the uc theatre and ivy room presentâAPRIL 29THâNNAMDĂMarcus Drakeâ7pm doors / 8pm show$18 ADV / $20 Day of ShowâIVY ROOM 860 San Pablo Avenue, Albany ⢠21+(rsvp on facebook)NNAMDĂâNNAMDĂ has never been able to stay in one place. The Chicago multi-instrumentalist and songwriter set a blistering pace in 2020 with his critically acclaimed genre-fusing LP Brat, a punk EP Black Plight, and Krazy Karl, a full-length tribute to Looney Tunes composer Carl Stalling. Add in his role as co-owner of label Sooper Records, as well as recent tours with Wilco, Sleater-Kinney, black midi, and Jeff Rosenstock and itâs an overwhelming schedule. However, his latest album, Please Have A Seat (out 10/07/22 via Secretly Canadian / Sooper Records), is the result of a much-needed pause.âI realized I never take time to just sit and take in where Iâm at,â says NNAMDĂ. âItâs just nice to not be on âGo, Go, Go!â mode, and reevaluate where I wanted to go musically.â This period of reflection allowed him to take stock of his life and his relationships. âI wanted to be present,â he says. âEach song came from a moment of clarity.â Please Have A Seat serves as an invitation to listen. Itâs a request to sit down, be present, and take in a moment. With this quiet introspection, NNAMDĂ found inspiration in silence and nuance.While making the record, he decided to stretch the limits of his pop songwriting: every track had to be hummable. Though heâs written earworms throughout his career from playing in bands in Chicagoâs DIY community or releasing goofy raps as Nnamdiâs Sooper Dooper Secret Side Project, here, his shapeshifting hooks are undeniable. Each of the albumâs fourteen songs, which NNAMDĂ wrote, produced, and performed entirely himself, are relentlessly replayable, careening into unexpected and disorienting places. With NNAMDĂâs singular vision, Please Have A Seat is yet another leap from Chicagoâs hardest working musician. By taking a minute to sit down and catch his breath, he reemerged with the most ambitious, accessible, and nuanced work of his career.âNnamdĂŻâs sounds are a testament to the continual melting away of genre distinctions in the current era of (particularly Black) music.â- POP MATTERSâEven if the trappings of fame appeal to him, NnamdĂŻ shows little willingness to fit himself into any recognizable mainstream mold. His music, which he has described as pop, is stubbornly eclectic, bridging genres as diffuse as underground hip-hop, hyper-pop, rock and free-form jazz â sometimes in the space of a single song.â-NEW YORK TIMESOne of the âMost Exciting New Acts In Music Right Now.â-NYLONâ...a broad appetite and staggering musical proficiency.â-THE NEW YORKERNNAMDI is âMind Blowingâ-NPRâCategorically Unclassifiableâ-HYPEBEASTâNnamdiâs a Genius.â-JEFF TWEEDY (WILCO)Marcus DrakeâThe seven-year-long gap between Marcus Drakeâs last album and his new one, Save Point 1, almost plays out like the script for a wistful coming-of-age drama at Cannes Film Festival. In 2017, Drake was coming off a ridiculously fruitful run of songwriting in bands like Evasive Backflip and Anthony Fremontâs Garden Solutionsâhis idiosyncratic side-project with Water From Your Eyesâ Nate Amos, Optionsâ Seth Engel, and NNAMDĂâand releasing records on Grandpa Bay Recordings, the label he operated with Nate Amos. Wringing as much creativity out of his subconsciousness as possible, Drake put out nine records in 2016 alone, including a commissioned video game soundtrack â and thatâs just the music that he made public.Physically overextended and creatively exhausted, Drake watched as key pillars of his life started to crack: he experienced a heart-shattering breakup, his mundane job ate up all his time, and he fell into a deep depression. âI kept staring at the dress shoes that my job made us wear, thinking, âWhat am I doing? Why am I here?ââ he says. After saving up a sizable chunk of money, Drake took it as a sign to embark on a full-fledged solo adventure, the kind of self-discovery road trip that rigid schedules canât afford, and bought a âshitty old pickup truck camperâ to drive across the country.âI decided to travel for a few months and record an album on the road, but I had the most insane writerâs block,â says Drake. âI didnât even know how bad it would feel until I felt it. You canât make anything that you like or even feel good enough to finish it. So I just had a bunch of these weird carcasses growing in my computer, these half-songs, and I didnât know what the fuck they were supposed to be.âOver the next string of months, Drake drove to Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado. When his campervan sank into quicksand in the Mojave Desert and a kind stranger towed the vehicle out, Drake cut his losses and accepted a restaurant job offer from a friend in San Diego, but he numbed his self-disappointment by partying for months on end; everything was a blur. Eventually out of money, Drake trudged back to Chicago and found an underwhelming job that paid well and, most importantly, introduced him to a coworker that changed the direction of his life.âShe was an amazing influence. One day, she told me to go home, put on The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails, and turn it up,â he recounts. âIâm cleaning my apartment listening to it and I just stopped and sat there, like, What the fuck? This was someone pouring their heart out, even the really dark shit, and with a zoned-in, singular vision. Trent Reznor had this moment, this burst, and saw it through â and I took that as a cue.