VERACIOUS MAGAZINE
Featuring The Nectars
Issue 7 // July 2018
Featuring: 6
The Nickajack Men
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BFD Festival
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The Lagoons
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Sasquatch Festival
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The Nectars
30 Reviews 32 Fastfade 38
New Releases
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BTS: The Nectars
46 Mastin 54
The Great Escape Festival
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XYLØ
Founder, Editor-in-Chief: Samantha Toy
About Us:
Senior Editor: Anna Toy Playlist Editor & Designer: Tiffany Martinez Photographers: Dana Hope Jake Merz Kailey Sullivan Marie Newby Rebekah Witt Samantha Toy
Eva Maria Burns Jessica Piochon Léna Villari Marisela Morales Robert Alleyne
Veracious is an online and print music magazine located in San Francisco, California. We have a worldwide team of photographers, writers, interviewers, that all have a passion for the music industry, and promoting upcoming musicians. We not only photograph, and interview the bands themselves, but we also cover behind the scenes crew such as: managers, tour photographers, publicists, lighting directors, and merchandise sellers. It’s our goal to showcase those who work hard behind the stage to make the musicians shine. Say Hello // Talk To Us:
Reviewers/Writers:
Dana Hope Eva Maria Burns Jessica Piochon Kristen Zarra Léna Villari Samantha Toy Valerie McIntyre Interviewers: Dana Hope Rebekah Witt
www.veraciousmagazine.com https://issuu.com/veraciousmagazine
Jessica Piochon Samantha Toy
contact@veraciousmagazine.com Twitter / Snapchat: veraciousmag1 Instagram / Facebook / YouTube: veraciousmagazine
Many Thanks: Adam Nicol Alternative 105.3 Andrew Scott Brandon Paski Dana Erickson Doug Weber Emily Cheung Fastfade Jana, Anna, Sam Kate Jackson Lucy Volpe Maddie Corbin Maddy Weigel Maria Gironas Mastin Melanie Trecha Molly Hunt Rachel Wingate Rey Roldan Rylan Keturi Sarah Lai Sasquatch Festival Shannon Cosgrove Shawna Hudson Stephanie Estrada The Great Escape Festival The Lagoons The Nectars The Nickajack Men Valentina Osorio XYLØ
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Cover photo: The Nectars by Léna Villari
Interview with The Nickajack Men
Interview by: Samantha Toy Hey guys! What have you all been up to these past few days? We have been down in Leeds seeing The Districts playing at Brudnell Social Club!! Then it was our guitarist Mike aka Rattlesnake’s 21st birthday so we had a few refreshments.
Your band name intrigues me, and I feel like there is a story behind it. How did you come up with the band name?
You released a new track, “Changed Ways & Different Languages” on June 1. What is the meaning behind the track and the title?
We all loved a song called “Birmingham” from a band called “Shovels & Rope” and in the opening line it mentioned a Nickajack Man. We don’t have an official definition but we’re rolling with it.
I suppose “Changed Ways” is a bit about finally getting over something or getting something of your chest and dealing with it once it’s actually out. Whether it’s something someone wasn’t meant to hear or something like that.
What is your favorite memory from creating the song? We had a great time at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin recording the song. It was crazy getting to work in such a setting where so many great records have been made and to get to work with people as talented as Larry Hogan and Niall McGonigle was a real pleasure.
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Collectively, what are some goals you have and want to achieve?
Since Veracious is a United States music magazine, who are some of your favorite bands from the states?
Our main goal is to get over to the United States. To get over and play some of the famous venues and festival would make us all extremely happy haha. Also to play KEXP would be a legit dream since they do some amazing live sessions with so many of our favorite bands!!
To be honest the vast majority of the music I listen to is from the states so this is pretty hard haha. Recently we have all been listening to a lot of Ron Gallo, Naked Giants, The Districts, Twin Peaks and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats new album is real nice. The Nickajack Men’s Upcoming Dates:
How do you think The Nickajack Men differs from other Scottish bands in the music industry? I think we have a different sound from most artists in the Scottish scene. The type of music we play isn’t necessarily huge here so we’re just playing the songs we want to play.
Lastly, do you have any words for your fans? Come see us play live if ya can and god bless rock n roll.
Friday 27th July - The Castle (Manchester) Sunday 5th August - St Lukes (Glasgow) Sun 12th August - Party At The Palace Festival (Linlithgow) 18th August – Warehouse (Falkirk) supporting Kyle Falconer (The View) https://www.facebook.com/thenickajackmen/
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ALT 105.3 BFD 2018 Photography & Words by: Samantha Toy Around spring or early summer, Alternative 105.3 (formerly known as Live 105) announces their annual music festival in Northern California, but this year it came with a new location and venue. Since 1994, BFD has always hosted their event at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California, but the radio station announced that it would be held at Concord Pavilion in Concord, California which shocked the annual concert goers. Regardless of the venue Billie Eilish change, BFD still brought an incredible lineup as always especially on Mother’s Day. For 2018, they announced that Nothing But Thieves, Blink 182, AJR, James Bay, Bishop Briggs, Awolnation, Billie Eilish, Judah & The Lion, Mt. Eddy, Cemetery Sun, and Dirty Heads would take over the turntable stage. Alternative 105.3 is known to have the best music lineups of the Bay Area vicinity. Just to name a few, they had artists like Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, Red Hot Chili
Awolnation Peppers, Sublime, Slipknot and Third Eye Blind to headline in the past, and sometimes these artists would play more than once. But not only does BFD master their early spring/summer event, but they also nail their Christmas concerts. Like could you imagine a two day event with the lineup consisting of The Killers, Weezer, Foster The People, Alice Merton, Portugal. The Man, The Lumineers, Vance Joy, Manchester Orchestra, Walk The Moon, and Welshly Arms? I’m still in awe that those artists played last year for Alt 105.3’s Not So Silent Night show at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
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Bishop Briggs Getting back to BFD of this year, the day began with Mt. Eddy at 1:00 pm then Cemetery Sun at 1:45, Nothing But Thieves at 2:30, Billie Eilish at 3:15, AJR at 4:00, Bishop Briggs at 4:45, Judah & The Lion at 5:30, James Bay at 6:20, Awolnation at 7:10, The War On Drugs at 8:00, Dirty Heads at 9:00 and lastly Blink 182 following after at 10:00 pm. For this being my second year to cover and attend, it was much easier to see all of the artists perform since there was only one stage instead of three. All you had to do was buy a ticket,
AJR
James Bay
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purchase some drinks and food if you wanted, and then sit back wherever your seat was located. You didn’t need to worry about your favorite bands playing simultaneously and whatnot. Plus, the meet and greet selfie stage was also easier to find rather than being hidden in a bar which was very difficult for some to find in the previous years.
