MEET NASTY HABIT CHERRY BOMB REVIEW MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY 20 WATTS | 1 01 // THE CITY - THE 1975 02 // YESTERDAY - ATMOSPHERE 03 // GRINDIN’ - CLIPSE 04 // AFRICA - TOTO 05 // GRAVITY - TURNSTILE 06 // CLUSH - ISLES & GLACIERS 07 // R U MINE? - ARCTIC MONKEYS 08 // CLARK GABLE - POSTAL SERVICE 09 // CAROLINA - SEU JORGE 10 // NO ROOM IN FRAME - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE 11 // JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL - CARRIE UNDERWOOD 12 // A WALK - TYCHO 13 // SEDATED - HOZIER 14 // HEY YA! - OUTKAST 15 // MY BODY - YOUNG THE GIANT 16 // DREAMS - FLEETWOOD MAC 17 // PAST LIVES - BØRNS 18 // PLEASE DON’T - LEO STANARD TWEET @20_WATTS WHAT 19 // TOTALLY FUCKED - JONATHAN GROFF YOU’RE LISTENING TO! 20 // TUBTHUMPING - CHUMBAWAMBA Cover Photo by Adam Gendler 2 | 20 WATTS 20 WATTS | 3 20 WAT TSSPRING 2015 WE ASKED: WHAT IS YOUR EMOJI STORY? LYNDSEY JIMENEZ RIKKI SCHNEIDERMAN ADAM GENDLER JANE DEPGEN PHIL DECICCA EDITOR IN CHIEF MANAGING EDITOR MULTIMEDIA CREATIVE DIRECTOR HEAD DESIGNER MIKEY LIGHT SAM HENKEN JACKIE FRERE TIFFANY GOMEZ JOEY COSCO JAKE LIBASSI FEATURES EDITOR ASSISTANT FEATURES FRONT OF BOOK PHOTO EDITOR DIGITAL DIRECTOR WEB EDITOR A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS: KAITLIN GRENIER COLE HOCK TOMMY ENDE KENNY ENDE ERIN SINGLETON CAROLYN SAXTON KATIE CANETE JIM COLEMAN WILL SKALMOSKI COPY EDITOR REVIEWS + PUBLICIST PUBLISHER MARKETING SOCIAL MEDIA 4 | 20 WATTS 20 WATTS | 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS 08 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 10 THE FIVE 11 EAR TO THE GROUND 12 ON THE GRIND 13 PLAYLIST // 20 WATTS GOES ABROAD 15 BACK FROM THE DEAD 16 DROP THE MIC // SEXUALITY IN MUSIC 18 A DAY IN THE LIFE W/ NASTY HABIT 22 WHAT IS EDM? 24 2015: THE YEAR OF HIP-HOP 26 REVIEW // CHERRY BOMB 28 Q&A // RICKY SMITH 31 HEADSPACE 34 DIY, YOU WON’T 38 FUSION FRENZY 42 BACK OF BOOK LETTER 6 | 20 WATTS 20 WATTS | 7 There’s a lot that goes into making a magazine — a lot of arguments, a lot of cuts, a whole lotta shit that you probably don’t even think about as you’re holding this book in your hands right now. When you’re sitting down at the beginning of the semester, thinking about how the hell you’re going to get better when half of the campus isn’t aware that SU even has a music maga- zine, putting out a magazine is equivalent to climbing Everest. It sounds like a fucking awesome idea, but the execution doesn’t go quite right. That leaves me in an interesting place that very few people are able to understand. Every success, even the smallest ones, are huge. I don’t try to masquerade 20 Watts as the next Pitchfork, and I sure as hell know we don’t have the appeal of some of the other publications on campus. We’re a group of kids brought together by a passion for music that surpasses everyone but the Bandier kids. We’re kids that love the magazine so much that we’ll fight for it and fight for it harder than Boeheim against the NCAA sanctions. This fight in us makes us a little scrappy, sure, but it only serves us better in the long run. It teaches us that we aren’t entitled to anything and that if we want something, it’s up to us to go out and get it. We don’t believe in instant gratification, and that’s the best thing we might have behind us. We under- stand the work that goes into things and we know that what we put in is what we’re getting out of it. Looking back at what we churned out this semester, this theme continues throughout the book. Artists have fought for years to be comfortable in their own skin (see page 16) and broke through some walls to destigmatize mental illness in the industry (see page 31). Like us, these people found it inside of them to fight. Revel in the small things, even Beyoncé didn’t win a Grammy in a day. LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 8 | 20 WATTS 20 WATTS | 9 BY RIKKI SCHNEIDERMAN TAU BETA DELTA SIGMA ALPHA SIGMA PI PHI TEGAN AND SARA OMI BEYONCE ERIC PRYDZ BACKSTREET BOYS TAYLOR SWIFT MILEY CYRUS FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE 01 JAMES BAY attitude, like on “Race Jones,” or with her KE$HA gorgeous ballads, like “What Is Love.” Who: A small-town Brit with big -city musi- cal chops and a haunting voice. SEE ALSO: EMELI SANDE What you’re hearing: Whispering vocals 04 GRIZFOLK filled with emotion and skillful storytell- Who: Globetrotting five- piece: this newly- ing. Listen to “Let It Go” or “Hold Back founded group includes a Floridian singer- the River” for an idea of this