PUREHONEY 139

5/1-31

PALM BEACH COUNTY: MOSAIC

5/1

MIAMI BEACH BANDSHELL: Jose Gonzalez

KILL YOUR IDOL: The Apostoli Floyd Encounter

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: The North 40

5/2-12

LW PLAYHOUSE: Betrayal

5/2

GRAMPS: Bodega

RESPECTABLE STREET: The Dollyrots, Sarah & the Silent Poets

MIAMI BEACH BANDSHELL: La Perla

BAR NANCY: Hardcore for Punx

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: The Brenda Johnson Band TIN ROOF FTL: Blood Moon Mafia

5/3

THE PEACH: Gallery Exhibit, Film CoOp, “RIPES”

REVOLUTION LIVE: Alpha Wolf, Emmure, Unitytx, Chamber

RESPECTABLE STREET: Abortion Twins, Killed By Florida, Billy Doom Is Dead, Worn Out Trend

ARTS GARAGE: Art of Laughter w Marryellen Hooper

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: The Flyers

NORTON MUSEUM: Art After Dark – Gafieira Rio

MAGIC 13 BREWING: Blood Moon Mafia

5/3-6/15

CULTURAL COUNCIL PBC: Autumn Kioti

5/4

MIAMI BEACH BANDSHELL: Andy Frasco & the U.N.

REVOLUTION LIVE: Kirbiicon

THE PEACH: Art Walk

RESPECTABLE STREET: Emo Night RSC

THE PARKER: Emo Orchestra Escape The Fate

SANDBOX STAGE: Foom

BAR NANCY: Brothers Of Others, Stardust One

ARTS GARAGE: Chuchito Valdes

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: The MTVJ’s

5/5

REVOLUTION LIVE: Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, The Defiant, Ultrabomb

THE PEACH: Peachin’the Gospel

ARTS GARAGE: The Legal Roots ft Yvad

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Unlimited Devotion

5/7

BROWARD CENTER: Zucchero

5/8

MIAMI BEACH BANDSHELL: Ceu w Paul Beaubrun

REVOLUTION LIVE: Cold & Orgy, Horizon Theory, I Ya Toya, Kill the Robot

BAR NANCY: Nicolle Chirino, Smurphio

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Sonic Groove Trio

THE PEACH: Brass Tacks: Artist Talk + critique

5/9

CULTURE ROOM: Lords of Acid

THE PARKER: Steve Trevino

BAR NANCY: Stereo Joule

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Eastway & Sophomore Year PROPAGANDA: Country Rap

5/10-12

STONZEK THEATER: The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed

5/10

RESPECTABLE STREET: Stabbing Westward, The Requiem, Violent Vickie

MIAMI BEACH BANDSHELL: Guitars Over Guns

THE PARKER: Jim Breuer

THE CLUB NORTH MIAMI: Gold Dust Lounge

ITHINK AMP: Hozier

ARTS GARAGE: Miami Big Sound Orchestra w Lourdes Valentin

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Dan Carlos & The Kameleons

NORTON MUSEUM: Art After Dark – JM & the Sweets

5/11

SKATEBIRD MIAMI: South Florida Punk Rock Picnic and Flea Market ft No Fraud, FWA, Killed by Florida, Mutiny Act, Powerplay, Johnny Two Chords, Procto Boy, Pena Maxima, Shakers, DJ Skidmark

RESPECTABLE STREET: 90’s Punk Rewind: Blink 182 (Blink-180 Duex) Rancid (Time Bombed), No Doubt (Subliminal Doubt)

MIAMI BEACH BANDSHELL: El mato a un policia motorizado

REVOLUTION LIVE: Emo Night Brooklyn

BROWARD CENTER: Classical Mystery Tour

THE PEACH: Underground United Rap Music Showcase

SANDBOX STAGE: Ghost Horses

BAR NANCY: Kitchen Club

CULTURE ROOM: Queensryche

ARTS GARAGE: Otis Cadillac and the El Dorados ft the Sublime Seville Sisters

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Girlfriend Material

5/12

REVOLUTION LIVE: Mammoth WVH, Intervals

5/13

MIAMI BEACH BANDSHELL: Daybreaker

5/15

BAR NANCY: Clover in the Weeds

THE PEACH: Brass Tacks: Artist Talk + critique

5/16

MIAMI BEACH BANDSHELL: North Beach Social ft French Horn Collective

THE WOLFSONIAN–FIU: From Seed to Smoke: Uncovering Women’s Roles in the Cigar Industry