âInspiration pulsed through Drake like it hadnât in years. Free from expectations of the perfect comeback song or his next great masterpiece, he started writing music with no audience in mind â including himself. âI started a new file named âOne day: GO!â and started writing so fast without trying to do anything. âI stopped trying to be a certain type of artist, or the type of artist I thought I wanted to be. I just wrote. It was a stream-of-consciousness exercise that finally freed me. Itâs weird how easily that switch flipped, but it did, and it was beyond exciting.â Drake didnât return to his former self. Instead, he found the clearer, truer version of himself that he initially hoped to discover. And now, he had a pool of songs to help him get back on his feet.Recorded with a cheap interface on his âshitty, run-down laptop that slowly died throughout the entire process of the album,â Drake began compiling ideas that would eventually turn into the 14 songs on Save Point 1. He experimented with new techniques and plug-ins, allowed himself to shred guitar solos with a unique self-taught approach, and even picked up an old violin he had laying around. Guitar, bass, and a few drum parts were recorded live, while Drake turned to his keyboard to design virtual instrumentation for the rest: strings, horns, synth, and the rest of the drums. The resulting material is giddy and dreamy, an Olympic-height diving board from which to dive through indie rock and videogame soundtracks, thrilling math-rock riffs that turn experimental, and synths that glow in rainbow hues. Just turn to the Tera Melos-meets-The Postal Service glitchpop of âHeavenâs in the Rotâ or the slow-motion acoustic glitter that is âDragon It Outâ to hear it in motion. Drake even composed a two-part âHauntedâ suite that funnels his unpredictable experimentation into a darker, weirder direction.In the midst of this, Adult Swim commissioned Drake to compose original music for Thoron the Conqueror, a 2023 short film. Drake ended up penning both the soundtrack and score, expanding upon the visualâs neon-hued tones with music that was at once glittery and rubbery to reflect its enigmatic lead character. âThe process of composing that score helped me get out of the way of my own ego, so to speak, and open my mind to even more possibilities,â he recalls.Inspired to go bigger and bolder when he returned to his Save Point 1 tracks, Drake pushed himself to grow as a singer, too. âI definitely was utilizing a lot of vocal exercises, trying different things out with enunciation and volume, and figuring out how to help my voice sound the best it can,â he says. Itâs most audible on âfallinlove.gottadoitâ when Drake segues from outright yelling to soft, sugary crooning in a way that accents the songâs bold trumpets. The same is true of the auto-tune takes, too, like on the shimmery âParadiseâ where Drake elongates his notes and tries singing with a more delicate delivery.Save Point 1 is also the first record Drake wrote since befriending, and becoming deeply influenced by, David Berman. The late Silver Jews musician was writing his new Purple Mountains album and, after stumbling across Drakeâs videogame soundtrack, emailed Drake in hopes of collaborating. âDavid had just gone through a divorce, and I had gone through my big breakup, so we were both just fucking depressed,â says Drake. âWe would go to bars, hang out, and David would send me poetry. That changed everything for me, because it got me into poetry â including Davidâs. His lyrics blew my mind; I never knew how powerful lyrics could be before I met him, and he completely influenced me to take my time with every single line and push myself to be a better writer.âThat consideration and attention to detail is all over Save Point 1. On âThe Grind,â Drake sings about keeping himself alive with a 9-to-5 job while trying not to lose his creative drive. His production is equally as slick and free-roaming as his Sooper labelmate Sen Morimoto, but Drake distinguishes himself with a snappier tone. Take âDoomsday Serenade,â which speeds up drumânâbass with jazzy guitar riffs in a manner more akin to video game soundtracks than the indie rock gloss of his peers. Even âTrain Track Pillowcaseâ finds a pocket of hope amidst its worried lyrics. âI wanted there to be some levity because itâs true: the darkness can be ridiculous in a way,â says Drake.As its title implies, Save Point 1 isnât just a new beginning, but a reintroduction for Marcus Drake the musician, the producer, and most of all the person. Perhaps the best sign of it all is that heâs releasing the album under his real name. Over the years, he put out various solo records under monikers like Marque Drake and Jamarcus, modifications of his own name â a partial ownership of who he was while slightly distancing himself simultaneously. With Save Point 1, Drake is assured in who he is and the type of music that heâand only heâmakes. âThis feels the most like me album that I've ever done musically,â says Drake. âA big part of these songs, even extending back to the truck camper-era, was to find what music Iâm making that I actually enjoy making and that feels authentically me. Thatâs what this album is: a reconstruction of who I am as a musician. And now, Iâm finally here.â
show less