Month: September 2022

Following the untimely passing of the esteemed Canadian battle rapper Pat Stay on September 4, Eminem was one of the first rappers to share his condolences via social media. Stay, 36, was stabbed at the Yacht Club Social in Halifax, Nova Scotia and reportedly passed away in the hospital from injuries.

This time around, Detroit rappers Eminem and Royce Da 5’9″ took their appreciation a step further and recorded touching tribute videos for a benefit event in Stay’s honor organized by his family and friends. Fellow Canadian rapper Classified shared the videos on his Instagram. “We all knew Pat was the Best at what he did,” Classified wrote. “But when you hear it from two legends like this, it just makes you even more proud.”

“I just wanna send my condolences out to the Pat Stay family and friends. Bro, I know we never got a chance to meet, but I’ve been a huge fan of yours for years” Eminem proclaimed. The level that you rap to, it’s like the pinnacle of battle rap. It doesn’t get any higher than the level that you rapped at. I just wanna say, we’re gonna miss you bro. Hip Hop is gonna miss you. We lost a legend.”

“I’d just like to take the opportunity to send my deepest condolences to Pat Stay’s family. I don’t even know if I can put into words how great of a man that I felt that he was,”Royce Da 5’9” added. Aside from being an amazing rapper, I had the honor and the privilege to be able to build somewhat of a personal relationship with the man, and that’s pretty rare to be able to do in this business.”

Previously, Royce Da 5’9″ shared a photo of Stay upon his passing captioned, “A GREAT Man…rest peacefully.” Drake, The Alchemist and Immortal Technique also took to their respective platforms to pay homage to the slain MC.

Rest in peace to the Canadian legend Pat Stay.

Since going on a performance hiatus after getting throat surgery, Doja Cat’s main creative outlet has been her Instagram. There, she’s been keeping herself busy posting lighthearted content like trollish thirst traps, her whimsical makeup experiments, and debuting a new haircut that included shaving off her eyebrows. While some fans were concerned about the radical new look, Doja assured them she’s doing just fine and it’s all in good fun.

And speaking of “good fun,” as summer turns to fall, who better to ring in Spooky Season than Doja, whose love of dressing up makes her the perfect candidate to show off some elaborate costumes in time for Halloween? She’s already gotten started, kicking off the first weekend of fall with a “sexy nurse” look that was clearly inspired by the Elvira movie she’s watching in the background of her sultry selfie.

She kept the holiday mood moving with her next two posts, getting a few shots of herself in a bright-orange jack-o’-lantern bikini. “HAPPY WHAT??!?????” she captioned the post, adding a slew of jack-o’-lantern emojis. The look certainly won the approval of fellow swimwear enthusiast Coi Leray, who joked, “I want a pumpkin spice latte,” in the comments.

Doja’s ahead of the pack, but you can be certain that plenty of artists will be joining her in getting into the Halloween season. For now, check out her pumpkin-spiced selfies above.

When asked to describe what home means to him, Joshua Bassett doesn’t pin down a single geographical location. Instead, the 21-year old actor and musician distills the notion down to a single word: peace. “I don’t really know what home is,” he admits over Zoom. “But you just have to find that peace for yourself wherever you go.” It’s a sensibly detached approach for someone like Bassett who constantly finds himself uprooted the moment he’s settled in. Once he’s found a solid friend group in New York, it’s off to LA. But once he’s reacclimated to the city’s flow — finding the perfect coffee shop, or relaxing in his Airbnb — he’s pulled back to Salt Lake City to film High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

This push and pull, and the memories that linger long after he’s hopped on his next flight, rests at the core of Bassett’s latest EP Sad Songs In Hotel Rooms. The 6-track project arrives as a precursor to the singer’s forthcoming debut album, closing an important chapter as a means of moving forward. “It felt like we couldn’t skip steps,” he explained. “We had to put this out as a marker in time for the last couple of years.” Some of the featured songs date back as far as two years ago, while others only recently tumbled out of his mind. There’s “Lifeline,” a moving ballad on which Bassett finds the right words to say to thank his mother for being at his side after a near-fatal, stress-induced health scare in 2021. It’s followed by “All In Due Time,” where he interrogates the idea of non-linear healing. Meanwhile, “LA” and “Used To It” emphasize the importance of setting boundaries in toxic, transactional relationships.

