Melodic Mag // Flor, The Faim, JOAN, The Struts

ME L O DIC

AGA Z I NE

ISSUE 007 NOVEMBER 2019

FLOR

+ THE FAIM, JOAN, THE STRUTS, RAINBOW KITTEN SURPRISE

+

TORONTO, ON

MELODIC MAGAZINE

VICTORIA GOODWIN

editor - in - chief // media coordinator

ANGEL ESCOBAR online editor // photojournalist

SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM:

angel escobar, bella shirk, hailey collins, hannah maynes, kellie wiltz, kendra post

CONTRIBuTING EzINE WRITERS:

ISSUE 007 NOV 2019

COVER PhOTO: hannah maynes // @hannahmaynes

beth smith, christine sloman, elizabeth whitmire, kendra post, oliver soderberg, redwan majumder, sofia felino, tatiana whyknow-price, zoe orion

CONTRIBuTING EzINE PhOTOGRAPhERS:

alana noble, angel escobar, angela leung, dena schaeffer, ella rueffert, hailey collins, hannah howells, hannah maynes, jane wallin, kendra post, madelyn matthews, matthew flood, orest dorosh, sofia felino, stephanie montani, vera novella WEBSITE

LISTEN WHILE YOU READ:

SPOTLIGHT

ELIZABETH WILTSHIRE TEAM MEMBER

WALK THE

I’m a full time student at Fordham University majoring in Communications and Culture with a Marketing minor, but I still find time to cover shows. I photographed my first show 2 and a half years ago but only started shooting more often 2 years ago. I’m entirely self - taught and will shoot basically any genre of music, but I love alt - rock the most.

AGE 19

WHERE ARE YOU FROM Boston, MA // New York City

WHAT IS YOUR ROLE IN MELODIC Photographer, Writer, Interviewer

WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE ARTIST TO SEE LIVE Senses Fail, Frank Turner, Rainbow Kitten Surprise Circa Survive

FAVORITE CONCERT EVER ATTENDED FOR MELODIC Senses Fail + The Amity Affliction on the “Misery Will Find You” tour

DREAM SHOW TO COVER Green Day!

FAVORITE CONCERT EVER ATTENDED IN GENERAL Night 6 of Frank Turner’s Lost Evenings Festival in Boston

CAREER GOALS

I’d love to work in public relations, especially in the music industry. I’d also love to photograph for bands directly at some point and maybe even go on tour as a photographer! I also want to work on a festival’s media team.

FALL TIME BONFIRE

Francis Forever - Mitski

Strangers Forever - The Menzinger

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings - Father John Misty

Sugar - Brockhampton

Cyanide - Daniel Caesar

Eternal - Chance The Rapper

I Wish - Hayley Kiyoko

Go Gina - SZA

Jet Black - Anderson .Paak

Science — Analog Version - Allie X

Only Child - Tierra Whack

Midnight Zone - Balance and Composure

My Man - Delacey

Dumb Hearts - Mattress Food

Patience - Tame Impala

Are You Bored Yet? - Wallows ft. Clairo

Motion Sickness - Phoebe Bridgers

Buzzcut Season (Lorde Cover) - Heather Grey

Cool People - Chloe x Halle

Babushka Boi - A$AP Rocky

Cold War - Cautious Clay

Coconut Oil - Lizzo

Changing of the Seasons - Two Door Cinema Club

TORONTO, ON

Toronto, the musical maestro of the north! With its bustling streets and lively atmosphere, Toronto is like a symphony of sights and sounds. From the eclectic tunes of Kensington Market to the smooth jazz of Yorkville, this city is a veritable jukebox of musical delights.

Andrea Buchkovich • Feonix Pursey • HANNAh MAYNES

Karen K. Tran • Kendra Post • Madison Green • Marissa

Dubrofsky • Maxine Beck - Sinderby • Meg Clemmensen

Orest Dorosh • REDWAN MAjuMDER • Thomas Franklin

FAVORITE LOCAL VENUES >>>

FAVORITE LOCAL RADIO STATIONS >>>

102.1 ThE EDGE • 104.5 CHUM FM

INDIE88 • Flow 93.5 • Q107

Budweiser Stage • DANFORTh MuSIC HALL • Grand Gerard Theatre • Hard Luck Bar • HORSEShOE TAVERN

Mod Club • Opera House • Phoenix Concert Theatre • REBEL • Rivoli • Scotiabank Arena

FAVORITE LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHER >>>

Andre Varty • Elie Kimbembe • Gerard Joseph

HANNAh MAYNES • Jenna Hum • Katrina Lat

Kelsey Gie • Kurtis Watson • Laird Connor Watt

Matt Guarrasi • Magdafy • Michael Cao • Orest Dorosh

Redwan Majumder • Ryan Brough

Ryley Dawson • Véronique Giguére • Wendy Wei

FAVORITE LOCAL ARTISTS >>>

WHAT ARE SOME OTHER AWESOME MUSIC RELATED THINGS TORONTO HAS TO OFFER?

THOMAS SAYS: ListenHarder PR, DC Music Studios

HANNAH SAYS: If you’re looking to browse or buy music, Sonic Boom Records is Toronto’s version of LA’s Amoeba. 102.1 The Edge hosts “Sugar Beach Sessions,” where they have local and touring artists come out and perform short sets at their studio, and it’s completely free and accessible to the public. Toronto recently got its own School Night series (which is pretty big in LA) - on the last Monday of every month there is a free show at The Drake Underground with four up-and-coming artists.

JENN SAYS: Grimey’s record store, Nashville Is The Reason puts on Emo Live Band events a lot which are super fun, Musician’s Corner puts on a lot of live music events and panels which are all free and usually on a weekly or bi weekly basis, Americana Fest is based in Nashville every September and it’s another great festival with enough free events you can go to without having to pay for a badge.

ANDREA SAYS: Record stores: Sonic Boom, pandemonium. Happy Pills Collective hosts amazing shows and has amazing bands on their roaster. Royal Mountain Records too!

DID YOU KNOW?

Toronto is the largest centre for music in Canada – the artists who create music are a vital part of Toronto’s culture. Music is also an important economic driver for the city. Toronto’s music scene attracts visitors and artists alike, engaging with film, television, fashion, food, and interactive media. Home to major and independent record labels, music festivals, event promoters, hundreds of recording studios and live music venues, and a wealth of talented performers across multiple genres, the city’s cultural diversity and talent pool drives Toronto’s success in the music industry.

Timeless bands from Toronto include: Barenaked Ladies, Broken Social Scene, Death From Above, and Rush.

Modern artists like Arkells, The Beaches, deadmau5, Drake, Fade Awaays, Shawn Mendes, and Valley also rep Toronto as home.

on your radar

Sometimes finding an artist that fits your playlist can be as easy as opening up your Daily Mix curated by Spotify, but we can’t always rely on Spotify for picking all the upcoming artists you may enjoy. Melodic Magazine is always on the search for artists that you need ON YOUR RADAR - no matter what your music is on your playlists.