Nothing But Thieves
All in all, Alternative 105.3’s twenty-forth year of BFD was a complete success, and I wish I could relive it again. If you’re ever the person trying to find an excuse to travel or wanting to attend a festival, Northern California’s got your back! Stay tuned next year for their next lineup. More information will be found at https://alt1053.radio.com. Blink 182
Judah & The Lion
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Mt. Eddy
The War on Drugs
Cemetery Sun
Dirty Heads
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The Lagoons
Photography & Interview by: Rebekah Witt
How did you come up with your band name? Joey: We’re from LA, we’re brothers, and jokingly we call each other ‘goons.’ So ‘LA goons’ became The Lagoons. It was also very fitting for the beach-y, Cali vibe that our music gives off. It all kind of came together, it was a play on words. Ryan: We were probably just hanging out by the pool one day and we were like… Joey: “Ah, The Lagoons, its like water-based, it has that beach-y vibe, let’s go with that one!” There was no lagoons out there anyways. So yeah, it started with LA goons in our heads but we were like “The Lagoons is better for spelling wise!” How would you describe your music’s sound? Ryan: Mellow, chill, electronic… Joey: Cali-pop is what we call it. We don’t really classify it in one genre. Indie-electronic is kind of the broader genre but we definitely think we have a unique sound, hopefully. That’s what we try to go for and strive for, is something unique and different. So I definitely think we blend a lot of different genres into one to create this unique kind of Cali-chill-pop. You guys are brothers, how did you get into music and start the band? Did you guys grow up in a musical family? Ryan: We were a very musical family, our parents didn’t play music themselves but music was always on in the house. So early on, we were exposed to lots of different types of music. Joey: They have really good music taste. At least we think so. [Laughs] Ryan: They listen to the same bands we listen to. And then we started with lessons early on and when we got to middle school, we both did band and went on to jazz band in high school, and that’s how Joey learned the sax and everything. Joey: Yeah, so Ryan played trumpet from an early age and him [Ryan] being my older brother, I always kind of looked up to him and wanted to play an instrument myself. So even before joining the concert band and jazz band in middle school, I was already taking saxophone lessons and looking up to all these big jazz artists. And then I think we started writing music once I was in high school and from there on, I think we felt like we had something going in terms of the music that we were writing. We really got into our craft. It was later that we actually brought back the more jazz elements of our music I would say.
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Being siblings, do you have any arguments on the road or while writing music? Joey: [Laughs] Yeah, you know, we’re brothers, we bicker a little bit. But I think part of it is like, we have the same long term goals, so we’re always keeping each other in check. It’s never like a ‘fight,’ it’s more like just learning as we go along. Sometimes we have disagreements, but at the end of the day, we have the same long term vision of where we’re trying to go. I think sometimes we have different perspectives or different ideas of how to get there so we just talk it out. It’s not necessarily an argument, but it’s more of like differing opinions that we come to an agreement on.
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You’re from LA, but now live in Austin, Texas. What made you decide to move? Joey: I went to the University of Texas in Austin, and graduated back in 2014. As soon as I graduated, I knew that I wanted to do music and start pursuing this full time, so I convinced [Ryan] to move out from LA. He had been in a couple other bands in LA and I just saw the struggles that they went through in the big city, in the big market. As an up and coming band, it’s very difficult in LA to get people out to your shows. And I was witnessing the success that smaller bands were having in Austin so I was like “you know what, it’s a great creative, collaborative market to really be in and do our craft” so that’s when I convinced him to get out there and we’ve been there since. I think Austin is a really cool place for artists to be. If you could pick any band or musician to play a show with, who would you choose? Joey: Dave Matthews Band. Ryan: [Laughs] Who are some artists or musicians that you think have influenced your music? Ryan: So going back to listening to music growing up. The classic rock, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin... Joey: Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac... Ryan: Those are all bands our parents listened to just nonstop, hanging out by the pool so it was only natural that we would try to make music that kind of sounds like that but for today. Modern music. Joey: Even more recent influences are like Daft Punk, and a lot of the current pop music is actually an influence in terms of what we’re trying to do because like Ryan said, we take those old influences that we have and try to make them relevant with the current trends. We don’t want to be outdated by any means, so we bring in those electronic influences and all that too.
