Cavetown inked a deal with Sire Records and started selling out venues across the U.S. and U.K.
For 23-year-old singer/songwriter Cavetown, making music typically involves excavating and exposing his most deeply hidden thoughts and feelings. “It’s a weird dynamic because a lot of the time I’m taking something that it’s hard for me to admit even to myself, then putting it into a song and sharing it with the entire world,” says the London-based artist otherwise known as Robin Skinner. Since self-releasing his debut single at age 16, the Cambridge-based musician/producer has proven the disarming power of that outpouring, steadily amassing a devoted following and bringing his extraordinarily close-knit live show to venues across the globe. On his new album worm food, Cavetown delivers his most elaborately realized body of work to date, shaping his idiosyncratic storytelling into songs that ultimately give voice to our own most intimate emotions.
The follow-up to his 2021 EP Man’s Best Friend, worm food arrives as Cavetown’s latest full-length since his major-label debut Sleepyhead, a 2020 release that inspired NME to hail him as a “bedroom- pop hero building worldwide community.” As with all his output, Skinner produced the album on his own at his home studio, holing up in his garage and infusing his understated alt-pop with a powerful new vitality. “All these songs were written with the live set in mind, which I hadn’t thought about much before,” notes Skinner, who performs live with a full band. “It was fun to imagine how something might come to life onstage, and to think about how I might interact with the audience at different moments.” But while worm food encompasses a more expansive sound than his past work, each track sustains the raw sincerity that’s earned admiration from the likes of The 1975 and found him collaborating with such acclaimed artists as chloe moriondo and beabadoobee (who recently teamed up with Cavetown for his early-2022 release “Fall In Love With A Girl”).
On the album’s lead single “1994,” Cavetown presents a formidable introduction to worm food sonic landscape, offering up a wistful piece of pop-punk driven by his mercurial guitar work. Graced with an exquisitely tender vocal performance from Skinner, “1994” once again reveals his rare ability to spin his unsparing introspection into impossibly catchy rhyme (from the first verse: “I’m tryna love the person I was when I was born/Hating on a kid doesn’t serve me anymore”). “I think most people forget they’re still the same person as when they were just an innocent child,” says Skinner. “That song is about trying to allow yourself the same compassion and forgiveness you’d have for a little kid if they’d made some kind of mistake, instead of beating yourself up over it.”
One of the more lighthearted moments on worm food, “Frog” emerges as a delightfully warped declaration of affection. “‘Frog’ is about my girlfriend,” says Skinner. “When we first started dating we were both too nervous to say the words ‘boyfriend’ and ‘girlfriend,’ so one day I said to her, ‘Did you know that “BF” and “GF” stand for “boy frog” and “girl frog”?’ That was my silly way of asking her out, and now it’s our nickname for each other.” Laced with his sweetly off-kilter lyrics (“I’m gonna tell you you’re pretty/Till it makes you sick”), “Frog” unfolds in gauzy acoustic-guitar tones, then drifts into a bouncy synth line that Skinner refers to as “the frog solo.” “I had the idea to put this frog-sounding synth in the middle, in the hopes that it’d be fun to get everyone to hop up and down like a frog when we play that one live,” he says.
All throughout worm food Cavetown gracefully amplifies his vast inner monologue, often uncovering entirely unexpected ways of expressing the most familiar of feelings. On “Juno,” for instance, he precisely captures the inertia of depression while sharing a dreamy serenade to his beloved cat. “If I’m having a hard time and struggling to find a reason to get out of bed, there’s always the need to get up and feed Juno her breakfast,” says Skinner. “So no matter what else is going on in my life, shealways gives me that sense of purpose.” Spiked with brooding guitar riffs and loopy synth lines, the slow-building “Worm Food” transforms his existential angst into a strangely exhilarating anthem. “It’s about feeling so small in the context of the world around you, and recognizing that in the end we all end up in the same place,” says Skinner. “It might be a pessimistic way of thinking, but it’s comforting to me in those moments when I’m worrying so much about things that maybe aren’t that important.” Meanwhile, on “Heart Attack,” Cavetown shares an up-close portrait of anxiety and self-doubt, intensifying the track’s unhinged energy with pogo-ready rhythms and a galvanizing guitar solo. “I wrote that after touring in South America, where the crowds were very excited— which was really cool, but also overwhelming,” says Skinner. “‘Heart Attack’ is about feeling pressured to put on a great show while looking after all these kids in a room that felt out of control at times, and questioning my ability to balance all that.”
