MUSIC

Amyl and The Sniffers

Amyl and the Sniffers are Amy Taylor (vocals), Dec Martens (guitar), Gus Romer (bass) and Bryce Wilson (drums), a scrappy Australian punk collective that has made waves around the world with their unapologetic rock anthems and an incendiary live show. 2022 has seen the Sniffers sell out tours across the US, UK and Europe, and play festivals including Glastonbury, Primavera and Coachella.

MUSIC

Automatic

Automatic is the trio of Izzy Glaudini (synths, lead vocals), Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) and Halle Saxon (bass, vocals). Automatic’s second album Excess rides the imaginary edge where the ‘70s underground met the corporate culture of the ‘80s – or, as the band puts it, “That fleeting moment when what was once cool quickly turned and became mainstream, all for the sake of consumerism.”

MUSIC

Bartees Strange

Born Bartees Leon Cox Jr. in Ipswich, England to a military father and opera-singer mother Bartees had a peripatetic early childhood before eventually settling in Mustang, Oklahoma. Later, Bartees cut his teeth playing in hardcore bands in Washington D.C. and Brooklyn whilst working in the Barack Obama administration and (eventually) the environmental movement.

DRAG

Read Full Bio ⇢

BenDeLaCreme

Sweet as pie and sharp as cheddar! The international drag superstar, writer, producer, and director, BenDeLaCreme, is known for combining her background in performing and visual arts with a love of spectacle, glamor, and Saturday morning cartoons creating work that “keep[s] you entertained while making you think about your place in the world.”

Read Full Bio ⇢

BenDeLaCreme

Sweet as pie and sharp as cheddar! The international Drag superstar, writer, producer, and director, BenDeLaCreme, is known for combining her background in performing and visual arts with a love of spectacle, glamor, and Saturday morning cartoons creating work that “keep[s] you entertained while making you think about your place in the world.” (Forbes)

She has dazzled crowds throughout the Americas, Europe, and Australia, premiered four critically acclaimed solo shows Off-Broadway, as well as written, directed, and produced myriad narrative works and variety spectaculars that have played to sold-out audiences since 2008. BenDeLaCreme Presents, the production company helmed by BenDeLaCreme, has produced three wildly successful holiday tours. Its first in 2018 was a US national tour for, “To Jesus, Thanks for Everything, Jinkx and DeLa!.” 2019 saw the company expanding their holiday tour internationally with “All I Want for Christmas is Attention.” 2021’s international tour of, “The Return of The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show Live!” was even bigger, playing in more cities across three countries to much critical acclaim. In December 2022 BenDeLaCreme Presents wrapped their biggest tour yet of, The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show, playing in 28 unique markets across the UK, Canada, and the USA for 33 performances making this the highest grossing tour for the independent company.

BenDeLaCreme has appeared on two seasons of the Emmy Award-winning, RuPaul's Drag Race. After being crowned Miss Congeniality on Season 6 (Logo), she returned to compete on the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (VH1) where she garnered more challenge wins than any other competitor in the show’s history, among other series records. 2020 was a busy year for BenDeLaCreme, where she had a standout cameo role in the Hulu Original film, Happiest Season. She also co-wrote, co-starred, self-produced, and directed her debut film, "The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special," which became a critical and commercial success, leading to an exclusive licensing deal with Hulu. BenDeLaCreme is currently in development on several television and film projects.

MUSIC

COMEDY

MUSIC

COMEDY

Read Full Bio ⇢

Bendigo Fletcher

Shapeshifting on an axis between folk, alternative, country, and soul, Bendigo Fletcher’s lofty melodies soar above earthy instrumentation on their 2022 Wingding EP [Elektra Records]. Charmed with psychedelic flourishes, yet tightly rooted in tried-and-true songcraft, the Louisville quintet—Ryan Anderson, Andrew Shupert, Evan Wagner, Conner Powell, and Chris Weis—continues to instantly transfix across the EP’s four tracks.

Read Full Bio ⇢

Bendigo Fletcher

Shapeshifting on an axis between folk, alternative, country, and soul, Bendigo Fletcher’s lofty melodies soar above earthy instrumentation on their 2022 Wingding EP [Elektra Records]. Charmed with psychedelic flourishes, yet tightly rooted in tried-and-true songcraft, the Louisville quintet—Ryan Anderson [lead vocals, guitar, banjo], Andrew Shupert [backing vocals, lead guitar], Evan Wagner [backing vocals, keys, guitar, percussion], Conner Powell [bass], and Chris Weis [drums]—continues to instantly transfix across the EP’s four tracks.

