From a rapper’s grandiose penthouse delight to the sleaziest dive bars spinning vinyl, PAPER is giving you a first-hand look into the Big Apple’s most hype-worthy music experiences in Seriously, What Are You Doing?— straight from the music editor’s mouth. Are you or someone you love feeling restless in the city that never sleeps? Here’s what you should be doing (seriously!).
It’s Friday the 13th, and I’m sitting in a dimly lit room next to a good friend, where Hannah Corneau sings a cover of Paramore’s “The Only Exception.” She hits the high note at the bridge; I wipe some moisture off my cheek and shake my head at the pristine quality of her voice. I pick up my dirty gin martini and take a sip, thinking back to the conversation I’d just had with my bestie at the table as we chomped on spicy-ramen K-pop fries, outlining the chaos that had consumed the previous week. As Corneau sings “Tiny Dancer,” my mind goes to a tweet I’d favorited recently: “i looovvveeee having a shitty day in nyc like okaaaayyyy girls hbo.” I admit, though, that being at the foot of the stage as a Broadway star submerges a pop-punk hit in her soulful vocals as I chomp on mini-burgers at a speakeasy in Hell’s Kitchen makes was hard to want to be anywhere else.
So & So’s officially opened during New York Fashion Week, with Noah Cyrus and Darren Criss taking on singing duties in the teeny, red-lit room. The piano bar and supper club tucked away in the Romer Hotel merge that timeless, retro New York City vibe we all live for with a modern, forward-thinking aesthetic. The team behind the new room hopes to create what they describe as “the ambiance of stumbling into a local legend’s living room,” and they pull it off with a line-up of jazz trio, drag performers, local acts, and well-known stars planning to grace its stage.
If you, like me, would like to get New York City-style sentimental without the sounds of “untz untz” distracting you from thoughts and close enough to the stage that the singer may (unfortunately) see you crying, then here’s what you’re gonna do. You’ll go to the Romer Hotel Hell’s Kitchen (a gorgeous boutique spot with a gallery, cafe and rooms that look like they were lifted from a Wes Anderson film). Then you’ll find your way to the actual door to the venue, which is on 52nd Street, hidden around the side of the hotel and covered discreetly from the bustling streets of 8th Ave. nearby. Once you get in, you’ll have a martini (you deserve it!) and maybe an additional prosecco (you’re already here…) and share some small plates (may I suggest the tomato soup and grilled cheese “fondue”) with a friend, or lover (or enemy, choose your adventure) while enjoying live music in a way that only feels possible in the greatest city on earth.
Check out the menu, strong drinks, and schedule of nightly music here. You’ll thank me later!
“Growing up in a Carribean household, there was always music playing,” British-Jamaican musician Lava La Rue responds when asked about their formative musical experiences. “I was just talking to my grandmother; she was talking about members of the family who were part of the rock steady or reggae scene. It’s such a small island that music has become so influential.”
Their London upbringing was a peak into the future. “Growing up around that made me love music,” they tell PAPER. “The culture of it is that you play it really big and loud. It wasn’t a household where you’d turn the music down.” Those early interactions eventually grew into a desire to make their own music. “In West London, there were always bands playing in pubs. You’d go to dinner with your family and there’d be a band doing Oasis covers. It always looked like fun. The idea of being in a band and bringing people joy and the idea of playing a little pub or a bar, that was cool in itself.”
Now those dreams of playing in bars have definitely evolved. In 2023, La Rue played their first ever US show at Coachella. Now, they’re heading out of their first US tour, with a headline date at Music Hall of Williamsburg on October 2, to share their first album STARFACE, live. La Rue’s previous EPs, 2021’s Butter-Fly and 2022’s High-Fidelity, both hinted at what was to come — a debut album built like a cinematic universe, with sonics that reflected the singer’s global sound and singular vision.
“Since I started this project at 16, I knew I didn’t want to release an album that couldn’t come out sounding like I wanted it to sound. Whether it was because I didn’t have access to the right studio or I didn’t know the right producers yet,” they say. “Also, genre-wise I wanted to work on finding my right lane and a sound that feels authentic to me.” Part of finding that lane was leaning into their own voice. “A lot of the women in my family, they sing-sing because we were raised in the Gospel church,” they say. “I was more in the lane of Lily Allen, where I sing in my accent and it feels right for my voice. I needed to find music that felt good with what I could do. The same with my fluency in other instruments and what I liked to play and enjoyed playing. It just took growing.”
STARFACE is not just an album, but an immersive story, one that follows an alien’s arrival on Earth as they take on the human condition with an objective lens. La Rue says they were inspired by the idea of creating a “lesbian Ziggy Stardust.” They sketched out the album like a graphic novel, making each song a chapter in a spiraling sci-fi novel, with sounds that are delightfully fresh while still feeling classic. Tracks like “Push N Shuv” sound timeless, trudging out slowly with shimmery guitar parts, bouncy bass lines and ‘70s backing vocals. La Rue had originally made the track in 2019 but gave it a second life for STARFACE.
“When I first showed it to people, it fell on deaf ears,” they say. “So, I decided to wait and just put it on the album. I remember showing it to people and they were like ‘Wow! This song’s a lead single!’ and I was like, ‘Guys I literally showed you this years ago and nobody said anything!’” they laugh. The song became an anchor for the rest of the album. Another album moment where La Rue could sense the pieces falling into place was “STARFACE’s Descent,” a vibrating, symphonic, other-worldly track that builds walls of sound before a glitchy beat kicks in. It features fellow British artist tendai. “It encapsulated the album sound I wanted to create,” La Rue says of the track. “It felt like a combination of all the things I can do as a musician.”
Since its release in July, La Rue has been “thinking less about [STARFACE] being out in the world,” and “more thinking about how I can put on a really good show for people who haven’t heard it and for people who are going to hear it live on US soil for the first time. I’m playing my first New York City and LA headline shows. I’ve had no brain capacity to think about anything else other than that.”
