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Ramesh Srivastava is guardedly optimistic about Voxtrot’s future. Reuniting for the first time since 2010, the Austin-based band has reissued two albums worth of older material (EPs, B-Sides, demos) and has a short tour coming up this fall. If nothing else happens, it will have been worth it but Srivastava envisions more touring and potentially writing new music with his bandmates.
Grunge Pop Records is spearheading the grunge revival with an impressive list of up-and-coming artists. We discussed the need for real rock music, the sound of grunge and how it has evolved over thirty years, the international reach of the genre, and the future of Grunge Pop Records and its roster of soon-to-be world-famous bands.
Carré Callaway’s life story may be as interesting and wild as her latest album, Couples Only, released under the Queen Kwong moniker. Callaway discusses both in this in-depth conversation.
Austin TX based hardcore/punk band The Bearer rages with heavy and ferocious riffs, pounding drums, complex time changes and vocals with the same intensity as the music. I was pleased to get a chance to speak with drummer/vocalist Colton Siegmund about the new record Chained to a Tree, available now via Silent Pendulum Records.
There’s a chance The Deslondes extended hiatus may have lasted longer had John James Tourville (fiddle/pedal steel) not proposed getting the band back together during the pandemic. Riley Downing (vocals/guitar) talks about the band’s reunion, it’s new album, Ways & Means, life on the road and more.
ABC frontman Martin Fry discusses COVID’s effects, and what comes next for the band
Thanks to support from the PRS Foundation and Help Musicians, UK artist Pit Pony was afforded the opportunity to record it’s blistering, melodic-punk debut, World To Me, during an otherwise daunting time in world history. Jackie Purver, Garth Purver, and Andrew Jones discuss how living in Newcastle helps shape the band’s sound.
Beth Arzy is well known for her sweet vocal work in Aberdeen/Trembling Blue Stars/The Luxembourg Signal, Lightning in a Twilight Hour, and now the excellent UK band *Jetstream Pony.
Spacey Jane’s sophomore album, Here Comes Everybody, follows close on the heels of the Australian band’s debut which came out in June 2020. Singer Caleb Harper talks lyrical inspirations, mental wellbeing, and seeking Jeff Tweedy’s approval on the album title.
With a sound rooted in folky and dreamy psychedelic-pop, Haunted Summer’s third album, Whole, proves you can judge a band by it’s name. We catch up with wife-and-husband duo Bridgette Moody and John Seasons as they happily return to the touring lifestyle they put on hold for the last two years.
JB Dunckel – half of the celebrated electronic band Air – discusses his new solo album, Carbon
‘Generation Riff’ founder Rob Janicke shares his five favorite non-fiction rock books.
After experiencing a whirlwind career-starting single, “No Roots,” (which currently has been streamed over 1 billion times worldwide), Alice Merton is learning to slow down and enjoy whatever life throws at her. Her new album, S.I.D.E.S., is the result of purging two years worth of dark thoughts and emotions as a form of therapy.
‘The High Desert’ author James Spooner shares his five favorite black female-/non-binary fronted punk bands.
With a new album about to drop and a cool single, “Reverence” giving a taste of its sound, I sat down with Sam Robbins to find out all about him, his music and where it all goes next.
With the listener in mind, progressive jam band Dopapod put a lot of thought into how they want the audience to experience their new album. From the sequencing of the songs, to the album artwork, to the board game that is part of the vinyl package, everything was carefully calculated. Eli Winderman talks about the album, touring and more.
Supercrush guitarist/vocalist Mark Palm shares his five favorite underrated songwriters.
A lot has been happening in the It’s Karma It’s Cool camp of late. Gigs at The iconic Cavern Club, new tunes about to be launched upon the unsuspecting public and they even got to work with Peter Holsapple whose musical resume includes the likes of The dBs R.E.M., Hootie & The Blowfish, to name but three. It seemed the perfect time to sit down with Jim and Peter and find out a bit more about what’s been happening.
Bowling For Soup frontman Jaret Reddick shares his five favorite stand-up comedians.
Isaac Gibson reflects on how living in a small mountain town in Virginia helps shape 49 Winchester’s sound on the band’s new album, Fortune Favors the Bold and how to feel a sense of “home” when playing in big cities.
Larry Jaffee, author of ‘Record Store Day: The Most Improbable Comeback of the 21st Century,’ shares his five favorite Record Store Day releases.
Following the release of his fifth solo album, The Social Animals, former Verbena bassist Duquette Johnston shares what it was like working with John Agnello, talks about balancing priorities, and shines the light on Birmingham, Alabama.
Hannah Judge of fanclubwallet shares her five favorite Rilo Kiley songs.
