Sudan Archives' "Nont for Sale" masterfully transforms her pain into an unwavering show of self-love. “Nont for Sale” begins with anxious, plucked violin and a no-nonsense directive: “You only call me/When you need something/I need to be free.” The song expertly showcases Sudan Archives’ voice, her chanted lyrics rise confidently above the jittery instrumentals as she continues to warn a toxic friend to back off.
The 23-year-old producer/vocalist Sudan Archives mixes Northeast African folk violin with electronic music, creating a complex web of sounds that includes percussive plucks, swooping orchestral strings, and looped beats. Signed to Stone Throw Records Sudan Archives is making her mark and bringing us into her expressive and vibrant world.
-Sara Bard
We can't stop listening to Coi Leray's new song "Huddy". We love her unique style and fresh attitude. Her hard-hitting beats will definitely get you nodding your head and feeling her artistic flow. Coi Leray began making waves before 2017 wrapped up with her singles “G.A.N” and “Pac Girl.” This female emcee is making a bold statement in the hip hop community and continues to make noise with her latest single "Huddy".
"Huddy" premiered on BET Jams September 7th, and has continued to be buzzing ever since. This rising star will knock your socks of with her smooth rhymes and fresh character. She has a bright future in the industry and has captured our attention. We look forward to hearing more music from Leray soon. She has become more and more confident in her artistry with every release and has definitely found her place in the industry!
Hunnypot Live isn't some fun sized Halloween treat. We're the king-sized candy bar of live entertainment.
Boy, was show #403 a night of mischief.
Hot Tub Johnnie started the night with some awesome musical tricks to lift the spirits. Legendary DJ/VJ/Music Historian, Matt Pinfield, jumped in to regale us with his origin story, sweet tunes and haunting stories of fame. John Cate exercised rock n roll demons (with a little help from our own Jeff Gray), Tillie rattled her "hot rock" chains with spooky good hooks and riffs, The Pumpkin Spice Girls....err, Old_Sport, sang like they'd always be there for us, Hot Sauce Holiday returned for another cabaret to erect even the dead and Hot Tub closed our coven convention with a cauldron of groovy ghoulish dance party jams. 10/29/2018
Known as the Music Encyclopedia, Matt Pinefield is one of the most knowledgable and well-known music personalities in the industry. Not only can he tell you about a bands’ album, but he can tell you the bass player’s middle name, and his dog’s name, too. Pinfield’s career began in radio, and he is most widely known as VJ on MTV and VH1. He’s currently back on the airwaves hosting Flashback, a syndicated classic rock radio show airing on more than 200 stations in the US. Over a career in music spanning almost 3 decades, Matt has earned beloved respect of musicians, fellow industry members, and music fans around the world.
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John Cate is a widely published journeyman songwriter with over 200 television placements, 13 full-length albums and a few dozen co-writes with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame songwriter, John Durrill (Merle Haggard, Frank Sinatra, Cher). John’s LA-based band features the legendary Scarlet Rivera (Bob Dylan) on violin and vocals, acclaimed producer Michael Carey on lead guitar, Jonathan Smith (Blake Shelton) on drums, and journeyman bassist and vocalist Brian Jenkins.
John’s seminal Boston-based band, the “van Gogh Brothers,” has been an Americana staple since before Americana was “a thing.” John continues pushing the boundaries of American songwriting and records and performs on the East and West coasts with the van Gogh Brothers (full band and trio, featuring Paul Candilore and Clayton Young) and his LA-based ensemble. John and the van Gogh Brothers are currently at work on their 14th full-length album with Marco Giovino (Band of Joy) co-producing.
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After catching the ear of Machine Gun Kelly + Kevin Lyman (creator of Warped Tour) during a sold out acoustic performance in Los Angeles in December of 2016, the upward spiral of multi- instrumentalist and songwriter tiLLie cannot be stopped. Her infectious songs might seep into your head but this self-proclaimed “anti-pop star” transcends the predisposed boundaries + limits of the genre with her diy + hands-all-over approach. With her collaboration with Machine Gun Kelly amassing over 250k plays, a run on Vans Warped Tour summer 2016 + a song on KUNGS’ (UMG) debut record, tiLLie’s takeover is only just beginning. The third single of a three part series, “Good Song”, is out now.
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OLD_SPORT is a five piece soul-rock band out of Los Angeles, California. Formed to create the soundtrack for the award-winning independent film ELSEWHERE, they have since headlined legendary clubs on both coasts, including The Troubadour in L.A. and The Mercury Lounge in Manhattan. Produced by Steve Kille of Dead Meadow, their three-track EP, The Midnite Vibeline Session, is available to stream now.
OLD_SPORT is Nick Vergara, Brian Williams, Keith Roenke, Michael Maio, and Andrew Gaul
Hot Sauce Holiday is for everyone that wants to kick over their office desks and start dancing. We are for the eccentric outsiders, the burners, and the lovers. Join us in taking on the banality of convention.
Hot Sauce Holiday is a five piece cabaret rock band from Los Angeles. Their live shows emphasize crowd participation and a great deal of improv. Bongo-solos, skits, poetry, and dance numbers have been known to break out. They have been known to feature burlesque dancers, hula hoop artists, and scandalous routines involving Playboy playmates. Genre-wise the sound varies from song to song drawing influence from 60's psychedelic and folk, to early punk, 80's electro, disco, and even a bit of barbershop. The song lyrics are surreal and witty with every band member trading off on vocals or singing in harmonies. In addition to over 20 originals the band has a variety of party cover songs they are able to play ranging from George Michael to Motorhead. So leave the outside world behind you for a couple hours and come experience the originality, joy, and chaos that is Hot Sauce Holiday. Hunnypot Approved good time guarantee!
Everyone at Hunnypot Live tends to leave with a hoarse face from cheering and singing along. Monday night we really saddled up with another great show. . , , Hot Tub started with a trailhead music set perfect for riding in rhythm. Rick Clark galloped in and jousted our hearts with his origins story and a great set of music to share. Joaquin Torres gave us unbridled pop gems, Wolves pranced on stage and had us howling along to their pop magic, Jason Charles Miller performed a thoroughbred worthy set of gritty rock n roll music and OG L Boogie cut through the slop with an impromptu rap-along jam. Hot Tub Johnnie hit the finish line with another amazing dance set to cool off the herd for the end of the night. . . Photos & recap by J. Gray 10/15/2018
Rick Clark grew up immersed in music in his hometown of Memphis, TN, a place where Rock, R&B, and Blues were everywhere. His first records where Sun Records 45's by Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Charlie Rich, as well as New Orleans Dixieland jazz by Sweet Emma & The Preservation Hall Band and raw British Invasion albums by The Yardbirds and The Kinks. Clark regards his first concert, James Brown & His Famous Flames in 1966, as a life-changing event that inspired him to pursue a life in music. By High School, Clark was working in Memphis' main record shop, Poplar Tunes; a place where local artists like Isaac Hayes and Al Green would sometimes hang, as well as every self-respecting band from England who made a pilgrimage there.
During the 70's onward, Clark played live and in sessions, including projects with members of Big Star, Memphis Horns, and the seminal Memphis Power Pop scene.
Early on, Clark DJ'ed his own radio show at WLYX-FM Memphis and his enthusiasm for creating great road music mix cassettes earned a rep as a go-to guy for new and great sounds, eventually starting a successful business programming music for every genre in venues throughout the South and other parts of the country. Eventually, he wrote for numerous national publications, including Billboard, Mix, Rolling Stone, Guitar Player, the All-Music Guide, Goldmine, and others. He also authored The Expert's Encyclopedia of Recording and, most recently, the third edition of his book Mixing, Recording and Producing Techniques of the Pros.
