Big City Thoughts Issue #3 - June by Big City Thoughts Magazine

ISSUE 3 | JUNE 2015

TWENTY ONE PILOTS JESSIE J

& MANY MORE THE

SHAKY KNEES EXPERIENCE

OF MICE & MEN

ON THE COVER

JAKE MILLER

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BCTCREDITS Editor-in-chief:

Graphic Design:

Acacia Evans

Alyson Coletta Andi Rogers

Art Director/Copy Editor Alyson Coletta

Social Media Manager: Kaitlyn Midgett

Contributing Photographers:

Contributing Writers:

Alyson Coletta Allison DelGrippo Acacia Evans Hannah Jones Nolan Knight Sarah McGonagle Andi Rogers

Lexy Fields Savannah Lee Niki Major Kaitlyn Midgett M.J. Rawls Katy Spencer Kyle Yorlets

Kelsea Ballerini Photography

James Morris Photography

Jeremy Ryan

Jake Netter

These White Kids Photography

Jake Miller + Cover Photography:

Guadaloupe Bustos

Sam Madnick

Ryan Cabrera Photography MSO PR

bigcitythoughts.com | Twitter: @bctpress | Instagram: @bigcitythoughtspress Facebook: facebook.com/bigcitythoughts

THANKYOU Kelsea Ballerini Black River Entertainment Boston Calling Festival Ryan Cabrera Jake Miller

James and Maria Morris

Rachel Miller MSO PR Shaky Knees Festival These White Kids

Warner Brothers Records 104.5 Our Staff

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BOSTON CALLING

{ 23

RYAN CABRERA 04 - PHOTOS: BREAKING BENJAMIN 05 - PHOTOS: CROWN THE EMPIRE 06 - PHOTOS: JESSIE J 07 - PHOTOS: OF MICE & MEN 08 - PHOTOS: YOUNG GUNS 09 - PHOTOS: THE COLOR MORALE 10 - PHOTOS: ALIVE LIKE ME 11 - PHOTOS: VANNA 12 - PHOTOS: THE FUTURE HEARTS TOUR 16 - PHOTOS: PVRIS

JAKE MILLER

}

18 - PHOTOS: SLAVES 26 - INTERVIEW: JAMES MORRIS 28 - INTERVIEW: THESE WHITE KIDS 32 - INTERVIEW: KELSEA BALLERINI 36 - SHAKY KNEES MUSIC FEST INTERVIEWS W/ JUKEBOX THE GHOST, CLUTCH, AND NIKKI LANE AND PHOTOS.

68 - PHOTOS: RADIO 104.5 BIRTHDAY SHOW 76 - ALBUM REVIEWS

FEATURED: TWENTY ONE PILOT’S NEW ALBUM “BLURRY fACE”

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BREAKING BENJAMIN

PHOTOS BY HANNAH JONES

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CROWN THE EMPIRE PHOTOS BY ACACIA EVANS

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JESSIE J PHOTOS BY ACACIA EVANS

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OF MICE & MEN PHOTOS BY ACACIA EVANS

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YOUNG GUNS PHOTOS BY HANNAH JONES

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THE COLOR MORALE PHOTOS BY ANDI ROGERS

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ALIVE LIKE ME PHOTOS BY ANDI ROGERS

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VANNA PHOTOS BY ANDI ROGERS

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S T R A E H E R U T FU

TOUR

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ISSUES

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ISSUES

TONIGHT ALIVE

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PVRIS PHOTOS BY ACACIA EVANS

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PVRIS PHOTOS BY ACACIA EVANS

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SLAVES PHOTOS BY ANDI ROGERS

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JAKE

MILLER

interview by acacia evans, kaitlyn midgett + niki major

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AS I STARTED TO GROW AND MY MUSIC STARTED TO MATURE, I STARTED BRANCHING OUT AND TRYING NEW THINGS. BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 20

It’s hard to ignore the rise of up and coming rapper Jake Miller. Hailing from Weston, Florida, Jake has been on a constant journey forward to becoming one of the top upcoming acts of today. In fact, Jake has been named by MTV as an artist to watch! When asked about this title, Jake replied, “It’s been the craziest journey I could ever imagine. I’m traveling the world and doing what I love most with my best friends. I’m so lucky to not only do what I love but also spread positivity to the world.”

Jake attributes a lot of his success to his conversational storyteller writing style. “It really just happens naturally” Jake tells us in describing his writing style. “I write about things that I know, I’ve seen, or stories I’ve experienced. Whatever I’m feeling that day in the studio, that’s what the songs going to be about.” He also believes that his writing has evolved from when he started, which has only made him better. “I’ve been in the studio with so many amazing writers throughout the years who have taught me so much about writing.”

Despite his young age of 22, Jake Miller has become a name that has been on a lot of people’s minds as of lately. Miller has performed alongside current artists and legends such as Snoop Dogg, Jason Derulo, and featured with boy band Big Time Rush on their song, “Lost In Love”.

