M Pire Magazine

Rock music is having a renaissance, if you ask The Walking Tree. The Long Island-based band have a new, 7-song EP, Cyclone Baby, to hold their seat at the saloon. It’s due out in March 2017. The band are sick of the mainstream and making the kind of music that inspired them growing up: Radiohead, Pearl Jam, Incubus, Soundgarden, The Vines, The Foo Fighters and many other staples from that era of music. This resurgence of rock that challenges The Walking Tree to stray from the common path points to bands, such as Circa Survive, Say Anything, MeWithoutYou, Cage the Elephant. People have noticing that The Walking Tree is doing something progressive with their brand of rock - from Carson Daly, to the President of The Fader, to A&R booking agents, to music lovers.

The Cyclone Baby EP is a collection of alternative rock songs reflect not only on personal experiences of learning and growing, but life’s nuances in general. The band revolves around two talented brothers, Warren (guitars, vocals) and Kevin Trunz (drums), and childhood friends - Mike (Divo) DiVittorio (bass) and Raffi Froudjian (guitar). The Trunz brothers’ produced and recorded the new EP themselves, at Glow in The Dark Studios in Georgia. Everything is done by the band  - from their merch to their music videos, which the brothers produce, direct and edit.

The DIY band found early success since their formation in 2011, including Twitter love from Carson Daly, who shared their music video for “What’s In My Head?” and claimed “they ROCK.” The Walking Tree has toured half of the US and played at various venues, including Webster Hall, where they shared bills with both Twin Atlantic and RDGLDGRN. In The New York Times, a concert goer reported discovering the band for the first time at a show in Amityville, which she stating “they killed it.” The Walking Tree has come along way and with a recent addition of Dominick D’Agostino on guitar, has brought them a whole new level of sound. Their upcoming shows will be held in the Tri-State area, so be sure to follow the band so you can catch them live before their new EP, Cyclone Baby, is released!

For More Information check out the following sites:

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Soundcloud / Bandcamp / Instagram

Check out our exclusive interview with The Walking Tree below:

Q: Tell us about your new EP, Cyclone Baby.

A: We went down to Georgia to record the EP. Usually we are completely DIY when it comes to just about everything the band does. I think this time around we just needed a change of scenery. While down there, last Minute, we decided to track as much as we could of the record live. It was really cool to all be in one room really playing. It also helped to really capture a vibe. Things are definitely not perfect, the drums weren’t sucked to the grid, some guitar parts a pretty loose but I think that is what makes a record special. All the best music we all go back to is far from perfect, and really celebrates the “human element” of music. Im really glad we could capture that this time around. I think we will take that approach as we continue to make music in the future.      

Q: What had initially inspired you guys to form a band and pursue music as a career?

A: We all had a history together growing up in high school, playing in Punk/Hardcore bands. As we got older (and better haha) we naturally began writing music influenced heavily by the rock bands that inspired us to start playing in the first place. Everything from classic rock like Zeppelin and Rush, to (what will most likely soon be considered “Classic rock”) Pearl Jam, Janes Addiction, Foo Fighters Etc. We all just wanted to focus on writing good songs. I think the “career” part of it just follows naturally since we feel this is what we were meant to do. Things just feel right when we are on stage playing together, and when you are focused on doing what you love most. All those bands inspired us so much, if we could inspire even a small following of people in that way I think that would be amazing.  

Q: Of all the places you’ve toured in the US, what was your favorite and why?

A: I think our favorite place was the orpheum in Tampa FL. The venue was awesome and it was packed full of people who love music, along with a bunch of stray chickens in the parking lot… Probably one of the best shows we have had the pleasure of playing out of NY. Its also on a really cool strip, so after we defiantly stayed out way to late, but it’s always worth hanging with new and old friends and fans that we get to meet when we are on the road.  

Q: Do you have any upcoming shows already booked that you want our readers to know about?

A: Yes! We are playing at the Space In CT on December 3rd, and December 6th we are playing with our friends in King Neptune and an awesome band called Radkey At Webster hall Studio!

Q: What’s one advice you’d like to give to aspiring artists who want to make a career out of their music?

A: I think the name of the game (after making good music haha) is perseverance. We have played tons of crappy shows, have had to deal with so many let downs. There have been times when things seem really hard, and it makes you want to give up, But the best thing is working with people who are willing to stick it out no matter what to just keep pushing forward.

Los Angeles based pop singer-songwriter, Indiana Grace releases her new track “Lose Count,” a melancholic yet hopeful song about faith in love and the struggles of a long distance relationship.

From a young age, Indiana Grace had dreams as big as the Swiss Alps, where she grew up with her Swiss father and American mother. Fueled by the passion to make her dreams a reality, Grace began singing and songwriting with skills she acquired from piano and classical voice lessons. Her unique voice earned her a place at The School for Gifted Children of the Performing Arts in Switzerland, as the first pop singer ever accepted. After attendance at Zurich University of the Arts, she produced, sang, and composed a CD with Swiss Rapper, C-Beat, that reached Top 10 in the charts in East Switzerland. At the age of 18 she left for the United States and began perfecting her own sound and musical style while studying performance and songwriting at Berklee College of Music.

Her lyrics are inspired by her love life, nature and moments in life that have left a profound impact. Grace’s unforgettable choruses, soft vibrato, and soulful sound, will be the focal point of her upcoming EP. Keep up with Indiana Grace  as she plans the release of her debut EP featuring her soulful single “Lose Count.”

For more info visit the following sites:

Website //Facebook //Soundcloud//Instagram

Check out our exclusive interview with Indiana Grace below:

Q: Tell us about your new track, “Lose Count”.

A: Lose count is a song I wrote a little while back when I was madly in love with a guy who moved to Nashville when I was in Boston. It speaks about the opinions people gave me when I was in this long distance relationship. They ranged from them telling me to let him go because there’s something better out there for me to them saying that I should hold on because true love is hard to find. The whole song comes down to when you havesuch strong feelings for someone that one should follow one’s own heart.

Q: What is the music industry world like in Switzerland, compared to that of the U.S.?

A: There’s a very limited music scene in Switzerland. Most singers need to leave Switzerland, as it is very small. Furthermore there are 4 national languages. There definitely are some very talented singers and musicians but they mostly singing in Swiss-German. The older more traditional generation still enjoy folk music, yodeling and “music of the alps” with the accordion.

Q: Are there any musical influences in your family, or anyone in your family who is also musically involved?

A: One of my greatest memories as a child was listening to old soul/blues/rock records with my dad. We always had some kind of music playing at home. Therefore, I was exposed to many different genres in a very young age. No one besides me in myfamily had the passion to pursue music although they did play instruments.

Q: Do you have any shows coming up that you want our readers to know about?

A: As of now I am focusing more on working with producers on new material and co-writing with other musicians. But I most definitely will be doing shows very soon.

Q: What’s the one big advice you want to give to aspiring artists who want to make a career out of their music?

A: It’s as simple as just following your heart. Don’t try to sound like someone else because you will never be as good as the original. Try to find your own sound, that makes your music you and that’s sincere and something you are passionate about. When you truly believe in your art, there will be others that will feel the same way too. Take your time to perfect your craft and when you feel ready and confident, don’t be afraid to share your music with the world.

Americana duo Mouths of Babes release the track “Lock & Key,” from their upcoming full-length album, Brighter In The Dark, due out in January 2017. Comprised of Ingrid Elizabeth and Tylan Greenstein of acclaimed acts Coyote Grace and Girlyman, the now-married pair has received notable press both for their respective projects and together as Mouths of Babes; just last year MTV covered their wedding as an inspirational story celebrating marriage equality.

Both women grew up under the musical influence of famed family members. The Tony- and Grammy-winning musical Dreamgirls, which debuted the year Ingrid was born, was written by her great uncle Tom Eyen. The musical inspired Ingrid’s brassy vocal styling and her passion for performing. MTV.com notes, “The depth of emotion found in [Mouths of Babes’] lyrics is reminiscent of all that’s moving about Dreamgirls.” Similarly, Ty’s acoustic songwriter sensibility can be traced back to her father, Ron Greenstein, who is well known in folk music circles for singing and playing bass in The Chad Mitchell Trio, a 60’s era harmony group originally featuring John Denver.

Ty and Ingrid met when Coyote Grace and Girlyman toured together throughout 2011 and 2012 (both groups went off the road in 2013). In 2014, the pair participated in a challenge called “Real Women Real Songs,” writing one song per week for a whole year. With the resulting trove of material they launched Mouths of Babes in late 2014 and released their debut EP, Faith & Fumes.  