After drugs and alcohol nearly derailed Nashville’s Joshua Hedley’s career, the now-sober singer/songwriter is back with an album paying homage to the ’90s country music he grew up listening to.
The Muffs bassist Ronnie Barnett shares his five favorite KISS songs.
EXTC featuring original XTC drummer Terry Chambers concluded a sixteen-date North American club tour April 9th in Toronto. The band will resume live shows in the UK in July. It has been forty years since XTC toured the United States, and hardcore fans were keen to attend. Philamonjaro interviews the band.
Slowdive frontman Neil Halstead talks about working on the soundtrack for indie film The Unknown Country
Pat Graham of Philadelphia’s Big Nothing shares how the band approached writing and recording Dog Hours in the midst of the pandemic and the never-ending quest he’s on to write the perfect pop song.
Author Jim Ruland talks about his new book ‘Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise and Fall of SST Records.’
“I think figuring out better ways to record and sing was another reason I wanted to work with more people on this album rather than doing it myself again and just keep doing the same thing. I mean, even the first project there was not anything that I didn’t like about the way it turned out but I wanted to try something new and see if there was something I could be doing better.” – Matthew Doty
An exclusive excerpt from the new book, ‘Forbidden Beat: Perspectives on Punk Drumming.’
What do you get when you mix the outlaw country songwriter/producer Shooter Jennings with a predominant name in the hip-hop world, Yelawolf? Probably not what you’d expect. Sometimes Y delivers a modern rock album with influences from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Jennings and Yelawolf share with us how they came together and why two opposites attract.
“I realized that removing myself from my daily life and all the other other things going on that make it so hard to focus, was really helpful. That time definitely made me see that if I had this concerted effort to which I can dedicate time to writing songs, helped really sort out a lot of things that I was thinking and feeling instead it feeling like it’s all a jumbled mess …” – Rosali
With Knights of Swing just released via Vimeo it was the perfect time to sit down with actor, co-director and musical arranger, Emilio Palame to learn more about this fantastic film and equally exciting soundtrack, his own career and what the film has to say to a modern audience.
Tim Hinely, founder of ‘Dagger’ zine and author of ‘Where The Wild Gigs Were,’ shares his five favorite venues.
With a new album from Charlton Lane dropping very soon, it seemed the right time to sit down with the man at the musical helm and find out all-out this project, the Mendip Soul Stew and all the other wonderful things that he has got up to over the years.
Jackson Phillips, the mastermind behind acclaimed dream pop act Day Wave, discusses the band’s latest single, upcoming album, and his career overall
Christopher Hall of Stabbing Westward discusses Chasing Ghosts, the band’s first album in 21 years, as well as their career overall
Founded by drummer Greg Saunier in 1994, the San Francisco heroes will support their latest record, 2021’s Actually, You Can. We talked with Saunier about what the band has in store for their Treefort set, his joke-telling skills.
The most reliably solid performance of the festival’s penultimate day will come courtesy of Eugene, Oregon’s doom-dealers. We recently caught up with bassist Aaron Rieseberg for a preview of his band’s Treefort set.
Racking up honors and accolades in the UK with their explosive brand of guitar-driven rock, The Mysterines now has its sights set on the U.S. Singer Lia Metcalfe and drummer Paul Crilly discuss making the debut album, Reeling, influences, festival lineups and “pinch me” moments.
While generally shrouded in mystery, one member of the rock/electronic music trio — who goes by the name The Keeper — recently touched base with the Big Takeover ahead of Magic Sword’s much-anticipated show on Friday night.
Self-proclaimed “psych-punk psychic warrior” and “ear-worm farmer” John Dwyer shared his enthusiasm about returning to Treefort, taking the Main Stage torch from GbV and playing on a lineup as sprawling as his own catalog.
Calvin Halliday and James Hindle of U.S. Highball share their five favorite Glasgow albums.
Treefort Music Fest is undergoing a rite of passage with two GbV concerts: a Wednesday evening performance at El Korah Shrine that is booked for a two-and-a-half-hours, and a Main Stage dinnertime show slated for the following day.
Whereas Deafheaven were somewhat incongruent with Treefort in 2017 — playing a thunderous, full-metal set — this time around, they’re supporting a new post-rock album (Infinite Granite) that couldn’t be better suited for the festival.
Wolf Alice frontwoman Ellie Rowsell discusses the band’s current North American tour, their distinctive sound, and why their fans are so fervent
Quinquis (f/k/a Tiny Feet) discusses Seim, the album inspired by her home on the isolated island of Ushant
Nerf Herder guitarist Linus of Hollywood shares his five favorite classic metal albums.
With the new album Southern Intentions and lead single “So Much Runnin’” about to drop, I sat down with Becca Herrod and Joel Parks of Wood Willow to find out how the band came to be, what the new album offers and where it all goes next.