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Introduction of Pop Music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form in the 1950s, deriving from rock and roll. The terms “popular music” and “pop music” are often used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular and includes many different styles. Pop music is eclectic, and often borrows elements from other styles such as rock, urban, dance, Latin, and country. Pop music typically focuses on catchy melodies and hooks, and tends to be more commercial in nature than other genres of popular music. It is intended to appeal to a wide audience, and often incorporates elements of other genres such as hip hop, rock, and electronic music.
Pop by Nagamag Playlist on Spotify
Favorite Pop Videos on Youtube
Recent Pop Interviews
Maven Grace Interview on Nagamag
Maven Grace
Interview
Nagamag:
Which are the genres that describe your music style better?
Maven Grace:
Bands are extremely good at defining themselves by saying what they aren’t. It’s much harder to make positive statements about what you are. If there’s a genre which includes Marvin Gaye, Radiohead and Ennio Morricone then that’s our genre. Someone described us on the radio yesterday as ‘dreamscape space cowboy movie soundtrack music’. That’s a good attempt, I think – a bizarre amalgam of styles which somehow makes sense.
It’s a difficult one because I don’t think we have a ‘signature’ track. If we had one song that summed us up and encapsulated our creative ambitions, we’d probably have to stop and say ‘Job done!’ Of the music we’ve released so far, I think Lone Star has a good combination of our musical ideas. It has elements of all three of our voices, and I certainly hope that anyone who hears it will be intrigued to dig deeper.
Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?
Maven Grace:
We’ve all known each other a long time. Tom and I first met when we were in different bands signed to the same label as teenagers. My first national tour was supporting him, actually. I remember thinking that our dressing room at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire was even more spacious than the one at the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen.
Mary and I also met on the gig circuit in London. I accidentally insulted her by saying I loved her band’s song with the lyric… ‘Condition’s normal, you’re coming home’. She said, ‘That’s Enola Gay by OMD, the only cover in our set’.Anyway, I hope she’s forgiven me. And it is a brilliant song. It has an indelible melody and great instrumentation. It can be enjoyed on that level, but if you want to dig a little deeper, you rapidly discover something very sombre and lyrically serious. I like that approach to songwriting. Let the deeper meaning and intent creep up on people.
Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?
Maven Grace:
I remember the Rolling Stones song You Can’t Always Get What You Want being on tv when I was a child. My mother’s ears pricked up and she said ‘Oh, I sang on that’. I can pick out her voice even now. She was in a brilliant touring choir, so I was familiar from a very young age with the idea that music meant travel. I was also able to forge a personal connection, albeit on a very small level, to a song loved by a lot of people. That was inspiring. In retrospect, I’m so glad she sang on the track she did. It might be a little trickier if it had been Under My Thumb or Brown Sugar – lyrics which have not aged very well.
Nagamag:
Your single Lone Star is inspired by Clark Gable – and indirectly by Bryan Ferry. Tell us a little bit about Clark Gable that we should know, and what made you want to write a song about him?
Maven Grace:
The Roxy song title 2HB references Humphrey Bogart. For some reason, I immediately associated him in my mind with Clark Gable, and obviously the Golden Age of Hollywood in general. There is something fascinating about the tension between the glamour and deification of film stars and their real lives. The studios sold Gable to the world as an icon of romance and masculinity, but the real man behind the performances was deeply uncomfortable with his image. Also, real tragedies befell him, like having to give up his child for adoption and his wife’s death in a wartime plane crash. He’s a symbol of the gulf between dreams and reality, I suppose. I could’ve written it about Marilyn Monroe, but Bernie Taupin got there first.
Nagamag:
Maven Grace album has contributing musicians from all over the world. Was that the intention when you set out? Has the vision for the band and album changed with these contributions?
Maven Grace:
The major contributor other than the three of us is our friend the violinist Diana Galvydyte. She is one of the great contemporary players, but, like a lot of classically trained musicians, she prefers to work from a score. So although her playing is amazing, she was largely bringing ideas to life that we had already worked on. To that extent, the vision always remained very much with the three of us in the band. But the difference between real playing and demo samples is inexpressible, so she helped bring everything she touched to life in a very vibrant and dramatic way.
Nagamag:
Many artists listen to genres that they are not producing music for. Which track is your favorite that is NOT similar to yours?