HAVE AN ARTIST YOU WANT TO SEE IN ‘ON YOUR RADAR’? TWEET US @MELODICMAG WITH #MMRADAR

SEA MOYA

#electronic #dance #kraut - beat

FROM: Germany

RECENT NEWS: “Love is the Essence” Tour across the US and Canada from October 8th to December 12th

This tour - loving group is always experimenting with their music, style, and stage presence. After relocating from Germany to Canada in 2018, they have been touring almost non - stop because they thoroughly enjoy sharing their music with as many people as possible. After seeing these guys play a show back in March, I immediately went home and downloaded all their songs. They have an extremely unique sound that I’ve never heard before, but I deeply love.

LISTEN: ”Purple Days”, “The Long Run”, “Flourish”, “Nothing Is Real”

SIMILAR ARTISTS: Fenster, World Brain, and Say Yes Dog pick by Oliver Soderberg

ALFIE TEMPLEMAN

#alternative #indie

FROM: Bedford, United Kingdom

RECENT NEWS: New single ‘Used to love’ & supporting ‘Sports Team’ on UK tour in November

Alfie Templeman is a 16 year old upcoming indie artist, who self produced his first and second EPs Like An Animal and Sunday Morning Cereal. He appeared at Reading & Leeds festival earlier this year, as well as playing his first London show at Brixton O2 Academy with Sundara Karma. The young artist has been producing and writing music for years previously, his record label ‘Chess Club’ picking him up late 2018.

LISTEN: ”Like An Animal”, “Stop Thinking (About Me)”, “Yellow Flowers”, “Tragic Love”

SIMILAR ARTISTS: Rex Orange County, Banes World, The Cure pick by Tatiana Whybrow - Price

SAM FENDER

#altrock #rock

FROM: Newcastle, United Kingdom

RECENT NEWS: Debut album release & UK Tour Announcement

After winning The Critics Choice Award at The Brit Awards earlier this year there has been no stopping Sam Fender. The British singer / songwriter has gone from strength to strength through non - stop touring. He is currently performing a string of shows across the USA and carrying on to Europe from there. Following the huge success from his debut album ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ which was released earlier this month, Sam has recently announced a huge UK arena tour, his biggest tour to date.

LISTEN: ”Will We Talk”, “Dead Boys”, “Hypersonic Missiles”, “Play God”

SIMILAR ARTISTS: Blossoms, Tom Grennan, Tom Walker pick by Beth Smith

88GLAM

#hip-hop #r&b

FROM: Toronto, Canada

SIMILAR ARTISTS:

RECENT NEWS: Gearing up to release 88GLAM3

The transcendent hip-hop/R&B duo consists of 88Camino and Derek Wise, two members of the The Weekend’s XO imprint who boast outstanding energy, fluid melodies, and hard-hitting verses. Perhaps the most stand out quality of this duo is that they are the sonic embodiment of a duo — there never is a focal point placed solely on either Camino or Derek. Both artists have their own creative place in the group’s sound and both artists are necessary for it to sound as good as it does. Camino’s hooks need the sturdiness and grit of Derek’s verses while Derek simultaneously needs Camino’s melodies to alleviate his own craft as well. Having the talent to cement themselves as one of the greatest groups in hip-hop — and the necessary resources to grow as artists — it is only a matter of time before 88GLAM becomes the next big thing.

LISTEN: “Bali” (featuring Nav), “Lil Boat”, “Big Ship”, “Baby Bro”

PREVIOUS FEATURES: ,

pick by Redwan Majumder

MY FIRST STORY

SPENCER SUTHERLAND

HOBO JOHNSON WHITNEY

PHOEBE BRIDGERS

In September of 2019, Perth, Australia - based band The Faim finally delivered their long - awaited debut full - length record, State of Mind, into the hands of their rapidly growing and increasingly passionate fanbase. In support of the record, the band is currently wrapping up their first headlining tour of the US. The tour is a co - headliner with fellow Aussies Stand Atlantic with support from up - and - coming pop - punk outfits WSTR and Point North. Melodic Mag was able to catch up with vocalist Josh Raven and bassist Stephen Beerkens before their show at Chop Shop in Chicago.

Interview and Photos by Sofia Felino

Melodic Mag: This will actually be my second time shooting you guys. The first time I shot you, I was really struck by your awesome stage presence. Do you have any influences on your stage presence specifically? Stephen Beerkens: I don’t know if there’s any one in particular, but touring with a bunch of different bands and even just going to concerts you see people do things [that are] not what you do. It’s not like you copy them, you just see how much more there is to do than what you’re currently doing. I think it’s less being influenced and more encouraging yourself to go step outside your comfort zone in your performance and do something new.

Josh Raven: I was going to say the exact same thing. Like Stephen said, you don’t blatantly copy anybody, but you take your influences and add your own unique perspective to that and you express it however you see fit.

MM: Does that apply to music, too?

JR: Yeah, of course!

MM: Are you influenced by the bands you go on tour with?

JR: Live influences are a big inspiration...you can listen to songs and be inspired, you can look at anything and be inspired, but...we try and focus on how our songs are presented live because that’s a very important aspect of what we do. So yeah, bands we tour with definitely have a big part in how we look at our songs sometimes. It’s an important perspective to have, really.

MM: You guys are from Australia, and so is your co - headliner, Stand Atlantic. Of course there’s got to be a big difference from touring [in the States] and touring over there. What do you think is the biggest difference?

SB: One thing is the space and the amount of ground you have to cover. Here, you can drive a couple of hours and you’re in a completely different state. We have to fly everywhere if we want to make it on time in Australia because it’s so much more spaced out. Playing anywhere outside of our hometown in Perth is like a five hour flight....So you could do a week - long drive to get [from Perth to the Australian east coast], or you could just hop on a plane.

MM: Do you notice a difference between the crowds?

SB: I think the crowds are just passionate anyway. I mean I guess there are minute differences...but we’re very lucky to have a fanbase that is really into our shows, as does Stand Atlantic, WSTR, Point North. Passion’s everywhere, which makes for a good show.

MM: So your first full - length album just came out. If you could sum it up in one sentence, how would you.

JR: I mean, it’s a hard thing to summarize an album in a sentence, especially for us, when this album’s been all over the world in a sense. But I guess it’s just an honest representation of feelings and emotions throughout our journey so far. That’s probably the best way to describe it. Same as anything with music, really. It’s just an expression of what you go through as a group.

MM: Josh, do you write most of the lyrics?

JR: I write most of the lyrics, yeah. I feel like we all have a perspective on each other’s talent. If someone doesn’t like something, we’ll be like, “why don’t you like it?” And then we go through it and we talk through it and we always find a middle ground. Because at the end of the day, it’s all four of us out there, playing the songs. Of course I like to have a hand in the lyrics, but we’re all the ones playing the songs for the rest of our lives. So if we’re not all connected to it, then what’s the point? I feel like that’s something we keep true to.

MM: Do you as a group have a favorite lyric that you’ve written?

SB: I love all the lyrics in “State of Mind.” That to me is a really good representation of Josh’s lyric writing. That’s one that all four of us did just by ourselves in a rehearsal room back in Perth. Like Josh saying the album is a representation of ourselves, our musicianship, everything like that— I think “State of Mind” is one of the showcases of that.

