Singer/songwriter Dermot Kennedy recently tapped master of rap production Mike Dean to bring a fresh sound to the lush but raw romance of his serenades. Kennedy sat with us backstage after playing Lollapalooza, sharing about the Dean collaboration and how playing Lolla's main stage introduced him to a new experience. "There was a good crowd there," said Kennedy. "Just to get that insight into what it's like to play those really massive main stages is really cool."
The hip-hop studio environment completely changed Kennedy's outlook on some of his own music. He said seeing how Dean's crew were "vibing off it changed my mind and then helped me see it without my ego attached to it — I listened to it as if it was just a piece of music. That was really refreshing."
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After Lolla, "I'm going to get home after this and have some time before going on tour properly, for the last quarter of the year," Kennedy said. "I'm going to be in the studio basically working on the next thing. I'm not even sure what it is." But he's got a lot to work with and stacks of songs.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">'Couldn't Tell' has just passed a million streams on Spotify! You can hear it on the 'Mike Dean Presents' mixtape <a href="https://t.co/JKaUQQ0Les">https://t.co/JKaUQQ0Les</a><br>.<br> by <a href="https://twitter.com/lucyfosterphoto?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lucyfosterphoto</a> <a href="https://t.co/KUHHpNIGV8">pic.twitter.com/KUHHpNIGV8</a></p>— Dermot Kennedy (@DermotKennedy) <a href="https://twitter.com/DermotKennedy/status/996377167742332928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Kennedy is now on tour, ending in Los Angeles on Nov. 19. It seems like the more insight and practice he gets with good crowds, big stages and cool studio vibes, will all feed his creativity.
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