RESPECTABLE STREET: The Hot Seat

BAR NANCY: Songwriters in the Round and Jam

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Petty, Hall & Oates, Dan –A Triple Tribute

PROPAGANDA: Moonshiners charity event

5/17

REVOLUTION LIVE: Nirvanna, In a Nutshell

THE PEACH: TV Dinner and a Movie

BAR NANCY: Yacht Rock

ARTS GARAGE: Ann Hampton Callaway – Finding

Beauty Tour: Inspired Classics & Originals

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Hairdaze

PROPAGANDA: Tiger Sunset, Lemon Disco

NORTON MUSEUM: Art After Dark – Lubben Brothers

AUNT JENN’S TEA & SPICE SHOP: Jeremy Joseph (Daddy Lion), Canalss, Veronica Abrams

5/18

PALM BEACH COUNTY: Open Studios

MIAMI BEACH BANDSHELL: Hip Hop Orchestra

THE WOLFSONIAN-FIU: Harlem Renaissance Book Club: Mules and Men

REVOLUTION LIVE: Badfish

THE PEACH: Open Studio Tours

RESPECTABLE STREET: Disco Never Dies

SALAMANDER: Hexed presents World Goth Day

CANYON AMP: Spider Cherry

BAR NANCY: Allout Panic, Creature Cage, The Boas, The Floridians

ARTS GARAGE: Ann Hampton Callaway – Finding

Beauty Tour: Inspired Classics & Originals

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Spiral Light

5/19

RESPECTABLE STREET: Reverend Horton Heat, The Surfrajettes

PALM BEACH COUNTY: Open Studios

THE WOLFSONIAN-FIU: PrintFest

ARTS GARAGE: These Dreams (Heart Trib)

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Guataca Latin Nights

5/22

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Dejavu Band

THE PEACH: Brass Tacks: Artist Talk + critique

5/24

MIAMI BEACH BANDSHELL: Thievery Corporation

RESPECTABLE STREET: Dirty Rivals, Alyk

REVOLUTION LIVE: Shrek Rave

GRAMPS: Slater

OLD SCHOOL SQUARE: Fast Forward: Kenny Chesney Trib

BAR NANCY: Main Street

ARTS GARAGE: Peace of Woodstock

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Kat Riggins

PROPAGANDA: Sewerside Bombers

5/25

MIAMI BEACH BANDSHELL: Miamibloco

Saideira Social

BROWARD CENTER: Shemekia Copeland

THE PEACH: Woodstock Benefit

RESPECTABLE STREET: LMC, Party Monster

CULTURE ROOM: Perpetual Groove

ARTS GARAGE: Street Preacher

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Still Alive – Pearl Jam Trib

PROPAGANDA: Soy Division (Joy Division Trib), Love Cats (Cure Trib), DJ Jason

5/26

RESPECTABLE STREET: 80’s Prom

MIAMI BEACH BANDSHELL: Viva the Flashmob

ARTS GARAGE: Tal Cohen Trio

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Beer For...: Toby Keith Trib

NORTHWOOD WAREHOUSE: Beats & Brunch

PROPAGANDA: Fang Club: Undead Poets Society

NORTON MUSEUM: Art After Dark – Buddha’s Birthday

5/28

MIAMI BEACH BANDSHELL: Broadway Highlights

5/29

BROWARD CENTER: Wheen In

BAR NANCY: Beach Mirage, Parametrics, Grave Castle

THE PEACH: Brass Tacks: Artist Talk + critique

5/30

THE PEACH: Tacos, Tequila & Techno

BAR NANCY: Breaking Sound

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Life In Technicolor

5/31

MIAMI BEACH BANDSHELL: Joao Bosco Quartet

REVOLUTION LIVE: Black Kray

RESPECTABLE STREET: Mom Rock

BAR NANCY: Carlos Escanilla Experience

ARTS GARAGE: Tito Puente Jr.

CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S: Greatest Decades of Rock

NORTON MUSEUM: Art After Dark –Haitian Heritage Night

MOSAIC

by OLIVIA FELDMAN

Even in fast-growing South Florida there is still a “shoulder season,” beginning in May, when the snowbirds have flown and the locals are called upon to, well, shoulder a bigger share of the region’s livelihood.

