or.
03:44
vitamin e
Okay.
03:44
GRRL
I always wanted to, but I was really bad at everything, like piano and the drums. I had like a really bad Casio one.
03:51
m'lady
Oh no, it's hard. I mean it's. It's really hard. I don't know. I just played piano.
03:57
vitamin e
I'm not.
03:58
m'lady
I don't really know.
03:58
vitamin e
We had rented. Oh yeah, my lady and I had rented a Serato.
04:03
m'lady
We had the DJ Serrato.
04:04
vitamin e
Like we tried very hard and were like. Okay.
04:09
m'lady
So I don't know what we're doing at all. But we were really hype. When you came and played at Double Barrel. Yeah, that was really fun because.
04:19
vitamin e
Yeah.
04:19
m'lady
I don't know, I feel like the Raleigh electronic local scene, we. We aren't really well versed in it and like Raleigh Triangle. Yeah, well like the Triangle scene. So it was just like a really fun surprise. We had, we had so much fun and loved dancing. Yeah, dancing to your music.
04:35
GRRL
Yeah, it worked out because it was like, it was an interesting show. There was like bands and stuff and like Mbala, who was like an R&B kind of like pop singer too. But I think it worked out really well.
04:43
m'lady
Yeah, it was a really interesting mix of stuff.
04:46
vitamin e
It was very good to see like kind of people getting into the music and dancing and stuff like that as opposed to just like listening, which is.
04:54
m'lady
Good, which is fine.
04:54
vitamin e
But we love fun times. Definitely. Yeah.
04:57
m'lady
So higher bpm, popping.
05:01
vitamin e
So we will probably maybe put on your new track in a minute here so the audience can get a little taste of what is to be expected off your new album.
05:13
m'lady
So this is Episode F1, impact in parentheses Interlude.
05:18
GRRL
So.
05:20
vitamin e
So putting that on right now, you guys, listen up.
5:26
Music
[GRRL]
11:10
m'lady
Hey guys, what's up? You're listening to WKNC 88.1 HD1 Raleigh. You if you're just now tuning in, you are listening to an interview with GRRL, a local electronic artist from Durham, North Carolina. I'm a lady.
11:26
vitamin e
I'm Betaminy. We usually have a show on Wednesdays,
11:30
m'lady
So 8 to 10pm yeah, so we're.
11:33
vitamin e
After hours DJs and we have the amazing GRRL in studio with us today. So were just talking about your new album and the music you're releasing on June 7th. Pretty exciting. Called Pay Attention. Yes, very exciting. So tell us a little bit about releasing music through your own label. Like, what was that process like?
11:53
GRRL
It's a lot of file management. Like I basically just don't accidentally label something the wrong file because I'm going to be the one that's like, whose fault that is. Yeah, it's really not as hard as you think it would be just like a matter of like looking up and thinking about how you want to do it and then using there's like services out there to make it really easy to do by yourself.
12:12
m'lady
And did you start out releasing just purely on SoundCloud and then you work towards. Yeah, officially. Okay, cool.
12:19
vitamin e
So who were some of your biggest influences and inspirations when you first started making music or when you were growing up?
12:25
m'lady
Like the beginning?
12:26
GRRL
I would say, like Daft Punk was my favorite one.
12:28
vitamin e
Yes. Oh my gosh.
12:32
GRRL
Like the inspiration is definitely different than the reality because I was really bad at making music when I started.
12:37
m'lady
I mean, I feel like most people are like, I don't think there's anyone who just starts and is like a master.
12:42
GRRL
So.
12:42
vitamin e
Yeah. So what is your favorite Daft Punk album? Actually, I'm a huge fan myself.
12:47
GRRL
I think it's Homework.
12:48
vitamin e
Homework?
12:48
GRRL
Yeah. I think Digital Love is on. Is that one together? They're all great.
12:54
vitamin e
I'm a big fan of Discovery myself. Have you seen the movie that comes with it? Interstella555. So, so cool. We love Daft Punk and KNC definitely.
13:05
m'lady
Have you thought about releasing, like, a visual album?
13:08
GRRL
Yes, but that's like.
13:09
m'lady
That's a lot of work.
13:10
vitamin e
A lot.
13:10
GRRL
It's a lot of work and it requires a lot more money than I.
13:13
vitamin e
Have spend on that.
13:14
GRRL
So. Music first.
13:16
m'lady
Yeah, that's cool.
13:17
vitamin e
Little stick drawing flip book.
13:20
GRRL
Yeah.
13:20
m'lady
Like me drawing on my stop motion clay.
13:22
vitamin e
Yeah. Draw my life YouTube video.
13:25
GRRL
Like an Instagram video.
13:27
vitamin e
Actually, Rico Nasty released a video like that with Zack Fox. The cool, like, meme picture slide. That was funny.
13:33
GRRL
So funny.
13:34
vitamin e
Yeah. So do it yourself music video.
13:37
m'lady
So we saw you had a show in St. Louis with DJ Tay. Do you have any other, like, shows on deck or are you playing on touring?