MM: What song has been the hardest for you to write over the course of your career?

JR: Logistically, probably “Humans.” [Stephen was] in LA, we were pretty much doing voice memos back and forth. Stephen was in the producer room, we were sending ideas through microphones trying to actually get it done. When

did we first hear that one? That was on tour, right?

SB: The first idea [for “Humans”] we had on tour. We started working on that in New York, and then we brought that into the studio in LA, worked on it further, then everyone dispersed. So Josh and Linden flew back to Perth, Sam and I stayed in LA. We listened back and we were like, “We can beat this.” And so we’re all working from all different corners of the globe, sending voice memos back and forth to each other, and went to piece it together in LA. And then I flew home and we reworked it again in Perth.

JR: That was definitely an intense experience.

MM: What has been the most intense experience you’ve had as a band?

JR: I guess just the sheer amount of touring.... Obviously we love what we do, and we appreciate what we do very, very much, but there’s a level of physical and mental exhaustion that kind of taxes with that. As much as we all love each other, we spend a lot of time together. Like twenty - four hours a day, seven days a week, months on end, very little breaks. Which is fine, that’s all part of what we do, but I think.... You have those days where you’re like, “Oh my God, I can’t, I don’t know how to do this.” But then you pick each other up. You know, if it was just one person driving, one person in it, I don’t think what we do would be possible. We help each other in our own way. It’s a very big team effort, even with the guys behind the scenes, Mitch and Joe, who really help pull everything together, especially when it comes to shows....It’s an incredibly hard journey, but at the same time... you know, I say this a lot, but if it was easy, every person would do it. You see a show, and that’s literally two percent of what we do as musicians and as a band.

MM: What would you recommend someone as a starter song to introduce them to your band?

SB: If I had three songs to give them, I’d give them “Tongue Tied,” “State of Mind,” and “Buying Time.” I’d give them those and be like, “Simmer on that!” Half the record was written in the last couple of months, and it definitely shows the progression of where we’re heading as a

band. Those three are three of the most recent songs that we’ve written and we’re the most proud of. And going forward, that’s what would represent our sound the most. And those ones definitely kick ass live. I was at soundcheck today, like, “this is sounding pretty good!”

MM: I know everything is happening for you guys now, but what’s next for The Faim?

JR: The biggest thing we all want, once we get past this round of touring and get to the end of the year, is we want to sit down and write. I think we want four of us in a room knuckling down some songs and just discovering what we can do, because we really haven’t had any time to do it. As much as we’ve been on the road and as much as we’ve recorded, when it comes to sitting down and utilizing each other’s unique perspective and not having anyone else in the room...that’s really what we want to do. That’s going to help us grow and find the parameters of where we want to go conceptually and sonically. We’ve done so much touring, we’ve never really dedicated a long amount of time to just sitting in a studio and writing. I think it’s something that we’re all pretty excited to do. And of course there will be more shows and music videos and singles and all that sort of jazz, but I think the biggest thing we want to do is write.

SB: Yeah. Can’t tour without songs!

JR: Exactly!

MM: Do you guys find it harder to write when you’re on the road?

SB: It’s a lot harder to write on the road. This is the first time in the US that we haven’t been in a van. The last one and a half years we’ve been going around in a small van...there’s no time to even think. In the US, the drives are very long, you’re just grinding your way through, and it’s not like we have a huge crew that can do everything, so it’s all hands on deck. Everyone’s helping each other out all the time to make this tour work. So finding time in that to just sit down and be creative...we know where our levels [of creativity] can be, and it is hard to find that on tour. So that’s why we’re looking forward to getting into a good headspace and getting into a good sort of place where all we have to think about is writing and being creative.

joan is a duo whose bright, retro, anthemic pop sound has a sweetness and genuineness that overflows in both Alan Thomas (vocals/keys/guitars) and Steven Rutherford (drums) when they talk about their art. It’s an infectious energy that makes you want to celebrate in their growing success and share in their excitement. If you want to join in as well, you can read ahead as we talk songwriting, design, and what makes a perfect pop

Interview by Zoe Orion Photos by Hannah Maynes

Melodic Magazine: You guys have been really involved with music pretty much your whole lives; what kind of music were you involved with before

I’ve been writing since my senior year of high school. My parents got me a little fender acoustic that had a big crack in the back of it, it was a b - stock refurb. That’s what I started doing, and I called it The Running Back, I don’t know why. It was just me, but I always wanted it to be bigger. Every song I wrote I was like, it can’t just be me and an acoustic. So then I had friends that jumped on board and that band took various forms. And then after college I moved to Nashville to pursue that band. Then after that I was in a band called Canopy Climbers and it was just like an electronic… do you guys know who the Postal Service is?

Yeah!

It’s kind of inspired by that. We would do everything online like back and forth over the internet. That led up to joan actually, that’s how me and Steven met. Our bands played some shows together, and we had mutual friends and stuff like that. It is! Before we even knew each other. He was in Canopy Climbers and I was in Brothers and Company and we were playing around Little Rock, different shows and stuff and we met through that. Because there isn’t a huge scene in Little Rock so we ended up playing a bunch of shows together because there were only like four bands total in Little Rock.

To elaborate, towards the end of Canopy Climbers being my full thing Steven started being my booking agent, because he was getting all these gigs regionally, like Texas and Oklahoma and all these places that we weren’t playing. I was like, ‘dude you’ve gotta help me get these shows how are you doing this?’ And he was like ‘yeah I’ll do it.’ So I was going to pay him a normal booking fee but we ended up not doing it because we

MM: So was it through those conversations that you were like, ‘okay so we’re going to start writing together’?

Alan: I think so. Basically what happened was I think both bands - you know they had just graduated college and were trying to figure out the real world: what’s next, do we want to pursue this? And some of the band members were getting into adult, real life jobs that weren’t music. My band, the other two members had full time jobs and were battling with, ‘we want to do this but we can’t just quit everything to do this.’

So me and Steven in both scenarios were the two who were like, this is what we feel like we’re supposed to do and were, it sounds cheesy, but kind of put here to do. And so we were like, let’s just get together and write and see what happens. And we wrote our first single take me on literally the first day we wrote together. So it was like, this is something bigger.

MM: It sounds like you had an immediate writing connection. What do you think makes you guys work so well together?

Alan: I would say that we both have strengths in two different areas way more than the other person, but at the same time we have a lot of knowledge in those areas as well. So it’s like, where I’ll have a melodic idea or a track idea for a song, Steven’s brain is already churning on where to take the storyline and I’m like, my brain does not work that way very well.

So a lot of times we’re really good at staying in our own lanes and then also veering over when needed. Like if I need help on a melody he’s jumping in and helping with the melody. If there’s a lyric we’re stuck on then I’m trying to think of the lyric. But we largely have our roles that we feel really comfortable in and we just shoot for the stars on every song.

