Caly Bevier

Caly Bevier

Photo: Cassidy Sparrow/Getty Images

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Calysta Bevier On Releasing First Music Video, Being A Part Of the LGBTQIA+ Community, Surviving Cancer & More

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At 19, rising pop artist Calysta Bevier has just released her second single, "Hate U Sometimes"—her follow-up to 2018’s anthemic "Head Held High"–and has just released the coinciding music video for the single
Crystal Larsen
GRAMMYs
May 31, 2019 - 4:03 pm

Caly (pronounced like the shortened term for California) Bevier is cool, calm, and collected when we meet at the bustling NeueHouse shared workspace in Hollywood on a Wednesday evening. Entertainment industry professionals are holding meetings, drinking coffee, furiously typing away on their laptops or smartphones, but Bevier remains chill.

She arrives with her boyfriend, Sam, in tow, and is rocking the perfect shade of pink hair. At 19, the rising pop artist has just released her second single, “Hate U Sometimes”–the follow-up to 2018’s anthemic “Head Held High”–and has just released the coinciding music video for the single. She’s also currently finishing up songs for an EP expected later this year, working with a notorious roundtable of who’s who of songwriters – Bonnie McKee (Katy Perry, Britney Spears), Mike Green (5 Seconds of Summer, Gwen Stefani), and Joe Garrett (Zayn) to name some.

It all might sound like the culmination of years of hard work, but Bevier is not a typical 19-year-old pop star on the rise. She’s a stage three ovarian cancer survivor who was diagnosed at the age of 15 and found her shot at fame because of it.

“I really tried to stay as strong as I could,” says Bevier on receiving her diagnosis. “It definitely changed me as a person. I have this whole very positive outlook on life.”

After her touching cover of Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” for a friend’s benefit event went viral, she got a call to appear on the “Ellen” show and then an invitation to audition for “America’s Got Talent.” Bevier wasn’t expecting all the opportunities she’s had since then.

“I never thought I would make it in the music business,” says Bevier, sitting comfortably and effortlessly stylish in jeans and a zip-up windbreaker. “Everything that you hear when you’re younger [about chasing your dreams] … people tell you not to go after those dreams.”

Bevier also never thought she’d win the compliments of Simon Cowell, one of the fiercest critics in reality television and one of the “America’s Got Talent” judges, or that she’d go on “Ellen” and perform with Platten. But she did.

And now, with the release of her first music video for “Hate U Sometimes,” Bevier is informing the world of who she is, what she believes in, and who she continues to fight for. The video features her boyfriend, Sam, who recently transitioned from female to male.  

In an interview with the Recording Academy, Bevier chats about her new single, how her life was forever changed at 15, the meaning behind the “Hate U Sometimes” music video and more.

“Hate U Sometimes” is out now. How did this song come about?

So, I was actually pitched this song. Sarah Barrios and Jake Torrey [and Nicki Adamsson] wrote it originally. They sent it to me, and I was lucky enough to really connect with it. I think as people are listening to it, a lot of people are connecting with it. Then I went into a session and we finished the whole song. I helped write the bridge and we did some lyric tweaks. Originally, they used the word “boy” a lot and I wanted to keep the song kind of gender-less, so we switched that up.

What connected you with the song?

I was talking to one of my friends, and they were like, “Who would you relate this song to?” Sam and I were about a year and a few months [into our relationship at the time,] so obviously, we [had] our little tiffs here and there, [but] there’s not really moments where I would ever use the word “hate” for Sam. But, [I talk] to my mom on the phone, constantly. … I think picking the best person to relate this song to is my mom and me, honestly.

Your mom has played a significant role in your life and career.

Originally when I started coming out here, she was almost like my manager. Our relationship has gotten so much stronger since she took the mom role on fully instead of trying to do both.

Going back a little bit, your life totally changed at age 15. It was summertime, you were on vacation, you discovered this lump on your stomach that had been there for a while. You go to the doctor, and you learn it’s cancer. During this time, Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” becomes your anthem. Do you remember hearing that song for the first time?

I couldn’t tell you the first time I actually heard that song. But the moment that it clicked for me was on my way to my first chemo treatment. “Fight Song” came on and I really took my time to listen to the lyrics while we were driving and I was like “OK, everything’s going to be fine. I got this.” So, I think hearing that song on my way to my first chemo was kind of like the reason I was able to be so strong the whole time.

What was it that made you think, “I’m not giving up?”

First of all, I didn’t inform myself [completely of what was going on with me.] I would go to my treatment, I would do everything that I could do on my part to try and get better. But I didn’t know all the numbers and percentages of my survival rate. I just wanted to live as much as I could. My dad told me, you can either be sick and be sad and negative about everything, or you can be sick and be happy and positive and live your life to the fullest. Either way, you’re going to be sick. So why make it worse with being negative and being down on yourself all the time? So, I think when my dad told me that, that’s also one of the reasons I got through everything with my head held high. Why be sad? I was sick, it wasn’t going to change.

So, from there, you record a cover of “Fight Song.” You perform it at a benefit. And then Ellen sees it, and you fly to L.A. to be on her show. Then “America’s Got Talent” comes calling. Can you summarize what the last three years have been like for you?

They’ve been everywhere. I’m very go-with-the-flow. That’s something I tell everyone. I’ll do these events. I travel. I’m just kind of living it. I don’t think about it too much. But there are moments when I’m sitting there waiting to perform. That’s when I have time to think about how lucky I am. I came from this small town in Ohio to now traveling all around and living this dream. It’s just been crazy. I don’t know what other word to put to it. It’s been a whirlwind.

So the music video for “Hate U Sometimes” is out today. It’s so beautiful. How did your boyfriend, Sam, get involved with your music video?

We were throwing a bunch of ideas around. We talked about him being in it before, but it was just a passing thought. And then my manager was like, the team at BMG thinks it could be a good idea for Sam to be in the video. And I was like OK well let me ask Sam. I’m down if that’s their idea and they’re happy with that, let’s do it. So, I asked him, and he was more than happy to.  

Normally, Sam is taking photos and video. So, seeing him in front of the camera was cool. Him going through this whole transition was a big part of it. It was cool for me to be able to watch him be confident.

