Eric Burton (left) and Adrian Quesada in Nashville. The two musicians, who make up psychedelic-soul duo Black Pumas, are up for a Grammy.

David McClister
Austin duo surprise even themselves with the magic that happens when they team up — and the Grammys agree

Black Pumas’ journey to the Grammys began with a potentially awkward phone call. In late 2017, long-standing Austin-based guitarist and producer Adrian Quesada needed a singer for some new instrumentals he’d been recording. On the recommendation of a mutual friend, he left a message for a local talent, Eric Burton, who had virtually no track record in the business. Burton hadn’t heard of Quesada, either, and he didn’t bother to call back — until some friends clued him in to Quesada’s high-end reputation. “They said, ‘Dude, hit that guy back up,’” recalls Burton. “They kind of scoffed at me for leaving him hanging for so long.” Finally, Burton dialed the number — “I felt, ‘Hey, this could be an opportunity to make some money’” — and Quesada, who was driving at the time, answered. “He sang over the phone, and I couldn’t hear him that well,” Quesada says. “But his passion and energy were so contagious.”

This unlikely pairing of two men 13 years apart in age, and coming from very different musical backgrounds, paid off: At this year’s Grammy Awards, Black Pumas will be competing in the Best New Artist category against the formidable likes of Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X, Yola, Maggie Rogers, and Rosalia, all of whom have sold more records than Black Pumas have. “I don’t even know how we made it onto [the list],” says Burton. “We feel like this is a battle against a bunch of Goliaths. It really is kind of mind-boggling.”

 

Then again, surprise twists are part of the group’s DNA. Growing up in Laredo, Texas, Quesada ignored his parents’ music in favor of hip-hop and hair-metal. He moved to Austin to study art in college, playing guitar in a punk-jazz act, the Blue Noise Band, before circling back to Mexican dance music from the Fifties and Sixties. Eventually, he and his group joined forces with another, more funk-oriented local band, the Blimp, to form Grupo Fantasma.

Quesada would log nearly 15 years with that limber, multi-faceted group, who played a cool, jacked-up version of traditional music. Their reputation growing, Grupo Fantasma were recruited by Prince for a series of dates at his Glam Slam club; Prince also jammed with them at a few VIP gigs in 2007. And in 2011, after losing out on an earlier Grammy, Grupo walked away with an award for Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album for 2010’s El Existential.

Even when he was in the band, Quesada was restless; early on, he started a harder, more metallic side project, Brownout, which released a bunch of Black Sabbath covers under the name Brown Sabbath. In the years after Grupo Fantasma’s Grammy win, Quesada reached a point where he felt he had to leave his musical mothership for good, in part due to the group’s rigorous road work. “I was starting to have a hard time committing to that schedule,” he says. “More than that, it was just a very specific palette. It was difficult [to leave], honestly, because it had turned into a family. But I never felt like the primary songwriter or anything, and if I was going to invest that much time in anything, I want to be more directly involved. It was time.”

For another side project, Quesada joined up with My Morning Jacket drummer Patrick Hallahan in the one-off band Spanish Gold in 2014. But he remained in search of an indefinable sound to call his own, and had begun working on his own instrumentals with local musicians when Burton entered the picture.

Burton’s story had started across the country, in Los Angeles. Living in a religious household with his mother in the San Fernando Valley, he heard more gospel than pop music. “I grew up kind of sheltered through the church,” he says. “As far as secular music, I just heard what was on the radio while we were doing chores.” The rare non-gospel record he remembers from that time is Pras’ 1998 hit “Ghetto Supastar”; his first CD purchase was 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’. (Though not a huge hip-hop fan, he loved 50’s catchy tunes.)

As part of his high school’s theater-geek crowd, Burton envisioned himself an actor, and thanks to an industry connection, he landed a bit part in the music-themed Keira Knightley/Mark Ruffalo movie Begin Again in 2013. Through that, he met former New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander, who encouraged Burton’s music side. After a brief trip to college in Arizona, Burton wound up back in L.A, selling T-shirts while busking on the Santa Monica Pier. He and two musician friends played up and down the West Coast before driving to Austin, where Burton decided to stay.

