Hi Crime is a Seattle-based indie dreampop group that began as a recording project between Brielle Rutledge and Mitch Etter in the summer of 2015. Since then, the band has expanded to include Cody McCann and Jesse Botello, adding a burst of energy to the group's live shows and new material. In June, the band released their debut full length, The Kids Still Got It.
Invoking a true DIY spirit, the quartet wanted all the songs to have the flavor of a big studio production, while still doing as much as they possibly could themselves - recording in bedrooms and basements over the course of six months. They then enlisted fellow Seattle band Deep Sea Diver’s mixing engineer Luke Vander Pol to take on the 50,60, even 80 track sessions to give the songs the proper pop and punch they needed. Longtime KEXP mastering engineer Matt Ogaz took Luke’s mixes to make the songs as cohesive and powerful as possible to really make a statement on Hi Crime’s debut full length record. Our Song of the Day is “Wait,” the catchy first track on the album and a favorite at KEXP.
Catch Hi Crime next at Real Art Tacoma on Saturday, September 8. Below, watch Hi Crime perform the song "Japan" on Seattle Channel's Art Zone.
