Hot Takes

This week on the "Hot Takes" talk show, fan favorite and good friend of the show Dan Mason ダン·メイソン stopped by to hang! A veteran in the scene at this point, we went round and round with Dan, getting the scoop on his musical background with his family, his favorite Midwest emo acts, and his abhorrence of bad brass patches in music. Multitalented and well-versed in various music styles, the "s...

For "Hot Takes" this week, we invited Vaperror to join us! One of the very early players in the vaportrap movement, Jeff spent a couple hours chatting with Skelly and Shiro about early seminal bands he was involved in, secret sideprojects of his that haven't yet seen the light of day, and divulged some conceptual background info on the Vaperror project, while opining on the state of Georgia and ou...

This week on "Hot Takes", we had a tête-à-tête with Philadelphia's eminent collective and label, Virtua94! Comprised of numerous artists and DJ's in the Philly area, we brought on the two biggest names in the group, Mr. Hideyoshi and Toadofsky, to talk shop, share some insight, and regale us with stories. Having been involved in the vaporwave and vapor-adjacent scene in Philly for years as both ar...

For this week's "Hot Takes" episode, we brought Vincent Remember to the neighborhood! Vaporwave jack-of-all-trades and master of them all, Mark joined the conversation and brought to the table plenty of insightful stories, lovely compliments, and wild opinions about art and music! An early actor in the scene, Vincent Remember has released material with several noteworthy labels like Business Casua...

For the sophomore episode of "Hot Takes" season 2, we got Hotel Pools to join the broadcast! Ben Braun, the mastermind behind Billboard charting chillsynth act Hotel Pools, crashes "Hot Takes" with Skelly and Shiro for 2+ hours of crazy stories, intimate insight, and back-and-forth with the bois and the live audience in chat. Hotel Pools is one of the more well known and successful acts in the pop...

To kick off the second season of "Hot Takes", we brought on one of the hottest, funniest personalities in the entire vaporwave scene, Discoholic! The Disco man said he was honored to join us, so of course we jumped at the chance to delve into the lore behind his character, hear his story of how he came to find the scene, and get as many antics and hot takes out of the man as possible during our tw...

As a very special conclusion to our first season of independent music podcast "Hot Takes", Skelly and Shiro decided to see how many of their first twenty guests would be down to join them for a retrospective mega-sode, and to no one's surprise, all but one said yes. The most tremendous undertaking since the show's inception, episode 21 features almost four hours of rousing content courtesy of 20 s...

Coming in hot for the twentieth episode of independent art talk show "Hot Takes", we brought on another big visual artist in the vaporwave scene, Lunitas! Joining the Hot Takes homies for two hours' worth of deep dives, Lunitas brought the takes, the taste, and some fascinating stories and background behind their project. Known for being one of the most iconic and distinctive looking visual artist...

"Hot Takes" episode 19 showcases illustrious ambient and experimental vaporwave producer Golden Living Room! Joel was itching to come on the show, and we were flattered to feature such a renowned artist from the early heydays of Dream Catalogue, known also for collaborating with the prolific artist Telepath テレパシー能力者 and performing at both ElectroniCON festivals. This latest episode flew ri...

For "Hot Takes" episode 18, Skelly and Shiro bring on another member of Death's Dynamic Shroud.wmv to the vaporwave talk show experience! Illustrious freelance graphic designer, label head of experimental and vaporwave label Orange Milk Records, experimental electronic artist Giant Claw, and finally 1/3 of acclaimed vaporwave trio Death's Dynamic Shroud.wmv, Keith Rankin is a serious heavyweight i...

On "Hot Takes" episode number 17, Skelly and Shiro brought on a last minute guest, very dear friend of the show Groovy Kaiju, discussing a wide range of topics throughout the evening including the benefits of lo-fi versus hi-fi music and the stories behind the album artwork for Aaron's releases. Aside from his kind, friendly personality and iconic hairflip, Groovy Kaiju is known for his prolific p...

In the second episode of vaporwave talk show "Hot Takes", we decided to bring on vaporwave duo Eyelick so that we could enjoy their antics and learn from their yin and yang. Exploding into 2020 and 2021 with a handful of uniquely curated themed albums featuring a variety of never before used samples, Eyeclick members Enraile and Will Wade regaled us with stories and gave us insight into their own...

On the latest episode of "Hot Takes", the bois and the whole Hot Squad got to kick it with Nmesh! An engimatic, eccentric, and prolific long-term member of the scene, Alex has received numerous accolades for his work and has been covered by countless high profile publications, along with a slew of remixes, mixtapes, and awe-inspiring audio/visual creations to his name. Our visit with Nmesh flew by...