Over time, Clark began producing and compiling numerous major and indie label album releases, as well as writing liner notes, on artists ranging from Ricky Nelson, Dave Edmunds and Lynyrd Skynyrd to Leo Kottke, Jean Luc Ponty, and Big Star. Clark also began working as a curator, music consultant and independent A&R with clients ranging from museums, magazines to films and major label projects.
Meanwhile, Clark's production work in the studio attracted projects with Los Super Seven (an amalgam that included Calexico, Lyle Lovett, Delbert McClinton, John Hiatt, Raul Malo, Freddy Fender, Rodney Crowell and others) and work with Death Cab For Cutie, - music for The Band tribute Lost Highway and the hit TV show Weeds. Clark would also produce 26 shows of Marty Stuart's American Odyssey for Sirius/XM radio, direct two videos on Emmylou Harris for Warner DVD-Audio, compose and produce music for IBM's International Globalnet, as well as have his photography featured in gallery shows, record albums, and ad campaigns.
Beginning in 1997, through a recommendation by the legendary producer Jim Dickinson, Clark began work producing, co-compiling and doing all the legal clearance work for what would be the first seven volumes of the award-winning Oxford American Magazine music CDs, featuring music ranging from legendary artists like Bob Dylan, Randy Newman and BB King to obscure blues, jazz and Cajun music recordings. The collection quickly earned fans from T-Bone Burnett, Hunter Thompson, Cameron Crowe, Billy Bob Thornton, Orlando Bloom, Dolly Parton, Sidney Pollack and many others. The 2001 Oxford American music issue won The Blues Foundation's prestigious Keeping The Blues Alive award.
In 2012, The Oxford American brought Clark back on to produce their future music issues and CDs, including Lousiana, Texas and the Tennessee music issue which featured a two-CD set.
As a Music Supervisor, Clark's credits include working with Jason Reitman on Up In The Air, Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me (a film about the critically acclaimed band Big Star), Billy Bob Thornton's Jayne Mansfield's Car, the AMC episodic Western show Hell On Wheels and Sundance/AMC TV's Hap And Leonard. He is currently music supervising Oprah Winfrey's gospel drama Greenleaf for the OWN network.
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Joaquin Torres first came to public prominence as a television actor, soap star and he performed on the Latin American version of Dancing With The Stars. Joaquin appeared on late night television, morning shows and on Puerto Rican MTV.
Behind the scenes, Torres has always had a love for music. He learned to play the guitar at the age of 15 and soon he was writing songs and putting his poetry to music. When he was 18, Joaquin Torres enrolled in a conservatory acting program after earning a scholarship. This catapulted him to household name status in the Latin America as he commuted from his native California between projects.
"It was exciting to achieve success at an early age, but I always felt I was holding something back that was very important to my soul. I needed to do my own thing.”
Joaquin is now dedicating his career to mining the dark wave musical aesthetic within him. His body of work wrestles with spirituality, heartache and existential angst. His lyrics are poetic and expressively raw, made even more potent by his stirring vocals, a mix of guttural longing and bittersweet low-register melodicism.
"Desnudame" is Joaquin's first single to be released in the USA from his forthcoming album. The song was produced by Aldo Muñoz and Torres delivers with honesty and passion.
"I'm looking forward to getting this music out to the world. It gives my life so much meaning. It's the reason I'm still here. I'm ready to give this new era in my career everything I have."
Joaquin Torres makes a bold move in his career by releasing the music that lives in his heart and in his head. His fiery emotion is a fresh signature sound for a world-class performer.
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Meet WOLVES, a band that is breaking barriers and pushing the boundaries of modern music with their infectious blend of genres. Consisting of Marc Avery, Sean Carney, and Rockwell Sands, the Los Angeles based trio have created their own unique sound, marrying pop sensibilities with bold rock’n’roll and gritty urban beats. With each member hailing from various cultural backgrounds, WOLVES have crafted their own distinct style, shaping the sound of pop culture as we know it.
“We wondered what it would be like if we took all these different influences we loved—artists like Michael Jackson, the Eagles, Coldplay—and rolled them all into one band today,” Sands muses. Their eclectic influences proved to be inspirational, with their debut single ‘Animal’ giving the trio their signature explosive sound.
The band was named after the characteristics of wolves. These majestic animals which are bonded by an innate sense of the pack, move in harmony as one unit towards common goals. “I can’t think of a better way to describe us. The three of us are all about the good of the group; every day we try to embody that philosophy in our music and beyond.” remarks Avery.
WOLVES highly anticipated single 'Freaky' is an anthem to inspire others to be brave and embrace who you are, to share your inner-most desires with the world and to live life to the fullest. Featuring slick indie pop grooves, 90’s reminiscent hip hop and hard-hitting rhythms, ‘Freaky’ is a song that you can’t help but dance to. "We love listening to music from back in the day and try to re-imagine what it would sound like today.” reveals Carney.
From the primal energy of ‘Animal' to the seductive tones in ‘Freaky’, WOLVES have crafted a wildly diverse range of music built for pop radio and stadiums alike. Having already earned top spots on the Billboard charts and heavy rotation on Sirius XM Hits 1, the trio hopes to inspire audiences across the globe with their music, and to continue creating unforgettable songs that at once nod to the past and hurtle towards the future. ‘Freaky’ is set for release summer 2018.
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Jason Charles Miller is an accomplished and multi-faceted performer, with more than two decades of professional experience as a musician, songwriter, singer and voice actor.
Originally from Clifton, VA, Jason now lives in Los Angeles, CA where he owns and runs the successful recording complex, Central Command Studios.
Jason has co-written songs with artists Marilyn Manson, Billy Ray Cyrus, Ben Moody [Evanescence], Chuck Goff [Toby Keith Band], Jeordie White [Nine Inch Nails], Driver Williams [Eric Church Band], Otherwise, Rev Theory and living legend Paul Anka. Songs he’s written can currently be heard on HBO’s True Blood and Hung, WWE Smackdown, The NFL Today and the wildly popular web series The Guild, Co-Optitude, Signal Boost, Dick and Johnson, The New Adventures of Peter and Wendy and Critical Role. Jason was the musical mastermind behind the critically acclaimed series and Streamy Award nominated Muzzled the Musical, writing every piece of music for the show and co-authoring the lyrics to every song. Jason co-wrote the smash single “Cruisin’ for a Bruisin” for the Disney Channel hit movie, Teen Beach Movie. The soundtrack was #1 on the Billboard charts and “Cruisin’ for a Bruisin” was nominated for a Radio Disney Award. Jason also penned the all star collaboration “Forever In Our Hearts,” a song to benefit the victims of the 2004 tsunami in South Asia which included Brian McKnight, Mya, Jacoby Shaddix [Papa Roach], Nate Dogg and many more. He’s produced songs for artists as varied as Billy Ray Cyrus, James LaBrie of Dream Theater, Felicia Day, Godhead, Psyclon 9, Tina Guo, Bret Michaels and YouTube sensation Drew Tabor.
As a solo artist, Jason has opened for country greats Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Gary Allan, Eric Church, Justin Moore, Big Kenny of Big and Rich, and Jerrod Niemann.
Miller is also widely recognized as the frontman and founder of the rock band Godhead, the only band ever signed to Marilyn Manson’s Posthuman Records. The band has sold more than 250,000 albums, and toured the world with the likes of Manson, Ozzy Osbourne, Disturbed, GWAR, Slipknot, Rammstein, Linkin Park and Korn frontman Jonathan Davis.
Jason has received three Gold Record Awards for sales. One for the Godhead song “Penetrate” on the Queen of the Damned movie soundtrack, one for the song “The End Has Come,” which he wrote and performed with Evanescence founder Ben Moody for the movie The Punisher, and one for the Disney Channel hit movie soundtrack, Teen Beach Movie. Jason also recently sang two songs on the critically acclaimed soundtrack for the video game Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and has even sung backup for Robert Smith of The Cure on the Reeves Gabrels/Robert Smith song, “Yeseterday’s Gone.”
