The Vibrant Sound: The Original

The Vibrant Sound: McKay Stevens, Northplatte's co-founder, grew up in Los Angeles and was heavily influenced by the West Coast hip-hop scene — N.W.A, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. He remembers obsessing over the Beastie Boys "License to Ill" in second grade and taking part in rap battles when he was in fourth or fifth grade.

Stevens picked up a guitar at 15 and rejected the hip-hop of his youth at age 17, deciding it was "garbage." His current sound is what he describes as "indie hip-hop" and features often socially charged lyrics set to bluesy instrumentation.

"(The inspiration for) my indie hip-hop stuff really is coming from a very poor, urban culture and the community and the things I saw there and the way that I grew up with that," he said. "There's some political issues and society issues that I think are important."

Stevens said his music often has a "split personality" and works on other projects that he describes as electro-indie, which gives him the opportunity to do what he loves most.

"My biggest inspiration is that I just love creating," he said. "I love taking nothing to something, bringing something to pass, fruition."

— Emiley Morgan