13:46
GRRL
I would like to. If somebody wants to book me, I'm plug. I'm really bad at planning in advance for things like that.
13:54
m'lady
Yeah, it's. It's a lot, I'm sure. But yeah, we. So we both follow you on Twitter and we noticed you're, like, really into, like, clothing and shoes and stuff and kind of like. Like Microsoft. Like the Microsoft clothes. Like, I don't know. I was just saying, like, if you would ever release, like, merch, we would say it would, like, be really cool because you, like, retweet some really cool stuff.
14:20
GRRL
I definitely have plans to do that.
14:21
vitamin e
Yes. Very exciting.
14:23
GRRL
Figure out all the stuff for that. But it's definitely coming at some point.
14:26
m'lady
Yeah.
14:26
vitamin e
Awesome. So your Twitter handle is what again?
14:29
GRRL
GRRL music. GRRLMUSIC.
14:32
vitamin e
Yeah. So please give our man a follow because he's hilarious and has interesting times.
14:39
m'lady
In regards to music.
14:41
vitamin e
We love Millennials.
14:43
GRRL
Too much.
14:44
vitamin e
No, no, it's a good thing.
14:45
GRRL
It's cool.
14:46
vitamin e
It's a good thing. Especially for me. Like, I love seeing, like, all the stuff you retweet with, like, music, because I feel like you've a lot of, like, interesting music discoveries. Is there anything you've been listening to recently that you think deserves a shout out?
14:57
GRRL
I think Injury Reserves album. That.
15:01
vitamin e
So good. Yeah.
15:02
GRRL
And then, like, Vampire Weekend. That album came out, like, a week or two ago.
15:05
m'lady
Yeah.
15:06
GRRL
Also really good. I'm, like, obsessed with. And then Slow Ties album came out today, which is also great. And there's another EP behind the group, 4625 on UVB 76, which sounds like a phone number, but it's not. It's like, an amazing, like, drum and bass, like, jungle album. Very dark. And then what's another one? I'm thinking of, like, Tyler, the creator, obviously.
15:24
vitamin e
Yeah.
15:24
GRRL
And, like, Ellen Allian put out an album called Alientronic, which is really good. And then there's a bunch of stuff, like,
15:35
m'lady
Weird. Oh, okay. Nothing. Should we press that? It's okay. But we. We were looking to get tickets to her show touring this summer, Kim Petrus, but they sold out so fast.
15:50
vitamin e
She is pop.
15:51
GRRL
People have the best Twitter.
15:53
m'lady
Yeah.
15:53
GRRL
They're like.
15:54
m'lady
Yeah, that's. They're loyal. They're so loyal.
15:57
GRRL
Yeah.
15:58
vitamin e
So were looking through some of your older music, and there seems to be kind of like a PC music inspiration for a little while.
16:04
m'lady
You like how you remix? It's Henrik or Henrique the artist.
16:08
GRRL
Henrik the artist.
16:09
m'lady
Okay, cool. I was like. I don't know pronounce that but. And yeah. And on your SoundCloud too, you have like, that PC, like, Ag Cook. Like.
16:17
GRRL
Yeah, I was super. I still love what they're doing, but I like back like 2014, whenever they came out. I was super obsessed with it. I was like, all over the unofficial PC music forums.
16:25
vitamin e
Yeah.
16:25
GRRL
Like, trying to find, like, live Sophie riffs of, like, all of her unreleased music.
16:29
m'lady
We love Sophie riffs. That's so funny. We had what I like. You did a remix of Focus by Charlie Xea, which is slaps so good. Yeah.
16:39
vitamin e
So hard. We love Charlie.
16:42
m'lady
Seriously.
16:42
vitamin e
We actually met Charlie a couple months ago next to the Highway 55 at Crabtree Valley Mall. Oh, wow. That was a iconic.
16:51
m'lady
It was a very interesting day. I don't know why she was at Grabsee Valley Mall in Raleigh, North Carolina.
16:55
vitamin e
She just released a song with Liz. Lizzo, I think.
16:58
m'lady
I haven't listened to that one yet.
16:59
vitamin e
It sounds a lot like track 10 pop two. Yeah.
17:02
GRRL
Very poppy. I think Stargate produced it. Yeah.
17:06
vitamin e
Interesting stuff.
17:07
m'lady
Sweet. Do you have any other local. Are there any other local electronic artists, like, in Durham, whether Raleigh or Chapel Hill, that you.
17:15
vitamin e
You kind of like Signal Boost. Yeah.
17:17
GRRL
I think one of my favorite. I'm gonna do DJs and artists because, like, yeah, one of my favorite DJs, like, locally is like, Queen, Please.
17:24
m'lady
Okay.
17:24
GRRL
And like, if you've been in Durham, you probably seen her play, like, Party Legal and stuff like that. She's like, one of my favorite DJs. And also there's like, Tree City, who's also in Durham, and then there's tn, who's a DJ in Raleigh, who's like, amazing.