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Who are some artists you are currently listening to? Joey: So many. I’d say a lot of the current hip hop. I listen to Drake, and The Weeknd, but… Ryan: I should check my Spotify playlist. Joey: Yeah, I don’t even know who my real current artists are, let me pull up my playlist real quick so I can be accurate with this… D’Angelo, Chance the Rapper, Kanye West. I think Kanye West is honestly for us one of the biggest influences that we have, in his beats and his actual production. Ryan: Lately, I’m listening to some bands like Leon Bridges, Alabama Shakes… Joey: Our influences span from all over, and that’s how we kind of combine it and merge it into one genre.
You’re a little over halfway through this tour. What has been your favorite part or favorite show so far? Joey: We sold out Chicago, which was awesome. We’ve never played Chicago before and we had a sold out crowd so that was a lot of fun to see the support and the fans come out. We’re also playing two really cool shows in New York that we’re really looking forward to.
What's next for you guys? New music, tour, etc? Ryan: We’re heading to Canada next. Joey: In terms of tour, we have 4 or 5 more dates on this tour. We’ll be going to Toronto, Philly, and New York City. In terms of our music, we have new music in the works right now. Probably an album coming out either at the end of this year or early 2019, with some new singles. We have a music video coming out for ‘California’ in the next month or two. We just released our ‘Escape’ EP on Spotify so you can check that out as well. We have a west coast tour coming up, starting in San Diego and going up through the entire west coast up to Seattle starting in September.
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Night Riots
Photography by: Samantha Toy
Our Last Night
Photography by: Marie Newby
SASQUATCH FESTIVAL
As the blazing heat of the summer sun shines down on thousands of people, the festival has begun near the far away town of George, Washington. With its main stage perched high above the majestic Columbia River, the Gorge Amphitheater is widely regarded as one of the most scenic concert venues in North America. Since 2002, Sasquatch Festival has been drawing diverse audiences from around the Pacific Northwest and Canada to this spectacular location 150 miles east of
Hippo Campus
Perfume Genius
Tokimonsta
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Phoebe Bridgers
Photography & Words by: Eva Maria Burns
Seattle for three days of eclectic musical performances. Combining a wide range of artists appealing to multiple generations, Sasquatch is a festival that is unlike any other. This 2018 festival is to have been possibly one of the best lineups to date. With artists like the iconic, oh-so-quirky David Byrne creating a vividly abstract atmosphere within his performance of lights and plastic brains; to Tyler, The Creator bringing his driving bass beats and variety of lyrics to his safari-themed stage. To lesser known, but passionately supported favorites like Julien Baker, Big Thief and Phoebe Bridgers, who completely took people’s breaths away. And there isn’t really anything better than seeing artists like Ray LaMontagne performing with a brightly lit pastel orange & yellow sunset behind him among the rolling canyons. Overall, the festival couldn’t have been any better. It is a festival that I feel like everyone should experience at least once due to its diversity of musical genres and artists. Sadly, Sasquatch Festival will not be coming back in the future, but you can visit Veracious’ website for 2018’s full coverage.
(Sandy) Alex G
Big Thief
Gang of Youths
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Girlpool
Japanese Breakfast
Pond
Hurray for the Riff
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White Reaper
Soccer Mommy Tash Sultana
Shakey Graves Julien Baker
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Photography by: Léna Villari & Words by: Samantha Toy
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Approximately forty minutes Northwest of New York City lies a city called Bergen County in New Jersey where the punk rock band, The Nectars formed. Getting a mixture of musical influences from The Pixies, The Ramones, The Strokes, and Blondie, you get a puck rock sound from these four hardworking artists. You have Jessica Kenny as the band’s vocalist, Mike Baron on guitar, Jon Paul on bass, and lastly Mike Montalbano playing the drums. The Nectars originally began when Mike Montalbano and Jon Paul were in a former band back around the 2014 era called Basic Vacation. I was personally a fan of them for years, but I always wondered why they disappeared from the online world since I really enjoyed their music. Truth comes out that they broke up due to a few conflicts with their label. Even though BV disbanded, it didn’t stop Mike and Jon on starting a new project. When they decided to create
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The Nectars, their goal was to have a guitar player, and to be a female fronted band. From the two being friends with Mike Baron and Jessica Kenny, they all joined together and then everything fell into place in regard to their punk/DIY sound. Followed by the official lineup, their next step as band was to create songs which they released their first single, “Going out of Business” shortly after. From being inspired by day to day experiences such as missing the train in New York and having to take a $300 Uber drive home, all the way to writing a song for a late friend. They keep their life stories being told through their lyrics of their songs which I really admire. Fast forwarding The Nectars to 2018, they released their first album, “Sci-Fi Television” and wrapped up their first European tour at the end of May. We had the incredible opportunity of following The Nectars around their European tour, and you check out the whole diary on page 40. Even though we have five more months left of the year which is crazy to think about, The Nectars plans to tour and release more music in the future. Their careers are just beginning, but I bet you that they will be performing across the world with sold out venues pretty soon. Follow them on social media now for further updates! www.thenectarsmusic.com www.facebook.com/thenectarsmusic www.instagram.com/thenectarsmusic www.twitter.com/thenectarsmusic www.soundcloud.com/thenectarsmusic Spotify: The Nectars Apple Music: The Nectars
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Album Review: City of the Weak - “Pulling Teeth” Words by: Kristen Zarra Minneapolis-based band, City Of The Weak, released their first full length album Pulling Teeth out on June 22nd, 2018. City of the Weak captures a modern rock sound that combines catchy pop melodies with aggressive guitar riffs. The band is known for their high energy both on and off stage. The band worked with Craig Owens who produced the album and Jordan DiSorbo who engineered, mixed and mastered. Pulling Teeth flows from one song to the next very well. While listening, it draws you in, wanting to hear what the next song has to offer. Lyrics in “Not This Time” are ones that many people will be able to relate to, which is the best thing an artist can do. It allows the listeners to connect with the music on a personal and emotional level making the song an easy favorite. Bringing a slightly slower vibe, “Ungrateful” combines slower riffs during the verses and bridge, and picks up during the chorus, providing a song with a more dynamic structure. After listening to the album, the top three songs I would recommend for readers to check out would be “Suffer Like Me”, “Ungrateful”, and “Trust Nobody”. These songs show off the different song styles all while staying within the band’s creative sound. Each song provides a story within the lyrics which is something I have always enjoyed. Throughout the album, Pulling Teeth stays cohesive, flows well from song to song, and is enjoyable to listen to. Overall, I would recommend taking the time out to listen to Pulling Teeth. The catchy riffs, high energy and relatable lyrics make you feel like this is a band you’ve known for years.