“The more important thing is finding those people who will nurture and protect you and who you can create a community with, instead of needing to fight for yourself or figure it out alone,” he added. Each song on the project surfaced a vastly different story as he looked back on what he considers to be the hardest period of his life, as well as the lessons and people who got him through it. Bassett spoke with Uproxx about Sad Songs In Hotel Rooms ahead of its release, reflecting on shedding what doesn’t serve him at his core and finding peace by getting the hard conversations off his chest in the only way he knows how: through song.

What did you need to get out on Sad Songs In Hotel Rooms that you couldn’t on past releases and needed to before you can make that step towards a full-length debut?

It’s been a tough couple years and I’ve been writing nonstop through them. I felt like while I did put out Crisis / Secret / Set Me Free, that was sort of a statement, a different thing. All the songs are personal to me, but these tell a different story and really expand on the hardest chapter of my life. We’re all excited about the album and there’s so many other songs I’m just dying to get out, it felt like we couldn’t skip steps. We had to put this out as a marker in time for the last couple of years. These songs all sort of rose to the top through the batch and we all felt like this was a great, cohesive little body to put out to give fans something. And also just for me to put out in anticipation for the next step.

“Smoke Slow” and “Lifeline” share a thematic thread about communication — saying things you normally wouldn’t for one reason or another. How has your relationship with songwriting allowed you to embrace emotional vulnerability?

I think ultimately the best songs come when you say the things that you’re afraid to say you know, and I think, well, not what you’re afraid to say, but you don’t know how else to say. “Lifeline,” it’s like how do you thank your mom for being there on your bedside when you’re going through the worst part of your life? Or how do you reflect on a toxic relationship like in “Used To It” in the way that you know… It’s hard for me to express in speaking words, it’s sort of like I have no other option but to let these things out through the music. Each song says the kind of thing that I’m not really able to say otherwise.

Why did “Lifeline” need to have such a simple, black-and-white visual? Especially in comparison to some of your past videos where there’s basically a whole cast set around it, this video in particular is really stripped back and it’s very emotional.

It was pretty clear cut from the get-go — I didn’t want any fluff. I didn’t want it to be overdramatic, I didn’t want it to seem like it was anything but what it was. To me, the song is all about the lyrics and I didn’t want to take away from that. It comes down to that one-on-one relationship. I found myself in the hospital just with my mom on my side, doctors coming in and out, but ultimately it was just me and her. I wanted this video to be a love letter to her [without] any distractions. I don’t want any gimmicks or anything like that. This is what it is. And here I am. This is my story. And this is my love letter to her. So I was like, I’m just gonna sit in front of the camera. I’m not going to look away and I’m just gonna say these words straight to her.

And you’ve co-directed a couple of your music videos now, including this one. How do you think about the link between music and how it’s presented visually?

I feel like every time I write a song that really means anything to me, the visuals kind of happen automatically. I can sort of envision the full thing and so to be able to put the visual to the audio is amazing. I’ve always been into video just as much as I have been into music. I grew up making videos constantly with my sisters and writing little scripts and then filming them and then editing them. So I’ve always sort of had that director’s eye and that passion for that. It’s like the most creatively fulfilling thing in the world to be able to bring together the two worlds of my heart and soul in the music, but then again, to be able to sit behind and get in front of the camera and direct in that way. It’s all the things that I love in one.

On “LA,” you talk about the transactional nature of relationships there — where you have to be cautious about who has genuine intentions and who doesn’t. I’m curious about your experience with setting boundaries and learning which parts of yourself to share with people.

I think it’s interesting because people’s true colors really show when shit hits the fan. And people can say they’re your right or die and you know, shit goes south and you learn real quick who actually is. I started to see, when I was going through tough things, people started to fall away. But then, as I had success in different ways, those people would come back around. It’s such a hard thing to gauge and, again, it’s really a time thing. As time goes on, you start to see who your real friends are. I think a lot of times, we’ll think that people around us are the people that are going to be with us till the end. And as life happens, you quickly learn who’s real and who’s not. It’s hard — impossible, really — to really know who’s there for you, but I think their intentions show when you’re at your lowest point and they’re still by your side.