17:37
vitamin e
Yeah.
17:39
m'lady
Well, what was I going to say? Oh, are you a Durham native? Did you grow up in Durham?
17:43
GRRL
Yeah.
17:44
m'lady
Okay.
17:44
GRRL
Literally all my life.
17:45
m'lady
Cool, cool.
17:47
vitamin e
Yeah.
17:47
m'lady
We didn't know if you, like, grew up somewhere else and Then move to Durham eventually. But you're born, raised. That's so cool. Yeah. So you're. You're only 21.
17:55
vitamin e
That's. That's really impressive.
17:58
m'lady
Speaking of. You mentioned Vampire Weekend. I remember the first time I followed you on Twitter. I saw Ezra K. Nick follows you.
18:03
vitamin e
That is.
18:04
GRRL
I don't know why he does. He's favorited, like three of my tweets in total. I'm just like. Sometimes I just, like, check just to make sure he's still following me. I feel like I'm gonna do something wrong. He's gonna unfollow me.
18:14
m'lady
That is so funny. And I remember seeing that and being.
18:17
vitamin e
Like, yo, are they, like, friends?
18:19
m'lady
Are they, like, linking in, like, silently? Are they about to release, like, something? It would be crazy. And then I saw, I think on your Instagram that Caro. Caro bonito follow you on Instagram. We saw or I saw them when they went to. They played at Dude Coffee House. Yeah, the Coffee house.
18:38
vitamin e
Yeah.
18:40
m'lady
Yeah, they were. They're really good. Tickets were like five bucks.
18:42
GRRL
So wearing the wristband from the.
18:45
m'lady
Really. I think I went to the one there was like, a few months ago. I think they came back because they, like, they did like, toured again. But yeah, that venue is so small. Yeah, it's.
18:55
GRRL
It's so wild too. It's like. And it gets really sweaty when they close the door. Kind of gross, but in a fun way.
19:00
m'lady
Yeah, there's like two bathrooms, like, fighting each other for them. But yeah, we. Okay. So do you want to play? We have a artist. Another song to play could be Motor by Sebastian. And is this a recent influence?
19:15
GRRL
This is like, very influenced, like for the. For my recent album, the new one that's coming out. This one came out like a while ago. I think it was like 2011 on Ed Banger. Like, everything that they put out, obviously is gold, but this one specifically, very inspiring to me because of. Sounds like a car.
19:30
vitamin e
I love it. So we are interviewing GRRL right now in the studio and we have a recommendation for our song Motor by Sebastian. So listen up.
19:40
m'lady
Keep it locked.
19:40
vitamin e
Keep it locked. Hey, guys. You're listening to WKNC FM HD1 Raleigh. I am Vimani and I am joined by M. And a very special guest. If you are just now turning in, we have GRRL with us of Durham. Super awesome electronic artist. Pretty local. So we're just asking them a couple questions.
20:10
m'lady
Yeah, we're excited. We literally, I think, emailed you the time like two days ago.
20:15
vitamin e
Yeah.
20:15
m'lady
Hey, is Friday work? Yeah, one. And yeah, it worked out.
20:21
vitamin e
Very happy to have you here. So were just talking. Really want to bring some exposure to the local electronic scene. So were just wondering, what are some good venues and shows you recommend for people who are trying.
20:34
m'lady
You've been going to.
20:35
vitamin e
Yeah, trying to see more electronic music locally.
20:38
GRRL
List venues, like the Pinhook is one of my favorite venues in downtown Durham. And then there's also the fruit company, like that one. And then there's. I don't know, there's another one. The thing about downtown Durham is that everything is so close together that you can really just like, walk from one end to the other.
20:52
vitamin e
Yeah.
20:53
GRRL
But, yeah, those two venues. And then also on June 7, they're doing a show and they're bringing down Deru Day, who made Sandstorm iconic.
20:59
m'lady
Are you going to.
21:00
GRRL
That's going to be wild.
21:02
vitamin e
Honestly, I really want to go too now, so I think I might. Yeah.
21:07
m'lady
I'm not super familiar with Durham. I honestly don't know much about Raleigh either. So when you say, like, you can walk everywhere, I was like, cool. Yeah, I can't really do that in Raleigh, which is just cool.
21:18
vitamin e
But what is a favorite show you've seen at or just.
21:22
m'lady
Yeah, maybe in general.
21:23
vitamin e
What's like.
21:24
m'lady
Yeah, what's the best show you've ever been to?
21:26
GRRL
My favorite show that I've. That I've, like, been to in Durham, I think was unique when she played Party Legal just because she was such a good DJ and she had like the whole room going and everybody was like. It was like packed back to front. Oh, my gosh. But, yeah, she had everybody going and it was amazing. And then favorite show, I think it was probably like anime Gucci. When I saw them at Elsewhere, it was like two years ago now. They played a bunch of stuff from their new album, which is, like, forthcoming finally. And it was just like the lighting and stuff. It all, like, worked out perfectly. It was like, crazy. It was like being in a music video.
