XL Middleton & Moniquea
Secret Stage
17:30 - 18:15
XL Middleton
XL Middleton is a musician from California whose format falls into the funk-laden style the region has traditionally been known for. The Pasadena-based artist/producer has been hard at work for years crafting melodic, chord-heavy tunes and which have earned him accolades on major websites such as Uproxx, Okay Player and HipHopDX, where a collaboration with Crooked I made the rounds, as well as national print coverage in the Washington Post and major local print coverage in LA Weekly, where his album Tap Water made it to a Best of 2015 list. XL toured Japan a few years back, playing to packed houses in Tokyo, Yokohama, and other cities. He caters to fans of the funked-out West Coast sound – a fanbase which, although not the norm in mainstream music, has been finding its way back to notoriety, with artists like XL at the cusp of what has become known as the modern funk movement.
XL has released volumes of work, the sound of which embodies the party feel, bringing music back to where it was before it found its way into upscale clubs, while at the same time mixing it with a futuristic brand of funk inspired by legends such as George Clinton, Roger Troutman, & Cameo, not to mention hip hop funksters like Battlecat & DJ Quik. He evolved from his beginnings as a hip hop artist to a full-fledged modern funk musician, educated by the music he once sampled in the course of creating rap beats. At an XL show, you might find him singing notes through a vocoder, rapping, or shredding solos on a shoulder synth (more colloquially known as a "keytar"). He founded his own label, Crown City, in 2003 and it has remained active for over a decade. In addition, he recently founded another imprint, MoFunk Records, with Funkmosphere resident DJ and fellow LA native Eddy Funkster. XL has also released music in conjunction with noteworthy labels such as Bastard Jazz, Omega Supreme, and Voltaire, effectively bridging the gap between fans of modern funk/80's boogie and 90's g-funk, all of which has been tremendously influential to the XL Middleton sound.
In addition to his own solo material, XL produces music for modern funk songstress Moniquea (also on MoFunk Records), modern soul singer Reality Jonez (Crown City) and is gearing up to release his first collaborative LP with Eddy Funkster in 2016.
In addition to his own solo material, XL produces music for modern funk songstress Moniquea (also on MoFunk Records), modern soul singer Reality Jonez (Crown City) and is gearing up to release his frst collaborative LP with Eddy Funkster in 2016.
Moniquea
Moniquea was born in Gary, Indiana and raised in Pasadena, California. She vividly recalls watching her mother rehearse as a lead singer alongside other relatives and friends in the Pasadena-branded group The Roses. As a youth, she was exposed to countless volumes of 70’s soul, as well as the electrified musical production of the 80’s, thus shaping her own sound immeasurably. In particular, the synthesized, dance-friendly aesthetics of new wave and funk-laden R&B (later to be categorized as “boogie”) made a lasting impression on her, which she seeks to distill and reinterpret in the music she creates today.
No stranger to the spotlight, Moniquea solidied her local presence by singing at Pasadena’s world-famous Rose Bowl at only 15 years old. Quickly moving past hometown boundaries, she went on to open for Westside Connection during the height of their success, and has since performed at nearly every reputable venue in LA – The Whisky, The Roxy, Viper Room, Cinespace, The Echo, and more. She has also twice performed at the annual Taste of Soul festival, and the Kingfest at Leimert Park, both drawing crowds in the thousands; and has been a highlighted performer at Modern Funk Fests in San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Moniquea and her music has also been featured in a number of music articles, magazines, websites and blogs, including: AllMusic, Do Androids Dance, Impose, Noisey Music by VICE, Okayplayer; and in Los Angeles’ biggest music publication, LA Record, where she landed on the front cover in 2015. After independently releasing her self-titled debut in 2011, Moniquea partnered with producer XL Middleton and released the album Yes No Maybe in 2014. It is through this record and her current and future musical endeavors that she delivers modern funk, as refracted through the lens of her early influences. What Moniquea creates is not ‘pastiche’ nor ‘retro,’ but a faithfulreinterpretation of sounds that came from the dawn of the synth, perfectly balanced with one eye focused squarely on the future.
