[The Audiofiles] Get a Dose of ‘Honesty’ With The Russ Liquid Test

All Photos from Daniel Leist Photography

Back in 2015 when Russ Liquid brought Andrew Block onto the stage at the Gem and Jam Festival to debut his side-project ‘Stupid Americans’, it was evident that their musical bond extended far past what had manifested in front of us on stage. Between our elated eardrums and happy, dancing feet – we were fully immersed in musical bliss, swimming sweetly through sonic waves. In a musical culture that more often than not rewards pre-programmed sound and demands levels of perfection that only pre-planned sets can deliver, it’s refreshing to experience the ever-evolving complexity of intelligent music that stems from live instrumentation and musical improvisation; the Russ Liquid continually dishes out just that. As we walked away from Gem and Jam, we couldn’t stop gushing about how their sound, and their inspired, live collaborative process could blossom into something bigger than either performer could have imagined. Fast forward into 2016 and a year and a half later, The Russ Liquid Test quartet is actively shaping the sound of the future.

The collaborative brainchild of Andrew Block, AJ Hall, Alvin Ford and none other than Russ Liquid himself – The Russ Liquid Test is in a genre all of its own: an avant-garde mix of Future Jazz and Livetronica, seamlessly pulling elements from Big Band, Funk and Soul. They made their festival debut at this past Lightning in a Bottle, winning over the dancefloor with a Special Sunday set. The Russ Liquid Test’s debut EP 1984 is set to drop on November 11th on Griz’s imprint All Good Records. Until then – we have a few salacious new singles to chew on and digitally digest.

Their debut track is the soulful, gritty ‘Honesty’, a single that both pays musical homage to the greats of the New Orleans Music Scene while manifesting their ethos for a new era of music. Moody and atmospheric, the vocals pull at the listener’s heartstrings with a slow, seductive quality that’s echoed by the Big Band sound of vibrant brass. Joining The Russ Liquid Test on the track are Alvin Ford Jr of Dumpstaphunk and Pretty Lights notoriety on drums, and a horn section fully equipped with New Orleans players like Eric Bloom of Lettuce and the Aaron Neville Band. “Honesty” is available for streaming and download.

“We wanted to create something that embodies both the modern sound of electronic music with the rich heritage of New Orleans music. so we mashed up electronic production with the sounds of New Orleans second line in a very unique way that is both future and vintage.” – Russ Liquid

The second single off of 1984 is the Hip Hop heavy ‘Land of the Free‘ with none other than Mr. Lif. Pairing poignant lyrics on our current social and economic climate against the wailing, rally cries of the guitar – ‘Land of the Free‘ capitalizes on a cross-pollination of genres, expertly fusing Rap, Jazz and Live Electronica into a musical masterpiece.