21:59
vitamin e
That's awesome. Are you talking about Elsewhere In Brooklyn in New York? That is a really cool venue. Have you seen a lot of shows there?
22:05
GRRL
I've been there like twice.
22:06
vitamin e
Twice?
22:06
m'lady
Yeah.
22:07
vitamin e
New York is a crazy place.
22:09
m'lady
How was St. Louis? So did you go there?
22:13
vitamin e
Just you played a show recently with.
22:14
GRRL
DJ Tay and then, like, me, it was really fun. It was a really weird space, but it was like. There's a lot of, like, weird individual art projects and, like, installations and stuff. It was very DIY vibe, but in the good way. It felt kind of like the, like, the 80s Ninja Turtles movie, like where they hung out. Like, I have expected there to be like a skate ramp or something there.
22:35
vitamin e
Oh my God. Hilarious. You know, just some turtles eating.
22:39
m'lady
Yeah, I just thought random St. Louis, let's go far for you to go. That's pretty crazy.
22:44
vitamin e
And you went to south by Southwest a couple years ago, right?
22:47
GRRL
You were the ones that's like being in a commercial basically. It's like everybody trying to advertise to you and I'll bring you free samples.
22:54
vitamin e
And like, because you were a new like a North Carolina representative right there. So how was that?
22:58
GRRL
It was fun. There's not many people like North Carolina that are like out there, but yeah, it was. South by Southwest is its own crazy thing.
23:06
m'lady
Yeah, that's. That's the can of worms. Yeah, yeah, it's.
23:09
vitamin e
Have you been to Hopscotch? Like this local music?
23:13
GRRL
No, I have.
23:13
vitamin e
No.
23:13
m'lady
We saw from your Twitter that you went to Moog Fest.
23:16
vitamin e
How's that?
23:16
GRRL
Yeah, Mooc Fest is really fun. It was kind of. It was kind of like a. Felt kind of rushed this year. But yeah, all the acts and stuff were amazing for the ones that I saw.
23:25
m'lady
Yeah, you're posting videos and we thought maybe that you were DJing or going to like play at Mokefest.
23:31
GRRL
But I played as like part of a party legal thing at the Quarter Horse, which is in downtown Durham.
23:36
m'lady
Okay.
23:36
GRRL
Yeah, we kind of like all split like a two hour time slot. It was really fun.
23:40
m'lady
Cool.
23:40
vitamin e
Awesome. Cool.
23:42
m'lady
That's sweet. Yeah. So if you're just on tuning in, we are interviewing GRRL local electronic artist who is releasing an album June 7th.
23:54
vitamin e
Pay attention. We are very excited.
23:57
m'lady
How did you settle on that name?
23:58
GRRL
Yeah, it was from the. The first song on Natus is like next work EP that came out on Pelican Fly in like 2014. There's like one line at the end of the intro track where it says play Pay close attention. And I was like, that sounds cool. Why don't you do that?
24:12
vitamin e
Yeah, yeah, Pay attention. Listen to what I got.
24:15
m'lady
Let me look at the rest of these track lists.
24:16
vitamin e
I.
24:17
m'lady
Because you already released like all the. The names, right? In the complete track list. But yeah, there's. Pay Attention. Something I thought was interesting. Well, yeah, Jungle makes sense. And then yeah, there's other cars that like Sprinter showdown. That's funny.
24:34
vitamin e
So you have a couple people featured on some of your tracks. Can you tell me about your relationship with them?
24:38
GRRL
Second track has tt the artist featured like fun. Like were just talking about south by Southwest. Like it was like Back then, like, I think that was the year that Beyonce played the super bowl. And it made that instrumental, like, watching the Super Bowl. And I used the sample that was like, from Run the World, where it's like, who were like, we run it or whatever. And then I was like, I can't put this out if Beyonce's on it.
25:02
vitamin e
So fast.
25:03
m'lady
Yeah.
25:03
GRRL
So, like, I hit tt the artist up on Twitter, like, very early, and she's, like, sent me that. Those vocals, and it's been, like, on my. For, like, two years, so.
25:10
m'lady
Oh, that's awesome.
25:11
GRRL
Loophole.
25:12
m'lady
Yeah, there you go.
25:13
GRRL
And then there's another one.
25:14
vitamin e
I think you have a song with Killip.
25:16
GRRL
Yeah. He's like, one of my favorite MCs from the UK. They're all basically the same. Like, I just hit people up on Twitter.
25:22
vitamin e
Yeah.
25:22
GRRL
I was, like, big fans of. And I'm like, would you be interested in working on this? And a lot of people said, no.
25:28
m'lady
That's the nature.
25:29
vitamin e
100% of the shots you don't take.
25:32
m'lady
Possibly. I mean, she's. You're not wrong.
25:34
vitamin e
Yeah.
25:35
GRRL
Kish is, like, another person I found through Twitter, like, literally just saw, like, somebody retweet, like, a freestyle of his, and I was like, that sounds so cool. And he was like, he's so good, and he has so few, like, followers. And it was, like, nice to link up with him and make a banger, hopefully.