Maven Grace:
Rachid Taha – Lli Fat Mat
Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which is the track from a similar artist you admire?
Maven Grace:
Robert Stillman – Cherry Ocean
Discover & Listen to Maven Grace
Maven Grace on Spotify
Maven Grace’s Signature Track
Maven Grace on Social Media
Facebook: @MavenGraceMusic – https://www.facebook.com/MavenGraceMusic/
Instagram: @mavengracemusic – https://www.instagram.com/mavengracemusic/
Twitter: @MavenGraceMusic – https://twitter.com/MavenGraceMusic
Isabel Dumaa Interview on Nagamag
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Nagamag:
Which are the genres that describe your music style better?
Isabel Dumaa:
The umbrella genre for my music is pop, but I would define it as indie pop or alt-pop with little elements of folk and R&B!
Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?
Isabel Dumaa:
I have been singing since practically before I could talk, and began songwriting at a young age as well. I took singing lessons throughout my childhood, and begged my parents for guitar and piano lessons so I could accompany myself and start playing live. Since day 1 I have always wanted to be a singer and pursue music. After graduating High School I moved down to LA to do music full time, and feel so grateful I get to be working every day at something I love so dearly.
Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?
Isabel Dumaa:
It is difficult to pinpoint my very first connection to my love of music, but there is one early memory that sticks out. I was about 5 years old when my cousin played me You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift, and I have never fallen in love with a song quicker. It immediately became my favorite song and was pretty much all I listened to for about a year. My parents bought me my first iPod shuffle about a year later and all I had on it was You Belong With Me and 4 other songs from Fearless all of which I listened to on repeat. Taylor Swift has been a huge inspiration for me growing up and throughout my career and that was where my love for her began.
Nagamag:
What would be your dream venue to play?
Isabel Dumaa:
I was raised right in the heart of San Francisco and over the years attended many concerts and shows all over the city. Every show I went to I couldn't help but picture myself on the stage someday getting to sing in my home city. Every year "Outside Lands Festival" is held in Golden Gate Park and pretty much every young person in the bay area is there. It is essentially the coachella of NorCal. Outside Lands is such a vivid part of my growing up and every year I went I couldn't help but dream and picture myself on one of those stages, getting to play for all the people standing where I stood all those times. So a definite dream venue would be to be able to headline at Outside Lands!
Nagamag:
Many artists listen to genres that they are not producing music for. Which track is your favorite that is NOT similar to yours?
Isabel Dumaa:
"Kiss Of Venus" Paul McCartney and Dominic Fike
Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which is the track from a similar artist you admire?
Isabel Dumaa:
"The Walls Are Way Too Thin" Holly Humberstone
Pop Featured Releases
Breakdown Review: Evva Polak – You Never Know When | A Pop Track that can’t be missed
Music Review:
“Η ωραία μελωδία χαϊδεύει τα αφτιά μας και δημιουργεί μια ευχάριστη ατμόσφαιρα που σίγουρα απολαμβάνουμε. Τα φωνητικά στήνουν μια όμορφη γιορτή μόνο για εμάς. Με την υπέροχη χροιά τους και την έμφαση στη λεπτομέρεια φέρνουν ένα άρτιο αποτέλεσμα. Ο ρυθμός με κέφι και ζωντάνια μας κάνει να λικνιζόμαστε και να χαμογελάμε.”
-Nagamag.com
Pulse Review: “Parallel Lines” by katie MAC | What Pop meant to be
Music Review:
“Μέσα από τις εναλλαγές της υπέροχης μελωδίας μια εσωτερική έκρηξη έρχεται να μας αποκαλύψει τα κρυμμένα μας συναισθήματα. Τα γλυκά φωνητικά χαϊδεύουν τα αφτιά μας και το πάθος τους συναντά την πονεμένη μας ψυχή. Τα αδιέξοδα μας πληγώνουν και η ένταση του ρυθμού μας βοηθά να βρούμε τις απαντήσεις μας.”