Do you think that this video is going to be one where you’re really kind of open about your relationship?

Oh yeah, for sure. I don’t think I’ve actually had an opportunity yet to really show a different side of me other than the inspirational cancer side. So, with this whole “Hate U Sometimes” video I get to show the love side of me. I get to show the part of me that’s in the LGBTQ community. I get to open up so many more doors for myself, and it’s so amazing. I’m really happy that I finally get to take a few different paths.

As a teenage cancer survivor, you’ve already inspired so many. But this story that you’re going to tell in this video opens up a whole other community.

By showing someone that’s transgender in the music video, I hope that a lot of other transgender people see it and think, “Oh, I can be in a music video on TV?” I don’t know how else to say it.

How do you think this relationship and this music video will speak for you specifically as an artist? How is it shaping you and the story you want to tell?

It obviously shows I’m part of the LGBTQ community, I’m pansexual. I am an ally for the trans community and for any other group in the LGBTQ community. I want people to know that. I want people to know that I’m here for them. I’m on their side. And then it also helps show who I am as an artist and my music. This song is really close to the lane that I do want to go down in the future.

Do you have a message for people celebrating Pride Month?

Be unapologetically yourself.

Switching gears, you released “Head Held High” last year. That sounds like your own personal fight song.

That’s pretty much why I wrote that song. So I could have my own personal “Fight Song.” It was the first song I ever wrote in a session in LA. We went in and were like, OK let’s write about your story because it’ll be a good song to release for your first single after everything you’ve been through. We wrote it from my perspective. The whole time I had my head held high; I was very positive. It’s crazy because someone DM’d me on Instagram the other day and they were like, “Did you know that when you were eliminated off [‘America’s Got Talent’] Simon said to you, ‘You can leave this competition with your head held high.’” And I was like, are you kidding me? I had no clue. I don’t believe in coincidences but obviously that all happened for a reason.

Your lyrics are all so relatable. What do you think makes you relatable to people?

We all have relatively the same experiences in one way or another. Someone might hear a song and take it one way. And someone might hear the same song and take it a totally different way. But I just think I’m relatable because I’m just another human on the planet like everyone else.

In January you just posted a song that you were playing on the piano, “Really Love”?

Oh yeah, I was just writing in my room. Sometimes I’ll just play random chords and then write to them.

When did you start playing the piano?

I just taught myself. Anything that has to do [with music] other than singing I just started two years ago when I moved here. Before I always just liked to sing … But after “Ellen” and [“America’s Got Talent”] what was more of a dream turned into reality, so I had to really start working for what I wanted.

You’ve mentioned “Ellen.” I’m curious what went through your mind when you got the call?

The first call happened, and I was at school, and they called my parents. My mom texted me and was like, “Oh my god, your dad’s on the phone with Ellen right now.” My heart kind of dropped, but I didn’t want to take it too seriously. So, I left class, went to the office and I was like what is going on? And they were like they saw your video and they want to put it up on
“ellentube.” So, I was like OK, awesome. I was super excited about that. I never thought I was going to be on the show.

Then I got the call and [the “Ellen” producer] was like, “Do you want to come to the show?” And I thought it was just to be in the audience. And then we flew out, and the day before the show she calls and was like, “Well I hope that you’re ready because you’re going to sing ‘Fight Song’ on the show.” And I’m like you’re kidding me. And at this time, I felt fine I was feeling healthy, and then I woke up the day of the show and I felt so sick. I couldn’t breathe. And I called and was like how am I going to sing? And she was like we’ll do anything we can. … They made me feel a little better, and I got to sing with Rachel Platten.

Did you know you were going to sing with Platten?

I had no clue.

What was it like when you saw her walk out onstage?

Everyone asks me what I felt like at that moment, and I don’t really know. It was just like [I was] floating like in a dream. I still think about it and it’s like did that happen for real? It was crazy.

Kind of like on “America’s Got Talent” when Simon immediately sent you to the live show.

Yeah, it’s the exact same thing. … I grew up watching “American Idol” and “Ellen.” Those two things starting my whole career pretty much is a dream, literally.

How do you think music has played a role in getting you through these difficult periods?

I think music is a form of therapy. If you’re sad, you’re going to have your sad music that you always want to turn on to make you happy. And if you’re happy you’re going to have your happy playlist that keeps you going. I just think that music is medicine.

How do you think you can use your music to inspire teenagers or people in general who are going through cancer treatments?

I think through the lyrics. If anyone can find any bit of inspiration through lyrics that’s great. I want to show people that there is life after your sickness.

What do you think the biggest lesson is that you’ve learned over the last three years?

Just finding positivity in everything that you can. I think it’s very important to always look on the bright side.

What’s been the most memorable moment of your career so far?

I will never forget recording the music video. Just looking out into the hills and everything around me and the beauty and I stopped and was like, “I’m recording a music video for my song. This is so crazy.” And then I just performed “Head Held High” at a halftime show for the Houston Dynamo. It was the first time I performed my own song in a stadium. I’m just so grateful for every little thing that I’m doing.

What do you think we’ll see from you in the next five years?

I think you’ll definitely see tons of music. I just want to be an artist that people know. And when they hear me on the radio [they’ll think], “That’s Caly.” That’s what I hope.

 

Miley Cyrus Releases 'She Is Coming,' Announces EP Trilogy

GRAMMYs

Blu DeTiger 

Photo: "Cotton Candy Lemonade" Music Video Still

News

Blu DeTiger's "Cotton Candy Lemonade" Turned COVID-19 Emotions Into A Dreamy Song Full Of Endless Hope

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The singer/songwriter and bassist tells GRAMMY.com more about the single, what her forthcoming project will sound like, how she feels connected to Shawn Mendes and more
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Oct 26, 2020 - 5:00 pm

Blu DeTiger, like many of us, has felt the weight of the pandemic. The singer/songwriter and bassist turned her feelings into her latest single, "Cotton Candy Lemonade," a dreamy song about wanting to be anywhere else with that special someone. 

"I've been on my own/ Come find me now/ I'm lonely to the bone/ But I don't feel so low/ When you're around," she sings before opening up a sea of endless possibilities. "I wanna get lost with you/ Picture waking up somewhere new/ I wanna get lost with you."

