IshDARR brings a crowd Photo by Jun Taek Lee A packed crowd gathered in Gardner on Friday, Nov. 6, to hear from three young hip-hop artists—Young Eddy, Kweku Collins and IshDARR (pictured to the left). IshDARR is based out of Milwaukee, Wis. The sharp-tongued 19- year-old released a critically acclaimed album, “Old Soul, Young Spirit,” earlier this year. He largely pulled material from that album during the performance. The youthful, ecstatic energy of his recorded material transferred seamlessly to the stage. IshDARR was totally engaging for the duration of the set and did not shy away from talking with the audience, eliciting laughter and cheers. It wasn’t a terribly long set, but one that kept the people in attendance rapt from start to finish. Milwaukee is an exciting place to be an MC in 2015. The Midwestern city has recently cultivated a vibrant and dynamic DIY hip hop scene that’s only getting larger. IshDaRR, one of the youngest and most prominent members of the scene, proved on Friday night that he’s got a lot to share with the world. Assuredly, he is only getting started. Friday night was the third time that Young Eddy, aka Greg Margida ’16, has performed on campus and he is sure to have more performances next semester. Kweku Collins hails from Evanston, Ill., and this was his first time performing in Grinnell. Iowa band speaks on locality The S&B’s Concerts Correspondent Halley Freger ‘17 sat down with Pelvis’ guitarist and vocalist, Nao Demand, before his Gardner set on Friday, Oct. 30, to talk about being a musician in the thriving DIY scenes of Iowa. The S&B: What’s it like being a band from Iowa? How would you describe the “Iowa scene?” ND: Being a band from Iowa is usually great. The Iowa scene, inevitably you play some kind of weird shows. It happens. It’s just kind of the nature of it. But honestly, the quality of the local bands here are pretty high and it’s less like there’s really good local bands in every town. It’s sort of like there’s good local bands in a lot of towns all over the state so you kind of have to drive around and do that whole thing, but it’s worth it. A lot of our best band friends are from Iowa. Do you think the music scene in Iowa is different because it doesn’t center around one large city, like Chicago or Minneapolis? Yeah, it’s definitely more touring-centric for that reason. There are some really easy routes where everyone knows each other along the way and you can pull off in a couple weeks. Down to Texas and back is really popular. Do you think the music communities in Iowa are connected? Is there a lot of exchange that goes on between places like Ames, Des Moines and Iowa City? Yeah, for sure. At least in my experience, because both of my bandmates are from the Quad Cities and they’ve been in other bands there. I’m actually from Pennsylvania, but I met them when I moved to Ames like four years ago and we started a band maybe a year after that. I got lucky because they knew a lot of people from all over, basically. The idea of driving really resonates with me because I think when trying to see music in Iowa you end up having to drive an hour, pretty much. It’s hard. We ran a house venue in Ames for the past year, before the guy who paid the mortgage got over it, but it was basically so we could book people we wanted to see. So, you definitely have to make your own fun. What are the best places—venues, houses, etc.—to see and play music in Iowa? The Black Hole in Cedar Falls is probably the best in the state. There’s a place in the Quad Cities I haven’t been to that’s called [Uncle Stu’s Haunted Waterpark and Slightly Less Haunted Go Kart Track]. It’s a huge warehouse and it’s gigantic—it’s like 10 times the size of [Gardner Lounge]. It’s crazy. There’s the Rozz-Tox in the Quad Cities. It’s an awesome DIY venue, but it’s not a house. That’s so good. But I would say the Black Hole is probably the best. Cedar Falls has super good bands and when you go to a show there’s just tons of people there all the time. Do you think there are certain sounds are more popular here? Do you think a band can sound like they’re from the Midwest? Yeah, I think as opposed to music on the coast people really consider their audience a lot in the Midwest and it’s not seen as uncool, whereas in other places it’s kind of like fiercely doing your own thing. But there is kind of that sense of grassroots where people within bands can be doing things together. It might be because there’s not a