Steven: I think what we connected well on at the beginning and what ended up being really good for us is, I don’t know what to call it, maybe visual writing or something. We started with the idea of doing licensing for film and TV music, so there was a specific - Alan says a lot that we’re searching for a feeling in a song. Like, what sort of kind of feeling did you get growing

up listening to music or whatever. So when we started we were trying to get into the movie scene, like what specific scene in a movie does this song feel like? And since we do the visuals

ourselves and we do all the writing ourselves, it connected immediately because it was like, this is what we’re going for, this specific scene in a movie or a specific sound.

MM: So is film something that influences you guys? What kind of films?

Alan: For portra for instance there were a couple of key scenes in different John Hughes movies. And I grew up loving any John Cusack movie that he was in. There was just some weird connection I felt with that style of film, some of it was the eighties, some of it was nineties. But I think we would take a scene where he’s holding the boombox over his head to woo the girl through the window with her favourite song and go like okay, why does that make me get goosebumps? Why does that make my heart flutter faster when I watch that? And how can we write a song that in turn does the same thing?

So yeah, I would say there were a couple of movies and a couple of even scenes or feelings that we get when we see those things. The visual and the music were always intertwined for us from the very beginning. And that goes back to even the first day Steven was throwing out band name ideas. He was like, I think joan is really strong and showed me a mock - up design of just this italicized, lower case font and I was like, that’s it. It was exactly what we envisioned the band to be from the first day. It was crazy.

MM: Alan, you went to school for drums and it was the first instrument you picked up, but Steven, you’re the drummer. So was there a conversation about who is going to be the drummer?

Alan: We held an audition at his parents house and were like alright families, let’s duke this out! No, it was easy because even though I did go to school for drums, and I’ve been playing drums since I was eleven and all through college for some reason in high school getting that first guitar and feeling what it felt to write a song and be like okay this is… it was a new feeling and a new inspiration for me and honest to goodness, that day I remember being my room and being like, I’m as excited now as I feel when I’m behind a kit. And they became kind of equal to me. So I’ve never really viewed it as I’m missing anything. It was a natural like, Steven is really great at drums and we needed a singer and a keyboard and guitar and stuff like that. It was like, I love that role equally so we just kind of landed in those roles together.

the groove more than just the drummer thinking about it. You know, we’re both trying to write very rhythmically.

Steven: We definitely don’t write a song on the acoustic guitar and then later try to figure out parts. It’s very much like, it either starts with a specific sound or it starts with a groove and it all kind of works together where we’re like, the drums could be this, and we’re very on the same page with that. So I think yeah, it definitely comes into writing. And I think it helps to know what we can do live while we’re writing. Some producers might write a drum beat that’s absolutely impossible to do live, but for us everything that we write on every instrument we can do live, which is really cool I think.

MM: Alan you mentioned a few times about Steven doing storylines. What kind of stories do you like to explore in your lyrics?

Steven: I keep a list of notes, concepts, or just story ideas on my phone and I think it just starts there. Literally I wrote like five down today just when we were driving. When I’m listening to a song or I’m listening to a podcast that is a comedian talking, different ideas will pop up and I think we kind of start from those kind of concepts.

MM: Do you think that having two talented drummers in the band affects the way you write at all?

Alan: I would say both of us are thinking about

Alan: And some of it is personal, and some of it is fictional. It kind of depends. What’s interesting is that sometimes you start with a concept that doesn’t seem related to yourself at all, but then you start writing it and you’re like, oh I’ve lived through this in some way, there’s a girl I dated in high school and we went through that, or me and my wife have dealt with that in the last year, you know whatever it is. It can be really interesting. It’s really interesting when you write sad songs but you’re not in a sad place. You start to channel how someone else would feel

in this moment, and I love that. I love concept writing because I think it helps empathize with other people, it helps you channel other people’s emotions and walk in their shoes. Or else it can be something that you felt like ten years ago.

MM: You guys have talked about how much you love pop music and you write great pop music. What’s a pop song that you would consider a perfect pop song?

Alan: I have been listening to Halsey’s Graveyard, I’ve listened to that song a hundred times in the last three days. Now, it’s a new one, but I think it’s a darn near perfect pop song. It’s produced by a guy named Louis Bell and he’s done Post Malone and a bunch of killer pop stuff now. And I don’t know man, every section of the song I’m like, this can’t get better. And then it gets better, and it gets better. It’s just perfect from start to finish.

Steven: Post Malone’s whole record is so good. The melodies are insane. I don’t know why but I immediately thought of New Rules by Dua Lipa. I don’t really listen to it a ton anymore but I wore that song out because I thought it was just so well done. And she’s just a powerhouse.

Alan: We are like… the song is important, but even more important than the song is who was behind it for us. Since Spotify added song credits every song it’s almost a game where you can try to guess who did it.

MM: Do you have any producers or behind the scenes people that are your favourites?

Alan: Yeah, two of my main favourites lately are Louis Bell and Ian Kirkpatrick. Actually, there’s a newer guy that we’re actually going to be working with really soon, a guy named Andy Seltzer - oh you know his name?

MM: Is that normal to have that many conversations with a producer, are you very picky?

Alan: I would say not.

Steven: No, well even with us we’ve worked with a couple producers before and once you get into the studio you’re buds. But before that no, it’s usually very business - like, but with Andy it’s been not that at all, it’s been awesome.

Alan: You may have like, a phone call. I can

think of two producers we worked with in the past that, it was like an introductory phone call like great, get to know each other kind of thing, break the ice, and then some emails. And if you work remote, like we’ve worked with a guy over seas, and it’s like we’re not going to see him for months, so we had to send sessions. And it was personal once you get to know them, but Andy has been definitely a cut above the rest in terms of the day I reached out and we connected over a dm on instagram and just, he knew joan and was a big fan, we we’re like ‘we’re big fans!’ Just gushing over each other, it was pretty corny.

And yeah the initial phone call literally lasted I think fifty - five minutes and I’m just like pacing around my house and we’re talking music and nerding out together, where we might take this in the future. There were five phone calls after that and we’re working with him next month. So it’s different with him, it’s a lot more personal. MM: Any sneak peaks you can give me? What’s the vision, what are you guys going to be doing?

Alan: Basically we sent him fifteen or twenty ideas, some of them are full songs some are verse and chorus. We kind of work - we normally get a verse and a chorus and then we sit on it. We get it out of our brains how we feel it is, then we sit on it, and send it to our manager and to friends we trust and to Andy and guys like that. And we sent him about fifteen or so and then he in a good way critically went through them. I gave him no notes, we were just like here is a Dropbox folder, blank slate tell us what you think. And then he kind of gave us his favorites. So what we’ll probably do next is do some remote work back and forth as we just kind of build on these foundations. And then we get in the studio for four or five days in Little Rock, he’s flying to Little Rock, and yeah we get to work in the studio for hours upon hours until we get something going.

MM: So expect new music coming up?

Alan: Always. Always. Steven: We’ll have new music very soon and hopefully a lot more consistent going forward.

InterviewbyZoeOrion

Mckinley: They were purple hightops.

Zach: And they were just the most ridiculous things I’d ever seen in my entire life andMckinley: Kyle also has like size 14 shoes?

