Category: Podcasts

The U.K producer crafts a mesmerizing blend of soulful R&B with contemporary beat music to create a hazy, yet infectious brand of electronic music. Lapalux’s music strikes both the mind and the body. He’s capable of both slow-brooding, pensive beats and outright bangers.  Throughout the past few years he’s been honing his craft, releasing four EPs since 2008. But his full-length debut on Brainfeeder, Nostalchic, displays a full realization of these aforementioned themes. Heady beats are embellished by smooth vocal samples and shuffling percussion, making for an entrancing listening experience.
Lapalux sat down with me for an interview on the first day of Hopscotch, hours before his stellar set at The Pour House. Lapalux was embarking on his first U.S. tour, so we spoke a bit about the difference between stateside shows and those in other areas of the globe, how his style came about, and some of his major influences when he first began making music.

Pretty much exactly on time, the entire three-piece band consisting of Ryan Clancy, Ryan Spencer, and Adam Pressley walked right up to our 88.1 WKNC table at Wristband City and formerly introduced themselves. Once the interview was on its way, the band seemed to be having a little fun with it while also pointing out that their music is definitely different than most of the indie rock scene today. When asked how they were different, they did not hesitate to explain that it is because of their live foam party shows and mixture of unique sounds and lyrics. The band went on to say that if they could describe their sound as a room, then it would be the live portion of an Applebee’s restaurant; which you can take whichever way you possibly want.

Throughout the whole interview and even through the end of it, I was having a hard time letting the thought out of my mind that this band could be the next big thing; because it is definitely possible. Being a fairly young band and on the rise with extremely infectious music, how can one not think that? I was just glad Jamaican Queens decided to drop by WKNC on their quick and inevitable ride to the top.

Once the phone was answered, Jack’s Australian accent was quick to erase any possibly tension that could have been formed prior to. Being very laid back and respectful to all the questions, Jack was able to make the interview seem like a conversation that I could have had with one of my closest friends.

The question from this interview that stood out the most was the one that we asked most the artists we interviewed at Hopscotch which is “If you could describe your sound as a room, what would that room look like/have in it.” Instead of one of the very obscure rooms that I heard in previous interviews, Jack simply put that his room would be a cathedral. It was in this instance that I gained a whole new respect for Jack and the band as a whole, because they were completely correct in the answer. Not just for its wonderful acoustics, but also religious setting, the room seemed a perfect fit for their echoing and powerful lyrics. Jack was able to represent his band beautifully in the all too short interview that he provided myself and the station with on Friday afternoon. You better bet that I didn’t pass up their set that night either.

Phil Torres, in addition to fronting Baobab, has a MS in neuroscience and spent a year as a visiting graduate student in the philosophy department at Harvard.  He has just published his first book entitled A Crisis of Faith: Atheism, Emerging Technologies and the Future of Humanity.  Whitney Trettien joins Torres on-stage for live shows.  She is a Ph.D. student in English at Duke University.  Despite their busy lives and amazing intellect, they still find time to wow us lesser mortals with their inspiring music.  They are a spectacle to see live as they loop guitars and synths over vocals complete with live drumming.  In addition to the music, Torres also makes some interesting videos to accompany some of his songs.

Baobab can be seen touring at various venues around the Triangle.  With a double album release party coming up on the 22nd with Virgins Family Band at the Local 506, we can look forward to some great things ahead.  This album, aptly titled BAYOHBAHB, will be released by Hand Eye Records. After playing for a year now with these first batch of songs, we can expect Torres’ restless spirit to have somehow found a way to improve upon his already perfected craft of beautiful, percussive acoustics with complementing electronics.  With a project that started for Torres as a retreat from writing his book, we can only hope that Baobab has become as important to Torres as it has to the Triangle music scene.

http://baobabtheband.com/
http://baobabmusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/baobabtheband

Check out the interview and in-studio performance with Phil Torres accompanied by the Virgins Family Band below which also included some exclusive premieres off the upcoming album BAYOHBAHB.