Clams Casino (musician)

Last updated

Clams Casino
Birth nameMichael Thomas Volpe [1]
Also known asClammy Clams
Born (1987-05-12) May 12, 1987 (age 37)
Nutley, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
Years active2008–present
Labels
Website clammyclams.com

Michael Thomas Volpe (born May 12, 1987), known professionally as Clams Casino, is an American record producer and songwriter from Nutley, New Jersey. [2] [3] Volpe is known for his work in production for several cloud rap artists in the early 2010s. He signed with Columbia Records to release his debut studio album, 32 Levels (2016), which narrowly entered the Billboard 200. He has produced songs for artists including Lil Peep, [4] ASAP Rocky, [5] Lil B, [6] Vince Staples, [7] Joji, [8] the Weeknd, [9] and Mac Miller, [10] and has remixed songs for Big K.R.I.T., [11] Washed Out, [12] and Lana Del Rey. [13]

Contents

Career

A resident of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, Volpe got his start in music tinkering with keyboards while he was a student at Nutley High School. [14]

Volpe's official debut EP Rainforest was released on Tri Angle Records in 2011. [15] His Instrumentals mixtape was released on March 7, 2011, [16] followed by the release of Instrumentals 2 on June 5, 2012 [17] and Instrumentals 3 in 2013. [18] The mixtapes were distributed for free through his website.

Volpe contributed a score for Locomotor, a work choreographed by his cousin Stephen Petronio released in 2014. [19] He released his debut studio album 32 Levels through Columbia Records in 2016. He followed it up with his Instrumentals 4 mixtape, released in 2017.

In April 2020, Clams Casino cleared the Imogen Heap sample for his instrumental "I'm God", which first appeared on Lil B's 2009 album 6 Kiss . [20] [21] The song remains his most popular, with over 25 million views on YouTube.

Musical style

Volpe's music has been described as "[bringing] together conventional hip-hop drums, a sensitive ear for off-to-the-side melodies, and an overdose of oddly moving atmosphere." [22]

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected details
TitleAlbum details
32 Levels
Moon Trip Radio
  • Released: November 7, 2019
  • Label: Second City Prints
  • Format: CD, LP, digital download, streaming

Extended plays

List of extended plays, with selected details
TitleAlbum details
Rainforest
  • Released: June 27, 2011
  • Label: Tri Angle Records
  • Format: digital download, streaming, vinyl, CD
Spider Web
(with Wicca Phase Springs Eternal and Fish Narc) [23]
  • Released: November 23, 2018
  • Label: Dark Medicine
  • Format: digital download, streaming

Mixtapes

List of mixtapes, with selected details
TitleAlbum details
Instrumentals
  • Released: March 7, 2011
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: digital download, streaming
Instrumentals 2
  • Released: June 5, 2012
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: digital download, streaming
Instrumentals 3
  • Released: December 18, 2013
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: digital download, streaming
Instrumentals 4
  • Released: June 26, 2017
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: digital download, streaming
Winter Flower
  • Released: November 17, 2021 [24]
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: digital download, streaming

Compilations

List of compilations, with selected details
TitleAlbum details
Instrumental Relics
  • Released: April 24, 2020
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: digital download, streaming

Singles

As lead artist

List of singles as lead artist, with showing year released and album name
TitleYearAlbum
"Wizard"2011 Adult Swim Singles Program 2011
"Worth It"
(with Danny Brown)		2015 Adult Swim Singles Program 2015
"Blast"201632 Levels
"Witness"
(featuring Lil B)
"All Nite"
(featuring Vince Staples)
"A Breath Away"
(featuring Kelela)
"Be Somebody"
(featuring ASAP Rocky and Lil B)
"Be Somebody (Remix)"
(featuring ASAP Rocky, AJ Tracey and Lil B)		Non-album singles
"Live My Life"
(featuring Lil B)
"Time"Savefabric
"Summer Bummer (Clams Casino Remix)"
(with Lana Del Rey featuring ASAP Rocky and Playboi Carti)		2017Non-album singles
"Vampire Knight"
(with Chxpo)		2018
List of singles as featured artist, with showing year released and album name
TitleYearAlbum
"Kali Yuga"
(Ghostemane featuring Clams Casino)		2017Non-album singles
"4 Gold Chains"
(Lil Peep featuring Clams Casino)		2018
"Can't Get Over You"
(Joji featuring Clams Casino)		2018 Ballads 1

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"I'm God" is an instrumental song by the American producer Michael Volpe, known professionally as Clams Casino, and the British singer Imogen Heap. Volpe created "I'm God" in 2009 by sampling Heap's song "Just for Now" (2005), after learning of her through a friend. Volpe sent the track to American rapper Lil B; the instrumental is featured on a song of the same name on Lil B's debut album, 6 Kiss (2009). Volpe self-released "I'm God" in 2011 and, in 2012, it appeared on his Instrumentals 2 mixtape. Following years of unsuccessful attempts to clear the sample usage, it was officially released on streaming on April 24, 2020, appearing on Volpe's Instrumental Relics compilation.