Since hopping back on the road in 2015, MoB has headlined major acoustic venues (Club Passim, Freight & Salvage), performed on festival stages (Kate Wolf Music Fest, Rocky Mountain Folks Fest), taught songwriting workshops (Old Town School of Folk Music, Rocky Mountain Song School), and landed opening runs with Dar Williams. Onstage, "[Ty and Ingrid] offer unique counterpoints to one another. The laidback Tylan, nattily dressed in a tie and crisp suit jacket, has a rich, lovely alto. Elizabeth, clad in a sultry pink satin mini-dress, is a sassy chanteuse with a lilting soprano. Trading jokes and sharing elegant harmonies, the two women display an intuitive professional bond." (Chicago Tribune)

In early 2016, they ran a successful Kickstarter campaign for their forthcoming self-produced album. Recorded at Prairie Sun Studios in Sonoma County, CA, Brighter In The Dark features a “dream team” of musicians including Birds of Chicago, Mai Bloomfield (Jason Mraz), Tania Elizabeth (Avett Brothers, The Duhks), Michael Connolly and Joe Stevens (Coyote Grace), Joe Chellman (Girlyman), and Josh Yenne (The Easy Leaves).

Mouths of Babes will be releasing material from Brighter In The Dark throughout the coming months, with an eclectic arsenal of songs that showcases their knack for fusing blues, folk, and soul with poetic lyrics. Stay tuned for more news from this duo. “Acoustic music rich in passion and fervor…this pair of road warriors breathes new life into a seemingly overcrowded genre” (Submerge Mag), while painting a “vivid picture of life and love.” (Examiner.com)

Check out their following sites:

Website// Facebook // Twitter// Instagram

Check out our exclusive interview with Mouths of Babes below:

Q: Tell us about your upcoming full-length album, “Brighter in the Dark”.

TY GREENSTEIN:  "Brighter In The Dark" is Mouths of Babes’ first full-length album, and it’s been a really exciting process for us both. Ingrid wrote half the songs and Ty wrote the other half, and our styles are very different, so the challenge was to marry them with sonic elements and arrangements. We self-produced and assembled a dream team of some of our most talented musician friends, and the result has surpassed even our wildest ideas. We’re grateful to have had backing from 800 fans via Kickstarter, which gave us the freedom to make this album the way we wanted to. The result is a big, orchestral sound that ranges from dirty blues to Atlantic City soul to literate folk, with vintage electric guitars, strings, and background harmonies from the likes of Birds of Chicago. We’re thrilled.

Q: How has exercising your rights of marriage equality challenged, or fueled, your careers as artists?

INGRID ELIZABETH: We are very lucky to have gotten married when we did - which was about 2 months before it became legal in all 50 states. (It was already legally recognized in the state of Pennsylvania, where we were married in May 2015.) Our wedding was actually covered by MTV news as part of a story making the case for same sex marriage. http://www.mtv.com/news/2153109/marriage-equality-may-6/  So, if anything, our right to marry immediately gave us a leg up in the music world. There’s always a chance we are being judged or subject to prejudice behind our backs that we’re not aware of. But thus far, the world (including the music industry) continues to “act naturally” around us being a legally wedded couple. Although we believe it to be a matter of equal rights, it still feels like a privilege, given what the abuse and struggle our predecessors endured to gain such equal footing and acknowledgement. Truly a sign of the times, and we feel blessed and grateful for that.

Q: (to each of you) How would you say your upbringing has differed from others, being related to high-profile musical influences?

IE: The Broadway musical play Dreamgirls, which was written by my great-uncle Tom Eyen, debuted on Broadway the year I was born. My entire family knows every word to every song in that play, and I was raised on the original cast soundtrack. Since I didn’t have any classical musical training growing up (aside from singing in the school choir), I looked up to larger-than-life vocal divas like Jennifer Holliday (Effie) and the soul-infused grooves of Motown music with the added flair and bravado of Broadway showtunes. Because of my uncle’s success, my family recognizes a natural talent when they see one, which lead to me being the star (and then artistic director) of my family’s annual Christmas pageant. They’ve always been extremely supportive of my performing career, despite its lack of job security or 401K plan.

TG: My dad was a big influence - he’s a multi-instrumentalist and has always played in a lot of different bands. I grew up listening to him play bluegrass in bars, which I would say is a little different from most childhoods. But it was really when I was in my early teenage years that I started to become obsessed with songs and with vocal harmony. I worshiped the great songwriters - Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, John Phillips - and took apart every little thing they did, both lyrically and musically. And my dad really encouraged this exploration. It wasn’t until later that he joined the Chad Mitchell Trio, so I wasn’t starstruck by him or anything!

Q: Do you have any shows coming up that our readers should know about?

IE: We’re doing a few shows the week before Thanksgiving in the Northeast - namely the Boston, NYC, and DC areas. Then, in 2017, we’ll be doing a national tour of CD release shows for the new album. Details can be found on our website: www.mouthsofbabesmusic.com/shows

Q: What is your advice to aspiring artists looking to make a career out of their music?

IE: Like any career, it takes a lot of passion to pursue. But unlike most mainstream careers that one is groomed for, nothing can prepare you for this line of work except experience. It requires an intense level of dedication. You have to essentially not want or be able to do anything other than make music to persevere in this industry. It’s best to be flexible and light on your feet, as everything in your industry can and will be constantly in flux. Keep a low overhead. Try not to accrue any debt. And other such sexy rockstar advice.

TG: Also, community is so important. Fellow independent musicians will be your best teachers and advocates. Be gracious, share information, do shows together, and scratch each other’s backs. Try to help people who can’t do anything for you and nurture your relationships.

Austin, TX‐based electro‐pop group, Eyelid Kid, release their self‐produced album, Hometown. They recently dropped a video, “Landscape,” that already received praised from The Austin Chronicle, and features actress Violett Beane​, who plays Jesse Wells on CW​ drama The Flash.

Eyelid Kid are a rising force in the music industry. With songs written in the forest and performed in the city, Eyelid Kid construct spiritual adventures through their music. After only a few shows together, the band naturally grew from Paul Grant’s solo electronic act to a four piece, including  additional members, Sam Jordan (drums) and dancers, Mckenzie and Morgan Taylor. Inspired by acts like Drake, Tame Impala and Justin Bieber, the group combine catching frosting pop vibes with an interactive dance experience filled with glow paint and laser lights. After performing at high caliber festivals in the Texas region, including Utopia, Pecan St. and SXSW, Eyelid Kid delved into recording their debut album.

Already receiving notable mentions on AXS.com and TwelvMag, Eyelid Kid is forging a path in their native scene and beyond. Keep your eyes peeled for more, as Eyelid Kid will continue to release new tunes and visuals from Hometown over the coming months.

https://twitter.com/Eyelidkid

https://www.facebook.com/eyelidkid/?fref=ts

http://www.eyelidkid.com

Check out our interview with Eyelid Kid below:

Q: Tell us about your self-produced album, “Hometown”.

A: Hometown being Eyelid Kid's debut album was the first of many ventures. I had never produced a full length body of work so at times it was very intimidating, but each track came pretty naturally whether it was produced over the course of several months or in a single night. All in all "Hometown" feels like a portrait of myself and those who inspire me and I'm just excited to connect with others through it!

Q: How did you get the artist name, “Eyelid Kid”?

A: Several years ago I acted in a friend of mine's student film and he asked me to name it. I came up with the name "Eyelid Kid" but decided to use it as my personal alias and music project instead of the film title.

Q: What was your experience like performing at SXSW?

A: Being an official SXSW artist is a huge compliment because the market is so competitive. The showcase itself was pretty unexpected being inside a Voodoo Doughnut Shop in the heart of 6th street but that is just the nature of SX, if you weren't a venue before the festival you are now. Regardless, it was packed out and after it had reached capacity a crowd of 50+ formed outside of the doughnut shop window looking in to the black lit dance party we had created.

Q: Do you have any upcoming shows that you want our readers to know about?

A: We are headlining Antone's Nightclub one of Austin's most famous venues on December 1st for the fifth 5-1-Tunes Fest! After that we are going to focus on booking a west coast tour in 2017!

Q: What is your advice to aspiring artists looking to make a career out of their music?

A: All the cheesy things people tell you about dreams and success have a lot of truth to them. Build up a good team and make sure you're always happy doing what you do.

