I’ve been compiling this mix for a while now. Some of these songs go back into the early 2000′s. You’ll notice that I’ve kept a loose mood in this compilation. It’s all Indie, but some of it is tinged with twang. Have a listen… you’ll see what I mean.
A few years ago I was at Starbucks waiting in line for my morning fix when I noticed a small flyer hanging on the bulletin board. As I moved in to get a closer look I noticed that the promo piece was for a local screen printing company called Flood City Studio. The postcard sized piece of literature was well designed and I really dug the the company’s overall aesthetic. I paid a visit to the Flood City website as soon as I could and I was surprised to find that the founding members were just kids… well college kids, but really young none the less. As it turned out one of the members was a barista at that particular Starbucks, so I made sure to strike up a conversation with him the next time I stopped by. I could tell that this group of guys were doing really great stuff and made sure to keep them in my back pocket for future referernce.
Time passed and I met Peter about a year and a half later when he was interviewing for a design internship at MediaSauce . As I browsed his portfolio I noticed he had done a lot of work with Flood City Studio. When I asked him about his affiliation with the brand he expressed that he was one of the other founders. I was impressed. The kid had chops and after a discussion with the other design team members we knew that he was going to be our new intern. The internship was brief, though, as Peter was brought on as a full fledged designer after only a few months.
Over time I’ve had the honor of getting to know Peter as a co-worker and friend. I’m a sucker for work ethic and this guy’s got it. While working as a designer at “The Sauce” Peter managed to finish his last year of school as well as keep Flood City Studio going, run a clothing line called This Is Hope and provide design work and art direction for multiple bands . Peter’s understanding of print, web and apparel design paired with his photography, iconography and typography skills guarantee him a bright future in whichever branch of design that he chooses to be a part of.
If you ever bump into Peter make sure to say what’s up… you may only get a grin and a nod in return, but you can rest assured that you’ve had a brush with a guy who is going to great places in his field.
When I was six my mother sent me on a mission that would forever shape my view on music. I was supposed to walk a few doors down to the very end of our apartment building to let my oldest sister know it was time for dinner. Before I even reached the neighbors door I could hear “Jam On It” by Newcleus blaring from inside the apartment. I knocked and was let in by another kid who directed me through the house and onto the back patio where my sister and a mob of other teenagers were standing in a semi circle around two guys doing the strangest dance moves I’d ever seen. One of the teenagers was spinning in circles at what seemed like 100 mph… but he was doing it upside down… on his head. I was blown away.
I made my way through the crowd never taking my eyes off of the two guys now spinning on their backs atop an old piece of cardboard. When I finally reached my sister I could tell that I had seen something I wasn’t supposed to see. She was only thirteen but most of the other teens seemed older. So much older, in fact, that she wasn’t even supposed to be there. On the walk back to our apartment she told me that the Puerto Rican guy who was spinning on his head was named Angel (I think) and he was the best break dancer in our neighborhood. She asked me to keep quiet when we got home and when we finished dinner she would take me back to watch the older kids dance. I was ecstatic!
The eighties went on and I grew out of idolizing my older sister and wanting to be part of whatever she and her friends were into, but I always remembered that day. By eighth grade some guys that I would skateboard with were listening to the Check Your Head album by The Beastie Boys and the feeling I felt in 1984 came rushing back. I was listening to a lot of punk at the time but the Beasties somehow found a way to blend a multitude of genres together on their albums. It was a great way to break back into hip hop for the second time in my life. I was hooked on that album and listened to it on repeat for three months until I knew every word on every track.
The next year my family was packing up to head back to the east coast, Delaware to be specific, where I could pickup stations like Q102 out of Philadelphia. I was easing into rap music but when we moved to Maryland my best friend gave me a tape by A Tribe Called Quest called The Low End Theory. After a single listen I was certifiably hooked on hip hop and continued to buy more and more albums until my entire dresser was covered in tape cases.
