Photo Credit: Ariel Kassulke
You Win!!!
With a dark, brooding beat, Amanda Huff and producer William Gardiner, aka This Random Machine made their first official foray as a duo into the Milwaukee music scene on Friday as You Win!!!, a brand-new alternative group. Rooted in trip hop with a slithering electronica feel to it as well, the band’s lead single, “Shrap.nel,” is part of a larger project that has been in development for some time. Huff and This Random Machine had collaborated previously on her notable solo work, including recent singles “Gravetalking” and “Division.”
“The last few months, I did a lot of remote collaboration” said Huff. “William sent me a track and asked if I heard anything for it. I was down a different genre hole at the time, so I was like ‘yeah, totally. Let’s do something weird here,’ and he is always down for that. So the single came out of that.”
While Huff’s work had largely been rooted in dramatic vocals and drawn out notes to coincide with them, she’s had a history of collaborating with artists in the electronic sphere as well. Her breakout album, 2018’s Hemiptera, was produced by lo-fi producer Strehlow, and teases of new work with locally prolific DJ and Higher Education Records owner Moses have also appeared on social media. With You Win!!!, however, the door is open for an added dimension to the sound that Huff had been previously cultivating. She also credited her time during Wisconsin’s Safer at Home order to the genesis of a new project.
“William and I had played around with the idea before of being a band. Right before quarantine, we played a full show together” said Huff. “We decided let’s just try to make this work. Quarantine helped, actually, because we were able to keep sending things back and forth.”
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In addition to You Win!!!, Huff has a new solo album that has been in the works, as well. Both that project and a larger body of work from her new collaborative entity should hit streaming platforms sometime in 2021.
“Right now the plan is to just put singles out, but the goal is probably to put out an album by the end of next year” said Huff. “I’m actually more excited for the group release right now.”