Although Skinner tends to write in solitude, a number of songs on worm food arose from his collaboration with other musicians. To that end, “Wasabi” features a guest appearance from his mother, a Baroque flute player who lends the achingly bittersweet track a certain enchanted quality. “I wrote ‘Wasabi’ after going to L.A. to visit a girl I had a massive crush on, trying to process the fact that I still had a thing for her even though I’d tried hard to get over it,” says Skinner. On “Laundry Day,” he enlisted a string quartet to magnify the melancholic mood at the heart of the song, a gorgeously sprawling piece penned after a difficult family trip. “That song is about some hard times my family’s gone through, but the chorus came from a fond childhood memory of mine, where my dad would always end up shrinking all his clothes every time he did the laundry,” Skinner reveals. And for “Kill U,” he worked with Pierce the Veil’s Vic Fuentes to sharpen the song’s arrangement of serpentine guitar lines and combustible beats. “‘Kill U’ is about wanting to kill particular parts of yourself, and finding more of those parts as you get older,” he explains.
An innately DIY artist, Skinner first discovered the depths of his imagination as a child, when he’d write and illustrate his own storybooks. After taking up guitar, he began writing and recording in his bedroom in his early teens, then releasing his lo-fi yet emotionally intricate songs on Bandcamp. Not long after the arrival of his 2018 album Lemon Boy, Cavetown inked a deal with Sire Records and started selling out venues across the U.S. and U.K. as well as performing at festivals like Reading & Leeds and Lollapalooza—all while forging such an intensely personal connection with his audience that he’s taken to keeping a cupboard full of letters received from fans. With his past triumphs including producing for artists like Tessa Violet and mxmtoon, Skinner also brings his immense creativity to the visual element of his output, an endeavor that recently found him co-directing the fantastically surreal video for “1994” alongside Lorenzo Diego. “It’s inspired by The Little Prince, which is the story of a kid who lives on a planet by himself and doesn’t want to grow up,” says Skinner. “In the video I’m portraying the Little Prince, but instead of rejecting adulthood I’m getting ready to let go of childhood, and trying to build a rocket to fly away from my planet.”
While worm food in many ways marks a major leap forward for Cavetown, the album took shape from the same instinctive approach he’s embraced since earliest days as a songwriter. “Most of the time I think up lyrics without really trying—they just fall out, and then I realize that they’re expressing something I’d been having a hard time trying to articulate,” says Skinner. “Over the years
I’ve had people tell me that my songs have had the same effect on them, where there’s something going on in their head that they haven’t been able to verbalize but then the song helps them to finally understand it. So even though I write songs for myself, as a way to process the things I’m struggling with, it’s really nice to know that they might end up helping people in some way.”
Amazon Freevee Debuts Official Trailer and Key Art for Post Malone: Runaway, Available to Stream August
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Amazon Freevee announced the August 12 premiere date for Post Malone: Runaway, a one-hour documentary from Emmy award-winning studio Pulse Films, a part of Vice Media Group, showcasing the story of Grammy-nominated, three-times diamond-certified artist Post Malone’s first arena tour. The film, which marks the service’s second Original movie, will feature exclusive backstage access, live performances, and intimate interviews. The official trailer and screeners are available now.
In September 2019, Post Malone’s Runaway Tour marked a pivotal moment in the evolution of his career, where he stepped up and became this generation’s undisputed rock star. Filmed just before COVID-19 grounded the tour—and whole world—to a halt, the film reveals unforgettable backstage access and peels back the curtain on Post Malone’s world and his epic 37-date North American tour. The film takes viewers into the eye of the touring storm, while digging deep into the stories, songs, and characters that made up this now-legendary tour.
From Pulse Films and Federal Films, Post Malone: Runaway was created by BAFTA-nominated Hector Dockrill and written and produced by Sam Bridger and Casey Engelhardt. The film is executive produced by Dre London, Austin Rosen, Bobby Greenleaf, and Marisa Clifford.
“I already knew Post Malone was a force before going on tour. But then, after spending time with him, unfiltered, close, and personal, I very quickly realized he’s unlike anything the world has seen before. He’s a polymath, loyal to his art, a true ‘rock star,’” said director Hector Dockrill. “Being on tour with Post is like every emotion hitting you at once, it’s intense and it’s wild, and our vision was to pull fans into the experience just enough to get a glimpse of this, while leaving the rest to the imagination.”
“Post Malone is a once-in-a-generation artist. A musician who has consistently defied categorization and set his own creative agenda. At Pulse Films, we have always been drawn to creatives that break the mold, and so working with Post, his team, and label to document this legendary tour has been a privilege,” said Sam Bridger, head of music documentaries, Pulse Films.