PAPER <3s NY and PAPER<3s the DJs that keep us moving. That’s why we’re proud to present The Tear, our mix series highlighting the best DJs spinning in the city we call home. In August, we shared our mix with DJ Thank you, who served up a joyful, winking jaunt through a variety of genres and moods.
Today, we’re thrilled to announce our next iteration of The Tear with NYC fav Sekucci. A consummate DJ andproducer, Sekucci has been a city staple since they played their first set at Bossa Nova Civic Club in 2021. They’ve since made a name for themself via both their sets and tracks, which are both equal parts playful and emotive. Tracks like their remix of Tinashe’s “Nasty” are a wink and twirl, and “V Trigger” off The Carry Nation’s Full Tilt Carry – Vol 2 compilation show off Sekucci’s mind for engineering. The track builds and builds just to deconstruct itself into parts.
For their The Tear set, Sekucci approached the task like a conceptual artist, weaving in not just various genres and styles, but ideas and bits of history too. “I want to introduce you to my tapes/ Listen to them like they’re a sick person,” the mix begins, the sound of spliced anonymous voices coming in before a choir enters like a sacred omen. What follows is a moving blend of emotional motion that draws from, as Sekucci tells PAPER, “gqom, gospel hymns, baile funk,” constructed with an eye towards scenes in Portugal and Colombia.
Sekucci’s mix is colored by surprising textures and moves — sirens, bits of dialogue, silences, breaks. While global in vision, the set is, per the prompt, still in “conversation with New York City.” Around minute 20, the sounds of ballroom enter and bring us into an elevated twirl around the world which takes us to a climactic end, a sprint through baile funk, latincore, footwork and then a quiet sea of synths and flutes.
It’s a set that centers catharsis. “Seeing sets that take me to another world from people like Juliana Huxtable, Bobby Beethoven, Sterling Juan Diaz, Lydo, Byrell the Great, The Carry Nation. Those are the sound artists who have been integral to shaping what that cathartic NYC nightlife sound is for me,” says Sekucci. “This mix tells the story of those moments.”
The prompt for the mix was “the past, present and future of NYC nightlife.” What sounds inspired you for this mix?
The sounds I’ve been drawn to have been sounds that shift my body when I listen to it. Sounds that take me out of my comfort zone, but keep me in rhythm. Sounds that areresonants of Africa. Of the drum. Of polyrhythms. A lot of this mix draws from Gqom,gospel hymns, baile funk, heavy percussion and ringing bass from artists like Leonce, BASSBEAR!! and Kassian, and songs of my own which were inspired by all the things mentioned previously. I’ve also been really inspired by what the girls in Colombia and Portugal have been doing for a long time now, so I incorporated those sounds into this mix as well. Something very diasporic in its nature, but still pushing the envelope of what electronic dance music can be.
Where was the first set you played in NYC?
My first set was at Bossa Nova on a Sunday in December. I was on a lineup with x3butterfly and Garçon Paradiso. I was opening. I remember being so nervous and so green and took myself way too seriously. I had messed up a transition and screamed out loud, lmao. I also really loved my outfit for that. I went the comfortable route with my little baby blue juicy couture tracksuit and my white forces. I had these big, studded hoop earrings too — just carrying.
Favorite NYC nightlife memory?
Unter Chernobyl because something really shifted that night. That was my first time ever getting into gabber and my first time ever seeing Vtss and Randomer and I absolutely lived for it. And it was the first time where my community and New York family really congregated and it was like this big light bulb that went off like “Wow, we really all love this shit.” To see how many of us contribute to this very culture now is truly something. Also, the fact that it was never officially called Unter Chernobyl is so funny to me.
Favorite set you’ve ever played?
This is one where I would have to say it’s a tie because they are my favorites for the very same reasons. It would be my basement STUDIO set for Xtra. Services and my MizzSoftee set this past March. I feel both of those sets showed the depth of what drives my sound and the depth of my catalog of music. I had a chip on my shoulder both nights and felt I had some shit to say and I really let it all out on the decks. It was on those nights where I think people really got it, and I began to be looked at beyond the scope of kunty beats and club edits and as a selector with a well-learned and committed catalog of music.
It was also from that moment where I began to unburden myself from trying to deliver the perfect set and instead geared my effort towards telling the most heartfelt story. I’m not an open book. I’m very reserved and private and this is the first time I’m using a medium as a vessel into my life. Every set is a diary entry. If I’m happy you’ll know it. If I’m going through it, you’ll know it. If I came to purge, you’ll feel it through the music. Xtra.Services was the catalyst and nearly a year later, Mizz Softee was a long-term culmination of that.
Biggest nightlife pet peeve?
Nightlife adjacencies and the egos that come with that. I could care less about any of the sceney, cliquey shit that goes on. I’m here for the music.
What makes NYC nightlife unique?
The beauty of NYC nightlife is when I go out to a set and the set provides a cathartic moment for the dancer. Some people have life-altering experiences that change how they hear or interpret music or sound in general; it can unlock things about themselves, it can reaffirm things that are already inseparable, and at its height, it can draw people together. It’s definitely been transformative in that context for me.
Seeing these sets that take me to another world from people like Juliana Huxtable, Bobby Beethoven, Sterling Juan Diaz, Lydo, Byrell the Great, The Carry Nation and I can goon and on and on, but those are some beacons of sound artists who have been integral to shaping what that cathartic NYC nightlife sound is for me. So, this mix tells the story of those moments in nightlife.
Biggest hope for the future of NYC nightlife?
More producers. That’s probably my biggest one is more producers. We have enough DJs. We need more people in the lab helping push the sound so the culture can continue to evolve.
We’re now well into Paris Fashion Week, but still recovering from JordanLuca’s packed London Fashion Week party a few weeks back. The private event, hosted at One Hundred Shoreditch, celebrated the brand’s London heritage alongside hosts Jodie Harsh and Brooke Candy, who DJ’d throughout the night. Guests in attendance included Bimini, Tayce, Krystal Versace, Lynks and Yves Tumor.
Below, Candy brings us inside the party through her personal photo diary, with anecdotes from the Freaky Princess herself and one-half of Jordan Luca, Jordan Bowen.
