Coachella Band Preview: Petit Biscuit

Hey! Hi! What’s up?! Coachella is this weekend!!! I’m not next level hyped or anything (<——— That’s a lie.) Last year I was pretty excited about Kungs playing Coachella. He was a slightly known, slightly up and coming electronic artist. This year I have similar feelings about Petit Biscuit, who is similar to Kungs in other ways as well. Both are French electronic DJ’s. Both are also pretty young. Kungs was 20 when he played Coachella last year. Petit Biscuit is a mere 18 years old.

Petit Biscuit is the DJ name for France’s Mehdi Benjelloun. He released his hit single “Sunset Lover” in 2015 when he was only 15 years old. Since then, the single has close to 285 million streams on Spotify and SoundCloud combined. Benjelloun played instruments growing up like the cello, piano, and guitar, but took interest in playing electronic music because of the variety of sounds he could create. He recently graduated high school and started university, but decided to take a leave to pursue his musical success.

His music style is a combination of electronic music genres. Spotify describes his music as being ambient, techno, and house. His background in classical instruments and his interest in electronic music allows him to express himself through the crossing of different genres.Vocal chops, which are fragmented vowels that act as melodic or percussive pseudo-vocal elements, are a big part of his style. His music reminds me of a combination of Odesza and Flume put together.

I first discovered Petit Biscuit while I was analyzing this year’s Coachella lineup. I never heard of him before that. As I was going through the lineup in January, I listened to his tracks and was pretty surprised by what I heard. I really liked it. Initially I had been listening to a lot of Odesza so I kind of got that vibe from the song “Sunset Lover”. Then after reading an interview with Petit Biscuit, where he described Flume as being influential to him as an artist, I was able to see that reflected in his music as well.

Coachella 2018 will mark his first major festival appearance. Petit Biscuit plays on Friday (Edit: He plays Sunday. Gotta fact check myself. Sorry about that!), much like Kungs did last year. Also like Kungs, I’m guessing he’ll play an earlier set at the Sahara Tent. If Sahara is your shit or you have an appreciation for electronic music at all, I highly recommend going to his set. He could be the next big thing in electronic music. I know you have zero time to listen to anything but here’s a few songs you should turn on if you plan on seeing him:

1. Sunset Lover
2. Memories
3. Alone
4. Waterfall
5. Problems

As for me, I’m headed out to California tomorrow to work my second Coachella and be there for the third time. I didn’t think I would be back again, but after some positive peer pressure I decided to make it happen. I’m stoked and I hope I get to see some of these acts I’ve previewed the last 3 months. It should be amazing regardless. Happy Coachella and I’ll see you all on the polo fields!

Coachella Band Preview: Bleachers

Okay guys….it’s a week and a half til Coachella! Who else is stoked besides me?! Even if you’re not going, that live stream is a cool way to spend your weekend (I’ve done it! Ha!). That being said, these band preview blogs are coming to an end. This will be my second to the last post before the festival. I felt like I’ve put this one off for a while for one reason or another. I guess it mostly comes down to the fact that Jack Antonoff is a badass and I felt like I could write so much about him (I condensed this post though). So in case you didn’t already know, this one is about Bleachers.

Bleachers is an indie pop band from New York City. This side project band was started by producer, musician, singer, songwriter, Jack Antonoff. He’s literally a “Jack” of all trades.  His older sister Rachel is also a well-known power house in her respected profession (fashion designer). They’re a talented family, but back to Bleachers.

Bleachers started when Jack was on the road with his former band Fun. of “Some Nights” and “We Are Young” fame. He kept his music making a secret until he eventually dropped the single “I Wanna Get Better” in 2014 along with launching a website, social media, and tour dates. Bleachers debut album, Strange Desire, was released on July 15, 2014. For the following year or more, Bleachers toured in support of the album.

Last summer Bleachers’ second album Gone Now was released and Jack and the band went on tour again promoting the new music. As part of the tour, Jack had his childhood bedroom recreated in a trailer that fans were allowed to enter and listen to the album before its release in June. Jack wanted fans to be able to understand where the new album came from as it was inspired by his youth. Spending time in his bedroom was a huge part of that.

When you think of indie pop music, Bleachers fits that stereotypical vision. The music is happy and upbeat, but still offers that indie sound put together by Antonoff. He records most of the music himself in studio. He brings friends on the road to accompany him for the live shows. He also provides the vocals for the band.

I first heard of the band in 2014 when “I Wanna Get Better” was getting radio airplay (me listening to the radio…weird! I know!). “Rollercoaster” was another song I also got familiar with around the same time due to the same reasons. Bleachers isn’t a band I got into more than their popular singles, but I still think they’d be fun to see at Coachella. I feel like an indie pop band fits the mood of the festival and I probably wouldn’t see Bleachers other than at a festival or at a concert where they’re not the only band being featured.

Bleachers plays Friday. It’s Antonoff’s first Coachella as Bleachers. For me there’s not many bands, I’d like to see that day. The Neighbourhood is definitely my first choice, but checking out Bleachers would be a great option. Bleachers isn’t listed highly on the bill, but I feel like they’ll play later in the day on either the Main or Outdoor stage. I think most people are familiar with the band and would head to see them if they don’t overlap any other favorites. That’s how they would be for me too, but with a small list of acts I’d like to see on Friday, Bleachers is a very viable option. If you’re planning on seeing them or casually dropping by, here’s the tunes to listen to this week:

1. I Wanna Get Better
2. Rollercoaster
3. Don’t Take the Money
4. I Miss Those Days
5. Hate That You Know Me
6. Wake Me
7. Wild Heart
8. Goodmorning
9. Shadow
10. Take Me Away