When he first heard Burton’s name suggested as a possible collaborator, Quesada was perplexed. “I looked him up, and the first thing I thought was, ‘How have I not heard of this guy?’” says Quesada, who watched YouTube videos of Burton singing in clubs. “I pride myself on knowing. But I thought it was awesome. I love that I had no preconceived notions of this guy.”

When the two finally met at Quesada’s Austin studio, it became immediately clear that they could complement each other. Burton’s smooth but gritty voice and original songs, like his rainbow-themed “Colors” (“My sisters and my brothers/See ’em like no other”), fit alongside the tracks Quesada had already cut, which were heavy on old-school electric pianos, live drums, and Quesada’s rumbly surf guitar. Quesada enhanced the classic-soul mood by introducing his younger collaborator to vintage R&B. “It made me want to go back and listen and figure out how to project the way Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye could,” Burton says. “Adrian really appreciated the tonality of my voice and the way I was reaching to embody these older artists that fit the canvas he was giving to me.”

Quesada agrees, but begs off the old-school comparisons. “We didn’t really set out to be a soul revival band or anything like that,” he says. “I wanted the soul to be that it came from our souls, not so much a carbon copy of any particular era or artists.”

 

 

“I didn’t even know that he had James Brown-level frontman chops. As soon as we stepped off the stage, we pulled each other aside and said, ‘There’s a spark here.’”

Soon enough, the duo had a name, Black Pumas, inspired by Quesada’s fascination with jaguars (his studio has a jaguar logo) and a play on the Black Panthers. The moment of creative truth came on stage, when they debuted their act at an Austin club. “I remember telling my wife not to come — give us a few weeks, because it might suck the first couple of times,” Quesada recalls. Quesada assumed Burton would be seated with his guitar, but to his — and Burton’s — surprise, the singer opted to stand up and perform, drawing on his theatrical background.  “When I got to put the guitar down, I found it was very freeing,” says Burton. “It elevated what we were doing.”

“Everything I had ever seen, Eric was playing troubadour, singer-songwriter style with a guitar,” says Quesada. “I didn’t even know that he had James Brown-level frontman chops. As soon as we stepped off the stage the first time, we pulled each other aside and said, ‘There’s a spark here.’”

From there, buzz began building. Black Pumas released “Black Moon Rising” on Spotify, scored a single deal and then a full-album contract with ATO Records (the label co-founded by Dave Matthews and currently home to My Morning Jacket, Brittany Howard, and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard). About a year ago, they scored a Best New Band award at the Austin Music Awards and released their debut, Black Pumas, a few months later.

Next came the band’s left-field Grammy nomination, which remains a mystery, even to those who work with the band. “I have no idea how that happened,” says ATO head Jon Salter, who submitted the band’s record for consideration but heard nothing more until the nomination was announced. “Maybe they wanted some guitar rock in there.” Sales certainly weren’t a factor: To date, Black Pumas has only sold around 23,000 combined physical and digital copies, according to Alpha Data.

But Quesada’s Grammy history didn’t hurt, and it’s also likely the group benefited from the Recording Academy’s secretive blue-ribbon panel, which whittles down dozens of nominees in the four leading categories to ensure those categories retain a patina of cool. “When the nominations came out and I saw Black Pumas, I said, ‘What the fuck? This makes no sense,'” says a label executive who participates in the Grammy process. “I pride myself in knowing every record that comes out and listening to everything. But then I thought about it and I thought, ‘That’s kind of cool.’ They and Yola are really good acts.” (The Recording Academy declined to comment on the process.)

The Puma’s next stop will be Los Angeles for the awards show. Quesada already has one Grammy appearance under his belt, for Grupo Fantasma’s first nomination. But for Burton, whose last day job was delivering packages for Amazon for $150 a day, the trip and the A-list competition are a reminder that he’s now in much bigger leagues than he even imagined. “I still can’t believe we’re part of the conversation, because we haven’t been a band very long,” says Burton. “I’ve had to be more professional, or else I’m going to get fired.”

 
 

You might recognize Summer Walker for her smooth and seductive vocals, but the R&B star is not someone who speaks a lot. In truth, the Atlanta artist is pretty reserved. And while many people struggle to draw the 29-year-old out of her quiet nature, Paris Hilton, who sat down with Summer before she dropped her third album, Finally Over It, connected with her over an unexpected shared love of farm animals, especially turtles, goats, and Silkie chickens. But life is far from simple for Summer. As she explains to her fellow mom and musician, trying to manage her home life while keeping up with the demands of her music career is a constant challenge.