Zach: Real, real big. And I remember just being like, well this isn’t going to work out (laughs).

Mckinley: That’s how judgemental Zach is. I think that reflects more on you than him.

MM: What was the idea behind the purple sneakers, was that to grab their attention?

Zach: Peacocking.

Kyle Hill: Yeah, let’s go with that. I thought they were great dudes when I first met them.

Mckinley: Aw no you can’t say that, you’ve gotta be mean!

MM: What about in high school with you young guys meeting?

Dylan Bauld: Mckinley was a little much for me in middle school and high school, until I started playing music with him and then we became close friends. But like, I tried to stay away because he was a bit intense. Now I’m into the intensity.

Mckinley: It’s worked out to my advantage in the long run.

Zach: I still don’t like him so (laughs).

Mckinley: At this point that’s all just kind of long history because Dylan and I have been playing music for eleven years, Zach’s been playing music with us for 8 or 9 years, Kyle’s been with us for seven years.

Zach: It’s hard to really think back on it when all we have are such fond memories and experiences with each other just cos we’re the greatest group of guys ever!

Mckinley: All jokes aside we’re just brothers now.

MM: Did you ever consider doing anything else? Because you’ve been kind of in music forever.

Mckinley: Kind of sneaks up on you as far as realizing that you’re doing what you’re doing. I think there’s never really an intentional moment where you’re like, ‘we’re settling down and doing this.’ It’s just, you keep working and things grow and it’s your career one day.

Dylan: Once we went on tour for the first time

and realized that we could do it, that settled it for me. I knew that I was going to be locked into it.

Zach: I had childhood fantasies of one thing or another, but pretty much when I hit sophomore year of high school I think I made a switch in my mind where I was like, I don’t have a desire to do anything else with my life, so I’m really gonna put all I can into this and see what comes of it.

MM: And ley lines has come of that! Where did you come into contact with the term ley lines and how does it connect to the album?

Zach: It’s kind of a high fantasy idea. I’ve encountered it at multiple points in my life, but most recently the one that kind of stuck with me was a novel that I read by Patrick Rothfuss. I don’t think he used exactly the term ley lines, but it was this idea of waystones and how they kind of connect these paths, and that they’re these places of rest, these important places basically from ancient times. And ley lines is exactly that idea. It’s all these important places and the lines that connect them. They’re believed to have significance either spiritually, or just earthly significance.

The way that I’ve attributed it to the album is that we need to find these anchor points in our lives in everything that we do. Like for instance in our lives we have music, we have family, we have our companionship, we have our connection with our fans, and that kind of creates our path and our route. And if you can stick to those anchors, and stick to that route, then you can really be confident in what you’re doing. And it just reinforces what you believe in a bit.

MM: Some of the lyrics that you touch on come from a vulnerable place, is that something that’s always been in your lyrics or is that something that you’ve had to find?

Zach: Yeah it is. And I think that comes from the kind of music I was into in high school. I really appreciated thoughtful lyrics, specifically artists like Death Cab for Cutie, Tegan and Sara, Sufjan Stevens. I really liked that they were trying to say something, and I liked how nuanced it was. And kind of vague sometimes, it really leaves it up to your interpretation. And I love that free feeling that you get when you leave it to that. So that’s

just the influence that was in my life and I knew I wanted to replicate that in our lyrics.

MM: For slow motion you’ve mentioned that it’s about how beautiful life can be when you take a step back, which isn’t always easy to do. How do you find that in your lives, especially on tour?

Zach: This tour has been particularly exhausting, but there are these moments. Last night, for example, we played a show in Columbus, Ohio and I think that was very much a slow motion moment for all of us. We were on stage and the whole show people had this excitement and this energy. And I shouldn’t just say Columbus, it’s kind of been every show this tour has had this energy.

Mckinley: and it’s kind of ironic because those moments that feel slow motion and feel like taking a step back are actually the most high intensity moments of the evening. You know it’s a lot of building the gear and hanging out which are the mellow moments. But then once you actually take the stage and feel that kind of crowd buzz and that crowd energy, and there’s the lights and the noise and the music, that’s when things slow down.

Dylan: You feel like you have the time to take it all in.

MM: Are there any other pieces of life where you find those moments?

Zach: Yeah. Particularly with me, I get a lot of joy out of human connection. So those kind of moments will be when I’m with someone that I love or with people that I really enjoy being around. That’s when time really slows down the most for me. When I can just step back and be open, be vulnerable, and have no worries or cares really. Just spending the important time with the important people in your life. That’s when life really slows down for me.

Mckinley: Those snapshot moments, it might happen once a month or once a week, but you’re kind of sitting there like, things couldn’t be much better. And that can last for ten minutes or an hour, it is what it is. It’s a Kodak moment if you will.

Zach: Pretty much whenever Mckinley has a cortado he has a slow motion moment.

Mckinley: Whenever I get a good espresso everything kind of makes sense.

MM: For the making of this album you moved from Dylan’s bedroom to Dylan’s living room. Were there any new tools that you had to work with this time?

Dylan: The best tool that I had this time around was that I was able to take the time and have the whole band really work on the record. The first record we didn’t know exactly what we were doing, me and Zach were kind of just having fun making things on the computer. We recorded some live instruments on that one, but this record we really emphasized the live instruments and tried to make it so we could translate to a live show really easily.

Mckinley: Building a drum room I feel like was huge one for them.

Dylan: I got a new drum room and a new drum kit and it’s really awesome.

MM: Kyle, are you a fan of the drum room?

Kyle: Yeah, quite a big fan of the drum room for a lot of reasons. But it was really good to be able to just be present. And if there was an idea we could just go in and throw it down right there, and start building it from there instead of having to bounce it back and forth and then have me sit with it for however many days before we move forward with it. Going off what Dylan said, having

the whole band present was a really big step in the right direction for us and really helped us unlock our sound.

Mckinley: And that was kind of the final piece of it really being DIY. Prior to that all the drums would be built on a computer and then we’d go to a studio somewhere and Kyle would play them. But this way everything was brought into Dylan’s house. Step A - Z, there was no reason to go anywhere else, so we were locked in there which makes it extra intimate and special.

MM: I really love the album design, and you just released a beautiful video for white noise. How hands on are you with design? Even if you aren’t in the music video, how involved are you with that?

Mckinley: It kind of varies. Some videos we are pretty involved with, and honestly in a way that can be more stressful. So for white noise we absolutely let go. We got a treatment that was like a paragraph long and our buddy Jade (Ehlers) who is a creative director of sorts went up to the Oregon coast with a director of photography and a producer and with just like, three or four people shot the video and we weren’t even there. And it was beautiful. We were just handed this video that was so magical and kind of captured this beauty and that was really lucky.

And in other ways we’re there every step of the way. For a lot of the merch Kyle is there laying things out with the t - shirt mock - ups and doing every step of it, choosing the fabric. It kind of varies, but for the most part we’re very hands on unless we really trust someone that’s close to us. And it has to be someone that we’ve known for years. We wouldn’t just hand the control over of anything to anyone unless… there was like one time we did that.

Dylan: We’ve tried and it failed. Mckinley: We’re control freaks.

