Luke Titus • "Blue"

Prod. Luke Titus Additional Guitar - Brian Sanborn, Parker Grogan Mixed by Don "Hullio" Outten Mastered by Bryan Schwaller

If you’re new to the name, all you need to know is that Luke Titus is one of the most talented musicians out of Chicago right now. The multi-instrumentalist is a drummer, singer, producer, and most importantly has an incredible ear for song writing. He’s followed a winding road thus far – drummer for local jammers Woo Park, the youngest ever musician with Blue Man Group, and now a solo path that’s already resulting in some of his most impressive work yet. His gifted drumming translates to wonderfully complex yet intuitive beats. His vocals are on point. And his stylings are soulful, fun yet emotive, musically dense, always unpredictable. One hell of a musician!

Today he’s premiering a new track “Blue” with These Days. Most of his recent tracks have followed a color palette as they pertain to emotion, and “Blue” explores feelings at their most vibrant. There’s a staccato nature to the song, a little hop in Luke’s step, and the feeling of freedom is ever present. Blue might be associated with the dumps, but for Luke "Blue" is a manifestation of freedom, the feeling when theirs nothing but open space in front of you and endless possibilities. We picked the talented musicians brain a little bit, so immediately check out the song above then check out our Q & A with Luke Titus below!

See you've been traveling a lot! What have you been up to since this summer?

I've been playing a lot of out of town shows with Noname, some one-offs around the states and a little stint in Tokyo. We're actually in Cape Town now, haha. Also went to visit my girl on her tour which was fun. Besides that, just finishing the record and hanging with friends.

When we last spoke, you had discussed how you were basing songs off colors. What can you tell us about "Blue", in terms of song and color?

The song Blue is more optimistic. I think about the sky when I hear the song, that's where the color stems from. The little color theme for me on this record is the the difference between the way blue makes me feel and the way pink makes me feel. Optimistic and nostalgic.

There's a stuttering quality to this track (vocals and percussion), what drove that stylistic choice?

It started with a sample of me playing the drums that I played bass over. I just really liked the way the drums were sitting and forcing the ear to listen for the groove. After that, the vocals I wrote were driven by keeping that quality to the song but also giving a melodic phrase that would ease the aggressiveness.

You've always been a drummer, now you're really coming into your own as a singer and producer - what's the secret to being a multi-instrumentalist?

I don't think there's real A secret. It's all about hard work. Music all relates to itself, so the more I practiced one thing, the more the next instrument would make sense.

What do your plans look like for the rest of the year?

Im dropping Aside of Love EP, which "Blue" is the single for, in November. After that, I'll be on tour with Noname in November and taking a little break from writing. Time to enter my downloading period, haha.