So, that song came when I was kind of being pushed by a lot of people to produce things for them. It’s almost like I’m this cash cow that people are trying to get something from. And I was so sick and tired of, like you said, everything being transactional and being like, “what can you give me?” instead of “how can we work together and collaborate?” I was just so sick and tired of all that noise and I also had to show up to pretend like I’m okay when I’m not. I think it’s such an important thing, while still being professional — being able to acknowledge when you’re not well and you need to vocalize that. I’ll say to my team, I need a break, I need space, I need time, I need everyone to go away. Being able to say that is huge, but it’s crazy. A lot of times we live in fear of upsetting people or letting people down, but when it comes at the cost of your own well-being, then you’re playing the wrong game.

It’s funny, because everyone talks so openly about mental health and taking care of yourself now, but it doesn’t seem to have been actualized in a meaningful way. It’s like, “Take care of yourself as long as it’s not inconveniencing me or how I make money.”

That’s really what I’m trying to advocate for, being able to show up as you are, not having to pretend to be what you’re not. I think we’re getting there in general, but something else that we don’t talk about enough is just how important community is. For a long time, I have self-isolated and thought I’m better off being alone. And the reality is, sometimes you are. But ultimately, if you’re feeling like you’re better off alone, it’s probably because you don’t have the right people around you. The more important thing is finding those people who will nurture and protect you and who you can create a community with instead of needing to fight for yourself or figure it out alone. That’s a big thing I’ve been learning this year.

I’m still learning how to reach out and ask for help, or talk things through with people because it’s so easy for us to quickly just go in our own bubble. Sometimes you need that, but ultimately, we are all we have, we have to be there for each other in more ways than just verbally. We have to actually show up for each other emotionally and provide a space because this life is hard — why make it any harder on each other? This is becoming a TED talk.

How do you feel like you’ve had to learn how to fight or advocate for yourself as an artist as you’ve more deeply entered the folds of the music industry, and what’s been the guiding message that’s helped you come to a better understanding of how to go about navigating that?

That’s a hard one. I won’t say who it was that told me this, but somebody when I was going through a really tough time said something that somebody said to them: don’t let them tell you who you are. And I think a lot of times, we live in this internet age and we gauge our self-worth based on what other people say. But the irony in that is that everyone else is doing that, too. Being able to hold on to myself and being honest at all costs, at the end of the day, the truth rises to the top. Obviously, there are people who have opinions and people who maybe have suggestions and advice, it’s always good to listen to the people around you. But at the end of the day, like I said, don’t let them tell you who you are. Ultimately, you have to learn that for yourself and trust that if you continue to do that, then that’s the stuff that really goes the distance.

Joshua Bassett is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Rauw Alejandro travels to the future with reggaeton pioneer Baby Rasta in their music video for “Punto 40 Año 2077.” The mind-blowing visual that was released on Saturday (September 25) previews Alejandro’s upcoming album Saturno.

“Punto 40 Año 2077” is Alejandro’s lead single from his Saturno album. He put a rave-ready spin on Baby Rasta and Gringo’s classic “Punto 40,” which helped shape the reggaeton genre. Alejandro revisited the genre’s perreo roots alongside Baby Rasta while putting a grimy electronic twist on the track. The “Año 2077” version shows a harder edge to Alejandro’s artistry while accentuating his alluring charm.

Alejandro wrote on Twitter, “In this song, I was musically inspired by the 90s as a fan of Playe, Baby Rasta, and Gringo, and I also decided to give [‘Punto 40’] another meaning. The .40 can be your aura, your energy, what you project, your success, the baby you have by your side, your group, your art, your talent, your discipline. You kill them with that.”

The “Punto 40 Año 2077” video is next level. Alejandro seemingly pulled inspiration from The Matrix movies as he glides throughout outer space. Baby Rasta also appears in the video as Alejandro’s wing man in their hydraulics-loaded car. What sets Alejandro apart from the other reggaeton artists is his incredible talent as a dancer and he flexes that skill with gravity-defying choreography.

