“I just like funny photos.” We all do, but Ray Potes is particularly good at taking them and the Hamburger Eyes zine he started with his brother has been making us laugh for years. If you haven’t ever thumbed through a copy, I highly recommend it. It’s sure to become a coffee table favorite among your friends.

I recently visited the Hamburger Eyes Epicenter in San Francisco to catch up with Ray and find out what he’s most excited about right now. In an age where startups are competing with their offices perks and gourmet meals, it was refreshing to see Hamburger Eyes keeps it real with video games, a jam room and a chamber where his alien Grey Grey restores his Argon levels. Maybe it’s just me, but I’d feel way more comfortable kicking it with Ray over a 24th St. burrito any day.

Click the photo below and have a listen.

Bonus: Ray’s burrito recommendations in SF

If you haven’t noticed, there’s a tiny shift going on in music distribution right now. It’s been happening for years but it’s finally reared its beautiful head. I’m talking, of course, about self-produced music and marketing.

No one better exemplifies the power of cross-channel musical experiences and promotion then the Huh, What and Where crew. The once Southern California, now global, collective of artists are the paradigm of online collaboration and ideation, an Apollian collective of full-stack artists who cross the territories occupied amongst designers, producers and managers. They began as a group of friends producing music out of their college dorm rooms, a bunch of 20-somethings just making music about “women, life & feeling (or lack thereof)”. As they describe it, it’s a label that’s been created by a artists for artists – “nothing too deep”. Nonetheless, their authenticity and packaging is so refreshing, their energy and output incredibly addictive.

Since 2010, I’ve been constantly impressed by their growth. Today, they boast a large and popular roster, featuring acts from New York City trapstar SWEATER BEATS to Australian beatsmith Ta-ku. In addition to the producers, there’s also the researchers, the DJs, the art directors and the bloggers who collaborate in order to make this all happen. Their music reminds of you good ole 90s R&B, something that often’s great for bumping while driving around town or chilling out with friends at the pad, while their style is something only the millennial generation could generate and remix.

One of the original artists out of the talented bunch is a producer named Bahwee, an artist known for delivering sexy downtempo and chill-hop tracks like Peach Flavored and Hard to Win (featured below).

While I could tell you his whole life story, or go on and on about how good his music is, I thought I’d just let the man speak for himself and share with you some of his thoughts around work and play.

Favorite artist right now?

HW&W, Wedidit, GBE, MMG, and Jeremih.

What’s the best type of place to produce?

A big table to put all my equipment on, a comfortable ass chair, mad inspiration covering the walls, and a lot of weed smoke in the air. Oh and boxes of Jordans laying around. This is my room, basically.

How important do you think focus is?

How important do I think focus is? It took me a couple years to understand what focus and “work” really means, but for an artist I think its everything. But just because your focused doesn’t mean people are gonna feel it though.

How do you know when it’s time to try something new?

I know when its time to try something new when I get bored, which happens often. I get over shit pretty quickly, almost too quickly.

What’s next for HW&W?

Man we are literally just getting started. 2013 will be a big year for us…we got a lot up our sleeves… Without giving too much away just expect more records, more merch, videos, shows, etc… 2013 will be the first year where as a label we start really putting it all together.

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You can listen to HW&W releases on their bandcamp. Check out Bahwee’s music on soundcloud and like him on Facebook to follow his updates. Below, check out “Hard to Win” below:

Bahwee – Hard to Win

Mark is one of the coolest guys to eat a sandwich with. I know that because I just recently ate a sandwich with him outside of PAWA254, a hub for visual creatives, journalists, & organizers across Kenya. We were both working at a Design Day for Human Rights in partnership with Amnesty International, and I got to pull him aside for a moment to talk about being a creative in Nairobi. I was really excited because Mark is a moving target, trying to pin him down is nearly impossible. The 24-year-old Nairobi-based creative consultant / filmmaker / entrepreneur / digital marketer is doing so many things I don’t know where to begin. He’s part of that 1% creating online digital material.

So, what has he been up to lately? Blogging on world-famous networks like Afrinnovator and AfroDigitalArt, co-writing an award-winning videogame for Warner Bros, and consulting for multi-national companies doing business in Africa. You know, the usual.

You can listen to our chat about working as a creative below. Be sure to check out his blog and follow him on Twitter to get some Africa in your stream.

Mark Kaigwa Interview (Mp3)

Robert Raths, founder of Erased Tapes, is a gentleman. A few nights ago, I was sitting across from him at a restaurant in London, eating pasta and drinking wine, while he told the table beautiful stories about artists who are obsessed with coffee and long bumpy bus rides across Europe. And I was feeling really lucky, not only because we were drinking good wine, but because Robert’s the type of guy who inspires you to cultivate your passion and follow through on what makes you want to wake up each morning.

Robert’s got one of the best ears in the industry. Since 2007, he’s built a label specializing in a niche genre of music so beautiful it’ll make you want to cry. He’s constructed a home previously unavailable for innovative and imaginative ambient musicians, now a goofy little family boasting artists such as Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm. Back in the day, this sort of music didn’t really seem to have a place in the scene. Now, with Erased Tapes, they’re touring the world. Together, his label is crossing boundaries between the traditional and the contemporary, constructing a constant dialogue between what they neatly describe as the opposite poles of digital and analogue.