25:47
m'lady
Yeah, Yeah, I know. We're excited.
25:50
vitamin e
So when you make music with them, you just email things back and forth, like, mainly.
25:54
GRRL
Yeah, it's cool.
25:55
m'lady
It's crazy how, like, Twitter and, like, Instagram and stuff like that have, like,
25:59
vitamin e
I don't know, just change the. Yeah.
26:01
m'lady
Change the way we collaborate with music and stuff. Which is cool, you know, because you can. Yeah, you can, like, reach out to someone from the uk, like, you know.
26:08
vitamin e
Yeah.
26:08
GRRL
It's like.
26:09
vitamin e
It's just.
26:09
m'lady
It's rather than having to, like, you know people, like, in Durham or anywhere here, which, like, there are people, but, like, I don't know. And with, like, exposure of, like. I know so many people have gotten discovered from that Charlie XCX playlist, like,
26:23
vitamin e
Called the, like, Future. The.
26:24
m'lady
The future.
26:26
vitamin e
Yeah.
26:27
m'lady
Just so funny. And are you. Are you a fan of Slater?
26:32
GRRL
Yes.
26:32
m'lady
Yes. That would be. That would be so sick if you guys had a track together.
26:36
GRRL
I mean, she followed me on Twitter, like, last week.
26:38
m'lady
Did she really?
26:40
vitamin e
Oh, my gosh. You should. You're listening. Slater, we love you. Yeah. Hi.
26:44
m'lady
She definitely is, but I. When I think of her Too. I. She's kind of like the epitome of like the Internet, like, Twitter artist. I don't know. I just feel like she gained popularity so fast.
26:57
vitamin e
Yeah. It's crazy.
26:59
m'lady
At her Spotify and she had like hundreds of thousands of listens so, like, soon. And I was like, I literally just heard of her.
27:05
GRRL
It's exciting. I think you can just like snowball like that. Like you get like a few placements on like a. Like a track, like a playlist, and like you have a following and you can like tour and make money on, like, on stuff. Stuff like that.
27:15
m'lady
Yeah.
27:15
vitamin e
So cool.
27:16
m'lady
I think part of it too was like just her Persona, like her personality too.
27:20
GRRL
It's like very Paris Hilton. Like 2007.
27:22
m'lady
Yeah. Which I think is like the Kim Petrus thing too. I mean, there's definitely like a 2000s, like, pop icon.
27:29
vitamin e
Yeah. And all her single art is like very airbrushed and like very pretty looking.
27:36
m'lady
Glitter game.
27:37
vitamin e
It does looks like a video game. How have you.
27:39
m'lady
How did you think of, like, your album? I guess cover per se for.
27:45
GRRL
There was another thing through Instagram, actually. There's this photographer on Instagram called Joybrick. I think there might be a few people there, but they like take photos of like drift racing events and stuff. And they're based in Australia and I've just been like a big fan of their stuff. While I was making the album, I used a bunch of their stuff as reference. And then like a few weeks ago I hit them up and I was like, would you be down for me to like, license this photo from you? And they're really receptive.
28:06
m'lady
Wow.
28:07
vitamin e
Awesome.
28:07
m'lady
That's awesome.
28:08
GRRL
The backside, like from the same photographer and then all the design, like that stuff was done by my friend Tom, who's like, I am only Tom on Instagram. And he's like, great. He does, like, amazing stuff and makes great music as well.
28:19
m'lady
Awesome.
28:19
vitamin e
So shout out tom. Check out Tom. What is this? Yeah.
28:23
m'lady
What is his name?
28:24
GRRL
I am only Tom on Instagram and only Tom on Twitter.
28:26
vitamin e
Oh, I am only Tom. So give this man a follow. I really like your logo. Your artist logo. So with all the little rings, it's.
28:35
GRRL
Yeah, that was done by. By a person on Instagram called Ross. Paul McEllen, I think.
28:40
vitamin e
Okay.
28:41
GRRL
Instagram handle is like ARP RPM, like in there somewhere.
28:45
vitamin e
Yeah.
28:46
GRRL
He's another amazing artist. So talented. I love his work.
28:49
vitamin e
Looks so cool. So I think we're gonna play one of the tracks that you released in January, Volt. Huge fan of that one.
28:56
m'lady
I think that's in the AVS. Did you put it in AV?
28:58
vitamin e
It's been added to our plays all the time.
29:01
m'lady
Big fan can see at any given moment might. Might pop on. So. All right, keep it locked on WKNC listening to Volt. Yep.
29:10
vitamin e
Yep.
29:15
Music
[GRRL – Volt]
31:47
m'lady
Hey, guys.
31:48
vitamin e
Hey, guys. What's up?
31:49
m'lady
You're listening to WKNC 88.1 HD1 Raleigh.
31:53
vitamin e
We are in the studio with GRRL going through some interview questions. They are awesome and amazing. They're from Durham. You need to check them out. This is. We're talking about electronic music. So I'm here with Milady.