Alejanrdo’s Saturno album is due out in November. He’s tied with his girlfriend Rosalía as the second most-nominated artists at this year’s Latin Grammy Awards with eight nominations each. Bad Bunny leads the 2022 nominees with 10 nominations.

In celebration of four sold-out shows at NYC’s Kings Theater, Pavement has announced a new museum exhibition that will open in the city. From September 29 to October 2nd, Pavements 1933-2022: A Pavement Museum will feature “previously unseen imagery, artwork, and ephemera, commendations and commemorations, alongside rumored relics of the band’s real and imagined history (as well as exclusive merchandise and classic museum souvenirs),” according to a statement.

While it will be available to fans from 12-6 pm at 475 Greenwich Street, Pavement will also be bringing the exhibition globally. Specifically, with additional pop-ups in London and Tokyo. From there, Pavements 1933-2022: A Pavement Museum will become a permanent display in the band’s hometown of Stockton, California.

According to the exhibition’s website, it “completes a circle for one of the most celebrated and deliberated bands in modern music and helps redefine a secret history performed in plain sight.”

In April, Pavement’s debut album, 1992’s Slanted And Enchanted, celebrated its 30th anniversary by repressing the record on limited-edition vinyl. After revealing their reunion, Pavement performed at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival, and are currently continuing their global tour. It was originally announced in 2019 and planned for 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic.

More information about Pavement’s museum exhibition is available here.

Sunday Night Football has been a Carrie Underwood vehicle for the last decade, but she took a backseat to Beck last night (September 25). The highlight of a bumbling contest between the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers was a surprise 30-second spot featuring the eight-time Grammy winner covering Neil Young’s “Old Man” to promote next weekend’s SNF match-up between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The full-length, standalone cover was released as a single today (September 26).

In the black-and-white SNF spot, Beck strums in an empty room while singing the intro (“Old man, look at my life / I’m a lot like you were”) and first verse (“Twenty-four, and there’s so much more”). The lyrics aligned with spliced footage of quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady, who each won his first Super Bowl as a 24-year-old. Mahomes turned 27 on September 17, while Brady is the oldest active NFL player at 45.

The Week 4 clash will be a rematch of 2021’s Super Bowl LV. Brady’s Bucs dominated the Chiefs, 31-9, and Brady claimed his all-time most seventh Super Bowl ring. Mahomes only has one so far from Kansas City’s 2020 Super Bowl LIV victory over San Francisco.

Beck has been at it even longer than Brady, and the indie rock legend is similarly going strong. Over the weekend, Beck joined Damon Albarn and Gorillaz to perform “Possession Island” at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Beck is featured on the closing track of the Gorillaz’s forthcoming album, Cracker Island, due February 24, 2023.

Listen to Beck’s full cover of “Old Man” above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

When Chadwick Boseman passed away in 2020, many fans were shocked and heartbroken, including the cast and crew of Black Panther. The Marvel franchise was gearing up to begin production on the highly-anticipated sequel when it unexpectedly lost its lead.

After various COVID-related delays and controversies, the movie began production last year. When the topic of casting a new lead came up, Marvel president Kevin Feige insisted that they would not recast the title character. Now, Feige has explained his decision.

“It just felt like it was much too soon to recast,” Feige told Empire. “Stan Lee always said that Marvel represents the world outside your window. And we had talked about how, as extraordinary and fantastical as our characters and stories are, there’s a relatable and human element to everything we do. The world is still processing the loss of Chad. And Ryan [Coogler] poured that into the story.”

Instead of re-casting, the crew wanted to figure out how they could honor Boseman while producing the movie. “The conversations were entirely about, yes, ‘What do we do next?’” Feige continued. “And how could the legacy of Chadwick – and what he had done to help Wakanda and the Black Panther become these incredible, aspirational, iconic ideas – continue? That’s what it was all about.”

Earlier this year, co-star Lupita Nyong’o opened up about how making the movie without Boseman was ‘therapeutic’ for the cast. “It was very therapeutic. It restored a sense of hope for me in making it, and I think we’ve expanded the world of Wakanda in ways that will blow people’s minds — not just Wakanda, but the Black Panther world. ”

Black Panther 2 also stars Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman, and Angela Bassett as they fight for Wakanda after the death of King T’Challa. The sequel hits theaters on November 11th.

