Coachella Band Preview: Calvin Harris

I hope none of you are undergoing the winter blues. If so, it’s time to shake them off because Coachella season is here. Warm desert spring days and cool nights are just around the corner. I finally created a Coachella playlist so I’ve been listening as often as I can. That being said, “band preview” is not the phrase I would use to describe who I’m writing about this week. It’s definitely more of an artist spotlight. I debated changing it while writing this, but ultimately decided to keep it the same, as it’s always been the theme. Criticize it all you want though because Calvin Harris definitely isn’t a band.

Calvin Harris, known otherwise as Adam Richard Wiles, is an electronic artist specializing in house, electro house, and electro pop music. He was born in Dumfries, Scotland to English parents and began making music in his teenage years out of his bedroom. While trying to make it in the electronic scene, he moved to London where he did not find success right away. He ended up moving back to Dumfries and continued to produce music from home. He got his break after being discovered through the tracks he posted to his Myspace page in 2006.

Upon signing a recording deal, he went on to release 6 studio albums, 9 EPs, and 51 singles through the last 17 years. Some of his biggest hits came from his 2012 album 18 months and his 2014 album Motion, which include “Feel So Close,” “We Found Love” featuring Rihanna, “I Need Your Love” featuring Ellie Goulding, “Sweet Nothing” featuring Florence Welch (Florence + the Machine), “Summer,” “Outside” featuring Ellie Goulding, and “Blame” featuring John Newman. He ended up winning a Grammy Award for Best Music Video for “We Found Love.” Some of his other biggest hits were only released as singles, such as his 2016 single “This is What You Came For” featuring Rihanna and his 2018 track featuring Dua Lipa “One Kiss.”

Calvin Harris first played Coachella in 2008. He played again in 2012 and 2014 before he became the first DJ to ever headline the festival in 2016. He was slated to play the 2020 installment of the festival but makes his return to the desert in 2023 for the first time in 7 years. Much like last year’s lineup that featured Swedish House Mafia returning to the desert, Calvin Harris also has his own spot on this year’s lineup poster. Given that, I wasn’t sure what night his set would be. After checking out the Coachella app a few days ago though, it seems to have him listed for Saturday. This gives me something to look forward to on Saturday as there are not as many bands or artists I’m looking forward to that day. It’s definitely going to be a fun night. In fact, as I keep going through his discography, it hits me more and more just how underrated this set will be, given the hype over BLACKPINK and Bad Bunny. Also from what I’ve heard, Coachella tried to book Rihanna to headline the festival but the deal didn’t pull through. If history wants to repeat itself for a third time, I wouldn’t be surprised nor would I mind if Rihanna showed up again to perform with Calvin Harris. There’s no question that Calvin Harris will be performing on the main stage. The only question mark I have are whether he will perform after BLACKPINK or not and who will he bring out as his special guests? He does have plenty of other collabs besides the ones with Rihanna. His set is likely to include bops from his entire career so here’s a few you might want to know before showing up to the one of the most fun sets of Coachella 2023:

1. One Kiss ft. Dua Lipa
2. This What You Came For ft. Rihanna
3. Summer
4. Feel So Close
5. We Found Love ft. Rihanna
6. My Way
7. How Deep Is Your Love ft. Disciples
8. Outside ft. Ellie Goulding
9. Pray to God ft. HAIM
10. Sweet Nothing ft. Florence Welch
11. I Need Your Love ft. Ellie Goulding
12. Blame ft. John Newman
13. Under Control ft. Alesso, Hurts
14. Giant ft. Rag’n’Bone Man
15. Slide ft. Frank Ocean & Migos, Funk Wav

Bishop Briggs

2017 is almost over. It’s been such a great year in so many ways. However there were two times I could’ve done something better. I realized I failed twice this year. The first time was with Glass Animals. I started listening to them after they played a bunch of festivals I worked at. Their tour dates were also sold out by then. I found out yesterday the second time I failed was with Bishop Briggs.

Last night I was going through a few pre-made Spotify playlists looking for new music and I decided to listen to a song called “Dream” by Bishop Briggs. I’d known her name since working Coachella back in April. While working at the festival, I was taking a few of our Safari guests to their desired location while we talked about music. I mentioned I thought that BANKS had such a draw at her set that she was too big to be performing at the Gobi Tent. I said she should have been on the Main Stage or the Outdoor Stage (both allow for more space). Then one of the guests agreed and said she thought the same thing about Bishop Briggs. Up until that point Bishop Briggs was just a name on the Coachella lineup to me. I told the guest I never listened to Bishop Briggs and she started talking about her and how great she was. I told her I’d check her out. I never really did until yesterday. Fail.

Sarah Grace McLaughlin, aka Bishop Briggs, is relatively new on the music scene first making her mark with the song “Wild Horses” in 2015, then under the name “BISHOP”. She changed her name to Bishop Briggs in 2016 to avoid any legal confrontation with a metal band by the same name. The name comes from the town where her Scottish parents are from in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. She was born in London, England but spent her formative years growing up in Tokyo and Hong Kong, eventually moving to the U.S. to attend college in Los Angeles. She developed a love for music at a young age after performing in a karaoke bar when she was 4.

