Taylor Hawkins, Dave Navarro, and Jane’s Addiction bassist Chis Chaney quietly unveiled their supergroup NHC with a short set at the Ohana Festival in September, but they made their official debut with a full-length show at L.A.’s Troubadour on Tuesday evening.
The set began with nine songs from their in-progress album, including several they’ve already shared with fans like “Lazy Eyes,” and “Feed the Cruel.” The second half of the show moved to tunes from Hawkins’ solo career like “Louise” and “Range Roger Bitch.” It wrapped up with Queen’s “Keep Yourself Alive” and the David Bowie classics “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide” and “Ziggy Stardust.”
Hawkins, Navarro, and Chaney were joined by Foo Fighters guitarist Pat Smear and Foos backup singers Barbara Gruska, who doubled as the group’s drummer when Hawkins moved away from the kit to sing lead. And for the finale of “Ziggy Stardust,” Taylor’s 14-year-old son Shane played drums. “He’s a little fucking bad-ass,” Hawkins told the crowd as he was walking onto the stage. “That is for goddamn sure.” His presence caused Taylor to change the lyrics to, “He took it all too far/But boy can Shane play the fuckin’ drums.”
NHC came together in early 2020 when the pandemic caused Jane’s Addiction and Foo Fighters off the road for an indefinite period of time. It began with Hawkins, Navarro, and Chaney jamming in the studio, but quickly grew into something more. “We just kept going, and before we knew it, we had a body of work,” Navarro recently told Rolling Stone. “And then a light bulb went off and we realized we had an actual band and were going to make a record.”
They’re still putting the finishing touches on that record, which is slated for sometime in 2022, but they’re already plotting out a headlining tour. “I kind of imagine our live show being somewhere between Rush and the Faces,” Hawkins told Rolling Stone. “I want there to be a looseness, a party vibe. My attitude is, ‘If you’re here, get up on the stage and play with us.’ Let’s just say America is there. We have no problem getting them up there and plying ‘Ventura Highway.’ America, if you’re around, join the gang.”
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Los Angeles-based designer and recent-ish hip-hop producer Real Bad Man is taking up after Boldy James' prolific work ethic. He is rolling out the red carpet for his next collaborative project with the Detroit spitter titled Conversational Pieces.
Per a press release, the duo will be releasing their third body of work on May 2 via the producer's namesake record label. This will be a follow-up to 2022's Killing Nothing, as well as their debut back in 2020, Real Bad Boldy. The latter also happened to be Bad Man's first LP. As per usual, the tracklist is going to be tight knit.
There's going to be a total of 13 songs and three features. One of them is Conway the Machine, and the other two are a part of the lead singles to Conversational Pieces. Real Bad Man and Boldy James have decided to recruit Washington D.C. artist dreamcastmoe and Run The Jewels' El-P for "Come Back Around" and "It Factor," respectively.
Overall, the vibe we are getting from both tracks is very much "conversational. From the fairly chill production from Bad Man to James' very matter-of-fact deliveries on both cuts, they are definitely following the blueprint they laid out for themselves. See what they are hitting for with the links below.
Quotable Lyrics From "Come Back Around":
Uncle love to smoke and drink, granny on the couch slumped
Needle hanging out her arm, shoot up at least twice a day
Kids damn near starving, cooking noodles in the microwave
Where peoplе slave and don't ever gеt a job promotion
Auntie working two jobs every day but she be closet smoking
Where n****s sick and tired of being tired of hoping
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