SUMMER WALKER: You know what? I might have fucked up. She said talk for 40 minutes but I’m such a bad talker.

PARIS HILTON: [Laughs] 

WALKER: How are you?

HILTON: Good. I just got back to town. It’s so good to be home with the baby and the puppies. Where are you?

WALKER: I’m in Atlanta. You have a brand new baby?

HILTON: My daughter, London, just turned two on 11/11, and then my son, Phoenix, is going to be three in January. And you have three?

WALKER: Yeah. Two boys. They are about to be three. And then I have a 4-year-old daughter.

HILTON: So cute having them around the same age.

WALKER: Yeah. How’s motherhood been for you?

HILTON: I love it. I just feel like my life is finally complete. It’s definitely a lot to balance with everything, but I always put my babies first. I try to bring them with me everywhere.

WALKER: I feel you. I think my life would suck without them. I used to try to bring them everywhere, but trying to bring them on tour was really hard.

HILTON: I bet. Especially with twin boys.

WALKER: So what’s your favorite color?

HILTON: [Laughs] Pink. You?

WALKER: I should have known that. Um, pink. My bathroom and my whole room looks like a young girl’s princess party.

HILTON: Same. [Laughs] I love it. What sign are you?

WALKER: Aries.

HILTON: Nice. I’m an Aquarius.

WALKER: Oh, I love Aquarius. They’re really tactical and smart and calm and intuitive. So what do you do for fun?

HILTON: I work all the time, but if I’m not working, my favorite thing is just to be at home with babies and my pets and cook and do art and chill and write music and just play in the backyard. I love being outdoors. What about you?

WALKER: Literally the same thing. I just don’t have as much time, but I would really, really like to do more staying home, cooking, just being with the kids, painting, decorating the house, shopping, and building stuff outside. I just built a chicken coop.

HILTON: Like, for eggs?

WALKER: Yes. I’m excited to just have chickens for eggs and just chickens that are just cute—like, you know the Silkie chickens?

HILTON: Yes! That’s what my husband and I want. Are they sweet?

WALKER: I mean, I chilled with one for five seconds. We called him Teriyaki and he was nice.

HILTON: [Laughs] The way their little feathers look is so funny. I wanted to get a couple of them because I heard it’s so much healthier to grow your own eggs.

WALKER: Absolutely. I want the whole thing, the goats and all the animals.

HILTON: I used to have a goat, I got it in Vegas. I named it Billy.

WALKER: How was that?

HILTON: It was a little miniature one. It was so cute and sweet but then it got older and grew horns and udders. Then it was trying to butt everyone in the head, like, chasing people.

WALKER: Not so cute anymore.

HILTON: [Laughs] Yeah. We sent it to my ranch. It got a little crazy living in Beverly Hills. I should have got a girl.

WALKER: Yeah, I’m going to look into that. I just got my little greenhouse so I can start gardening. All of this requires me to stay home, so I don’t know what the hell I think I’m about to do.

HILTON: [Laughs] Hopefully you’ll have someone to help you with that because with the amount we both have to travel, it’s hard to keep all of that up.

WALKER: Absolutely. Do you have any fish?

HILTON: I used to have an aquarium but then I moved houses. Do you?

WALKER: No, I think I want a turtle though.

HILTON: They’re cute. I used to have the little ones. I love animals.

WALKER: I heard.

HILTON: I just got a new dog named Iconic Princess Hilton. She’s like a little mini teacup chihuahua. 

WALKER: Iconic Princess Hilton. Period. 

HILTON: [Laughs] Yes.

WALKER: She’s a diva.

HILTON: She’s a little baby icon. By the way, you looked so beautiful at the VMAs in New York.

WALKER: Thank you. So did you. I was like, “Wow, did I just talk to Paris Hilton?”

HILTON: I loved when you came up and said hello. I loved your hat. I loved your outfit. It looked so gorgeous.

WALKER: Thank you. Yeah, it was a fun little time. I love dressing up.

HILTON: Me too. 

WALKER: Speaking of cooking, I was in the store a while ago and I seen your cookware.

HILTON: Were you at Walmart?

WALKER: Maybe. It had the crystals on it. I was like, “Oh my god, I got to get this.”