Dylan: We usually resort to that when we’re on a time crunch or a money crunch.

MM: How does it feel to see a music video like that, someone’s interpretation of your song? Mckinley: That one is particularly special. It was nailed. It was perfect. They could probably do it ten more times and it wouldn’t work as well as

it did. They got the perfect weather, the perfect crew, the perfect actresses. There’s nothing really you could improve on for that time frame. They had two days to do it with like four days of prep time it was so quick and it ended up being perfect.

MM: Earlier you touched on connection with fans being really important, and I heard you have a notebook at the merch table that people can sign and leave messages in. What was the idea behind that?

Zach: We do yeah. Our tour photographer (Lily Mclaughlin) has kind of been working on finding the best way to involve her art in the world of ley lines and I’ve been talking to her a bit about what the whole album means, specifically what it means to me, and she kind of ran off that idea and found the importance of fans and how they do really play into the whole world of ley lines. So she dove into that idea by saying, why don’t I get all these fans from all these different places to write down all these… it’s a large array of things, it can be just a little ‘hey’ or it can be a ‘we love your music,’ or ‘your music has changed our lives.’ It was totally her idea and I’m really glad she came up with it because it works so well with what this tour is all about.

Mckinley: And creatively she’s really taken things in a cool direction as well. She’s doing a lot more crowd photography and kind of these intimate, close moments of the audience which we haven’t really seen much of. It’s usually just like, we get a large batch of us, and I don’t need to see myself every night over and over. So seeing these little moments, whether it’s someone just beaming, or when we played in Durham there was this photo of a couple holding each other during our song warm blood, and to see this magic and what that song means to them in a still image is pretty remarkable. Certain photos capture that and it’s really cool to see our photographer Lily nailing those moments.

MM: And it goes perfectly with the album about connection.

Mckinley: Yeah, she’s really taken the world and expanded on it because we’re busy like, playing the music. So it’s good that we have a creative family member stepping up and helping us draw a firmer line between us and the fans.

Interview by Elizabeth Wiltshire

British rock band The Struts are the current kings of glam rock. Their band’s vibrancy can be heard through listening to their music, but more so by simply discussing the music with them. Additionally, frontman Luke Spiller’s confident and unapologetically bold personality holds true as much offstage as onstage. The band is finishing up their “never-ending tour” in support of their most recent album, “Young and Dangerous.” Melodic Mag was able to catch up with Luke Spiller, bassist Jed Elliot, guitarist Adam Slack, and and drummer Gethin Davies before their set at Sea Hear Now Festival in Asbury Park.

Melodic Magazine: How do you guys feel about playing Sea Hear Now this weekend?

Gethin: Brilliant! It feels like it’s going to be amazing, it’s a fairly new festival, right?

MM: Yep! It’s the second year.

Luke: Really? That’s awesome. We’re already looking at the location and how close we are to the city and Asbury Park is just cool as hell.

Jed: We’ve been to the Stone Pony on the 5th of October last year, and I know that because I randomly looked it up last night, but also, I was

in an Uber and the guy said, “Oh, you should’ve been here last weekend, we had this amazing festival called Sea Hear Now!” He said the whole of the town was on the beach, and I was like, “That sounds amazing!” I found out we were playing it and boom, here we are!

Luke: Best part was waking up and then I opened up my blinds and I literally saw the ocean. Our bus is slap - bang right on the fucking beach.

Jed: We get some bad weather today and we’re

Photos courtesy of chuffmedia

going down, we’re going out to sea.

Luke: Luckily, our bus is a bit like “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” you press a button and it inflates and you can just go off.

Adam: It costs a lot of money but it’s worth it. (laughs)

MM: Kind of like the magic school bus!

Luke: Exactly!

MM: Are there any bands on the lineup today that you’re especially excited to see?

Luke: Who’s playing?

Gethin: Joan Jett’s playing.

Luke: Oh she’s playing? Did you see the documentary? The new one? It’s really good. It was very informative, she’s great. I like her.

Jed: I’m excited for her too, I do like her.

Luke: We’ve seen her a few times. We played... what was that other festival?

Adam: Oh, I think it was in Philly?

Luke: Yeah! Yeah, she’s amazing.

MM: I’m pretty excited for her too. So, I also wanted to talk to you about your most recent tour, the Young and Dangerous tour. I saw you

guys towards the end of it in Boston, it was a great show. What was that tour like for you guys?

Luke: We’re still on it! It’s continuing pretty much...so after this, we have a little bit of time off and then we do the UK, into Europe, and then that’s pretty much it for the rest of the tour.

MM: It’s like the never - ending tour.

Luke: Yeah, like most of The Struts tours! But it’s kind of like the way we do things. But it’s great, one of the biggest tours we’ve ever done. Some of the highlights include like, we did this fantastic show in Nashville and in the same week we did Pier 17 in New York, where I rode a Harley Davidson on stage, that was fantastic. I peaked, everything’s been downhill since then.

Jed: Apart from today!

Luke: Yes, apart from today! But it’s been really inspiring, really fun, we just got back from Canada. Our show in Montreal was fantastic. Quebec as well, but Montreal had a very unique special energy about it.

Adam: We’re finding that we’re going back to a lot of places we’ve been before, but the rooms are tripling in size, and people are coming out.

to see us. It’s starting to feel like the hard wk that we’ve been putting in on the road is really showing.

MM: That must be a great feeling! So, you’ve been a band for ten years now...

Luke: Yeah, I saw that last night! Holy shit! It’s our ten year anniversary next year, because it says on fucking Spotify that we’ve been a band since, what is it?

MM: 2009?

Adam: I mean, me and Luke met ten years ago and then the idea of this band was conceived. It wasn’t until this lineup formed in 2012, that’s when when it really started, I’d say.

Luke: The name was trademarked ten years ago! (laughs)

MM: How did you guys come up with the band name?

Luke: It was coined by our manager at the time. Having a name for a band is so hard. MM: I feel like so many names have been taken.

Luke: Yeah, and as time goes by it’s only gonna get worse, until we’re probably going to have to come up with serial numbers for bands. But yeah, we were just rehearsing at the time, doing a demo in this place, and yeah, our manager at the time was like “You strut around a lot, you should be called ‘The Struts!’” And that was it. And it hadn’t been taken, so we were very lucky. And I’ll fucking put money on it that someone’s taken it. There is a band called the Downtown Struts, that’s about as close as it gets. And I fucking know that because when I go home, I go to the jukebox, right? And I’ll put in “The Struts” to promo ourselves, as you do, and there’ll be an elderly lady like “Are you in a band?” And I have to sort of walk her to the jukebox and show her. So I type in “The Struts” and it’s like the landlord has downloaded what he thinks is our music but it’s this fucking band, I think they’re from San Francisco, called the Downtown Struts. And there’s two songs on my local jukebox, “Body Talks ft. Kesha” and “Primadonna Like Me.”

Gethin: I love Kesha.

MM: Speaking of “Primadonna Like Me,” the music video for that was really great. And

Alice Cooper was in it, which was awesome.