Alt funk/rock group, The Lipstick Junkies, release their new track, “New Friends,” from their forthcoming EP, The Lioness Volume, due out November 18th.  Their first self-produced release, The Lioness Volume is the first of a four-part series that will be released over the course of the next several months and showcases “jamming slick grooves and soulful vocals into a neat, retro-referencing but forward-thinking little package. (Exclaim.ca)

Uniting under the name The Lipstick Junkies in 2012, Greg Babinski (vocals/guitar), Brian Davis (bass) and JR Tomlinson (drums), and newly added member, guitarist Hayden French (guitar), are inspired by an eclectic mix of old-school inspirations, from 70's funk/disco to groove based rock, such as Jimi Hendrix and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Mentored by Coalition Music and producer Arnold Lanni (Our Lady Peace), the group released their self-titled album in May 2014, which was produced by Arnob Bal (Bombay Blaque). After the debut, the band hit the road, performing around southern Ontario, from London to Montreal, including appearances at Canadian Music Week, Indie Week and Ryerson Radio, and opening for acts like Walk Off the Earth and Organ Thieves. In mid 2015, The Lipstick Junkies took to the studio working on a three song EP titled New Lingo. In the production seat was Al Connelly, of the Juno award-winning band Glass Tiger.  Over the next year, the now four-piece outfit created significant buzz in their hometown of Toronto by performing on the local circuit, including shows at The Rivoli, The Silver Dollar, and Sneaky Dee’s. After packing the house for the New Lingo EP launch at The Horseshoe Tavern in early 2016, the band began working on The Lioness Volume.

Already securing rave reviews from Exclaim, AudioFuzz, Naked Underground and Popdose, and TV appearances across Canada, The Lipstick Junkies are ready to take their “machine of funky danceable grooves" (Zine) beyond Canada to an international audience. Stay tuned for more to follow “Lioness.”

More Information, visit the following sites:

Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

Check out our interview with the Lipstick Junkies below:

Q: Tell us about your EP, “The Lioness Volume”.

A: It’s our third release; so now we’ve done an album, an EP and this Volume, which is really between the two in terms of length. We set out to release something that was, above all else, cohesive within itself. So really it has a narrative and a mood; everything is there for a reason. We picked and wrote the songs to contextualize each other in a way that they could say more together. That’s why recording it ourselves was important to us, we felt like we had something to say, and that it would be best if we really had control over all of it.

Q: How did you come up with the name “The Lipstick Junkies”?

A: Most of us were in another band together, but as other bandmates left and our music changed it was time to come up with a new name. We threw around ideas for weeks, some we even tried to sleep on for a couple days, but we couldn’t find anything that really fit what we were looking for. Our name is actually from a Red Hot Chili Peppers song, and they were our favourite band growing up.

Q: What is the music industry in Canada like, compared to the industry in the States?

A: Honestly, since we do not have much experience in the US, it’s a hard question to answer. What we’ve noticed is that there are so many artists who have either started their own label or have joined smaller indie labels. To judge the difference – even between a single criterion in both industries would be tough to answer, given if we had experience.  What we can say is that within Canada itself, Toronto is a completely different beast.

Q: Do you have any shows coming up that you want our readers to know about?

A: October 28th is our fourth annual Halloween show, called Vamplounge. It’s at The Cavern, a bar in Toronto, and it’s always a ton of fun. We also have Lee’s Palace (Toronto) on November 24th.

Q: What is your advice to aspiring artists looking to make a career out of their music?

A: Just platitudes that could work for anything else. Listen to others. Treat people with respect. Do what you love and love what you do. Know the difference between what someone can do for you, and will do for you is. The truth is, who knows. Music is still caught in a strange limbo so everyone’s gonna have to blaze their own trail.

Brooklyn-based, melodic hip-hop-infused indie artist, Gold Clubb, drops their  new mixtape, Gold Clubb: The 2-Stroke Mixtape. Due out September 16th, the release was mixed by Josh Valleau (Kanye West, John Legend, Snoop Dogg).  Central figure, Nicky Francis, who straddles the music, art and fashion world, is fresh off a successful collaboration with Banner Day, the new line from fashion designers Grahm Sisson and Kate Ciepulch (of Laveer fame)  Their first run of high-end hand embroidered linen t-shirts featuring Francis’ drawings have been heralded by Harper's Bazaar and can be found in Intermix, Anthropologie, and Blue & Cream- just to name a few.

Gold Clubb, a side project to Francis’ indie rock band, The Majorleans, combines a  singer-songwriter mentality, channeling the energy of some of his favorite hip-hop/R&B vibes and indie grooves, including Lou Reed, Mos Def, Lupe Fiasco and Tame Impala. Francis teamed up with Matt Brandau, a long-standing underground producer and touring bass player who has worked with Ski Beats, Elvis Costello, Camp Lo, among others.  The project is named after one of the infamous Pulaski Highway stripclubs that Francis

would sneak into as a teenager in his native Baltimore.When the two united, it was instant chemistry, and Francis quickly laid down the vocals/words that would become Gold Clubb’s upcoming release.

Stay tuned for more material from Gold Clubb to come from their debut September release!

FOR MORE INFORMATION CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING SITES:

Facebook // Instagram

Check out our exclusive interview with Gold Clubb below:

Q: Tell us about your recent release, “Gold Clubb: The 2-Stroke Mixtape”.

A: Initially this was a side project. Matt is long-standing underground producer and touring bass player.  He used to be based in Chapel Hill. He’s worked with Ski Beats, Elvis Costello, Camp Lo, just to name a few.  He had this secret little studio on the upper west side of Manhattan when he moved here. I came through one day, and he played me a track he was working on, and something clicked in my head- like gimme the mic.  We thought it was a joke almost then we started playing them for people and everybody was feeling it so we decided to get a little serious and put some elbow grease into it.

Q: What was your experience like working with Josh Valleau as your project mixer?

A: It was great. Matt had already gotten the roughs into a good place, but Josh took the whole thing to the next level. We recorded a lot of lo-fi sounds and Josh was able to punch them up and make everything feel big without losing the character of what we had done.

Q: We noticed your collaboration with Banner Day. Any plans in the future to fuse your music with art and fashion?

A: Yes. Most Definitley.  I want to get them both over to my house under the guise of a cocktail party, crack open a bottle of ether, and do some magic tricks that will leave me sitting on top of the world.

Q: Do you have any shows coming up that you want our readers to know about?

A: We don’t have any shows or appearances booked at the moment, or management, or a label or anything for that matter. Just some tight cuts. We’re hoping someone will ask us to dance real soon though.

Q: What would be your advice to aspiring artists trying to make it in the industry?

A: I haven’t made it yet so I don’t know if Im qualified to give advice, but if you wanna make hits, make sure they are THE HITS.  If you just wanna do your thing, that’s cool too, probably a lot of people will dig it. But if you want everybody to dig it- know that you are chasing dragon tails, and they aren’t easy to catch and they are even harder to hold onto.

It’s what’s become vintage Rumjacks; it’s out the gate and straight down to business from Australian celtic rockers, The Rumjacks, whose​ new album ​Sleepin’ Rough is out August 5th.

Recorded at Bomba Studios in reg​ ional Victoria, S​ leepin’ Rough, the Sydney quintet’s third album, picks up where 2015’s Sober & Godless left off. Booming from the get-go with ‘Patron Saint Of Thieves’, a thundering punk aesthetic intertwined through the group’s Irish and Scottish musical heritage, this album is full throttle, all spit and bile, raucous and real.

But don’t make the mistake of thinking The Rumjacks are just an angry bunch of punks. Far from it – their music, while hard and fast for the most part, carries with it an element of fun and frivolity, harking back to their Old Country roots, places where music is an integral part of community gathering, soundtracking the times with an almost savage joy.

The melodic “A Fistful O’ Roses,” the acoustic “Les Darcy,” the ska-esque “Kathleen,” all carry a cheeky bonhomie, sometimes belying their subject matter, but always bringing a smile, a head-nod, a foot-tap. These tracks sit tidily alongside flat-out punk (“Dead To Me.” ‘Zielona Gora’), and the band’s now trademark mixture of the two. Stories of life, love and loss, set to a throbbing beat, ​Sleepin’ Rough sees The Rumjacks in career best form.

For More Information check out the following sites:

Facebook​

T​witter​

​Website

Check out our exclusive interview with the Rumjacks below:

Q: Tell us about your new album, “Sleepin’ Rough”.