(Via Empire)

Whether it be trades, free agency or otherwise, the San Antonio Spurs have encountered an exodus of talent over the past few seasons, including the likes of Kawhi Leonard and DeMar DeRozan. Most recently, they traded 26-year-old All-Star Dejounte Murray to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for a package largely centered on future draft capital. As a result, youthful development seems to be the priority entering the 2022-23 campaign, headlined by recent draftees such as Jeremy Sochan, Joshua Primo, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson.

Head coach Gregg Popovich appears starkly aware of the direction of the franchise. He did not mince words at Monday’s Media Day about his team’s title odds.

“I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’ll say it anyway. What the hell,” Popovich said. “Nobody here should go to Vegas with the thought of betting on us to win the championship. And I know somebody will say, ‘Gosh, what a Debbie Downer. There’s a chance, what if they work really hard?’ It’s probably not going to happen. But the point is to develop this group and give them the best possible opportunity to have long NBA careers and enjoy the hell out of it. And whoever comes after me will have an opportunity to take them to the next level.”

Following two decades of sustained postseason success, defined by five championships and a 22-year playoff streak, Popovich and the Spurs have pivoted. It’s been fun to watch a legendary coach like him adapt to different circumstances. He seems as though he’s embracing these new chances in what should be a year where success won’t necessarily start or end in the win-loss column for San Antonio.

A lot of bands might call themselves the “best band in the world,” but Fontaines D.C. is one of the few who can actually claim the title. Hailing from Dublin, the five-piece band bagged a trophy for Best Band In The World at the NME awards this year. But that’s not the only win Fontaines D.C. have had lately.

Their recently released post-punk album Skinty Fia went No. 1 in the UK and Ireland, and they celebrated by performing to a crowd of over 50,000 at Primavera Sound. On top of that, the group’s 2020 sophomore album A Hero’s Death was Grammy-nominated for Best Rock album and earned a nod for Best International Group at the BRITs. But despite their impressive superlative and Fontaines D.C.’s coveted nominations, vocalist Grian Chatten remains humble.

For Chatten, getting the chance to write songs for a living is far more important than any award or accolade he could ever receive. “There’s a fair few jobs that I could be doing that’d I’d be happy with, 9-5’s that I can think of,” he says over the phone just before Fontaines D.C. took the stage at the inaugural Primavera Sound LA. “I’d love to work in a bookshop. I think I’d be basically as happy as I am now as long as I could go home and write for myself.”

Chatten’s in it for the music, and Fontaines D.C.’s critical recognition is just a cherry on top. Well, most of the time it is. Their newfound fame also had a few drawbacks that came with international attention, like when the band found themselves in a highly publicized chart battle with Taylor Swift. A Hero’s Death was racing to No. 1 in the UK at the same time as Taylor Swift’s Folklore was climbing the charts, unintentionally pitting the two artists against each other. “We got death threats and all that kind of stuff,” Chatten recalls, chuckling at the memory of getting on the wrong side of Swift’s, shall we say, emboldened fanbase. “That whole world is just beyond me. I don’t really even try and understand it. One thing I would say is that they’re dedicated fans.”

But now, Fontaines D.C. find themselves, like Swift, embraced by a global fanbase. After being unable to tour much behind their 2020 Grammy-nominated release, the band has just embarked on a months-long global tour. They’ll make stops across the US, Europe, Australia, Japan, and play three sold-out shows in their Dublin hometown. Toasting the band’s massive success and lengthy tour, Chatten sat down with Uproxx to talk Ian Curtis comparisons, future plans, and how performing on stage is as close as he can get to having a “positive” panic attack.

Your last album, A Hero’s Death was nominated for Grammy and for a BRIT award when it was released. What was your reaction to hearing that you were Grammy nominated? Was that something that you ever thought would happen when you first started the band?

I don’t think so. It’s difficult for me to tell — we kind of shrouded ourselves in this blind optimism from the get-go and I don’t know to what extent that was real. I think the whole point of it was to not know how much it was real. We told ourselves at the very beginning that we were great, but we did have extreme self-doubt, like anyone does. My reaction was — I couldn’t believe it. I thought there was a mistake, you know what I mean? And it felt like this weird infiltration. I think a lot of people say that, and it’s probably a little bit self-aggrandizing to say that. It felt like we must have gotten in a back door somewhere.

