In a recent interview DJ Shadow talked about the downsides of creating music in the internet age, making a lot of sense doing so. The Stepkids, in an interview on Passion of the Weiss, also make sense while taking a view that is virtually its polar opposite.
While a lot of other people are bitching about the industry and how nobody sells any records anymore and all the labels are going downhill, to us it’s a hopeful and liberating time to know that our music is able to reach so many more people. We’re skipping over that middleman between our creativity and the public, so it is a very liberating feeling.
You might think to yourself “Stepwhowhatnows? The guy who’s been a recording artist for years and created a genre-defining debut album may know a bit more about the biz” but these dudes know their stuff pretty well too. Keyboardist Dan Edinberg. guitarist Jeff Gitelman and drummer Tim Walsh have actually been part of the touring bands of Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, and 50 Cent, so they’re not exactly unfamiliar with the music biz either. Which doesn’t invalidate Shadow’s comments in any way, it just goes to show there are various views on the matter and we live in complex but interesting times for both musicians and consumers.
The Stepkids debut album is out now on Stones Throw, for those of interested in finding out what a self-described “fusion of punk and jazz, West African and 1960s folk, neo and classic soul, classic funk and 20th century classical” sounds like.