“More than a few times, I’ve explored the Wingding font universe as an entertaining break from more pressing tasks. I like the name ‘Wingding’ for a fictional creature, like the Mothman of West Virginia folklore. It’s also another word for party,” Anderson says. “This EP is a collection of distractions we built over the last few years when gatherings and adventures felt pretty unattainable.”

After crisscrossing paths in the Louisville scene and life in general (“Chris is my brother-in-law’s childhood best friend,” notes Anderson), Bendigo Fletcher initially formed in 2016. The group organically built an audience across their native Kentucky one gig at a time. During 2018, they made waves with the independent Consensual Wisdom EP highlighted by fan favorites “Wonderfully Bizarre” and “Soul Factory.”

Following a tireless grind, the band signed to Elektra Records and unveiled their debut album, Fits of Laughter in 2021. Beyond amassing millions of streams, the album earned widespread critical acclaim from Rolling Stone, American Songwriter, FLOOD Magazine, and more. Music Connection dubbed it, “Alt-rock, country-flecked folk-rock soaked in LSD,” while Atwood Magazine praised the collection as “a record of reverie, celebration, and true to its name, laughter: music made for good times and bad, that promises to leave us all a little more elated.” Along the way, Bendigo Fletcher captivated crowds on tour with the likes of Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Hiss Golden Messenger, Mt. Joy, Nathaniel Rateliff, Anderson East, Rayland Baxter, and Shakey Graves.

In 2022, Bendigo Fletcher returned to Nashville, TN’s Cartoon Moon Recording Studio to track their Wingding EP. Once again, the band teamed with Fits of Laughter producer and original Wilco/Uncle Tupelo drummer Ken Coomer in the studio. For the first time, the band enlisted Grizzly Bear bassist and producer, Chris Taylor, as a mixer.

“In addition to the brilliance of Ken’s ear as a song maker, I appreciate the environment he maintains,” notes Ryan. “All ideas are considered, and we try to just have fun trying new sounds. I think that mentality lends to a unique blend, keeping the band outside of any one box. And I’ve found constant inspiration in Chris’ work as a soundscaper since a friend introduced me to Veckatimest in high school. Having him on the project was really exciting, and I think his mixes present the band’s ethos in a beautifully natural way.”

The act of making the record opened a portal outside of the madness and mundanity of the last two years. Between holding down a job at a grocery store, Ryan picked up a pen and a guitar in his apartment and creatively departed this mortal coil.

“The songs were my way of coping with the idle uncertainty of the early pandemic months and escaping into a creative space to keep my spirit alive. They come from a more imaginative place where I feel a freedom to process and color some experiences in a productive light.”

The collection’s lead single “Pterodactyl” drifts into the arms of ethereal piano, woozy slide guitar, percussive handclaps, and wistful whistling. Meanwhile, Ryan ponders everything from budding love to “the witching hour for the higher power” via strangely saccharine melodies.

“It gradually bloomed with different instruments and textures in the studio,” he recalls. “The song kind of unfolds like a long-game relationship. It begins vulnerably and intimately, and evolves into deeper layers of musical support and mystery.”

The opener “Stranger Encounters” hinges on a delicate stomp and twangy guitars as a close encounter of a different kind happens…

“During the COVID lockdown, I found myself watching more sci-fi—X Files, Twin Peaks, the Alien movies— for entertainment and comfort,” he says. “This one’s about just getting out there and living, tasting, touching, experiencing through my own senses. We’re all part of an ecology of diverse preferences and individual truths, and this song is a celebration of that.”

Then, there’s “Juniper Moore.” Wrapped in a blanket of luminous guitar and piano, a hypnotic refrain pierces the sky with “a weird lasagna of feelings.”

“I’ve imagined a far-fetched romance or two that works out beautifully in another universe,” he states. “This song helped me to play a bit in that loneliness. I think a lot about the fine line within technology’s capabilities to either remedy or exacerbate that loneliness.”

Meanwhile, the bright acoustic guitar and lithe vocal delivery of “Broken Routine” fall back to earth with “some glimpses at a relationship that has worked out well.”

