The music video for Adam Tyler's single "Like a Drug" features him wearing makeup, dancing around with scantily-clad men and women, and locked up in some kind of sex prison. The video feels like a sexier, dirtier and in living color of Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" music video, only it doesn't. In any event, I can safely say the A-Sides session with the artist for the same song came off a lot tamer. Think about how awkward it would be -- for me anyway -- if it wasn't? As I found out soon after meeting him, there's more to Tyler than shaking his moneymaker and glamming it up. He's a Berklee-trained musician who should soon become a household name -- especially on the dance scene -- with his Adam Lambert-esque stylings (don't you hate how us bloggers need a point of reference always?).
Tyler, who recently played Mecca in Miami, released his debut Shattered Ice recently, and it's pop goodness. Watch his wonderfully stripped down -- not literally -- version of "Like a Drug" filmed at the Music Conservatory of Westchester in White Plains, N.Y. followed by an interview. Watch. Listen. Love.
"Like a Drug" acoustic:
AT/JC Interview:
About A-Sides with Jon Chattman
Jon Chattman's music series features artists (established or not) from all genres performing a track, and discussing what it means to them. This informal series focuses on the artist making art in a low-threatening, extremely informal (sometimes humorous) way. No bells, no whistles -- just the music performed in a random, low-key setting followed by an unrehearsed chat. In an industry where everything often gets overblown and over manufactured, I'm hoping this is refreshing.