VO/D – camcorder music

lofi dream pop, that’s what void sounds like to me, and that in the best way possible.

the two piece band from london has a pretty consolidated aesthetic – grainy videos, slightly distorted voices that are somehow still incredibly smooth and melodies that seem to be either out of a dream or an 80s indie movie. 

i found out about them over twitter and their covers of popular alternative artists like the 1975, twenty one pilots, lany or lorde. while capturing the essence of the artist they are covering, there is always a certain aspect that makes the song THEIRS and a little bit special.

their own songs carry that sound in them and push the already known character that i got introduced to by their covers a little bit further, with lyrics that  fit the dreamy sounds perfectly.


i had the honor of listening to their next single “ache” that will come out soon and it is, while being a continuation of their style, a little bit more on the pop side, which is a great platform for the voice of their singer. i personally, really liked the song and am excited for what else is to come.


so if you want to check them out, i really recommend doing so:

their youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBDTiaf-Te_vKIiSeMhIhwg/videos

their instagram (this is so aesthetically pleasing, even if you don’t listen to music or something, just go look at it, because it is so beautiful): https://www.instagram.com/v0id_music/

 

pablo brooks – so young but so talented

pablo brooks is a perfect example for a phenomenon that keeps happening with young youtubers – a vlogger or lifestyle blogger decides to display their musical talents and post covers and later on original songs. we see this with people like troye sivan, dodie clark or conan gray (i recently wrote an article on him as well: http://lenascolours.com/?p=1688).

but what makes pablo brooks stick out, what makes him that little bit more intriguing? well he is  an especially talented guy, that managed to take the step into the music industry really early and offers a lot of different content that is not just entertaining, but very pleasing to watch as he has an amazing artistic eye and handles a camera well.

but what made me write this article and get in touch with him for an interview is his song recurring role that was accompanied by a beautifully shot music video that represents his aesthetic and style of music quite well.

so after reading this and getting to know pablo a little better you should definitely check that out and then binge watch all of his videos and send him some love from me!

 


could you introduce yourself, tell something about you, who you are, all that stuff?
sure! my name is pablo and i’m 15 years old. i’m from germany and i’ve been making music ever since i can remember, to be honest. i started posting my own music & covers on youtube when i was 11 – i’m always listening to music and always singing, because music is just such a great thing.
what originally brought you to music and is it something that still inspires you to this day?
i guess what originally brought me to music was my dad playing his old vinyls in our living room and eventually i just started singing along to songs i liked. he listened to a lot of artists that still inspire me today, like the beatles, bob dylan and david bowie.
what do you consider yourself, a youtuber that makes music, a musician with a youtube channel, or something completely different?
well, because i only started posting my music on youtube after already having a channel for like 2 years, i’d say that i’m a youtuber that makes also music.
have you ever thought about making a whole album and if so, will this be a thing that happens in the near future?
i’d love to do that – it’s always been kind of a dream, but i’m currently working on an EP, which will definitely be out in the near future!
would you like to play your music live some day?
that’s like my biggest dream! i love going to concerts and listening to music live, so performing my music live would be absolutely incredible!
do you like being a solo artist or would you rather be in a band?
i love being a solo artist, because i can call all the shots about my music and can decide what i’m creating, how i’m creating it and am completely independent from everything, but being in a band would also be pretty cool, because you’d have so many creative influences going into a project, which is great too.
what instruments do you play and are there any you’d like to learn additionally?
i play the ukulele, the guitar and a bit of piano, but i’d love to learn to master the piano, because i just really want to write a heart-felt, kind of depressing ballad, if that makes any sense.
how does your own music differ from the music you like to listen to?
even though i do take inspiration from a lot of the music i listen to, i always like to make my music as unique as possible and just create something which is completely “me”, but still something i’d listen to.
when you write music, what are your inspirations?
as stupid as it sounds, i take a lot of inspiration from my surroundings – my friends, my family and everything else going on around me, that was also what “recurring role” is based on. my style is definitely inspired by a lot of my favourite artists, like lorde, frank ocean, rex orange county, billie eilish and alvvays.
do you want to do music as a job?
i mean i’d love to do it as a job, as music is something i’ve always done and have always been extremely passionate about, so doing it as a job would be an absolute dream come true.