Jason is the host of the popular Geek & Sundry show Starter Kit, a show that teaches celebrities how to play role playing games. Starter Kit airs every week on Project Alpha, presented by Legendary Pictures.
As a voice actor, Jason has appeared in over 100 animated productions and video games. Some career highlights include Attack on Titan (Gelgar), Neverwinter: Underdark (Drizzt Do’Urden), The Legend of Korra (The Sherriff), Hearthstone – Heroes of Warcraft (Loot Hoarder Gnome), Star Trek Online (Kal Dano), Avatar: The Last Airbender, Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn (Raubahn Aldynn), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Dollman and Black Condor), Firefall (Captain Wallach, Sergeant Lewis), Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (Shinji), The Wonder Woman Animated Movie (Thraxx), Code Geass (Urabe), World of Warcraft (Prince Valanar, Commander Stoutbeard, Terrath the Steady, Hagrim Hopebreaker), Super Street Fighter 4, Street Fighter X Tekken, Ultra Street Fighter 4 (Guy), Resident Evil 5 (Robert Kendo), Dragon’s Dogma (Ser Wesley, Ser Jakys), Star Craft 2, Diablo III (Radek the Fence), Guild Wars 2 (Ben Tenstrikes, Big Nose Ted, Stefan Barush, Seneschal Elam) and has even narrated a film for NASA, “Bennu’s Journey” which appears in museums and planetariums around the country. You can see Jason on screen as Strike Leader Jackson in the SyFy original movie, Battle Planet, as the dastardly villain Kowboy Killa in Chatroom of Solitude on Stan Lee’s World of Heroes network, playing himself in season 5 of The Guild, and squabbling with Lewis Black and Andy Dick in various productions on Comedy Central.
Jason has been featured in magazines such as Rolling Stone, Billboard, Guitar World, Inside Kung Fu and many more. He’s also appeared on MTV, MTV2, Fuse and VH1. Touted by many critics as one of rock and country’s best and most consistent live singers, Jason continues to wow live audiences all over the world.
JASON CHARLES MILLER is proud to announce the release of “In The Wasteland,” his definitive new album set to come out now via RED MUSIC/ SONY.
Mixed and produced by Grammy Award-winner Matt Hyde (Jonny Lang, No Doubt, Deftones) and featuring drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, John Fogerty), “In The Wasteland” showcases 11 tracks that blur the lines between Southern Rock, classic country, and the outlaw attitude that has earmarked MILLER‘s career as a singer, songwriter, producer and performer for more than two decades and over a dozen releases.
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There should be an Emergency Alert sent to all phones around the world to warn people that Hunnypot Live! is about to broadcast. Those that joined us for show #401 could have prepared themselves. Hot Tub started with a DJ set of tremors to maximum Richter rock and dance music. Scott Reifman put on his best typhoon wear and jumped in the tub with us. We talked about his musical journey through life and he popped in a playlist to please. The Living Street brought us life with a tornado avenue lined with acoustic pop gems. Grace Blue returned to Hunnypot with their dark oozing lava, upbeat electro sounds. Bizou only came out at night with a flood of organic instrument future rock and Jessica Foxx was like a hurricane with a pop storm in her voice and eyes. 10/01/2018
Talent Buyer at The Satellite, Founder at Odds On Agency and Talent Buyer at The Mint LA
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The Living Street is an indie-folk duo consisting of Nick Guckert (Guitar/Vocals) and Edward J. Angelo (Bass/Vocals) formed in July 2017 in Pittsburgh, PA. Guckert and Angelo grew up in Lower Burrell, a small town just outside of the city and less than a mile down the road from one another. Both developed a love for music early on in life, but it wasn’t until the two met in school sports that they recognized a shared passion, burgers.
The official beginning of their friendship as they recall was over a handful of burgers nearly a decade ago (so, really, if there is any one person to truly thank for bringing The Living Street together, it’s Dave Thomas). From there, they started jamming out original ideas together as much as their parents could handle it, often escaping to the empty baseball field dugout right behind Angelo’s childhood home. It was in those moments Guckert and Angelo realized they shared a special collaborative bond bringing only the best out of each other artistically. There was only one option at this point.
In their freshman year of high school, Guckert encouraged Angelo to come along with him to practice with the band he was in at the time. After one successful jam, it didn’t take long for Guckert to convince the other members to make Angelo an official member of My Friday Slacks.
Guckert and Angelo remained primary songwriters taking collaborative approaches with every member of the band thus creating a unique sound differing from the original vision. Eventually, Guckert and Angelo started a new side project where they could have full control of musical direction, The Artless. As The Artless, they allowed their artistry to truly blossom and were able to play in support of several national acts including: The Front Bottoms, GEOGRAPHER, Chairlift, Lissie and The Boxer Rebellion.
After graduating from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a marketing degree, Angelo decided to move to Pittsburgh in the Lawrenceville neighborhood to join Guckert and begin working on a new writing project that didn't even have a name, but they shared a common goal — play music together for life. Playing and writing music and entertaining an audience are Guckert and Angelo's favorite things to do, and it has not wavered since the early days in the dugout behind Angelo’s house. The two are dedicated to their careers as artists and performers.
After a decade of writing together on and off, they brought it back to the basics: just the two of them and an acoustic guitar writing honest songs through observation and self-reflection. They released their first single "Can't Steal My Love" on September 20th, 2017. The Living Street left for a tour of the east coast after the release of their debut self-titled album The Living Street on January 5th, 2018. They returned home in April of 2018 to get back in the studio and prepare for a west coast tour in the fall.
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Based out of Los Angeles, CA, Grace Blue is a duo comprised of vocalist Grace Mogz and keyboardist Joseph Arazi who had the pleasure of meeting each other in their hometown in Israel. Grace Blue's first video for their current single "Our Eyes" has garnered over 100,000 views on YouTube alongside rave reviews. Their next video/single "Nowhere To Go" will be released this spring. We're proud to welcome Grace Blue to the Hunnypot Family. Check out their full 5 song EP at the link below. All songs are Represented by Hunnypot, Master and Publishing.
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Former members of The Smashing Pumpkins, Light FM, Wax Idols and Tennis System serve up cotton candy at a beach bonfire for Goth kids.
Mina Prietto (vocals) Nicole Fiorentino (bass, backing vocals) Josiah Mazzaschi (guitar, programming) Nicki Nevlin (Guitar) and Erin Tidwell (Drums) have individually had much success in bands in Los Angeles the last decade. Having played and backed such bands as Smashing Pumpkins, Veruca Salt, Tennis System, Wax Idols, Jennie Vee, and Light FM.
Over the years, through the music scene, they become great friends and realized, more than anything, they wanted to play in a band with each other. From this, Bizou was born. Bizou dishes haunting and honest vocals, backed by the melodic and hard-hitting guitar, bass, and drums reminiscent of the synth-pop, post-punk, new wave the music scene so desperately needs. Some might say, they're serving up cotton candy at a beach bonfire for goth kids. And, hey, goth kids need love too.
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Humbly raised in a small farm town in Connecticut, growing up Jessica Foxx had not so small dreams for herself. She started dancing and performing at the young age of 3 and began taking voice and acting classes shortly there after. In 2014 she decided to take the leap and move to Los Angeles to pursue her passion to be an artist. She enrolled in the Vocal Performance program at the well renowned Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA and started to release her original music in 2016.
A perfect cocktail of electro pop and dark pop, Foxx is paving a new and edgier path in the world of pop music. With or without modern pop production, her voice is unbelievably refreshing. Tongue-in-cheek, gutsy songwriting is what puts Jessica Foxx in the ranks of the new pop generation.
