BeatRoute Magazine B.C. print e-edition - November 2016

aUToGRaF
pop art for the rest of us
PRACHI KAMBLE
The artwork for Autograf’s latest single
“Future Sauce” features three Sriracha
bottles in graphic pink, yellow, and
blue—a clever spin on Andy Warhol’s
iconic Campbell Soup masterpiece. The
vibrant image accurately sums up what
this hot new electronic band is all about.
“We came up with the art design first
and the song came afterwards,” explains
Mikul Wing, one third of the ebullient
Chicago act. “There are always two
aspects to everything we do: musical
and visual. The two inspire each other in
both directions.”
Autograf is made up of Mikul
Wing, Jake Carpenter, and Louis Kha,
electronic music lovers with strong
visual arts backgrounds. Autograf’s
signature low key, house sound woke
the electronic community up with a
soothingly catchy anthem about destressing
called “Don’t Worry.” Since
the track’s success, Autograf has gone
on to remix tracks from big acts like
Odesza, Bastille, Lorde, and Griz. The
band amassed a staggering following
on Soundcloud just over the course of
a year before getting signed to a major
record label. “Ten years ago things were
controlled by record labels. Now you
can build organic followings and foster
creativity online,” notes Wing. “Music
isn’t rooted physically anymore.”
Wing and Kha met at visual arts
school. They discovered Carpenter’s
ambitious metal, robot sculpture
work after graduating, when Wing
was throwing massive art parties in
his Chicago gallery and learning from
the city’s best DJs. Being art kids, it
was clear that the trio was going to
make something unconventional. The
guys were being exposed to break
beats, a thriving local house music
scene, and the international electronic
music scene. “We like to say we’re live
electronica because of the direction
our live shows have taken,” says Wing.
“We try to create organic sounds. We’re
organic and electronic!” At their shows
you see anything and everything on
stage, including a few drum sets, bass
guitars, electric guitars, keyboards,
PHOTO BY MICHAEL VERA CRUZ
djembe, mixers, and a tonne of live
instrumentation.
There is a striking DIY element
to Autograf’s work as well. Putting
their own handiwork into making
their instruments, merch, and stage
ornaments, is all intentional. “When
we started Autograf, dance music was
all build-ups to epic tracks. The culture
around dance music was getting lost.
It was all about how hard you can rage
out. Integrating art and a DIY element
into music helped us connect and bring
culture into the music.” The band relishes
the control they get to exercise on their
music and image. “We bring in people
who are not big corporations to help us
do everything. We’re very aware of who
we are and how we want to be perceived.”
For the release of “Don’t Worry”,
Autograf famously stationed art
installations ranging in size from 4x4
feet up to 8x12 feet around Chicago,
along with murals of ice creams and
“Don’t Worry” signs on prominent
city walls. For a factory party that the
band threw to recreate Andy Warhol’s
original badass soiree, 8x5x5 foot giant
lido
turning existential dissatisfaction into relentless results
Chicago producers Autograf invigorate electronica with colourful visual art.
Warhol soup cans weighing 600 pounds
were created, as well as a ten-foot tall
smoking cigarette. Their live shows
are similarly 360 degree, immersive
experiences. On stage, their hand-made
sculptures are strung with lights the trio
lovingly picked out at Home Depot, and
which they also control live on stage.
Autograf’s aesthetic is influenced
by pop art. “We want our art to be
accessible to everybody. Art should not
be restricted to galleries,” says Wing.
Autograf want to inspire their audiences
to chase their dreams and follow their
passions by example. “We want to tell
our listeners to not hold back. Go out
and make art!”
Autograf performs at Imperial on
November 11.
Electronic music producer Lido is truly the personification of his music.
VANESSA TAM
With zero ego behind his words, Peder
Losnegård states matter of factly that, “I
am music.” Starting his career producing
music under the moniker Lido just a
few short years ago, Losnegård goes on
to explain what he meant, in that he’s the
physical manifestation of his sound. “People
are always like, ‘Oh yeah I love music too,’
and, ‘Music means a lot to me too,’ [but] I’m
like no. I’m only good if my music is good, so
I really am music.”
The background of our phone
conversation was washed with the hustle
and bustle of a standard afternoon in
New York City where the young artist is
currently stationed. “I’m trying to learn how
to sing, so I’ve been doing vocal lessons,”
Losnegård mentions casually. While the
multi-instrumentalist has been singing on
his own tracks for many years now, he’s only
just now taking singing lessons to see if it’ll
make a difference in his work. “I’ll always be
a drummer and a pianist first and foremost,
but now I’m sort of learning that my voice is
an instrument too [and] that I should learn
how to use [it],” he says.
Blending the melodic elements of
R&B, hip hop, and live instrumentals into
his predominantly electronic compositions,
Losnegård has succeeded in creating his own
sound which first started gaining popularity
during the “golden era” of Soundcloud before
major label takedowns started happening.
“I felt like everyone was just ready for me,”
he explains. “It’s just lining up exactly the
way I wanted it to be and it was completely
random. I was bored and I was fed up and
was like, you know what? I’m going to make
some really weird stuff that probably only I
will like [and put it online]. Turns out, a lot
of people liked it and it completely changed
the course of my life.”
Growing up in a small town on the edge
of Norway, the level of success Losnegård
has already experienced almost feels surreal
at times. “The fact that I was listening to
Big Timers and Snoop Dogg and Nas when
I was kid was all because of the internet,”
he says. “But it’s almost redundant to give
credit to the internet at this point because
everything is on the internet. So it’s definitely
like I owe [all my success] to people, and to the
world, and to music, but I came in at a time
where the best way of finding those things was
on the internet.”
When it comes to collaborations,
it quickly becomes a family affair for
Losnegård who’s known to become very
close with the people he works with.
“If someone helps me make something
beautiful, or helps me become a part of
something that is important to me as
music, then it’s very natural for us to
become very close as human beings too
because my connection [to music] is so
close to me as a person,” he mentions.
Some of his closest friends and
collaborators are artists like Santell,
Heavy Mellow, and Chance the Rapper.
“I’m very fortunate to work with Chance
the Rapper who is on a musical level, my
brother,” he says fondly of the rapper.
“Because I grew up on gospel and soul music
and so did he. He was the first rapper that
I really heard anywhere that was interested
in using gospel and church references in his
music. The first time I heard his music I was
like fuck, I’ve been waiting for this dude for
ten years! I’ve finally found somebody who
wants to be rapping on the sounds that I’ve
been making for so long.”
With a constantly active mind and a
quick workflow, Losnegård always seems
to be working on something new and
exciting with little downtime. “When
I’m creating stuff and the second it’s
finished, I never listen to it again. The
second the journey is over, it’s over,” he
states matter of factly. “I can’t imagine
ever being fully satisfied. I really do
think I’m gonna be creating stuff forever
because again, I sort of am what I create.
And I am the happiest when I do, so if I
don’t create anything, I’m kind of scared at
what the fuck I am,” he said, punctuating
his thought with an uneasy laugh.
Lido performs at the Rio Theatre
November 7
November 2016 ELECTRONICS DEPT.
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