The song is "classic quarantine, COVID emotions and just longing for a different time," she tells GRAMMY.com in a recent interview.

The song's video only magnifies the dreamy vibe with hazy scenes and candy-colored New York landscapes as she rides off on the back of a motorcycle. 

Despite the heavy feelings, Blu wanted the song to be hopeful, a feeling that comes through the song's beat and her smooth groovy-inspired bass line. 

"It is coming from a hopeful place. It's not a sad bop," she adds.

Blu, who went viral onTik Tok unexpectedly in the spring and has found herself giving people a soundtrack to create on the platform during these times, caught up with GRAMMY.com to talk more about her latest single, what her life looks like now, what we can expect on her next project, how she uses DJing to solidify her sound, how she feels connected to Shawn Mendes and more. 

How are you spending your time these days? What does your day to day look like now?

Oh, man. I mean, I feel like it's changed over time during this whole thing now that things are a little bit more open in New York, but yeah, my day-to-day, I wake up, have my coffee, whatever. Go through my—I'm doing very basic day to day right now—I'm going very detailed ... check my stuff, emails and texts and things and then I usually, nowadays, I do a walk around my neighborhood just to get back in the zone of going outside and then I'll work on music basically the rest of the day until the late hours of the night. 

Have you noticed something that you didn't notice before about the city while on your walks?

Yeah, now it's weird because the energy here is really good right now. I know that sounds crazy. Everything is so horrible in the world, obviously but the energy here, I feel like it's like more of a community now and real, OG New Yorkers are here and it's been feeling good and I'll Citi Bike. I like to bike around now these days near the water while it's still nice out. But yeah, people are out and about, just relaxing, enjoying themselves. 

Your latest single is called "Cotton Candy Lemonade." I know you wrote it under quarantine. What's the story behind the song?

I've been working with some friends, these two producers, Eugene and Stelios and this other writer, Jessie. Eugene and Stelios had these starting chords and sent them to me and then we got on Zoom and I added the bass and we wrote the song over it pretty much and it came together really quickly. It was interesting that it was over Zoom, I think it was one of my first Zoom sessions. So, I think that was weird, but now I'm more used to that. So, it was over Zoom and it came together really quickly. I think it was just a lot of what I was feeling at that time. The classic quarantine, COVID emotions and just longing for a different time, like pre-COVID or post-COVID. 

Did those first chords set the mood at all for the song?

Yeah, definitely. Those chords just inspired the feeling ... I added the bass and the drums and stuff and I think that the movement of the groove... It's still a driving song, it still drives from the base groove and stuff and I think that's also what's cool about this song because it is coming from a hopeful place. It's not a sad bop, I still think there are some positives in there about it.

You recently released the video directed by Sacred Pact. Were you and Sacred Pact still able to get your vision across through the video?

Yeah, totally. It was different because obviously, it was a very tight set. It was only like four people or five people on set and we all tested and all of the COVID precautions we did before but yeah, it was weird that it was small, but I liked it and it was an all-female set as well, which was special and just good energy. But I think we were able to do well with the limitations. The Sacred Pact girls are so cool, they shot and edited and directed. They took on a bunch of different hats, we all had to. So, that was fun, it was real teamwork and it felt really good. I had so much fun shooting that day. Just riding on a motorcycle in the city is the best feeling ever. 

When it comes to your music-making process, is there a time you feel most creative?

Yeah, definitely at night between the hours of like midnight and four. It sounds crazy but it's really hard for me to get out of this schedule. I feel like a lot of people actually got into that sleep schedule where people are staying up later and then waking up later ... When quarantine first started and I've gotten into that cycle and I still hadn't broken it but I've just found that I'm way more creative at night when the sun goes down and it's those 12 to 4 a.m. hours, so that's been fun. I'm still doing that. That's when I really sit down to write music and record stuff at home. I found out that's been my process but then when I think about it, I'm also like, "That makes sense," because I'm used to djing. Before COVID, I was djing a lot and those hours would always be 12 to four, those are the nightclub hours or like 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. That's when I would be working anyways in normal times. So, I think I'm just used to that schedule anyways.

Does being a DJ influence your music-making at all?

Totally. I'm so grateful that I have a background in DJing because, first of all, it makes you have a wide, vast knowledge of music throughout the decades. You need to know the hits through every decade, especially if you're djing. I've DJed weddings and bar mitzvahs and all that stuff and you need to know your stuff. You need to know the hits and I've also done other things where... I've just done every genre, so I think it made me just have to know a lot of music and listen to a lot of music and, of course, that's always going to be an influence. To make music, you got to hear other music but also, just the experience of playing to a crowd and being able to control the crowd and seeing what makes people dance and what makes people move and what makes people leave the dance floor and what gets a reaction out of people, different moments in songs and picking up on that and being aware of that has also been really helpful.

I want to pick your DJ brain for a little bit because I know that we've had to adjust a lot to the fact that live music is still not something we're able to experience. Do you feel like these live streams... Is that good for now or do you feel like you just can't wait until you can be in a room with people?

I don't know, I have mixed feelings because I know this is the only other thing that's possible right now, so I don't want to bash it but it's definitely not the same at all, for me at least. It's been tough just to capture that live experience, there's just nothing like it. I definitely think it's the best next thing that's possible but yeah, I don't know. I'm hoping that shows come back soon so you can get that feeling again. Even just like perform... I mean, I did these performance videos from home that I've been uploading on YouTube with each song. Obviously, it wasn't the same but I definitely think it was so therapeutic for me to put those together and just rehearse, like put myself back in a rehearsal mode and back into thinking about the songs in a live performance setting, which is so good for me and I feel like I had those endorphins go off again and I was missing that, craving that feeling. So, I was able to tap into it a little bit, making these videos from home but yeah, I mean, I don't know. I miss sweaty bodies in a room so bad.

Can you be a DJ and also make your own music at the same time? Or is it something that you're like, "I'm going to make music for this amount of time and I'm not going to DJ, I'm just going to focus on making music"?