Websites: cityoftheweak.wordpress.com Facebook: cityoftheweak Twitter: @CityoftheWeak Instagram: @cityoftheweak
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Other music previously released by the band: Pardon Me (Single) in 2018 Ungrateful (Single) in 2017 Censor This (Single) in 2016 Disclosure (EP) in 2014 White Fire Alarm (EP) in 2013
Single Review: The 1975 - “Give Yourself A Try” Words by: Valerie McIntyre The 1975 has been talking about releasing new music for awhile now, and the band finally gave us a taste with their new track “Give Yourself A Try”. This is the first track off their highly anticipated third album, “A Brief Enquiry to Online Relationships.” The 1975 is known to experiment with their sound quite a bit, however it seems they are going slightly back to their roots and this is not a bad thing in my opinion. The track sounds like it could be a track from The Strokes and I really love that. The lyrics of this song what makes this a 1975 song so don’t mistake this track as something from The Strokes. They also seem to be dabbling with 1980s alternative sounds such as The Church and Joy Division in the track with the guitars. Overall, I really love this track especially because they brought a similar sound from when they first began. Luckily, the band will be releasing more music soon which you can stay tuned at their website of when it will officially release later on this year. You can listen to this track on sources like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and more. Check out this song because it’s a banger! Websites: https://the1975.com https://www.facebook.com/the1975/ https://www.instagram.com/the1975/ https://twitter.com/the1975/
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Photography & Interview by: Jessica Piochon
Fastfade
Fastfade is a 3-piece skate punk band from London, and Brighton of the United Kingdom, and I recently met up with Ryan Mansell (guitar/vocals), and Joe Papworth (bass/vocals) in person to chat about their future plans, and musical inspirations.
band, No Insight, they suck, and Joe was too good for them.
Check out their Facebook page at Facebook.com/fastfade for more information, and their future events in Europe!
What are your inspirations for writing your songs, and what is your writing process like?
For our readers, could you introduce yourselves? Ryan: We’re basically a skate punk band, we’re very sloppy, and we play fast.
Joe: I still play in that band. Ryan: Yeah, I don’t know why.
Ryan: I don’t know, I just listen to a lot of fast bands and I want to sound like them. Joe: We, as like the three of us, haven’t really written together yet. Most of the songs that we’ve got are from Jake and Ryan playing together.
Joe: The first thing you’re gonna say is that we’re sloppy? I only joined the band a year ago to play bass, and that’s when things really started to kick off and get better.
Ryan: Like 95% Ryan, and 5% Jake
Ryan: I started the band with one of my best friends, Marcus, and he slowly started getting interested. So Joe stepped in. He was in a different
Ryan: That actually makes us sound good. The only thing that matters really. The harmonies, that’s the only thing we do right, when we
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Joe: No, it’s 95% Ryan, 4% Jake and 1% the harmonies that I’ve added.
remember to do it. Joe: I’ve been trying to write some skate punk stuff recently to actually put some creative input into Fastfade. I find the easiest way for me to do it is to listen to the Umlaut bands, from our record label. They’re fast and sick. So many good bands and they all sound so different.
gig with us? We’re not gonna be able to rehearse but you just listen to the songs and learn them and play.” I started listening to this EP and it was the fastest shit I’ve ever heard. Ryan: The first gig we played together, we didn’t even practice. We were just like “Joe, learn these songs.”
Ryan: I feel like the next bunch of songs of when we start writing properly for the next album, the songs are gonna be different, and better. At least, this time you’ll have an input on it.
Joe: That was the best gig we ever played. That’s when we peaked.
Can you talk further about the evolution of Fastfade?
Who are your musical influences?
Ryan : We evolved a lot. When you joined, you had no idea what you were doing. You couldn’t play skate punk before, you haven’t heard of it. Joe: I didn’t know skate punk was a thing that actually existed. And then I started hearing about Fastfade and they were like “could you play this
Ryan: We just clicked from that second.
Ryan: I think we all grew up on Blink 182. Joe: I don’t know, I still think it’s so weird. Before Fastfade I didn’t listen to any kind of skate punk and now I actually don’t listen to anything else. I listen to skate punk and Biggie Smalls and that’s it. After every gig, we’re so worn out of skate punk, and I need to not listen to skate punk for a few
days. That’s when I listen to Biggie. Ryan: That’s when I listen to nothing at all. Or a bit of ska. My musical influences change all the time. I just find new bands, it’s never been one thing. When the band, On a Hiding to Nothing first EP came out, I literally lived by that, it was such a sick EP. That’s what made me want to go to gigs and play. And they’re such cool guys as well. Joe: They’re like our label dads. I feel like it’s easy for them to inspire us because we’re also all sick mates.