Luke: He was! He was meant to be my dad in a sketch, origionally, and it just didn’t work out. We had to fly in and we started doing this at like four in the morning or some shit? Four until nine? And then we popped over to say hello to Alice who was playing the same day as we were playing a fucking bowling alley or something.

Jed: He was playing another casino nearby.

Luke: He was playing some sick venue. But yeah, we went to say hi and the only stuff we kept was the throwing knives, which worked.

Adam: There was a whole funny sketch though of Luke coming in like “Daddy!”

MM: I would pay good money to see that.

Luke: It was awful, I had no sleep and I was like trying to improvise this fucking scene with Alice Cooper.

Jed: And Alice was like, “Say hello to your mom for me!”

Luke: It was hilarious. But it’s somewhere, it’s buried somewhere!

MM: You guys should release it somewhere.

Luke: You know what, I’ll actually gain contact with it and do it properly, we’re do it properly.

Gethin: Make it like a Broadway show, The Struts and Alice Cooper on Broadway.

MM: That would be awesome!

Luke: Like “Who’s Line is it Anyway?” with Alice Cooper?

MM: I love that idea! So, I wanted to talk to you about how you guys created the b and's glam - rock aesthetic. Did you receive any backlash from producers or the label?

Luke: Well, I've always had a very clear idea of how I want to present myself first and foremost, because it’s very rare that you get four people simultaneously that are all like, “Ok, let’s all really stand out.” It just happens naturally, like when you get brought into a gang of musicians you sort of spread and you all start to talk like each other, you all start to look like each other, you start to sound like each other. And we don’t notice it, but I think if someone were to take us and observe us from the outside they’d probably think we’re quite similar on a lot of levels.

Gethin: Oh no, my friends totally notice when I go home.

Luke: So, the style thing was basically like that. I

was like, “So, this is the way it’s going to be” and it just kind of naturally spread.

Adam: And there’s definitely been some weird looks along the way, we’ve all kind of found our niche now. But I do look back at like, 2014, definitely some peculiar outfits.

Jed: Everyone’s got their own style within that sphere as well, and that wasn’t always the case. But we’ve all been guilty of some fashion mistakes, but you’ve got to take those risks.

Some of them didn’t pay off though!

Adam: Not even that long ago, I saw some photos of me on our first tour of America and I’m like “WHAT WAS I THINKING?!”

Gethin: But now you look good!

Adam: But now I look good, I went through this 50’s greaser stage that I thought looked cool but I guess I was the only one.

Luke: Oh yeah, I remember that! (laughs) Burt yeah, there have been some backlashes, that’s the way it goes, really.

Adam: Especially in the early days. Before we signed pen and paper to our first label, they were all about, “Oh, we love this vision for the band!” and the when we actually signed they were like, “Nope, we don’t like it. Wear a t - shirt and jeans.”

Luke: It’s the same - old. And I think a lot of people listen to the music and they hear my voice, first and foremost. And of course, from any label’s perspective, the best thing to do would to be to have me look normal and my stage presence and music and voice do the talking. But that’s not the way I am! It’s like, I don’t do this because I have to, it’s because I want to. It’s showing off. It works its way, it’s a complete circle. And I could just stand there and sing and do that extremely fucking well, but why do that when you can wow people and really give them

something visually stimulating?

MM: I feel like it just pulls it all together.

Luke: Yeah! Like, I don’t have to put on the outfit, I don’t have to do all the makeup, but I do it because I want to. It’s been a long journey but worth it.

MM: Finally, what are your plans for 2020?

Luke: New music, first and foremost. Secondly, new outfits, obviously. And I think we’re going to be—well, I don’t know how much I can officially say without getting in trouble—but we’re going to be putting out some sort of like small collection of tracks. Not like another album, but I think what we’re going to do is spend the last few months of this year in the studio and do a lot of experimentation, just see if we can pick out one or two gold nuggets and then make that the very best that we can and show it to the world in the first quarter of next year. And then, hopefully album #3!

InterviewbyElizabethWiltshire

Rainbow Kitten Surprise may be nearly impossible to place into just one genre, but the band takes pride in that. Their music fuses rock, indie folk, alternative, electronic, and pop elements to create their unique and genre-defying sound. Offstage, the band is quiet and reserved, but on stage, their confidence and joy can be felt by everyone in the audience. Their live perfor mances are nothing short of fun, energetic, and captivating. Melodic Mag was fortunate enough to chat with the band before one of these performances, their set at Asbury Park’s Sea Hear Now Festival.

Melodic Mag: How do you feel about playing the second year of SHN?

Sam: Almost as good as the first year! But a little bit better, actually, because everything is tightened up, so we’re super excited.

MM: Are there any bands on the lineup that you’re particularly excited about?

Sam: Joan Jett, for sure.

Charlie: Word, yeah, can’t wait for her.

MM: That’s going to be a great set, I’m excited too. So, you guys are on tour right now with Illiterate Light, how’s that been going so far?

Sam: It’s been great, they’re awesome, they’re fantastic.

Darrick: They’re killing it!

MM: That’s awesome to hear! I saw you guys on your last tour, which was great. What are some of the differences between the last tour and this tour, especially when it comes to the setlists?

Sam: The setlist is kind of an evolving thing. Darrick: We just try to make it different for people who maybe came and saw us on previous tours.

Sam: I think whatever we didn’t play last tour we’re probably going to play next tour. (laughs)

PhotosbyMatthewSalacuse

It just kind of ends up being a kind of what you engage in most honestly, what you’ve burnt out in the least, in terms of playing it. And then, what you still need to play in order to like…a lot of times you have people who are coming to shows who’ve been to all the tours, but you also have plenty of people who have never seen the show before. So, what is the core of the show, and then what can you play with to make it fun and new as well, you know?

MM: So, I wanted to talk to you guys a bit about the religious imagery in your music, I noticed that’s something that’s pretty present in your music, especially with your most recent album. Sam: I think culturally, Christianity is pretty pervasive in the South, we all grew up in some form of it. Definitely a big influence when we were growing up, going to church, that kind of thing. But also, when I started writing this last record, I was just coming out of college where I was a religion major, I was kind of knee - deep in the Old Testament while writing these songs. So coming back from class and kind of digging into the secular world of Rainbow Kitten Surprise…it was just what I was thinking about and what was rolling around in my head at the time. And some of the imagery may have been a little over - the - top. There was a lot more that didn’t end up making it in. I think what resonated with people, with the rest of the band, was what ended up being on the record.

MM: That’s really interesting! In terms of writing the songs, what’s the process like for you guys, do you all work on the lyrics?

Sam: Nah, I usually just type it up or lay down a couple of demo versions and then show the guys and it’s a “yay” or it’s a “nay” or it’s a nothing, like it just didn’t hit, or they’re excited about it and they didn’t tell me about it. Either way, I’m sort of frantic when it comes to writing, I

do it compulsively, and eventually we come to a consensus. By the time they’ve all gotten what they want, what they think the next record is, like the vision of it, I’m like two records ahead in my mind. I’m creating, like, bubble - disco - pop and they’re like “No, come back, this was good, I don’t know what you’re doing now!” (laughs) And then so we hash that out.

