Rip It Up

Inc. Interview

Words By

• Cyclone

Dance artists have been doing it for years. Now the new avant R&B acts want in. They’re trading in secrecy. If Canada’s TheWeeknd shuns interviews, then Los Angeles’ inc. – comprised of the Aged brothers, Andrew (vocals, guitar) and Daniel (bass, production) – have grainy publicity shots, a minimalist bio and no Wikipedia entry. The low-key duo, due to tour Europe, lately presented a stunning debut, no world, to much buzz – and curiosity. Indeed, inc. are putting their own twist on illwave R&B, tapping into New Wave, trip hop, Aaliyah’s influential catalogue with Timbaland and ’90s neo-soul. 

No world was, according to the press release, completed back in 2011 – but, says Andrew, that’s “kinda misleading”. In fact, inc. began the album late that year and it was done by last June. “So it wasn’t that long [ago] – and then our reason for the delay was basically just record label stuff.” Surprisingly, the hipster-endorsed outfit, who insist on conducting phone interviews together, their voices blending, are signed to 4AD – the feted UK label traditionally associated with indie and punk (it launched the gothic Bauhaus). Even today 4AD has few dance, let alone urban, acts – with one notable exception SpaceGhostPurp. Says Daniel, “We really connected with them as people – that’s how it came about. It seems to be the way we like to do most things now, connecting with the people… It felt different than meeting with other labels and other A&R people and stuff. It felt much more open and progressive – or something.”

Inc. freely identify their favourite tracks on no world. For Andrew, it’s the dramatic Angel – also a critics’ pick. “We wrote that really fast.” Daniel is close to Desert Rose (War Prayer). The single, The Place, finds Andrew singing almost falsetto – and it’s a song that combines inc.’s deep alt-soul with George Benson-y guitar. 

The Ageds arrived in LA from a small town in Northern California (they don’t say where), starting out as session musicians. Between them, they’ve worked with everybody from the rapper 50 Cent to soul royalty Raphael Saadiq, Pharrell Williams and Cee Lo Green to rock’s Elton John and Beck. (They’ve likewise recorded with the dance-pop Nite Jewel.) They sought experiences. “That was our goal for a while – to play with great artists and play with great musicians and be on great records,” Daniel says. Eventually the pair made “a pretty big break” from gigging-for-hire, Andrew explains. “We stopped at one point, pretty clearly and deliberately, and we built this [inc.] from the ground up.” The siblings aimed to “prove” to themselves, and others, that it might be done – that they “could start from zero again and try to get somewhere.”

The Ageds devised what they called Teen Inc until 2010, the same year a seven inch surfaced, developing “a clear vision” for their music. The next year The Guardian featured them in a ‘New Band Of The Day’ on the basis of their first EP, 3. 

Inc. chose not to approach any famous allies to cameo on no world. Andrew laughs about inc. being “kind of anarchistic”. “We wanna do it our own way.” They haven’t even contacted Elton, a huge supporter of new music. “Funny enough, we have absolute direct contact with him if we want to go that direction, but we just are too shy and pathetic to think like that!” Inc. hope people discover their music themselves. “We wanted to make sure it’s like a clear thing that people can see – and then they can know whether they really like it or not, not just because someone said it or not.” 

Inc. don’t necessarily feel an affinity with TheWeeknd, Frank Ocean and Miguel, all creating “progressive R&B” (as Billboard is referring to it). They tend to “stay” in their “little zone” Andrew says. He won’t segment R&B into ‘indie’ and ‘commercial’, either, considering all black music to be about “spirit”. Not that inc. are dismissive, Andrew stresses. “We have a lot of respect for our peers – and people pushing things forward.”

WHO: inc.
WHAT: no world (Remote Control)

Image: Natasha Ghosn