Completely independent, Foxx has made some great connections over the years. Her debut single “Heartbreak Tastes Like Summer” was co-written with the upcoming songwriter/artist Leland who has since written for acts like Selena Gomez, Troye Sivan and Sabrina Carpenter. She co-wrote her most recent single “Cake” with BMG songwriter Jeremy Thurber (Meghan Trainor, Trisha Paytas) and was mastered by Randy Merrill (Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry) at Sterling Sound in New York City. Her self-funded music video for “Cake” debuted on May 3, 2018 on YouTube and racked up 3.2k views in under a month.
While she is confidently vulnerable with every song, her main focus is to connect with her fans and build a genuine community around her music. She may be on the road to Billboard success but she refuses to let that distract her from what’s most important, her fans. Through her social media, you can tell Foxx is very interactive with her fan base, the "Foxx Mafia" and devotes time to connect with them on a daily basis.
Hunnypot was the runner-up to fly to the moon with Space-X but that square Elon wouldn't share his weed with us so we bounced. Our 400th show got our minds off of that trip. What a show! Hot Tub Johnnie launched the night with hot hits towards distance stars. Kii Arens returned from Mars (or other) to drop new music from his band Jinx, new stories (and old) and to spin some out of this world tunes. Jason Hawk Harris kept us grounded in classic country music, Kemo the Blaxican came baxican to the hot tub with rock steady California beats and bars, Nigel Stargate opened a portal of funk and rap and even brought some extra special friends through including Hip Hop Legend Dana Dane and we finished off the night with another famous Hunnypot Dance party that lit up the night sky. Recap: J. Gray / Photos: J. Gray, R. Taalbi, J. Born 09/17/2018
Kii Monroe Arens was born in St. Paul, Minnesota to parents Robert and LaVae Arens. He has two brothers and one sister. From an early age, Arens had an affinity for morning cartoons, notably Sid and Marty Krofft. The show, coupled with his interest in fonts, colors, spacing and layout, set in motion a growing fascination with art and design. His early passion for music was also strong, augmented by growing up in a musically inclined family. By the mid to late 1980s, Arens was DJ’ing around the Twin Cities, and had a brief stint in Rap music, under the alias ‘2 Percent’, opening for Gang Starr, EPMD, DJ Quik, amongst others.
Arens’ early immersion in the Twin Cities music scene exposed him to many elements of what would become important features of his graphic art, including: album art work, package layout, photography, poster design, creative direction, music video direction, merchandise design/creation and music production. Although Arens created artwork continuously growing up, his career as an artist was substantively set in motion with a design gig for the Woodstock ’94 festival. Originally brought on as a hotel coordinator, he was invited to attend meetings about the festival’s design direction, and raised concerns with what he saw as an overly nostalgic festival look (one that recalled too closely the Woodstock ’69 festival).
After returning to the Twin Cities, he started working for Niceman Merchandising. Arens’ album design/layout career continues to this day, and has featured many projects, including: Dolly Parton’s Backwoods Barbie and latest, Blue Smoke,Eagles of Death Metal’s Heart On, Ziggy Marley’s Wild and Free , Glen Campbell’s Ghost on the Canvas, Pete Yorn’s Back and Forth, and, most recently, LA musician/producer Jonathan Wilson’s Fanfare.
In 1994, Arens joined his brother, Brynn Arens (Obsession/Fun House/Oddfathers), in the rock band Flipp, active from 1994–2003. He assumed guitar and backup vocal duties. The band had a penchant for cartoonish stage presentations and costuming, and embraced the Glam-rock genre reminiscent of the early 1970s, even amidst its decline as a result of bands such as Nirvana and Kurt Cobain. Their Hollywood Records debut, Flipp (1997), saw them opening for bands such as Oasis, The Ramones and Cheap Trick. They released two follow-up albums, Blow it out your Ass (2000) and Volume (2002). Although Flipp has never officially disbanded, they have not performed live since 2003.
A visit to Los Angeles in 2003 prompted Arens’ move to his current location on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, California. As his work in album art and band merchandising continued, he began creating unique, non-music associated art pieces. His pieces soon appeared in many galleries around Los Angeles, notably: M Modern, Subliminal Projects, Gallery 1988, and his own gallery, La-La Land Gallery, which opened in 2004.
Arens has exhibited in many shows, notably: Happy War… It’s the bomb, the first official show at La-La Land, which featured the work of Arens and many local pop-artists, including: Shepard Fairey, Chris Reccardi, Gary Baseman, Niagara, and many others. Art in the Dark, another show, was an exhibition of Arens’ own pieces, images created using black light reactive paints and lighting rigs, which concealed hidden content that could be revealed upon the flip of a switch. In 2005, he traveled back to the Twin Cities, to exhibit a gallery show at Ox-Op gallery. The show was based around Spin-o-Paint/Paint-by-numbers/Oil paint. Later that year, lalalandgallery.com was created, an online venue for a series of customized lightboxes created by Arens. The lightboxes were also exhibited at La-La Land, and featured in a story by the Los Angeles Times. His “Hot Lunch Artshow” followed in Oct. 2005, and featured classic tin lunch boxes customized with local Pop art. By 2008, Arens found himself as curator of an art show based on the concerts at the Hollywood Bowl. It included pieces for artists such as Liza Minnelli, Grace Jones, and Femi Kuti. His first major concert poster was completed that year as well, for a Beck/Spoon/MGMT show at the Hollywood Bowl.
This has spurred a career in concert print creation that continues to present, with over 250 pieces created for artists such as Radiohead, Queens of the Stone Age, Dolly Parton, Stevie Wonder, The Weeknd, Sonic Youth, The Who, Queens of the Stone Age, Devo, Diana Ross, Divine Fits, The Pixies, Tony Bennett,Glen Campbell, Bruno Mars, Tame Impala, The Beach Boys and many others. He also created posters for various All Tomorrow’s Parties events, as well as Goldenvoice’s Coachella. In 2010, Arens created a print for Radiohead’s Haiti benefit concert in Los Aangeles. Two editions of 250 prints were sold, and helped add to a grand total of $572,754 raised by the band during the event.
Arens’ co-direction of the music video, What We Do, for the band Devo (2011), began to broaden his creative endeavors. The video centers the viewer in a full 360-degree scene, allowing them to choose to participate in many different interactive visual aspects.
In November 2011, his second co-directed video, Ghost on the Canvas, was done for country musician Glen Campbell. It features Paul Westerberg of the Replacements, who also penned the track. Arens’ admiration for Campbell lead him to co-direct two more videos for the artist. A Better Place (2012), featuring Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age,and Hey Little One (2013), a tribute to Glen’s wife, Kimberly “Kim” Woollen, who helped Campbell in his battle with Alzheimer’s. Most recently, Arens co-directed the video for Vampyre of Time and Memory, a track from Queens of the Stone Age’s sixth album, …Like Clockwork (2013). The video featured three separate rooms that the viewer can navigate, creating a unique viewing experience.
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Years before developing his own brand of confessional, cathartic country music — a sound he describes as "meta-apocalyptic country/Americana grief-grass" — Jason Hawk Harris chased a different muse as a classically-trained composer.
He was rooted in the orchestral influence of modern classical music from the 20th and 21st centuries. He loved the theory behind the genre. The atonal arrangements, too. It all started with a fondness for Queen, whose albums accounted for some of the most frequently-heard records in Harris' Houston household. The band sounded progressive, mixing the punch of rock & roll with the complexity of symphonic music. From there, Harris discovered Debussy and Mozart. He eventually enrolled in music school and graduated with a degree in composition, which he immediately began putting to use.