Jake is always looking for new ways to take his music and his career to the next level. Hip-Hop music is becoming a more multi-faceted genre with artists who can both rap and sing such as Drake and Nicki Minaj. Though at first he didn’t think he was capable, Miller has grown more into a comfort zone to not only rap, but to his vocal ability as well. “Rapping is definitely my first love” Jake admits. “At first, it’s not that I didn’t like singing, I just didn’t think I was capable of it. As I started to grow and my music started to mature, I started branching out and trying new things. That’s when I started singing more.” It would seem that Jake, since he started, has grown a lot more fond of singing. When we asked him what he would do if he were to ever make a change in his style of music, he replied “Whichever genre you would categorize John Mayer under, that’s my 2nd favorite genre after hip-hop.”

With all of the features has done in performances as well as the studio, it would only make sense that he would catch the attention of artists who would want to do the same with him. Jake’s recent single “Dazed And Confused” features one of his many inspirations, Travie McCoy. “Travie is someone I’ve looked up to and listened to for a while now! It’s so sick that he liked the song enough to jump on it, because I have been listening to his music since I can remember. Working with him at the video shoot was also amazing. Very humble, down to earth dude.”

His first album, Us Against Them, landed at #26 on the Billboard Top 100, which included a top five finish in the rap album category. Songs such as “A Million Lives” give a positive message coupled with top 40 sensibilities and catchy vocals. The videos for the tracks also give a proper visual to the message of the narratives as well, which has become a trademark of the young rapper. It is true that hard work pays off. Having recently signed to Warner Brothers in late 2013, Jake is more ready than

ever to conquer the game. “Warner has brought me BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 21

I’M SO LUCKY TO NOT ONLY DO WHAT I LOVE BUT ALSO SPREAD POSITIVITY TO THE WORLD.

into their family with open arms. They have made me feel so special and have proved over and over again how dedicated they are to making me a huge international superstar,” explains Jake. Jake will be traveling across the country this summer, headlining on Dazed And Confused summer tour. When we asked him to give us a little inside information about some of the surprises we could expect from him on tour, he said, “Can’t spoil any surprises, but this tour is going to be bigger and better than any previous tours! New music, bigger rooms, it’s going to be epic!”

promise 2015 is going to be full of surprises, new music, and tours!! See ya soon :)” Jake Miller has accomplished so much in the last few years, and his future is only looking brighter from here. If you can’t catch him this summer on the Dazed And Confused tour, be sure to check out Us Against Them and his single “Dazed And Confused!”

When an artist gets to the point where they’re as busy as Jake is, sometimes they lose sight of what is most important to them: their fans. Jake, luckily, is not like those artists; he would like to give a big shout out to his fan army, the Millertary: “Millertary, thank you so much for always rockin with me! I BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 22

interview by niki major

YAN CABRERA RYAN

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...IT’S REALLY ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE THAT PUSH YOU TO BE TRULY YOU NO MATTER WHAT THAT MAY BE....

Ryan Cabrera is a music industry veteran and philanthropist with a very down to earth personality. He is the musical mastermind behind “On The Way Down”, “True”, and “Shine On”, but today we are talking to him about some of his recent developments and plans for the future. Ryan just finished up the Radio Revival Tour with Seconhand Serenade, his first big US tour in years. This was the first chance that many of his old fans have had in a very long time to see him perform again, and he was more than excited to give them what they were looking for. “Anyone that’s ever been a fan of mine knows how much I love being on the road and putting on the best show I can for them. I am very fortunate to watch all these kids grow up and continue to support and support and grow as a listener as well...it’s crazy meeting people who have been listening to my music for over ten years now!! It blows my mind how dedicated they can be.” This was also an opportunity for a lot of new fans to

get their first glimpse of Cabrera in action. When asked if he had built any new relationships or grabbed any new fans as a result of the tour, Ryan said “Absolutely...me and John from SS used to live together and always talked about how fun it would be to tour together. We knew that our audiences would be different but that it would still be cohesive...I wanted my fans to leave saying they are now SS fans and vice versa. I also became really close with the guys in Runaway Saints who I love...we are gonna be doing some writing soon which will be fun!!” Having been around for as long as Ryan has, we thought we would ask where he’s never been before and always wanted to go. Ryan replied, “In America I think the only state I have not been in is Alaska...and man would I love to go.Haha! I’ve always wanted to go to Ibiza just to say I partied in Ibiza.” Who knows, perhaps he’ll embark on an Alaskan tour soon! For awhile now, Ryan has been hosting an event called Live From Ryan’s Living Room. We asked him to give us a little insight on what exactly this event BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 24