The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County recognizes this shift in the sociodemographic tide as an opportunity, and is diving right in with MOSAIC, a monthlong celebration of homegrown art, culture and other attractions.

Throughout May, MOSAIC — short for Month Of Shows, Art, Ideas and Culture — is offering museum discounts, studio tours, limited-time deals and unique cultural experiences to anyone interested, be it year-round residents, short-hop travelers or bargain-seeking tourists.

Now in its seventh year, MOSIAC is a prime time for locals to explore their rich cultural surroundings and get half off admission while they’re at it. Take a stroll through the Norton Museum of Art, featuring exhibits from clay sculptor Rose B. Simpson and photographer Ellen Graham. Get up close to marine critters at Cox Science Center and Aquarium.

Or, by signing up for MOSAIC’s Insider Email list, score $15 off admission tickets to this year’s SunFest, happening May 3-5 with performers including Billy Idol, Nelly, Dashboard Confessional, Cassadee Pope, Brett Staska & The Souvenirs and The Fixx

“When we’re speaking about the Palm Beaches, we’re talking about Florida’s Cultural Capital,” Lauren Perry, the the council’s associate vice president of marketing and cultural tourism, tells PureHoney, cheerfully invoking the county’s trademarked catchphrase as she talks about MOSAIC’s role in helping the region live up to that confident tagline.

It’s Perry’s job to bring visitors here all year round, but it’s MOSAIC that specifically attracts the “drive market” — Floridians who live around the state and even Georgians as far away as Atlanta who can scoot down the I-75/I-95 corridor. MOSAIC is, Perry says, “a wonderful showcase for cultural institutions on a national, local and regional level.”

Also returning after a stellar inaugural 2023 is Open Studios, with 90 area artists welcoming visitors into their personal workspaces. Now expanded to two days, May 18 and 19, Open Studios lets patrons take self-guided tours and meet with Palm Beach County-based creatives where they work, to see their process up close and purchase their art directly.

Open Studios will also be an opportunity to meet artist Allan Creary, the commissioned creator of MOSAIC’s official artwork for 2024. A Palm Beach County native, Creary served in the U.S. Navy for five years before returning to his first love. An invitation to Art Basel led him to start painting again in 2018. Inspired by pop art and the boundarybreaking inventiveness of painter Jean-Michel Basquiat, Creary’s work is colorful, whimsical and — in May — visible in everything from MOSAIC posters to a collectible lapel pin series created for the occasion.

“We just loved his aesthetic,” Perry says,”and he had the right skills to help us create a digital advertising campaign.”

Creary’s flagship MOSAIC piece, “Pop Beach County,” is an ode to everything that makes the Palm Beaches great, rendered with postmodernist punch. In this assemblage of shaded frames-within-a-frame, tropical fronds sway, and origami flamingoes evoke the wildlife of the Palm Beach Zoo as well as the Japanese roots of the early Yamato Colony (in present-day Boca Raton) and the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. There are MOSAIC’s iconic, wavy #ShadesOfCulture sunglasses, a towering Jupiter Lighthouse, a musical staff dappled with palm trees to represent nightlife, an artist canvas of a striped sun — all overlaid by the neon outlines of some very green, very pop palm trees. The painting’s motifs recur on the six exclusive MOSAIC pins, which can be collected at different participating institutions throughout the county, making for a cultural scavenger hunt of sorts.

However you enjoy it, MOSAIC is dedicated to making shoulder season a bigger part of the whole, and making the Palm Beaches a place not just to work but to play creatively. By all means, hit the beach, drink and dine, and book yourself a downtown weekend hotel stay — but Perry says don’t stop there because “there’s just so many things to do.” Especially in May.

Sign up for MOSAIC offers and events at mosaicpbc.com. Follow Allan Creary on Instagram @allanscanvas

CEY ADAMS

by LIZ TRACY

While artist and graphic designer Cey Adams was waiting at his Fort Lauderdale hotel to install his retrospective, “CEY ADAMS, DEPARTURE: 40 Years of Art and Design,” at new Dania Beach museum Mad Arts, he watched the awardwinning 2023 movie Barbie. On a call with PureHoney, he marveled about the trajectory of his career — from making graffiti art on the streets of New York as a teenager to collaborating with major corporations, like Mattel, which makes the beloved Barbie doll. Cey collaborated with Mattel Creations on the Hot Wheels sculpture and also on the Cey Adams x Hot Wheels 70s LOVE die-cast van — which will appear in “Departure.” The work allowed him to reconnect with his childhood. He says with wonder, “I never thought I’d get an opportunity to play like that.”

