Tag: aurora wetherill

A Very Tropical Interview w/ Thero

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By Aurora Wetherill, of LightsOn w/ Aurora, Thursdays@10pm.

So, Thero is amazing. “Who is Thero?” you might ask. Well, he’s the man. He’s producing some of the most innovative and invigorating tropical house music to date. He’s the man out-doing his heros. And you definitely haven’t heard of him yet.

You might also be wondering what tropical house music is. It’s house music characterized by synthetic bongos, steel drums, and flutes, and it floats somewhere around 110 beats per minute. It essentially makes you feel like you’re lying in the shade of a palm tree sharing a cool drink with the love of your life. If you don’t like it, you probably don’t like anything lovely and you probably don’t use your vacation days either.

Thero, which is the tropical house moniker of Connecticut-born TJ Sarda, has been twisting lesser songs into full on badass sax-infused low-BPM tropical bangers for about 6 months now, although he has been producing for three years. He says he really only found his sound this past Spring, and that he was heavily influenced by tropical house innovators Kygo and Klingande. He has no formal musical training, but he has an obvious comprehension and proficiency with his material. He began producing after he saw Avicii play at Red Rocks (in CO) back in 2011– he says something just clicked, and he knew he needed to make music.

So this guy is pretty young. He only graduated from Notre Dame University this past May, with a degree in entrepreneurship. He’s got a day job as an innovation consultant at a small firm, and says that music is just his “side hustle.” I asked him if he felt like he was about to get mega-famous, and he responded with great humility: “I’m just doin what I love and people dig it. What more could you ask for?”

We talked a little about the state of music these days, and how there’s really only money in live performance. He gives all of his music away for free on his Facebook and his Soundcloud, by the way. These days, people don’t just want to see their favorite artist perform; they want to see him blow their damn minds with insane lasers and confetti and champagne showers. I asked Thero if he was ready for it, to which he responded, “if people want to see me play, I’ll play. That’s how it’ll be.” Thero is going to do Thero and he doesn’t care if the world isn’t into it. But for reference, the world is totally into it. He’s got over 800,000 plays on Soundcloud.

Thero’s two all-time favorite bands are the Dave Matthews Band and Slightly Stoopid. I asked him if he would assess himself as a “bro” and he gave me a hard “maybe.” I think he would have been an IBNM major if he had attended Dickinson. His current jam is the sweet soul song, “Coming Home,” by Leon Bridges, and he says he’s been into Filous and Snbrn lately as well. He also mentioned that he’s a dog person, which he followed up with “sorry.” He’s definitely not sorry.

I’m personally a mega-fan of this guy, and when I nerd out to him, he always responds to my messages and sometimes he sends me his works in progress. The man knows how to build rapport. Thero gained a fan for life.

I asked Thero how he keeps it tropical on frosty days like today, and he gave me some truly wise words: “Just remember to smile. People get so caught up in life. Sometimes you just need to step back and appreciate everything.” Keep it tropical, folks.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, he’s got plans for a Spring ’15 tour. You can find out more and download all of his sweet tropical beats here:

Thero’s Facebook, Soundcloud, Twitter.

I highly recommend his mix of “Comes and Goes,” by Greg Lasswell, and his mix of “Mrs. Cold,” by Kings of Convenience. 

Don’t forget to follow him on twitter! @TheroMusic

Follow Aurora @rortortle

 

Flying Lotus; You’re Dead! tour, Tower Theater, Phila. 10/13/14

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by Aurora Wetherill, of LightsOn w/ Aurora, Thursdays@10pm.

I have seen Flying Lotus, a.k.a. 31 year old Steven Ellison, perform live three times now. Everytime, he changes my life. This is not an exaggeration.

The venue is kind of weird; I’d never been to the Tower Theater before. It’s enormous, complete with two floors and rows on rows of some kind of semi-permanent folding theater chairs that you could disrupt irreparably with a misplaced step. The chairs ended up going largely unused once FlyLo came on, but provided a safe place to retreat to if an audience member got (understandably) overwhelmed.

Thundercat opened the show, wearing a big wolf pelt on his head playing a 6 string electric bass, putting on an incredible jam with one of the best synth/keyboard players I’ve ever seen. Thundercat is always spectacular, and a supreme warm up for what’s coming.

A FlyLo performance is neither all music or all show. He stands in between two screens, one in front of him, and one behind him. His visual team constructs the most impossibly mind-bending, beautiful displays and projects them through him. I have seen this particular performance twice. His most recent show incorporates a new element; the front screen is now cubically shaped, allowing for intimidating visuals centered on a spinal meridian in the middle of the stage. Most of the visuals were new, like in Sultan’s Request where the new front screen projected a lightning box around Mr. Lotus on each heavy beat. The visuals for Getting There (ft. Niki Randa) were the same as the last two sets, but they are incredible so there were no complaints. Galaxy In Jakobi, towards the end of the show, served to show the audience that Mr. Lotus is their God. No one took issue.

Unfortunately, neither Mr. Lotus nor Thundercat came out after the show, although not for lack of throngs waiting for them.

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You’re Dead! Flying Lotus Killed You; an Album Review

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by Aurora Wetherill of LightsOn w/ Aurora, Thursdays@1opm.

Flying Lotus’ new album You’re Dead is at once more raw and more refined than any of his previous albums. Each note is poignant, deliberate, and clear as glass. His track with Snoop Dogg is a little grating, but it seems intentional; Snoop’s lyrics discuss possibilities for why your body crapped out on you to an 8-bit beat. You’re Dead also has a good deal more instrumental variation than its precursors, such as the distorted guitar and jingle bells featured in “Turkey Dog Coma”. The Japanese psychedelic artist, Shintaro Kago, created a unique set of works to accompany You’re Dead, and each song’s artwork lends contextual insight and a note of black humor. The artwork for Siren Song consists of a shapely woman opening her mouth and tying up her hair, while her bottom half unravels; Turtles’ artwork features a dying woman taking a selfie. Flying Lotus says something new in each of his albums, and each album features a different theme. Cosmogramma (2010) was a cosmic dance adventure, Until The Quiet Comes (2012) was a celestial emotional voyage, and You’re Dead feels like an embrace of and meditation on the void that his previous albums only sometimes acknowledge. There is life in death and there is death in life. You’re Dead is dark, irregular, and probably perfect. Flying Lotus will be performing at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pensylvania, on October 14th.

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