Photo by G.W. Miller III

In the latest issue of JUMP Magazine, writer Beth Ann Downey profiled rising local producer Jonathan Low of Miner Street Studios. Check out the interview below.

Jonathan Low, the more-often-than-not mustached producer and engineer for Miner Street Studios in Fishtown, sips on a Kenzinger at Johnny Brenda’s while waiting for a Weathervane Music benefit show to kick off upstairs. He’ll run sound for Twin Sister, Steven A. Clark and Ava Luna — not a bad way to spend his one night home from a two-month stint in New York, where he’s working with The National on their new record and living in guitarist Aaron Dessner’s house.

Usually, Low can be seen somewhere in Fishtown day in and day out. It’s the place he chose as his professional home, the heart of the now bursting-at-the-seams local music scene.

Those who see him but don’t know the small, quiet and usually smiling Low might not expect him to be responsible for some of the biggest, best and most badass sounds coming out of the city.

“Philly was a really good place to do this because the music community is really supportive,” he says between sips of beer. “Fishtown is a really good environment to collaborate, and just to live. I feel like it was good timing when I started doing this with a lot of Philadelphia bands that were starting to do well, or be a little bit more active. I kind of was lucky jumping into the scene at the right time.”

Jumping into the scene as a producer rather than a performer wasn’t an easy decision for Low. He’s played piano since age 5 and he considered going to college for a degree that would qualify him to work on the other side of the soundboard. But he graduated from Drexel’s music industry program in 2008, and his first big post-college break was working on the first Hoots and Hellmouth record.

“That’s how I ended up kind of working out of Miner Street, working with Brian McTear,” Low recalls. “I was an assistant on the record while they (Hoots and Hellmouth) were on MAD Dragon, and then they finished the record here in Fishtown at the studio. They were kind of one of my first gateways into a lot of Philly music, a lot of Philly bands.”

Most of Low’s career to date has been as an engineer and mixer but he has been producing a lot more in the past year for the likes of Restorations, Bleeding Rainbow and The National Rifle. Low says engineering and mixing is easier than producing because it’s a much more defined role.

The National Rifle – Coke Beat (Official Video) from The National RIfle on Vimeo.

“A producer’s role is always changing depending on the record, the band, the environment,” Low says. “It’s a very broad term, and I feel like that’s something that usually takes a little bit more time and experience to become a really good producer, a really good outside force that’s driving things in the right direction. On stuff that I have produced, I usually am engineering it and mixing it at the same time. I think that’s really interesting too because you kind of see the entire process throughout. It’s just total control of a lot of things and you can either make it amazing because you have all of that total control or it can be incredibly hard.”

Low recognizes that a producer’s role comes with a lot of responsibility. It’s not necessarily pressure that he feels but the desire to arrive at an end result that everyone can be proud of.

“That’s kind of the job of the producer as well — to represent something in a way that it should be represented, and have a similar vision to the artist and where that should go,” he says.

Low engineers and mixes most of the Shaking Through sessions for Weathervane Music, a non-profit organization that provides free recording time for one song and creates videos for new artists over a two-day period. Low produced the episodes that featured Ava Luna and Auctioneer. He says the in-depth documentation and rapid workflow of a Shaking Through session makes for an intense but artistically inspiring environment.

“Having those two days to do this completed song is completely out of context of making a record,” he says. “On a record you could be cutting your basic tracks for, like, a week and you don’t know how even one song is sounding yet.

“I think that’s why Shaking Through songs come out so incredibly. Everything is so fast. Everything works really well.”

Light streams from the enormous windows of Miner Street Studios and that light usually becomes a central character in any Shaking Through video.

That same Fishtown sunshine makes Low eternally grateful for the environment he works in, the musicians and people he’s met and the life he’s built. No wonder he’s so smiley all the time.

“It’s a really positive place, it’s a really positive environment,” Low says. “Everyone that I ever worked with there is just super great as people. Some of the greatest people I’ve ever met are just the bands I end up working with. I rarely ever have a very bad experience.”

A lot of people talk about the music industry as a dark place, especially today in such an uncertain time for the industry. But not Low.

“I feel like I’ve been really lucky in not really seeing all that much of it, not seeing that side of it,” he says.

Thao Nguyen has been at the center of a couple of musical projects since she started her career. Nguyen performed as a solo act and a duo (with Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn) but Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, which put out their first album, We Brave Bee Stings and All in 2008, has caught fire.

They’re probably this popular because of how well they manipulate the indie-folk scene. Nguyen picks from a set of instruments that include a number of guitars, a mandolin and a banjo – all of which she plays masterfully. Nguyen, the bassist and guitarist incorporate a slide at some point during the show, bringing a sweet, bluesy feel to the otherwise mellow indie rock.