After writing thousands of measures of classical music, though, Harris found himself drawn back to the country, folk, and rock music that had soundtracked his early childhood. He'd grown up listening to classic crooners like Hank Williams, Roy Orbison, Jim Croce, Patsy Cline, and Elvis. That music had laid a sort of musical bedrock that couldn't be ignored. Later, after hearing bluegrass musician Michael Daves playing a stirring guitar solo, Harris knew he needed to somehow incorporate his country-loving childhood into his songs.
"Hearing Michael Daves tackle that solo really woke me up," he remembers. "There was something wild about the way he played. He played with abandon. Something sparked in me again — the same spark I'd heard when I first discovered Brian May's guitar solo on 'It's Too Late' — and everything changed."
Harris began cutting his non-classical teeth with the Show Ponies, an Americana group based in L.A. He played guitar for the band and produced most of their albums, racking up several million Spotify streams along the way. Meanwhile, problems arose in his personal life — including a family history of addiction, which ultimately resulted in the early death of his mother — and began fueling Harris' need to write his own music.
Released in November 2017, the five-song Formaldehyde, Tobacco and Tulips marks Harris' debut as a solo artist. It's an emotional EP about joy, pain, sorrow, and grief, tied together with autobiographical lyrics and sharp, detail-rich songwriting. The record also paves the way for Harris' full-length album, which draws a distinct bridge between his country and classical roots.
"I love country music because it's built upon a collision of the sad and specific," says the songwriter, whose music evokes comparisons to imaginative Americana frontmen like Daniel Romano and Robert Ellis. "I want to treat it like an art form. I want to show people how seriously devastating it can really be."
Although performed with traditional country instrumentation — including acoustic and electric guitar, pedal steel, bass, strings, piano, and the occasional harmonium — Harris' LP reaches far beyond the genre's rootsy influence. There are complex chords, acrobatic arrangements, and unexpected intervals. There are cathartic songs about love and addiction. A classically trained composer turned country singer, Jason Hawk Harris proudly operates within his own lane, proving that there's something stirring and compelling about musical culture clashes.
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Five Delinquent Habits albums, three solo albums and countless tours around the globe including the UK, Europe, Japan, South America, Mexico and Taiwan - Kemo the Blaxican? of ?Delinquent Habits? ?is releasing his first "Trifecta" a 3 song EP titled Ugly At Times ?featuring GODFORBID? of ?That Handsome Devil?. These one-of-a-kind projects is something Kemo chose to name Trifectas. For this first release, this duo packs a dynamic punch on the three piece trifecta. West Coast swagger fused with East Coast swank. Ugly At Times? is a collaboration of two prominent veteran hip hop artists with undeniable chemistry saturated with ambitious vision that beautifully defines the art of hip hop. The EP brings together two potent MCs to deliver a brutally honest impression of hard lives lived, question intention, and convey a deep powerful message about love. With production duties handled by Dr. Quandary & Louis Mackey, Ugly At Times ?packs enough musical and lyrical punch to satisfy even the most fever pitched Hip-Hop addicts. Ugly At Times ?is slated for release nationally Friday August 17, 2018 on Dead Silence Records.
Kemo the Blaxican? hails from the Lower East Side of Los Angeles and is an original member of Los Angeles based Hip-Hop group Delinquent Habits?.He’s equipped with a soulful style bilingual rhymes and profound lyrical content. You hear the smooth-yet-powerful baritone vocals delivered with a distinctive tone. You recognize the voice as it commands attention with provocative lyrics over flavorful tracks. This MC shifts the rhyme from English to Spanish, and then back to English again seamlessly. Your head nods the whole way through. Godforbid,? a distinguished veteran of the East Coast underground: he cut his teeth in the 90s & early Oughts, as part of the rap group Alaskan Fishermen, with the legendary Thirstin Howl 3rd. For the last decade, "?Godforbid"? ?has been the frontman of the nationally-lauded gypsy rock band That Handsome Devil?, but always keeping his hip hop roots close.
Kemo the Blaxican's? latest release Upside of Struggle? on Dead Silence Records is series of hip hop tracks inspired by his roots; specifically southern California culture and the music that influenced his youth—from west coast funk, soul, and classic hip hop, to traditional Latin music. The album also features guest appearances by Sen Dog? (Cypress Hill) and Tetsuya Weeping Willow? Nakamura (formerly of War) on the track“Just What You Feelin,” as well as contributions by Sick Jacken? (Psycho Realm) on the album. ?Upside of Struggle? is Kemo’s third solo album on Dead Silence Records. The 12-track incarnation bursts with musical styles and compelling arrangements. Kemo’s lyrical skills stretch back and forth between L.A. street slang and barrio Spanish. He moves the listener through moods, harmoniously encapsulating contradiction, antagonism and the co-existence of good, even during bad times, all with mind bending ease.
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A Stargate is a universe that allows practical, rapid travel between two distant locations and the Megastar Nigel Stargate embodies this sentiment in his music. The alter-ego of Rapper/Producer Caviar, Nigel Stargate comes from the “Hills” of Compton, California. A magical place where hip hop music meets posh royalty, two distant locations. Stamped by the renown Dana Dane, Nigel Stargate is produced by Caviar and has recorded a vault of eclectic posh hip hop music at Caviar’s The Vault Studios in Hollywood.
Nigel Stargate’s treasury of music contains songs with artists like Marsha Ambrosius, Cee Lo Green, Macy Gray, Trinidad James, Big Gipp, Kokane, Keith Robinson as well as the legendary MC, Dana Dane. “When You’re Rich” one of the tracks recorded at The Vault, was Nigel Stargate’s breakthrough song featuring Cee Lo Green. Nigel worked with Music Video Director, Mike Marasco, to visually capture the life of Nigel Stargate who receives the traditional Hollywood perks when he is transformed from a homeless person to a rich man in the “When You’re Rich” video. Nigel loves everything visual and his desire to tell his stories pictorially resulted in a collection of music videos for all of his songs.
Nigel is fresh and creative and his craving to fill the void in the music business brings originality back, an element that has been absent in hip hop for a long time. Imaginative lyrics, fresh hooks and new beats took their proper places on Nigel Stargate’s songs in lieu of lifeless lyrics, humdrum hooks and boring beats. The Greek Philosopher Plato said that “Music is moral law. It gives soul to the universe” and Nigel Stargate is the portal.
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Attention Marijuana enthusiasts: In celebration of our 400th Live Event stream Hunnypot is again offering a very special private Cannabis tasting event.
This Tasting Session is sponsored by the fine folks at White Buffalo,
Our event is located in the Green Room directly behind The Mint. Their will be surprises and give-aways throughout the night, bring a friend or two!
+21, 7-11PM
Green Room (behind The Mint)
6010 W. Pico Blvd.
LA, CA 90035
Hunnypot Live! is the Woodward & Bernstein of music discovery. We also have a reading level of at least an 8th grader. We opened the watergates and flooded Monday night with amazing interviews, playlists, live music and dancing. So much dancing. Hot Tub wrote a forward with bangin' beats to start the night. John Alexander graced us with his presence in the hot tub to share his music industry journey from hit rock artist to hit A&R man. John brought along some great music he was involved with and even brought a friend, Mark Hudson, to vouch for him. Elwell key'd up a synthesized pop performance, Kisspanic didn't even flinch at delivering a smorgasbord rock sound, The Clumsy "tripped" us all out with high energy rock n' roll. h2the returned with beats and besties Novi, Woolf, R.E.L. and Kendal Lake to shake and bake our blues and we closed another show chapter with a crazy all out dance party. 09/03/2018
John Alexander began his music career playing in bands while in High School growing up in Ottawa Canada. He enjoyed success fronting the band Octavian who signed with MCA Records and had a few top 10 singles at that time. After the band disbanded he started managing groups including The Teddy Bears, Sheriff who had a #1 Billboard hit with "When I'm With You" and Luba. In 1984 John became the head of A&R for MCA Records Canada, he was responsible for signing artists to the MCA Canada label and writers to MCA Music Publishing rosters, while there John signed a young Alanis Morissette to her 1st record deal and publishing deal resulting in the 30 times-platinum album Jagged Little Pill and 5 Grammy's for Alanis.