Jordan Bowen:
On the Best Party Memory:
Watching my mum dancing to Brooke’s set was quite bonkers. She follows me everywhere and tells everyone how proud she is of me, and she’s the centerpiece of every dance floor.
On His Look for the Night:
Cropped JordanLuca t-shirt, leather pants and a belt from Autumn/Winter ’23 made of cock rings.
On London Fashion:
London is about constant reinvention, and what makes it truly unique is it’s a place where unapologetic self-expression can be pushed to the limits of taste.
Brooke Candy:
On the Best Party Memory:
I loved running into Tayce and Bimini, and singing along to Hole “Celebrity Skin.”
On Her Look for the Night:
My outfit was like a fantasy alien angel meets Pamela Anderson.
On London Fashion:
London’s fashion scene to me is the best in the world because the garments and designers are beautiful, unique and they don’t take themselves too seriously.
On Noga Erez’s new track, “PC People,” featured artist Rousso yells, “I’m pissing on your PC/ This isn’t fucking Disney!” over a thumping, invigorating beat. For the Israeli artist, it’s a bold statement that she needed to put out into the world.
“I’ve always looked at myself as part of the ‘liberal, woke’ camp,” she tells PAPER. “But something started to feel uncomfortable when I experienced what it is to be on the other side of this war for justice.” After being ‘canceled’ in her home country for a statement that was taken out of context, Erez battled with these emotions, but instead of expressing her thoughts on the internet, she decided to put it all into her work.
In comes THE VANDALIST, Erez’s third album and first on a major label. Always the boundary pusher, she tackles themes of society in unrest and anger toward certain aspects of the human condition but does so through her signature whimsical and unforgiving sonic lens. Erez has never been one to be put in a box musically, and on this record that comes through more than ever with its unique blend of Alt-Pop, Hip-Hop, and electronic.
The key here is her vocal inflection and lyrics, though. It doesn’t take much to notice that Erez is an artist who has something to say, and she does so in a way that makes you want to bump her voice loudly in your car speeding down the highway.
We sat down with the artist to discuss her point-of-view, being canceled, and evolution as an artist in the modern age.
Yeah
Tell me about the “GODMOTHER” video. What was the vision behind it?
“GODMOTHER” is a classic last minute video, meaning, we’ve done it after we spent all our video budget. These videos tend to be simple and that’s what I love about them. Eden [Ben Zaken] and I come from very different musical and cultural backgrounds. I thought that putting us together in the same frame to show our dynamic would make for an interesting visual. We’ve added some references to mob movies and there you go.
You’ve said that “Vandalist” was a sort of middle finger to the world. What state were you in when you wrote it, and are those emotions still around?
I mean, not to the entire world, but to the world when it tends to act in a way that I find hypocritical, unfair and just shitty. I love the world, and I love this life that I get to live. And in many ways I’ve made peace with the things I can’t control. But yeah, that feeling still comes crawling back when reality is truly fucked up around me. I’ve seen shit go down in my life, in the past year more than I’ve ever imagined to witness. One important defense mechanism is that fuck you mode. If those are the rules the world is playing by right now, I’m not part of the game.
Was there a specific situation that inspired “PC People”? And do you think the world at large is gradually moving away from “PC culture”?
I’ve always looked at myself as part of the “liberal” “woke” camp. But something started to feel uncomfortable when I experienced what it is to be on the other side of this war for justice. I was canceled once in my home country, for something I said that was taken out of context, and many times things that people think I said or meant are taken way out of context and blown out of proportion. What started bothering me is that I’ve noticed that sometimes the only way for some people to show their values and ideas, is to do so by attacking someone else’s alleged opinions.
I believe there is no healthy society without an authentic exchange of thoughts and ideas. One that allows that beautiful diversity to take place. Just mentioning the obvious here, we should all be careful, thoughtful and sensitive when expressing our thoughts. But sometimes I think that PC culture has taken away that exact ability from us to be nuanced. To actually have a conversation and opportunity lay down our inner world without being immediately judged and scared to lose our livelihood or security.
A lot of the tracks on this album have a strong point of view on society and its problems. Have you always leaned toward critiquing humans/the world in your work? Where do you think this comes from?
I mean, no. I don’t live my life critiquing other humans. It’s not my thing. But the music that excites me is many times one that tackles those issues. If I have something to say, I’d really rather do it there than on my socials. I’d rather it be art, personal. And not a take away message that I share randomly.
How does THE VANDALIST mark a departure or evolution from your last album?
I think [producer Ori Rousso] and I both allowed ourselves a little more freedom here to explore things both lyrically and sonically. A little less seriousness involved. We’ve learned that the things we say in a song don’t have to be what we are about or what we mean all the time. It can just be a moment in time and we can feel a different way the next day, but still have a song we like.
What artists directly inspired you growing up, and who are you currently really into?
Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Frank Siantra and many many more. The last track of THE VANDALIST shows a full list of the people who inspire and inspired me in all fields: music, film, sports, comedy. Check it out!
Anything else you want to say to PAPER readers and your fans across the world?
I wanna wish every single one of you the best life, full of love, kindness, joy and compassion.
On her track “Wanted to go home,” Ruby Bell sings, “I wanted to go home so bad, but I stayed for you.” Her vocal inflection is simplistic and direct, signaling a feeling we’ve all felt before: getting to the club and immediately wanting to leave to sit on the couch and watch TV.
This theme prevails on Bell’s debut EP Greatest Hits. Tracks like “We were at the club” and “Internet bf” allude to this IRL vs. URL dichotomy that plagues every Gen Z kid trying to find connection in the modern age. But sometimes this method works — that’s how Bell met Happy Hardcore producers Replicator and Gupi, who eventually introduced her to Dylan Brady of 100 gecs. The two hit it off and started working on a project together, and Bell became the second signee to Brady’s music label Dog Show Records.
There were late nights of writing and producing, but eventually magic was created, and the New York-based, Boston-bred’s debut EP was created. The music itself fits very well within the confines of the sonic universe Brady and 100 gecs have cultivated over the past half decade or so, and, hopefully, is the first of many projects to come.