A: This is our third LP and we made this one very differently from the previous two. We all went with our Producer, Steve James, and banished ourselves to a farmhouse in the country, miles from anywhere. We all played together in the same room, the whole band, producer & engineer too, it was far less clinical & a much more exciting way to record. Lots of material on the album was written & arranged on the spot, and quite a lot of what made it to the record was first-take stuff.. kinda more like albums used to be made.

The title ‘Sleeping’ Rough’ is a more ‘polite’ or politically correct way to refer to a homeless person, but also plays on the idea of someone ill at ease with their conscience. I think the themes throughout the album will be familiar to just about anyone, no matter where they’re from,.. these are rapidly changing times for us all, and while thats all very exciting, a lot of good individuals, and sometimes whole communities are being lost to us, along with all their valuable wisdom and experience.

Q: What is the music industry like in Australia, compared to that of the States/NYC?

A: Not yet having first hand experience with working in the US, its hard to say specifically. Something we know for sure though, especially where NYC and the East Coast is concerned, any music with a Scots/Irish core is wildly popular, and good, honest, well written & performed music like that gets a hell of a lot of support. We have so many friends & supporters there and across the US and we’re looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Q: Who are your biggest musical influences?

A: We could drop SO many names here its ridiculous, but obviously The Pogues, The Dubliners, The Corries, Social Distortion, Rancid, Bad Religion, The Clash,.. plus a Tonne of other Ska Reggae, Rock & Roll & singer songwriters. Lyrically for me I think my two heaviest influences have to be Rabbie Burns & Shane Macgowan, again among MANY others.

Q: Do you have any shows coming up that our readers should know about?

A: There are plans afoot to bring us to the USA in 2017, with our team working away at doing just that right now. So we’ll keep you all posted as soon as we have news to tell. In the meantime, we are back here in Australia for a run of shows across the summer, if anyones looking’ to escape the winter blues & head south, come say hello..

Q: What would be your advice for aspiring artists looking to make a career out of their music?

A: Learn as much as you can about the industry as you go, and keep your ears open to all kinds of music, theres something to be learned from it ALL. Its an industry that changes daily, and your creativity will not only help you make great music, but continually find new & interesting ways to make a career with it. Gone are the days when a record would sell itself & make you a million, which I think is great.. because it puts the opportunity back in the hands of the hard workers, and we all know they’re the folks with the best stories to tell.

What started as three archetypical genres, incarnate — late-night college hangs, musical orgies, if you will — has yielded a fully formed collaboration. Melding jazz, soul, indie rock and hip hop, Bien Bien have created their own brand of groovy, easily digestible tunes. The band’s founding members, Javi (vox, guitar), Marshall Arts (guitar) and Coniferous Wallace (beats, percussion), have the vibrant and youthful community of Madison, Wisconsin under their reverberant and colorful spell. Their debut EP, She Grooves Me, is due out in November 2016.

Inspired by the people and country of Spain, Javi and Marshall wrote the first two official Bien Bien tracks while living in Madrid. The name “Javi” originally was a nickname granted by a local Spanish musician and producer, who ended up recording a track for his solo project. The name stuck, not just throughout his experience in Spain, but as his musical moniker. Javi’s paternal grandmother is Cuban, and although he’s not fluent in Spanish, his personal history and identification with his grandmother’s life in Havana is strongly connected to his love of the Spanish groove. With the upcoming release of their debut EP, She Grooves Me, the band is branching out to an international community by releasing digitally.

The 4-track EP was completely self-recorded and produced in Coniferous’s home studio, Fort Knocks Studios, in Madison, Wisconsin, allowing for the band to record in a nontraditional and spontaneous manner. Javi spent two years perfecting the vocals and lyrics to “She Grooves Me,” and the track features a synthesizer riff derived from a keyboard found at a thrift shop for $18. It is clear that their level of sonic authenticity reaches further than what’s expected from their creative environment. Following the path of his idol, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Javi is driven by a balance of humility and creative musicality, while also paying homage to his local scene and roots. With local tour dates being announced in Madison, accompanying the release, stay tuned for the next single “Lake Superior” due out soon.

For More Information check out the following sites:

Facebook / Instagram / Soundcloud / Twitter / Bandcamp

Check out our interview with Bien Bien below:

Q: Tell us about your upcoming EP, “She Grooves Me”.

A: Our debut EP is built around the sonic groove that we felt while making this music. This groove stems from our musical influences: Marshall's musicianship is drawn from the jazz-chorus guitar work of Johnny Marr and Mac DeMarco, Coniferous's drums illustrate that he is a student of the left-field natural swing of the hip hop legend J Dilla (rest in beats), and I combine these two sides of the spectrum to form a soulful center. So you can say that the She Grooves Me - EP is a showcase of style in a way - a showcase of influence. We give thanks to the forefathers, sonically, through the music on this EP, because we realize that you can't musically innovate if you don't understand where the music came from first. We not only respect the groovy jams of the past, but also understand the creative purpose behind putting out instrumentals that showcase your style too. That is what's on this EP: A mix of vocalism and instrumentalism.

Q: What is the music industry like in Spain compared to the US?

A: There is a lot less infrastructure with the music industry in Spain. I think that is due to their country's culture. For example, Spaniards eat dinner late in the evening, most likely during times that concerts actually occur. Then people go out even later, mainly to clubs or bars. So there's this weird timeframe that concerts take up in Spain. That's not to say that there's very little concerts or that these concerts are unattended - there is a huge artistic scene in Barcelona and Madrid. The music there, from just my experience, seemed to be a bit more spontaneous, whimsical and street-oriented, which is fascinating and beautiful, but there's this lack of industry infrastructure that results in local music scenes staying on a more grassroots level. But I adore the intimate romanticism in their music; I think that's a direct representation of their culture and heritage, and it is a style that I draw inspiration from greatly.

Q: Javi, who is your biggest inspiration?

A: Artistically, I would say Justin Vernon of Bon Iver is my biggest artistic inspiration. It is not just the music itself (I adore his music), but I'm mainly influenced and amazed by his work ethic that goes into his music and other endeavors. You can hear his soul in his music - it's not just a person singing that you hear - it's the real deal. It's also fascinating how he contributes to and produces other musical projects at the same time as Bon Iver. His musical scope is quite impressive. But you can really understand how much he cares about his fans and his roots through the Eaux Claires Music Festival that he created. I respect that. The man's humble, and in my opinion, a soulful genius.

Q: What are some of the places that you plan to tour?

A: Well I'd love to tour all over the U.S., but realistically at this stage, I am going to stick to lining up something regionally. Looking at a Midwest tour - possible in this upcoming Winter or Spring 2017. The hope is to also do a big summer tour in 2017 as well. I'm excited - I love playing shows.

Q: What is your advice to artists who are looking to make a career out of their music?

A: Find the perfect balance between making music that is for you and for others. This is not a formulaic process. It is a very natural and gradual growth of your creative sensibilities that allows you to realize what moves you, and what moves others - a mix of critical and commercial artistry. Because if you are too commercial, the purpose that your music serves is just to please the masses, in the moment, with what everyone wants to hear - and that leaves very little room for growth and innovation. This growth and innovation is what keeps you in the picture longer, allows you to stay relevant and makes your music timeless. If you are too critical and personal, the purpose that your music serves is to please yourself, and your music won't be able to reach the masses or have that spreadability - and you do need that spreadability to make a living off of the music you love to make. So if you think about creating and releasing music as being on a scale from a very specific, niche style to a very general, accessible style - you want the music you make to be just in the middle of that scale in order to find growth, success and timelessness in your music - and that music takes on all different sonic forms, shapes and sizes. I'm no expert, but in all the timeless songs we've grown up with and fallen in love with over the years, you'll notice how accessible and enjoyable they are to listen to - and if you listen even further - how innovative and creative they were for its time. That is the common theme between all the greatest music in our history.

Pop artists have traditionally been caged to fit preset molds and present inauthentic personas. Art Pop artist, Aish, shatters all of the boundaries within which pop artists have been previously presented. Aish creates a grand, yet intrinsically layered sound, collaborates with performance and internet artists and brings a novel, queer, multiethnic perspective to the modern scene.

Aish was born to a physicist father and an artist mother. He was born in Moscow during the Soviet Era and grew up in the UK and India. Aish became estranged from his family when he came out as gay, which drove him to move to the United States in search for a place to thrive as his true self and pursue his art. Aish studied music, with a focus on voice, songwriting and music composition at the London Music School, Berklee College of Music and City College of San Francisco. Aish now calls San Francisco home, where he makes music inspired by the magnificence of the California Pacific coast.