Ryan: Jake’s dad is always there. Even if he’s not there, he’s there. I want to still be playing 20 years from now and still enjoying it. I don’t want to be a sloppy band anymore. I want to make kids aware of skate punk. Joe: We need to release this album and have people actually enjoy it. Which one of your songs most represent you? Joe: I’d say “Negative.”
What are some biggest challenges as a band?
Ryan: It’s our first song. It represents us, but the version we have recorded doesn’t.
Joe: Actually knowing when and where we’re playing.
Joe: But it’s getting re-released. What is “Negative” even about? It it about being negative?
Ryan: And sticking to times. Meeting up is hard. We’re pretty annoying, it’s really hard to sit in a car with these guys.
Ryan: Yeah it is. I’m a really negative person, I have negative thoughts all the time. It’s basically a song about me, in like a third person view because it’s like “Now you’re on your own”
Joe: We’re really trying to push ourselves as hard as we can. In all seriousness, behind all the jokes, drinks and drugs. - I also feel like Jake dies after playing for 10min, that’s probably a big challenge for him.
Joe: “Now you’re on your own, no one to talk to.” Ryan: It’s so relatable, I secretly cry every time we play it.
Ryan: Yeah, keeping a tempo.
Recording or playing shows?
What are your dreams or goals?
Both: Playing shows
Joe: The first thing is to actually release this album.
Ryan: Recording stresses me out. You can never get the right sounds, it takes so many takes to get one thing right. Live, it’s over in a second.
Ryan: I really want to headline and sell out the show. That must be the best feeling. Joe: My dream is for my mom to come to one of my gigs actually. My mom’s never been to a Fastfade show. Ryan: My mom doesn’t come either. Joe: Jake’s dad is the only parent who comes.
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Joe: I never had that problem with recording. When I actually do record, I go in, I sit down, I play the song once on bass and then next song. Ryan will sit there for hours. Ryan: Yeah, I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I even go home and listen to it after and think “God that is terrible! Why was I so happy about that?”
Joe: If you’ve seen us play shows, you know what we’re like. It’s just more fun. I’m not on any of the recordings, so I’m actually excited to get in the studio and get this album done. And after that, it’s just gonna be start writing and recording again pretty much. Or tour the album or something.
the first “Slopebite” show we did with “Negative Measures.” But every show this year has been pretty memorable. We’ve been playing with so many sick bands (Spoilers, Call Me Malcolm, Triple Sundae...) and we’re meeting so many cool people.
Ryan: I’m excited to record this because our recordings at the moment sound horrible. We don’t sound like that.
Ryan: And more people are hearing about us now, and the bands are the one asking for us to be in the bill.
Joe: I don’t think it’s that bad.
Joe: It’s actually a good feeling, people actually want us to play a gig with them.
What is your most memorable show to date? Ryan: I don’t remember any of them.
What are your plans for the future?
Joe: It was probably when we played with “Coast
Joe: Immediate future, we’re just gonna keep playing. And then the album is gonna come out,
to Coast” and “Better Than Never,” because that’s the only gig we played this year where I’ve actually been sober.
hopefully in August. And then, after that, more gigs, keep getting the name out, hopefully play some places further away.
Ryan: I feel like the best show we played where we all performed so good and had a good time and we could see other people did as well was when we played with “Elsewhere” at The Black Heart.
Ryan: I want to go play around Europe.
Joe: Oh, my most memorable show I think was
Joe: After that, start writing together properly, the three of us. And I also want to play some festivals, that would be sick.
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New Releases
Ohio - Andrew McMahon
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Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino - Arctic Monkeys
Therapy - Armin Van Buuren
Harlem Anthem - A$AP Ferg
One Kiss - Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa
Voicenotes - Charlie Puth
New Releases
Nothin’ On You - Dante Klein
Screws - Dreamers
Electric Light - James Bay
Fun feat. Madge - BROHUG, Mr. Tape & Kaskade
these are my friends - Lovelytheband
Africa - Weezer
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Behind The Scenes: The Nectars Photography & Words by: Léna Villari
Meet The Band:
The Nectars is a female fronted
punk band from Bergen, New Jersey composed of Jessica Kenny (aka Jess): vocals; Jon Paul (aka JP): guitar/bass; Mike Baron, (aka Baron): guitar; and lastly Mike Montalbano, (aka Mike), on drums. With their dancy riffs and Jess’ incredible voice, they’re are the band you don’t want to miss out on! They are full of energy, funny, original, and loud. The four-piece band went on their first tour in the UK back in May for their new album, and I had the pleasure to share the tour experience with them.
Mike Montalbano
Jessica Kenny
Check out The Nectars’ website for more music, videos, tours, and more! www.thenectarsmusic.com
Jon Paul
Mike Baron
{16th May 2018} @ House of Vans in London, UK For their first UK show, The Nectars played at House of Vans in London sharing the stage with the British indie band: Swimming Tapes. Starting their set with “Holy,” they shared their excitement of being in the UK for the first time after Jess introduced the band to the crowd. If only a few people knew the American band before the show, they would know the lyrics but in the end, the crowd quickly started to dance along.