Below, Brady and Bell connect via iMessage to talk about the making of the EP and working together.
Dylan Brady: Hello Ruby
Ruby Bell: Hello Dylan
Dylan: how are you doing today?
Ruby: I’m doing pretty good. Sitting here with my cat rn. How are you?
Dylan: Pretty good too. I can only see one of my cats tho.
Ruby: Damn, my cat just got up. 😂
Dylan: Goodbye ❤️. What are you doing today?
Ruby: My friend Spencer is coming up. We’re gonna go to Pirate to practice for a show we’re playing in Boston tmrw. Hbu?
Dylan: Wow nice. I am going to the studio to work on some music. Do you like playing shows?
Ruby: Nioce. I do like playing shows. I wanna do it more. I wanna start playing shows in NYC lol, I’m always playing in Boston lol.
Dylan: Luck O The Irish
Ruby: So they say
Dylan: Remember when we were making Ruby Bell’s Greatest Hits.
Ruby: How could I forget. The greatest.
Dylan: What was your favorite part
Ruby: Bruce Springsteen “I’m on Fire” before the Session. Get the gears turning. No my favorite part was definitely just pluging the mic in and riffing. Those early stages.
Dylan: The Boss. You came up with a lot of those melodies on the first or second pass I feel like. Very quick. Did anything suprise you working on your first project.
Ruby: I guess I found it surprising how quickly and naturally the process felt. Finding my sound. Trying new things. 🎶
Dylan: Do you like to do anything specific to get yourself into music mode?
Ruby: LMAO I usually dance in my bedroom with my headphones on or go for a walk listening to whatever has me inspired in that moment 20 times in a row.
Dylan: I love listening to a song 20 times in a row. Is any song doing that for you right now?
Ruby: “Diet Pepsi” by Addison Rae and “11th Dimension” by Julian Casablancas lol. Random. Saw him outside of this show last weekend. Said hi… I had to. He was nice.
Dylan: “Diet Pepsi” is great I got to check out “11th Dimension.” I love his song with Daft Punk. You guys should do a song togher.
Ruby: Sameeee. Oh I wish. That would be really awesome.
Dylan: Is there anyone you’re dying to collaborate with?
Dylan: Garden of Delete almost turns 10 .. You guys would make beautiful music. What are you most excited for about releasing Ruby Bell’s Greatest Hits?
Ruby: I’m excited to finally share what I’ve been working on. I think it’s a good introduction. I like how a lot of these songs are from different moments in my life. We didn’t just bang all of them out in one session, it took a lot of time
Dylan: The ever Expanding world of the RBCU
Ruby: How are you feeling about the project?
Dylan: i am really excited too. we spent a lot of time on these songs. they all feel really good and unique. i am excited for you to begin to tell your story through a body of work
Ruby: Dog show 4ever 🎶
Dylan: Was any part hard for you?
Ruby: I think waiting was kind of difficult. Only because sometimes I would find myself falling in and out of love with certain songs at different points. But in a way that’s why I love this project because even after all this time the tracks hold up
Dylan: It has been a long road. The light is beginning to shine through. Do you have any favorite moments on the project?
Ruby: One of my favorite memories is that first session, in your old studio. When we first started “Love Song” and “Wanted To Go Home.” We went kinda crazy that day. The sister tracks. My two favs off the EP too.
Dylan: Wow true I forgot those were ont he same day. Your friend was there too. That old studio was so small.
Ruby: Yesss. Meilia.
Dylan: TBH it is better than the bathroom at the new studio. 🤣
Ruby: Oh for sure. 😭
Dylan: “Wanted To Go Home” happened so fast I love that song. Probably my favorite on the project.ee
Ruby: The byotp … bring your own toilet paper.
Dylan: Not ideal.
Ruby: Do you have any favorite moments?
Dylan: Probably doing “Wanted To Go Home” as well, very fast and easy. But also making a bunch of version of “1000 Years” was fun too. Trying to find the right direction. 1000 versions of “ 1000 years.”
Ruby: Yea it was fun to hear all of your different ideas for that track. That could’ve went in so many different directions. They have no idea.
Dylan: There is a lot of options in music. Are you going to do anything to celebrate the release.
Ruby: I think that’s what makes us a good team. I like and admire how down you are to try something fresh and new. I’m throwing a release part on the 12th, 7-10pm at Le Père. Love how the EP comes out on Friday the 13th. I think that’s so funny.
Dylan: Wowww
Ruby: It’s like 🤣🤣
Dylan: Are you gonna DJ. Spookly release day.
Ruby: I’m gonna perform I think. I probably spin a bit too. Gupi and Replicator are going to DJ. Some people too. The whole EP squad.
Dylan: Wow that will be cathartic. Music makes the people comme together.
It’s impossible to be across all the new music out each Friday. Luckily, PAPER is here to help you out: each week, we round up 10 of our favorite new songs from artists — emerging and established — to soundtrack your life. From the surreal to the sublime, these songs cover every corner of the music world. The only criteria: they all have to absolutely rip.
Subscribe to our Sound Off Spotify playlist here and check out this week’s tracks, below.
Slayyyter – “No Comma”
To celebrate the five-year anniversary of her debut mixtape, Slayyyter has dropped “No Comma” – an all-out rager that matches the spirit of the original perfectly.
Caroline Kingsbury – “Take My Phone Away”
Melodramatic synth-pop from Caroline Kingsbury, a Los Angeles-based, Florida-raised artist with a knack for rhythmic, surging melodies.
Rahim C Redcar – “DEEP HOLES”
First leaked earlier this month, “Deep Holes” is a piece of pulsating Italo disco that’s shimmery and seductive.
Yola – “Future Enemies”
Yola’s first song in three years is “Future Enemies,” a stylistic change of pace that sees the country singer dive into electro-pop.
COUCOU CHLOE – “GUESS”
A song seemingly only composed of sub-bass and gossip, “Guess” is bitchy and exhilarating in equal measure.
Jamie xx, Romy, Oliver Sim, The xx – “Waited All Night”
This song has been firmly stuck in my head since I first heard it many months ago – first-time listeners beware, it’s a military-grade earworm.