Adams is a trained artist who attended New York’s School of Visual Arts in the 1980s. He came up with Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring who, despite dying at ages 27 and 31 respectively, became enduring pop art icons. “The journey I’ve been on was unpaved,” Adams says. “There’s only a small handful of us from the ‘80s who were able to carve out careers for ourselves. Even then, there was no north star to say, ‘oh, I want to be just like that person,’ because our friends died when they were young, and they never were able to realize the kind of dreams we had.”

When Adams met famed producers Rick Rubin and record executive Russell Simmons in 1984, they were just establishing Def Jam Recordings. After this pivotal meeting, he turned to graphic design, learning traditional cut and paste methods, and soon became the founding creative director of Def Jam. In that role, Adams shaped the way hip-hop looked to consumers, designing over 100 album covers and working with major artists like Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Run DMC, Notorious BIG, Jay-Z, and Mary J. Blige on a variety of imagery. “Everything I do is borne out of relationships that I developed starting back when I was a graffiti artist,” he says. “I’ve been making work long enough to really see street art come full circle,” he says. “You think about graffiti as illegal street art, and now street art is globally legitimate, that’s the biggest bookend of all.” To illustrate that point, Adams even designed the logo for the Museum of Graffiti.

“Departure” covers not only the evolution and influence of an artist, but of 40 years of American history as it relates to music, marketing, race, gender, and so much more. “The show covers everything,” Adams assures.

CEY ADAMS, DEPARTURE: 40 Years of Art & Design, Mad Arts 4/6-5/26. yeswearemadarts.com

OPEN STUDIOS

by AMANDA E. MOORE

One day last May I set out to investigate the debut of Open Studios, a free, come-one-andall tour of local artist and artisan spaces added to MOSAIC, Palm Beach County’s springtime carousel of special events and discounted cultural attractions. Navigating studios, galleries and foundries with program guide in hand, I realized I knew less than I thought about the sheer abundance of artistic and artisanal activity in my backyard.

Open Studios returns as a centerpiece of MOSAIC with an expanded schedule of two days, May 18 and 19, and more than 90 creators opening their doors to the public for walkabouts, talks and a bit of shopping. Thanks to MOSAIC and its organizer, the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County (CCPBC), South Floridians will have even more opportunities than I did to marvel at the region’s creative industriousness.

Consider checking out Lake Worth’s McMow Art Glass, a family-owned institution tucked away in plain sight on Dixie Highway. Inside, rainbow-scattered light shimmers across the active workshop and store, and custom works are made for delivery to churches, hotels, restaurants and celebrity homes. Or pay a visit to The Peach, a warren of garage studios in West Palm Beach managed by Craig McInnis and populated by artists including McInnis himself who work in various media for clients near and far.

Chatting recently with PureHoney on a couch in his studio, McInnis mentions one of his many jobs: creative director of Fright Nights at the South Florida Fair. So locals already know his handiwork in giving the terror festivities — from horror makeup to set design to graphics — their ghoulishly fun flair. McInnis and other participating artists will by happy to talk more about their work if you stop by.

“Open Studios is a unique opportunity for visitors to meet artists in their studio and ask questions about their processes, background in the arts, and more,” CCPBC’s artist services director, Jessica Ransom, tells PureHoney. And if you’re buying their wares, Ransom adds, you’re “truly supporting small businesses.”

MOSIAC’s Open Studios, presented by CCPBC, runs noon-5pm Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19. Get details and a downloadable artist lineup and location map at palmbeachculture.com/open-studios

by DAVID ROLLAND

Surf rock was the adrenaline of riding ocean swells and crashing tides, recreated on guitar, bass and drums for maximum danceabilty. Dick Dale ruled over that wavy West Coast instrumental sound during an early ’60s heyday that also begat The Chantays, The Ventures and The Surfaris

The genre receded, becoming musical vocabulary for punks and goths enamored of surf rock’s twangy strings and snapping beats. But Uma Thurman and John Travolta dancing shoeless to Dale’s “Misirlou” in 1994’s Pulp Fiction added fuel to a bubbling surf rock renaissance, boosting the profiles of Los Straightjackets as they jammed in Luchador masks and Man or Astro-Man? as they shot the curl with weirdo sci-fi energy.

