URBAN VINYL Issue V-LIVE 105’’s BFD 2016
Meet Me In Orbit • Night Riots • Joywave • Finish Ticket •
• JR JR • Reuben And The Dark • The Strumbellas • Never Shout Never • Lucius • • BROODS • Jake Bugg • Blaqk Audio •
About
Founded and launched in February 2016 by Sophie Hsu, Urban Vinyl Magazine is an independently-run outlet that harmonizes a passion for music and food. Started in New York City and now currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area where both music and food are at their best, the artists and restaurants featured on the site and the upcoming issues are individually handpicked in order to reach a diverse spectrum of sound and taste. Created by a music lover and a foodie, the aim is to provide high quality content for fellow music lovers and foodies.
LISTEN. EAT. EXPLORE.
Sophie Hsu • Founder • Photographer • • Editor-In-Chief • Writer • Layout & Design • Content •
On the Cover • Meet Me In Orbit • • The Embarcadero, San Francisco • • June 9, 2016 •
Stay Connected urbanvinylmag.com @urbanvinylmag @urbanvinylmag
For booking and inquiries: sophie@urbanvinylmag.com • All social media icons by Good Stuff No Nonsense •
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Thank You
• Brandon • Laura • Kaari • • Meet Me In Orbit • • Night Riots • Joywave • JR JR • • Finish Ticket • The Strumbellas • • Reuben And The Dark • Lucius • • BROODS • • Jake Bugg • Blaqk Audio • • Never Shout Never • • And most importantly, my family and friends for always supporting my photography and my love for music. • • And of course, to my readers! You make this happen! • • This issue would not have been possible without all of you! •
Contents
Main Artist
• Meet Me In Orbit • 27-32
Pre-Party • The Ritz, San Jose • • June 3, 2016 •
Festival • Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View • • June 4, 2016 •
Live Shots • Night Riots (Pre-Party) • 3-4 • Joywave (Pre-Party) • 5-6 • Finish Ticket (Pre-Party) • 7-8 • JR JR • 9-10 • Reuben And The Dark • 11-12 • The Strumbellas • 13-14 • Never Shout Never • 15-16 • Finish Ticket • 17-18 • Lucius • 19-20 • Night Riots • 21-22 • BROODS • 23-24 • Jake Bugg • 25-26 • Joywave • 33-34 • Blaqk Audio • 35-36
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Pre-Party • The Ritz, San Jose •
• Night Riots •
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@LIVE105 @live105 /LIVE105
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Pre-Party • The Ritz, San Jose •
• Joywave •
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@LIVE105 @live105 /LIVE105
• Photo by Manika Casterline (@six.twentytwo) •
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Pre-Party • The Ritz, San Jose •
• Finish Ticket •
• Photo by Manika Casterline (@six.twentytwo) •
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@LIVE105 @live105 /LIVE105
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• Festival Stage A, Shoreline Amphitheatre •
JR JR • Detroit, Michigan • • Joshua Epstein • Daniel Zott •
@JRJRmusic @jrjrmusic /jrjr 9
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• Festival Stage B, Shoreline Amphitheatre •
Reuben And The Dark • Calgary, Alberta, Canada • • Shea Alain • Reuben Bullock • Brock Geiger • Kaelen Ohm •
@reuben_thedark @reubenandthedark /ReubenAndTheDark 11
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• Festival Stage A, Shoreline Amphitheatre •
The Strumbellas •Toronto, Ontario, Canada • • Jon Hembrey • Izzy Ritchie • Simon Ward • Jeremy Drury • Dave Ritter • Darryl James •
@thestrumbellas @thestrumbellas /thestrumbellas 13
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• Festival Stage B, Shoreline Amphitheatre •
Never Shout Never • Joplin, Missouri • • Christofer Drew • Taylor MacFee • Hayden Kaiser • Ian Davidson • Tof Hoglen •
@NSNOfficial @lovewayrecords /never.shout.never 15
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• Festival Stage A, Shoreline Amphitheatre •
Finish Ticket • Alameda, California • Sonoma, California • San Jose, California • • Alex DiDonato • Brendan Hoye • Nick Stein • Gabe Stein • • Michael Hoye • Crim Nguyen (touring musician) •
@FinishTicket @finishticket /finishticket 17
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• Festival Stage B, Shoreline Amphitheatre •
Lucius • Los Angeles, California • Cleveland, Ohio • Houston, Texas • • Northwood, Ohio • Marquette, Michigan • • Jess Wolfe • Holly Laessig • Dan Molad • Peter Lalish • Andrew Burri •
@ilovelucius @ilovelucius /ilovelucius 19
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• Subsonic Tent, Shoreline Amphitheatre •
Night Riots • Templeton, California • Fresno, California • Matt DePauw • Rico Rodriguez • Travis Hawley • Mikel van Kranenburg • Nick Fotinakes •
@nightriots @nightriots /nightriots 21
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• Festival Stage B, Shoreline Amphitheatre •
BROODS • Auckland, New Zealand• • Georgia Nott • Caleb Nott •
@broodsmusic @broodsmusic /broodsmusic 23
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• Festival Stage A, Shoreline Amphitheatre •
Jake Bugg • Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England •
@Jakebugg @jakebugg /jakebugguk 25
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• The Embarcadero, San Francisco • June 9, 2016 • @MeetMeInOrbit @meetmeinorbit
/meetmeinorbit
Main Artist
• Meet Me In Orbit •
meetmeinorbit.com
With a dreamy synth sound, Meet Me In Orbit is bound to take anyone on a journey to another space—another world—one to dance in. Conceived as a project in Walnut Creek, California between two coworkers with a love for video games in 2014, Meet Me In Orbit features Jared Brannan and Brandon Bews. They released their debut EP, Traveller, on May 28, 2015, followed by a second, Elsewhere, on December 4, 2015, which are accompanied by various singles, such as “Hold the Moon” and “Another Day.” They have perfomed alongside acts such as Coasts and Midi Matilda. Sharing their upbeat sound at this year’s LIVE 105’s BFD on the Local Band Stage, they drew in an energetic crowd. Kindly contributing some time after work, Brandon discusses the process of creating Elsewhere, where they go for a pickleback shot and craft beer in the Bay Area, and even shared their favorite video game choices.