I definitely think they go hand-in-hand and you can do both for sure. I also think the best feeling is like when I first started to complete my songs for my project, I would test them out in DJ settings and I would mix them into my DJ sets and that's the best feeling ever. Just hearing your song in comparison to other songs and seeing people dance to it but even if they don't even know what they're listening to, but they just know that they like it. Just seeing a genuine live reaction from a crowd in a DJ setting is really special and cool. When I first started finishing my songs and testing them out in the clubs, that was really fun. You could definitely do both and they go hand-in-hand. I mean, it's all music so I think anything music-related. I used to be like, "Oh my God, I do all these different things and how do they come together?" And I feel like they just always come together ... music is fluid and flows and it's all in the same category, in the same mother, you know?

You've been releasing singles since late 2019, can we expect an album soon?

Yeah, not an album but an EP, for sure, is on the way and then album soon after that but yeah, I'm really excited for this. I haven't released a full body of work yet, so I'm super excited to do that and just have that snapshot of a bunch of songs. So, that's coming next year, so I'm really excited about that.

 I noticed that the singles you released in late 2019 were very dance-pop and we started to hear a little bit of a change in "Tangerine" and then "Figure It Out" and "Cotton Candy Lemonade" lose the dance feel a little bit, can we expect these sounds to make up your EP?

Yeah. I mean, I think the EP definitely has some more dance elements in there. I feel like I started with that because that was the world that I was coming from with the DJ background. I had that influence and I feel like just the music I've been making now, I feel like it's probably the same for a lot of artists these days, during quarantine, but no one's going out and really dancing, I guess, so it's been harder to sit down and make dance music because no one's out there dancing. My thought process I think is just like, "I'll just sit down and make more mellower, groovier tracks," but I'm always going to have that influence in my music because that's just what I like and what I grew up on and also like the funk stuff and disco, that genre is what I really fell in love with when I started playing bass and stuff like that. So, that's definitely in the vibe of the EP, for sure.

What are some of the other sounds that inspired you to make music when you were younger?

Definitely the late '70s, early '80s funk is my sweet spot of music I love, so that's definitely in there and the production style is just... all of the sounds are just so amazing. So, definitely, a sense of that is in there. I mean, I don't know. I listened to everything, I know that sounds like cliché everyone's like I listen to everything, but I do really try to take in everything and I feel like stuff just comes out here and there in my music, whether it's a subconscious decision or I'm actually sitting down and being like, "I'm going to try to replicate this cool thing that I heard in this song." 

What is one genre or artist that you think people would be surprised you like?

Good question. I honestly, I feel like I've talked about this before in an interview but I honestly love Shawn Mendes. He's a major artist, so maybe it's not surprising but I think the new song is so good and I'm pumped for his documentary he just was talking about because I remember I first followed him on Vine when he had not that many followers, so I feel a certain connection but I mean, I don't know. I guess that's a good answer for that question. 

Going back to your project, how do you feel like you're growing working on it?

Oh, damn. I think in the biggest way is, in the past songs I've released, I haven't done as much production work on it, except for "Cotton Candy Lemonade." I co-produced that one, but for the songs before, I wasn't as, I guess, hands-on, on the computer with the production and with these new songs that are coming out, I'm the main producer on the song and really getting into that producer hat zone. So, I think that's probably the biggest way that I'm growing, is I'm really getting into doing more of the production on my own and really just flushing out my ideas from start to finish. Just me or just me and my brother, I've been working with my brother a lot in quarantine. That's the biggest way I'm growing is in my production skills, for sure. 

Is that something that you've always wanted to do, produce?

Yeah, for sure. I learned Ableton at an early age and I would always experiment, but I never sat down to write songs within and I slowly started to. I went to NYU for music and going there I learned some more skills because they have a bunch of production classes and things like that. So, I was slowly getting better but I wasn't as confident in myself and I never called myself a producer. I feel like now I can call myself a producer but before, I would always be scared to be like, "I produce too," because I just wasn't as confident, so I definitely had to put in the hours and practice before I could really take that on.

People ask themselves, "Is it worth going to school?" In your opinion, what do you think? Is learning in the classroom worth it? Or have you learned the most being an artist and producer?

It's so hard because I feel like everyone's different and everyone has a different style. I mean, I'm definitely so grateful that I got to go to NYU. I left a few years in because I had touring opportunities, but I definitely learned a lot while I was there and it was really good for me just to meet other people and be in the room with the other kids was really important. Classmates inspire you and you inspire classmates and that all rubs off on each other and being in the room with the professors, just having that network is really important but, I can only speak from personal experience. From my experience, it was important for me to leave when I did. And I definitely learned... there are some things you can't learn in the classroom and you got to really just go out and experience because someone telling you how to tour is different than you actually touring, you know? I think just getting life experience is really important. So, I would say a mix, but it really depends on what you want to do and if you want to be an artist or producer, engineer or music business, I think it all really depends on the person in the situation but for me, I'm really grateful I had the mix of both, like the best of both worlds.

When it comes to your forthcoming project, is there something you want to accomplish for yourself?

I think just to feel good about... I don't know. I mean, I do feel really good about it already but I think just to get it out there and for people to hear it. Just to release it. I think every time I release music, I'm just so happy after I put something out. It just feels like another part of you is being shown or expressed. 

This album will have a little bit more of you in the production sense

Yeah, totally. I think you'll definitely get a better taste of me and some different sides of me and qualities and it's a good sum up of just where I'm at right now or where I was when I wrote it and yeah, I'm pumped to just keep growing, keep experimenting and going on and writing more stuff forever. It's been a good journey and process for sure.

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GRAMMYs

La Oreja de Van Gogh

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'Un Susurro En La Tormenta' Has Veteran Spanish Band La Oreja De Van Gogh Looking Inward For Stories To Tell

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The Latin GRAMMY-winning band's eighth album is their most personal yet
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Oct 23, 2020 - 5:04 pm

With more than 20 years in the game and through a number of albums, La Oreja de Van Gogh's romantic pop songs and masterful storytelling have evoked tears, laughter and smiles. Four years after their last release, 2016's El Planeta Imaginario, the veteran band who formed in 1996 in Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain (vocalist Leire Martínez Ochoa joined the band in the late '00s) return with what they call their most autobiographical album yet.