This week on "Hot Takes", we were visited by Luxury Elite! Vaporwave OG and the person that coined that genre name "late night lo-fi", Lux was a shoo-in for the show, and having her join us paid off tenfold as we covered topics like nostalgia for late night TV programming, her experience with vaporwave over the years, and her love of tapes and URL shows. Having gotten her start as early as 2011 vi...

On this week's episode of "Hot Takes", Alyx from Pacific Plaza Records came by to chat! Head honcho of one of vaporwave's most reputable labels, Alyx was an easy top choice for our next guest, and he kept us entertained with stories about his musical background, his wild employment history, and his thoughts on paying talent, including visual artists. Having mixed at countless parties and produced...

On "Hot Takes" this week, we were graced with the presence of our dear friend Porter Vong! A well loved relative newcomer to the scene, we brought Michael on for a rousing evening of discussion regarding love and vulnerability in interpersonal relationships, favorite and least favorite artists and live experiences, and a plethora of other spicy personal revelations from the wealthiest man in vapor...

This week on "Hot Takes", we spent some time with our good friend Fibre! Future funk OG from back in the early days of the genre's explosion in popularity, Alex enthusiastically consented to join us for an evening of rousing tales, comparing notes on DJing and production, and of course, some strongly held opinions on music genres. Producing since a very young age, Fibre was a part of Artzie Music...

For this week's episode of "Hot Takes", we brought on an instrumental hip-hop OG, Chlorine Mist! A cloud rap producer since the late 2000's and 1/2 of acclaimed duo Friendzone, Dylan joined us to express his feelings regarding art and production, geek out with us about shared favorite acts and artists, and chop it up with the chatroom. Having been involved with various bands and collectives since...

This week on "Hot Takes", we got to host Angel Marcloid! The mastermind behind avant-garde fusion project Fire-Toolz and slushwave act Mindspring Memories, Angel showed up to regale us with tales, dole out advice to young up-and-coming vaporwave artist, and of course gush with us about favorite acts and genres of music. An extremely prolific provocateur, Angel has performed in countless bands and...

For the latest episode of "Hot Takes", we got Chris††† in the house! John Zobele, the mastermind behind Chris†††, 아버지, and eminent vaporwave label Business Casual, jumps on the podcast with Skeleton Lipstick and YUNG SHIRO 白 for 2+ hours of strong opinions, intimate musings, and back-and-forth with the live audience in chat. Chris††† is one of the early players in the vaporwave scene, headlini...

For the latest episode of "Hot Takes", we are joined by the cursed knight himself, Equip! Kevin agreed to grace us with his presence and bring to the show his unique take on matters, his personal opinions on music and art, and of course one or two spicy hot takes. Equip has been in the game for a long time, but he is best known for his vaporwave-influenced spin on 16- and 32-bit video game music i...

Coming in hot for episode six of vaporwave talk show "Hot Takes", we bring the Vaporspace StL bois on for our very first double feature! Ronny Louvre and Sound Market, the heart and mind behind popular St. Louis vapor dance party, join Skelly and Shiro for a riveting round of hard hitting questions, ripping rants, and spicy hot takes. Known for being one of the first and most fervently promoted va...

"Hot Takes" episode five features legendary future funk and lo-fi hip-hop producer Yuni Wa! Our good friend is one of the most prolific and seasoned acts in the game and has mixed and performed at countless IRL shows across the US, including headlining at Vaporspace in St Louis, Missouri. Despite some technical difficulties, episode 5 featured a lot of memorable moments that you'll just have to pr...

On the fourth episode of vaporwave talk show "Hot Takes", Skeleton Lipstick and YUNG SHIRO 白 are joined by a COVID positive Tech Honors! 1/3 of seminal vaporwave trio Death's Dynamic Shroud.wav and founding member of the Ghost Diamond Collective, Tech is known for his production skills, off-the-wall sense of humor, his beautiful singing voice, and his uncanny resemblance to Fred Figglehorn. He's...

For our third episode on "Hot Takes", Skeleton Lipstick and YUNG SHIRO 白 got to rap with vaporwave artist FM Skyline for a couple of hours, covering everything from his love of the "Mind's Eye" series to his scandalous "mild take" about a certain popular track in the scene. Beside his cool, chill demeanor and distinctive hairstyle, FM Skyline is known for his MIDI-esque original compositions, his...