HILTON: I’ll send you a whole package of stuff. All the new products are so cute.

WALKER: Really? I don’t mind buying it.

HILTON: I would love just to send it to you as a present to say congratulations on the new album.

WALKER: Thank you. It’s Christmas.

HILTON: I know. I cannot believe it’s the end of the year already. It’s so crazy how time has flown so fast.

WALKER: I mean, I think NASA actually said that time did speed up, you can really feel it though.

HILTON: Life is so precious. We have to enjoy every moment.

WALKER: Definitely. So how is your mom?

HILTON: My mom is amazing. She just called me last night. She’s in Vegas for BravoCon with all the other housewives and my sister, and they were just having a time. I love her so much.

WALKER: I love when people are really close with their parents even when they’re grown as hell.

HILTON: Yeah, family is everything. What was your day to day before getting into music and releasing albums? 

WALKER: Honestly, painting and just playing the guitar. Just doing art, basically.

HILTON: When did you start singing?

WALKER: I was maybe 13. I was in the church choir—I have a question for you.

HILTON: Yes.

WALKER: What was the first business you opened?

HILTON: When I lived in the Malibu colony, my sister and I would have a lemonade stand, so I was an entrepreneur at a young age. [Laughs] And then I did my first perfume in 2004 when The Simple Life came out. I just released my 30th fragrance.

WALKER: Congratulations. 30 is crazy.

HILTON: Thank you. It’s called Iconic, I’ll send you that as well—

WALKER: Love. Okay, so we have the dog name, Iconic, and we have a perfume named Iconic. Is anyone else named Iconic?

HILTON: If I have another daughter, I’ll name her Iconic.

WALKER: Period. 

HILTON: [Laughs] Oh, yeah, my new music documentary is called Infinite Icon. So that’s iconic too.

WALKER: Dope. So what’s your favorite type of genre?

HILTON: I love dance, EDM, and pop. 

WALKER: So you want to put me on? Give me your favorite EDM artist.

HILTON: I love Martin Garrix, David Guetta, like when he does remixes, they’re so sick. He’s so talented. Kygo is amazing, and Avicii was incredible. I always loved his music.

WALKER: Is that what inspired you to DJ?

HILTON: I just have loved going to raves and music festivals since I was a teenager and then 15 years ago, I got offered to do this huge music festival in Brazil and close out for JLo, even though I’d never DJed before. My team was like, “It’s a huge offer. Will you do it?” So I was like, “Okay, fine.” So I did it and I loved it so much. And then from there I just started getting offered DJ residencies in Ibiza and Las Vegas and all around the world. 

WALKER: Yeah, why not make money off doing what you love?

HILTON: Yeah, exactly. I was the first one who invented getting paid to party in Vegas, doing club appearances. But then I noticed around that time when I started DJing, that it was more about the DJs, so I hired the best people in the business to come to my house and train me, because it’s very technical. It took a minute to learn everything. Being a girl in that business, you really have to prove yourself. So I just wanted everything to be perfect.

WALKER: I love that. I think when I finally learn how to DJ, I will officially stop singing.

HILTON: Do you ever get nervous when you go on stage?

WALKER: A little. It’s not as bad as it used to be.

HILTON: Same. I used to get so nervous, but I spoke to other artists like Sia and Miley [Cyrus] about it, and they’re like, “It’s normal. You’re only nervous because you care so much.”

WALKER: I feel like that’s something Miley definitely agrees with because she gets on stage and be doing anything. It’s hilarious. 

HILTON: She slays. I love her. Soafter this trilogy, what’s next?

WALKER: Probably funk. I like old school stuff, disco.

HILTON: I love disco. Who are some of the artists that you were inspired by when you were a little girl?

WALKER: Erykah Badu. What about you?

HILTON: I always loved Madonna, Janet Jackson, Britney  [Spears], Alanis Morissette—who else? Paula Abdul. 

WALKER: The pop legends.

HILTON: Yeah. Do you come to L.A. a lot?

WALKER: Yeah, unfortunately.

HILTON: Why?

WALKER: I don’t know. I’m a down South girl, so L.A. is just so different. I always have trouble adapting.

HILTON: Why?