lot of people so a lot of people play in a lot of people’s bands. Are you in other bands currently? Yeah, I do my own thing and other people kind of play in that other thing sometimes, and then we do [Pelvis], and then both of my other bandmates are in another band, too. Yeah, I saw Griffen [the bassist] in … what are they called? Arizona Landmine. Yeah, they have an EP coming out on Texas is Funny Records, and that’s a cool label. Dahling is a band on that label that’s super sick. What are some Iowa bands or artists we should check out? Obsidian Sword, Sept of Memnon, Closet Witch. Ice Hockey has two shows before they break up. Field Report to bring folk to Gardner Halley Freger [email protected] Photo by Matt Kartanata The relaxing sounds of Milwaukee folk band Field Report will come to Gardner Lounge on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 8:30 p.m. Opening for Field Report is Grinnell’s own Seth Hanson & The Additional Six. Christopher Porterfield is the singer/songwriter behind Field Report (an anagram of his surname). Before starting Field Report, Porterfield was in DeYarmond Edison with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, who played Grinnell back in 2008. However, it wasn’t until after DeYarmond Edison broke up that Porterfield began gaining recognition. When Field Report released their debut self-titled album on New York indie label Partisan Records in 2012, critics and musicians praised Porterfield’s poetic lyrics. The album even landed Field Report a touring slot with the alt-rock band Counting Crows. As their notoriety increased, expectations rose for their sophomore album. In October of last year they released their second album, “Marigolden.” The city of Milwaukee was so excited for the album release show at the Pabst Theater on Oct. 22, 2014 that Mayor Tom Barrett declared the day “Field Report Day.” On “Marigolden,” he sings with heartbreaking and honest clarity. In the song “Ambrosia,” he recounts a tale about a child who was bullied until he ultimately committed suicide. A level of earnest uncertainty is revealed through his haunting voice and lyrics. His voice both pounds and wobbles over minimalist piano chords at the end of the song as he repeats “Maybe something’s gonna change,” before concluding, “Maybe nothing’s gonna change.” Although Field Report’s music is lyric-driven, often backed by simple piano or guitar, on “Marigolden” they experiment with electronic sounds. Some of the most magical moments on the album occur when they layer twangy strings over synths, like the ambient hums in their song “Wings.” Opening for Field Report is Grinnell’s folk mastermind Seth Hanson ’17 who performs under the name Seth Hanson & The Additional Six. The name, a reference to the twelve-string guitar he originally learned to play on, is somewhat misleading—Seth is the only member of the band. However, his songs sometimes feature other musicians, such as Isabel Cooke ’16, who will be singing with him on Thursday. Although he is still in college, Hanson’s Bandcamp sports an impressively extensive discography. His most recent two-song release, “Brother,” is available on his Soundcloud and features his vivid lyricism, this time backed by piano rather than his usual acoustic guitar. IshDAAR’s variety makes for unique rap Luke Jarzyna [email protected] Photo by Minh Tran This weekend, Grinnell will host a triple bill of rising hip hop artists. IshDARR, one of the leading voices in the Milwaukee DIY scene will perform alongside Yung Eddy and Kweku Collins. IshDARR is an 18-year-old rapper from Milwaukee, Wis. During his senior year of high school in 2014, IshDARR released his first EP, “The Good Life.” A complete album surfaced earlier in 2015, entitled “Old Soul, Young Spirit.” On “Old Soul, Young Spirit,” IshDARR enthusiastically proves that he is a voice that deserves your attention. The rising MC engages with a huge variety of beats that inflect sounds of house music, bounce and vintage 90s hip/hop, rendering the 12-song collection an exciting exploration in style as well as a window into IshDARR’s life in urban Milwaukee. The stacked, sometimes disparate instrumental flares don’t sound excessively scattered, but only assist in highlighting IshDARR’s voracious conviction. IshDARR’s energetic, wide-eyed personality is at the forefront of “Old Soul, Young Spirit,” and the influence of modern, boundary-pushing hit makers like Kendrick Lamar and Chance the Rapper are obvious.