Past albums have featured a mixture of personal songs and songs inspired by others, but this time around, Un Susurro en la Tormenta (a whisper in the storm) has the Latin GRAMMY-winning and GRAMMY-nominated band digging deep and looking to each other for lyrical inspiration. "All the songs on this album are ones that we have lived, all those songs are born from looking not around us but inward," Martínez Ochoa tells GRAMMY.com in a recent interview. 

Back on the album promotional cycle during the pandemic for their eighth album, the band finds themselves hungry to be back on stage—their tour was postponed due to COVID-19. Despite the chaos, the commercially successful band doesn't worry too much about success these days. 

"I think we have lost that kind of obsession with figures, data, survival. It is like we are calm, we have arrived, we are already in our zone," keyboardist Xabi San Martín says. 

The charismatic San Martin and Martinez Ochoa recently spoke to GRAMMY.com about just how personal this album is, what role instruments play in amplifying their feeling, their growth as a band, what they want to do next, and more. 

How’s life now that the world is so different?

Xabi: I live in 2008, so I have 12 years left to get [to 2020]. It's been quite a year—It's been a very strange year. We finished recording our new album in January and instead of going out to do interviews, promotion and concerts for it all over the world, we had to keep it in a drawer and we had to wait at home due to all the circumstances. This has been a really weird year. Let's hope the worst is over. The album has finally hit the streets. We are already preparing a tour for 2021 as if there was no virus. We are going to give it our all, give everything on stage. Our reality will be to play dumb and act as no virus exists and prepare the best possible show.

Beyond not being able to promote the album like usual, was any other aspect of the album affected by COVID?

Leire: Actually, not much. As Xavi said, the album was recorded before the state of alarm and confinement. We finished recording everything in the recording studio in January. The only thing that was affected, of course, is the tour. We should have been traveling and touring all over the United States and doing the entire summer tour in Spain since May. All that has been postponed, of course, but fortunately the only thing that affected us a little more initially was that we could not get together to shoot music videos. We had planned a music video the same weekend there was the state of alarm and all that had to be postponed. Fortunately now technology allows us to work from home, get projects done. The "Abrazame" music video was made from home and we believe it has ended up being that much more incredible. Sometimes you never know where opportunities will come from.

It’s true. It makes me wonder, how has this moment affected your creativity?

Xabi: I suppose that when we continue writing new songs we will be able to see how much of the virus [has affected the way we make] music. We just finished the album, it was practically in the mastering phase when the state of alarm started, so we’ve [used very little] creativity. We can tell you many colleagues have taken advantage of the confinements and the lockdown to write new music but there are more than 10 children that we have in total [among us] and they are small children, that is, our house was more like a battlefield in Syria, quite incompatible with creation of any kind [possible]. We were closer to needing psychiatric and pharmacological help than putting two notes together. I believe that all of this is an experience that, like all others, will sooner or later become a song possibly.

The title of the album, Un Susurro en la Tormenta is attention-grabbing. What inspired the name?

Leire: We believe the space created by the album title allows you to keep sharing things [and keep conversations going]. We believe that we live in somewhat crazy times, we live very fast, everything is done fast at breakneck speed. I believe that sometimes we spend little time looking at day-to-day things a lot but that they really are the things that matter. Sometimes, like the title says, it’s those whispers in the middle of the storm, especially that noise that sometimes takes over us and accompanies us on a daily basis, that are precisely what gives meaning to life and what we like. In this case, we believe that this album and these 11 stories are something between whispers and conversations, a bit with the idea that they are a whisper in the middle of the storms that each of us live.

This is your first album since 2016, when did you begin making it?

Xabi: Good question. I think we started—

Leire: We finished the last album’s tour in early 2018, more or less around summer. I think more or less around that time we started with the composition.

Xabi: Yes. Two years for a 40-minute album, which comes out to like 45 seconds a day. [Laughs.] The last person to live like this, has now left the country, his name is Juan Carlos I, who was the king of Spain. He worked just like us, what happens is that now he has escaped...

But anyway, we have lived very well, it has been two years of—We wanted to do things slowly because, thank God, after so many years we no longer have to follow trends or what the record companies say about, "You have to take advantage the moment." It's been more than 20 years of making music for us and we can allow ourselves the luxury of waiting for inspiration calmly and enjoying the process, without stress and without having to meet stressful deadlines because, "What if sales, what if--." In that sense, we’ve relaxed and we have cooked this album over very low heat.

When you're making a song, what’s your goal?

Xabi: I think that actually before there is a song, there is usually a story, something that has happened to us or something that has happened to someone close to us and for whatever reason, it has impacted us. It happens to any human being, we are all moved by situations, stories, experiences. What happens is, I suppose we try, with greater or lesser success, is to turn it into a song. Trying to tell a story that provokes the same sensation as the one we have experienced is our great ambition. I suppose that sometimes we have succeeded and sometimes not. That is the great ambition, to move and transmit what has inspired us for the song. That being said, this is very abstract, it’s like explaining the joke but when your heart is broken and you want to share that, you write a song, and if you succeed, it will break the heart of the listener for three minutes. That is the ambition of anyone who writes music, in our case, it is like that. That's our greatest goal.

You’re known as a band for your romantic songs. Where do you find new inspiration for those? Are they personal or from people you know?

Leire: They are all close. I also think that in this album, perhaps more than in others, we’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from within, we have searched a lot in ourselves. I think this is the most autobiographical album of all. As you said, we tend to always to talk about the day to day, everyday stories, situations in the world around us, things that disturb us, things that we live or that people close to us live. But I think this one is more autobiographical in particular. Perhaps it is the one that says the most about ourselves in the first person.

Can you share more on why is this album the most autobiographical?

Xabi: In general, in other albums we have told stories that have surrounded us but for the first time all the songs on this album are ones that we have lived, all those songs are born from looking not around us but inward. They are very intimate experiences, they are ours and they are things as dramatic as losing a loved one, nostalgia for impossible loves, for other times or experiences with our children. It is very personal, we have shared a lot of ourselves in these stories. In that sense, it is more autobiographical.

There are songs on this album that are sad and others that are more energetic, is that balance on purpose or is it something that comes naturally to you?

Leire: We don’t count and go, "We've done three upbeat songs—." There's no count at that level. The stories come out and if the song turns out a way that satisfies us all, that is the song that we keep. Only if what we felt wasn’t on the level of the rest of the album we discard it as we felt that it didn’t belong there, but not because the balance leaned more sad or—No. If we liked the song and it moved us, as Xabi said, we kept it, regardless of the style.