Aish wrote “Promise Me” to make sense of the difficult separation from his mother, a separation that left him with many unanswered questions. In his debut video, “Promise Me,” Aish collaborates with Kytten Janae, a prominent LA-based visual artist known for her manipulations of human figurines. The video tells the story of humanity, through Kytten’s stylistically uncanny human forms. Kytten’s work has been featured in various multi-media exhibitions and galleries. She previously collaborated with Animal Collective, animating their widely received “FloriDada” video, which reached over 1.2 million views. “Promise Me” tells the story of a child emerging from his mother into the world. The track was produced by Patrick Brown, acclaimed producer who has worked with Toro y Moi, The Morning Benders and Grimes. Growing up feeling like his questions were unanswered, AISH is on a transformative quest to retrace his past, present his unique narrative and send it out to the world.

“Promise Me” is the first single from Aish’s debut album, Mother. The album explores the intricate relationship between mother and child, but also touches on themes such as migration and finding one’s home. It is cinematic, featuring non-traditional instruments and naturally found sounds. The album was produced by acclaimed producer, Beau Sorenson, who previously worked alongside Bob Mould, Death Cab For Cutie and Superchunk. He collaborates with the creative team at Rabbit Hole UK, who have worked with Warner Music and Universal. Stay tuned for more music and videos from Aish, and make sure to follow his social media pages (@AishMusic) for updates.

For More Information, check out the following sites:

Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Soundcloud

Check out our exclusive interview with Aish below:

Q: Tell us what the music industry is like in San Francisco, compared to the east coast.

A: I was in New York in the summer, working with Rashaad Newsome on the music video for "Orcas," from my new album. I saw firsthand how deep the arts run in New York's veins – the music industry operates at a massive scale, with greater arts funding, and a huge variety of music comes out of New York due to the city's sheer diversity. The San Francisco music industry has been massively impacted by the demographic and economic shift in the region, largely due to the booming tech economy. A lot of my artist friends have moved to the fringes of the Bay Area, or to LA altogether, due to the stupendous cost of living. Some historic music venues like the Elbo Room, Cafe Du Nord, Red Devil Lounge and Kimo's shut their doors. However, amid these changes there's a renewed vibrancy in the arts scene. Multidisciplinary art spaces are springing up all over the city. Festivals such as Outside Lands can afford to bring bigger acts to San Francisco. A lot of local music still embodies a certain rebellion with its guitar-based indie rock with a tinge of folk, hearkening back to the San Francisco Sound. We're seeing more experimental and electronic acts. Music production studios are thriving, for example Tiny Telephone, where I record my big, symphonic sounds, has even added a brand-new third studio in Oakland – and they're booked six months out. Not least, technology companies redefining the music business like Apple, Spotify, Pandora, Sony, Soundcloud, Amazon and Youtube have headquarters or a substantial presence in the Bay Area.

San Francisco has been the perfect setting for me to write music. I do most of my writing in nature, by the Pacific Ocean, Muir Woods or Lands End, far from the madding crowd yet close enough to see the city lights and hear its sounds.

Q: Tell our readers the story behind your debut album, Mother.

A: In September 2014, I had no idea I'd produce this album, that it'd sound the way it does, that I'd call it "Mother". I was just thirsting for the next challenge. I didn't want to make just another pretty song, I wanted to create three-minute musical landscapes. I wanted to make works of art bursting with feel that also worked as a pop songs. I didn't know how I'd make this creative shift until I randomly found an 1890 Wilcox & White reed organ (still set to 432Hz tuning!) at a Bayview antique close-out sale. The collector just wanted to get rid of the organ and I just wanted a new medium for composition. So, for $600 I found myself precariously holding up the organ in the open back of the Chevy Silverado that my friend Jeff drove up steep 17th street.

The organ gave me a sea of options to play with sustains and attacks, which translated beautifully into really modern strings and synth arrangements that you'll hear all over  "Mother." Without the percussive support of a guitar, the organ forced me to really tighten up  my flow game, like in "Migrant". I also decided to substitute acoustic drums with electronics, tuned percussion and experimental sounds of cactus, bird wings and choir samples. I wrote 32 songs through 2015.

This creative shift was hard. Some days I was dizzy with excitement about meeting the trio players at the studio and other days I felt sick with uncertainty and doubt. For example, when in awe of Bjork's "Lionsong" I'd think, what if my strings don't work with the beat? I felt pregnant with my new sounds, and Hadyn's trio compositions, Bjork's "Vulnicura" and Missy Elliott's "So Addictive" saw me through it. In the end we recorded 16 wonderful pieces. Once the recordings were complete I put all the music away to work on new pieces.

When I revisited the produced work after a couple of months, a pattern emerged in the writing across 10 of the pieces. It turned out to be all about making sense of my relationship with my mother, about growing up with her, our separation, my acceptance of her humanity with all its imperfections, and most importantly, realising the significant role mothers play in shaping who we are. Mothers are the first people we learn human relationships from. The very basic ideas of attachment, trust, survival and nourishment come from the mother. Mothers have the very hard job of developing an attachment with the child only to let go. That's what the first single, "Promise Me," is about.

In the middle of this all, I remembered the collector at the antique shop telling me how the reed organ was passed down to him from his mother.

So, I'm calling this album "Mother".

Q: Do you plan on revisiting any of your international hometowns any time soon?

A: San Francisco is my hometown, but I wonder what the soaring chorus of "Orcas" would sound like in the halls of St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square with a 30-piece orchestra. I go to England once a year.

Q: Do you have any shows coming up that you would like to share?

A: March 25, 2017 at the De Young Museum, San Francisco.

Q: What is your advice to aspiring artists looking to make a career in

the music industry?

A: * Love yourself. Love your work. Surround yourself with those who help you move forward. Put good things in your body. I love arugula. As David Lynch says, "The more the artist is

suffering, the less creative he is going to be".

* Make a lot of art. The more you create, the closer you are to realising your work's uniqueness and potential. "Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You"

- Dr. Seuss

* Have the conversation, "Why do I want to make art?" Is it for commercial success, fame, a creative outlet? It can be a surprisingly difficult conversation to have with oneself and you may never fully have the answer. But the sooner you have this conversation, the sooner you'll know what shape your art will take.

Elijah Dhavvan,​ who goes by the moniker​, Tobias The Owl​, ain’t your typical guitar-slingin’ singer/songwriter. The man’s rich vox tone, heartfelt lyrical knack and boast-worthy sense of melody sets him apart from pack. This is abundantly evident in his new track,​“SingMeToSleep,”​which premiered this week with Power Of Pop​ (see here).

“Sing Me To Sleep” is just one of the 8 classic songs featured on TTO’s sophomore release, Every Eye is a Universe ​set for release later this Summer on London Tone Music. The new album is the follow up to Elijah’s widely acclaimed album/novel, ​Painting Zeroes By Your Name and features collaborations with numerous, talented musicians, including string arrangements and performances by ​Andrew D. B. Joslyn (Macklemore, Damien Jurado, David Bazan);; guitar

and vocals by ​Timothy Van Buren (Mary Lambert);; and percussion by ​Scott Seiver (Aimee Mann, Tenacious D, Flight of the Conchords).

"The album features very pensive songs about life and healing," says Elijah. “I wanted to paint soundscapes that complement a lot of different emotions that emerge when one is dealing with loss and questioning the nature of fate.”

Every Eye... ​was recorded at the iconic and historic London Bridge Studio, with production by Geoff Ott (Brandi Carlile) and ​Marvin Etzioni (Dixie Chicks, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Counting Crows).

UK’s ​Songwriting Magazine debuted the lead track, “The Wind and the Echo”, back in late May, which resulted in thousands of plays and over 100 downloads of the track: http://www.songwritingmagazine.co.uk/news/exclusive-the-wind-the-echo-by-tobias-the-owl/317 43

One of the songs on the album, “Paint My Love”, is also being covered by acclaimed singer-songwriter, Jonah Tolchin (Yep Roc Records) and will be featured on his album, “Thousand Mile Night”.

The tour will include dates in August and September covering Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Tacoma, Hermosillo, and Boston will start on August 12t​h at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle with The Banner Days and the Local Strangers opening the show.