-Nagamag.com
Feature Review: Demetria – Xekourasou | An essential Pop Song
Music Review:
“Πόσα δυνατά συναισθήματα μας ξυπνά αυτό το μοναδικό κομμάτι. Η απίστευτη και ιδιαίτερη χροιά των φωνητικών σε ταξιδεύει στα βάθη της ψυχής σου μέχρι να δεις την αλήθεια καθαρά μέσα σου. Η απαλή και μελαγχολική μελωδία σε ανατριχιάζει και οι εναλλαγές της κάνουν την καρδιά σου να χτυπά δυνατά. Ο ρυθμός ήσυχα σε παρασύρει στα δικά του μαγικά μονοπάτια χωρίς να σε προδίδει ποτέ. ”
-Nagamag.com
Press Release – About Song:
Artist said: ” I am particularly preoccupied with the theme of childhood, childlikeness, a return to childlike states , and the child that is born and/or dies within us — as well as the child that exists out there in the world more broadly. Through this theme, I was led to write several short prose texts and poems. One of these pieces is titled “Shortly After It Found Us” and is dedicated to all the children who stopped being children in the most violent ways because of the “grown-ups.” From this text emerged the lyrics and central theme of the piece “Xekourasou”, which is a plea to the human being to take a step back and listen to the child — their own child, the child next door, the child living on the neighboring continent, and the child within themselves. And to care for them, because children are the only ones who remain.”
Latest Pop discoveries
Song Critique: John Doe – Time | Pop Review
Η απαλή και αισθαντική μπαλάντα γεμάτη ωραία συναισθήματα και σκέψεις μας φέρνει πιο κοντά στον εαυτό μας και στις επιθυμίες ... >>> Read full review & listen to the song on Nagamag #electropop #altpop #dancepop #johndoe #unitedstates #nagamag #musicmagazine #musicreview #review
Release Critique: “Maraschinos & Heartbreak” by NEW ENTMT | Pop Review
Η δυναμική εμφάνιση των φωνητικών μας ξεσηκώνει. Η πληθωρική χροιά τους γίνεται το απόλυτο τονωτικό μας και αφηνόμαστε στην μ... >>> Read full review & listen to the song on Nagamag #commercial #indiepop #altpop #newentmt #sweden #nagamag #musicmagazine #musicreview #review
Single Review: Knife Emoji – Eastern Wind, Pt. 2 | Review
Ένα υπέροχο μουσικό ταξίδι ξεκινά και τα αισθαντικά φωνητικά εκφράζουν τόσο όμορφα τα συναισθήματά τους. Η μαγεία της μελωδία... >>> Read full review & listen to the song on Nagamag #chamberpop #cinematic #epicmusic #knifeemoji #unitedstates #nagamag #musicmagazine #musicreview #review
Music Review: Clennon – Drowning | Pop Release
Η υπέροχη συγκινητική μελωδία μας κάνει να ανατριχιάζουμε και τα συναισθήματα μας πιάνουν κόκκινο. Η φανταστική χροιά των φων... >>> Read full review & listen to the song on Nagamag #altpop #dancehall #clennon #jamaica #nagamag #musicmagazine #musicreview #review
Breakdown Review: Evva Polak – You Never Know When | A Pop Track that can’t be missed
Η ωραία μελωδία χαϊδεύει τα αφτιά μας και δημιουργεί μια ευχάριστη ατμόσφαιρα που σίγουρα απολαμβάνουμε. Τα φωνητικά στήνουν... >>> Read full review & listen to the song on Nagamag #indiepop #nagamag #musicmagazine #musicreview #review
Single Review: momoyo – Clouds | Listen to Pop
Η ωραία και ευδιάθετη μελωδία μας συναρπάζει από την πρώτη στιγμή και δημιουργεί ευχάριστες εικόνες στο μυαλό μας. Τα φωνητι... >>> Read full review & listen to the song on Nagamag #neosoul #indiepop #momoyo #belgium #nagamag #musicmagazine #musicreview #review
Pop Review: múm – Mild At Heart
Το γαλήνιο άγγιγμα της μελωδίας είναι τόσο ανακουφιστικό για την ψυχή μας. Οι χτύποι της καρδιάς μας ηρεμούν και οι ανησυχίες... >>> Read full review & listen to the song on Nagamag #indietronica #indierock #folktronica #múm #iceland #nagamag #musicmagazine #musicreview #review
Song Review: “Sitting On Top Of The World” by WILD | A Pop Discovery
Η χαρά που τόσο έχουμε ανάγκη επιστρέφει με αυτή την υπέροχη μελωδία και είμαστε ευγνώμονες για αυτό. Τα γεμάτα θετική ενέργ... >>> Read full review & listen to the song on Nagamag #indiepop #wild #unitedstates #nagamag #musicmagazine #musicreview #review
Pulse Review: “Parallel Lines” by katie MAC | What Pop meant to be
Μέσα από τις εναλλαγές της υπέροχης μελωδίας μια εσωτερική έκρηξη έρχεται να μας αποκαλύψει τα κρυμμένα μας συναισθήματα. Τα ... >>> Read full review & listen to the song on Nagamag #indiepop #nagamag #musicmagazine #musicreview #review
Some Pop subgenres
There are many subgenres within the broad category of pop music, each with its own distinct characteristics and influences. Some examples of subgenres of pop music include:
Pop rock: A blend of pop music and rock music, characterized by catchy melodies and a rock-influenced sound.