 


twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lifewithpablo

instagram: http://www.instagram.com/pablobrooks

youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/PabloBrooksX

 

max lumer – model music

DISCLAIMER – if you get frustrated when good musician only have very little music out (1 SONG, max, one song), don’t listen to this artist (or maybe do, because he is really good)

when you google the name max lumer – barely anything regarding the actual artist comes up, there is a facebook and an instagram, a youtube account with only his song paper boat and a teaser for said and lots of random stuff that is not about him. his instagram does provide a lot of pictures of his pretty face and in his story he sings every once in a while, but it is really not that big of an informative base. so on what foundation am i going to build this you might wonder.

well, is listening to the same song on repeat for literal hours enough?

no, don’t think so? well than i am glad to inform you that you are at the right place, because i was fortunate enough to get in contact with max lumer and he answered a couple of my questions.


could you introduce yourself / tell a little bit about yourself?

Hey sure!
My name is Max Lumer, I’m 21 years old and I’m currently living in Berlin.
Doing music all the time and writing as much as I can.

what are your musical influences and how do they differ from your personal taste in music?

Well, I think there are a lot of artists and bands and I could easily give hundreds of names. But there’s a band called “The 1975” and if we talk about the sound of “Paper Boat” I think it’s obviously to see that they have quiet a big impact on me.

Apart from musical influences nowadays I guess I’m a really big fan of Elton John, Leonard Cohen and of course Bob Dylan.
But talking about big artists today it’s clearly Tom Odell, Paolo Nutini, Matt Gresham, Amber Run, Lewis Capaldi, Damien Rice. There are so many names I could list.

And I wouldn’t say that I could differ between influence and my personal taste in music, because every artist I listen to gives me something new to think about. If it’s lyrically or just a new sound. So I think most of the time it’s influencing me when I really like it.

what instruments do you play?

Well, I started playing the violin when I was 5 years old. And I played it for about 15 years and started learning guitar and a bit of piano.
So yeah l play like 3 instruments but I’m not very good at playing keys haha.

(idk, looks pretty good to me)

describe your musical style with three words.

Dramatic
Reflective
Honest

what’s the coolest place you could imagine playing a show?

I know it’s a cliché but playing a show at Madison Square Garden haha.

if you could design your personal festival that you would play, who would the rest of the bands/artists be?

Oh I love this question. I think it’s definitely Matt Gresham, Lewis Capaldi, The1975, The Neighbourhood, John Mayer, Paolo Nutini, Damien Rice. I guess it would be very jumbled haha. But all of my favorite artists.

who would you like to collaborate with?

I’d love to work again with Matt Gresham (We wrote “Paper Boat” together) .
And yeah I mean The1975 would be insane!

how do you prefer to listen to music, on the internet, records, cds, live or on cassettes?

Live and records for sure. But usually on the Internet because it’s easier. But nothing is better than listening to a good record and sipping some fine wine. 🙂

when can we expect new music from you?

Hopefully at the end of February 🙂


now that we have established, that he is not just a good musician, but also really nice (and he has an AMAZING music taste)  i reckon you all want to listen to check him out, so here are his links and REMEMBER FEBRUARY…

(also all of the pictures except the cover art (the pink one) are by Alex Mauch (his instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/alexmauch/), so thank you for that and check him out)

instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maxlumer/

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maxlumermusic

conan gray – aesthetic multitalent

this picture is taken from conans twitter, he is wearing a shirt with his own artwork on it (pretty, isn’t he? yeah, the art as well)


19, that is how old conan is.

but even by this young age he has already build a huge fanbase, that does not just love him for his video content, but also adores his visual art, music and general personality. he is, as most teenagers are these days, very active on social media and has a big following on instagram (240 thousand), twitter (85,5 thousand) and tumblr (you can’t see the follower count on there, but probably loads, cause tumblr eats up boys like him).

most of his videos are filmed at his family house in texas, but recently he moved to LA, where he now is an art student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). he is still making regular videos, but has also been putting out more music.

4 years ago, he started uploading videos onto the website youtube, now he has over 540 thousand subscribers and more than 31 million views on his over 220 videos. it has been a journey, as he started out with more comedic sketches, now he does a lot of vlogs, music stuff and chatty videos. common topics in those are art, clothes and style ( a lot of thrifting), school and uni, his personal life and his friends (that are featured or mentioned in most of his videos).

his general aesthetic, a thing he is very known and loved for, has evolved quite a bit over the years. conan himself said in past videos, that he has grown more confident in his personal style, which has affected his way of making videos. his room is full of old knick knacks, pictures, thrifted retro items and fairy lights. for somebody, that doesn’t just want great content, but also something nice to look at, conans videos and also just he in general, provide that just fine.

but what has really gained him a lot of popularity these past months, is his music. because conan is not just a great filmmaker and painter with a good look for aesthetics and  a great personality, he is also a musician. (hence the whole multitalent thing) he has uploaded little originals and covers on his youtube channel, but when he put his song idle town on spotify and apple music, it blew up. as of now, it has 3 million listens on spotify and a 5/5 rating on iTunes.