The majority of the set was from the band’s newest album, We The Common. Every song picked up some serious crowd-love but the song “We The Common” definitely took the gold for loudest audience sing-along. Nonetheless, the songs “ Every Body” (the opening song), and “City,” all from We The Common, got a ton of movement and smiles from the audience.

The band also played a few songs from older albums, including “Cool Yourself” and “Body,” from 2009′s Know Better Learn Faster.

The show did not seem to draw one specific demographic. A 50-something man in the front row sporting a “Delaware Dad” cap mingled with the 20-somethings around him, even if they were sporting Mohawks and thick-rimmed glasses.

The opening act, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside (right) had a similar vibe to Thao and the Get Down Stay Down – upbeat indie music with a strong female vocal, an endlessly entertaining and enjoyable combination.

Despite not really knowing anything about them, I was pretty impressed by the energy they roused from the crowd. Everyone’s been to a show where the opening act is a little wrong and a little off, and it can be such a let down since whoever you’re there to see is probably pretty baller, but you have to sit through something that isn’t what you bargained for.

This was not the case. Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside was pretty dope and on-point. They played mostly songs from their February release, Untamed Beast, including “Addicted” and “Party Kids.”

Emerging UK pop singer Jessie Ware made her Philadelphia debut at Union Transfer Friday night. Writer and photographer Grace Dickinson of JUMP Philly was there covering the scene, which included Ware taking a moment during the show to reminisce about her first visit to Philly – singing backup for Jack Penate during his World Cafe session. Grace reports:

After playing with The Roots earlier in the week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, soul-singer Jessie Ware hopped from NYC to Philadelphia for a performance at Union Transfer. Opening with Devotion, Ware sang nearly her entire EP, If You’re Never Gonna Move, along with a few other tracks from her UK released album, also titled Devotion, to be released in the states this April.

The Friday night show drew a fairly packed crowd, though was the only one not to sell out on her U.S. tour. It was the South Londoner’s first time headlining as a solo artist here but Ware let the audience know it wasn’t her first Philadelphia performance.

“When I decided to be a singer, I quit my 9-5 job and became a back-up singer,” explained Ware, referencing her former days touring with English musician Jack Peñate. “My first stop was Philadelphia and we did World Café. It’s been very romantic for me to be back here tonight.”

Ware made a visit back to World Café earlier in the afternoon for a session with David Dye, this time performing songs off of her own record.

Prior to her solo debut, Ware also acted as a back-up singer for Joker, along with SBTRKT (Aaron Jerome). For SBTRKT, Ware eventually ended up singing lead on the British producer’s 2010 single “Nervous,” a single that led Ware to her own label deal with PMR.

The 28-year-old is frequently compared to the likes of other powerful, female UK soloists popular in the states, like Adele and Sade. She definitely has that same soulful feel, akin also to English vocalist Joss Stone, though with a dubstep influence likely linked to her days with SBTRKT.

It’s the dubstep bassline that got the crowd moving on Friday night, with Ware dancing too, and referencing how happy she was to be there in between each song. Despite rather rapid success back in the UK, it’s clear Ware is still humble as ever.

As fans projected shout-outs and tributes towards the stage, Ware took a moment at one point to do some complimenting of her own. She let the crowd know she found them to be “very polite and so very sweet”, and acknowledged that this time in her life has been such a “wonderful and wild adventure”.

Before closing out the night with her album’s primary single, “Running,” Ware also acknowledged opener Rochelle Jordan, a singer/songwriter from Toronto. She too had a soulful voice that leans a bit more towards R&B. Jordan is also just rising up in the music world, getting a small shout out from Drake on his track “Club Paradise,” and positive reviews from her second LP, PRESSURE, released in August of 2012. Jordan will make a few more stops with Ware as she finishes out her U.S. tour this month.

Cam’ron, founder of The Diplomats, came to Philly for a rare performance on Saturday at The Blockley. G.W. Miller III of JUMP Philly was there among the packed crowd, covering the scene – which included a roll-call of Philly hip-hop luminaries. Here’s his account of the night:

Right before Killa Cam took the stage, The Astronauts crew, including Pace-O Beats and Mont Brown, had the crowd bouncing with their energetic stage presence. At one point, they were joined by Chill Moody, who lugged around a 2 liter bottle of green tea ginger ale (which was not just soda), for their hit “Hi Top Fade.”

