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Bio: |
L.A. based duo SmilesnSummaz features a dynamic fusion of various hip-
hop, R&B, and pop genres that can’t help but make you move. Formed in
2006 when childhood friends Jermaine Kelly and Andre Nurse reunited far
from their hometown of Toronto, Ontario, SmilesnSummaz quickly became
known for their eclectic but powerful mixes, combining elements from today’s
top producers while still retaining their crucial pop sensibilities. The
combination of Kelly’s keyboards and musical arrangements and Nurse’s
instinctual percussion, mixing and sampling skills quickly led them out of the
underground scene and onto the big stage, producing individual tracks for
rapper Enormous and American Idol’s AJ Gil, scoring and effects for stage
and theater, and a full length album for Spazzmatic. With Kelly a former
college track star and Nurse a gymnast and professional stage performer,
they dub their own unique process, “Acrobatics on the Track,” owing to their
ability to take an idea, mold its acoustic shape and flip it around so the
listener never quite knows what to expect. You’ll be mesmerized by not only
the profound, overall thrust of the sound but its nuanced, elemental feel.
They describe their own particular sound as “Drugs in Your Ear,” because
listening to their music can’t help but take you to another place, it’s an
escape from the sterile everyday tracks and beats that are all too familiar in
today’s mega-hyped and over-commercialized music scene. Kelly and Nurse
list a who’s who of popular influences ranging from Quincy Jones, Dr. Dre,
The Alchemist, Kanye West, Pharrell, Timbaland, Jay-Z and Mobb-Deep, and
yet they aren’t afraid to experiment out of the vein, taking stylistic cues from
Daft Punk, Stargate, Ryan Leslie, Cold Play, Green Day and Nirvana. Most
rewarding for the pair? In their words, it’s collaboration with the individual
artist: going through the entire creative process from start to finish, listening
to each artist’s vision for their work, coming up with ideas to realize their
goals, and engineering the sound so that every aspect is perfect. Their
message? “Simple! If our beats make you nod your head, or you hear the
songs and find yourself singing along, we've done our jobs, it's to make
people feel good. And inspire other producers or musicians to make music!” |