After being discovered by a former A&R rep. in 2015, Bishop Briggs gained popularity when “Wild Horses” appeared in an Acura commercial. In early 2016, she released her second single “River”. The song made Alternative charts on Billboard and iTunes as well as topping Spotify’s U.S. Viral 50 chart and reaching #2 on its Global Viral 50 chart. By late 2016 “Wild Horses” started climbing the charts. The song was featured on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart and Twitter Emerging Artists chart as well as iTunes Alternative charts.

She released 3 other singles last year which culminated in her first EP which was released in limited capacity as a vinyl on Record Store Day Black Friday 2016 and in full on April 14, 2017. The full self-titled EP also featured two unreleased songs. She also contributed the song, “Mercy”, to the xXx: Return of Xander Cage Soundtrack and collaborated with Cold War Kids on their song “So Tied Up”. She’s spent time on tours opening for Coldplay, Kaleo, and alt-J as well as playing some major music festivals this past summer. She’s currently on tour opening for Bleachers.

Briggs has described her music as being a trap-soul style. Her singing is dark, deep, and soulful. Her music is also considered to be part of the indie pop, alternative rock genres. I agree with all of these classifications. To me, her sound is comparable to BANKS, but their songs differ slightly too. Bishop Briggs almost has this indie folk type sound with deeper, scratchier vocals, whereas BANKS offers cleaner vocals with more of an electronic sound to her songs. Both sing with a powerful sound though and are alternative in their own rights.

I realized shortly before starting this blog that I listened to some of Bishop Briggs’ Panorama performance this summer. I remember thinking then that she was definitely good and I’d have to spend some time listening to her. I also was exposed to her from the Cold War Kids collaboration which I heard for the first time back in June. I loved the collab. Last night her newest single, “Dream”, is what made it click for me. I fell in love with the song immediately after hearing it for the first time. So I decided to listen to her other music along with playing “Dream” on repeat a few more times. I had so many opportunities to see her this past year that I never capitalized on and one opportunity where I didn’t appreciate her enough, similar to my Glass Animals experience, which was coincidentally at Panorama too. The good part about this though is that Bishop Briggs has yet to release her first full-length album, which usually means a headlining tour. So maybe I still have a chance? Until then though I’ll just keep playing “Dream” on repeat, listen to her other songs in there too, and hope for the best. Do yourself a favor and listen to her. But, unlike me, actually do it. “Dream” is fire and her other singles are pretty damn awesome too.

Coachella Band Preview: CHVRCHES

Coachella 2016 is a little over a month away! If you haven’t started your music prep already, your time is running down. If you have been listening to plenty of bands in preparation for this year’s festival, you may want to check this next one out.

CHVRCHES (pronounced “churches”), formed in 2011, is a Scottish indie electronic band. They decided to spell their name using a “v” instead of a “u” to avoid confusion with real churches on internet searches. The group, who hails from Glasgow, is made up of three members, Lauren Mayberry (vocals, synth, samplers), Iain Cook (synth, guitar, bass, vocals), and Martin Doherty (synth, samplers, vocals). The group began recording together in a basement studio in Glasgow. They released their first songs in 2012. “Lies” was available as an exclusive free download on a blog by label Neon Gold in May 2012, and “The Mother We Share” was released as their first single in November of the same year. They released their first EP, Recover EP, in March 2013. That spring they performed at SXSW and won the Grulke Prize for Developing Non-U.S. Act. Their debut album, The Bones of What You Believe, came out September 20, 2013. In early 2015 the group began working on their second album. Like the first album, they wrote, produced, and recorded it themselves in a basement owned by Cook. The album, Every Open Eye, was released on September 25, 2015.

As an electronic band, their music is filled with synth and samplers and can be considered synthpop, electronic, or indie electronic. Mayberry’s vocals often highlight each track as well. Their sound and vocals actually create the perfect blend of current indie music to electronic, which sets them apart from many other indie bands.

I first heard of the band in 2013. Usually I have a pretty good story about how I got into a band or where I first heard them, but with CHVRCHES, I don’t. I downloaded their song “Lungs” about a day or two after I returned from California in October 2013. I probably found and heard the song while searching for new music. Then this past year I think I heard a new song or two on Spotify. I added “Clearest Blue” to a workout playlist near the debut of their second album. After realizing that I liked a few CHVRCHES songs, I went out and bought Every Open Eye. Although this story is underwhelming, this band isn’t. Their music is good. They’re a good band and if I were attending Coachella, I’d want to see them. It’s as simple as that.

CHVRCHES play Saturday at Coachella. This will be the band’s second appearance in Indio. They last played in 2014. I definitely recommend checking them out. With only two albums out currently, I’m sure their set will feature a mix of favorites from both. Here’s a few songs from both albums to get you ready:

1. Lungs
2. The Mother We Share
3. Recover
4. Lies
5. Clearest Blue
6. Leave A Trace
7. Never Ending Circles
8. We Sink
9. Gun
10. Empty Threat