Tobias the Owl has previously become a strong presence in the musical community of the Pacific Northwest. A tour with Matt Costa resulted in sold-out shows in San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. Tobias the Owl has also shared the stage with David Bazan, Kimya Dawson, John Moreland, and many others. Some of the songs of Tobias the Owl have been featured in cinema and television, on soundtracks, and in retail locations, including a featured placement internationally in Starbucks stores.

For press purposes, the album can be streamed at this

https://soundcloud.com/tobiastheowl/sets/every-eye-is-a-universe/s-jCqTm

Track List: 1. The Wind and the Echo 2. Broadest Akimbo 3. Murmurs 4. Punxsutawney Lullaby 5. Pretty 6. Sing me to Sleep 7. Sleight of Hand 8. Paint my Love

link:

Official website:​ ​www.tobiastheowl.com Tobias the Owl

[email protected]

Official website:​ ​www.tobiastheowl.com

Facebook page:​ ​facebook.com/tobiastheowl

Bandcamp page:​ ​tobiastheowl.bandcamp.com

Youtube page:​ ​youtube.com/tobiastheowl

Soundcloud page:​ ​soundcloud.com/tobiastheowl

For press inquiries, please contact Perry Serpa and/or Spencer Foster at Good Cop Public Relations. Phone: 212 777-0627 or email: [email protected] ;; s​ [email protected]

Check out our exclusive interview with Tobias The Owl below:

Q: Tell us about your new record, Every Eye Is A Universe.

A: The album was really mostly written while I was going through a time of deep personal reflection. I had been diagnosed with leukemia, and I was recovering, when I wrote most of the songs. That personal period of growth, pensiveness, and meditation made me consider a lot of fundamental questions about the universe and our place in it.

The album was originally about the internal experiences that we have that are powerful, but ineffable and transcend our forms of communication. In our own minds and our own lives, we can never really share some aspects what we're feeling, and therefore, every eye is a universe unto itself. However, as the songs were written, the meaning of the album became deeper, and included the fact that our observations have irrevocable effects on the universe itself.

On a quantum level, the energy that permeates the universe---including the energy of the cosmic background and the energy of galaxies---travels as waves. That means that each photon exists as a distribution of possibilities, and in an infinite number of possible states, until it reaches its destination, whether that destination is an cell of our bodies or the planet that we live in. Therefore, the act of observing the universe in our daily existence inevitably changes the very nature of existence, and alters the reality of our existence in profound ways.

Moreover, the nature of our universe through its fundamental properties, engenders the emergence of consciousness. Just as this universe has a set of fundamental, governing laws that results in the existence of stars and galaxies, there are fundamental principles of physics that result in the creation of beings that are destined to understand the elegant details of the fabric of existence on a cosmological and microscopic scale. Our consciousness is an emergent and fundamental phenomenon which results from the physical laws of the universe. In that regard, our observations of the universe are the fulfillment of a destiny that is dictated by the nature of the universe itself.

Q: How does the industry in the pacific northwest compare to that of NY/Northeast?

A: I've been lucky to have found a lot of great fans and a very supportive community of musicians in a lot of places. When I wrote "Every Eye is a Universe", I tried to focus on very personal ideas, feelings, and experiences that are also commonalities of human experience. I sought to emphasize resonant themes that could be widely relatable. I think the commonalities that join us as humans far outweigh the differences that separate us as individuals. I've found that our relationship with music is very universal. In some ways, Seattle is a little more geographically isolated, and so that forces the musical industry to develop a strong sense of community, but I've been lucky to have really wonderful experiences of friendship with a large, extended family of musicians and musical fans in both regions.

Q: What would be your advice to artists looking to get their music placed in movies/TV shows?

A: I think a lot of artists have similar motivations to musicians, including the desire to create a moving and resonant experience for an audience. Actually, some of the most rewarding soundtrack and film placements are collaborations that started with a connection with a local filmmaker or writer. I think building bridges between musicians and other artistic communities is a wonderful way to share songs.

Q: Do you have any shows coming up?

A: This weekend, I'll be headlining at the Mint on Saturday, September 3rd and then at Hotel Utah onSeptember 4th. After that, I have shows in Vancouver, Portland, Mexico, Toronto, and Boston coming up throughout the next two months. And we also have a lot of secret shows, house shows, and living room shows that we're really excited about, in a lot of places.

Q: What is your advice to aspiring artists looking to make a career out of their music?

A: I think that one of the most interesting ironies of artistic expression is that the deeper, more intimate, more personal experiences are often the experiences that are the most universally relatable. So finding a way to hear the deepest undertones of your own voice is the best way to connect to a large audience. I think the best songwriters are the ones who focus internally, and find their voice. When you do find your own voice, it's often surprising that the deepest revelations are the most resonant connections with others.

M Pire Magazine is a digital magazine that educates artists on how to build their career in the music industry. Check out our website at www.mpiremagazine.com. To know about artist promotion opportunities, how-to’s on artist development, and upcoming artist events, feel free to sign up to our newsletter by Clicking Here, and also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

It takes work for relationships to last. You have the initial stage where everything goes just fine, but as the coupling begins to settle, things come up and questions begin to arise. Nashville based singer/songwriter tackles those doubts with “Can We Survive,” the first single from upcoming EP Turning To Wine.

Shedding his roots in Georgia, Reuben Bidez made the journey to Nashville to further his career and the transitions are on full display in this latest set. “The record is a snapshot of the changes I’ve been experiencing for the last two and half years,” says Bidez, continuing that it is his most honest collection to date. Bidez enlisted the help of Grammy award winning producer Mitch Dane (Jars of Clay, Humming House, Ryan Horne) to create a dynamic sound in the upcoming Turning To Wine EP.

The track for “Can We Survive” premiered on Huffington Post and is now available through all digital retailers. Turning To Wine will be available on September 30.

For More Information visit the following links:

Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Soundcloud

Check out our exclusive interview with Reuben Bidez below:

1. Tell us about your upcoming EP, “Turning To Wine”.

Turning to Wine is a collection of songs I've written over the past 2 years.  It started while still living in Atlanta and continued once I moved to Nashville.  It tells a story of love's journey.  A rise and fall and rise again.  I wanted to record the songs in a classic style and I think we really created something quite lovely.  Along with Producer Mitch Dane, we set out to never over-produce, but let the songs naturally develop.  Most of the tracks were recorded as a band and other things were overdubbed later.  It's scheduled to come out on September 23rd.

2. How is the music industry/opportunities in Georgia compare to Nashville, TN?

Atlanta is a great town for music if you are in the right genre.  I started off playing music in the church and Atlanta had tons of opportunities for that.  I would say that the Hip Hop scene is pretty strong in Atlanta too. But being a singer-songwriter was difficult.  I really felt that I needed to move for me to take the next step as a writer and artist.  Nashville has been so collaborative and supportive.  It was definitely the right move for me.

3. What initially inspired you to pursue music as a career path?

I had people who believed in me.  I was given a job at a music store before I even knew how to play guitar.  I think that really jump started things for me.  I joined the chorus in high school.  And soon people started telling me l that I was a good singer.  I'm definitely a person that needs some encouragement to get things rolling.  I really think the belief and words of others sparked my interest in being a musician.  I've always been an entertainer at heart.  I think I just found that music was the best avenue for me to entertain others.

4. Do you have any shows coming up?

Yes!  

Aug 29 - NYC - Rockwood Music Hall

Sept 6 - LA - Hotel Cafe

Sept 20 - Nashville - The High Watt (EP Release Show)

Sept 21 - Atlanta - Vinyl (EP Release Show)

5. What would be your one piece of advice for artists looking to make a career out of their music?

I would say don't be afraid to be yourself.  It's ok to be influenced by other artists, but don't try to be them.  The best thing that ever happened to me was realizing that I didn't have to be anyone else other than myself.  And if I could offer one other piece of advice that set me free from a life of waiting and impatience.  Control the things you can control and let the uncontrollable happen when it happens.  You can sit around paralyzed while waiting for others to do something for you.  It's best to work hard at what you have in front of you.  Somehow, the other things just come around on their own.

M Pire Magazine is a digital magazine that educates artists on how to build their career in the music industry. Check out our website at www.mpiremagazine.com. To know about artist promotion opportunities, how-to’s on artist development, and upcoming artist events, feel free to sign up to our newsletter by Clicking Here, and also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

No artist is happy staying in one place for too long, and Slim Cessna’s Auto Club are no exception. And so it is that the Denver-based fivesome will be hitting the long road this fall in support of their new LP The Commandments According to SCAC, due out September 2nd on their own SCACUNINCORPORATED label.

