The Hot at Nights continue their Neptunes residency with one of NC’s favorite singer/MC’s, Phonte Coleman. Need we say more?
The development of The Hot at Nights parallels that of the world’s most potentially destructive climatic occurrence: Global Warming. They are heavily influenced by the origins of jazz at the turn of the century, emblazoned by the raw and unbridled freedom of the 50′s and 60′s, and electrified by the external forcings of the 80′s. Chris Boerner (The Foreign Exchange, Freeman, Hiss Golden Messenger) on 8-string guitar, Matt Douglas (The Mountain Goats, The Rosebuds, Bon Iver) on woodwinds, and Nick Baglio (Jeanne Jolly, The Foreign Exchange) on drums & keyboards make up the triumvirate of change. Even though there is a tiny contingency of Hot at Nights deniers, real and proven science has determined that they do, in fact, exist on a catastrophic level.
Their latest release, Three Kids, is a sonically diverse, synth-laden journey of patience and introspection. This record marks a turning point for the band, each member manning a synth as well as their primary instrument. Good friend and otherworldly talent Charlie Hunter appears as a guest on two songs. Patient, funky, and moody, Three Kids is and a culmination of all of the places this band has been during their 7 year journey together.
Their 2016 release Cool It, is a collection of 5 reinterpretations of songs by other bands born from the fruitful North Carolina music scene. It features songs by Sylvan Esso, Future Islands, Hammer No More The Fingers, Bowerbirds, and Delta Rae. Performed live in the studio at Mitch Easter’s Fidelitorium, each performance was captured as a live video as well. With these 5 wonderful songs the band is able to stretch and deconstruct in a way that still preserves the essence of each song. This project is as much an homage to music from North Carolina as it is a strong artistic statement displaying the bands ability to arrange popular music for this ensemble.
The Hot at Nights are Chris Boerner, Matt Douglas, and Nick Baglio. They came together in the Summer of 2010 to explore the sonic possibilities of an 8-string guitar-centered trio. Their first release, Nice Talk, was released in 2011. In 2012, they toured with producer Nicolay (The Foreign Exchange) in support of their collaborative recording Shibuya Session EP, where they played such notable venues as the Blue Note in NYC, Bohemian Caverns in Washington, D.C., and the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City. They followed in 2013 with the critically acclaimed ¡Try This!. They live and perform out of Raleigh, NC.
Phonte
A widely respected, down-to-earth rapper and singer — as well as a producer, arranger, and engineer — Phonte (aka Percy Miracles, El Tigallo) was a member of Little Brother, a trio that formed during the late ‘90s at North Carolina Central University. Within years of formation, Little Brother became the leading alternative rap group of their time. While LB were still thriving, Phonte established the Foreign Exchange with Dutch producer Nicolay; that act debuted in 2004 with Connected, then made a marked shift toward moody, left-of-center R&B with the Grammy-nominated Leave It All Behind (2008) and Authenticity (2010). Little Brother disbanded in April 2010; within a year and a half, Phonte released his first solo rap album, Charity Starts at Home. Throughout his career, Phonte has been involved with numerous outside projects; he collaborated with DJ Mitsu, Murs, Darien Brockington, DJ Shadow, 4hero, and the Roots, among several others, and recorded a series of side-splitting (but affectionate) covers EPs with multi-instrumentalist Zo!, one of his Foreign Exchange associates