Dance-pop: A subgenre of pop music that is characterized by a strong beat and electronic production, often incorporating elements of dance and electronic music.
Power pop: A subgenre of pop music that is characterized by a catchy, upbeat sound and strong melodies.
Pop punk: A subgenre of pop music that combines elements of punk rock and pop, characterized by fast tempos, catchy melodies, and often humorous lyrics.
Pop soul: A subgenre of pop music that combines elements of soul and pop, characterized by emotive vocals and a soulful sound.
Pop ballad: A subgenre of pop music characterized by slow, emotional melodies and lyrics.
Bubblegum pop: A subgenre of pop music characterized by a light, upbeat sound and simple, catchy melodies. Bubblegum pop is often associated with teen pop and is often marketed towards a younger audience.
Synth-pop: A subgenre of pop music that emerged in the 1980s, characterized by the use of synthesizers and electronic production techniques. Synth-pop is often associated with the new wave and post-disco movements.
Electropop: A subgenre of pop music that incorporates elements of electronic music, characterized by the use of synthesizers, drum machines, and other electronic instruments.
Pop rap: A subgenre of pop music that combines elements of pop and hip hop, characterized by catchy melodies and rap vocals.
Teen pop: A subgenre of pop music that is marketed towards a teenage audience and often features young, attractive performers. Teen pop is often characterized by a light, upbeat sound and catchy melodies.
Alternative pop: A subgenre of pop music that incorporates elements of alternative rock and pop, and is often characterized by a more experimental or avant-garde sound.
Adult contemporary: A subgenre of pop music that is aimed at a more mature audience and characterized by a soft, easy-listening sound. Adult contemporary often features smooth vocals and a polished production style.
These are just a few examples of the many subgenres of pop music. Pop music is a diverse and constantly evolving genre, and new subgenres continue to emerge over time.
The most used instruments in Pop Music
There are many instruments that are commonly used in pop music, and the specific instruments used can vary depending on the particular style and sound of the music. Some common instruments used in pop music include:
Vocals: The human voice is an important instrument in pop music, and many pop songs feature prominent vocals and harmonies. Vocals refer to the human voice, and they are often a prominent part of pop songs. Pop music often features prominent vocals and harmonies, and the vocals are often an important part of the song’s appeal. Pop singers are known for their powerful and emotive voices, and many pop songs are known for their memorable and catchy vocal melodies. Pop music can feature solo singers, or it can feature group vocals, such as a choir or a group of backing singers. Vocals are an important part of pop music, and they play a significant role in conveying the theme or emotion of the song. In pop music, lyrics are often used to convey emotions and tell a story, and they can be personal, political, or simply meant to entertain. Pop song lyrics can cover a wide range of topics, including love, heartbreak, social issues, and personal experiences. The lyrics of a song are often an important part of the song’s appeal and are often remembered long after the song has been heard.
Electric guitar: The electric guitar is a common instrument in pop music, and is often used to add a rock or blues-influenced sound to the music.
Drums: Drums are a fundamental part of most pop music, and provide the rhythmic foundation for the music.
Bass guitar: The bass guitar is often used in pop music to provide a solid foundation for the music, and is often used in combination with the drums to create a strong rhythm section.
Keyboard: Keyboard instruments, such as pianos, organs, and synthesizers, are commonly used in pop music to add variety and depth to the sound.
Percussion: Percussion instruments, such as congas, bongos, and shakers, are often used in pop music to add texture and rhythm to the music.
String instruments: String instruments, such as violins, cellos, and guitars, are often used in pop music to add depth and texture to the sound.
These are just a few examples of the many instruments that are commonly used in pop music. The specific instruments used can vary widely depending on the style and sound of the music.