| The decision to write and record the track on the infamous Wonderland Avenue in Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles was made with purpose. “There were a few reasons Elliott (Fifty Grand) and I decided to record write and record the track on Wonderland Avenue,” he explains. “Anywhere you choose to create, the things around you crawl into what you’re making and eventually show influence. The neighborhood’s famous for its hauntingly eclectic and darker leanings. From Zappa and the Houdini House to Joni Mitchell and Lookout Mountain, to the Four On The Floor murders. This was a common shared interest between Elliott and me that we discovered very quickly and decided to commit ourselves to seeing what so many brilliant trailblazers before us had seen.”
The mastermind behind such seminal alternative bands Chiodos, Cinematic Sunrise, The Sound of Animals Fighting, and Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows, Owens took some time off after the final breakup of Chiodos in early 2015 to re-find his muse. In the two years since, he has moved back home to Detroit after a brief stint in Los Angeles and gotten back to what drew him to music in the first place – the desire to create and shape the music within his soul. Keeping a low profile and recording music as badXchannels, Owens explored the more experimental side of rhythm-based alternative music, drawing inspiration from a broad swath of music that includes film soundtracks and scores, Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean. Having collaborated with such luminaries as Dr. Dre, D12, Fifty Grand (of TeamSesh) and gotten support from underground superstar Bones, Owens leaves no stone unturned, creating music from inspiration rather than record label demands.
“I’ve always sympathized with what is direct, serious, and heartfelt in any art I revel in,” he explains. “As I continue to grow, so does the music I make and the genuine self-expression within it.” While on the surface, the avant garde flourishes that color badXchannels’ music may seem a far cry from the ferocious and abrasive rock of Chiodos, embryonic bursts of these artistic bubbles can be heard popping throughout his catalog of work. “There are similar colors, shapes and shades consistently throughout all of the music that I’ve been a part of,” he adds.
The first EP WHYDFML was released in 2016 and features the single/video “lll. dottedXlines” which Owens describes as “expressing my journey to discovering a deep disdain for being swept up in industry and details the required strength it takes to get back up after a perceived failure.” |