Bon Iver – “S P E Y S I D E”
Bon Iver returns to his sparse folk roots on the delicate, gorgeous “S P E Y S I D E.”
Ava Max – “Spot a Fake”
Perfectly polished eurotrash from Ava Max, returning to claim her throne as the queen of modern schmaltz.
Kito, Wafia, Nonso Amadi – “back 2 love”
This triple-header is soft and slinky, cutting forward with the elegance and beauty of perfect couture.
Haiden Henderson – “sweat”
Haiden Henderson throws it back to the era of Metro Station and Cobra Starship on this sleazy new single.
Legendary musician and Blondie co-founder Chris Stein has always brought the same electric energy to his photography that he transmuted into his Fender Stratocaster. And now, The Gallery at Soho Grand is giving revelers a chance to view these intimate images, with moments captured of Debbie Harry, The Ramones, Patti Smith, Jean-Michel Basquiat and more.
Taking place at the Soho Grand Hotel, and in partnership with Morrison Hotel Gallery, “Chris Stein: Under A Rock” (which shares the name of Stein’s memoir) officially opened last night. Attendees included a who’s who of New York City fashion, photography and rock and roll, including photographer David Godlis, Marcia Resnick and Dustin Pittman. DJ Nina Tarr spun new wave tunes for guest as they sipped on custom cocktails (like the aptly named “One Way or Another.” Other stars in the crowd included Josie Dupont, Melissa Rich and Kyle Sosa as well as Sonic Youth and Nightlife legend Dianne Brill.
“As far as taking photos, I was doing this all along,” Stein recently told Richard Boch when asked about his exhibit and memoir. Stein also shared that he’d been keeping strict notes to go along with those memories. “Yeah, I had some (diaries and notes) but mostly from later like the 1980s and ’90s. I also enjoyed doing the captioning for the images in the books you just mentioned and some of the captions were quite extensive. The photographs also helped my memory of things. Some of the events during that period were memorable too because they were so odd—and then some of the stuff from the 1960s and ’70s just stayed with me because so much of it was so alien to the mainstream.”
The exhibit also marks the grand opening of The Gallery at Soho Grand, part of the hotel’s mission to celebrate the city’s downtown culture and history. The Gallery plans to host a rotation of exhibitions, making it possible for both emerging and established artist to bring their art to life in the heart of the city.
Five years ago, then-22-year-old Slayyyter debuted on-stage at Elsewhere in Brooklyn. On the first of two headlining nights, which sold out in 15 minutes each, the St. Louis native took a break from her day job as a hair salon receptionist to perform songs (“BFF,”“Mine,”“Daddy AF”) going viral in certain pockets of 2019 internet subculture. She’d never met her audience IRL and emerged to a main room packed wall-to-wall, nervously figuring out the best way to sign a front row fan’s platform shoe while simultaneously singing her cult hit “Platform Shoes.”
Prior to this moment, little was known about the platinum blonde with pencil thin brows who posted glitchy webcam photos concealing her real identity. Many speculated she was actually an avatar, but the Slayyyter we’d come to love in years following was in fact very real: a midwestern Missouri girl with a laptop and a Twitter login, some serious conviction and the seemingly impossible dream of becoming a full-time pop star.
Her breakout project dripped with Y2K references, from celebrity obsession to trashy centerfolds, and featured Slayyyter with black hair streaks and a tramp stamp lying half-naked inside a neon pink tanning bed. The sound of Slayyyter was extremely online, at the time grouped with the hyperpop scene, and featured influence from key collaborator Ayesha Erotica. Songs like “Alone” or “Candy” were studied and referential, bringing early 2000s Britney Spears gloss onto SoundCloud and fan forums.
This week, Slayyyter celebrates the anniversary of her debut show and self-titled mixtape, both of which launched half a decade of making music. She returned to Elsewhere Thursday night for a surprise show, including all the deep cuts superfans have come to love. “BFF” rattles speakers the same way it did on day one, and “Daddy AF” still manages to destroy Slayyyter’s blowout while driving the crowd into total chaos. She also sang her new single, “No Comma,” out today, which saw her growling into the mic and screaming “Kill that motherfucker!” as her dress quite literally fell apart from the excitement.
Despite the night being filled with nostalgia, it’s clear that Slayyyter is hungrier than ever. After her pop-up London show and prior to New York, we caught up with the artist to reflect on the “lasting power” of Slayyyter, below.
I love being connected by way of a publicist.
[Laughs] Yeah, I love this for us. It’s very official, the most official.
Are you in New York already?
I am, I got here last night.
How was London?
It was fun. A really quick trip, but it was a good time.
I saw everyone was freaking out about you performing your “Gimme More” remix.
Yeah, I don’t understand. People really love ones that I’m like, Eh [Laughs].
Maybe it’s because there’s a mystique around the fact that it was never officially released.
Yeah, true. That was my TikTok moment, I guess.
I feel like when fans see that somebody they love also acknowledges anything they thought was their secret, it’s always exciting.
Oh, that’s very true. I never thought of it that way.
I wanted to do this interview because the mixtape anniversary is such a special moment for you, but PAPER has also been there on the ground from the beginning. So I’ve known you, before we were friends in real life, in a weird internet way, and have all the different perspectives of your career since then.
All my mental breakdowns [Laughs].
[Laughs] Let’s start by talking about where you were when you were making this early music. You were working at, I think, a tanning salon in St. Louis, Missouri?
Hair salon. I wish it was a tanning salon, that would have been really cunt and full-circle.
Oh, true. And what were you doing at the hair salon?
I was the receptionist. They didn’t even let me touch the hair, I was just answering the phone. I was a waitress and I quit my waitressing job, and this woman who’s been doing my hair since I was in middle school was like, “Wait, we need a new receptionist.” It was very much one of those things where I dropped out of college and didn’t have much direction, so I started working that job.
In the meantime, I would make music out of my closet. I was living with my mom. There were always those conversations where she’s like, “What are you going to do? You can’t just work at the hair salon forever, you’ve got to figure some things out. You need to go to community college.” And I was very delusional, like, “I’m making music with these producers online. It’s gonna work, it’s gonna be fine.” I’d split my time between my job and doing that.