Lupe Fiasco Wild Acre Live Fort Worth June 10th 2022
Image Captured by yoyo_photography
Lupe has released more than four acclaimed studio albums; his latest being Drogas Wave released fall 2018. His efforts to propagate conscious material helped solidify him as GQ’s Man of the Year in 2006, and garnered recognition as a Henry Crown Fellow. While musical genius and ingenuity are at the forefront of Lupe’s achievements, the artist extends his innovation to projects that aim to foster creative discourse and opportunities in underprivileged and impoverished communities.
Their continued efforts to elevate community engagement can be seen through the myriad of movements they have co-founded and supported. As the co-founder and co-owner of community initiatives such as, We Are M.U.R.A.L, The Neighborhood Start-Up Fund, Society of Spoken Art, and Studio SV, Lupe Fiasco proves that he is more than just a mouthpiece for change, but a committed facilitator of intellectual community discourse and outreach.
We Are M.U.R.A.L (Magnifying Urban Realities & Affecting Lives) provides nurturing meals and winter clothing to inner-city youth, while fostering artistic and academic excellence in their respective neighborhoods. The foundation soon became the catalyst for The Neighborhood Start-up Fund, which encourages disenfranchised youth in developing entrepreneurial skills to establish businesses in underserved communities. Furthering his efforts in community engagement and mentorship, Lupe co-founded the Society of Spoken Art, which unites aspiring lyricists with established artists, who act as mentors to inspire the mastery of linguistics and semiotics. His latest effort – Studio SV – marks Lupe’s global expansion through the venture company in Hong Kong that will develop, produce and finance innovative content. In addition to their various community efforts, the artist and humanitarian, also sits on the advisory board for Zero Mass Water; a renewable, solar-powered initiative that seeks to democratize water.
His conscious efforts to propagate social and artistic change has Lupe Fiasco’s desire to promote generational wealth and awareness continues to inspire his musical and community efforts; serving as a distinguished example in giving back and paying it forward!
Behind The Dialogue’ with SIR QUAN Review by Heavy Rotation Magazine
HRM: Charles, that is birth name, yes?
Sir Quan: Yea.
HRM: Your know by a couple of different names I see.
Sir Quan: Yea, kinda… like an aka
HRM: What’s the story behind the name?
Sir Quan: The name came after a conversation with buddies. We were discussing that show called Quantum Leap from back in the day and how the guy would jump to different places in time. I was like man that’s me! Then from that day my homeboys was calling me Sir Quan.
HRM: What about Charlie Ross?
Sir Quan: I’m a Gemini, I wear many faces. A buddy started calling me Charlie Ross, but basically I was reinventing myself. Shawna: Your not only an artist, you’re also the CEO of your own music label Python Music Group. Why Python?
Sir Quan: oh yeah’ the same buddies.
HRM: So you guys are pretty close?
Sir Quan: Yea, we use to have a band. Called Killa Crew. We had a album with Show Boy, but that didn’t work out so we were lead to get to Ghetto Throne. That’s where we met Zero and them guys.
HRM: That album was with Python?
Sir Quan: Naw, well see, I started my first label back in 2011. Certified Music Group. We opened up for Rick Ross.
HRM: Did you have Artist under this label?
Sir Quan: We had a lot! But, it was a bad deal. Then one of my buddies ended up passing away during that time too. It was rough.
HRM: What happened after that? 
Sir Quan: I stepped away for a while. Then In 2014 I released a mixed tape called “Dayz of Thunda.”
HRM: Thunder?
Sir Quan: (laughing) Naw, Thun-Da. I like to spell everything ghetto. Shortly after that I recorded my first Studio Album “The Topic of Discussion”
HRM: You definitely have a knack picking interesting names and titles. What was the inspiration for The Topic of Discussion?
Sir Quan: People kept asking, what’s next. So, I was like when this album drop I’ll be the top of discussion. (laughing l) So how about that! That next year, I was the first artist to perform at the Go DJ Awards. Then I started Nemesis Official.
HRM: Wow! What an accomplishment. So by 2015 you performed on stage at a coveted awards show. Who else have you worked with?
Sir Quan: I like to work with other we’re artist. Even when I was a kid I never use to like to play by myself. I’ve worked with
Zero and all them guys. I know Paul Wall from back in the day before people even knew him by Paul Wall. I haven’t had a chance to see him in a while because I been hiding under a rock trying to produce this album “Man On A Mission”
I been working so hard, that I got two albums out of this one and I already got a 3rd one completed!