In 1997 John became the Senior Vice President of membership for a A.S.C.A.P. and served the songwriter/publisher community for 12 years.
John has been active in the careers of Avril Lavigne, Ringo Starr, Justin Timberlake, LeAnn Rimes, Celine Dion, Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Johnny Resnick, Daniel Lanois, Ryan Cabrera, Ashlee Simpson, Tal Bachmann, Sarah Kelley, to name a few.
John is currently managing the band Boulevard who are signed to MCA with an album getting great response throughout the world.
Elwell is a Los Angeles by way of Minneapolis based musician/songwriter/producer. (Andy)
Elwell released his debut LP Let The Rain Come In in 2016. "Claps" & "Dark" singles came out in 2017. This year saw the release of 2 new singles "Find Me" and "Weary".
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Kisspanic is a Modern Rock trio from Los Angeles CA. The band is formed by Rudi Meibergen, Thomas Rojo and Fer Fuentes. They are about to launch their first album with Darryl Swann in Hollywood
RUDI MEIBERGEN, (creator) - Rudi is a chilean music composer. He has worked on the music of several Hollywood productions including shows for Netflix, Fox and HBO (*). But Rudi's passion extends beyond scores and orchestral music to his first love, rock, the reason why he was the frontman of the band Weiza for more than ten years to then create Kisspanic.
THOMAS ROJO, (bass player) - Producer, and Owner of Pattern Recording Studios in Culver City, Los Angeles, CA. Rudi met Thomas in music production classes. They became friends, then co workers for several productions, and finally decided to start working on the pre production of the album together.
FER FUENTES, (drummer) - She played and recorded with the Latin Grammy and MTV Award-nominated band MammaSoul, and toured through Europe and South America with La Banda en Flor. Has performed with artists like Debbie Gibson, Abraham Laboriel and Oscar Hernandez. Fer had worked as a sessionist with Rudi back in Chile for several music projects. When they knew they were both living in LA, they decided to start working together again on this new production.
KISSPANIC - The band is finishing producing their first album with Darryl Swann, triple platinum producer known for working with artists such as John Frusciante, Rock Rubin, Macy Grey, Stevie Wonder, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, and the Black Eyed Peas, among many others. Darryl was Rudi´s teacher at UCLA. One class Rudi showed some mockups of what he had in mind for his album and Darryl believed in the project and became his producer. The album was recorded at Clear Lake Recording Studios (No Doubt, Jimmy Eat World, Anthrax, Back Street Boys, and Ringo Starr...). At the same time is also recording a sinngle for a music compilation that supports the refugees over the world in 4th Street Recording Studios (Incubus, Muse, System of a Down, Nelly Furtado and the Beach Boys...).
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“Brilliantly blending 80’s synths with an new cutting edge sampling style, rising hip hop/experimental producer h2the released his debut single titled “Taste Of The“, a teaser/cut-up off his new beat tape exclusively available on cassette!” – UGHH
URB Magazine wrote that “[h2the] is something else…in a profound kind of way,” calling his sound titillating and “juicy for the ears,” while The Village Voice described his productions as “adventurous and banging.”
2DOPEBOYZ and Vibe Magazine’s allhiphop.com have also noted h2the’s rap flips of 80?s inspired sonics. It’s the producer as auteur as every track takes you through the emotional space of the artist, like Kanye or Godard. Erez will feature LA based Future Folk artist Woolf, Woolf (Facebook) Woolf (Instagram) Woolf (Twitter)
Hunnypot Live breaks so many rules, we should be surrendering to the FBI every other Tuesday. Show #398 ruled!
Hot Tub conspired to get everyone to dance and sing with his introduction set up music. Matthew Belter jumped to the other side of the lens to sit down in the tub and talk about his newish photography career and love of all music. Luke Loww went high wet with reverb-soaked melodic rock, Inspired & the Sleep powered their trio with pop/rock panache, Arisara gave us an interlude of introspection and melodic inspection, Adam Cola effervesced with pop tunes and dance moves and DJ Vron Irwin closed out the night with a dance party so large we had to use the stage as well.
Photos & Recap by J. Gray 08/20/2018
Matthew Belter started viewing life through the lens in high school and continued that practice during his more than 20 years in retail. Executive roles for a variety of companies provided him with the opportunity to travel the country. His camera gave him the means to appreciate and remember every stop on the journey.
A year after leaving the corporate world to join and expand his brother’s ice-delivery company, Matthew found himself buried in the day-to-day of a booming business, with no creative outlets to feed his soul. Out of frustration, he picked up a camera and started recording what he saw. It wasn’t long before his reawakened passion for photography became the thread that pulled his life back into balance.
Now he specializes in live concert photography, as well as portraiture, landscapes, and sports. Live music has long been a hobby, and he appreciates the challenge of representing the raw joy, focus, determination, and effort he sees on stage. He continually seeks to tell the story of the people around him and strives to capture moments and expressions of artistry and emotion.
Matthew is currently editor-at-large and current house photographer for Hunnypot Unlimited, one of the premier destinations for discovering new music in Southern California through publishing, representation, and live events. He is also a photographer for The Vinyl District, a collaboration of passionate and enthusiastic music lovers coming together to give you an inside look into some of today’s hottest and most intriguing artists.
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ARISARA, a Grammy winning songwriter, has celebrated placements like, Greyhounds (De La Soul), Better Together (Ziggy Marley) and Something Beautiful (Tori Kelly). ARISARA, aka Jeanette Steiner, hails from Orange, Texas, the deep south. Pronounced /ah-ree sah-rah/, her artistic brand is a name of Thai origin and describes one that is tenacious and unstoppable. Her unorthodox life and extensive, immersive time travelling abroad has only elevated this hippie-gypsy, soul-sister’s ability to understand and relate to all kinds of people. Her writing elicits a graceful perspective and inspires compassion for the human experience. Her lyrics express a variety of contemplations on the ever-marvelous concept of love, a portion of which she shares in her latest album release, With Love.
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Pop music is often built on personas – stage names, alternate identities, faces hidden behind hair, helmets, makeup, or masks. Sometimes, the artist’s mission is to hide his or her true self behind a haze of mystery. But that’s not the case with Adam Cola.
Across every one of his creative endeavors, the emerging pop star’s primary message is to embrace your true self – to be proud of each and every facet of who you are. It’s a message he’s championed since the very start of his music career, and one that’s partly responsible for the acclaim and accolades he’s garnered thus far. But most of the attention to come his way has been on the back of his innovative and intriguing brand of danceable electro-pop. Anchored by the artist’s unmistakably smooth singing style, the music is magnetic and inviting, commanding focus and forcing anybody it reaches into motion. “I want to inspire people to let their light shine bright,” says Cola. “I’ve gone through dark times. I’ve felt inhibited in the past, like I couldn’t be myself and didn’t have my own voice, and music has been the thing to lift me out of that. Now, that’s what I want to do for other people.”
The Montreal-born, L.A.-based singer is a natural performer, having realized his penchant for performing early on. “Since I was a kid, I’ve always loved acting and dancing and putting on shows for anyone that might come to my house,” he shares. He was drawn to music and dance and always had the full support of those close to him to pursue his passions, though it wasn’t until much later that he realized the truest of those passions was singing.