Jakk Frost took the stage next and rhymed along with Mont and Pace, then Peedi Crakk strolled out and all four rapped along to a few songs, including “Flipside.” There was a lot of Philly love and talent all night. Earlier, Voss, from the Northeast, and Newz Huddle, from North Philly, fired up the crowd. Beano French ran through the crowd and jumped on stage to perform with Newz Huddle mid-song.

Cam, sporting a New York Giants pendant that was covered in diamonds, took the stage after 12:30 am, backed by a bodyguard the size of a Volkswagon Beetle and an entourage of about two dozen people. And he was live. He strutted back and forth on the stage and reached out to the audience. In the intimate confines of The Blockley, it felt as if Killa Cam was in the middle of the crowd, which added to the raucous environment.

The Dipset founder doesn’t perform much these days and he hasn’t played Philly in years. Those in attendance were pretty lucky because who knows if he’ll play Philly again anytime soon. If ever.

Pace-O Beats and Mont Brown, by Rick Kauffman. Chill Moody with The Astronauts, by G.W. Miller III. Jakk Frost with Mont Brown, by G.W. Miller III. Peedi Crakk, by Rick Kauffman. Jakk Frost, Mont Brown and Peedi Crakk, by G.W. Miller III. Newz Huddle with Beano, by G.W. Miller III. Cam’ron, by G.W. Miller III. Cam’ron, by Rick Kauffman.

This month, John Vettese (below, on the right) and The Key are hosting the Tuesday Tune-Out shows at PhilaMOCA and they kicked off their portion of the ongoing series with an amazing show.

Dr. Dog drummer Eric Slick, who also drums for Norwegian Arms, Ape School and others, performed a solo show set to a video he produced (with the help of his Norwegian Arms bandmate Brendan Mulvihill and friend Andy Molholt). The video, titled Primal Essence, featured Slick in a dream sequence – in which he had a romantic liaison with a slice of pizza.

He drummed live on stage in collaboration with his on screen character. It was surreal and amazing.

Michael Johnson (bottom image) from Ape School and Jonathan Pfeffer from Capillary Action opened the show.

The crowd alone was a who’s who of the Philly music scene. Among those in attendance were Adam Granduciel from The War on Drugs, Frances Quinlan from Hop Along, Dominic Angelella from DRGN KING, Mike Sneeringer from Purling Hiss and Scott McMicken from Dr. Dog.

Next week, Vettese and The Key will present Zilla Rocca. Find show details here.

Chicago singer-songwriter and Pitchfork darling Angel Olsen plays a Folkadelphia presents show at Studio 34 in West Philadelphia tonight. Olsen recently released her acclaimed debut Half Way Home on Bathetic Records. Joining her tonight is Philly space rock explorer Brendan Codey, and haunting singer-songwriter Meg Baird, playing her last show as a Philadelphia resident before moving to San Francisco (read our exit interview with Baird here). The show begins at 8 p.m., tickets and information can be found here. Below, watch Olsen’s music video for “Acrobat.”

The Tuesday Tune-Out continues at PhilaMOCA tonight with November’s curators, JUMP Philly Magazine, bringing Southwest Philly hip-hop collective The Astronauts to the gallery, along with a screening of the locally-produced documentary Tailor Made: The Bucky Davis Story. The all-ages show begins at 8 p.m., tickets and more information can be found here. Below, watch the music video for “High Top Fade,” a song they collaborated with Chill Moody on.

From indie rock goddess to disco siren, Mirah has covered a lot of ground in her twelve-year career (get an overview in our interview here). Recently relocated back to the east coast, she plays Johnny Brenda’s tonight with Mount Moriah. The 21+ show begins at 9 p.m., tickets and information can be found here. Below, watch Mirah’s 2010 music video for “The Forest.”

Long-standing Canadian five-piece The Tragically Hip return to Philadelphia tonight for a performance at The TLA. The band is touring in support of Now for Plan A, released in October. The all-ages show begins at 7 p.m., tickets and information can be found here. Below, watch the band’s clever video for “The Lookahead.”

When the quarterly magazine launched in 2011, I immediately dug what it was doing. For a media outlet covering the Philadelphia music scene, it was spotlighting all the right artists, and in an impressive range of genres – its writers crawled around in basement-show punk dives one minute, visited classical music halls the next, explored secretive hip-hop cyphers the next. Doing so as a print medium was all the more admirable, and I’m pleased to welcome editor and publisher G.W. Miller III to this space to share what he’s and the crew have planned for November. All events are at PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th Street), start at 7:30pm and are $5.

From George:
If you haven’t seen JUMP mag around, hit us up (jumpphilly@gmail.com) and we’ll get you a few copies. We print quarterly, and we only document the Philly music scene. We have a new issue dropping in a few weeks, so we’re pretty excited to be curating the Tuesday Tune-Out series this month.

