Galantis is probably one of those names you’re seeing everywhere nowadays. Between 150 live shows a year, numerous festival appearances, and two new hits, to say they have a lot going on is an understatement. Thankfully, they made the time to sit down with us at Shaky Beats festival in Atlanta over the weekend to talk about what it’s like touring together, how the duo Galantis formed, and a few of their new songs. Check out the interview below.
What did you guys do yesterday?
Show, at Syracuse.
What did you think?
It was a good show! Really good energy.
How are college crowds versus music festival crowds?
I didn’t know it was going to be such a great crowd. We actually talked about that, we should do it more. 100% of the crowd went haywire. They were happy we were there.
So you guys tour together a lot.
150 shows a year.
How do you keep up the energy to do that many shows?
It’s like, you press a button, you know, you’ve got to reset. And then you have to be as off as you can between the shows, but once you go onstage it’s like a switch in your head, and it just goes.
What was the moment that you were like, ‘I’m going to link up with this guy and we’re going to make music, and we’re going to do this?’
I actually know where I was in Stockholm when I called you that time. It was Old Town. Just so you know… I remember I was walking from a lunch or something and I had the idea. I started to think of names for the band before I actually joined.
What were some of the other names?
Well, we had some of the worst names ever. I’m not gonna say them, but it took a very long time to find the right name, actually. And when we found it, someone else gave it to us.
What is the significance of it to you?
The name now? I don’t know. Then it was the perfect mirror for the music we did, but now it’s life, you know? And now we figure it’s too late to change it.
You recently came out with “Emoji”. What was the idea behind the song?
I think a lot of people didn’t realize that there are a lot of deep, serious thoughts behind it, and thought it was kind of lightweight but it’s not. It’s kind of like, sad in one way, that you do start to only communicate through emojis, but also something beautiful with it, depends on what it is. Like, we’re away from family all the time, and you don’t even have words anymore sometimes, you just send a heart, you know, and that’s useful. I think we all know those words, but you sending that emoji means something either way.
And that kind of started the thought, how something simple like an emoji can change how people have a conversation. Because putting an emoji, words, it’s not the same thing. It actually added to the way you can communicate. So that’s where it came from, the idea.
Do you guys have a favorite emoji?
The heart!
I like the crying laughing one.
That’s very good actually! You can’t put that into words either!
How did your new song “Bones” with One Republic happen?
It’s kind of a long and wacky story. There was like a seed of this original that came across us, and then we wanted to work on it, and then it was already taken by OneRepublic. And I kinda knew Ryan Tedder from the past, so I found out where he lives and I went to his place. And said, “you don’t have the correct idea, I have it.” No, I didn’t say that, but I did say I think we can do an amazing version together, how about that. And I think he liked the way we came really strong, and said that we could take this song somewhere great for both. And I think, yeah, it was such an easy quick thing after that. We were thinking the same thing about the song, and they already started a lot of cool stuff on it, so we took it from there and made it what it is today. But I think they’re great, I think Ryan Tedder is one of the best songwriters, I think his vocals are amazing, unbelievable.
So, what do you guys have in the works music-wise? You just released a new song, are we getting a new album?
We got a lot of music really close to coming out. It’s kind of a race which one will come out first.
Images: Jimmy Fontaine
The Los Angeles police department announced yesterday that they’ve arrested the man suspected of killing 33-year-old Grammy nominated rapper and father of two, Nipsey Hussle (born Ermias Asghedom). This is excellent news toward justice for Hussle’s family and fans, but it would be even better news if people just stopped shooting each other (or we fixed America’s gun problem – either/or).
The suspect, 29-year-old Eric Holder (not to be confused with former Attorney General Eric Holder), was found 20 miles outside of Hyde Park, the location where Hussle was shot in broad daylight on March 31st. So far, his motive has not been released.
Eric Holder, the suspected killer of Nipsey Hussle, has been arrested and is in police custody. Thank you to both our community for the heightened awareness/vigilance, and our partners at @LASDHQ. pic.twitter.com/0zujy89Yfm
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) April 2, 2019
At 3:30 PM on March 31st, Hussle was standing outside of his Marathon Clothing Store with three other people when someone (allegedly Holder) opened fire. Surveillance footage shows a figure in dark clothing approaching people standing in a strip mall, before some scatter and others fall the ground. This is an incredibly tragic crime and the fact that the murder occurred outside of his own store, a place where he should’ve felt safe and was specifically designed to give back to his community, is even more upsetting. The person then reportedly fled the scene immediately and entered a car driven by an “unidentified female.” While I’m always down for women taking jobs in male-dominated fields, driving getaways cars from a murder isn’t the progress we’re talking about.
Hussle rose to fame by releasing several mixtapes and collaborating with artists such as Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Jay-Z purchased 100 copies of Hussle’s mixtape, “Crenshaw” for $100 dollars each which is a pretty hefty endorsement. Hussle’s first studio album, “Victory Lap,” was nominated for best rap album in the 2019 Grammy Awards.
Hussle grew up in Crenshaw, LA where he played a key role in community activism. On Monday, he was even scheduled to meet with LAPD officials to help draft methods of fighting gang violence. His long-term girlfriend, actress Lauren London posted on Instagram that she is “completely lost.”
Images via Giphy (1), Twitter @LAPDHQ (1), GettyImages
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We all spend many hours each day lusting over Ed Sheeran, who’s indisputably the most desirable man on Earth. Not only is he an amazing musician, but he’s also extremely sensitive, kind, charming, sensitive, thoughtful…and did we mention he’s extremely sensitive? It’s so sweet. Unlike the much cooler and stereotypically attractive men in your life, someone like Ed would treat you like his most prized possession and never, ever let you down (or give you up). Clearly Ed Sheeran is the ultimate bae, and at the risk of giving you a heart attack from the amount of cuteness here, we’re going to share our top reasons why.
1. He’s an international superstar, but still constantly talks about how he wasn’t cool in high schoo, which shows us he’s totally over it.
2. He’s very mentally stable, as exhibited by this enormous tiger tattoo on his chest.
3. He’s been good friends with Taylor Swift for years, another sign of his sanity and impeccable taste.
4. Those who know him say he’s a really nice person—like, obsessively so. Just ask this kitten.
5. And if you started dating him, he’d constantly smother you with sweetness by only speaking in his beautiful song lyrics.
…Even after it got old really fast and you were no longer able to have actual conversations.
6. He’d wake up at the crack of dawn every morning to serenade you with his guitar.
7. Sometimes you’d wake up in the middle of the night and feel his intense eye contact already on you.
8. Actually, he might be standing outside your window right now.
9. He’s a hopeless romantic, as in he’ll never give up hope in trying to date you even after you issue a restraining order.
10. He’ll chase you forever until you can’t escape because he’s Ed Sheeran: the most adorable, perfect person ever and the ultimate bae!