And can you tell me about how you felt being nominated in the same category as artists like The Strokes?

The Strokes were huge for us as a band whe growing up. They’re kind of a good soundtrack to our friendship as well. I’m glad they won it, to be honest. I’m glad they won it because I think they deserve it, they have deserved one for years and I think it’s mad that they didn’t have one already. And I think that their last album was really, really admirable. There’s a tenacity to it. Genuinely, I really prefer them winning it to us winning it, honestly.

Speaking about your success as well, you were recently named the Best Band in the World by NME. I was wondering if you recall a certain moment — I know you said that you kind of started the band with blind optimism — but do you recall a certain moment where you really felt like you made it as a band?

I used to worry about my inability to feel or dwell on achievements. I used to think that it was a kind of shortcoming on my behalf and it was a signal of my non-presence in the moment. But now, I actually just think that it’s just kind of in my makeup to look ahead. The most important thing for me, the thing that gives me existential value, is songwriting; Songwriting and lyric writing or poetry, finding expression in words and in music. And I mean that sincerely. It takes up so much of my mental space and my heart that I don’t have time or space to look backwards on awards and titles like Best Band In The World and all that. I feel it kind of just induces fear. I don’t really want to feel ever like I’m on top of anything. I’m much more comfortable punching up.

I’m curious to hear too about how your family and your hometown have reacted to your band’s success. I’m sure that they’re pretty proud, right?

Dublin’s a bit scary for me now. I get recognized quite a bit. It can be a bit difficult to go to — a lot of my favorite spots, a lot of my favorite pubs are basically no-go areas for me now because I’ll just end up having a conversation that I’m not invested in for the whole night with someone who is being really nice but is not my friend or family. But Dublin fans are really funny because they stay slagging, they give you a hard time, which is really Irish and really funny. But if it happens a hundred times in one day, it actually can get to you.

So talking a little bit about your tour and your live shows, do you and your band have any pre-show rituals that you do together before you go out on stage?

I think the ritual happens to me, whether I like it or not. It’s in the sort of two hours before a show, I start this slow wave of anxiety and adrenaline. Energy basically comes over me and it’s kind of like the moments before vomiting, it’s like I’m almost retching with anxiety and energy. I think I’m prone to overstimulation. If too many people are moving in a room or people keep walking in and out of a room, I have to run. I get kind of overstimulated. And that’s basically the feeling that I have for an hour before the show. It’s really uncomfortable and I can’t stop moving around and touching things and picking things up and putting them down and jumping up and down.

And I’m not focused. I’ll be talking to people, but it’ll almost be like I’m blacked out. I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m not listening to them. It’s really weird. It’s just excitement, it’s nervous energy and stuff like that. Me and [Conor] Curley have to do a pretty good shot of tequila right before we go on. That’s kind of our thing.

That anxious, nervous energy, do you release it on stage or does it stay with you when you’re on stage?

I release it on stage. Like the gig is the vomit, you know what I mean? I always have a huge sense of relief, euphoria, and endorphins rushing after a show. But during the gig, my body is tense for the whole thing. My toes curl up for the whole gig and I come off stage and I realize because my feet are f*cking killing me. I think it’s almost like a positive version of an anxiety attack. It’s like, I’ve got way too much energy in my body on stage. I really enjoy gigs. Touring is really difficult, and I have a lot of problems with the rest of the mechanics of touring and stuff. But gigs are blessing for me.

You talked a little bit about how being back in Dublin can be kind of weird because you get recognized all the time, but I want to hear about what your hometown shows are like, because I know that the end of this tour has three back-to-back sold-out shows in Dublin. I can imagine that they get pretty crazy, right?

The last couple we’ve done felt like there’s been this pent-up energy. Dublin is in a really kind of strange state in terms of government and cost of living and what it’s like to be a young person there. I think there’s a lot of dissatisfaction amongst young people in Dublin at the moment, for good reason. They know that, we know it, and they know that we know it. And when we play a show in Dublin, there’s this collective expression. I feel like we’re all singing on behalf of each other for a common purpose. And that’s really, really powerful. It’s probably the most communal I’ve ever felt at a gig was our last Dublin show.

