Hiatus Kaiyote
Hiatus Kaiyote () is an Australian jazz/funk band formed in Melbourne in 2011, made up of singer/guitarist Nai Palm, bassist Paul Bender, keyboardist Simon Mavin, and drummer Perrin Moss. History. 2011–2013: Formation and "Tawk Tomahawk". In 2010, Nai Palm (born Naomi Saalfield) performed a solo show in Melbourne that was witnessed by Paul Bender. After the show, Bender approached Palm and suggested a collaboration. After working as a duo for a short time, they recruited Perrin Moss and Simon Mavin in 2011 and formed Hiatus Kaiyote. Mavin was then a member of The Bamboos but left that  band to focus on Hiatus Kaiyote. Hiatus Kaiyote played their first gig at the 2011 Bohemian Masquerade Ball among sword swallowers, fire twirlers, and gypsy death core bands. In February 2012, the band opened for Taylor McFerrin in Melbourne. McFerrin was so impressed with them that he introduced their music to influential broadcaster and record label owner DJ Gilles Peterson. The band released their debut album "Tawk Tomahawk" independently in April 2012. It was noticed by numerous musicians including Animal Collective and Dirty Projectors, and the band later received public endorsements from Erykah Badu, Questlove, and Prince, who urged their  social media followers to explore the band's music. In early 2013, Gilles Peterson named them the Breakthrough Artists of the Year at his Worldwide Music Awards in London, and shortly thereafter they were introduced to Salaam Remi who had just started working as an A&R executive at Sony Music. Sony gave Remi the opportunity to start his own label, Flying Buddha, and his first signing was Hiatus Kaiyote. The band licensed "Tawk Tomahawk" to the label, adding an updated version of the song "Nakamarra" featuring Q-Tip. Following this release, the band toured internationally, and in 2014 were nominated  for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance for "Nakamarra." They were the first Australian act to be nominated for a Grammy in an R&B category. 2014–2016: "Choose Your Weapon". In 2014, the band began working on their second album, "Choose Your Weapon", which was released on 1 May 2015. The review aggregator Metacritic gave the album a normalized rating of 88 out of 100, based on 6 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". On 9 May 2015, "Choose Your Weapon" debuted at number 22 on the Australian albums chart. Nai Palm described the album as an "extension" of their debut, and  stated that she and the band had no intention to make a one-genre body of work. Many of the songs on the album started with Saalfield's original ideas and were later fleshed out by the band collectively. During the recording the band wanted to pay tribute to the mixtape format, so they incorporated interludes. "Choose Your Weapon" became the band's first release to chart in the US, reaching #127 on the "Billboard" 200, and #11 on the "Billboard" Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The song "Breathing Underwater" from the album was nominated for a Best R&B  Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards. Starting in 2016, prominent rap and R&B artists began sampling Hiatus Kaiyote songs, starting with Anderson .Paak's sample of "Molasses" in "Without You" on his album "Malibu". The following year, Kendrick Lamar sampled "Atari" in "Duckworth" from his album "Damn," and Drake sampled "Building a Ladder" on the song "Free Smoke" from his playlist "More Life". In 2018, Beyonce and Jay-Z sampled "The World It Softly Lulls" in "713" from their album "Everything Is Love". 2017-2021: Side projects and "Mood Valiant". In 2017, Nai Palm released her debut solo album "Needle  Paw". In June 2018, Palm was featured on "Scorpion" by Drake, who has spoken highly of both her and the band. She sang a cover of "More Than a Woman" by Aaliyah, which appears at the end of Drake's song "Is There More?". On 18 October 2018, Palm revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. While recuperating in the hospital following a mastectomy, Palm and Bender performed a cover of Curtis Mayfield's "The Makings of You" which was released online. Palm announced in 2019 that she was cancer-free. During Palm's recovery period, the other  members of Hiatus Kaiyote formed several side projects. Perrin Moss, under the name Clever Austin, released the solo album "Pareidolia" in 2019. Simon Mavin formed a band called The Putbacks, and produced the album "Control" by Natalie Slade in 2020. Paul Bender formed an act called The Sweet Enoughs and released the album "Marshmallow" in 2020. Bender has also produced albums for Jaala, Vulture St. Tape Gang, and Laneous. Bender, Mavin, and Moss also released an all-instrumental album called "Improvised Music 2015-17" in 2020, under the name Swooping (formerly Swooping Duck). Hiatus Kaiyote reconvened in 2020 and signed  a global publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music. They began work on a new album inspired by Palm's health crisis and her loss of a beloved pet, as well as the social difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The song "Get Sun" was arranged and conducted by Brazilian musician Arthur Verocai. The album "Mood Valiant" was released on 25 June 2021, and reached the Top Ten on the Australian albums chart. The album was nominated for a Grammy in 2022 for Best Progressive R&B Album. Awards and nominations. APRA Awards. The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New  Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. ARIA Music Awards. The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Australian Music Prize. The Australian Music Prize (the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. It commenced in 2005. !| 2021 Grammy Awards. The Grammy Awards is an award presented by The Recording Academy  to recognise achievement in the music industry. J Awards. The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005. Music Victoria Awards. The Music Victoria Awards, are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2005. National Live Music Awards. The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016. Rolling Stone Australia Awards. The Rolling Stone Australia Awards  are awarded annually in January or February by the Australian edition of "Rolling Stone" magazine for outstanding contributions to popular culture in the previous year.