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What’s the story behind the formation of Meet Me In Orbit?
Jared and I (Brandon) got the same post college job in Walnut Creek working for an e-commerce company that sold high-end lighting and furniture. We became friends over a common interest in several bands (M83, The Killers, Chvrches, Empire of the Sun, White Lies, etc.). Eventually, we ended up moving into the same apartment, and just wrote a song one day (“Lightyears Away”). We liked it so much that we decided to get it professionally mixed and mastered, and release it under Meet Me in Orbit. From there, we were having such a good time that we just kept writing. Enter the Night was a couple months later. That song got picked up for the 2014 Tricycle Records local bands compilation, and we decided to write an EP. We finished Traveller later in 2014 and released in April 2015.
What was the first instrument (musical or non-musical) you started making music with? Jared: Piano Brandon: Guitar
You released your sophomore EP Elsewhere just in December 2015. What was the process of writing, recording, and producing it?
After Traveller, we had gotten into a rhythm and didn’t want stop. We felt like there was still a second half to that “story” to tell, so we started putting together some new songs. In many ways, it was easier because we had more experience writing together, but it was also much harder because we had formed a much more concise vision of what Meet Me in Orbit was and where we wanted to take it. The main difference with Elsewhere was that we tracked most of it in studio at Different Fur Studios instead of at home. It ended up being a lot of fun. We got to work with Sean Paulson again, the engineer who mixed Traveller. Only that time, we brought all of our synths into the studio and had a chance to play around with different sounds and equipment.
Which song (released or unreleased) are you most proud of?
“What We’ve Borrowed.” Since the beginning, we had been chasing a kind of cinematic “epicness” that we would back away from at the last second. In that song, it just felt right, and we made it big as we could. It was great to finally find that sound.
What happens before you go onstage? Is there a Meet Me In Orbit pre-show ritual?
Jared tends to pace around the whole day, and Brandon thinks about all the ways his laptop could explode on stage. 28
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Out of all your songs, my favorite is “Not The Same.” Can you touch on the inspiration and creation of that song?
“Not the Same” is a hot topic in our household. It was definitely something a little different from the rest of our songs, and probably speaks the most to the Synth Pop genre we tend to ascribe to ourselves. It also goes down as the time Brandon let Jared put handclaps in a song. Lyrically, the song comes from this feeling that the world is constantly changing around us. To make matters worse, we seem to be changing even faster than ourselves. It makes the whole process of finding yourself this Escher staircase situation where the rules are constantly changing along with the tools you would use to solve the problem.
What’s your favorite restaurant and/or food in SF? Any places back home across the bridge in Walnut Creek? We like many many food options in SF. We do have a post studio tradition of heading to Giordano Bros. in the Mission for a pickleback shot (Jameson with a pickle juice back) and one of their sandwiches. In Walnut Creek, we really enjoy this craft beer shop called Øl.
If there were a chocolate bar with the name “Meet Me In Orbit,” what type of chocolate would it be, and what would it have? 50%+ cocoa for sure. Brandon would probably try to put chili peppers or something in it. For something we would both like, it would probably have to be dark chocolate with fruity pebbles and coconut.
What can listeners expect in terms of upcoming projects and/or shows?
We have a show with a New York artist called The Landing on August 17 at Brick and Mortar. We’ll be looking to get some additional shows scheduled around the bay and possibly around the west coast, but we’re mostly starting to settle into write more music.
What’s a question you have wanted to get asked in an interview, and what’s the response to it?
We like video games a lot. It was a slight inspiration for going with the acronym MMO for a while (Brandon played MMOs. Jared wants everyone to know that he did not, and Brandon is a nerd). What are Meet Me in Orbit’s favorite video games? Jared: Mass Effect Brandon: Super Metroid Both space games, both super awesome.
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• Subsonic Tent, Shoreline Amphitheatre •
Joywave • Rochester, New York • • Daniel Armbruster • Joey Morinelli • Sean Donnelly • Benjamin Bailey • Paul Brenner•
@joywavemusic @joywavemusic /joywave 33
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• Subsonic Tent, Shoreline Amphitheatre •
Blaqk Audio • Ukiah, California • • Davey Havok • Jade Puget •
@RealBlaqkAudio @blaqkaudio /blaqkaudio 35
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LISTEN. EAT. EXPLORE.
urbanvinylmag.com