32:05
m'lady
Yes.
32:06
vitamin e
I'm Vitamin E. And we have GRRL.
32:07
GRRL
Hello.
32:09
vitamin e
So you just heard Volt, which was released in January. One of their singles are from an ep and a song that inspired that is called the Noise the remix by SL2. So we're gonna play that so you guys can see a little bit behind the scenes Inspiration. That just inspired the song you just heard.
32:29
m'lady
So keep it locked.
32:30
vitamin e
Keep it locked.
32:44
m'lady
Hey guys, what's up? You're listening to WKNC. You just heard the noise remix by SL2.
32:52
vitamin e
Yes. So you just heard. We have GRRL with us in the studio. That was them just talking.
32:58
GRRL
Yeah.
32:58
vitamin e
You're listening to dwknc. We have GRRL from Durham.
33:01
m'lady
Super cool electronic artists. This is m' lady and this is Vitamin E. We are Both after hours DJs at WKNC and play. Yeah, electronic houseish music, techno music. So, yeah, so we're talking to GRRL and I was just wondering, how long have you been making those mixes for nts?
33:23
GRRL
I think it's been since. Since, I guess like three years now because. Yeah, so like three years. Ish.
33:30
vitamin e
How'd you start doing that?
33:32
GRRL
It was like right after I played Jack New York in like 2015. And then I think Simon, who threw that party, sent my mix from that show to Femi who like runs NTs. And then he offered me a slot on the station, which kind of worked out.
33:46
m'lady
So if you were doing that and you said 2015, you were doing shows when you're like 17. Yeah, 18.
33:53
vitamin e
That is so cool.
33:54
m'lady
How was that?
33:56
GRRL
It's not as exciting as you think, but it's also really fun because it's basically just me recording the mix at home and then sending it in.
34:02
m'lady
Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. That's so cool. Think about that. Yeah, I was. I was not doing that.
34:08
vitamin e
How old were you the first time you played in like a club or at a party thing?
34:13
GRRL
I was definitely not old enough to get in. I Think I was like, 16, like 24.
34:17
m'lady
Oh, my gosh.
34:17
GRRL
My math is off, but yeah, I definitely got dropped off by my dad. Said never car yet.
34:22
m'lady
Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah, too. And flying. Like, flying, I guess.
34:26
vitamin e
Alone. Yeah. Child DJ star. Pretty impressive.
34:30
GRRL
Yeah.
34:30
vitamin e
I was reading up about Charlie XCX, and she started DJing clubs in London when she was, like, 14.
34:35
GRRL
Yeah. She's been around for a long.
34:38
vitamin e
Yeah. But it's cool then. People's parents obviously, like, help support them doing that kind of stuff.
34:43
m'lady
Yeah. At that age especially.
34:46
vitamin e
So it's so cool that you started doing that so young. And it's really awesome also that you are such a good dj and we've seen a lot of electronic music kind of be whitewashed, I'd say, especially since the roots of, like, house and drum and bass are found from, like, the,
35:03
m'lady
Like, in Mayo Parish.
35:04
vitamin e
Yeah.
35:04
m'lady
Yeah.
35:05
vitamin e
And like, Chicago and Detroit in the Midwest. So do you have any comments on that? What you think about.
35:10
GRRL
I think it's kind of easy to forget about that because people who are at the top are not really, like, the balance of, like, people of color to, like, non people of color. It's kind of, like, uneven, I think.
35:20
vitamin e
Yeah.
35:21
GRRL
Because, like, I don't know, just, like, how many people do you see getting booked at, like, big events that are like Coachella, that are, like black DJs or any other kind of DJs. You know what I mean? Yeah.
35:29
vitamin e
Yeah. Especially this is where, like, music came from, so.
35:33
m'lady
And I mean, it's like, you know, socioeconomically too. It's, like, expensive.
35:37
vitamin e
Yeah.
35:37
m'lady
So, like, you know, electronic days are,
35:39
GRRL
Like, use, like, $7,000.
35:42
m'lady
So expensive.
35:43
vitamin e
Yeah. Like, making electronic music. Music, definitely.
35:47
m'lady
Yeah. Just you and your guitar, like, going at it.
35:49
vitamin e
Yeah.
35:49
m'lady
You got programs and.
35:51
vitamin e
Programs and keyboards and different buttons.
35:53
m'lady
Production strategy, but yeah. That's awesome. Did you start off, like, mixing?
35:59
vitamin e
Is.
36:00
m'lady
Is that what you were doing with, like.
36:01
GRRL
I think it was, like, Tractor two that I downloaded, I was, like, playing around with, but I was, like, not good at that.
36:06
m'lady
And then you moved to Ableton and started, like, producing stuff.
36:09
vitamin e
Yeah.
36:09
m'lady
That's awesome. So you jumped right into it.
36:13
vitamin e
Yeah. What made you, like, was it anything? Did you wake up one day and you were like, I'm gonna give this a shot?