The band is currently finishing up a run of West Coast dates, set to wrap with a show at the iconic Bluebird Theater in their hometown on September 9th.

So far so good, as RELIX premiered their first offered video, “Commandment 4” back in May: http://www.relix.com/blogs/detail/video_premiere_slim_cessnas_auto_club_commandment_4, just one of the said “commandments” (really, “songs,” and there are 10) offered on this brilliant new long player, rife with real poetry, memorable songs, bottomless personality and profound ideas. It’s more than just listening to an album- it’s a transporting experience of swinging moods, heartfelt salvos and jaunty rhythms melding country blues, Southern gospel, something called ‘gothabilly,” country gothic, alternative country, et cetera.

Soon after sporadic stateside dates, SCAC will head over the pond for a slew of dates all over the EU, set for 9/15-10/22, including the UK. Wrapping up 2016, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club will return for a closing set of East Coast, Canadian and Southeast dates. See full list below...

US TOUR DATES

6/29 - Spearfish, SD - The Legendary Back Porch

6/30 -  Saint Paul, MN - Turf Club

7/1 - Green Bay, WI - Lyric Room

7/2 - Chicago, IL - Moonrunners Music Festival

7/3 - Madison, WI - Frequency

7/9 - Dillon, CO - Dillon Amphitheater

8/11 - Albuquerque, NM - Low Spirits

8/12 - Tucson, AZ - The Flycatcher

8/13 - Santa Ana, CA - Yost Theater

8/14 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom

8/31 - Kansas City, MO - Westport Saloon

9/2 - Cookeville, TN - Muddy Roots Festival- SCAC set

9/9 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater- Record Release Show

11/17 - Omaha, NE - Reverb

11/18 - Ames, IA - DG's Tap House

11/19 - Chicago, IL - Subterranean

11/20 - Detroit, MI - Lager House

11/21 - Cincinnati, OH - MOTR Pub

11/22 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Tavern

11/23 - Pittsburgh, PA - Club Cafe

11/24 - Hamilton, ON - This Ain't Hollywood

11/25 - Toronto, ON - Silver Dollar

11/26 - Ottawa, ON - Ritual

11/27 - Montréal, QC - Bar Le Ritz

11/29 - Pawtucket, RI - The Met*

11/30 - Allston, MA - Great Scott*

12/1 - Brooklyn, NY - The Bell House*

12/2 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s

12/3 - Baltimore, MD - Metro Gallery

12/4 - Washington, DC - Hill Country Live DC

12/6 - Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall

12/7 - Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light

12/8 - Nashville, TN - Exit / In

12/9 - Dallas, TX - Three Links

12/10 - Austin, TX - The Sidewinder

*with O’Death

For More Information, check out the following sites:

Slim Cessna’s Auto Club -  Facebook / Website / YouTube

Check out our exclusive interview with SCAC below:

1. What has your experience been like touring on the West Coast so far?

I can't imagine anyone being interested in hearing what my experience has been like out west. It's really hot down here.

2. What experience do you anticipate when you guys do the international tour?

I never remember how to translate Fahrenheit to Celsius. Please forgive me Europe friends. If it's any cooler than 110 degrees, it will be wonderful.

3. How are you able to keep the energy/momentum going, having done tours continuously for a few months now?

Today , we've been dumping water bottles over our heads because the AC went out in the van.

4. Have you guys collaborated with any other bands while on tour?

No, they don't seem to like us very much. They also stuck us with this lousy van.

5. What would be your biggest “must have” on the to-do list for an artist looking to go on tour?

25 years of doing this crap, we had to learn the hard way. We still don't have a clue what we're doing.

M Pire Magazine is a digital magazine that educates artists on how to build their career in the music industry. Check out our website at www.mpiremagazine.com. To know about artist promotion opportunities, how-to’s on artist development, and upcoming artist events, feel free to sign up to our newsletter by Clicking Here, and also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

When you begin to overthink things, the original purpose will often get lost in all the added flair. By removing the unnecessary, the true beauty of the message is given the opportunity to shine. Psychedelic funk act Space Orphan showcase just how important that is with their new album, Shut Up About The Sun, out this September.

Shut Up About The Sun is the first proper release from the Denver-based group. Led by Jon Wirtz and his dream team of funk, the album features the band’s  “progressive old school” sound, where they nod to the classic funk gods like James Brown and Soulive, but not without adding their own modern take.

The full origins of Space Orphan are a little hard to nail down, but initial planning began in the early months of 2015. Wirtz (keys) was hitting a few creative roadblocks on various solo projects when he was reminded of what made him excited about music in the first place - grooving funk music. After writing a handful of songs, he rushed into the studio with close friends to finish them before he could over-analyze them. Rounding out the lineup is Eric Imbrosciano (drums), Taylor Scott (guitar) and Todd Edmunds (bass) who’ve played for Otis Taylor, plus Gabriel Mervine (trumpet) and Matt Pitts (tenor saxophone) of The Motet.

While the band didn’t begin playing shows until recently, the music is already beginning to resonate with fans. It’s not surprising though as Wirtz made it clear that they wanted everyone involved with Space Orphan, both band and audience, to have as much fun as possible. Space Orphan have already built a passionate fan base and have been fortunate enough to land spots supporting George Porter Jr. and Jans Ingber’s Funk Fellowship.

Shut Up About the Sun will be available September 30th through digital retailers and fans can grab their own physical copy at Space Orphan shows this Fall.

For More Information visit the following sites:

Website / Facebook

Check out our exclusive interview with Space Orphan below:

Q: Tell us about your new album, “Shut Up About The Sun”.  

This is the first record from Space Orphan, and we're very proud of it. Seven songs, super funky, and Kyle Jones did a hell of a job mixing and mastering--it sounds great.  

A: How did you all meet?  

Most of us met around the Denver scene. I met our drummer (Eric Imbrosciano) at a jam session and knew he'd be perfect for this project. Gabe Mervine (trumpet) and Matt Pitts (sax) I also met at a jam session years ago--I've played with them a bunch. And Taylor Scott (guitar) and Todd Edmunds (bass), I play and tour with those guys in another band as well.  

Q: How do you feel about the evolution of the music industry from physical to digital, now that everything is being done online?  

A: It has it's pros and cons. On the one hand, it easier to connect directly with your fans and get new music out to them.  On the downside, music has been devalued and everyone expects it for free now. It can be tough on artists who are trying to sell their product. Personally, I still enjoy listening to and buying albums, looking at the artwork, putting on headphones and getting the whole experience out of an album.  

Q: Do you have any shows coming up?  

A: Yes, we are playing with Juno What?! at Cervantes for our Denver CD release party on Sept. 30th, and then again for our Ft. Collins CD release party at Hodi's Half Note onOctober 1st.  

Q: What would be your one advice to aspiring artists looking to make a career out of their music?

A: First and foremost, you'll need to have cool hair.  Find a stylist before you even buy your first instrument. Once you have that covered, clothes and image is next. You need to be the absolute coolest kid on the block--beards are so hot right now, I recommend that, even for the ladies. After a few years of developing your image, you're ready to buy your first instrument. I wouldn't overanalyze that decision, anything will work.  You can probably master that in 3-6 months. Then get to work on your first record, which you can probably bust out in a few days (tops) on any worthwhile smartphone.  Post a video on youtube, and wa-la, you made it!

M Pire Magazine is a digital magazine that educates artists on how to build their career in the music industry. Check out our website at www.mpiremagazine.com. To know about artist promotion opportunities, how-to’s on artist development, and upcoming artist events, feel free to sign up to our newsletter by Clicking Here, and also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Written by Omega B

SummerStage and Rock Steady Crew have been known to have awesome shows during the SummerStage concert series and this year is no different. With Rock Steady Crew celebrating 39 years of progression, this year’s line-up and surprise guests made me even more excited for what is to come in the years to follow.  Hosted by End Of The Week (producers of New York’s longest running weekly open mic), this year’s event was headlined by legendary hip-hop artists such as Doug E Fresh, who is known as the first human beat box; Bahamadia a female Emcee, DJ, and active member on the Universal Hip-Hop Museum’s Women’s Advisory board; and Nice and Smooth, a Hip-Hop duo consisting of Greg Nice and Smooth B, most notorious for their hit single, Sometimes I Rhyme Slow. Surprise guests included Rah Digga, The Legions, Nine (formally known as 9MM), and The Awesome 2 (Teddy Ted and Special K).

