(text, images and download all courtesy of The Wellington Papers)
The Wellington Papers are a New York-based music collective led by native Gothamites HB Wellington and Lex Verlock. Their music pays homage to the electrifying clash-up between uptown sophistication and downtown energy that defines life and love in the Big Apple.
Both HB and Lex were raised in New York City – HB in the Bronx and Lex in Manhattan. The high schools they attended gave them a window into some of New York’s most exclusive and well-heeled social scenes, but HB and Lex were also drawn from an early age to the raw energy of the streets, plunging deep into to the graf, skate, and mid- 1990s New York hip hop scenes. HB and Lex first started producing music together as roommates at Columbia University in the late 1990s, setting up a small studio in dorm room #44 and doing production not only for underground artists, but for platinum acts as well: Studio 44 – which comprised HB, Lex, and a mutual childhood friend of theirs, DJ Unit – produced Tony Yayo’s hit song “I Know You Don’t Love Me.” Lex also likes to remind HB that their first live performance took place during these days, when they walked out into the middle of Claremont Avenue to serenade two lovely young ladies in a sixth floor window above.
Then, life intervened to split the team up for a few years, enabling both HB and Lex to explore and digest new artistic ideas and formats individually.
During this time HB also began to experiment with broader musical soundscapes – still rooted in hip-hop, but moving beyond the genre, incorporating rock, ska, and even ragtime elements, crafting a new way of speaking through music about the streets and the city, without many of the limitations that hip-hop had begun to impose. When Lex came back to Gotham with fresh inspiration from his studies and travels across the Middle East, Latin America, and Russia, the team was reunited and reinvigorated, and The Wellington Papers was born. Their music, still rooted in the playful realism of 1990s hip-hop, now also draws on a unique blend of punk, surf rock, ska and dub influences. Their largely freestyled lyrics – at once savvy, sincere, and light – reflect the unique adventures and misadventures of their New York upbringing.
The Wellington Papers already have several videos on YouTube, including one for their classic and hauntingly-melodic single “Jackie.” In their first show with a full band, they blew the roof off of the Red Door club in New York City with a Fashion’s Night Out kickoff show sponsored by J Lindeberg, Public School, Converse, Hennessy Black, and the undisputed sneaker-fiend mecca of the world, Flight Club. A month later, they released their first 10-song mixtape New York Times and crushed CMJ Showcase events at the Knitting Factory, Backstage Bar, and Hiro Ballroom in New York City.
These dudes are a deep breath of fresh air in today’s smoggy musical landscape – be sure to check out some tracks below, and stay tuned for more information on the show next Friday, March 25th, at New York’s Mercury Lounge – click here to cop some tickets.
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