Jewelry historian and entrepreneur Erica Weiner started out designing costume jewelry on the Lower East Side, amidst the music scene of the early 2000s. Over time, her interest in jewelry lead to a career selling esoteric antiques. Here, Erica shares the song she lost her virginity to, the Britpop that soundtracked suburban drives and a semester in Scotland, and the song that sound like the smell of New Jersey roads in the summer.
Read MoreEsthetician Raquel Medina-Cleghorn’s music preferences have traced her journey from San Diego to Portland back to San Diego to her eventual arrival in New York, with early interests in punk giving way to a love of electroclash and shoegaze. Here, she shares the songs associated with some of her strongest memories, from rebellious hair-spiking makeovers with her childhood best friend all the way to her wedding day.
Read MoreFor Fatima Robinson, the accolades are endless — from starting her career as a choreographer for Michael Jackson’s Remember the Time to lending her vision to numerous Super Bowl halftime shows and a Beyoncé Academy Awards performance. We caught up with her while on break from filming the forthcoming remake of The Color Purple in Savannah, Georgia.
Read MoreAmbar Lucid has come a long way since sharing her first cover on YouTube. She talks about tracks that transport her back in time and reveals what song cures relationship problems when shouted at the top of your lungs.
Read MoreFor Laura Saglio, a born and raised Parisian, music was always her first love. The lifelong relationship was kindled from a young age—in middle school, she covered Metallica with her band Redrum—but quickly sprawled over to other kinds of art.
Read MoreGrowing up in Toronto, Amaal Nuux embraced the poetry of her culture and, from an early age, sought to make music inspired by the struggles those in her birthplace, Mogadishu, underwent. Here, she elaborates on her very ‘90s early inspirations—which range from DMX to S Club 7 to, of course, Destiny’s Child—to elucidate why those artists became influential in molding her sound today. In doing so, she also curates a playlist that is absolutely filled with bops.
Read MoreToronto-based Fran Miller is the founder and force behind her eponymous skincare brand, F. Miller. Her line—which was launched long before going natural was cool—is centered around effortless, oil-based essentials.
Read MoreClaire Rousay is a San Antonio-based musician whose artistry and melodic music are transcendent. She’s a percussionist, but her experimental style lends to a lush sound that is imaginative beyond the limits of what you might dream. Her just-released album, a softer focus, demonstrates this. The project is a collaborative, multi-layered one, with visual artist dani toral creating the album’s floral artwork and meditative visual narrative. We’re ecstatic to enter Claire’s world and to have her share her musical inspirations.
Read MoreLife in 10 Tracks is a new feature series that is all about being injected into a moment in someone’s life through music. In it, passersby reminisce on the tracks that remind them of bad haircuts, breakups, and all of the joyful, poignant moments in between. Up first is Zenat Begum, activist, and founder of Playground Coffee Shop and its branches Playground Annex and Playground Youth. Together, her organizations support the community of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn by providing accessible programming geared towards tackling needs like literacy, food equity, and arts & culture. Music has always played a prominent part in Zenat’s life, and under her umbrella too, is Playground Radio, “an independent internet radio station” that provides a platform for artists for are underserved in her community.
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