36:18
GRRL
Mostly just that I was like. And still I am obsessed with music. Like, definitely just be, like, telling my friends about stuff and they'd be like, stop texting me the song.
36:24
vitamin e
I don't care.
36:26
GRRL
It was easier to do that online.
36:27
m'lady
Yeah. And you. It's important to you, so go ahead.
36:31
vitamin e
That's awesome. To us too.
36:33
m'lady
Yeah. So are your friends really. Are your friends also, like, really music? Are you close friends? You guys?
36:38
vitamin e
I have, like, build off each other.
36:39
GRRL
That I know in music are. But then I have like other friends that I've known like before that are not into the same stuff that I am.
36:44
vitamin e
Right.
36:45
GRRL
But yeah, there's. They're still like supportive and stuff.
36:47
vitamin e
That's cool. Yeah. Would you say there's a big online community?
36:50
GRRL
Definitely.
36:51
vitamin e
Yeah.
36:51
GRRL
I feel like most of the people I know are from. I really like, met online or whatever.
36:56
vitamin e
Yeah.
36:56
m'lady
Like we said, it's just like, oh, were going to talk about this earlier.
36:59
vitamin e
The.
37:00
m'lady
We were talking about Coachella when weren't over the air. Yeah. And the video of the girl talking about how she went to see, quote, unquote, the Aphex Twins at Coachella. It was just funny.
37:14
GRRL
Can you imagine, like, walking into that and not knowing who Apex Twin was?
37:18
vitamin e
No context.
37:20
m'lady
Like, there is a reason. There are like literally thousands of people.
37:22
vitamin e
Little do they know they're witnessing a legend. At work. I'm not sure at work. So that's pretty funny.
37:29
m'lady
And I can't remember exactly what she said, but I think as an after hours dj, sometimes it's hard because when you tell people you make electronic music, like what you do.
37:40
vitamin e
Yeah. Or they think it's edm.
37:42
GRRL
Yeah. One of those two answers.
37:44
vitamin e
Definitely. I can feel like people asking about, like, oh, after hours, like, you love edm. Nothing. Nothing's wrong with EDM music.
37:50
m'lady
No, it's good. Nothing's wrong with that.
37:52
vitamin e
Personal preference. Yeah.
37:53
m'lady
And it is like such a. I feel like with a lot more genres, like indie rock, it's like, okay, you.
37:58
GRRL
Got the little guitar of what somebody's talking about.
38:01
vitamin e
I feel like it can be very. The term electronic music is pretty broad and sometimes people have a pretty narrow understanding of what it can be.
38:08
m'lady
Yeah. How would you just. How would you describe your sound?
38:11
vitamin e
Yeah.
38:11
GRRL
I don't know. That's really hard. I would just say music with drums. That's what I always say.
38:14
vitamin e
Yeah. Yeah.
38:15
GRRL
That's like the loudest part.
38:16
vitamin e
Yeah, that's.
38:17
m'lady
That's true.
38:17
vitamin e
How would you say your sound has changed over time from like the PC to like your sonic evolution?
38:24
GRRL
I have. I have a better idea of what I want to make and trying to like, doing a better job of like. Like tying influences in a way that sounds like something that I made instead of.
38:37
m'lady
Yeah.
38:37
GRRL
Kind of sounding like I'm copying somebody. Else. Yeah, but it happens with time. Like, as you get better at doing anything, you kind of learn how to do it.
38:44
m'lady
Yeah, yeah, that's so true. I mean, but that's all they say. You get good as you copy people's music, you know, and then once you get to that point, you start, you know, putting your own spin on it.
38:52
vitamin e
Yeah, definitely.
38:52
m'lady
I'm talking, like, I know what it's like, but, like, I sort of heard around the block.
38:56
vitamin e
So if you could play in a show with any artist in a show with them, who would? Like, any DJ artists, anybody, who would you have in your lineup?
39:06
GRRL
I would want randomer.
39:08
m'lady
Randomer.
39:09
GRRL
Because again, I just, like, love his kick drums. They're amazing.
39:12
m'lady
Yeah, yeah, he's.
39:14
GRRL
He's so good. He's such an interesting, like, sense of percussion.
39:17
vitamin e
And where is he from?
39:17
GRRL
He's from the uk.
39:18
vitamin e
Yeah.
39:19
m'lady
Okay, cool.
39:20
vitamin e
Very cool. So our friends across the pond, I.
39:23
m'lady
Was gonna say Europe, is like, they've always been electronic. Like, I feel like the United States.
39:28
vitamin e
Is definitely the UK club scene. Right.
39:31
m'lady
They've, I guess, maybe adopted it. Yeah, like, it's more mainstream than it is here.
39:36
GRRL
Like, the US For a while, definitely felt more like indie and, like, band based.
39:40
vitamin e
Right.
39:40
GRRL
Like, like started in, like, clubs and stuff, and then all that stuff went to, like, live bands. And the UK really just, like, picked that ball up and, like, we'll take it.
