Lando Chill

Tucson, Arizona resident Lando Chill makes music which is classified as hip-hop, but isn’t tethered to a single genre, encompassing elements of funk, gospel, jazz, indie rock, and folk. Bringing to mind groups like Spearhead and the Roots, he records and performs with a live band, which includes Chris Pierce (bass), Lasso (keyboards/guitars/sampler), and Jimmy Borquez (drums/guitars). His lyrics are highly introspective, reflecting on personal struggles and posing existential questions, but even at his most cathartic, he maintains a positive, encouraging outlook. Lance Washington was born and raised in Chicago, but moved to Arizona to attend college in order to study film. He started writing poetry to help him deal with depression, and eventually he started rapping under the Star Wars-inspired moniker Lando Chillrissian, which he ended up shortening to Lando Chill. He began writing material for his debut album in late 2014, and started touring the United States with his band in 2015. Debut full-length For Mark, Your Son arrived on Mello Music Group in 2016. The album was an intense self-examination, particularly inspired by the loss of the rapper’s father, who died of a heart attack when Washington was four years old. For Mark was swiftly followed by Madera Canyon, an eight-song EP featuring live band recordings of tracks from the full-length, as well as additional material. Lando Chill’s second album, The Boy Who Spoke to the Wind, appeared in 2017. The album was influenced by Paulo Coelho’s book The Alchemist, and contained more of an abstract, experimental sound than his prior releases. ~ Paul Simpson