Headliners for the festival

KATHRYN STACY/THE DAILY

Local artist Jabee performs on April 26 at the 2019 Norman Music Festival.

CALEB WELLER/THE DAILY

The Ivy performs on April 27 at the Lyft Opolis Outdoor Stage during the 2018 Norman Music Festival.

Six bands will be playing on day one of the Norman Music Festival: Rat F!nk, Dreamgirl, Lust Online, Blac Rabbit, The Ivy and Luna Luna. There will also be a documentary titled “Skating Pop: Ugly Pop” featured by Deadcenter about the band Skating Polly showing that will be followed up by a Q&A with the creators and the band.

The two headlining bands for day one of Norman Music Festival are Luna Luna and Dreamgirl.

Dreamgirl originated in Missouri. The original band members, Skylar Smith and Lacey Gronniger, were in a band together that broke up.

“Skylar was like, ‘Well, let’s start a new band,’” Lacey Gronniger said.

Dreamgirl’s first show was in 2013. Now, the band has four members, including Ian Dobyns who joined in 2016 after his own band broke up and Joe Gronniger who joined in 2019 and recently married Lacey.

“I tried out for Dreamgirl and we just gelled,” Dobyns said. “It was cool.”

Smith plays lead guitar and sometimes keyboard; Lacey is lead singer and also plays tenor guitar and keyboard; Dobyns plays drums; the newest member Joe Gronniger plays bass; and while on tour, Grady Phillip Drugg plays lead and rhythm guitar and backup vocals.

Dobyns is also the producer of most of Dreamgirl’s music. He owns a recording studio in which the band recorded their self-titled album.

The genre of Dreamgirl is best described as dreamy rock.

“I always like to say (our music) is like summertime, feel-good, have-fun-by–the-pool kind of music in the way that it sounds,” Lacey Gronniger said. “Our lyrics are pretty dark, but I’ve written them so that they can be interpreted by anyone who is listening. I think it can mean different things to other people.”

Right now, Dreamgirl has two new singles out, Poolside and Sometimes. While they have recorded most of their music live in the studio, Poolside was recorded and assembled with help from music producer Jason Kick.

“Jason Kick was the engineer who did the (first) Mild High Club record,” Donyns said. “He’s a super cool guy, and he ended up doing the mixing and mastering for Poolside.”

They are excited to play Poolside at Norman Music Festival in addition to their regular set. This will also be their first ever show in Oklahoma.

“We’ve never played in Oklahoma,” Lacey said. “We are fans of some bands from the Norman scene like Sports and Broncho, so it’s super cool to come and see what it is all about.”

Catch them on April 28 at 7 p.m on the Fowler Auto Main Stage.

Luna Luna got started back in 2017 in the North Dallas area through open-mic nights. Originally the solo project of Kevin “Kavvi” González, the band grew into a duo and eventually a quartet.

González was born in Colombia and grew up in Dallas. Danny Bonilla and Ryan “Gordo” Gordon also grew up in the Dallas suburbs while Kaylin Martínez grew up in Lufkin, Texas.

González and Bonilla sing and play keys, Gordon is the bassist and does backup vocals and Martínez plays drums. Luna Luna’s music has a dreamy synth- pop style, but the band always loves trying out new things for their music.

“I think it is kind of fun not to stick to a specific genre because I definitely always want to try something new,” González said. “It just keeps music fun that way.”

González and Bonilla also produce their music while Gordon does studio work. Their latest album, Flower Moon, demonstrates how their music has evolved over the years.

“It’s just from growing up as a person. You’re into certain things … you have new experiences and then you get inspired by something different,” Bonilla said. “I think that reflects in our music.”

Currently they are on tour with Dent May and Pearl & The Oysters. After the tour, Luna Luna plans to start working on new music.

Their stop at Norman Music Festival will be one of their last shows.

“I think since it will be one of the last shows we play on our tour, (Norman) will get (one of) our most refined shows,” González said. “You’ll see the best version of us there.”

Luna Luna will be playing day one of Norman Music Festival on April 28 at 11 p.m. on the Fowler Auto Main Stage.

Headliners of day 1

STORY BY COOPER MARSHALL • COOPER.R.MARSHALL-1@OU.EDU

KATHRYN STACY/THE DAILY

Skating Polly’s drummer performs on April 27 at the 2019 Norman Music Festival, the last festival before the pandemic began.

AUSTIN CARRIERE/THE DAILY

Mothica and her guitar player perform on April 27 in the 2018 Norman Music Festival. Mothica will return to headline on the main stage on Saturday, April 30.