There are acoustic songs and there are songs with more instrumentals. Does each one to help you bring out a certain feeling more?

Xabi: Not necessarily. I think that as long as the voice more or less has the feeling, in the sense that it is covered by more or fewer instruments, I think it makes—I don't know, I'm improvising. I think it makes the story more intimate or closer. Suddenly if Leire sings alone with a piano, she is almost whispering to the listener. Whereas if you sing with everyone, drums and all, it can be more epic but not necessarily more exciting.

I don't think there is a direct relationship between the number of instruments and the state of mind. I think that the number of instruments, what it does is get the story closer to the listener or further away, but this is nonsense I am improvising. [laughs]

You're from Donostia but in your career, including on this album, you have songs that reference Madrid. I’ve lived there, I know it’s beautiful. What does Madrid mean to you?

Leire: It is a city that always welcomes us. It is a city we always go to, Madrid is a part of all our records, it is the capital of our country and where most of the media is. Of course, all the promotional plans and tours include Madrid. We have a lot of friends, people who love us [there]. As I told you, throughout the group's career, Madrid has always been very present for us. From recordings, mastering, producers, other artists, festivals. We go there a lot. I also think we have all have a certain personal relationship having spent time in Madrid or spent seasons there, as you have. It is a city that loves us and that we love a lot.

You have released eight albums, is there something about the recording process that was important to you before that no longer is?

Xabi: That is interesting. The truth is that recording techniques keep changing. Before, to record a piano you had to do so over and over the same way 35 times until it came out perfect. There were takes that were perfect, they had soul but suddenly something went wrong so you had to repeat it. Now technology allows a good shot to be corrected or taken from another one. I suppose, in exchange for losing that total honesty we had before in the studio, we have gained more creativity, those digital editing tools that we did not have on the first albums. We have lost that, the romance of the first takes or of playing all at the same time but in return, we have gained many more creative tools that allow [us to expand ourselves.] There are five of us in the studio and yet we recorded 90 different music tracks to get what we wanted. We have lost a bit of sincerity recording, in exchange for making the fantasy better.

How have you grown as a group on this album?

Leire: I think a lot. I think that, precisely what we talked about before, having looked inside to talk about certain issues. Having taken that step in such a clear way seems very brave to me. I think that makes us grow personally and probably also professionally. I believe that in each process of making an album many things are learned from all the people who collaborate on them. To start off, there are five of us who we are contributing things during the entire composition process, recording, on the day to day of the group's experience. Later, when an external factor enters, like the producer, in this case, Paco Salazar, in the end, it is people who always contribute, who teach you things about yourself even that you did not know. It allows you to work in a way that makes you leave your comfort zone and makes you face certain discomforts, so to speak, that make you empower yourself or grow. I think that, in the end, as a band, it’s very good because we all grow and the band grows.

Thinking ahead a bit, is there something musically that you haven't done that you want to do?

Xabi: Good question. The truth is we have done a lot of things that we did not expect, almost none [we expected]. From a record point of view, in the sense of success, we have met all the goals and those anxieties for success, that hunger for number one, I think we have left that behind. Maybe it's easy to say because this album that just came out weeks ago has been at number one in several countries, that's why I say it's easy to say it like that when it still happens to you. I think we have lost that kind of obsession with figures, data, survival. It is like we are calm, we have arrived, we are already in our zone. In that sense, we are quite calm. Artistically, I think whenever we’ve wanted to try something crazy, we've ended up doing it.

Leire: I think the craziest thing we want to do right now is being able to go on tour.

Xabi: So true.

Leire: Artistically it is what we are looking forward to.

Xabi: Get us out of the house, please. Let them put us on stage today. We must also bear in mind that we have to go collect a GRAMMY in 2021. We have to make room—we can take advantage of the tour in Mexico and the United States, and there we can pick it up—

Leire: Yes, please, I have never been [to the GRAMMYs] and I really want to go.

Andrekza Wants To Connect With People Who Think Differently

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Andrekza

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Andrekza Wants To Connect With People Who Think Differently

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The Venezuela native talks to GRAMMY.com about her enchanting debut single "TÉ," what being part of Steve Aoki's label means to her and what she wants to accomplish through music
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Oct 8, 2020 - 10:18 am

There's a lot in a first impression. Press play on Andrekza's first-ever single "TÉ," and you'll understand why Dim Mak En Fuego, Steve Aoki's newly launched Latin music label, has enlisted her as their first female artist. 

The song's intriguing beat will grab your curiosity first, but it's really just the beginning. The track, a song about letting walls down with a romantic interest over tea, is your introduction to Adrekza's magic. A thoughtful songwriter, she captures the beauty of a moment that could easily be nerve-wracking so invitingly; poetic verses disarm you and invite you in warmly. "Vamos a tomar una tazita de te/ Maybe con el azucar se va la timidez," she sings. "Let's go out for a cup of tea/ Maybe the sugar will drive our shyness away."  

Adrekza's gift for writing is a result of having to cope with bullying when she was younger. "When I began writing poetry as a child, that feeling that I expressed on paper, was mine only and it was like that friend who when something happened to me [I confided in]," she told GRAMMY.com recently via Zoom. "It was just that notebook and me because nobody else knew about my lyrics, about my things."

The Venezuela native, a huge art lover who loves expressing herself through fashion and runs her own content creative house LOTUS VISUAL ARTS, signed with Warner Chappell and now has joined forces with Dim Mak En Fuego to launch her career as an artist. 

She spoke to GRAMMY.com about her influences, what inspired writing a song about tea, working with Cassius Corrigan on the Get Out-inspired music video, what being a part of Steve Aoki's label means to her and what she wants to accomplish through music.

Before singing you were a songwriter. Did you like to write for other people?

Yes, I have always liked it but I haven’t had the opportunity to write for other artists, I’ve only written for myself and I really like writing poetry.

When you started with Warner, you didn’t write for other artists?

No. I started with Warner as a composer, for my project. And I am writing for other artists, but mainly I am an artist and creative director.

What do you like about writing for other artists? How do you know when a song is for you and when a song is for another artist? 