Tuesday 11/6
Chalk & The Beige Americans

If all goes well, by the time our portion of this great music and movies series begins, the presidential election will be over (the voting at least) and the world will return to normal. No more annoying campaign advertisements on TV means I can actually turn my TV back on. Whew.

To celebrate, we invited Chalk & The Beige Americans to perform. These guys have a great Philly sound – full of funk and soul, though they can’t easily be classified in a musical genre. It’s definitely a groove, and the band is known for improvising, jazz-like, during performances. (Check out the story we wrote about the band in 2011 here.)

Tuesday 11/13
The Astronauts

We found these guys last year after they did this video/song with Chill Moody. The bass line was so addictive and the rhyme style so old school. Listen to the lyrics and you hear that these guys just love hip-hop.

The Astronauts are actually a collective, with Pace-O Beats and Mont Brown as the principals. Pace and Mont are just a couple of smart kids from Southwest Philly. They named themselves after Guy Bluford, a West Philly native who overcame many obstacles and became the first African-American astronaut to enter space.

It’s hard not to root for these guys. The film we’ll present on this night is Tailor Made: The Bucky Davis Story. It’s a locally-produced documentary about Mont’s father, who was involved in Philly’s ultra-violent drug cartel, the Junior Black Mafia.

(Read the story we did about The Astronauts in the summer 2012 issue here.)

Tuesday 11/20
Blonde Gang & DJ Lisa Love

This is our official winter issue launch party and we’re thrilled to have Blonde Gang, the issue’s cover artists, performing. These guys are another collective and their styles run the gamut – from dance tracks to more rap-oriented hip-hop. When these guys perform though, things get wild. They are bright and colorful and they get the crowd into the action.

DJ Lisa Love is a longtime DJ who spins and scratches like the old days. And she’s a great story – a Southwest Philly girl who overcame struggles and went on to DJ for the likes of Jill Scott, LL Cool J, Musiq Soulchild and others. She also runs a DJ school, and she’ll bring one of her young protégés to spin.

This will be your chance to grab a copy of the winter issue of JUMP, which is loaded with good stuff. It’s our annual visual issue and we have stories about Keith Greiman from Prowler, DJ PHSH, Harsh Vibes, The Downtown Club, Sunny Ali & The Kid, DJ Damage, Modern Inventors, Band Name, Norwegian Arms, Tutlie and much, much more.

We’ll be presenting the sequel to an 80s breakdancing classic as well, so you really have four reasons to attend.

(Here’s the story we did about Lisa Love.)

Tuesday 11/27
The National Rifle

These guys recently recorded a new album, set to drop in late January. They’re an indie rock band, I guess, but their music is all over the place. Some of their newer stuff has a real 80s post-punk feel, which is pretty awesome. Everything they do is loaded with energy and you will dance.

In addition to showing a late 70s cult classic, we’ll also be presenting two episodes of the locally produced Sadie, a web series produced by Nicole Agostino. The show features a young woman who sneaks into music shows around Philly and stumbles across adventures, romantic and otherwise. Most of the soundtrack for the show features local artists.

Recent JUMP Philly cover stars, OCD: Moosh & Twist headline a show tonight at the Theater of Living Arts. The duo met in elementary school and instantly found a musical connection in one another, they’ve been making mixtapes and playing shows ever since. They had the opportunity to perform at The Roots Picnic this year and have been touring the country at only 19 years of age. Tonight’s performance begins at 7 PM, tickets to the all ages show are $16.50. Check out their music video for “City Kids” that was released in late 2010 and now has over 1 million views.

Crills Wilson has a unique sound, and his rootsy voice combined with punk rock instrumentation makes for one catchy outcome. They play tonight at Kung Fu Necktie along with Miracles of Modern Science, High Kick, and Organik Theory. This 21+ show begins at 8 PM, tickets are $8.

This week, the latest issue of upstart local music mag JUMP Philly hits the streets, and tonight the staff takes to the XPN2 airwaves. Publisher G.W. Miller and a group of the magazine’s writers and photographers join me at 8 p.m. to guest host the second hour of the Philly Local Second shift, where they’ll play an assortment of artists featured in the latest issue (including cover star Jill Scott, indie rock mad scientist Shorty Boy-Boy and West Philly rapper Chill Moody), as well as artists artists performing at the various issue release shows they’ve got lined up (Bedroom Problems, at Temple’s Paley Library on Nov. 16; Toy Soldiers who play The Hard Rock Cafe on Nov. 17; and Nicos Gun, who are at The Blockley on Nov. 23). Tune in to their set tonight at 8 p.m. on XPN2.org or 88.5 HD-2.