"When you’re in a band like The Antlers and you’re releasing a new record, you get asked all the time what you were listening to while you made the record. Journalists want to know what music informed the sound, what artists inspired the creation and production of your own work, all in some vain attempt to discover what the record “means” and how it fits into the context of music history as a whole. I usually talk about the jazz, soul and electronic music that I listen to a lot and love dearly, and in the process, try to understand my own personal musical context - how I fit into the world of music and art. This is a springboard for any number of existential crises concerning who I am and why I even exist. Heavy stuff.

I haven’t figured any of that out, and I don’t think I will today, because it’s sunny and warm, I’m having some friends over, and I’m grilling a flank steak in my backyard. There will be whiskey and plenty of beer, and with any luck, I’ll pass out in a lawn chair by the kiddie pool, with a mojito still in my hand. It’s summer and I fully intend to enjoy it.

So, instead of carefully curating a playlist that represents everything I want to accomplish in my life and career, I’ve decided to spare you the pretension and share with you a selection of exactly what I will be listening to while getting sunburnt in my backyard today. It doesn’t have much to do with The Antlers or our new record Familiars. But neither does the flank steak that’s currently marinating in my fridge. This mix alternates between 90’s rap/hip-hop and African highlife music from Ghana and Nigeria, and represents a side of myself I share with my only my best friends.

So in honor of summer, relaxation, and the “champagne of beers" I used to drink when I first got into backyard BBQs - the summer in college when I lived in Atlanta with my best friend, I title this mix 'HIGHLIFE'."

“HIGHLIFE” - Darby’s Backyard BBQ and Drinking Mix