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{17 May 2018} @ The Great Escape Festival in Brighton, UK The day after, moving away from the busy British capital, I was at the beach with The Nectars doing my first photo shoot under a beautiful blue sky. That was the first day of the Great Escape Festival which was voted “Best Festival” in 2017. It was a bit awkward at first since it was the first personal contact with the band, but the atmosphere quickly changed and the band showed their complicity and funny side to the camera. Sharing the line-up with top emerging acts: Ten Tonnes, Marsicans, Lewis Capaldi, The Japanese House, Dream State, The Faim,… The Nectars ended the night with a late set at 00:45 at The Hope and Ruin. It was late and on a Thursday night, but the venue was still packed and it didn’t seem like anyone was tired as the venue was on fire. JP even surprised everyone at the end of their set including his band mates by jumping on Mike’s drum kits. {23 May 2018} @ The Monarch in London, UK I couldn’t be with the band for their shows in Wales, Birmingham, and London as I was still in Brighton for The Great Escape Festival, but I definitely did not miss their debut headline show in Camden at The Monarch. Welcomed by an excited crowd, the band gave an incredible performance, and definitely the best I witnessed so far! They all had fun on stage and it was contagious! It was also their last show before their album release and Dot To Dot festival.
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{25 May 2018} @ Dot To Dot Festival in Manchester, UK A few hours after their album release at Potters Bar, at 10am, The Nectars were sitting around a great breakfast before loading their van and saying goodbye to their manager, James. We were not on the road for long, but then we realized we forgot something‌ it was bank holiday on a Friday. We were stuck in the traffic for a few hours and then arrived in Manchester just on time for load in and sound check. A few pizza slices later, the band was on stage. At first, the venue was quite empty, but it rapidly changed and some fans chatted with the band afterwards to get their vinyls, CDs and t-shirts. {26 May 2018} @ Dot To Dot Festival in Bristol, UK Getting to Bristol was a lot easier and a bit after we arrived at the festival hub, the band jumped in the back of a truck, gears in handset ready to record one of their songs. Now I can see you frowning. What am I talking about? Let me tell you, Pabst Wax is a mobile recording studio. Bands will play a song that is recorded live on a one-off vinyl. Created in 2005 in the US, Pabst Wax Ade its debut in the UK and were there for the 3 dates of Dot To Dot. After that performance and a quick chat with a group of fellow Americans, we packed up to go to the venue: The Island. I doubt that a lot of people knew The Nectars already, but Bristol crowd didn’t hesitate a second to come closer to the stage and sing along as much as they could.
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{27 May 2018} @ Dot To Dot Festival in Nottingham, UK Nottingham was the last show, and it felt weird to think that their tour was almost over especially because I got to know the band more personally in Bristol. Nottingham was the first city where we were actually able to walk around and take some time to speak. Jess told me that Mike and JP were in another band before (Basic Vacation), but after a few conflicts with their label and the other members, they formed their own band, quickly joined by Baron. When the guys decided to look for a female lead singer, Mike asked his childhood friend, Jess and from then, The Nectars were born. Now I’m not going to lie, Nottingham was definitely the best show on this run. The crowd was hectic, jumping around, even mosh pit people were screaming the lyrics from most of the band’s songs. It was definitely one of the best thing to witness and a beautiful way to end the tour. After signing a few vinyls, and t-shirt, the band packed up and we celebrated their tour around an Indian dinner. {28 May 2018} End of the tour After a night out, needless to say that everyone was tired and spent most of the trip sleeping in the van. When time came to say goodbye, I realized how fast these two weeks had passed.
Photo taken in Bristol, UK
They say tour blues is the worst and it hits you once you’re back home… and I think it hit me on my way home on the London tube. But now, they are back in New Jersey where they are preparing some new music, but they will be back soon in the UK! And I don’t know about you, but I will be there again!
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Brandy Zdan
Photography by: Kailey Sullivan
Cam
Photography by: Robert Alleyne
Mastin; A New Age
of Australian Rock
Photography & Interview by: Dana Hope
After listening to the EP, my favorite song is “The Problem.” I personally just got out of a pretty crappy relationship where neither of us were happy, but weren’t really sure how to approach the situation. In the end, I broke up with him and it was then when I realized how toxic the relationship was. “The Problem” really made me think back over the relationship and it kind of hit home with the lyrics, which is why I can relate to it very much. Sunday night before Mastin, (yes I mean Reece Mastin; 2011 X-Factor winner and every 14 year olds crush) hit the stage, I sat down with him for a chat about his brand new EP, his current tour, and the journey he took to get to where he is now. With Reece’s new project of Mastin, it shouldn’t have been as much of a surprise to people as it was. From the first day on X-Factor, Reece stated in his audition that he loves rock n roll music and wanted to be a rock n roll musician. He sang “Come Get Some” by Rooster as his audition piece for fucks sake. He was always going to do rock music, he just had to wait until he was in a position to be able to produce the music he really wanted to do. Mastin’s new EP “Suitcase of Stories” was released on April 6, 2018. The tour began shortly after the release
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and has had nothing but great responses. He spoke a lot about the re-branding and the road they have taken to get where they are today. “Renaming to Mastin makes people think twice about it. Once they put it together that it’s me, it actually makes people click play and have a listen to the record. We’ve put out a few records since we left Sony five years ago but we haven’t had the right resources and team behind it until now, so no one has really paid attention”, Reece states. “The main comments are ‘we didn’t know you did that, we didn’t know you played rock n roll,’ and those are the people I’m looking to connect with. It’s going to be a slow process of getting away from that radio friendly pop music people know me for, but that’s what this tour is all about. People come to the shows expecting me to play old hits, but even if I don’t they’re still happy at the end because it sounded good”.