English- songwriter and two producers from Sweden. TO THE man’s true vocal skill. What you’re hearing: An effortless blend- SEE ALSO: BEN HOWARD EAR ing of pop- happy synthesizers and strong 02 SAM HUNT vocal performances. Electric sounds guide their tracks (“Hymnals”), but the band GROUND Who: A country crooner with more than 20 WATTS VENTURED ONTO WALNUT AND COMSTOCK AND ASKED just a pretty face and some cowboy boots knows how to return to bare-bones sound INDIVIDUALS IN SORORITIES AND FRATERNITIES ON CAMPUS WHO THEY’RE who is trying too hard to mix pop and (“Cosmic Angel,” an acoustic cut). LISTENING TO. SOME GAVE PERSONAL FAVORITES, AND OTHERS SHARED WHAT THEY LISTEN TO IN THEIR RESPECTIVE CHAPTERS. country genres. I see you, Luke Bryan. SEE ALSO: WALK THE MOON What you’re hearing: Hunt has light- 05 ZZ WARD hearted fun without smothering sappi- ness in “House Party” and addresses Who: A Pennsylvanian bombshell social issues in the standout track “Take who sings, writes, and is also a multi- Your Time.” instrumentalist. Because life isn’t fair. SIGMA SEE ALSO: THOMAS RHETT What you’re hearing: Smoky, deep vo- PHI BETA CHI cals that take command over every SIGMA 03 V. BOZEMAN track. Ward’s voice and musical prowess DID YOUR FAVORITE ARTIST MAKE THE LIST? Who: A feisty singer with a powerful shine through most prominently in her CHAINSMOKERS TWEET US @20_WATTS range whose high- pitched trills sound edgy, fast- paced tracks like “Put the Gun DRAKE LANE 8 TO TELL US WHAT YOU’VE almost inhuman. Down”, but also soften for her slower FETTY WAP TCHAMI BEEN LISTENING TO. What you’re hearing: A performer who tracks (“Last Love Song”). MEEK MILL can stop any show with her howling SEE ALSO: GIN WIGMORE 10 | 20 WATTS 20 WATTS | 11 ON THE GRIND 20 WATTS GOES ABROAD WHY GO ABROAD WHEN 20 WATTS CAN GO FOR YOU? ON THEBY JAKE LIBASSI GRIND ON THEYou know that one song?GRIND The Nobody actually enjoys standing song that you just get? The one around with a Silver Bullet in their that you TURN THE FUCK UP hand while awkwardly tapping TO?!?1! ON THEtheir feet to a song they don’t GRIND even like. Every time you walk You know that person on the into some strange house on dance floor? The one that you Euclid cruising for the oppositeON — THE GRIND just fucking want? or matching — genitalia, you have That song and that person repre- that one jam in mind. Once Dar- PANAMA AUSTRALIA THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH sent the pinnacle of your night. ius opens up his big fat fucking Despite lacking a full-length album, this SWEDEN As far asON anyone is concerned, THEmouth to croon “Wagon GRINDWheel,” electronic three-piece has quality orig- A guy from Dalarna, Sweden managed your night didn’t really start until you might as well live there. inal work compiled into two extended to make a lasting impact on the inter- Andre counts to three. plays. Panama is featured on Australia’s After years of research and national folk music community. Vocally record label Future Classic, home to art- compared to a young Bob Dylan, Kristian You know all the words. inquiry, I’ve found that there are ON THE GRIND ists Flume and Chet Faker. Aside from Matsson (aka The Tallest Man On Earth) in fact no words for this track. their standout original songs like “Always” You’re confident as fuck. Therefore, I hereby decree that shares his love for nature and, well… and “How We Feel,” Panama’s remix of this magical canticle be known love. His new album Dark Bird Is Home is You walk right up to that boy/girl ON THE GRIND Clubfeet’s “Cape Town” (not featured on as the “bid song.” set to release May 12th, making this his and grab them by the hips. Those either EP) has been in standard rotation first release since 2012. hips don’t lie. You pull them close You enter the party a GDI. You for a few years now, and it’s a perfect for “LITTLE RIVER” and they pull you closer. ONleave a brother. THE GRINDsummer jam for simply kicking it. It’s time. “HOW WE FEEL” LITTLE SIMZ UNITED KINGDOM Pelvis meets pelvis. Tongues After collaborating with some of the CANADA tango. Hand meets butt. You’re POMO hottest up-and-coming producers in the ON THE GRINDPomo isn’t your average producer working probably not going home with game, specifically Souleciton members this person, but as far as you’re from his bedroom and watching YouTube IAMNOBODI and Sango, many have concerned, that person is the tutorials to learn how to DJ. His musical started taking notice of U.K. rap artist only one in the world.ON THE GRINDknowledge and talent with instruments Little Simz.