Out of that tradition hail The Surfrajettes, four women from the celebrated surfing hotspot of Toronto, Canada — proof that surf rock after its first wave was more about vibes than location. Bandmates since 2015, guitarists Shermy Freeman and Nicole Damoff, bassist Sarah Butler and drummer Annie Lillis dress up in matching beehive hairdos and go-go boots like they’re Phil Spector’s next great discovery.

“What’s thicker, our eyeliner or our guitar strings?” the band asks on its about page, which also reveals, “When not on tour, the group is busy woodshedding in their secret beach hut, sewing new miniskirts, debating vintage gear, and daydreaming about performing in a Quentin Tarantino movie.”

They don’t sing, but surf-rockers rarely do apart from the exhilarated shouts of Dale’s “Misirlou.” Their 2022 debut full length, Roller Fink, is a fun collection of original compositions and surf-ified classics like Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” and The Beatles’ “She Loves You.”

“When a song comes on, we think, ‘Could this be a surf song?’” Damoff told LA Weekly in 2019. It’s a quest that started with their very first single when, back in 2018, The Surfrajettes found a way to transform Britney Spears’ “Toxic” into a surf instrumental. On tour with Reverend Horton Heat, The Surfrajettes kick off a retro double bill that’ll have everyone dancing like it’s the 20th Century.

The Surfrajettes open for Reverend Horton Heat 7pm Sunday, May 19 at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach. reverendhortonheat.com

SAIDEIRA SOCIAL

by AMANDA E. MOORE

In the middle of Suénalo’s birthday set at Miami Beach Bandshell this past winter, drumming erupted from somewhere in the crowd. Guests craned their necks and stood on picnic tables to view the commotion as cheers went up, and anyone not already dancing to Suénalo started moving to the rhythm of this percussive ambush. It wasn’t a rogue drum line crashing Suénalo’s birthday jam. It was Miamibloco, the village-sized hometown percussion ensemble, just doing what they do so well: captivating a crowd with pulsating diaspora beats. Members of Suénalo regularly perform with Miamibloco.

If you missed that appearance, you are in luck: Miamibloco is returning to the Bandshell for the fourth Saideira Social on Memorial Day weekend Saturday. More than 50 percussionists plus special musical guests will convene to play the rhythms of Africa, Brazil and the Americas that make Miami Miami, with a focus this year on Cuba. Miamibloco co-founder suOm Francis says she created the Bateria Saideira as a celebration of life with its very own sonic time capsule. “Every Saideira Social, we develop never-heard-before special compositions with local and international guest artists spanning an extensive range of musical genres from rock to experimental jazz,” Francis tells PureHoney Miamibloco’s shows pull audience members away from their screens and into the dance space for a rhythmically transporting experience. “At our shows there is no divide between the musicians and the audience,” Francis says. “This is a once-a-year, high-energy, deeply cultural party on the beach that’s irreplaceable, and it’s Miami AF!” The Saideira Social emerges every year from an extensive period of harmonious community-building — immersive workshops and thunderous weekly rehearsals (at a local beer garden) that anyone can join. (Check Miamibloco’s Instagram for details.) This year’s Social will also feature the Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Munir Hossn, Latin Grammy-nominated Rose Max & Ramatis, Brazilian percussionist Boka Reis, Anemoia, The Lab and other guest performers.

To get you ready, there’s a Saideira Social 2024 Vibing playlist on Miamibloco’s Spotify. PureHoney readers get 30 percent off admission with the code “HONEY”at Miamibloco’s online ticket counter. Miamibloco’s fourth Saideira Social kicks off 7pm Saturday, May 25 at Miami Beach Bandshell in Miami Beach. miamibloco.org

REVEREND HORTON HEAT

by DAVID ROLLAND

If you’re under 60 and familiar with the music genre of rockabilly, you probably have a holy man to thank for that, a certain Reverend Horton Heat. Rockabilly with its fusion of bluegrass and rhythm and blues is one of the foundations of early rock ’n’ roll. Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash were all early practitioners of its dark magic in the 1950s. But rockabilly lay mostly dormant in the 1980s when a young Texan named Jim Heath fell under the spell of a punk band called The Cramps and vowed to one day lead a band that specialized in original rockabilly compositions.