Now that you’ve played some shows in the US, is there anything that has surprised you about your American audience?

I’m really surprised about how much they connect with our songs which are based on stories of life in Dublin. To me, there’s a specificity to our lyrics that I didn’t think would translate as well as it has. And that’s been amazing to see. We played a show in Salt Lake City and I really had no idea what to expect from an audience there, with my preconceptions about what people who lived in Salt Lake City were going to be like. But it kicked off. That was amazing.

This is something that came up a lot when I was reading some of your interviews and people just writing about you. Something that I see a lot is people calling you, “This generation’s Ian Curtis,” what do you have to say to that?

Yeah, I’ve been hearing that for f*cking years. I don’t know. I feel like we’ve made so much music that isn’t similar to them at this stage. I don’t look like him, do I? People say that I do, but I don’t agree.

You don’t think he’s your celebrity lookalike?

Not really. Maybe there’s a physical movements similarity and I don’t know, but I think he was a genius. So, I’m pretty cool with that. I’m going to keep doing my own thing though.

Now that you’ve been named The Best Band In The World by NME and you’ve been nominated for Grammy, what’s your next goal for your band?

Honestly, it’s just really… I feel boring sometimes because I feel I keep answering in the same way, but it’s really just about songwriting. It’s so simple. I love songwriting and I’m really just looking forward to doing more songwriting. And that’s such an uninteresting thing to say. One thing I’m really looking forward to is collaboration. I feel strong enough in [Fontaines DC’s] identity as an artist now that I’m really open to collaboration and I’d love to write with someone else’s voice. I think I’m really limited as a vocalist. I think I’d really love to write songs for female voice.

Nice, like a songwriter for a bigger pop star or something?

Yeah, maybe. I’ve got a lot of friends who are in bands who aren’t necessarily bigger or pop stars. There’s a band called Sorry from London. Actually, do you know what? I actually want to go on the record and say I think [Asha Lorenz] is genius. And I’ve never said that word in an interview before about someone alive. I think she is a genius. I’ve heard the record that they’re putting out soon. I’ve heard the whole thing and it’s just jaw-dropping. I’d love to write with her. I think her voice is so cool as well. If she was willing, I’d love to direct that voice for one show.

Catch Fontaines D.C. on tour this fall. Skinty Fia is out now via Partisan. Get it here.

Tucker Carlson picked the wrong tattoos to insult. The Fox News host recently went on a “20-minute long rant” about John Fetterman and his tattoos, which Carlson called a “stupid little fake” costume. Naturally, Pennsylvania’s tough as nails lieutenant governor had a whole lot of words for the right-wing provocateur. In a new op-ed for NBC News, Fetterman revealed the true nature of his tattoos, and if Carlson was capable of shame, he’d be feeling pretty foolish right about now.

“So let’s talk about the tattoos that Carlson seems to be so interested in,” Fetterman writes. “I have nine dates tattooed on my right forearm. Each one is a day on which someone died violently in Braddock, Pennsylvania, while I was mayor. Gun violence and violent crime might be jokes to someone like Carlson, but they are very real to people in towns like Braddock.”

After detailing the tragic deaths memorialized on his arm, Fetterman defended his unorthodox approach to elected office and serving his constituents. Via NBC News:

My decision to mark these deaths with tattoos was inspired in part by their permanence — the fact that these people, their stories and my town will be with me forever. I get that etching art permanently onto your body isn’t how most politicians would express their connection to their communities. But I didn’t care about what anyone else thought. It felt right to me.

Of course, Fetterman also used the tattoo discussion as a chance to highlight the stark contrast between his experience serving the state of Pennsylvania, and his opponent Dr. Oz‘s glaring lack thereof.

“While he was making millions of dollars peddling miracle cures from a TV studio in Manhattan and living in a mansion on a hill in New Jersey, I was rolling up my sleeves and putting in the work to make my community safer,” Fetterman writes. “I’m the only candidate in this race who has fought violent crime and won.”

(Via NBC News)