Inner State 81 – Yung Love @Tuckers__Tweets
“Yung Love” is the lead single from Inner State 81’s debut album, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. The song takes a beautiful sample in “Young Love” by Teena Marie and is updated in a new key with modern, energetic drums and a unique, EDM inspired song structure. The young talent seamlessly melds the sample to create his own fusion of indie, hip-hop, and electronic soul music. His work can be described as psychedelic indie-hop that sets a soothingly polarizing tone, providing listeners with a song for an array of moods – from partying to relaxing.
Inner State 81 is the electronic brainchild of University of Pittsburgh junior, Tucker Nicholas. Conceived by 808s and oscillators, Nicholas began producing over winter break 2016-17. Raised by parents who were avid music listeners, he grew up listening mostly to music from the 70s/80s/90s, as opposed to the contemporary music of the time. As high school progressed, Nicholas was persuaded by a friend to get a Spotify subscription. After having access to unlimited music across all decades, Inner State 81 began to develop an affinity for hip-hop music, and the wave of trap music being spearheaded by RL Grime & Baauer.
From ages 9-12, Nicholas briefly played the saxophone & stand-up bass but quit during his middle school years. In high school, he picked up DJing after listening heavily to Diplo & Friends mixes on BBC Radio 1. IS81 was also heavily influenced in style and sound by Kanye West, Tyler, the Creator, Childish Gambino, Chance the Rapper, Diplo, and Mura Masa. These artists all brought something unique to the table that Nicholas sought to emulate in his own way. After deciding to take production seriously halfway through his freshman year of college, Nicholas began to throw concerts with other college artists in Pittsburgh under the moniker “Inner State 81”.
This past spring, Inner State 81 spent 4 months studying abroad in London where he worked at Blow Up Records, a British record label in East London. Under the mentorship of iconic BritPop DJ Paul Tunkin, he performed at British clubs on three separate occasions. During this time, he also developed a friendship with playlist curator and viral twitter sensation @TEEJUS___ . This friendship helped his music to get picked up in Spotify Discover Weekly playlists & other algorithms. This newfound popularity has helped Nicholas to catch the ear of several industry executives at Interscope Records, who await the release of his July project “A Midsummer Night’s Daydream.
Inner State 81’s production style has been described as eclectic & seamless, encapsulating yet polarizing. His current style has been shaped from influences such as Kanye West’s signature Chipmunk Soul, J Dilla’s sampling talents, and Kaytranada’s effective production abilities. Nicholas combines his love for Jazz & Soul music with his love for Hip-Hop and Electronic music to form a new fusion of genres most alike to artists like Griz and Pretty Lights. He describes the idea behind the project as “taking beautiful music from the past and updating it to add new energy through energetic drums, percussion, and bass-lines to offer a new unique version that keeps the younger generation interested”.
MzOnPointPromo
Amanda Goldben, more commonly known as Mz. On Point has always had a love for music, growing up in a household filled with music. Over the years she found herself more involved behind the scenes, then in the spotlight. She realized she wanted to help other obtain their dreams not just live her own. After working in a professional office setting and capacity for over 10 years, it was time to find something new. She wanted to find something that would fully utilized her skills and abilities, while still allowing her to be not only the main provider but also caregiver for her daughter. Almost accidentally discovering her love for music and her business skills could be used together Mz. On Point knew this was she was meant to do and began her research and networking to build not only her business and brand, but also those of the artists and clients she would be helping along the way. In November 2012 she realized that online promotions, public relations, and brand exposure where her “nitch”, all those years of office experience and computer work were showing their true worth and potential became endless. In a few short year she has had the privilege of working with some very influential people within the industry. In January of 2013 she began with DJ Shalamar and became a part of Team Fuego and now handles most of Southern Fuego’s social media & promotions. Attending sometimes dozens of events a month Mz. On Point quickly made a name for her brand throughout Central Florida. Being sure to attend key networking events, and conferences to not only network but more importantly to expand her knowledge of the industry and perfect the services she offers. January 2014 Mz On Point had the privilege of becoming apart of the infamous and world renowned DJ coalition, Team Bigga Rankin & the Cool Running DJs. May 2015 Mz On Point was honored to learn that she had been chosen to receive the Hard Hitta Award at the the 7th Annual SCM Awards which took place in Memphis, Tennessee. While she wasn't able to make the trip to accept the award one of her mentors Bigga Rankin accepted it on her behalf.
