If you frequent the labyrinth that is the subway of New York, you’re probably no stranger to the various stylings of musicians who selflessly play their hearts out for fellow commuters. Whether it’s a violinist at the Lorimer L station, a pan-flutist on the Queens-bound 2nd ave F platform or a barbershop quartet at the South-bound 77th street 6 train station, music often follows us into the deepest depths of the city, even when we’ve accidentally left our headphones at the office.
But in the hustle and bustle of our underground travels, most of us never really stop to take in the sounds, besides maybe dropping a dollar for the exceptional ones.
Legend has it, Morgan Geist, 1/2 of the influential duo Metro Area and founder of the legendary New York house label Environ met Damon C. Scott in the subways of New York. Damon can often be found singing his heart out at the 86th St. subway station (the video above went viral earlier this year when it was captured by Refinery29). His soulful voice caught Morgan’s talented ears and the two soon began collaborating. The end result was Storm Queen, and over the last two years, Geist’s warm analog productions paired with Scott’s amazing voice has resulted in some of the best Dance tracks in recent memory:
Fall of 2010 saw the release of their debut single, “Look Right Through.” With its punchy drum machine intro and bending synth melody, it was an instant hit in clubs not only in New York but around the globe. In fact, it was such a smash that Defected reissued it earlier this year, with remixes from heavy-hitters Aeroplane, Dimitri from Paris, and Hot Creations honcho Jamie Jones.
Storm Queen’s followup single, “It Goes On,” was just as big. Scott’s voice magically dances around a chormatic bass walk-down, ultimately leading to an evocative chorus complete with a traditional House chord progression.
And their latest single, “Let’s Make Mistakes,” which came out just two months ago, has proven that this creative force will continue to have great staying power in the House music scene for as long as they continue to release such beautiful music.