XL Middleton is a musician from California whose format falls into the funk-laden style the region has traditionally been known for. The Pasadena-based artist/producer has been hard at work for years crafting melodic, chord-heavy tunes and which have earned him accolades on major websites such as Uproxx, Okay Player and HipHopDX, where a collaboration with Crooked I made the rounds, as well as national print coverage in the Washington Post and major local print coverage in LA Weekly, where his album Tap Water made it to a Best of 2015 list. XL toured Japan a few years back, playing to packed houses in Tokyo, Yokohama, and other cities. He caters to fans of the funked-out West Coast sound – a fanbase which, although not the norm in mainstream music, has been finding its way back to notoriety, with artists like XL at the cusp of what has become known as the modern funk movement.
XL has released volumes of work, the sound of which embodies the party feel, bringing music back to where it was before it found its way into upscale clubs, while at the same time mixing it with a futuristic brand of funk inspired by legends such as George Clinton, Roger Troutman, & Cameo, not to mention hip hop funksters like Battlecat & DJ Quik. He evolved from his beginnings as a hip hop artist to a full-fledged modern funk musician, educated by the music he once sampled in the course of creating rap beats. At an XL show, you might find him singing notes through a vocoder, rapping, or shredding solos on a shoulder synth (more colloquially known as a "keytar"). He founded his own label, Crown City, in 2003 and it has remained active for over a decade. In addition, he recently founded another imprint, MoFunk Records, with Funkmosphere resident DJ and fellow LA native Eddy Funkster. XL has also released music in conjunction with noteworthy labels such as Bastard Jazz, Omega Supreme, and Voltaire, effectively bridging the gap between fans of modern funk/80's boogie and 90's g-funk, all of which has been tremendously influential to the XL Middleton sound.
In addition to his own solo material, XL produces music for modern funk songstress Moniquea (also on MoFunk Records), modern soul singer Reality Jonez (Crown City) and is gearing up to release his first collaborative LP with Eddy Funkster in 2016.
In addition to his own solo material, XL produces music for modern funk songstress Moniquea (also on MoFunk Records), modern soul singer Reality Jonez (Crown City) and is gearing up to release his frst collaborative LP with Eddy Funkster in 2016.
Moniquea
Moniquea was born in Gary, Indiana and raised in Pasadena, California. She vividly recalls watching her mother rehearse as a lead singer alongside other relatives and friends in the Pasadena-branded group The Roses. As a youth, she was exposed to countless volumes of 70’s soul, as well as the electrified musical production of the 80’s, thus shaping her own sound immeasurably. In particular, the synthesized, dance-friendly aesthetics of new wave and funk-laden R&B (later to be categorized as “boogie”) made a lasting impression on her, which she seeks to distill and reinterpret in the music she creates today.
No stranger to the spotlight, Moniquea solidied her local presence by singing at Pasadena’s world-famous Rose Bowl at only 15 years old. Quickly moving past hometown boundaries, she went on to open for Westside Connection during the height of their success, and has since performed at nearly every reputable venue in LA – The Whisky, The Roxy, Viper Room, Cinespace, The Echo, and more. She has also twice performed at the annual Taste of Soul festival, and the Kingfest at Leimert Park, both drawing crowds in the thousands; and has been a highlighted performer at Modern Funk Fests in San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Moniquea and her music has also been featured in a number of music articles, magazines, websites and blogs, including: AllMusic, Do Androids Dance, Impose, Noisey Music by VICE, Okayplayer; and in Los Angeles’ biggest music publication, LA Record, where she landed on the front cover in 2015. After independently releasing her self-titled debut in 2011, Moniquea partnered with producer XL Middleton and released the album Yes No Maybe in 2014. It is through this record and her current and future musical endeavors that she delivers modern funk, as refracted through the lens of her early influences. What Moniquea creates is not ‘pastiche’ nor ‘retro,’ but a faithfulreinterpretation of sounds that came from the dawn of the synth, perfectly balanced with one eye focused squarely on the future.
