It’s difficult at times to drive around Seattle and not recognize the ultramega imprint that Chris Cornell left behind on his hometown. At least it is for me. Even for a city that’s widely known for ruthlessly tearing away and repurposing its own history in the name of “progress” – think bigger, taller, glassier high-rises […]
Leonard Cohen has been a huge inspiration for me as a songwriter. But in a different way than most other artists or bands, which one might otherwise regard as obvious direct musical “influences” on my band Communions. Although our music isn’t rooted in folk—post-punk, Britpop and alt-rock are perhaps our biggest genre influences—the influence of […]
The first time I heard a Leonard Cohen song was through the surrogate voice of a dear friend, Jason P. Grisell, in Venice, CA circa 1991. Sitting on the sidewalk hunched over his beat-up acoustic guitar wearing an army green parka in the middle of a hot summer day, Jason sang an unforgettable version of […]
Editor’s note: Prince died five years ago today, a moment that shook the entire music and cultural world. Dywane Thomas Jr., better known as MonoNeon, worked and performed with Prince in his latter days. Here, he shares some of his memories of what it was like to be with and work with the artist. My time […]
Born in 1970, Phife Dawg grew up Malik Taylor writing poems and rapping around his native Queens, New York neighborhood before forming A Tribe Called Quest in 1985 with childhood friends Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Nicknamed “The Five-Foot Assassin,” or just “The Five-Footer” for his stature, Phife’s persona was both larger than life and […]
When I was growing up, interesting young female protagonists were thin on the ground, especially ones who looked and thought and sounded like me. Enter Scout Finch, disheveled, scrappy and precocious, she leapt off the page and into my heart, compliments of Nelle Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960. Instantly successful, […]
The celebrated Italian intellectual, Umberto Eco, died five years ago today. During his time, he was the preeminent expert in the field of semiotics, the study and interpretation of signs and symbols, lecturing at numerous universities. He was also a prolific writer, penning seven novels, over 40 nonfiction works, and even three children’s books. He […]
Denise Matthews was a model, actress, singer, songwriter, and dancer, and she left a blazing mark on the cultural landscape of the ‘80s. If the name isn’t familiar, it’s because we came to know her as Vanity, so christened by her one-time boyfriend and bandmate, Prince. She started out competing in beauty pageants in her […]
Five Years is our new series that takes a look at significant cultural figures five years after their death. We’re kicking it off with a tribute to Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire by David Gomez, the bassist for the L.A.-based queer-core punk band Longstocking. My sister, Irene, was the oldest of four siblings […]