is and this was his response: “Well it’s something that me and friends have been doing around my piano for about ten years since I got it..it obviously was all impromptu and not as organized as it is now that I added the charity aspect. When we would get home from being out we would always gravitate to creating and jamming music so one day I realized that I wanted the world to have the chance to hear what goes on in the house on a weekly basis. We’re planning the next one for July.” “Live from the living room” Ryan goes on to say,“ is a gathering of amazing artists who perform to help raise money for various charities...basically I just hit up friends to come hang and play music, DJ, and even do comedy sets...it’s such a beautiful day that celebrates art and helps the world. So far we’ve raised over $24,000 dollars for charities...and not to mention that everyone who performs is just incredible! I have so many talented friends and I love to showcase that!!” Not only is it entertaining, but helping those in need at the same time! Touring and variety shows aren’t the only thing that Ryan has been busy with as of late, though. Ryan recently put out a video for his newest single “House On Fire”, directed by Christian Lamb. We asked him about the experience, and he was thrilled to tell us all about it. “Christian is such a stud...it was such a fun two days and it really felt like we were making a movie as opposed to a music video. We really wanted to make it a real life scenario which captures the essence of the song and I definitely think Christian did that. I love the colors and way he shot it...can’t wait to work with him again in the future as I felt very comfortable with his direction. You gotta be able to trust the director and just let him do his thing.” We asked him about the song and if there was a personal message he was trying to convey through it, and he replied “There is, yeah...it’s really about the

people in your life that push you to be truly you no matter what that may be...a dreamer, a disaster, an

angel, shy, outgoing, quiet, loud, as long as you are true to yourself and embrace it...living life with no regrets but experiences.” “House On Fire” is the first track on Ryan’s latest EP Wake up Beautiful, which he feels is the next step in his development as an artist. “I think it’s night and day between my first record and now” Ryan says. “I have done so many things and learned so much about who I am in life and as a artist. I look at everything that happens in life as a experience, whether it be good or bad, I wanna learn from it.” Wake Up Beautiful is only a five track EP, but fear not; when we asked Ryan what his plans were for the future, he said “Everything we are doing now is to set up the full-length album to come out, slated for the fall as of now. We also have a few charity events and then some radio shows and one off concerts ;-).” Ryan would also like to reach out and say thank you to all of his fans for sticking around for the last decade. “I honestly just can’t wait for everyone to hear the whole album!! We all worked so hard on it so I’m so eager to show it to everyone!! Love to love ya, peace!” Be on the lookout for Ryan’s next full-length album in the fall and listen to Wake Up Beautiful today!

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JAMES MORRIS

interview by kaitlyn midgett

ames Morris was about thirteen when he first picked up a Dean steel string guitar. “I fell in love with the instrument and I wanted to do music. I loved the power of it. I loved the expression. I loved everything,” he said. Within a summer or two, he was packing up for a rock band simulation camp called DayJams. It was there that Morris has his first taste of fronting a band. “The band that I was in had a logistics mess-up, so we had two pianists, two bass players, two drummers, four

guitar players, and no singer.” James volunteered for the job, and his first time singing in public was in front of

an audience of between 500 and 1,000 people. He’s been hooked ever since. Soon enough, Morris found himself in Nashville, TN for college, continuing his education at Belmont University. “I came here to look at Vanderbilt initially because I had never heard of Belmont. And while I was here, Doc Turner said, “Oh hey, you should check out Belmont. It seems really up your alley.” So I went and I looked, and I liked the

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people, so I decided, “Why not?” James admits that his writing has taken on broader topics. “Listening to my music, a lot of the lyrics are really fantasy or science-fictionesque because I love the creativity of it. I love the invented worlds and the escapism of it. And so, I’ll write songs in part that reflect the same ideology or themes,” he says. As most artists do, James is always evolving as a musician. “Something that someone pointed out to me is that on the first record, I am constantly asking questions in every single song. So that’s just been in the back of my mind whenever I write something. So I think that I went for a year after someone told me that without a single question in my writing,” he explains. James Morris is modest, something that you almost wouldn’t expect from someone as successful as he’s been so far. He told us that his biggest “wow” moment is whenever someone tells him that something he’s created has impacted them. One example in particular came to mind, and he spoke of the moment fondly. “This kid’s mom was telling me about how my book Skybound is inspiring him to read, because up until that moment, he didn’t read before. And I still have in my mind the book that did that for me, which was Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. And so I was basically giddy thinking that Skybound is this kid’s Ender’s Game.” In addition to being an author and a musician, Morris has also dabbled in sound design for the upcoming video game, Toast Party 4. He’s also had his music featured in the Punky Pets iPhone game, including the theme song that he wrote. ‘I met Punky Pets at an industry event, and through just keeping in touch, they were sponsors for me the first time I was on Warped in 2012. They’ve just been really

good supporters, so I’ve done music for their stuff, I’ve done voice acting for their cartoons, all

sorts of things.”

Speaking of Warped Tour, James Morris is no stranger. He landed a spot performing an acoustic set in 2012. This year James is back with a full band, and he’s making dreams come true. “The band that I’ve managed to put together for it, all three of them have told me that Warped Tour has been a bucket list item of theirs that they thought they would never get to cross off,” James says. You can see both him and his band at the Nashville date on July 1st. When asked about success, James told us that as much as he would love to be a household name, he wants to affect people and touch people with his art more, and he is certainly on his way. This summer, not only does he have Warped Tour to prepare for, but his band is considering making a quick EP for it. Beyond that, he’s focusing on writing. Morris says, “I have about 20 book ideas that I want to work on. And seeing as that’s 20 years of my life I already have plans for, what I’m going to do first is a collection of short stories about each idea. Maybe I’ll end up releasing that, but basically it’s a test of ‘do I like this world, do I like these characters?’” When asking what’s next “I love that question of ‘what’s next for you’,” James says. “Because I’m like ‘what’s next? What’s right now?’ It just keeps going. The names change, but it just keeps going.”