Heath began performing as Reverend Horton Heat in 1985, his mission to spread the gospel of rockabilly. Audiences were smitten but also shocked. “Music fans and music writers in the ‘80s didn’t know what rockabilly was,” Heath told this writer in 2017. “There were no upright-bass players. Sound guys at clubs would ask, ‘Is that a cello?’”

Decades along, Heath, longtime bassist Jimbo Wallace and a rotating crew of touring musical aces put on a reliably high-energy live show that leaves crowds sweating and then enrolling in swing dance classes. The tight performances come from years of practice and a devotion to the touring life. “A lot of what motivates me is fear,” Heath told me in that same interview. “I had ten years straight where we played 250 shows a year. It was because I didn’t ever want to have to go back to moving furniture or temping at insurance companies.”

Reverend Horton Heat put out a fun new covers record in 2023, Roots of the Rev. (Volume One), of favorite songs by musical heroes including Willie Nelson and Carl Perkins Whatever they do next, Heath back in 2017 figured that Reverend Horton Heat had already repaid their debt a thousandfold to the music’s holy ghosts: “When we started, only major cities had a rockabilly band. Now just about every town has one band with an upright bass.”

Reverend Horton Heat and the Surfrajettes play 7pm Sunday, May 19 at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach. reverendhortonheat.com

ANDY MARTIN

by KELLI BODLE

In the realm of contemporary visual art, illustrator Andy Martin stands out for his way with words. The former London dweller has contributed images to The Economist, The New York Times, Esquire and Forbes, but it’s his collaboration with well-known broadcaster and poet Ian McMillan that has drawn art-world attention. They work together: McMillan writes a poem and Martin dreams up imagery to match it, or vice versa. The pair have teamed up on several delightful short films, a book and an Instagram.

“I have found that Instagram works really well for me as a motivational space,” Martin tells PureHoney. “I’m able to produce work and get immediate feedback, good or otherwise! It’s been a real blast, and looking back, it really helped me develop some new ways of working.”

Martin has been in the game for a long time, starting his career in the 1970s in London, painting corridors at the historic Rainbow Theatre, where legends such as Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd and David Bowie performed.

“I was lucky that the start of my arts profession coincided with the first wave of the punk DIY ethos, so obstacles were there to be kicked over, and closed doors kicked open,” he says. “You know, before the spiky hair and mohawks. There was a do-it-yourself vibe, which gave everyone an impetus to go out and grab it.”

“A lot of people have settled on a formulaic ambition route these days, which is a dangerous one,” he adds. “I think you can live by your wits more readily. You don’t need a template for it.”

As a child he collected “obsessively,” he recalls — “Wrappers, cartons, graphics, litter, even!” He later stumbled on to the scrapbooks of Scottish artist and sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi and recognized a kindred spirit. “Just seeing how this material could inform an artist’s image-making was a huge moment for me,” Martin says. “This coincided with the DIY spirit of the mid-‘70s, and it soon became my medium of choice.

“I often thought about my maternal grandmother’s adage, ‘Cheek beats scholarship,’ to remember to stay open to opportunities and take chances whenever they arose,” he says.

Martin worked as arts editor for the British music and culture magazine NME, designed posters for skateboard mag Kung Fu Monthly and for Omnibus Press books on the histories of The Clash, Talking Heads and The Pretenders.

“The common thread through media usage is the idea,” Martin says. “The idea is the main ingredient; the medium you choose to articulate that idea is often arbitrary. Sometimes, I produce a collage as a starting point and then move on to another means of mark-making for the final result. It’s like rehearsing in collage.”

Martin spent the ‘80s and ‘90s combining his passion for design and illustration by setting up his own studio, Studio Espresso. During these halcyon years, he designed the poster for Jean-Michel Basquiat’s ICA London exhibition, was loaned the first Apple Macintosh computer as part of Apple’s drive to promote technology among artists, and devised the graphics for the pre-launch of Britain’s newspaper The Independent.

“I had a few years of experimenting with digital animation in the 2000s when the tools first became affordable,” he says. “I did a couple of big gigs, one for the Rolling Stones’ Bigger Bang tour and some projections for Oasis when they played Glastonbury. These were produced with LED lights, so in terms of resolution, they were pretty crude, and I found the process at the time unsatisfactory. After some time trying to progress in the field, I realized how much happier I was interpreting written ideas onto the page.”