“‘Tell Me All About It’ is my favorite song,” Reece explains, “I wasn’t in the best place a couple years ago. I was doing a lot of drugs, I was drinking a lot, I was really depressed and doing nothing about it. Meeting my manager has really changed my life. I’ve been doing therapy for about two years and it has helped more than I thought it would; I would definitely recommend it to people if you get the chance. When we wrote ‘Tell Me All About It’, it was quite an emotional time for me. I would start crying but then start laughing. Not because it was funny, but just because my mind didn’t know how to deal with what I was going through. I remember sitting on the floor in my apartment in Sydney, just playing the riff over and over again, putting myself in a trance, trying to deal with it all.”
“When I started thera-
py, I began to understand things that you thought were the problem for one thing, are actually the problem of a completely different thing. When we got into the studio, I wanted to tie all those emotions together, not just lyrically, but musically as well. It was hard because everyone around me was lying, no one would tell me the fucking truth to my face, even if it would’ve helped me.
show X-Factor in 2011. From this, he skyrocketed into the Australian music industry with his debut single “Good Night” debuting #1 on the Aria charts, which was certified five times platinum, and the release was selling a digital download every 2.7 seconds, making it the fastest selling single released by Sony Music Australia.
Recording the song was so emotionally driven because of everything that was happening, I was able to push it to a place that I’ve never been able to push myself or my music to before.”
his experience on X-Factor and how bizarre it really is. Reece was 16 when he auditioned for X-Factor, and admits he only went to get a day off school. “When I went to the audition, I didn’t think anything of it, I genuinely went to get a day off school. I used to wag all the time and would get in trouble from my parents, but if I told
Reece got a kick start to his music career due to winning Australia’s reality TV
He goes into detail of
them I was going to an audition, I got away with it.” Reece states, “I don’t regret anything from X-Factor or the way I got here today but there’s so much those reality shows don’t show. They hype you up a lot, they create a persona to sell to get votes and that’s pretty much it. They molded me; I didn’t get the choice to do any of it myself, which means we’ll never know how I would have turned
out if I didn’t do the show. A lot of it is: here’s what you’re going to wear, here’s what you’re going to sing and here’s all the bits we’ve cut together, and that’s what Australia sees.” “Can you imagine at 16 a camera following you around and putting the juiciest stuff they have on full display for
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everyone to see? It would kill a lot of people. Because I was so young, it didn’t really do much to me until I was about 20 when I realized that so many people just thought I was a dickhead because that’s what the show displayed me as. I think that’s a major factor with the re-brand; showing people who I really am through the music I’m putting out there, in a positive way.” Reece describes, “X-Factor launched my music career from 0-100 flat. I played arena’s and supported some massive acts but I didn’t get to see the other side of it. With Mastin, I get to play the smaller venues; play to a couple
or, the winner gets a record deal with Sony Music Australia. Reece enlightened me into the world of being signed to a big name record label at such a young age. “Sony shelters you a lot. You’ve got next to no input in the marketing of your music or yourself. Then you’ve got the artists and recording help that tell you what to write. If they say write a pop song and you write a rock song, they won’t release it. I left on good terms though, I was always really straight up with Dennis (CEO, Sony Music Australia) and I think he liked that about me. I sat down with him and played “The Rebel and the Reason”
to happen. I handpicked each band as the supports, I know all of the staff that are working the event, and I know exactly where all the posters have gone up around Melbourne. These are things I was never able to do at Sony.” Reece then describes how working for yourself on your own record, differs to working with a big record label. “This record would have a budget that’s probably one fifth of anything I did with Sony, but it sounded better because I got to do what I wanted, I got to use everybody I wanted to use on it, I’ve got to do all the marketing
“...I’m happy where I am now and if we only have a couple hundred people show up that’s ok because I’ve done everything in my power to make this tour happen exactly how I want it to happen.” - Reece Mastin hundred people instead of a couple thousand, but I get to do it my way. I get to go up there with my band and play whatever I want. I don’t regret doing X-Factor at all, I’ve definitely learned from all the bad shit, but that’s helped shape me and I’ve taken more from it. I won a fucking TV show when I was 16, it wasn’t a bad thing at all. The only bad part was the aftermath of hitting the music industry full force; but I’d never take it back.