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E S E H T

WHITE

KIDS

interview by savannah lee

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ou wouldn’t know it now, but These White Kids didn’t start out with a goal of becoming a band. “We met on Twitter,” they said. “We wanted to collab and make some songs together.” Over the years, BB The Jerk and ATM finally got the chance to get together and whip up some tunes. After realizing how well they were able to work with each other and create music on the same wavelength, they hit it off and decided to officially come to together as a duo.

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IT’S REBELLIOUS AND FREE... AND WE HAVE NO LIMITS

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THESEWHITEKIDS

Even though These White Kids are still in the process of making their EP, they have already honed in on their sound. “Our sound is like Beastie Boys, LMFAO, and Blink 182,” says TWK. They rap over “epic sounding” hip-hop beats with some rock and roll and punk influences. These boys are rebellious and without limitations. The boys have no restrictions when it comes to the creative process. “We are able to make music how we want to make it. There are no restrictions. It’s all fun and that allows our creativity to flourish because of the freedom to just have fun,” they said. Who do these dudes look up to? When asked about what artist they would like to tour with in the future, they told us “Kanye West because he is a great performer” and that they would love to be a part of this magic on stage. Hopefully one day they’ll be able to hand that freedom over to Eminem and have him run with it. “He is the man!” they said, “We would like to be able to collaborate lyrically or by producing a song and see how he created a song in the studio.” All of the above makes sense based on their musical inspirations.

The boys in These White Kids are heavily influenced the Beastie Boys, LMFAO, Blink 182, Eminem, Offspring, Kanye West, Lil Jon, and Nate Dogg just to name a few. Although they have no plans for a big tour at the moment, you can expect a lot of live events in the future. “Our pants might come off, things might break, and a lot of energy will crawl up your body.” And, maybe you’ll see them soon (if you live in Hawaii that is). TWK desperately are looking to play in Hawaii. They said, “…right on the beach, so after the show I can get a tan and swim in the water with the fans. It would be super dope.” These White Kids aim to please a wide audience with their relatable anthems. “Seriously every song has a different meaning that I think will catch people at different moments. We talk about partying, not giving a F***, acting weird, relationships, best friends, drinking. It’s a lot of great music that will touch a lot of people.” Be sure to keep an eye out for these guys in the near future, you won’t even know what hit you!

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KELSEA Ballerini

interview by kaitlyn midgett BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 32

elsea Ballerini is a 21-year-old country/pop singer based out of Knoxville, TN. Kelsea was lucky enough to be given the gift of songwriting at the age of thirteen. For some, songwriting comes from a place of happiness and cherished memories; but for others, as Kelsea tells us, songwriting can come from a dark places and painful experiences. She told us, “Songwriting can come from anything, but for me it’s about being as creative and as real as I can be. I started writing songs when my parents split up, it was a way for me to vent, cope, and move forward. It’s just always been a safe place for me to say what I want to say how I want to say it.” When she turned 15-years-old, Kelsea moved to Nashville with her mother to pursue a career in music. Kelsea soon learned that breaking into the industry would never be easy, especially that young with so much tough competition. In starting her career,

she realized there were a multitude of up and coming artists all with the intent of succeeding in the music industry. What Ballerini also realized was that in order to set her self apart from these other artists, she needed to assemble the right team. “I think finding your team is the hardest and most important part of breaking into the industry. You have to find people that believe in you as much as you believe in them, that are going to fight for your and your music every day,” explains Kelsea. In the six years that she has been building her career as an artist, she has experienced some wild moments unlike anything she could’ve ever imaged. She doesn’t measure her success as “wow” moments, she likes to call them “mountaintop” moments.“ There have been so many [mountaintop moments]! Opry debut, hearing my single on the radio, the Taylor tweet, playing in an arena with Lady A. Those BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 33

IT’S AN EXCITING TIME FOR WOMEN IN COUNTRY MUSIC RIGHT NOW, AND I’M HONORED TO BE A PART OF THIS WAVE

were all moments that gave me goose bumps and made me count my blessings,” she tells us. In the music industry, success is the sum of hard work, time, and a little bit of luck. Kelsea has been building herself up as an artist in Nashville for six years, but the last two years have seen results that are nothing short of amazing. In 2013 Kelsea signed with Black River Records, a label part of Black River Entertainment; some of her label mates include country stars Craig Morgan and Kelly Pickler. The success hasn’t stopped there, though; Kelsea released her debut single “Love Me Like You Mean It” in the fall of 2014, and has been seeing some very promising results. Since releasing “Love Me Like You Mean It” the video has reached over 2 million views on YouTube, reached No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts (still rising), and No. 8 on the Country charts! The video for “Love Me Like You Mean It” is very dear to Kelsea’s heart because her best friend Grace was able to play a part, “I’ve known Grace since I was super young and she’s been a part of every step of this journey with me. She’s drop dead gorgeous, too. So it just made sense for her to be in my first video!” she said. This particular song is also her favorite to perform. Kelsea says, “It has been so crazy to watch it go from one person singing along to the whole crowd knowing every word. That is a dream!” Kelsea just finished up on

the CMT Next Women of Country Tour, a ten-city tour she did with Jana Kramer through the United