I was still working that job, making a lot of the music, making a lot of these singles. I would be at work fucking off on my phone, and then I would see that like, PAPER Magazine would put me on a best song roundup of the week and it would be like, “BFF,” my first song. I was like, “Oh shit.” Like, SoundCloud plays would keep going up and I could feel that something was starting to happen.
When you say you were making music in your closet, were you cold reaching out to these producers online and introducing yourself?
Basically, I would go on Twitter, like I DM’d Ayesha [Erotica] that way. I linked up with her through Twitter DMs and also I linked up with Robokid that way. I would just DM and be like, “Hey, I’m a singer. If you have any beats, I would love to try some stuff,” and I would record my vocals and send it back-and-forth through the internet. I did not know what I was doing. I kind of knew how to engineer myself, but that was where that ended. It was enough to get songs together and send them to a producer.
That’s kind of crazy. Did you have examples of work where they were like, “We want to send our beats to this girl”?
No, I was literally an internet girl. I posted pictures of my boobs and I had Y2K style and I would post webcam photos. I think having a cool look, people were like, “Oh, we’ll see. It could be terrible, but it could be fine.” I wasn’t the best singer at the time, anyway. I was alright, but it was enough to where we’d make one song and it would turn out cool. And then everyone would be like, “Let’s make more. Obviously, you’re not just randomly trying to do this.”
Knowing you now, it’s funny, because you are very pop music obsessed, and smart with your understanding of the industry and navigating trends. When everything started taking off, did you have the foresight of, I’m going to become a big pop star that tours the world as Slayyyter?
I just wanted to get out of that situation. My delusion was not so delusional to where I was like, “I’m gonna be playing stadiums next week.” I just wanted this to blow up, I wanted to be at a point where I could quit that job and have music be my main job. That was always the goal. Obviously, every artist is lying if they say that they don’t want things to be as big as possible. Everybody wants to be successful, everybody wants to have success in their life. To me, success was having music be my main source of income and not having to do anything on the side. My main gig.
I was making so much music. I was releasing a song a week and every single one would be like, more articles, more fans online, more people tweeting about it, making memes out of it. People being like, “Who’s this Slayyyter girl?” I was getting my first haters.It all happened so fast. I think back to that time and I just remember sitting at my desk at my job in my ugly Zara work outfit answering the phone. Everything just started to change.
One of the exciting things was this anonymity, like, Who even is Slayyyter? You weren’t really showing anything about yourself in a visual way. Even when PAPER ran our first interview with you, I remember you sent in edited Photo Booth photos. People didn’t know what you looked like. Was that a conscious decision as part of the artist project? Or were you easing into the comfort of being more public facing?
It wasn’t a decision, I just didn’t really have the tools. Obviously, there are artists who do it on no budget, who do photoshoots all the time with videos. I just didn’t have that at my disposal in St. Louis. Maybe if I lived in a different city I would have had more, but the Photo Booth was what I could get my hands on for visuals. I think it worked out because the mystery of it all really intrigued people, like you said. People didn’t have videos of me talking. This was pre-TikTok, so I was kind of like this weird slutty Facetuned cyborg girl. People didn’t know if I was real, people thought the whole thing was doctored Photoshop. They didn’t know if I was even a girl, they were really confused. I think all that made it feel cooler. Things are more exciting to discover when there’s a question mark over it.
I don’t think that could be replicated now, because we’re in an era of extreme content overload and of knowing everything about everyone online. Like you said, TikTok didn’t exist, and now there’s really no mystery. It feels like the timing of everything coming out five years ago made it more successful. Do you agree?
Absolutely. When young artists ask me for advice, my best advice is always, “Don’t give so much away.” It doesn’t excite me to come across an artist and have them be like, “Do you like Sabrina Carpenter? Well, you’re gonna love my song.” It’s such an unsexy way to discover music. TikTok is a really great tool, because anyone has a chance to blow up and go viral, but it’s removed some of the mystique of new artists and having the work speak for itself, rather than trying to explain what the song’s about. It’s always a snippet and the lyrics are on the screen. That is a very weird pet peeve of mine. I feel like it should just be a visual. Let me figure out what you’re saying.
At the time when I was releasing music, it was just about the pictures and the mood and the vibe and world building this Y2K, slutty Maxim girl Playboy Bunny vibe without needing all that. I think it’s hard to replicate any trajectory, no two trajectories are the same. I wish that artists now who’re just getting started would have a little more mystery to it, just because I don’t want to be told what I’m listening to and why I should be listening to it.
It’s true, your songs became big on their own and then people got to know you afterwards. “BFF,” for me, was really your first breakthrough moment. Do you consider that song to be the first that took off?
Yeah, that was the first one that people really grabbed onto.
It’s a really cool song, kind of sexy and scary in a way. Then I think about “Mine,” which was the really big one, right? Still to this day, that’s one of the songs people freak out over the most when you perform it live. Talk me through the process of actually making that song and why you think it landed back then.
It was the same thing, where I was recording music in my closet. I remember I started going to LA a little bit here and there for writing trips, and on one of my writing trips I was in a session with Robokid, who played this demo he made with someone else. It already had the hook — I’ll be very transparent that I did not write the, “Oh me, oh my.” There were some words written on it, but I made a second verse, I made a bridge, and I went home and recorded all the vocals. I think I sent them to Ayesha to mix a little bit because she was doing some of my vocal engineering.
That one came out during a time on Twitter — I don’t know if you remember those really hectic fan edits, where it would be really quick, really chaotic videos of, like, a trash can flying down the street. Everyone started to put the [“Mine”] hook to that and it started making the rounds on Twitter. Everyone was like, “Where’s the song? Where’s the song?” And I rushed to put it out. That became bigger than “BFF” and bigger than things I had released before, which was really lucky because sometimes you only get one song. That and “Daddy AF” both hit in a way that kept the momentum going.