Which brings us to his pet project with McMillan. “The poet I collaborate with shares a similar working mode, juxtaposing and shaking new meanings from familiar language,” Martin says. “He has a keen visual eye so we work very well in that regard. We also share a sense of the absurd, which always helps.”

“Apart from this, collage is such a flexible and playful medium that just moving images around can actually produce a kind of visual poetry. When you’re playing with collage elements, they will form poetry themselves.”

Find Andy Martin at andymartin.gallery, @thatandymartin &

MARC L. RUBINSTEIN

by DAVID ROLLAND

As a teen-ager in the 1960s growing up on New York’s Long Island, Marc L. Rubinstein found himself in a rock ’n’ roll band and soon realized that he wasn’t cut out to be on the stage. Rubinstein’s 2023 memoir, Let There Be Light … Show (An Alien’s Journey Through Humanity), tells how this adopted child and high-school dropout instead became a wizard behind the curtain, creating all kinds of vivid psychedelic imagery with his signature Pig Light Show, and working with bands including the Grateful Dead, Black Sabbath, Allman Brothers and Santana

“I asked myself do I want to be one of the million people trying to be singers or do I want to be one of the very few light show experts in the world?” Rubinstein told PureHoney from his Boynton Beach home on a lazy Easter Sunday afternoon. “By 17 I was doing the lights at Fillmore East and my life changed.” His goal in writing an autobiography was twofold. “I wanted to talk about the light shows I put on, how I did it and what my inspiration was,” he said. “But I also wanted to talk about how I always felt like an alien. Like so many people in rock ’n’ roll I always felt different.”

For all the famous rockers he encountered through work, Rubinstein said he only got starstruck meeting Beatles: Paul McCartney (in disguise) and John Lennon (with Yoko Ono) at a Mothers of Invention show; and George Harrison during planning sessions for Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh. It was years later at a bar with friends in Portland, Maine that Rubinstein realized how special those Fillmore East Pig Light Show years were and how his experiences might interest readers. “One song after another would come on and I told my friend, ‘I worked with them and I worked with them and I worked with them,’” Rubinstein said. “My friend’s jaw hit the ground. And I realized my life was outside the norm.”

Let There Be Light… Show (An Alien’s Journey Through Humanity) by Mark L. Rubinstein is available through Barnes & Noble, Amazon and other booksellers.

SIX DEGREES RECORDS

CEU

by ABEL FOLGAR

Emerging from the ravages of colonialism to forge an identity of its own, Brazil became a global cultural powerhouse. From samba to forró to axé to bossa nova, to música popular brasileira, aka MPB, Brazil has gifted the world incredible sounds and iconic vocalists including Maria Bethânia, Gal Costa and Elis Regina, to name a few.

Joining this tradition of great chanteuses is São Paulo’s Céu. Born into a musical family, Céu resisted music as a career into her teens but ultimately surrendered to her DNA. She has blended a wide range of influences into a distinctive style rooted in jazz that builds upon MPB and bossa know-how to explore various world rhythms and trip-hop.

From her 2005 debut, CéU, to 2019’s ornate-in-minimalism Apká!, to her most recent effort, Um Gosto De Sol, Céu’s catalog is seven LPs strong and as varied as her homeland. Where she is most successful is in following her instincts and curiosity, and aligning herself with the right production teams for her desired tones, like using French multi-instrumentalist and producer General Elektriks on her Tropix album.

American audiences primed by Frank Sinatra crooning “Brazil” might have graduated to the real thing with the Antônio Carlos Jobim and Luis Bonfá score for Marcel Camus’ classic 1959 film, Orfeu Negro. Newer generations got their Brazil references updated when filmmaker Wes Anderson recruited samba hipster Seu Jorge to cover David Bowie in Portuguese for 2004’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Elevator-music jokes about “The Girl From Ipanema” notwithstanding, Brazilian music has a familiarity to Northern ears.

Joining Céu on stage will be Haitian blues guitarist Paul Beaubrun, the son of singer Theodore “Lòlò” Beaubrun, of the legendary mizik rasin band Boukman Eksperyans Beaubrun’s work is at the crossroads of modern Caribbean music and activism as he fosters awareness of Haitian art and culture, while giving vital promotion to the embattled island nation’s young talent. Eagle eyes might recognize him from the album credits in 2022’s We by Canadian indie-rock darlings Arcade Fire

Céu with Paul Beaubrun performs 7:30pm Wednesday, May 8 at the Miami Beach Bandshell in Miami Beach. ceumusic.bandcamp.com

STABBING WESTWARD

by TIM MOFFATT

It was right place, right time for Stabbing Westward Weirdo rock with early elements of what would later be called “industrial” was clanking in the musical underground as far back as the 1960s.