States. “Being a part of the next women group is such a big deal to me. It’s an exciting time for women in country music right now, and I’m honored to be a part of this wave.” Kelsea enjoys touring, but has yet to do a show in her hometown, Knoxville. Though she plans to do so as soon as possible, it may take awhile with her upcoming summer tours! “I’m all over the place! Touring with Lady A, Dan and Shay, and doing a ton of radio events.” On top of all of the excitement with her summer tours, Kelsea recently released her debut album “The First Time!” When asked what song she was most excited for fans to hear off the record, she replied “It was important to me to have a song for everyone on this album, so it just depends on who is listening! ‘Peter Pan’ is definitely one of my personal favorites.” Above all else, Kelsea would like to thank her fans for all the support over the years. “Thanks for embracing my stories and showing me so much love and encouragement. More fun to come.” Catch Kelsea on tour this summer with Lady Antebellum and Dan and Shay, and pick up her album “The First Time” in stores now!

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Shaky

Knees music fest

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Jukebox the Ghost

he first song of Jukebox the Ghost’s that I had ever heard was “Empire.” I was a senior in High School and was at a small party. A friend of mine was the faux-DJ at the moment, and he played that song. I still remember exactly what lyrics he sang out loud and the look on his face when he sang them. I’m a senior in college now and a lot has changed since then, especially with the band. They’re gaining traction in the music industry, and soon, they’ll have a tour with Ingrid Michaelson under their belt. At the moment, Jukebox the Ghost is playing the Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. Even though it’s their first time playing the festival, the band has played in Atlanta before and is glad to be back. Ben Thornewill says, “Atlanta has been good to us. We were just here recently on a headliner tour earlier in the year. We played a club show and it was one of the best on the tour.” And, while they’re here, you might see them in the crowd, jamming out like the rest of the music fans – they’re itching to see artists like James Blake, Mac Demarco, The Strokes, and TV on the Radio. This won’t be their first time performing in big places and in the vicinity of big stars. “We performed on Letterman a few years ago. We had found out the night before and it was crazy.” Even more recently, they’ve performed on Conan O’Brien. Ben told us that, “With Conan, we had more time and I remember feeling good about it. Letterman was so cold and he keeps the studio like fifty degrees.” Jesse chimed in with, “Conan was just the obvious, ‘I don’t want to f**k this up.’ You know it’s going to be over in a few minutes after playing your one song.” Obviously, the boys wouldn’t want to embarrass themselves on stage (or even on TV), seeing as that has definitely happened before. Ben told us that, “There was this one time we all pooped our pants on stage when usually it’s just one of us. There was this one time and we all had this look of, ‘OH NO!’ It was really embarrassing. No one talked.” “Yeah,” Jesse continued, “Usually someone takes the microphone to take over, but we stood there in silence covered in our own sh*t.” Having someone take over vocal duties is a luxury that Jukebox the Ghost can afford – the band has two singers. Even with this unique configuration, the band has a system. They mentioned the fact that “Generally whoever wrote the song is the one singing it.” However, their songwriting style is hardly that set in stone. “We have to think about what the song asks for. Sometimes you have to pull actual events, and sometimes it’s good to hypothesize and make it up.” The band spent about seven months on their most recent record. Ben told us, “We spent more time on this record than we have in the past. We had like fifty demos. Overall, we wanted to make a big pop record.” Story by Kaitlyn Midgett / Interview and Photos by Nolan Knight. BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 38