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Upon winning X-Fact-
record and he said ‘we don’t want to release that.’ I said, ‘I don’t want to release anything that isn’t this, so if you’re cool with it, I’ll leave.’ And that was it, from then on it was just me”. “Once I left, I had 2-3 years to figure it all out. I used the drugs and the drinking to cope with it all at the time, but I’m happy where I am now and if we only have a couple hundred people show up that’s ok, because I’ve done everything in my power to make this tour happen exactly how I want it
for it, I’ve got to do all the artwork for it and I get to talk to whoever I want about it. Don’t get me wrong, Sony are really good at what they’re doing, which is selling pop records, and I don’t regret anything. But I love being able to do my own thing.” Talking to Reece, we discussed how so many aspects of the music industry has changed, and why he enjoys writing so much. “It’s an emotional thing, it means something. Music gives you that
proper sense of community and it allows people who may not know how to get their emotions out, to use other artists songs to relate to. I love music that has a point. Any genre is great, as long as the song has something to say. When I write music, it comes from my feelings and emotions of a situation I’ve been in. If someone can come up to me in a merch line and say that this song made me feel this way, and I was able to relate it back to this; I could cry to that person, because that actually means something. It’s a real human connection and so much music is missing that these days.” Reece has done so many things within the music industry over the last seven years that it’s hard to remember that he’s only 23. He still has his entire life and career ahead of him, and he still has so much to learn, but he had some great advice for that next generation
of up and coming musicians. “Pay attention,” Reece explains, “Pay attention in meetings, pay attention to what you’re doing and the people around you are doing. Learn as much as you can because you have plenty of time to figure it all out. If music is what you want to do for the rest of your life, what does it matter if it takes you three weeks to write a verse or get through a creative block? You’ve got plenty of time.” Reece continues, “Learning is a massive thing too. Learn off other people in the industry and associate yourself with the right people because the more you know, the better off you are. Go to shows by yourself and have a chat to the band afterwards; give them a copy of your record and hustle your way into the industry that way. Hustle with the right venues, the right people for your style of music and try and get some shows. I personally love trying to find great local acts who suit
our style for our supports, who I think will have the same genuine connection with the audience as my music does.” Reece has come so far from that 16 year old kid in 2011. As his Suitcase of Stories Tour comes to a close, he will definitely not be going on such a massive gap between releases. “I have about 400 songs I could put out, and I love that. I want to keep up the momentum and keep putting out music, so I can keep touring and traveling for as long as possible.”. Reece then played an incredible set and even called me out before he played ‘The Problem’. ‘Mastin’ is a new wave of Australian rock that is not to be missed and will most definitely have you tapping the steering wheel as you drive or singing your lungs out in the shower. Catch ‘Mastin’ on the remaining dates of their tour. www.reecemastinofficial.com
Michigan Rattlers
Photography by: Jake Merz
Epica
Photography by: Marisela Morales
THE GREAT ESCAPE Photography & Words by: LĂŠna Villari Two months ago, The Great Escape festival came back to Brighton, England for its 12th edition. Throwback to three days of sun, beach and music with an amazing line-up, and one regret: not having a time turner, (you know like Hermione in Harry Potter? That little object that allows her to travel in time and be at two places at the same time?) Ten Tonnes
Polar States Dream State
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The line up was incredible this year and various of bands performed. I definitely have my favorites: The Faim, The Nectars, Pretty Vicious, Marsicans, Homebound, Sun Arcana. But The Alternative Escape also introduced a lot of amazing smaller emerging bands like The Trusted, Fears Chella, and Couples just to name a few. If you missed it this year, make sure you buy your tickets for 2019, because I’m telling you that the line up will be as interesting as it was a few months ago! You can also go to The Alternative Escape or The Great Escape where its free or join the team of volunteers who are always smiling and making sure that the festival goes well.
Marsicans
So don’t think twice and come lose yourself looking for the venues in Brighton in May 2019, (9th-11th). http://greatescapefestival.com
PVMTS
Sun Arcana
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The Nectars
Fears Chella The Trusted
Homebound
Fine Creatures
Jekyll
Freak
Lewis Capaldi
Pretty Vicious
The Faim King Nun
Interview with XYLØ The Basics: Name: Paige Duddy Hometown: Los Angeles, CA Age: 23 Genre: Alternative Pop Website: www.xylo-music.com Photography by: Nikko Lamare & XYLØ Interview by: Samantha Toy How did you come up with the name XYLØ, and what made you decide to have a stroke in the O? XYLØ was my grandfather's license place in the 70’s. It's short for xylophone. He is a jazz drummer and percussionist so him and all his musician friends were getting different personalized license plates. My mom loved the name and would always bring It up. I originally wanted to use it for a clothing line or something like that but when it came to naming the project I was like this name is too cool not to use.
Would you say some of those artists have helped influence your sound as an artist? Yes definitely. I mean I’d like to think all those artist have influenced my music in its own way. I think my lyrics come from the more alternative, rock music, the melody from the pop influence, and production from the hip hop & indie pop world. As a front woman I’m really influenced by Gwen Stefani. She is so classy and confident but her message is so punk rock and relatable. I wish I was as cool as her.
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Being raised in a musical family, which artists have you listened to growing up? I listened to all kinds of stuff from Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Oasis, Steely Dan, Hall and Oats, to Destiny's Child, Britney Spears, No Doubt, Snoop Dog and Notorious B.I.G. You began this year with your breakout solo single, “Heaven Only Knows”. How would you say this song differs from your previous tracks with your brother? I love this song. I wanted to come out with a raw honest song about how I was feeling over the last year. It was just a special song and my whole team agreed. It is more organic production compared to our other music but I didn’t want the song to hide behind too much and try and be something it's not.
What can you tell us about your latest track, “Don’t Panic?” It's one of my favorites I’ve ever done. One of those songs that almost writes itself, which doesn’t happen often for me haha. Its about a guy who comes on too strong in the beginning stages of a relationship, which is something that woman are typically stereotyped for. I'm young and living my life one day at a time so if you’re down, I’m down, and if you’re not then that's fine too cause no one has time for games.
What can fans expect from you for the rest of this year? Lots of more music, videos and shows!! What more could a girl want!
You have collaborated with The Chainsmokers who are one of the biggest names in the dance music. Who contacted who on setting up this track and how long did the process take to finish the entire track? I was sent the song by their manager Adam Alpert and was asked if I was interesting in cutting a demo to pitch to them. Apparently there were other female artists who had cut the song but they ended up collaborating with me, which is wild and was such a fun experience. I am so grateful.
xylo
XYLØ x Veracious Playlist: Troye Sivan & Ariana Grande - Dance To This Charli XCX - 5 In The Morning Kim Petras - Heart To Break Billie Eillish - idontwanttobeyouanymore The 1975 - Give Yourself A Try Post Malone - 92 Exporter BØRNS - Blue Madonna Janelle Monáe - Make Me Feel Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Hunnybee Zolita - New You
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