I was never making these marketing decisions, I was just going with the flow and figuring things out as I went. But super crazy, I was still living in Missouri at that time, so I was getting these celebrity co-signs, but I would be drunk at the bar with my skater friends and I’d be like, “Look bro, Grimes tweeted me!” [Laughs] I just remember feeling really weird. Like, who would have thought this would happen? I always wanted this to happen and it’s happening, this is so weird.
In some ways, I feel like nothing has changed. We’ll still be in a bar, drunk and talking shit.
I’m still a tweaker at heart, always. That’s for damn sure. Once you get thrown into this machine or whatever, I feel like during COVID there were some moments with Troubled Paradise, for example, where you sign with a label and everyone’s like, “We’ve got to make this big.” And that was never really what I was trying to do in the first place. My eyes started to get a little hungrier and I needed to make things work, and sometimes the instinct that I had that would make good decisions kind of fell to the wayside. Because I was like, “I want this to be successful, I want to be a big pop star.” It’s no longer about that, and I feel like I’ve had a full-circle moment where I’m back to where I mentally was when I first started. I’m just like, “Fuck all this, this is for fun. This is not meant to be taken so seriously.” I don’t need to be breaking my back over trying to get a hit song. That’s not what my M.O. is.
I’m still pretty disillusioned by the celebrity of it all and the chart success. I always see kids on Twitter that are like, “She can’t even maintain a million monthly listeners,” and it’s like, I could give a fuck about that. Like, that is so not why I make music or what I set out to do. I would rather do something for the culture that is cool to people, that has influence on the way people dress, or a certain subculture or aesthetic that people get really into. That’s more what I’m about. I’m not really looking for commercial success, but I was certainly drinking the Kool-Aid for a little bit there.
You have the foundation of cultural credibility in a major way from this mixtape, and so there were inevitably people who’d come running and try to figure out how to make everything even bigger. But what makes for a lasting artist? Is it maintaining a million listeners on Spotify, or is it being able to pop up in the way that you just did and surprise announce a London show days before?
I feel like that’s so true. There’s no right or wrong answers with building up an artist or a career. But I think a lot of times the industry of it all will ruin things. I see a lot of artists that are really cool, and then they announce that they’re signed and you never really hear from them again. It’s a difficult thing, because it can either benefit you a lot or it can cap your momentum or make you operate in a way that you weren’t operating before. I was just doing stuff that I wanted to do, putting songs out really fast. As soon as you get thrown into it all, it’s like, “You made this song, we can put it out in two months, we need all this lead time.” And it kind of takes the steam out of everything.
I think “No Comma” is a good example. I tweeted the teaser, I was like, “Fuck it, I want to put this out next week,” and that’s just not the way things work. So the song has been teased for the whole year, so people know what’s coming. I think operating in that way with surprise releases and doing things really fast always reward artists more in the long run than these really thought out, planned-out rollout scenarios.
There’s something to be said about operating creatively off innocence and instincts. It’s almost like, the more you know the more it clouds the thinking that initially made you successful. For a lot of people, it’s hard to get back to that, but it seems like you are, which I love.
I still feel like I’m trying to get back into that headspace I’ve had as I’ve gotten older. I’ve had a mental Renaissance on everything I thought about music or thought that I wanted, and I feel like I don’t want the same things I wanted even two years ago. I want the same things I wanted when I was a hair salon receptionist. I just want to make cool music and cool visuals. I’m not really looking for chart success or a crazy viral moment. If I’m happy with my output at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.
But it is hard to get back to it once you start learning about, like, playlist pitching and all this stuff. I think with my last one, I was like, “Oh, I need some clean songs, like a radio song.” Little by little, things creep in where maybe you wouldn’t have made that choice in a different setting. But I think I’m back to just being like, “Fuck it.”
[Laughs] Back to “Daddy AF” vibes.
Yes, absolutely.
I want to talk about your first concert ever, which was in 2019 at Elsewhere in Brooklyn. I was there and remember it being really wild to finally see you in the flesh after all the mystery online. Did you fly into New York from Missouri?
Either from Missouri or from a writing trip in LA. Everything happened so fast, I don’t even think my mixtape was out. I had never done a show as Slayyyter, I had never done anything. My manager was like, “We should test the waters and see what goes down.” We put up night one and I think it sold out in like 15 minutes, and then we put up night two and that sold out again in like 15 minutes. It was insanity and I was like, “Oh my god, I’ve never performed before. What is gonna happen?” Rehearsal for this show was the first time my manager even heard me sing, like, “She could be really terrible.”
So I wiggled my ass into that little Tanya Hardy bodysuit and went for it. It was kind of like being thrown into the deep end, and it’s funny because the whole show was recorded and it’s on YouTube, which is insane. It’s almost like watching sports highlights. I like to go back and be like, “Whoa, I was barely moving.” It was really wacky to go from being a hair salon receptionist to there being a line out the door of people who just wanted to meet me. I was like, “This is so weird. I think I’m a little over my head with this, but I’m also loving every minute of it.”
Artists today would love to have two sold out nights, back-to-back, in Elsewhere’s main room. Did you really understand and process the significance of that?
Honestly, not until a little bit later. I thought that maybe that’s just how it goes, like it’s my first show. I didn’t know if that was a big venue to sell out. I had no gauge of anything and never opened for anyone before. I hate to say this, but I feel like I skipped a couple steps because there were no tiny, tiny clubs. Some people will play to, like, 100 people as their first show on a tiny stage and that’s how they build their way up. But I just got thrown in and I didn’t have anything to compare it to. I wasn’t sure if that was normal or not.
I also think it was such a specific time of internet hype, pre-COVID. I don’t know if shows sell out that fast now unless you’re a super big artist. If you were to fast forward what was happening to me and put it in this current timeline, I don’t think it would have been the big, crazy blowout that it was. It was just a very specific time of culture and the internet where people wanted to show up and they wanted to say that they saw me first.
It was also a very specific time with the type of music being made that many people slotted you in with. There was a lot of excitement around that specific pop sound.
