It’s an honor to be able to speak with you today. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background? How did you end up where you are now?
I’ve sung my whole life, and I’ve played the guitar since I was eleven years old. I’ve been obsessed with music as long as I can remember. I think it started when my middle brother and I stole a couple of rock CDs from our oldest brother’s room and committed the entire albums to memory.
I actually got a degree in jazz performance and I play sideman to a lot of live performing acts on guitar and bass. But my passion has always been composition and songwriting. I write about anything and everything that happens to me- all my traveling, revelations, love, lust, heartbreak, a funny thing a friend said-you name it. I’m a huge bookworm too, so my lyrics contain frequent literary references. To answer the question of how I ended up where I am now, well, I was a kid who wasn’t allowed to play outside a whole bunch, so I devoured books and transcribed whole albums at a time. Now when I have a strong feeling, it comes out as words and music.
Congratulations on your most recent single “Propeller Hat” how do you feel about your newfound success?
I feel great to put this track out into the world! It’s the debut single under my new artist name, and it signals a departure from my previous, more jazz-influenced sound. It’s also one of the most honest things I’ve put out. It’s pretty straightforwardly about leaving a relationship a mess, albeit with a groove that’s ironically upbeat. It’s just…cathartic.
In what ways do you come up with ideas? We know that starting a musical composition isn’t always easy. How do you get your creative juices flowing?
Sometimes I get lucky and an idea will just reveal itself, spring into being fully formed in my head. That’s usually not the case though. I always begin with a piece: a line, a title, a chord progression, or an idea, like “I want to write a love song that sounds like it’s about a person but it’s actually about strawberries.” I might take a walk to meditate on it, or riff ideas with a friend whose writing I respect, but most songs are written criss-cross applesauce on my carpet with a ukulele in a cheap spiral notebook with a million smudges and X-ed out ideas. The end result is often illegible, actually, but somehow these things make it to tape
Can you see your finished product before you start?
Hardly ever. There are some songs where I do have a lot of factors decided before I begin writing, but a lot of times, the best part is the hunt. It can take a full day’s work to unearth a song, to follow the rainbow to the end.
Does your music have a signature sound or style that you prefer to incorporate into your compositions?
Definitely. My chord progressions have a lot of movement. It’s something I picked up from playing all these Great American Songbook tunes in jazz school. I also don’t really believe in overplaying, at least rhythmically. I like my grooves busy, my lyrics snappy, and my backing vocals like a barbershop Greek-chorus.
Have you always been interested in music?
I was a choir kid. I majored in music. And before that, I used to fantasize about playing onstage. We didn’t listen to Top 40 in my house growing up. My dad would put on tapes of The Ed Sullivan Show, so we knew a ton of Motown and Oldies. I would say it’s been a lifelong obsession.
What’s a little-known fact about you that might surprise people?
I spent a year of the pandemic teaching English in Spain. The gigs were all gone because of covid, so I figured, ehh, why not? It was a blast.
Is there anything else you’d like to say before we wrap things up? Are there any words for your fans?
Thanks for taking the time to listen to my music! Expect a lot more releases from me throughout the year.
Katika wimbo wao mpya wenye mchangamsho “Play Your Clarinet!”, Into the Blood wanaunganisha midundo ya kielektroniki inayoshika kwa urahisi na mgeuko wa kusisimua: solo la klaneti lenye mionjo ya jazz kutoka kwa Peter Fuglsang. Uchezaji wake unaongeza mguso wa uchezaji wa moja kwa moja unaokamilisha msingi wa kidijitali wa wimbo huu, na kuunda tukio la kipekee kabisa la kusikiliza.
Wimbo huu utazinduliwa kimataifa tarehe 22 Novemba katika lugha 11 tofauti—ikiwemo Kiswahili, Kifaransa, Kiingereza na Kichina n.k.—pamoja na toleo lisilo na sauti za kuimba.
Jiunge nasi katika safari ya kimataifa Acha “Play Your Clarinet!” ikupeleke kuvuka mipaka, sauti na tamaduni. Wimbo mmoja. Lugha kumi na moja. Utasikika kwenye majukwaa yote makubwa ya kusikiliza muziki mtandaoni, na video za maneno ya wimbo zitapatikana kwenye YouTube. Jifunge mkanda na ufurahie safari!
Kuhusu Into the Blood Duo la Into the Blood—Jens Brygmann (sauti za kuimba na ngoma za kidijitali) na Carsten Bo Andersen (kinanda na sintesa)—imekuwa ikifanya kazi tangu mwaka 2016. Muziki wao umekuwa ukipigwa kwenye vituo mbalimbali vya redio duniani, vikiwemo vya Uingereza, Australia na Ufaransa.
Toleo la asili la “Play Your Clarinet!” pia linapatikana kwenye rekodi ya vinili ya inchi 12 kama sehemu ya mradi wao mkubwa wa Destination 11, unaojumuisha video ya muziki ya dakika 11. Video hiyo imewahi kuonyeshwa katika matamasha mbalimbali ya kimataifa ya filamu fupi, na hadi sasa tayari imeshinda tuzo mbili nchini India, kufikia hatua ya fainali kwenye East Village New York Film Festival na Las Vegas International Film & Screenwriting Festival, nusu fainali kwenye Seattle Film Festival na robo fainali kwenye Synergy Film Festival huko Los Angeles.
