Re:Visit – DJ Logic, Animated Earth and Infinite Vibe. Jordan Polovina Interview Included!
It was Wednesday, my dudes, and hump-day felt cozier than ever at The Other Side of Cervantes. Re:Search’s own resident opener Jordan Polovina took the feature spot and stole the show with his new supergroup, Animated Earth. DJ Logic headlined and orchestrated a fine and refined DJ set accompanied by a healthy serving of horns and live drums. Infinite Vibe doubled down on percussion and wrapped it up tight, another one for the books.
Folks trickled in as Mikey Thunder and Brisco Jones started the party right. There was still ample space to spread out by the time Animated Earth took the stage, but by the end of their set, the Other Side was looking packed. Other than a few moments of heavy-hitting bass and guest features to liven things up, their set seemed to hover over a single emotional landscape and tempo. The six-member ensemble and variety of instruments kept the crowd engaged, while their coordinated all-white garb acted as a canvas for colorful, fractal projections from Soren Peterson (AKA LowPro.). Jordan’s rhymes captured the philosophies they hope to spread with their music, with lines like “Humanity is the one true religion,” and “we all have the same mother, we all share the same mind.” By the end, the crew brought out the two openers and all available brass in the house, and still, no one seemed to step on each other (musically or literally). Jordan expressed his gratitude graciously: “Thank you for sharing this with me, these are all my best friends on stage. I feel magic...this is one of the best nights of my life.” For a deeper look into Animated Earth, check out the interview below.
DJ Logic is a veteran turntablist, lover of jazz and hip-hop, and an egoless performer. It was refreshing to see a DJ show restraint and provide a backdrop for the other musicians on stage, in this case, the Brothers of Brass on horns and Adam Deitch on drums. Yet in his own right, DJ Logic has impeccable scratching skills and a command of his sound. To see someone who has collaborated with legendary guitarists Vernon Reid and John Mayer, Jack Johnson, and bands like moe. and O.A.R was humbling. A personal favorite moment was seeing the Brothers of Brass and Adam Deitch rock out a fat Spottieottiedopaliscious cover while DJ Logic jammed along. Hip hop cuts and jazzy refrains perforated the set and kept our hips shaking into the AM.
Infinite Vibe showcased their percussion-heavy group-mind talents. These Denver locals have something unique going on, with live layered drums that incorporate your typical drum kit and congas and bongos over ambient production. We were all jammin’ with them, song after song...if there are any defined song breaks. Live rap by Matt G added that welcome boost for the night owls.
Check out the conversation I had with members of Animated Earth (and resident Re:Search supporting act/hype man) Jordan Polovina, and Jessa Raskin. Tonight we are back on the hype train with sfam, Subdocta and a late set by AVRY. Get there early for your cheap tickets! See you there fam.
Ad
AE: I caught up with Jordan Polovina and Jessa Raskin of Animated Earth. Jordan of course produces, plays the cello, sings, and raps while Jessa plays slide guitar and sings (the other members include Sarah Mount on saxophone, Paul Maley on trumpet, Sam Goodman on violin/production, and Emma Badman on keyboard).
SV: How would you sum up the mission of Animated Earth?
Jordan Polovina: “It’s really to spread love and awareness. And at the end of the day, maybe to take a shot at making music history.”
Jessa Raskin: “This really is Jordan’s vision. He brought me on because we played in Grim & Darling together, a lot of us have played together before so it was conceived as a sort of supergroup and we all felt there was a gap in the music world that we could fill as a collective.”
SV: How did the group first come together?
Jordan: “We first had the opportunity to play together because of Scott Morrill, I was going to perform at Sonic Bloom and I asked Scott if he wanted me to come solo, bring a trio, or try a full band. To my surprise, he went for the full band. We had just a couple of months to write material, practice, and we had one show together here at Cervantes before the festival. Tonight was only the third time we played together and it really felt locked in this time, we were all more free and having fun, letting the creativity flow.”
SV: Can you reference any specific influences on your sound?
Jessa: “A lot of us played in Michal Menert Big Band together, and we’re all huge fans of his music, so I would say that planted the seed. We’re trying to do our own thing and evolve from that sound, not just copy what he’s doing, but his music has always influenced us.”
SV: What can we expect to see down the road from this project?
“In the next six months, we plan to do a lot of recording. 2020 is going to be all about putting out content. We’re planning an album, remixes, and want to release it on our own record label, which will be called Andmore Records. I’ve been in the industry for 16-17 years, we’ve all been doing this a while and have always been the openers, the additions, the “and more” artists on the bill. This label is going to be about artist development and pursuit of the original.”
Sounds like big things are coming for Jordan and crew. We at SharedViews can’t wait to see what’s next from these humble, talented, and committed artists.