My addiction to hip hop lasted through the nineties, but when the bulk of producers stopped sampling funk, jazz , classic rock and Motown and most emcees couldn’t spit a single verse without mentioning what kind of watch they wore or how much their car cost I lost interest. Hip hop had gone mainstream and brands like Sprite were making a killing off of my generation’s version of rock-n-roll. The beats got watered down and a formula was in place to sell records. Brag a little, write a catchy hook over a regurgitated 80′s hit song and you had a record. If an emcee didn’t mind doing a corny dance in front of a wind machine in an empty airplane hangar he could probably go platinum. I hated it.
I still listen to hip hop on a regular basis but these days I have to dig a little deeper to find the good stuff. The kind of music that shaped my teenage years is back where it belongs… underground. This play list is an homage to a small handful of groups that made the nineties, what I feel to be, the apex of hip hop.
Do you remember mix tapes? Those rattly little pieces of polypropylene that would bring us together with friends through music. DJ’s would make them and sell them out of the back of their cars. Your best friend’s older brother would leave one laying around when he thought it was played out and you’d snag it. If you really liked a girl, guess what she got… that’s right… a mix tape. If you had a good enough music collection you probably made your own tape and it was passed from friend to friend, dubbed and re-dubbed until the quality was so bad that you couldn’t even tell what songs were on it.
Well, I’m bringing back the mix tape, my friends. Sure they’re called play lists now and this will probably never see the inside of an actual tape deck, but the spirit is still there. So let’s share. You can start by downloading this one. Put it on your iPhone or iPod and next time we talk let me know who you passed it on to. Enjoy!
A week ago tonight I was scrambling around trying to knockout four designs in four hours. Typically, procrastination has never served me well so I shy away from it. In this case, however, it landed me on the first two pages of the contest’s official website. Well played on the part of dumb luck. They’ll be announcing the winners on Twitter tomorrow. I’ll keep you posted. Here’s what I put together.
Aaron Scamihorn, a.k.a Ronlewhorn is one of my closest friends as well as one of my favorite designer/illustrators. His work ethic is humbling, and the speed at which he produces illustrations is absolutely astounding.
When I was a kid a was absolutely positive that by 2010 we would all have our own personal spacecraft. Well, we’re officially a whole decade into the 21st century and a the ability to cruise the galaxy is still limited to a handful of folks . I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate the new year by paying homage to my greatest childhood fantasy. Happy New Year!!!
Fast turnarounds, affordable pricing and amazing quality are just a few of the benefits of working with Aaron Swearingen and his company, SixSix Graphics . If you’re a designer with an idea for a t-shirt or just in need of a reliable contract screen printer then do yourself a favor and check these guys out.
MaryLessing works in one of the most complex styles of painting I’ve ever witnessed. She first creates a composite by carefully drawing one delicate cell on top of another. She then meticulously paints in each cell with an appropriate shade of gray until her web of shapes becomes dimensional. A color wash is sometimes applied as you’ll notice in the Joey Ramone painting. Mary’s understanding of lighting is off the charts.
Nate Greuel is the designer with the Cosmic Touch. By that I mean his work is almost otherworldly. His designs are usually comprised of sophisticated system of grids which become a sort of skeleton for the countless layers of subtle textures. Always laced with all the right details his work as an interactive designer is hard to parallel. I always seem to find myself asking, “How in the world did he do this?”
I met Mr. Hogan way back in the summer of 2001. He was hired to do customer service for the company I was working for at the time. Within an hour of meeting him I knew I had made a friend for life. I’ve probably learned more from Aaron than any other designer I have ever worked with. That’s probably because we’ve spent our entire careers joined at the hip. We’ve worked together for three different agencies and have even offered freelance services as a team.
In all of the years I have known him Aaron has never failed to impress me with the quality of his work. He’s a sponge for knowledge which gives him every advantage in being a true jack of all trades. Web design & development, print, video editing, 3D, photography and branding are only a few of the mediums he’s familiar with.
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