Having moved to L.A. to study acting for the stage and screen at a prestigious institution, Cola had his first foray behind the microphone in a high-end recording studio. “It just felt so natural,” he admits – and others noticed. Soon, he was collaborating with a who’s who of award-winning songwriters and producers that recognized heaps of potential in the early twenty-something.
Now, after plenty of hard work with his own dedicated team, Adam Cola is set to drop his full-length debut. The 12 tracks are ripe with infectious, dance-inducing beats that incorporate influence from decades worth of pop music but with a fresh and modern motif. “I’m drawn to tracks with that mysterious kind of groove – that intangible sexiness that you just can’t ignore,” he says, and that’s more than clear throughout the collection. At times it’s subdued, sexy, and alluring; others, exciting and exhilarating. But all of the time, it’s powerful and encouraging, thanks in large part to the artist’s uplifting lyrics.
Right from the opening track, Adam Cola promotes his mantra of being free and uninhibited, of being proud and embracing your true self. “I don’t follow any guidelines myself and am not trying to be anything other than who I am,” he unapologetically admits. “We all feel vulnerable sometimes, but we need to realize the things that make us different are the things that are most beautiful.”
That individual beauty is one of the many things to celebrate while getting lost in a dizzying, euphoric dance thanks to Adam Cola. From the stage or stereo, he’s pushing boundaries and sending bodies into sync. Music has been medicine for his own soul, and now, he’s looking to share a dose with anyone in earshot – uninhibited, uncompromising, and unapologetic.
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My name is Veronica Irwin and I am a student, writer, and arts journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am a current student at UC Berkeley, studying Media Studies and minoring in Music and Journalism.
I have been fortunate enough to write for The Quietus, Hunnypot Unlimited, and The Berkeley B-Side, some samples for which can be found on this website. I have a special interest in urban and rock music, and tend to write about artists' relationship with their communities both politically and creatively.
Hunnypot Live! isn't the kind to respect you in the morning. We don't exhibit reverence until at least 2pm. Show #397 wasn't gentle for first-timers either. Hot Tub Johnnie starting by paying homage to good music by broadcasting a set of semigogue songs. Rilan sat down for a quickie interview and a preview of his live set. Our guest "DJ" Stephan Pine returned to the water to share his MARVELous tales of his music career and brought a great set of music to share. The Tremolo Beer Gut bloated us with watery riff rock instrumental madness, Rilan delivered a compact stadium pop extravaganza, Miranda Glory sang sultry R&B styles, Mike Martinez Music performed emotional pop music and the night capped off with our world famous dance party. 08/06/2018
STEPHAN PINE (DISNEY/ABC TELEVISION GROUP MUSIC, GUEST INTERVIEW/DJ SET)
Guest DJ Stephan Pine moved out from Ohio a decade ago and is living the LA dream. Working within the ABC Music Dept under the mentor-ship of the great Dawn Solar, Stephan has learned the ins and outs of music supervision, clearance and licensing. And being a guitar player he loves ROCK!
Stephan is supervising several popular Netflix originals from the Marvel universe, Jessica Jones, Daredevil and The Punisher. BIG SHOWS! Come on out for the hang and congratulate Stephan on being an official newlywed!
The Tremolo Beer Gut are from Denmark/Sweden and there touring the US west coast from Seattle to San Diego. A 98% instrumental garage rock/spy surf combo. 5 LPs and a bunch of 45's on the rap sheet. Low maintenance/High performance 4 piece
Formed in a different millennium by Yebo and Sune Wagner from The Raveonettes – later joined by Per Sunding from Eggstone and The Great Nalna (when Sune moved to the states) and Jengo.
Nalna and Yebo has also played with Jon Spencer and Matt Vert - Ray’s Heavy Trash combo, Yebo also with Junior Senior, PowerSolo and Thee Attacks.
All in all a well seasoned and very spicy combo with a lot of garage rock pedigree and a guaranteed hot live show at your party/show/mother’s house.
Twenty one-year-old singer, songwriter, and dancer Rilan is a study in contradiction. The independent artist, who first appeared on the scene with his 2015 EP Chemical, is a charismatic looker who describes himself as a “freak” and a “weirdo.” Because he dressed like an emo kid and wore makeup to his preppy high school in New Orleans, his classmates assumed he was a troublemaker, when he was actually a straight-A student who never disobeyed his parents. He’s a former musical theater kid who loves ’70s glam rock and ’80s synth-pop. He’s chatty and warm in person but insists he has no social life and few friends. “I don't connect with people easily,” he says. “I like to sit back and observe, and report on how I’m feeling through my music.”
Rilan’s songs are an object lesson in not judging someone or something by its appearance. “It drives me crazy,” he says. “It’s probably why I got bullied in high school. I would get in fights with people who made fun of kids for wearing what they wanted. I don't want to be normal. Normal is boring and pointless. I find beauty in mystery and obscurity.”
In Rilan’s music, dark, sad emotions are dressed up in glossy dance-pop packages, like the house-influenced single “Blindfolds,” featuring Naz Tokio, which is about being rejected by someone you love and not being able to let go. On the surface, bouncy electro-pop tune “Not Sorry” appears to be about a one-night stand. “But if you dig deeper the song is really about me and how I deal with the world,” Rilan says. “That I’ve got nothing left to lose by pursuing music and I need to be unapologetic in how I present myself to people. It’s kind of my own personal anthem: I’m not sorry about doing this because I believe in myself. So it’s about not being afraid to be yourself.”
Rilan’s music — which he describes as “a gothic dance party, because it’s fun on the surface, but its heart is black as coal” — is indeed unapologetic. “It comes from this angry, guttural place,” he says, “I'm terrible talking about how I feel, but if you just listen to the lyrics, they’re kind of this empowering vessel that lets me show the world who I am.”
The New Orleans native has been expressing himself through performance since he was a child. Rilan got his start at age five doing theater, then took his first dance class at age 11, going on to study ballet, jazz, tap, and modern dance. “I had all this anxiety built up inside of me and I could channel it into moving my body,” he says. At 14, tired of being told he was “singing it wrong” by musical theater directors, Rilan began writing songs. “They were about running away and breaking social norms,” he says of his earliest compositions. “I wrote about a guy wearing makeup. It was me. I was like, ‘This is my commentary on your society.’ I was thinking about how these preppy kids from my school were getting drunk on the weekends but would come to school looking all country club. I looked like I was going to kill the neighbor's cat and sacrifice him to Satan, when in reality, I came home, did my homework, then went upstairs and played piano for hours. That’s how I escaped from human interaction.”
Growing up in what he describes as a “big, traditional, Italian, Catholic family,” Rilan was the black sheep. “All my older cousins played sports,” he says. “Even the girls in my family were athletic.” His parents were very protective of him, as well as indulgent. “I think because my parents were so happy they finally had a child that they just said, ‘Do whatever you want.’” Rilan says. When Rilan was 10, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and his family was displaced to Houston for six months. “You could go back to the city, but there was no infrastructure,” he says. “The power was out and it was kind of a ghost town. I had never lived anywhere else, so it was very hard. Houston felt sterile, there wasn’t enough weird, creepy stuff everywhere. New Orleans is the most haunted city in the continental U.S., which probably explains why I’m dark as fuck,” he says with a laugh.
With Rilan disconnected from his hometown, music became his closest friend. He gravitated toward gender-bending artists like Prince, Adam Ant, Boy George, Freddie Mercury, and David Bowie. “Bowie’s whole career was like an allegory for how you can see your potential if you are limitless and don’t confine yourself to a box,” Rilan says. He also fell in love with powerful, rule-breaking female artists like Lady Gaga and Madonna, whose songs he would sing while dancing on the coffee table as a kid.