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Nikki Lane ikki Lane is a South Carolina singer/songwriter currently based out on Nashville, Tennessee. We were able to catch Nikki right after her performance at Shaky Knees Music Festival. “This is one of the most exciting bills I have seen in a long time, personally. I’m seeing so many bands and friends I want to see and tour with,” she said. Nikki told us that one of the bands playing later in the day, Old Crow Medicine Show, is talking about touring with Nikki and her band. “We are talking about going on the road with Old Crow Medicine Show and they are here today. They are so kind and talk about us. It’s good to see them at the show.” Nikki sees many pros and cons comparing music festivals to smaller shows. Lane said, “I do like personal shows. I like shows where I’m headlining even more than opening, because you do have fans there in the room and I love watching a growing fan base.” Nikki likes to revisit towns were she sees familiar faces and new ones. Her favorite part about festivals is when her and her band play in cites where they might not have hit on tour. She gets tons of new fans in the crowds due to the people rallying for other bands. There are different aspects brought to festivals that she doesn’t get to experience at smaller shows. She said, “I love seeing people bring their children who know words to songs. If I mess up at a festival, it might be in front of people who aren’t at my personal shows and are at the festival to see other artists.” Nikki usually plays at the end of the day at festivals, unlike at Shaky Knees where she was one of the first artists to perform. “I usually play at the end of the day when it isn’t so hot, unlike today. I passed out at Tortuga. I was standing straight up but I was OUT with a white face and all,” said Nikki. Lane informed us that her and her band are set to go on tour with Social Distortion. Lane has toured with other established bands before such as Spiritualized - a 90’s drug rock band. Touring with these bands has had a positive effect on her. She says, “I think we have learned a lot with those bands because they have been on the road for such a long time. The respect they had and treated us with that we didn’t get from some of the bands we opened up for really showed us how to behave if we want to do this for a long time.” Who doesn’t want to be respected for what they love to do? She knows that Social Distortion will show her the same respect. She said, “I won’t feel strange because I know these guys have respect. They take us on tour with them for their crowd to see us and for us to see their crowd. I think it’s going to be awesome.” Lane has been touring with some incredible artists of all different styles, but she has a very specific artist in mind when asked about her influences. Neil Young is one of her inspiring artists. His unique voice and how he tells truth in his music is what really makes him one of her lead role models. “Neil Young is whom I always go back to. I like a lot of his records, which is more than I can say for other artists that I just like a few songs off of their records,” said Nikki. “I like a wide variety of his music written over the decades and I just like that he tells the truth in his music.” Nikki envies his style of writing by the way he can write about himself and also fictional stories/scenarios. Nikki also tells the truth in her music, but not in the same way as Young. Music writing started as therapy to Lane and she writes most of her songs about herself. “I just put the words out on paper and into a song. I think that in that way, they are all about my stories,” says Lane. Nikki does like to change up her style and avoids “victimizing” other people. In her song, “Man Up,” Nikki said that there is a part about her self in the song, but also a part of another girl friend that is going through a rough divorce. “It’s fun writing about other people whose lives aren’t similar to mine. We are all going through the same sort of emotions from teenagers to adults, so it is easy to find similarities in others’ lives.” Lane likes to describe her music as a “tongue in cheek” approach to real life hardships and troubles. Nikki’s songs have found success by being featured in hit shows and movies like Sons of Anarchy and Nicholas Sparks’ The Longest Ride. For her, this will never get old. “I think it’s really exciting!” says Nikki. She feels like it is a different feeling than hearing her song on the radio because there is no surprise that the song is being played. The most exciting part about her song being played in a movie or TV show is when she gets calls from friends and family back home. She said, “I can’t give everybody an update, but it’s so great getting tons of text messages from him or her. I dropped out of high school and moved to California I was kind of the ‘bad girl.’ Now everyone is super proud.” And of course they are – Nikki’s kicking ass so far in her career. Just to add another exciting fact – she shared with us that Nicholas Sparks used to live in Greenville, South Carolina just 4 to 5 miles from her house. “It’s really tangible to the people I grew up with. I feel like I do a lot of cool shit in my world and in different cities that people don’t get to experience first-hand.” Nikki has grown so much as an artist and in character during her career throughout the years and we hope to run into her again!

Story by Kaitlyn Midgett / Photos and Interview by Nolan Knight BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 41

Artist: Nikki Lane Photo by: Nolan Knight

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CLUTCH

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t might be Clutch’s first time playing the Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta, Georgia (or any festival in Atlanta, Georgia for that matter), but the band is no stranger to the city – they’ve been there about 35 times over their many years of touring since the band first started. And even though the band hasn’t been to Australia nearly as often as they have been to Atlanta, it’s still guitarist Tim Sult’s favorite place to play. There’s just something different about both the breakfast menu and the crowds in Australia. Tim says “It has this weird vibe. It’s a great country and every single restaurant has eggs benedict for breakfast, so that is a win for me. The crowds have been amazing at every single show. The first time we went was around the early 2000s. I get excited because we don’t play there that much.” Now, fans from Atlanta to Australia and everywhere in between have something to look forward to: a new Clutch record. He says “this record has finally come to life in the past couple of days. It’s sounding a little bit heavier and darker than Earthrocker. There are a couple really dark tracks. This record is its own entity and we are bringing something new, but also some 90’s Clutch in there as well.” And the record’s release date is closer than you might think. Tim told us that within the past couple of days the band “finally finalized the track listing and order of the record.” The band has been around for 21 years – 7 years after 14 year old Tim picked up his first instrument, the guitar. With all of this experience, it’s no wonder that Tim’s so comfortable and that it’s easy for him to not get nervous. “Honestly I do not get nervous at all before we go on. Sometimes I’m nervous if I have a cut on my finger or something. It’s pretty natural, but I don’t remember a time where I ever had stage fright. Even with my terrible posture, I’ve never really cared or been nervous on stage,” he confesses. Throughout his past two decades of touring and being a musician in such a successful band, Tim has learned a lot. He says “As far as being on tour, do not be a selfish person. Everybody is on the road together and everything is about you or that person who acts like it is all about him or her. Everybody is in it together. I try to be positive on the road and I love to play shows. I think I picked the best job ever.” Story by Kaitlyn Midgett / Photos and Interview by Nolan Knight BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 45