Headliners of day 2

STORY BY ALAYNA HENDRICKS AND KATIE HALLUM • ALAYNA.N.HENDRICKS-1@OU.EDU KATIEHALLUM@OU.EDU

The second day of Norman Music Festival will host a variety of artists such as Husbands, Big Tony and DIIV. Festival attendees can enjoy listening to these headlining artists take the main stage and The Winston west stage on Friday. DIIV, an indie rock band, will take the stage at 10:50 p.m. on Friday at the Fowler Auto Main Stage. Composed of Zachary Cole Smith, Andrew Bailey, Colin Caulfied and Ben Newman, the band originally started as a solo project by Smith. In 2011 the band came together and released its first studio album “Oshin” in 2012. Big Tony, also known as Anothony Obi, will be performing at 10 p.m. at the Winston west stage. A Houston, Texas native, Obi has been creating music since his first album release in 2010. According to Obi, as a young child he was “obsessed” with music and enjoyed learning how it was produced. “I think it’s really that, that drove me to want to be an artist, you know, it wasn’t just thinking music was cool or just being a fan of music,” Obi said. “It’s when I learned about the work that goes into making music. That’s what really attracted me to it.” Obi has spent his time as an artist touring internationally, including in Mexico, Germany, France, Jamaica and Canada. According to him, music has allowed him to travel and experience the world when he otherwise wouldn’t have. “I discovered that there’s a big world out there, and there are more people to work with, to perform with and just vibe with,” Obi said. “If you step outside of your comfort zone, step outside of your hometown and really hit the road, you can really open up a world of music.” Obi said he’s excited to be at the Norman Music Festival to expand his following, and that he’s been “dreaming” of the opportunity to perform live since COVID-19. “This is the first festival that I’m playing at this season to really kick things off,” Obi said. “It just makes me feel like live music is coming back.” Husbands, a beach-pop band based in Oklahoma City, will take the main stage at 9:30 p.m. Both Danny Davis and Wil Norton “do a little bit of everything” for Husbands. They have been together for about 10 years and got their start by recording projects and sending them back and forth. They became friends at a show in Oklahoma City. They also attended the same college and had a good time writing music after working on the musical “Godzilla” together. “A couple of years later, we got together more or less over a laptop and started putting tracks down and writing songs together,” Norton said. Their first-ever performance as Husbands was at the 2016 Norman Music Festival. Both Davis and Norton had played shows in other bands on stage, but Norman Music Festival was the first time they played their original songs together. “We had zero clue what to expect. … It had been a while since we’d even been on a stage, so, it was special for that reason and special because we got to hear ourselves playing our own songs live for the first time,” Davis said. This year, Husbands will perform songs from their newest album “FullOn Monet.” Norton said about half of the setlist is brand new music. “It’ll be the third time playing these songs live, we’ve had a really good time playing new songs from our new record,” Norton said. Husbands has been on tour in the Northeast and said they have played about 30 shows since 2020, a lot of them being out of state. “We’ve played a lot of shows but haven’t seen a lot of our friends. We’re friends with a lot of the local music (scenes), and I haven’t seen a lot of local bands play since pandemic stuff. I’m excited to see all our friends play their tunes again,” Norton said. Husbands said Norman Music Festival is their favorite show to play every year and that playing it has a special feel. “There’s always a ton of people there and everyone is just excited to listen to music,” Norton said. “It has a special kind of feel for music lovers.”