Ethan: A lot of it’s arranged in the studio.

MM: And how would you describe the style of music that RKS is? It’s got some rock elements, folk, even sometimes some electronic…how would you classify the music of RKS?

Charlie: Can I swear? If I swear, will you print it? Okay, stream - of - consciousness sadboi shit. (laughs)

MM: You know, that’s pretty accurate! Going back to the new record, what were some of the harder, more vulnerable tracks to record?

Sam: “Hide” was definitely one of the harder tracks. “Painkillers…” I didn’t want to do it at first, but it was a sort of now or never kind of thing. We got all set up to record it and I was just about to bail.

Ethan: We were almost about to do something else!

Jess: Yeah, we were like “Dude, get on that mic and sing the damn song!”

Sam: “Moody Orange” was also a hard one. Umm….oh, “Rectify” was probably the most maddening of all of them. It only came together in what, the last hour?

Darrick: Yeah.

Sam: And then we recorded the final three songs on the album, those were all recorded on the same day, the same three hours. Just kinda started with a drumroll!

MM: That’s impressive! And finally, what are your plans for the rest of the year and for 2020?

Sam: I mean…knock out this tour!

Ethan: Yeah, and then take some time in the studio, work on the next record, and we’ve got some cool tours in the works for 2020, some festivals. It’s going to be an awesome year.

THIRD EYE BLIND

ELIZABETH WILTSHIRE

ALBUM REVIEWS //

ARTIST Bishop Briggs ALBUM CHAMPION

ARTISTS YOU MAY LIKE Dua Lipa, SHAED, FLETCHER

RECOMMENDED TRACKS “TATTOOED ON MY HEART” “SOMEONE ELSE” “MY SHINE”

What does it mean to be a champion? Is it someone who perseveres through every obstacle placed in their path? Someone who believes in themselves? Someone like Bishop Briggs?

After releasing her debut album last year, and showing us that she is a force of nature, Bishop Briggs is already back with her sophomore album, CHAMPION. The title offers a powerful visual. However, Bishop Briggs tells us that there is more to being a champion than just being amazing all of the time. Sometimes, you have to go through some murky stuff in order to come out on top.

The track, “I STILL LOVE YOU,” is a short opener, but it is full of drama and emotion – which are staples of our iconic heroine. Briggs is reflecting on what seems to be the driving force behind this album, which is a break up. The track has its tender moments, like when she coos, “I still love you,” but it also has its potent moments, like when she sings, “I knew I had to let it go.” When Bishop Briggs sings, you listen. But when Bishop Briggs sings about a break up, you break down.

There are a lot of empowering songs on this album, such as “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?” and “WILD.” While these songs do not paint pretty stories, they show us a resilience that goes unmatched. They remind us that we can still come from a place of power, even if we feel at our weakest. For instance, on “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?,” Briggs sings about being unappreciated, but now that she is out of the relationship, she asks her

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REVIEW BY:

Christine Sloman

ex if he is missing her not being around.

Of course, there are some darker songs on the album, such as “TATTOOED ON MY HEART” and “SOMEONE ELSE.” When you hear “TATTOOED ON MY HEART,” you get lost in all of the elements of the song: the clapping, the piano accompaniment, Briggs’s rich timbre. While it is still a very sad song, there is a part of you that just wants to be happy. In contrast, “SOMEONE ELSE” is that song that will drive you to tears. Briggs said that this track contains everything that she could not find herself saying out loud, yet it has been really healing. It is an essential track to the album.

A couple of stand outs on CHAMPION are “JEKYLL & HIDE” and “MY SHINE.” Not only do these tracks sound different from the other tracks on the album, they sound different from other tracks in general. There is a creative “ska” section in “JEKYLL & HIDE” that takes us into a loud, alt-rock chorus, filled with heavy drums and gritty guitars. Mirroring this interesting juxtaposition of sounds is “MY SHINE,” which has contained, quiet verses that give way to bombastic choruses.

Overall, CHAMPION is an unconventional break up album that showcases the highs and lows of the process. There are a lot of times in life where you can feel conflicted, when a situation leaves you feeling helpless, but confident at the same time. It might be hard to get through it and make sense of it, but once you do, you will emerge a champion.

ARTIST The Faim

ALBUM Stand of Mind

REVIEW BY:

Christine Sloman

ARTISTS YOU MAY LIKE

Yungblud, Panic! At the Disco, Missio

RECOMMENDED TRACKS

“Buying Time”, “Infamous”, “Where the River Runs”

Talk about a debut! The Faim will be your newest favorite band with their most recent release. The band’s first full-length album State of Mind is a solid debut. After giving this record a spin, it’s safe to say these tunes will be stuck in your head for weeks!

The album consists of a collection of ten tracks. Kicking off with “Tongue Tied,” this song features a catchy guitar riff that makes a strong intro from the get-go. This leads to the next song “Humans,” a previously released single, which has a tune that listeners could hum along to. “Summer is a Curse” is the title track off their EP which greatly made its way back to this album. Aside from their upbeat tracks, the songs “Beautiful Drama,” “Infamous,” and “Where the River Runs” are more on the slower side with their beautiful melodies and captivating vocals. Josh Raven delivers a raw performance that makes listeners wanting for more. To close it all off, we are left with the title track “State of Mind” as Josh starts it off with the line “Take a seat and let me introduce myself.” If the studio record already sounds this good imagine what it will sound like live?

The year 2019 has been a promising year for the Faim as they’ve had many exciting things in store for the public. After gathering new fans from previously opening for Andy Black’s tour, they are currently co-headlining with fellow Australian band Stand Atlantic. Be sure to check out a show near you to hear these songs live in person!

ARTIST Walk Off The Earth

ALBUM HERE WE GO!

REVIEW BY: Kendra Post

ARTISTS YOU MAY LIKE DARENOTS, Scott Helman, Gabriela Bee

RECOMMENDED TRACKS

“Addicted”, “Home Alone”, “I’ll Be There”

Walk Off The Earth is well known for their perfect harmonies and use of instruments not used by your typical bands; kazoos, didgeridoos, theremins, and guiharpuleles. The bands creativity and uniqueness creates music that is uplifting, makes you feel good, and has a sound that can’t be created by any other band. This new album Here We Go! incorporates these roots, but gives us a new sound, different from their previous albums. This new album tackles topics of life, love and heartbreak.

There are a lot of songs about love on this album, which is not surprising, as the band speaks often about spreading love and positivity. “Addicted To You” is about when you’re not looking for anything, and trying to live your own life, but when that special person comes around, it’s hard to not be curious about what could be when you’re “one kiss away from addicted”. “I Do It All For You” is about the lengths you go to for the people you love. “Lost In You” is about reminiscing on love, when things are good, and there is no trouble. The song starts out with light and simple ukulele and vocals, and turns into a powerful song with strong harmonies, and they make you feel what it is like to struggle moving on.

Walk Off The Earth has a way of taking these more serious topics, and turning them into music that has a beautiful and positive message behind it. This new album is unique, beautiful, catchy, and reviving.

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