whether he is going to pursue a career in music art or filmmaking, i am sure he will be a great success.

you will probably like him if you are into youtubers and musicians like:

catcreature

connor franta

dodie clark

cavetown

rusty clanton

lorde

lana del ray

bertie gilbert

and generally cute indie boys with soft voices.

if you are now curious, here are all his links, i recommend it immensely.

youtube account: https://www.youtube.com/user/ConanXCanon/videos

tumblr: http://conangray.tumblr.com/

instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conangray/?hl=de

twitter: https://twitter.com/conangray?lang=de

L A N Y @ strom – munich

lany are a california indie band, that, if i had to compare them to another band, fits in the kind of the 1975, chase atlantic box and is often connected to halsey and troye sivan due to joined tours.

the three piece band, fronted by lead singer paul jason klein, that also plays the keyboard and guitar, is from los angeles, what also lead to their name, an acronym for los angeles new york. they’ve been a band since 2014, but all of them had worked in music preaviously.

their live shows are an adventure, that starts with a caution warning for loud sounds, flashing lights and the possibility that the next 80 minutes might be one of the best nights of your life. which basically sums the whole experience up very well.

we, a concert buddy of mine and i, saw them live in munich, germany, what gave us the great chance of seeing them in a quite small venue due to them, NOT YET, being very famous outside of the us. but their strong aesthetic, physically  pleasing band members and unique sound will soon reach a wide community, that is something i’m very sure about.

their live show is very interactive and even if the music wasn’t so good, it would still be very much worth it, because of the way they so beautifully incorporate lights, pauls awkward dancing (he’s actually really good at this, but dancing alone on a stage while singing and or playing an instrument, just is not something you see every day) and and a lot of props, like bottles, pride flags and a ton of velvet red roses.

but the music is good, great, breathtakingly beautiful. the thought out lyrics that were constantly exchanged between the crowd and the stage, the beautiful sounds that made us jump and dance and laugh and cry and the whole concept of seeing somebody live that constructed the songs that underline your life as a constant soundtrack. the use of slightly changing up melodies and lyrics (you need to know that i’m hella obsessed with your FACES) and incorporating covers made it even more personal and so amazing!

so if you ever get the chance to see them live, please consider it!

music, links and one of their videos are down below

ps: i apologize for the bad picture quality, i took them on my phone

pps: two of the pictures are not mine, soph took them s/o to her

http://thisislany.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisislany/

https://www.facebook.com/thisislany

https://twitter.com/thisislany

 

interrail insights pt. 1 – packing

interrail, the the cheap and easy way of traveling all over europe and making your wish of traveling a little bit more reachable. for young and old and the people with much or little time, it is a perfect way of reasonably running away from the “real world” for a little bit.
and that is what i recently did, very successfully, i might add, with a couple of my friends. we had been planning since approximately november last year and then made the very binding decision of buying our tickets. we choose, from the many options, the ticket that made it possible to travel by train (not all trains are included, but ENOUGH) every day, for a whole month. then we decided to choose august for our project, we being a group of six, including four boys and me and my friend lena. after throwing arguments back and forth, we settled on the colder side of europe, due to some of us not being able to properly function over 30 degrees. scandinavia, the netherlands, the united kingdom and maybe paris if we could fit it in at the end (we did). regarding the sleeping situation, we just decided on two tents, because there is a thing called every mans right, that basically just means you are allowed to sleep in the wild, in most of the countries we were going to visit. then, a couple months later, we were all packed and ready to go, and so i come to my first couple of tips about…

PACKING:
– first of all, you need a good backpack, here i could tell you all about our disasters and how we ended up with two backpacks only being held together by hope and cable ties, but that is not that important, it is best to just go to a store that sells professional camping gear and get some help
– only take what you really really need and DO NOT overpack
– when it comes to clothes, stuff you can wear on multiple occasions is really good, also it’s important that it fits the weather situation you are going to travel into
– regarding underwear for girl, sportsbras and a bikini, is what brought me a long way (literally, many thousand kilometers)
– you will constantly wear your shoes, so pick a comfortable pair of waterproof running or hiking shoes and some flip flops
– a rain jacket is key, if you are going to places like sweden or england
– the next thing to think about is personal issues, do you need any meds, special hygiene articles, sunblock 50, things like that, those are REALLY IMPORTANT
– talking about meds, bring pain killers, something for nausea and some bandages
– you might want to document your trip, so a journal, a camera or things like that are a good thing to bring, also, of course, your phone (bring chargers for all of your electronic devices)
– then some basics – cable ties, safety pins, duct tape and a pocket knife
– pack your TICKET, ID and CREDIT CARD
– and the rest is up to your personal journey