39:48
m'lady
Yeah, I know. Liz and I love watching. If you go on YouTube, you find those, like, well, boiler rooms and those videos we watch of, like, the 90s. Oh, my gosh, these people in the 90s raves in, like, New York in this big warehouse. It's, like, noon. It's the middle of.
40:03
vitamin e
There's one video in particular, and there's, like, people with little pacifiers. Like, there are two twins who have, like, matching onesies. So just, like, looking at each other and, like, dancing. It's hilarious. Everybody. Really wish I could have seen that.
40:15
GRRL
So intensely in those videos. What are you guys even looking at?
40:18
vitamin e
I know. And the way they're all dancing Daylight. I wish there was. I want to go to an illegal warehouse rave.
40:24
GRRL
Yes.
40:25
vitamin e
That's on my bucket list. So if anybody's out there having a.
40:28
m'lady
Rave, if you have a warehouse and you just don't know what to do.
40:31
vitamin e
With it, we want to make parties there. Honestly, I would love to see. That's a plan of mine. Like, I want KNC to have. We can do a dilemma, actually.
40:41
m'lady
Yeah, Warehouse girl.
40:42
vitamin e
I would love to do that. So listeners, honestly, keep your eyes Peeled. Because that might actually happen. Yeah. KNC might have an electronic utilization. Me, you shouldn't be there. So.
40:56
m'lady
But the cool thing about the videos is they were super diverse, too. Like, ages, too, like, race, like.
41:02
vitamin e
Yeah, everybody was in there.
41:03
m'lady
Everyone. There was even, like, the clothes. It wasn't necessarily everybody dressed, like indie people were just wearing, like, polos.
41:09
GRRL
It was definitely more of a counterculture thing back then. Back when Rave, like, was properly legal and not, like, at a big venue with, like, $20, like, cocktails.
41:17
vitamin e
Right. I saw this video on Twitter the other day, and it was like someone was like, I wish someone would do this for me. And some girl had this huge candy bracelet that some guy was like. They were holding hands, and he, like, passed the candy to her, and she was like, oh, my gosh, thank you so much. Like, was in tears. And I was like, that is such an interesting, like, subculture, like, how EDM.
41:35
GRRL
Kids get proposed to.
41:36
vitamin e
Yeah.
41:37
GRRL
Oh, my God.
41:37
vitamin e
Will you take this candy?
41:39
m'lady
Yes. Yes. Yeah, that's funny.
41:43
vitamin e
What?
41:45
m'lady
Who are your favorite acts at Mugfest?
41:47
GRRL
Speaking of, I saw Tim Hecker, who's great. And then also, like, Kimber was really good. And.
41:53
m'lady
Did I already ask you this or did I. We talked about stuff that happened there. Okay, cool.
41:58
GRRL
They were really good. And then, like, William Basinski was really good. Very intense. Like, Mount Kimby was my favorite one. I think you just said at the Armory. Okay, that was the best, I think.
42:07
m'lady
I remember looking at the Mug Fest lineup and it said, yeah, Mount can be, like, DJ set. I've never been to many venues in Durham, but I think we're gonna check it out soon.
42:18
vitamin e
So we have time for. Let me think about.
42:22
m'lady
We have about eight minutes.
42:23
vitamin e
Eight more minutes left with you, GRRL. It's been a pleasure having you.
42:27
m'lady
Thank you guys for listening.
42:28
vitamin e
Yeah. And reminder again, GRRL has a new album coming out June 7th called Pay Attention. It's what streaming services.
42:35
GRRL
Yeah, it should be everywhere.
42:37
vitamin e
Should be everywhere. iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud, all that. All those jazzes that didn't make sense, but you know what I mean? So we're so, so excited to hear that. So, GRRL, do you have any final song? Do you have any suggestions?
42:52
m'lady
I know.
42:53
vitamin e
What do our listeners want?
42:55
GRRL
Thinking about what I've been listening to a lot recently.
42:58
m'lady
We can also play older of anything older of your music.
43:02
GRRL
Let's play Love by Luke Slater. He just had a pack of remixes from that song come out today. And there's, like, a burial one, which is very good.
43:11
m'lady
It's clean.
43:13
vitamin e
I'm pretty sure you guys are in for a treat. We've loved having you on air GRRL. Thank you so much for being here. Just a little hop, skip and a jump away in Durham.
43:23
m'lady
Yeah, seriously. More like 45 minutes with Terrific.
43:27
vitamin e
I'm sure we will be collaborating more in the future. So you guys keep your ears tuned for this new song. For this next song thank you for Listening album that is being released June 7th. Pay attention.
43:40
GRRL
Hope you like it.
43:40
vitamin e
Don't forget about it.
43:42
m'lady
So don't be a stream.
43:42
GRRL
It's called Pay Attention. You can't forget about it.
43:44
m'lady
Like literally.
43:45
vitamin e
Please pay attention to Pay Attention. Yeah. So okay.
43:49
m'lady
Keep it locked on WKNC.
43:43
Music
[GRRL – Pay Attention]