Artist: Pamela Violets Photo By: Nolan Knight

Artist: Manchester Orchestra Photo By: Nolan Knight

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Artist: Death From 1979 Photo By: Nolan Knight

Artist: Nikki Lane Photo By: Nolan Knight BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 47

Artist: brand new Photo By: Nolan Knight

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Artist: KEVIN DEVINE AND THE GODDAMN BAND Photo By: Nolan Knight

Artist: KEVIN DEVINE AND THE GODDAMN BAND BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 49 Photo By: Nolan Knight

Boston

Photo: Acacia Evans

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Calling Photos by Acacia Evans and Sarah McGonagle

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Artist: HALSEY Photo By: ACACIA EVANS

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Artist: HALSEY Photo By: SARAH MCGONAGLE BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 53

Artist: BECK Photo By: sARAH MCGONAGLE

Artist: jASON ISBELL Photo By: SARAH MCGONAGLE

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Artist: jASON ISBELL Photo By: SARAH MCGONAGLE BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 55

Artist: tHE lONE bELLOW Photo By: SARAH MCGONAgle

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Artist: tHE lONE bELLOW Photo By: SARAH MCGONAgle

Artist: tHE lONE bELLOW BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 57 Photo By: SARAH MCGONAgle

Artist: tenacious d Photo By: SARAH MCGONAgle

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Artist: tenacious d Photo By: SARAH MCGONAgle

Artist: tenacious d Photo By: ACACIA EVANS BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 59

Artist: Gerard way Photo By: acacia evans

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Artist: MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS Photo By: acacia evans

Artist: tenacious d Photo By: SARAH MCGONAgle

Artist: MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 61 Photo By: acacia evans

Artist: Pixies Photo By: Sarah Mcgonagle

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Artist: Pixies Photo By: Sarah Mcgonagle

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Artist: TV ON THE RADIO Photo By: Sarah Mcgonagle

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Artist: TV ON THE RADIO Photo By: Sarah Mcgonagle

Artist: TV ON THE RADIO BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 65 Photo By: Sarah Mcgonagle

Artist: vance joy Photo By: acacia evans

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Artist: tame impala Photo By: Sarah Mcgonagle

Artist: LUCIUS Photo By: Sarah Mcgonagle BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 67

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RADIO 104.5 BIRTHDAY SHOW PHOT OS B Y ALLI DELG RI P P O

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Walk the Moon

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Passion Pit

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AWOLNATION

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Vance Joy

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Hozier

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X Ambassadors

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ALBUM REVIEWS FEATURED REVIEW BY: KATY SPENCER

Spring rEleases jjjjj Artist

Twenty One Pilots

Album Title Blurryface

Realease Date May 17, 2015

Tracklisting

1. Heavydirtysoul 2. Stressed Out 3. Ride 4. Fairly Local 5. Tear in My Heart 6. Lane Boy 7. The Judge 8. Doubt 9. Polarize 10. We Don’t Believe What’s

on TV 11. Message Man 12. Hometown 13. Not Today 14. Goner

The always developing, genre-hopping, quirky, and admittedly insecure duo, Twenty One Pilots, has returned with their fourth studio album titled after an imaginary character the band has created, Blurryface. This character represents all the things frontman Tyler Joseph is insecure about and, after listening to the album, I’m sure many listeners are insecure about too. Something neither Joseph nor partner and drummer for the band, Josh Dun, should be insecure about however is the unique chaos that is their new album. Instead of working with a single producer, the boys collaborated with a variety of producers introducing a huge number of new sounds. I’ve heard their style called rap, rock, electronic, reggae, alternative, indie, and pop (to name a few), but there is no doubt the Ohio natives are opposed to “keeping their music on a short leash”. And why should they? The album includes one love song, “Tear in My Heart”, which acknowledges the insecurities that even revolve around such an upbeat topic as being happily in love. And happily in love is what you could say about recently married Joseph, who wrote this song about now wife, Jenna Joseph. She stars as his love interest in the second released single “Tear in My Heart’s” music video. Another fan favorite, “Stressed Out”, breaks down the insecurity developed through the transition from childhood to adulthood (the hated phase of adolescence). Many can relate to the desire to be young again and EVERYONE can relate to the feeling of being too “stressed out”, but what’s even better about this single is that it introduces the personality of the character Blurryface through sound. Blurryface’s dark and heavy personality is illustrated in this song’s dark and heavy ending sound that’ll haunt you. The duos artistry varies from track to track, which should make for an exciting live tour. In “Lane Boy”, we already are trying to picture the surprising twist of the beat dropping and an entertaining antic even more thrilling than Tyler jumping from the piano top while Josh backflips off his drum set. Each song within itself has multiple sounds and no song sounds similar to the last. That being said, Blurryface has proved to me how versatile Twenty One Pilot’s sound can be, making their music desirable to even the most diverse music junkies, while also connecting to all listeners on a lyrical level. BIG CITY THOUGHTS - 76