Headliners of day 3

STORY BY GABBY BROWN AND EMMA LOU BLAKLEY • GABRIELLE.E.BROWN-1@OU.EDU EMMA.L.BLAKLEY-1@OU.EDU

The third day of the Norman Music Festival will feature five headlining bands, including Spaceface, Wet, Mothica, The Drums and …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of the Dead. Spaceface is a psychedelic rock band from Memphis and Los Angeles. Self-described as a “retro futurist rock band,” the group is made up of members Jake Ingalls, Matt Strong, Eric Martin, Daniel Quinlan and Katie Pierce. According to Spaceface’s website, the mission of the band is “to acknowledge the blurred pain that lurks in the corners of one’s vision on a day-to-day basis while providing a brief escape for anyone who needs or desires it.” Active since 2012, the band was started by Jake Ingalls in 2011. The band describes their music as a force that “harnesses the transcendent pulse of the spacetime continuum into catchy songs that whirl and twirl, bend and stretch, attract and propel.” The band’s first full-length album “Sun Kids” was released in 2017. Their second album “Anemoia” — meaning nostalgia for a time one has never known — was released in January 2022. Described as “addictive listening” by Louder Than War, the album features 12 “dreamlike” melodies. Spaceface has toured extensively in the United States, performing at music festivals like Norman Music Festival as well as touring internationally. Their performances are known for their inventive light shows and props. Spaceface will be playing on Saturday, April 30 at 5:40 p.m. on the Fowler Auto Main Stage. Another headliner for the weekend is Wet, an indie pop group based in Brooklyn, New York. Their ethereal sound is created by vocalist Kelly Zutrau, drummer Joe Valle and guitarist Marty Sulkow. While Zutrau is Wet’s main writer, the band has found great success and value in collaboration. The group signed with Columbia Records in the early 2010s and now produces with Other-Exotica LLC. This year, Wet is doing a U.S. tour that includes major cities Washington D.C., Nashville, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and many other music-centric hubs along with the Norman Music Festival. They will also be performing in Toronto and Montreal in Canada. Singer Zutrau says her journey with music began when she was a child. “I have a big family, and my mom was a single mom for a lot of my life,” said Zutrau. “A lot of my early memories are me and my sisters in the car with my mom going somewhere and singing together.” Zutrau said that she was in musical theater when she was younger and that she shares the experience of being a performing artist with her mother, who was a child actor. After her musical theater days, she took a break from performing but still wrote songs in her free time while she was in school. Zutrau said she doesn’t necessarily set specific goals for herself when it comes to creating music. She said that making music is a way for her to process what goes on in her life and connect with her fans when her experiences align with theirs. “It’s part of my way of getting through life, and it helps me make sense of things,” Zutrau said. “If it happens to connect with people or resonate, (it’s) because it’s sort of a universal experience.” Like artists across the world, Wet is grateful to be performing live again after the gap caused by COVID-19. Zutrau said that the pandemic was a clarifying experience and made her see what parts of her life she found most valuable. “It just makes you realize which parts of your life and your job that you really care about. … You kind of want to focus on those and not do any of the other stuff that wasn’t that important before,” Zutrau said. “We’re so grateful to be able to (play live) again and to connect with fans and people all over the country.” The band recently released a new single “Where Did the Day Go?” as well as “Letter Blue (Reprise),” their new EP. Zutrau said a new production and light show will accompany the new music Wet is bringing to Norman Music Festival. “I think it’s going to be a really special show and we’ve been working hard to make it exciting for people,” Zutrau said. Wet will play Saturday, April 30 at 8:20 p.m. on the Fowler Auto Main Stage. Headliner Mothica is an American pop musician from Oklahoma City. Born McKenzie Ellis, the artist’s career blossomed after a TikTok video of her reacting to hearing her song “VICES’’ for the first time went viral in June of 2020. The video has almost 1 million likes and five times as many views. Mothica has no record label, publicist or manager, describing herself as a self-made musician, and attributes much of her success to TikTok. Ellis draws from her struggles with depression, sobriety and attempted suicide when writing her songs, according to Apple Music. In 2011, the singer-songwriter attempted suicide, which inspired her “forever fifteen” track released in 2021, which reached No. 2 on the Apple Music top charts. Other popular hits include “No One,” released in 2015, and “Clear,” a Shawn Wasabi remix with Pusher released in 2016. Mothica will play on Saturday, April 30 at 7 p.m. on the Fowler Auto Main Stage. The Drums, another headliner for Norman Music Festival, are an alternative indie band based in Brooklyn, New York. Their journey began when founding members Jonny Pierce and Jacob Graham met and became close friends at a summer camp when they were younger. Other members have since joined the band and left, and Pierce remains the sole member. The Drums’ first gig was in the Cake Shop in New York City in October of 2009. Since then, they have released five albums: self-titled “The Drums” in 2010, “Portamento” in 2011, “Encyclopedia” in 2014, “Abysmal Thoughts” in 2017, and “Brutalism” in 2019. They also released their “Summertime!” EP in 2009. This spring, The Drums has been on a worldwide tour that includes Switzerland, Indonesia, China and Mexico, along with the Norman Music Festival. The Drums will play Saturday, April 30 at 9:50 p.m. on the Fowler Auto Main Stage. Headliner …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of the Dead is a punk rock band from Austin, TX. Often abbreviated as T.o.D., which reads “death” in German, Apple Music describes the band’s sound as “an unlikely but powerful combination of punk fury and prog-rock ambition.” According to the band’s website, the band’s name comes from an ancient Mayan ritual chant. Co-founded by songwriter Conrad Keely and Jason Reece, the band first performed in 1995 and has since released a total of 10 studio albums. Their latest album “X: The Godless Void and Other Stories” was released in Janunary of 2020. Keely and Reece alternate between drums, guitar and vocals. Other band members currently include Alec Padron on bass, Ben Redman on guitar and drums, and AJ Vincent on keyboard. …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of the Dead will play Saturday, April 30 from 10:50 p.m. to midnight on the Alley Stage.