It felt like such an internet niche. I remember during that time I was like, “Maybe my career is going to have a really hefty expiration date on it, because this is so internet and of its time now.” But I’ve always shape-shifted, like I was a Tumblr girl and then I got really into Twitter. No matter what, I always kind of know what’s going on with the internet. Everyone was playing my songs in the clubs in New York during that time too, so I feel like there was this unspoken, “Let’s go see that girl. They play that ‘Candy’ song at the club, let’s go see her.” I was getting tagged in all these videos of people playing my music in clubs and I was like, “Oh, people are listening.”
When you listen to the mixtape now, how do you feel? I know you are very critical of music. Are you still proud of the work and are there certain songs that you think hold up to this day?
Honestly, I feel so proud of it. It’s funny, I feel like “Daddy AF,” that’s a song I was really ashamed of. I remember when it came out, that was my first taste of getting hated on by the internet. I did a licensing deal with Atlantic, so they ran a bunch of ads on it, and all these people that didn’t normally follow me were finding it and they were like, “She’s ugly. We hate her. This is dog shit. We hate this song.” And to this day, it’s my favorite song to perform live. It feels punk when I perform that song. That song has stood the test of time. I still listen to it now and I’m like, “I love this.” Or “Mine” and “BFF” are still so great to me.
When I put this out, Y2K was not the big internet subculture that it is now. I remember putting my moodboard together for my mixtape, and it was all old pictures of Playboy editorials from 2006 and Maxim and pictures from girls’ Myspaces of them in a tanning bed. Since then, I’ve seen so much tanning bed imagery. I see black streaks and tramp stamps. It’s made me feel really proud, not bitter, like I don’t need the credit for it, but I’m just like, “You know what? People can say what they want, but I was early on this wave of something. Any time I want to doubt myself as an artist, I’m like, “At least I did that and I think it resonated with people.”
So I’m really proud of all of it, not just the music, but the visuals, too, and my shitty webcam photos. I feel like people with a budget are moving into a space of trying to do shitty camcorder, webcam visuals, and that feels like the coolest thing in the world. There’s lasting power there with something that I did just out of necessity.
I’ve had a busy summer of music festival travel with PAPER.
I’ve jetted around God’s green earth to check out festivals and concerts in Detroit, Chicago and even Switzerland. But now, I have one last stop on my global tour, which turns out to be a special one: I’m off to Canada for a busy week with POP Montreal.
POP Montreal, a multi-venue, 5-day music and culture fest will commence its 23rd year on September 25th. Pairing local favorites with international acts for a diverse set of concerts in hopes of providing a little something for everyone.
“Montreal is an incredible city, filled with talented and interesting people and the more we can tap into these networks and create a programming that reflects this, the better the overall vibe of the festival is,” says festival programmer Dan Seligman. “There is so much amazing music in the world. I think it would be boring to limit the palette. However, we still hold a degree of critical taste. Shit’s got to be good!”
With 200 concerts, in over 20 venues, all packed into just 5 days, it can be hard to know just who to catch. That’s why PAPER put together some upcoming highlights to help you in your planning. And don’t forget to hit us back here for a recap once the partying is over.
Cecile Believe, Faux Real, Sineila
Piccolo Rialto, Sep 26, 2024
We couldn’t miss catching PAPER favorite Cecile Believe play in the city she long called home. She began making music in 2010s Montreal under the moniker Mozart’s Daughter and cites the city’s affordability and vibrancy as foundational for her artistry. She even wrote and recorded much of her new standout EP, Tender The Spark, there. Believe, whose work has indelibly shaped the course of electronic music, moved to Los Angeles from Montreal a few years ago and is thus set for a hero’s return. Plus, with opening sets from pop-playful acts Franco-American duo Faux Real and Montreal’s own Sineila the whole night is sure to buzz with a special energy. Buy tickets here.
Beverly Glenn-Copeland and friends: The Salon Evening
Théâtre Rialto, Sep 26, 2024
I’ve long been enamored with the moving serene sounds of Beverly Glenn-Copeland, who’s re-discovery in the 2010s brought the Philadelphia-born, Ontario-based singer and composer into public consciousness after more than 50 years of quiet toiling. Performing in Montreal is particularly meaningful for Glenn-Copeland, who first came to the city in the ‘60s to study classical music at McGill University. Dealing with the tensions of around being the first Black student in the music school, and the only openly queer student, led to his dropping out, but it never stopped his unique artistry, which has garnered him notable fans like Blood Orange and Arca in recent years. His music, deeply spiritual, heartfelt, equal parts opera and electronics, is sure to make for a singularly special show. Buy tickets here.
Mannie Fresh, Egyptian Lover, Sydanie, THOT SQUAD
Piccolo Rialto, Sep 27, 2024
A night of hip-hop history: New Orleans legend Mannie Fresh joins Hip Hop pioneer Egyptian Lover for what is bound to be an energetic evening. With the two OGs joined by two rising stars — Flint’s own THOT SQUAD and Tornto’s Sydanie — this cross-generational evening will have a little something for everyone, as long as you’re down to dance. Buy tickets here.
Cassandra Jenkins, Nailah Hunter, Valmy
Le Ministère, Sep 27, 2024
Cassandra Jenkins first caught my ear with her 2021 breakout An Overview of Phenomenal Nature, which boasted some of the most inventive, thought-provoking and dreamy songwriting of the 2020s. Her follow-up, 2024’s My Light, My Destroyer, provided both a detour and development of Jenkins’s inventive sound, and we can’t wait to hear it in-person. With added sets by Los Angeles’s Nailah Harper and Newfoundland’s Valmy, both of whom traffic in particularly drifty, deeply felt sonics, the night should be a moving night of music. Buy tickets here.
claire rousay, Still House Plants, Zoon
Rialto Hall, Sep 27, 2024
I found myself recently enthralled by claire rousay’s autotuned, low-fi, yet ever-emotionally accessible album, the fittingly titled sentiment. Blending a pop writer’s sensibilities with a background in experimental performance and composition, means that rousay’s music scratches many special itches at once. Joining them will be Still House Plants and Zoon, who both make music that skirt the line between the familiar and perplexing. Buy tickets here.