Mradi wa Destination 11 umefadhiliwa na White City Consulting na Custom Coaching.
Montreal-based pop sensation and LGBTQ activist Van Hechter is back with “Boy Problems,” a stunning new single. The track merges his signature upbeat charm with rare emotional depth. Hechter, known for hits like “Disco Brother,” “Hot Damn,” and “Love Elastic,” reveals a new side to his magnetic electro-pop personality, offering a message that is both radiant and raw.
At 4 minutes and 24 seconds, “BoyProblems” is a bilingual (French & English) eruption of glitter, melancholy, and empowerment. It’s built on irresistible synths, glossy production, and pulsing basslines. The song invites listeners into a world where heartbreak beats in rhythm with liberation. The melodies feel euphoric on the surface, yet are stained with a haunting vulnerability, proving that dancing and deep feeling can exist together.
At its core, the song is a manifesto about refusing to settle for half-love. Van delivers lyrics that make you sway, smile, and suddenly pause; the truth stings. If love isn’t loud, real, and fully given, he’d rather walk away. It’s a reminder wrapped in rhythm: loving yourself means refusing the small version of what you deserve.
Filled with Hechter’s signature humor, glamour, and optimism, “Boy Problems” is a club anthem and a soul-stirrer all at once. The bilingual lyrics expand its emotional reach. The track feels at home anywhere, from Parisian dance floors and New York rooftops to headphones on a bus or speakers at Pride.
This is a jam that makes you feel like you’re flying, free from pretense. It’s definitively dance-pop and unmistakably Van Hechter, though the smile has a real heartbeat underneath. Listeners will hear that signature flair; he’s still cheeky, stylish, and unapologetically queer. His artistry is simply sharpened with new emotional honesty. This is a growth moment, delivered with a wink and a synth hook.
“Boy Problems” is a significant step beyond a simple catchy single. It’s a toast to self-worth. A glittering rebellion against lukewarm love. A reminder that the dance floor can be a place to heal. This sonic centerpiece belongs on your playlist, and on your friends’ too.
Sometimes a song shows up like that friend who kicks open the door without knocking, grinning and saying, “get your shoes, we’re leaving.” “Tule Tule,” the new single from South Sudanese artist TR Craze featuring Jamaican-UK rapper Caine Marko, moves exactly like that. The track is bold and charged, carrying the weight of lived experience while stomping over a dark, menacing drill beat that feels built for the streets as much as the club.
TR Craze’s backstory reads like a movie script Hollywood studios would fight over. He was born in South Sudan, shaped by the trauma of civil war, and pushed into the harsh realities of refugee life. He literally survived the treacherous routes through Libya and across the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe. This man distills survival into rhythm. On “Tule Tule,” you can feel that heart, that urgency, and that fire in his delivery, channelled into a raw, assertive drill performance that cuts through even if you don’t understand a single word of the opening verse. At its core, “Tule Tule” is a raw, assertive drill track that isn’t afraid to bare its teeth.
The word “Tule” comes from Nuer. It refers to youth games and the electric thrill of chasing something, whether that’s victory, joy, or destiny. TR Craze uses that spirit like a drumbeat beneath his voice. The choruses hit with a communal, call-and-response warmth but here that playfulness is flipped into a gritty, chant-like hook – “Tule Tule” – that feels like the rallying cry of a crew on the move. Even without translating the lyrics, the tone tells you everything. This is about motion, pursuit, celebration, and refusing to stay stuck in the past, all wrapped in an unapologetic, high-adrenaline atmosphere. Lyrically, the track leans into street life, dominance and crew loyalty, matching the tension in the beat.
Behind them, producer Kyxxx builds a dark, tense soundscape, stitching drill drums with Brazilian bounce and Bhangra-flavoured rhythmic elements that keep the track constantly on edge. The result is a gritty, energetic and unapologetic atmosphere that pulls you straight into their world.
Then Caine Marko slides in for the second verse, and the whole energy pivots into a sharp, swagger-heavy bounce. His flow is clean but gritty, confident and confrontational, shifting between braggadocio and sly charm.
“She knows I’m a wolf and I run the pack,” he starts, classic alpha talk, but delivered with a laid-back grin. “She come first like running track,” he continues, flipping between affection and athletic metaphors like a man who’s too used to moving fast.
Then he opens up the verse more: “Doing dirt and getting with a bitty, I only pretty… then back to the city. Got me some liquor then it got me some weed.” It’s lifestyle rap, but the reckless, unapologetic kind. It’s the messy, outside-at-night, live-in-the-moment vibe that balances TR Craze’s more grounded narrative. When he ends with “you going to hang with the gang,” the energy snaps into a group-hyped finale, a reminder that music like this isn’t meant to be consumed alone, underlining the crew-first loyalty at the heart of the record.
“Tule Tule” works because it blends worlds without softening its raw, street-hardened edge. It merges East African emotion, Caribbean-UK swagger, drill and hip-hop grit, Brazilian and Bhangra textures in Kyxxx’s production, diaspora storytelling, and a spirit of joy that refuses to be dimmed by pain.
Let “Tule Tule” run while you’re walking, cooking, texting, or plotting big dreams – or getting ready to step out with your crew.