ARTIST: Kingsland Road // ALBUM: We Are the Young // RELEASE DATE: 05/26/15 Kingsland Road’s PledgeMusic funded album is finally available for purchase, much to their fans’ excitement. It’s been a long time coming since their time on the X-Factor. The song “Misbehave” is a greak track. I am always one to appreciate a strong guitar riff, and this song didn’t disappoint. The instrumentation was enough to make this song one of the catchiest on the album. Although the song itself was a little bit on the repetitive side, the ending chorus wrapped the song up nicely, especially with the strong guitar work. Another strong track is “Girl With No Name.” It has a definite One Direction-esque vibe going on, which is a plus. I could definitely hear this track kicking butt in a huge stadium. In my opinion, “Girl With No Name” should be the band’s next single for sure. “Never Too Late” is one of my favorites on the album production-wise. This uplifting track has the potential to be a crowd favorite, especially with lyrics that paraphrase Wayne Gretsky. As you can probably tell by now, I am a sucker for killer guitar solos, and this song’s closing is no exception. I also really love group chants, and this song provided that as well. Finally, we have “Heaven Knows,” which appears later on the album. The instrumentals on this track are some of my favorites on the album, and it’s another favorite of mine, productionwise. The lyrics “won’t you open up and let me in” lead into the massive sounding chorus.

RATING: 2/5 REVIEW BY: KAITLYN MIDGETT ARTIST: Kelsea Ballerini // ALBUM: The First Time // RELEASE DATE: 05/19/2015 Kelsea Ballerini has taken over the world of pop/country with the flick of her platinum blonde hair. Her recently released album, the first she has ever released, has wowed listeners, including this country-despising girl. Ballerini wrote her first song at the young age of thirteen and seven years later, she signed a deal with Black River Entertainment. CMT named her one of the “Next Women of Country” in 2014 after the release of her debut single, “Love Me Like You Mean It.” Country music is not my forte, yet I can find relatable feelings in Ballerini’s music. She has obviously poured her heart and soul into this album and it proudly shines through each song. “Love Me Like You Mean It” is her most popular song; it’s a fun, feminine summer tune that warns the boys that if you don’t mean it, go ahead and move on. “Dibs” follows right behind in a catchy, cute beat that anyone could belt out with the windows down. While doing some research on Ballerini, I came across a video of her singing “Peter Pan” live at a radio station. I stopped everything I was doing to listen to her sing this song and I am glad I did. This heart wrenching song sings the all too familiar tale of falling for someone who will never grow up. Passionate and full of truth, her voice allows the listeners to expose themselves to Ballerini’s world, even for a moment.

RATING: 4/5 REVIEW BY: LEXY FIELDS ARTIST: Haste the Day // ALBUM: Coward // RELEASE DATE: 05/18/2015 Coward is not so much an album, but an aggressive statement. Back when Haste The Day initially disbanded in 2011, which what was thought to be their swan song, Attack Of The Wolf King, it felt like there were chapters that were yet to be written. Take into consideration, a concert with both the original and adjusted lineup, there was a feeling that the band would be back when the dust settled. Coward is daunting at first listen as there are now seven members who have contributed to the comeback album. Picture this as your Haste The Day all-star team, complete with vocalists Jimmy Ryan and Stephen Keech sharing the microphone. There are times where they are apart, but combine their unclean vocals to make for a more powerful message. You can definitely tell a change in the difference between tone of screams that actually permeate into the music. “Begin” is brutal, but also has a chorus that you can sing along to. “Take” is along the same lines, but Keech’s vocals give the track a more sinister feel. It’s great how Haste The Day utilizes both vocalists. When Ryan is not using his rough vocals, he’s participating in gang vocals which are prevalent throughout the album. “Shadow” is one of the heaviest and beautifully unsettling tracks on the album and yet, of Haste The Day’s history. Down tuned guitars, eerie female vocals combined with Jimmy Ryan’s vocals give the track a heavy emotional punch. This is the highlight of having a guitar collective of Scotty Whelan, Dave Krysl and Brennan Chaulk with bassist Mike Murphy. There are so many layers instrumentally that it takes these songs so many places, but come back to the main points. “Accept” recalls earlier material akin to “When Everything Falls.” There is literally something on this album for old and new fans alike. Haste The Day could have easily put out a reunion album recalling previous material, but they took the road less traveled. On Coward, they regrouped to recall their strengths and released an 11 track urgent and confrontational album that is well done. One can be very intrigued on where the next chapter of this collective will take them now that they are battle tested.

RATING: 4/5 llllllllllllllllllllllllll REVIEW BY: llllllllllllllllllllllllll LEXY FIELDS M.J. RAWLS lllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllll l

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