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<i>Rainforest</i> (EP) 2011 EP by Clams Casino

Rainforest is the debut extended play (EP) by American musician Clams Casino, released on June 27, 2011, through Tri Angle Records. Initially known as a rap producer, Volpe's backing music started being listened to by electronic music fans after the release of his Instrumentals mixtape in March. For the Rainforest EP, he chose five instrumentals that had been rejected by rappers.

References

  1. ↑ "ALL NIGHT". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  2. ↑ Kuperinsky, Amy (January 8, 2012). "Making a scene: A new generation of New Jersey hip-hop asserts itself". New Jersey On-Line.
  3. ↑ Dombalon, Ryan (March 31, 2011). "Rising: Clams Casino". Pitchfork Media.
  4. ↑ Lil Peep (May 13, 2018). Lil Peep - 4 GOLD CHAINS feat. Clams Casino (Official Video) . Retrieved July 8, 2024– via YouTube.
  5. ↑ Lester, Paul (November 17, 2011). "New band of the day – No 1,151: Clams Casino". The Guardian.
  6. ↑ Montes, Patrick (May 16, 2013). "Producer Clams Casino on His "Weird" Relationship with Our 4Knots After Party Headliner Lil B". Village Voice. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Vince Staples Hops on Clams Casino's "All Nite"". Highsnobiety. June 10, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2017.[ permanent dead link ]
  8. ↑ "Joji teams with Clams Casino for new single "CAN'T GET OVER YOU"". The FADER. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  9. ↑ "The Weeknd: Echoes of Silence". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  10. ↑ Roos, Brandon E. (November 27, 2011). "Clams Casino Talks Making Strong Connections With Mac Miller And A$AP Rocky". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  11. ↑ Martin, Andrew (December 20, 2011). "Listen: Big K.R.I.T. "Moon & Stars (Clams Casino Remix)"". Complex.
  12. ↑ Thiessen, Brock (November 9, 2011). "Washed Out – "Amor Fati" (Clams Casino remix)". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  13. ↑ Adams, Gregory (January 17, 2012). "Lana Del Rey – "Born to Die" (Clams Casino remix)". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  14. ↑ Olivier, Bobby. "How this Nutley artist became New Jersey's latest music pioneer", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, December 21, 2016. "The EDM bleed has paid dividends for Mike Volpe, a Nutley native better known as Clams Casino, who has become one of the most sought-after digital designers in hip-hop's experimental universe.... 'It's great, how easy it is to get stuff out, and make music at home and all the sudden people everywhere can hear it,' he says, from his home in Hasbrouck Heights.... The Nutley High School grad first began to tinker with beats as a teen, fooling around with basic keyboards and synthesizers, much simpler ones than the machines now scattered around his basement home studio."
  15. ↑ Sharp, Elliott (July 5, 2011). "Guide To New Music, 7/5/11: New Releases by Clams Casino, Exhumed, Memory Tapes, and Pursuit Grooves". Philadelphia Weekly. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  16. ↑ Reynaldo, Shawn (January 2, 2012). "Clams Casino Offers 'Instrumentals' for Free". XLR8R. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  17. ↑ Shaw, Steve (June 12, 2012). "Clams Casino: Instrumentals 2". Fact.
  18. ↑ Fitzmaurice, Larry (January 8, 2014). "Clams Casino: Instrumental Tape 3". Pitchfork Media.
  19. ↑ Seibert, Brian (April 4, 2014). "Come Here, Look Back, Move Forward – Stephen Petronio Company Marks Its 30th Anniversary". The New York Times.
  20. ↑ "10 songs you need in your life this week". The FADER. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  21. ↑ Chris (April 24, 2020). "Clams Casino's legendary, Imogen Heap-sampling "I'm God" finally gets an official release". GORILLA VS. BEAR. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Clams Casino: Instrumental Mixtape". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  23. ↑ "SPIDER WEB, by WICCA PHASE SPRINGS ETERNAL".
  24. ↑ Darville, Jordan. "Clams Casino shares new project Winter Flower". The Fader.
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