I think you feel that. When you are making a song and it vibrates with you, you connect with that feeling that is suddenly so unique and so personal. Sometimes the songs just talk to you and I think that the moment you make songs for other artists, it's the same when you kind of enter the world of that artist and write especially for that person. You feel like that person and you try to express all that feeling in the way that you think that person can. I think that's a super cool power like interpreting the feelings of other artists and other people. That's what I like the most about writing and being able to collaborate with other artists as well.

I read that you write to an imaginary friend, an alter ego. Tell me more about that.

When I started writing and making music, at some point I suffered from bullying. I was bullied by people about making music or for personal reasons that were happening at school and things like that. I suppressed my writing and didn’t share it. I wrote only for myself. When I began writing poetry as a child, that feeling that I expressed on paper, was mine only and it was like that friend who when something happened to me [I confided in]—I opened the notebook and wrote absolutely everything I felt and everything that happened to me. It was just that notebook and me because nobody else knew about my lyrics, about my things. Until I had the opportunity to do a recital in Venezuela and win an award. There it all started with writing and all that.

When you started, you didn't necessarily start wanting to be an artist, you did many other things. What called you to want to be an artist, write your songs and also perform them in front of the world?

Since I can remember, I said that I was going to dedicate my life to art, I come from an artist mother. I think that art has always kind of been inside me. The theme of music at the moment is simply the way I am expressing myself, I have expressed myself in many other ways. I have expressed myself through art, painting, photography, I made a film last year as a cinematographer. I think it's a journey that I'm [spending through music] at the moment, but I think that art is [something you go for]100%. I believe that it is simply a method of expression and I am expressing it that way at the moment. I obviously want to bring this feeling to people who connect with me, who vibrate and feel the same way as me. I can give you this energy that I want to give you and that I know is going to be incredible when I can perform my album in front of people.

How would you describe your energy?

I believe my energy is always positive. I think I always try to find a solution. I think that beyond engulfing ourselves in our problems —I think if we focus or spend a lot of time thinking about the problem or how to solve it, we would look for a solution, I think everything would be much easier. Since I was little my mother has told me that life is imaginary and I think that this way I have spent my energy, I feel that things are magical and that if you dream it and work it, you can achieve it. I think that is the energy, love and that center that you can have within yourself.

What music has influenced your sound?

I like a lot of genres, but I identify [with] a lot. I really like artists like Julieta Venegas, Natalia Lafourcade, I really like those rhythms. But obviously I also really like Latin rhythms and everything happening at the moment, urban and everything. I also identify a lot with that and I like it. Then there are [artists] like Frank Sinatra, I really like Michael Jackson, Reik. Those are some of the artists that I constantly dance to. [Laughs.]

Your single, "TÉ," is now available. It's your first single ever. How do you feel now that it’s out for the whole world to hear?

I feel very happy, very fortunate to be on this journey with Dim Mak En Fuego by Steve Aoki. It has been a blessing to be able to release “Té” with them. The video is already on YouTube, the song is on all digital platforms … and the support I have had has been incredible, I am very grateful to all the people, also to my team who has been working very hard with me and I think it is a team effort that has been very sweet. The song is cool and they have to go listen.

I want to talk to you a little bit about the lyrics because I feel like there is something very calming about meeting someone you’re romantically interested over tea. Usually, people say, "Let's grab coffee, let's get to know each other." Tell me, what inspired the song?

I don't drink coffee, I drink tea and all my life I've had tea and I think that—I believe in energy a lot and I meditate a lot, and tea helps me a lot in many ways. When I discovered that tea had a connection with me beyond—why do I say beyond? Because I feel that the moment you drink tea or the moment you have coffee, so to say if you’re a coffee drinker, you are connecting that energy in that moment just by being present at tea time, and it doesn't matter what you're thinking, but that you’re focusing that energy on that. If you are with a person and you invite him to have tea, it is to know each other intimately because no one else will be there but you and that person looking at each other, basically, drinking tea because that’s how you drink tea. It connects you like that and calms you that way.

Tea, depending on what type of tea you drink or how the tea is prepared, tea has incredible things that help your body a lot and your energy. And sometimes even in the way you carry your day or your life. That’s what tea has meant to me. I think I have such a great connection with that moment and with that feeling and with the ritual, so to speak, of having tea. In the morning I get up, make tea, drink tea, start my day, think, meditate on what I'm going to do and everything starts there. I find it very interesting, being able to invite someone to have tea and invite this person, lovingly, to meet you because I think that at this moment with everything that is happening in the world and how we have developed, how this new generation has grown and formed, I feel that women are sometimes afraid to say what we feel. Sometimes we wait for the other to express a feeling first. I think with this song I was able to express everything I felt. I think that's super cool when you can simply take what you have out of yourself and invite a person to have tea or tell a person that you like each other and that you want to share things with them, you want to see them and you want to get to know them. I think that is super valuable too. There is a feminist theme and many other things that I wanted to touch on in the song.

With everything going on now, how are you taking care of your mental health?

I think the connection with yourself is very important. We were just talking about tea—tea is a moment in which you connect with yourself. It is the connection with yourself, it is not losing focus, it is working for your dream and moving forward, to understand everything that is happening and to be supportive and how from within you can make an improvement for humanity and for society. I also believe that it is super important for mental health and when we know ourselves and when we are also aware that we are not alone in the world and that it is as important to take care of ourselves as it is to take care of the world, other people, the planet.

You are Dim Mak En Fuego’s first female artist on which is super big. Congratulations.

Thank you very much.

Are you going to use this as fuel to help you succeed?

I believe that this is a great blessing that came into my life and it is a great support that I have. Steve is a very important person in my career, who I met a few months ago. I connected a lot with his art, I connected a lot with his way of understanding creativity. He is a man that I admire very much for all his developments, in the business world as well. With Dim Mak En Fuego it was an opportunity to release my album Cassette, which is not done yet. This is the first chapter, "TÉ", but it is a part of an album called Cassette, which has two sides, side A of the cassette, side B of the cassette. It will come with a visual component that is its own world, it is a complete world that intertwines one video with another. We are going to release 12 songs throughout all these months that are left in the year and will go into next year. Without a doubt, I think that this will be a very big boost for me because it is a beautiful opportunity that came to my life and I hope I can take advantage of it and be able to be at the level of commitment that it is.

