Presented by Goldenvoice: New Gold Standard
An Interview with clipping
February 4, 2026
We had the chance to catch up with producer William Hutson of the LA-based hip-hop group clipping. ahead of their show at Fonda Theatre on 2.28. Hutson shares his guiltiest pleasure, the last movie he watched, and the song he’s most excited to perform live.
What song from the new album are you most excited to perform live?
We always like playing “Night of Heaven” because it heavily features our newest band member Sharon Udoh. She co-wrote the song with us, and sings it live. Having her join the band has been a revelation, and I think our fans are pretty excited to see her with us.
How do you like to start your day?
We all have young children, so our days start when our kids start them for us. It’s a new world for all three of us. We’ve been doing this band for sixteen years together, and becoming fathers has been a huge change—in our touring, in how we work together, everything.
What’s your favorite guilty pleasure?
This is actually really gross and difficult to admit, but my partner and I are suckers for any new limited edition Oreo flavor. We only allow ourselves maximum one per day, and even then, most days we don’t have any. So most of the cookies go stale and we throw them away, but for some reason, I can’t resist buying them. The Selena Gomez collab flavor was particularly good though.
What’s the last song you listened to (no cheating)?
The rule in my house is only jazz and classical (including non-western classical musics, especially Indian) before noon. The guitarist Ralph Towner passed away a few days ago and I listened to the entire Batik (1978) album on ECM this morning. It features Jack DeJohnette on drums, who also died in the last couple of months. Really great record.
What’s the last movie you watched?
My partner and I watched Dial M For Murder last night because it was one of the only Hitchcock movies she hadn’t seen (aside from the silents). I’ve never particularly liked it. Too stagey, and fails at what Hitch did best, which is suspense. The movie has zero tension. Some nice suits and a handful of good lines of dialogue, and of course I love Grace Kelly, but I’ll never understand people’s affection for it. Perhaps it’s better in the original 3D. I realize it’s a bit strange criticizing a seventy-something year old movie in whatever outlet this is, but I don’t have a Letterboxd account, and well, you asked.
What’s the last show you binged?
I absolutely slammed through series 19 of Taskmaster. I think watching Jason Mantzoukas (one of the show’s first American contestants) destroy his set every episode was the first time I’ve ever felt patriotic. What’s a book you most recently finished?
Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha is a brilliant novel about the fallout of the LA riots in 1992. It’s a beautifully rendered story with two protagonists on either side of a lightly-fictionalized retelling of a real-life murder that comes back to haunt their families twenty years later. A very impressive first book, and – alongside the novels of Jordan Harper – one of the strongest recent examples of LA’s long history of noir fiction.
What are three of your tour essentials?
Two decks of cards and a notepad. On tour, we always stay in rental houses instead of hotels so we can all hang out together after shows. We watch the weird music video channels on cable and play this game, Knucklehead. It gets pretty cutthroat. Side note: I learned the game as Knucklehead, but if you Google that, you’ll never find it. It’s a bidding and trick-taking game – like a simplified version of Bridge – but it must have another name, too.
What’s your go-to bar or hangout spot in LA?
I find myself at Hermosillo in Highland Park pretty often. When we played on Conan back in 2016, the owners set up a TV and let us fill the bar up with our friends to watch our performance, so I’ll always love them.
What’s your favorite restaurant?
We always take anybody visiting from out of town to a tiny place called Holbox. It’s a Mexican seafood counter in a kind of fancy food court. Every single person we’ve ever brought there has been completely blown away. The lines were shorter when it first opened, but it’s still worth it.
Least favorite place to go?
Anywhere that requires taking the 405 between 2pm and 8pm.
Favorite hidden gem/local business?
In LA, DIY venues come and go, but Coaxial Arts has been the home of LA’s experimental music scene (as well as visual art) for more than a decade now. It’s where all the cutting edge weirdos go.