Keeping true to the Hip-Hop culture, all elements (DJ, Beatboxing, MC, Graffiti, and Breakers) were accounted for. The spirit was live and thriving as the crowd enjoyed singing along to their favorite tunes and the highly anticipated new moves brought by the Rock Steady Crew. No one let the rain damper their spirits and stood together holding umbrellas in one hand and their drinks in the other.  I left feeling excited about next year’s performance. Check out some of the photos below, and check out the rest of the photos on our facebook page by Clicking Here.

M Pire Magazine is a digital magazine that educates artists on how to build their career in the music industry. Check out our website at www.mpiremagazine.com. To know about artist promotion opportunities, how-to’s on artist development, and upcoming artist events, feel free to sign up to our newsletter by Clicking Here, and also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

There’s something so magnetic about a story’s villain. You want to know their motive. You want to trace back history to the moment they snapped. You want to unravel their plan. They have such a beautiful, evil mind - it’s hard not to become infatuated with their cleverness. Rose Villain has that exact charm: smart, talented, charismatic - and maniacal.

The Milan-born, NYC-based vocalist and songsmith just debuted her distinctive brand of fashionable, forward-thinking - and completelyvillainous - pop music in her new video, “Get The Fuck Out Of My Pool.”

“Get The Fuck Out Of My Pool”

For More Information, check out the following links:

Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube / Soundcloud

Check out our exclusive interview with Rose Villain below:

Q: Tell us about your new video, “Get The Fuck Out Of My Pool”.

A: Most of my video ideas come from dreams and nightmares I have. I keep a tiny notebook next to my bed and I often wake up in the middle of the night to write them down. For GTFOOMP I dreamed about ufo's and a semi-polite sharing of the planet with aliens.

Q: What was it like moving from Milan to LA at 18 years old and how did the move impact your music career?

A: Since I was 6, I told my parents that as soon as I finished my studies in Italy, I would move to the US to pursue music. I love my country, but there is no space to be  daring - musically and visually - I think. It's sort of conservative. Fuck that.

Q: Who is your greatest inspiration?

A: My dad. He follows his instincts no matter what and he's moved by passion in all he does. And everything he does, no matter how successful he might have become, he does so with extreme humility and patience.

Q: Do you have any shows coming up?

A: Probably this Fall , yes.

Q: What is your advice to aspiring artists looking to make a career out of their music?

A: If you have a plan B, don't even start and do something else. It's a ride or die, so you better know what you want.

M Pire Magazine is a digital magazine that educates artists on how to build their career in the music industry. Check out our website at www.mpiremagazine.com. To know about artist promotion opportunities, how-to’s on artist development, and upcoming artist events, feel free to sign up to our newsletter by Clicking Here, and also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Music that’s truly interesting should be dangerous. Playing it safe strips any real rock ‘n roll credibility off the gritty surface, which is where the distinctive quality lives. Rich Girls don’t have that problem. The NYC-based garage / art rock three-piece have a brand new EP, Love is the Dealer, due out in September that proves it.

Love Is The Dealer will be the band’s third EP. It takes a darker twist than Rich Girls’ prior efforts, circling around the idea that “Love may be the drug, but it’s also the dealer.” With spiritual godparents, such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, Brian Wilson and New Order, and contemporary influence taken from The Kills, Raveonettes, Ice Age and The Drums, Rich Girls ditch the bass and hold their own with two guitars and a drum set.

The band grew roots in 2013 when Luisa Black (guitar, vocals)- who is  ever-obsessed with finding that perfect nuance of reverb - started the project on her own, under the moniker “Rich Girls,” while living in London. She chose the name to mask the fact that she was still sans band, and Black says she chose it because she “wanted rock lifers in rumpled corporate suits, like a bizarro-world version of Robert Palmer girls. A riot in the world of the rich.” Black doubles as an art programmer when she’s not making music, and runs art shows out of her Soho apartment in NYC every month.

She wrote the first record on GarageBand in the living room of a London flat before recording it in California with producer Sean Beresford (Run D.M.C, Third Eye Blind, The Donnas, The Blacks). Black played every instrument herself on the first EP, The One I Want,  which came out on Tricycle Records in November 2013. The release was a pop confessional of love and addiction that was created after the breakup of her former band, San Francisco-based garage rockers, The Blacks. The EP created a viral buzz in California, and out of an imminent need to have a band to play shows - Black filled out the lineup with August Churchill (guitar) and a handful of local musicians.

Rich Girls debuted the new band at Noise Pop Festival in February 2014. Later that Fall, they released their second EP, FIVER, with Breakup Records. Radio play in Nottingham, Leeds, Glasgow and Leipzig soon followed, along with press love in the UK and Germany. The band spent 2015 playing regular gigs with their new drummer, Gavin Haag (The Blacks), and starting their work on the new EP. At the end of last year, the band relocated to NYC and played their first show at Color Me Bushwick’s  festival. Now, NYC feels like home and the EP is done!

The digital version of Love is the Dealer will be self-released right before the band hits the road for a East Coast tour in mid-September and cassettes will available via Weiner Records. Expect vinyl and an awesome music video of “Loaded,” as well!

For More Information check out the following sites:

Website /  Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube / Soundcloud / Bandcamp

Check out our exclusive interview with Rich Girls below:

Q: Tell us about your upcoming EP, Love is the Dealer.

A: A walk to the edge disguised as pop songs. I don't know. I was coming out of a bit of a rough patch and feeling very raw. But also like I had very little left to lose anymore. And that's a great place to write from because any constraints I might normally have felt in terms of adhering to genre suddenly fell away. And I just followed the sonic instinct of that moment which was slightly unhinged. Like if I want to write a pop song, I can write a goddam pop song. And that was New Bag. Or a weird track like Grip which is about losing your mind.

Q: How is the music industry in London compared to that in New York City?

A: Softer. England is small and there's a ton of enthusiasm for bands and music so it feels less scene-y. And you see a ton of established American bands come through in really small venues. I saw A Place to Bury Strangers at Shacklewell Arms which is nuts considering they play massive venues in the US. Also I met Adam Ant in my favorite Soho bookstore during Record Store week. I sprinted home to grab a Sharpie and my original issue Kings of the Wild Frontier and made him sign it. We ended up hanging out all night. That's how small England is. Getting smaller now.

Q: Can you tell us everything you’ve learned as an artist while you were recording and performing in California?

A: There are underground venues out there where the best new music is still happening. Not clubs -- underground shows run by random true believers. Biko Garage in Santa Barabara is one. Fortress Callosum in San Francisco is another. It's a revelation to play those venues. All the bullshit of the commercial music world has zero currency there. It's the best.

Q: Do you have any shows coming up?

A: We're playing at Piano's in NYC on August 18 and the Mondo festival in September. Also a secret show at So Far Sounds this month. Hereby no longer secret.

Q: If you had one piece of advice for aspiring artists looking to make a career out of their music, what would it be?

Stop preening.

M Pire Magazine is a digital magazine that educates artists on how to build their career in the music industry. Check out our website at www.mpiremagazine.com. To know about artist promotion opportunities, how-to’s on artist development, and upcoming artist events, feel free to sign up to our newsletter by Clicking Here, and also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Written by Hannanatu Sannoh

On July 6th, the Bronx pride shined through at Fat Joe’s Summer Stage concert. Bronx natives came out to show love to the rapper at Crotona Park in the Bronx.

The opening DJ played a mixture 90s Spanish, Reggae and Hip Hop/Rap songs from Bronx artist that the crowd sang along to with their families. The crowd filled with fun excited people who were proud of their borough, but most importantly, they were eager to see Fat Joe and any other surprises he may pull out in his performance.

Grandmaster Caz, Crazy Legs, and a few words from city council member Rafael Salamanca were the warm up on the stage before Pretty Lou came on stage to hype the already boisterous crowd.

Finally, Fat Joe graced the stage with a song and surprised the audience with female rapper Remy Ma. The crowd erupted in excitement after the almost Terror Squad reunion took place and the duo performed together. They performed old hits as well as the new song, “All the Way Up”, which prompted concert goers to wonder if French Montana, another Bronx native and rapper, would come out and perform the song along with them. He did not but people did enjoy the concert as they rapped along with the artists. Papoose, rapper and husband to Remy Ma, came on stage for a cameo.

Fat Joe ended the night with words of encouragement for the youth in the community that he grew up in saying “Whatever you dream to be you can be, don’t let nobody talk you out of your destiny.” Check out some of the photos below, and check out the rest of the photos on our Facebook page by Clicking Here.