I also wanted to ask you about the concept of the "TÉ" video that is inspired by Get Out, how did that come about?

It is very interesting. The video in my project, visually, I am co-directing with this incredible director named Cassius Corrigan. He directed, acted and wrote his movie Hurricane, which is currently on HBO. When I teamed up with Cassius, I had all these creative and visual ideas, "Look, I want these colors, I have this idea," he comes up and says, "What if we left him in shock of everything that he is living and experiencing with you, you’re giving him this tea, that he knows tastes different and he is suddenly hypnotized by you. We begin to see him hypnotized. Then he is engulfed in this world and does practically everything you want.” So we developed the idea from there. Get Out is a movie that I love so much. We connected with that and we said, "Okay let's give it a different narrative," and that's what we tried to do, like showing my personality, my colors, but always giving it a narrative there.

Right now, there are many eyes and ears on Latin music. What are your goals? Would you be happy dominating music in Latin America, or do you want to also be massively heard in the United States, and not just by Latinos?

I want anyone to listen to me. I want the person who connects with me through my music or through my art to be feel bordeless, without limits, without barriers. I believe that we are all the same. I believe that there is no difference between Americans and Latinos. I believe that if we connect with love, and music is love, I believe that that is worth everything. Connecting is the most important thing to me and obviously I want to connect with as many people as possible, but for me the most important thing is that I can get there and really connect. Not only can I come in and say, "I dominated this market and I'm here dominating. Cool, I'm being played. People listen to me because I'm getting plays," but I would really like people to connect and say, "Okay. I connect with this, I Like this". Not all of my songs on the album are going to be liked by everyone immediately, that's why we call it a mixtape, because it's kind of super varied. That is the idea, that I can connect with people who have different thoughts, who have different ideals, who like different music. I believe that this crossover is going to be achieved with the energy and with this essence that we have been talking about, which is beyond a music or a song, but a feeling I think.

Warner Music Latina And Trap Corrido Label Rancho Humilde Join Forces

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Blxck Cxsper

Photo: JLL Photographies

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Trans Trenderz Is Making Room For Trans Artists In The Music Industry

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Trans artists have made great strides in the music industry over the past two decades, but many BIPOC trans artists are still finding it hard to make inroads into the world of major labels and mainstream exposure. Meet the label changing that
Robert Ham
GRAMMYs
Aug 27, 2020 - 12:14 pm

Around 2017, Jupiter Gray was on the cusp of something big. The rapper/singer from Columbus, Ohio had already been releasing singles and mixtapes independently when, on the strength of her loose-limbed flow and lyrical attitude, she caught the attention of a major label imprint, who helped her build a repertoire and some buzz. As the relationship continued, label reps sounded more and more excited about signing her.

Then, the phone calls and emails came to an abrupt stop. The reason? According to Gray, it was because she was becoming more public about her wanting to transition.

"The communication stopped completely,” Gray remembers. “Me and my management couldn’t get a hold of anyone. It was a really low point in my career. Being transgender and wanting to make a name for yourself in hip-hop, which is historically, predominantly, male-dominated, it was exciting to get that opportunity. And then it was just nothing once I mentioned that I wanted to pursue my transition."

Trans artists have made great strides in the music industry over the past two decades with the likes of Against Me!'s Laura Jane Grace and pop sensation Kim Petras making serious waves culturally and commercially. But many BIPOC trans musicians and performers like Gray are still finding it hard to make inroads into the world of major labels and mainstream exposure. That struggle is, in part, what is fueling the work of Trans Trenderz, an organization created to support and amplify the work of Black trans artists. 

Started by the Montreal-based producer and performer Blxck Cxsper in 2016, Trans Trenderz is nominally a record label, helping release music from up-and-coming acts like Gray, electro-pop vocalist Heather Hills, and psych-soul singer/songwriter Apollo Flowerchild. Alongside that, the company also began The Ghostly Beats Project, an initiative to help connect trans artists with producers and graphic designers, as well as offering advice on marking and branding.

"I want to help the community as a whole,” Cxsper says. “So let me figure out how I can help people and make the connections needed for them to stay motivated with their music and go further in their careers."

That work has involved some highly visible projects like the release of a mixtape in 2016 featuring nothing but Black trans artists and hosting the Trans Trenderz Music Awards, an event awarding a variety of trans artists like Chicago pop-punkers Size of Sadness and Anjimile, a rising folk artist from Boston, last year. But it's what’s happening behind the scenes that is the true measure of what Trans Trenderz is accomplishing.

This past June, Cxsper announced through their Instagram that they would be willing to hand over a license-free beat to any Black trans artist that needed one. To keep up with the demand, they’ve also opened up a space on the Trans Trenderz website for other producers to offer their services. The label is also making sure their artists have the capacity to make their music sound as good as it can, partnering with Studio G Brooklyn, a recording house co-owned by Joel Hamilton, Chris Cubeta, and former Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone, to record new work by some of the artists Trans Trenderz have signed so far.

"We all came from scenes that were marginalized in our own tiny way," says Hamilton, a veteran of the Midwest punk community. "We started this studio on that founding principle of being out on the edges of music. Now we’re in more comfortable positions in life and the music business and we see that there are people in society that are on the edge and being marginalized. It just fit right into what we believe as humans and what we want to be associated with as a recording studio."

All of these various strands of Trans Trenderz’ work were neatly tied together recently with the Ghostly Beats Conference, an online event that served both to help raise funds for the Ghostly Beats Project and to let the folks behind the label and their industry allies share information and resources with up-and-coming trans artists.

Underpinning all of the amazing work Trans Trenderz is doing is the simple truth that by pushing their artists closer to mainstream success and acceptance could go a long way toward pulling up the Black transgender community as a whole.

"The most important thing that we want people to understand is that we’ve always been here," Cxsper says. "There’s always been Black trans artists and there’s always going to be Black trans artists. It’s not a lack of talent—it’s a lack of knowing the industry that’s kept us from trying to get to these places. It’s a lack of resources. It’s doors being closed in our faces as we are progressing. We need platforms to have that visibility."

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