Mizz Attitude and Baby Girl’s Pretti Emage
Hip-Hop and R&B duo from Tampa, FL, Pretti Emage (like Pretty Image) is made up of two sisters, Jaleesah “Mizz Attitude” Riley aka Queen Jayy and Zayah “Baby Girl” Riley. Since forming, Pretti Emage has performed alongside 95 South, Ying Yang Twins, Dru Hill, Lloyd, Jagged Edge and K Michelle. The duo is featured on Risky Bizness labelmate Shaadoh Session’s new single, “S.W.B.Y.,” and Ghanian Afrobeat artist, Kakra Jay’s “Mama Africa,” and is recording follow-up tracks to their 2020 album Legacy.
God is an Astronaut
God Is An Astronaut is an experimental metal four-piece, formed in 2002 by Niels and Torsten Kinsella. The group released its 10th album, Ghost Tapes #10, via Napalm Records in mid-February. Hailing from the Emerald Isle, producer-pianist-guitarist Torsten Kinsella is photographed, surrounded by keyboards and pedals at Quill Lane Studio in Glen of the Downs, Ireland. For additional guitars and guest cello swells, the band recruited Jimmy Scanlan and Jo Quail.
Miss Grit is No Impostor
The Korean-American multi-instrumentalist Margaret Sohn records as Miss Grit. Her February release, Impostor EP, explores the titular “impostor syndrome,” which Sohn often experienced growing up in a mixed-race household in the Michigan suburbs. Having studied music technology at NYU, Sohn brings modern precision and retro equipment to her compositions. Miss Grit is pictured above in her New York home studio, recording on a Korg MS20 mini and Omnichord OM-84.
SSL Equips Future and 5 Star Production Studios
Since defining the Atlanta Trap scene in 2010, Future has delivered eight solo full-length albums and countless collaborations and mixtapes. His engineer, Eric Manco (pictured at the controls), collaborated with Solid State Logic in renovating Atlanta’s 5 Star Production Studios for Future and his team. Along with the amenities of pool tables, conference rooms and entertainment centers that resemble a nightclub, the engineering studios have been equipped with SSL’s AWS 948 console and δelta-Control software.
Studio 86 and Dalke’s Gift of Music
Studio 86 is a full-service recording studio in Wolcott, CT, owned and operated by Sean Dalke, with guitar and production assistance from Jason Grandell, both of the rock band Half Hearted.
Dalke says, “My absolute favorite part of being in a band is writing and recording new music, and I love to help other people bring their visions to life.” In addition to mixing recent Half Hearted tracks, “Gossip” and “Be My Religion,” Dalke has been recruited to write, perform and produce for a new U.K. outlet, Gift of Music, which offers personalized songs to gift to a friend or loved one for any occasion.
The Immediate Family Back in the Studio
Quarto Valley Records’ all-star group, The Immediate Family, is composed of legendary session musicians: Danny Kortchmar (guitar and vocals), Waddy Wachtel (guitar and vocals), Leland Sklar (bass), Russ Kunkel (drums) and Steve Postell (guitar and vocals). Individually, the members are behind major records from Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and Carole King, just to name a few. Postell and Kortchmar are photographed above at Katonah Studios, recording socially distanced overdubs on upcoming tracks to follow up the group’s debut, Slippin’ and Slidin’. Also in the works is a Danny Tedesco-led documentary about The Immediate Family.
Megalaphobe’s Resistance Fantasies
Benjamin Levitt is a Brooklyn-based experimental accordionist, as well as singer-guitarist-pianist-pedal aficionado and field recorder, who performs as Megalophobe. At the end of 2020, Levitt released Music for Resistance Fantasies, an ambient album inspired by Marion Storm’s improvisational dance performance, which Levitt scored at the Exponential Festival. The goal of the composition was to be “trippy, but not make a big deal about melting faces,” according to Levitt. Our faces are still recovering.
