In 2021, Mikkel Eriksen and Tor. E. Hermansen — the Norwegian record producers better known as Stargate who made a name for themselves with Mis-Teeq’s jam “One Night Stand” — debuted their Los Angeles Academy for Artists & Music Production (LAAMP) in Santa Monica. Like so many other grand ideas conceived that year, LAAMP was […]
Feedback hit the mic as I trailed in front of the speakers for a second, bowing my head and taking a breath before I uttered: “I know what happens when the months get colder.” I have fallen into the crevasse of suicidal ideation a couple of times. Once, with a plan, means, and timeframe, the […]
In February 2010, Patti Smith played a benefit concert for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. While the sold-out show would’ve been a great moment for the organization on its own, it ended up as the beginning of something much bigger. At that show, a man named Dem Hopkins danced the night away before winning […]
I was a pretty lost and reckless high school student back in the day, but I was lucky, too. I’d managed to get into the High School of Music & Art (one of nine specialized high schools in New York City where you have to pass a test to get in). I was a voice […]