HRM: That crazy! You just been grinding huh?
Sir Quan: Yea, we have so many songs, but everything has to be legitimate. The legacy stuff gotta get done.
HRM: That’s whats up! I feel like I know the answer to this one, but why did you name the new album man on a mission?
Sir Quan: I think of a lot of catchy things. A lot of people like to talk. I don’t want come off like a ass hole, but a lot of people have jobs they don’t want. I do what I do, because I love it!
The labels I was with before, I was the artist, so I didn’t put one red cent into it, but this label is mine, so I’m putting in as much as I can.
Like, If I knew about getting into a Heavy Rotation Magazine I would have been following y’all and if I had know sooner I would have been doing it!
HRM: So do you write and produce your?
Sir Quan: Well I know how to make beats, produce and all of that, but tight now I chose to wear the CEO and artist hat.
HRM: You had a. Lot of change over the years, what’s given you the motivation to keep going?
Sir Quan: Everybody around me. With that being said, I just have the drive in my blood. I love being on stage and performing it’s like a rush! You can’t lose if the people are rocking with you.
Like I’m got instance, when I was working for Red Bull and I told them I could Rap, every morning when I came to work they was playing my music.
One of my fans told me once. “When I want yo hear something real I listen to your music. Your music help me get through a hard time.”
HRM: Oh that’s good!
Sir Quan: Right! See I don’t want to rap about being a doe boy, I want to get doe.
HRM: What do you think the industry needs, what is it missing?
Sir Quan: The nostalgia of Tupac and biggie.
HRM: What are contributing/adding to hip hop and rap?
Sir Quan: The goofy shit!
HRM: Like Luda and E-40?
Sir Quan: Yea exactly!
HRM: What’s your take on social media and it how influences the industry?
Sir Quan: I understand it. Nobody’s trying to see somebody who don’t be listening to the artist. To me I think the labels make you have it for clout.
HRM: How is your social media following?
Sir Quan: Fans tap in when I actually put in the work on social media. I got 112k streams for my previous album and now, I’m working on “Man On a Mission”
HRM: Final thoughts?
Sir Quan: When the world hears “Man On a Mission” they’ll see I hold myself to a higher caliber.
BUN B ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF TRILL BURGERS WITH PARTNERS ANDY NGUYEN, PATSY AND BENSON VIVARES
HOUSTON (July 23, 2021) – Trill Burgers, a new smashburger concept from Bun B (Bernard Freeman/UGK), Andy Nguyen (Afters Ice Cream, Dough and Arrow) and siblings Patsy and Benson Vivares (Sticky’s Chicken), is launching in Houston. The concept will feature a simple menu of thin, crispy-edged smashburgers, a concept that has been trending in California but has yet to hit the mainstream in Houston. Trill Burgers will host its first pop up at Sticky’s Chicken (2311 Edwards St.) in August, with a string of pop-ups planned before the restaurant finds its first brick-and-mortar space.
This is Bun B’s first restaurant venture, and it pairs him with a West Coast foodie heavyweight in Nguyen — the “mash-up king in the food industry” (Food Network) who has developed 10 successful restaurant concepts in California.
“For years I’ve been fascinated with the culinary scene, trying to find the best entry point for me,” Bun B said on Instagram. “Today I can say I’ve found it. Join me in welcoming @trillburgers to the world! Follow us for more info on our next pop ups and watch as we take you on the burger ride of your life! Brick and mortar coming soon!
Nguyen is a partner in Sticky’s Chicken, a popular Houston food truck that opened a brick-and-mortar location in 2019. Bun B is a longtime supporter of Sticky’s, whose fans also include NFL star DeAndre Hopkins, NBA champion PJ Tucker and model/actress Karreuche Tran. The Vivares siblings will lead culinary operations for Trill Burgers.
“Coming out of the pandemic, we were brainstorming ghost kitchen and pop-up ideas with Andy, and he kept coming back to the concept of smashed burgers,” Patsy Vivares said. “Through our publicist and friend Nick Scurfield, we set up a meeting with Bun, and we all decided to partner together on this venture. I can’t believe it’s really happening!”
About Trill Burgers
Trill Burgers is a smashburger concept launched in July 2021 by partners Bun B, Andy Nguyen and siblings Patsy and Benson Vivares. Trill Burgers will launch with pop ups at Sticky’s Chicken (2311 Edwards St.) and will be coming to Houston soon as a brick and mortar restaurant. For more information, visit www.trillburgers.com or @trillburgers.