WALKER: Why? You really want me to get into it? [Laughs] I can’t ever seem to find really good food without going to a five star restaurant and spending $500 to $1000 just to eat a meal. And then the traffic is so bad, it’s so crazy. It’s kind of a little bit bougie, but maybe I’m going to the wrong places. And the air has a lot of smog, and I just be like–

HILTON: “Take me home.” [Laughs]

WALKER: Yeah. And I think it’s like that southern hospitality, like people open doors, and they say, “Yes ma’am,” or “No, ma’am.” I think in New York and LA everything’s just moving so fast that people just be like, “Get the fuck out the way.” 

HILTON: [Laughs] Yeah. I love Southern food. 

WALKER: What is your favorite type?

HILTON: Biscuits and gravy–everything just feels so cozy and yummy. I love anything that’s fried. I’m not really a healthy eater. 

WALKER: Life is short. Enjoy yourself.

HILTON: I love Taco Bell.

WALKER: Period. Yeah, I think Atlanta needs to chill with the lemon pepper though. You can’t have lemon pepper with everything.

HILTON: [Laughs] What do you like to do when you relax?

WALKER: When I like to relax, I like to get a massage. I don’t even know how many times I get a massage in a month. That’s my shit. Hopefully one day I can open up a spa because that is my passion and then I can just sit there all day.

HILTON: Do you like facials?

WALKER: Yes, I love any type of red light therapy, any type of healing things you can do.

HILTON: Yeah, I’m obsessed with all that. I’m building a crazy spa at my house right now that has all of the most insane medical devices and facial things that you would see in a real spa or a doctor’s office because I’m obsessed with longevity and wellness and looking hot forever.

WALKER: Speaking of looking hot forever, there’s this machine and it’s super cold, and they put it on your face and do that lymphatic drainage, but it snatches your face and you look like Michael Jackson after. You know what I’m talking about?

HILTON: I have a couple different ones. I have an actual cryotherapy machine called CryoBuilt that you walk in. Four people can fit in it.

WALKER: Oh, wow.

HILTON: But then I also have the face ones. This other new thing they just came out with as well, it’s called the Sherpa CryoBuilt and it’s like a cryo facial that blasts this freezing air on you. And then there’s another one that’s like a metal thing, and it’s like a circle, and it just gets so cold, and it makes your face look snatched. I love it.

WALKER: Yes. I need to learn about some more machines. My facial lady is crazy. It looks like a mad scientist room in there. It’s like 50 machines.

HILTON: Yeah, that’s how I am too. I get three facials a week for three hours each time, and I feel like I’m working because she hooks up all these little sticky things on my body with the electric EMS, so it’s kind of toning the body while doing the facial.

WALKER: You have the thing that does the crunches for you?

HILTON: Yes. The NeurotriS machine. It’s so sick. 

WALKER: See, I do them, but I don’t know what they’re called. 

HILTON: [Laughs] So what was the inspiration for your album cover?

WALKER: Anna Nicole Smith.

HILTON: Yes. I remember when I saw that when you posted on Instagram, I was like, “This is iconic.”

WALKER: Thank you. We love the girls. We love Pamela [Anderson], we love Anna.

HILTON: So amazing that you recreated that.

WALKER: Thank you. Well, don’t be a stranger because I’m trying to come to one of them DJ sets.

HILTON: Oh yes, definitely. And I’ll let you know my next house party is in real Slivington Manor. It’s so much fun.

WALKER: Oh, I love house parties. That’s actually my favorite thing. Particularly ones with no air.

HILTON: No air?

WALKER: Yeah. Like a Jamaican party.

HILTON: What is that?

WALKER: We’ll get into it. [Laughs] But I’m so over the clubs. Everybody wants to stand around and stare at each other.

HILTON: Yeah, it’s not fun. But my house parties are lit.

WALKER: Okay, I’ll be there.

HILTON: Hell yes. I’ll find out when the next one is and I’ll send it to you. Wait, what’s your favorite song on the new album?

WALKER: “Don’t Make Me Do It.”

HILTON: What’s it about?

WALKER: It’s just like, don’t make me break up with you, because I don’t want to, but I’ll do it if I have to.

HILTON: Loves it. Congratulations on everything, honey. And I look forward to seeing you soon. I hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’ll send you over the prezzies.

WALKER: Thank you. Blessings to you and the family.

HILTON: You too, honey.

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