(Hey ya, Red Krayola!) Throbbing Gristle gave the genre form and a toolkit — loops, synths, live instruments, various objects. By the mid-’80s industrial music was a movement percolating just under the skin of the mainstream, propelled by the heavy electro of Skinny Puppy and the metrical fury of Ministry

That’s around when two college radio mates in a small Illinois campus town formed Stabbing Westward and headed to Chicago, drawn by the hum of mechanized music from the city’s freewheeling Wax Trax! label and record store. Christopher Hall and Walter Flakus burrowed into the city’s busy music scene and self-released an EP, Iwo Jesus, in 1992, just as industrial titans Nine Inch Nails were redefining the look and sound of mainstream rock.

Signed to the major label Columbia Records, Stabbing Westward caught the wave with a trio of LPs that put them squarely in the ’90s industrial vanguard. Singles like 1998’s “Save Yourself” became MTV and rock radio bangers. By 2002, however, the moody underpinnings of industrial and grunge had given way to boy bands and Disney chanteuses dominating TRL Live. A technicolor pop era ruled and Stabbing Westward, sensing the shift, bowed out.

But industrial wasn’t snuffed out by sunlight: It just went back to where all dark things thrive, underground. After about 15 years and several false starts, Stabbing Westward reemerged, first for a 2016 benefit show and then to resume writing and recording.

Their latest album, Chasing Ghosts (2022), is their first in 21 years and as galvanizing as anything from their heyday. They haven’t played in South Florida since Sunfest 2001 have just one other Florida show on the horizon, at Daytona Beach’s Rockville Festival. So if traveling to the home of Bike Week for your Stabbing Westward fix isn’t manageable, a jaunt to Respectable Street might be.

Heroes Live Presents Stabbing Westward with The Requiem and Violent Vickie, 7pm Friday, May 10 at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach. stabbingwestward.bandcamp.com

ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES

by ABEL FOLGAR

Is there a better way to celebrate the 20th birthday of the ruination of little Jonny Wixen’s bar mitzvah than by crashing young Madison’s quinceañera celebration? Hard to tell, but it did take 20 years for punk rock supergroup Me First and the Gimme Gimmes to find a willing successor to “Ruin Jonny’s Bar Mitzvah.”

Formed in 1995, Me First are a revolving cavalcade of punkers mostly comprised of NOFX’s Fat Mike, Lagwagon’s Joey Cape and Dave Raun, and Swingin’ Utters’ Spike Slawson. With varying degrees of seriousness and punk wit, they’ve performed covers of beloved and not-so beloved songs across six studio and two live albums and numerous singles and EPs. Fans can expect the usual interpolative hijinks when these guys take the stage, but “¡Blow it… at Madison’s Quinceañera!” — due in June on Fat Wreck Chords — will bring a welcome Latina energy to the party through raucous renditions of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” — the lead single — as well as Mariachi king Vicente Fernandez’s “Por Tu Maldito Amor,” legendary crooner Julio Iglesias’ “De Niña a Mujer,” and ranchera pioneer José Alfredo Jiménez’s “Camino de Guanajuato,” among others.

Keeping the supergroup vibes going are touring mates The Defiant and UltraBomb. The Defiant bring the energetic charisma of former Mighty Mighty Bosstones front man Dicky Barrett to thought-provoking, finely crafted punk songs in an evocative rock vein. Joined by alumni of The Offspring, Smash Mouth, Street Dogs and The Briggs, Barrett has declared the music on their debut album, If We’re Really Being Honest, “some of the best I’ve ever had a hand in making” and this whole project “one of the most important and thoughtful musical experiences of my career.”

UltraBomb, formed in 2021, unite the U.S., Canada and England through the punk knowhow of Greg Norton (Hüsker Dü), Finny McConnell (The Mahones) and Jamie Oliver (UK Subs). What started as a revolt against pandemic isolation for this trio of punk rock warhorses has evolved into a formidable show of industriousness and group talent.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes with The Defiant and UltraBomb perform 7pm Sunday, May 5 at Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale. mefirstandthegimmegimmes.com

KATIE HOVLAND