At 14, Rilan began to look for producers in New Orleans to work with, to no avail, so he pursued his dance career, going to conventions and traveling to L.A. to audition. Then two years ago, he hooked up with Grammy-nominated producer/engineer Damien Lewis (Rihanna, Katy Perry, Beyoncé) and the two began writing songs together. One of their first efforts, the twisted love song “Chemical” became Rilan’s debut single. The visually sumptuous video for the title track, directed by Ethan Lader, has racked up more than 2.2 million views on YouTube. “That song set the tone for everything we did after that point,” Rilan says. Rilan moved to Los Angeles in early 2014 and has since worked with such top producers as Dallas Austin (Michael Jackson, Madonna, Lady Gaga) and Justin Warfield (She Wants Revenge, Depeche Mode). He’s also performed multiple shows around the city, and last year, was cast as a Warbler in the final season of Glee.
Despite his many talents, it’s music that remains Rilan’s focus and his vision is crystal clear. “There isn’t this kind of androgynous male artist who's doing something weird and strange but still making tangible pop music,” he says. “I want to do that. And I want it to be very visual. I’m not just going to sit on a stool and strum a guitar. I want to make pop music that is freakshow-esque but done in a tasteful way.” And how does he hope people will feel when they hear his music? “Understood,” he says. “I want to be a voice for people who feel like there’s no one to talk to. I want them to feel lifted up by my music. I want them to know that it’s okay to be weird. I'm gonna wear crazy things and I want everyone to feel comfortable wearing crazy things and expressing themselves in any way that they can.”
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Miranda Glory is an LA based singer/songwriter. A graduate of the Professional Performing Arts School in NYC, whose halls have been graced by the likes Alicia Keys and Britney Spears, Miranda Glory headed to Boston after high school to the prestigious Berklee College of Music, where she earned her degree in early 2016. She scored her first major solo success when she was selected to record a vinyl LP in Valencia, Spain, under Berklee’s label. Miranda continued to write and record, and began to release her music independently online. In late 2016, she was discovered and selected to the exclusive Neverland Songwriting Retreat in Costa Rica, which heralded her arrival as a songwriter. After that, she went bicoastal, ferrying back and forth from New York to Los Angeles to write with established songwriters and producers, including Autumn Rowe (Fifth Harmony, Cher Lloyd), Sheppard Solomon (Enrique Iglesias, Britney Spears), Zac Poor (Tori Kelly, MNEK), David Brook (Eminem, Charlie Puth), The Fliptones (Jason Derulo, Flo Rida), and others.
Last year, Miranda released her debut singles “Blue Eyes feat. Matty Owens” & “Take” on iconic NYC-based label Tommy Boy Entertainment, gaining attention from prominent streaming playlists and blogs. Of the vibey Alt Pop/R&B “Take,” the music blog Gems and Secrets wrote that its “a slow jam that’s perfect for getting yourself in the mood.”
In late 2017, Miranda signed a worldwide deal with Selected/Sony Music Germany & Ultra Music US for her single “Instant Gratification” released on December 15th, while simultaneously co-writing and featuring on RYNX’s single “Want You”, which has amassed over 10 million streams across platforms.
2018 was off to a great start, as Miranda collaborated with established European Artist & DJ Tujamo on the single “Body Language (feat. Miranda Glory & Haris)” released on Spinnin’ Records in March, which can be heard all over clubs worldwide. Next came a collaboration with one of the world’s top DJ’s, R3HAB, & Noah Neiman for the single “We Do (feat. Miranda Glory)” which debuted on 25 of Spotify’s New Music Fridays worldwide, released in April. Most recently, Miranda released her single "Stain" with Colin Chase & Gill Chang on KnightVision Records.
Miranda continues to write & record in the studio and is currently gearing up to release her next single “Hypochondriac” July 20th, as well as an EP set to release later this year.
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Retro Futura’s stop at the Orange County Fairground was by far one of the most entertaining shows I have been to this year. 80’s heavyweights such as ABC and Belinda Carlisle graced the Pacific Amphitheater stage with incredible sets that took a pumped-up crowd on a wild ride back to what many consider a simpler (and much cooler) time and place. Sit back and relax as we give you a recap of all the performances that took the stage on Thursday evening.
Opening the show was none other than Annabella Lwin, the original vocalist of the band Bow Wow Wow. It’s always tough opening up a quasi-festival like this, but she absolutely killed it with classics like “Do You Want to Hold Me?” and “I Want Candy”. Wish we would have had more time with Annabella as she really put her heart and soul into this performance . It would have been nice to here some more from her amazing catalog of music.
Next up was Limahl of Kajagoogoo. Again, another abbreviated set but it hit on all cylinders with hits such as “Ooh to be Ah”, “The Never-Ending Story” and fan favorite, “Too Shy”. Limhal’s vocal range was still on point, and sounded fantastic throughout his performance At one point during the show, a superfan in the front row leaped forward and handed Limahal a picture of himself from the early 80’s (huge hair and all). It took everybody in attendance way back to Kajagoogoo’s debut on MTV and really put an exclamation point on what turned out to be a very memorable 30 minutes
Tony Lewis of the Outfield has to been one of my all-time favorites from the 80’s, and I was stoked to see he was performing on this year’s Retro Futura tour. Tony’s voice is unmistakable and had his way was with Outfield classics such as “Say It Isn’t So”, “All the Love”, and “Since You've Been Gone”. The Pacific Amphitheater crowd was also treated to one of his latest tracks, “Into the Light”, off of Lewis’s 2018 release, Out of the Darkness. I have listened to all 12 tracks personally and this album is fire. Check it out!
If you were a child of the 80’s, Modern English was a go-to on any mix tape you may have made (or had made for you). Seeing them perform live for the first time, I was excited to see if Robbie Gray and company could reignite the fire of a special time long gone by. As lights dimmed, the near-capacity crowd jumped to their feet as the band launched into 1986 hit “Ink and Paper”. The bad sounded so good and continued to get better throughout the evening’s performance with hits such as “Someone’s Calling”, Moonbeam”, and “Hands Across the Sea”. The final song of the evening was, yes, you guessed it, “I’ll Melt with You”. Watching the entire crowd sing along to this 80’s staple was priceless and well worth the price of admission.
Hearing Belinda Carlisle (or The Go-Go’s for that matter) immediately takes me back to 1981. I was 11 when Beauty and the Beat was released and can vividly remember wearing the needle out on my first record player listening to tracks such as “Our Lips are Sealed”, “This Town”, and We Got the Beat”. On Thursday evening, that needle was back on the vinyl as Belinda Carlisle took the stage and literally blew the Orange County crowd away. She played a 9-song set that was comprised of her solo material as well as tried and true Go-go’s classics. “Heaven is a Place on Earth” was the final song of her set and showcased why she is still adored by loving fans all around the world. Simply incredible.
The final act of the evening was none-other than 80’s synth-pop legends - ABC. Fronted by the debonair Mr. Martin Fry, this band took the stage at around 9:00 pm and never looked back. Fry’s voice seems to have aged like fine-wine, and mesmerized all in attendance with 10 ABC classics that had everyone off their feet and dancing to the beat. Whether your jam was “How to be a Millionaire” or “Poison Arrow”, there was something for everyone Thursday night. Martin Fry closed down Retro Futura on a high note with 1985’s “Be Near Me”. It was the perfect song to cap off an incredible set from one of the most influential bands of the 80’s New Wave movement. Bravo.
Overall, there is no doubt in my mind that the promoters of Retro Futura did a incredible job pulling this stellar 80's lineup together. Each act sounded fantastic and were all worthy of being on a special bill like this. And in a world where “nostalgia-type” shows are in many cases thrown together and watered down, Retro Futura -2018 was well-planned, flawlessly executed, and not watered down with any unnecessary fillers. Definitely want to see how this franchise continue to grow and evolve – it’s a winner on all fronts.
Stay Frosty and Rock On!!