I sat down with Robert to ask our traditional three Do-Tell questions right before the second to last show of his label’s 5th year anniversary tour. We talked about what it’s like to work your love in an industry that’s always on the move…

So, what inspires you?
Life. I mean, since you’re only asking three questions I should probably say more, no? [Laughs] I guess just waking up and having 24 hours to spend is enough inspiration. I just think life is great. It’s a gift.

What’s keeping you busy lately?
Lately? Well, I’m on tour so looking after 14 artists on a sleeper bus with my copilot Sofia. Making sure that everyone is in the right place before the show, during the show, and after the show. And things like eating dinner with new friends. You know, I like meeting as many people as possible that we’ve previously only met by e-mail. I like to combine things when I’m on tour. So I wouldn’t just go to meet ["the press" or the audience] – I go on tour to meet people who inspire me, people who inspire us as a label back. Plus, it’s cost effective for me to go on tour like this because then the artists don’t have to pay for a merch guy…

What are you excited about?
Excited about? Whew. The next 5 years!

I’m excited about spending more time in America actually. About waking up in my own bed again after tour. I’m excited about going to Istanbul, the next stop on our tour. I’ve never been there and it’s the climax of the adventure. We thought London would be a great way to end it, but Istanbul is even greater. London’s our home, so we’re proud to be at Hackney Empire tonight, but I think it’s even more awesome to see how far music can travel. From London to Prague to Istanbul…

Bonus question since I’m looking at your tattoo. It says “live or die but for the band” – what’s that mean to you?
Back when I founded Erased Tapes, it was a time when I made music for myself. But the meaning is universal. To me, as long as there’s a reason to wake up in the morning – and you share that reason with people close to you – then I think life is better than when you’re by yourself. So it doesn’t matter if you live or die, as long as you do it for you and the people around you. In that point in time it was the band, but now it’s the label. But now it also applies to my family, you know, my gang. [Smiles]

You can find out more about Robert and his label on the Erased Tapes website. Below you can watch a short video documenting their 5th year anniversary.

* First photo via The Monograph

If you’ve had the chance to see Jona Bechtolt and Claire Evans, but didn’t, stop that nonsense right now. My first time was FYF last year and ever since I heard about the promise of the Western Utopian American Triangle and saw Claire scaling a giant speaker with an LA Metro train passing behind at twilight, I knew I needed to have a chat with them. I was psyched to get my chance at Outside Lands this year and the duo was just as friendly and intriguing as I imagined. We talked very little music (they get enough of that), but we did prattle on about aliens, the perfect day, science and how they’re inadvertently tapped into luxury boating culture. Have a listen to my YACHT interview below and you’ll like them even more than you already do. Pinky swear.

Photo by Jenn Farmer

YACHT Interview

Ever since I heard You! Me! Dancing! on a 2008 Cornerstone sampler CD, Los Campesinos! had me hooked. The band’s songs almost always make we want to sing, shout and dance (or flail about). But as a person who’s occasionally prone to bluntly speaking their mind when it’s not advisable, what appeals to me is the raw emotion and honesty in lead vocalist’s Gareth Campesinos’s lyrics. Yes, emancipating feelings can get messy and embarrassing, but goddamn I totally understand how good it feels for him to do it. When his publicist penned me in for an interview I jumped at the chance to chat with someone whose live performances make you remember why you enjoy going to shows so much. Among the topics: his creative process, favorite television shows and what he misses most when on tour. Have a listen below and you’ll know Gareth a bit better too!

Gareth Campesinos Interview

I hadn’t heard of Samantha until I YouTube searched a Childish Gambino freestyle performance at Fatbeats in LA I totally should have been at. And while I was curious as to who Donald Glover’s cute DJ friend laying down the dope beats was, it took me until I saw her play two sets in San Diego during Comic-Con before I knew I had to interview this lady with serious tastemaker style. Countless plays of her Cruel Summer mix track later, I got a hold of Sam to ask her how she met Donald (it was on Twitter talking about their obsession of an Amerie remix) and learned her full-time gig is leading the PR department at branding agency 722 Figueroa. Samantha admitted she rarely relaxes and is always working, but fashion and music are her passions so she does whatever it takes. Want to get to know her a little better? Yeah you do. You can start with two things she’s totally excited about right now.

Photo by TigerTiger Photography

1. Last month I had the honor of DJing in Singapore, and I opened for Dâm-Funk, a funk artist I really admire. I also got to go record hunting with him, and he picked out a record for me! That memory is still so unreal to me, every time I think about it. One of the coolest things that happened this year.

2. I’m generally not so savvy in the kitchen, but I made a really delicious salad the other day that I’m very proud of. Check this out: Kale, arugula, feta cheese, smashed up pita chips, lemon & olive oil, maldon salt, and freshly ground pepper. You just don’t know exciting until you know this salad!