“We hope to provide a few moments of musical distractions for anyone who needs them,” he leaves off. “The EP dances between confession and fabrication for what feels like a cleanse of imagination. It’s a relief to share a few more stories from that place.”

Caitlin Peluffo

Originally hailing from San Francisco, CA, Caitlin Peluffo is a New York based comedian. Caitlin is set to tape a Comedy Central featuring set this winter. Last year, she was featured on the Late Show with James Corden and was a New Face of Comedy at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal. Peluffo has opened for comedians like Fortune Feimster, Matteo Lane, Maria Bamford, Gary Gulman, Colin Quinn, and the late Gilbert Godfried to name a few.

Celisse

Celisse is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, performer, and spoken word artist. Her deep and varied career has seen her in concert with many notable musicians such as Mariah Carey, Graham Nash, Melissa Etheridge and is a founding member of Trey Anastasio’s Ghosts of the Forest. Her original music, powered by her soulful voice, is hard-rocking and blues-tinged with infectious hooks that stay with you.

Read Full Bio ⇢

MUSIC

Danielle Ponder

Bravery can take many forms. For Danielle Ponder it took the shape of a leap of faith: leaving her successful day job working as an attorney in the public defender’s office in her hometown of Rochester, NY to devote herself full-time to sharing her powerful voice with the world. The singer-songwriter’s mesmerizing eight-song debut reinforces that her faith was not misplaced, and her leap has been rewarded with a safe landing.

Read Full Bio ⇢

MUSIC

Dijon

Dijon is from a small county outside of Baltimore, Maryland. Influenced by the freedom and lo-fi approach in the DIY music scene, he began producing and experimenting with collages of R&B, Folk, and Dance music as the musical duo, Abhi//Dijon. Having since established himself as a solo artist, he released his debut EP, Sci Fi 1, in March '19 followed by the release of his 2nd EP, How Do You Feel About Getting Married? in May '20. Since then, Dijon released his critically-acclaimed debut album, Absolutely, in Nov ‘21 and supported Bon Iver on tour in 2022.

Dustin Nickerson

A Seattle native now suffering in Southern California, Dustin Nickerson is an in demand comic on the rise. In 2020, he released his debut comedy special Overwhelmed. Dustin describes himself as “the world’s most average person” but is far from it when on stage. He brings you into his life through his jokes about the struggles of parenting, marriage, and being generally annoyed by most people.

MUSIC

Read Full Bio ⇢

Early Eyes

It’s a foreboding time to make pop music. But like a sunbeam peering through a haze of wildfire smoke, Early Eyes have somehow persevered through dashed dreams, fractured relationships, historic social justice uprisings in their own hometown, and a society tearing apart at the seams to make an album that is both responsive to the chaos and wearily optimistic.

Read Full Bio ⇢

Early Eyes

EARLY EYES, LOOK ALIVE!

Produced by Caleb Hinz and Jake Luppen
Live Band is Jake Berglove (lead vocals/guitar), Joe Villano (guitar), John O’Brien (guitar), Sam Mathys (drums), and Megan Mahoney (bass)

It’s a foreboding time to make pop music. But like a sunbeam peering through a haze of wildfire smoke, Early Eyes have somehow persevered through dashed dreams, fractured relationships, historic social justice uprisings in their own hometown, and a society tearing apart at the seams to make an album that is both responsive to the chaos and wearily optimistic.

“It almost feels like Look Alive! is a direct response to the pandemic,” bandleader Jake Berglove reflects. “It was like, oh, my goodness, all of our capitalist anxieties just came true! We took all of that anxiety and angry energy and put it into making a really fucked up album.”

“The album was not just an expression of all of our frustrations, but also an escape from it,” adds guitarist Joe Villano. “And I feel like the process of making it really carried us through the year.”

Look Alive! vibrates with angst, punctuated by computerized glitches and disintegrating threads of abandoned melodies that echo in the distance before roaring back to life. A track like “Chemicals” will begin with Early Eyes’ signature buoyant and catchy pop-rock, but as the song progresses it grows more ominous before shattering apart in an earthquake of rattling, subterranean bass.

Early Eyes signed to Epitaph Records in January 2020 and put out their first singles with the label that march—just as the pandemic brought the entire music industry screeching to a halt. As weeks turned into months, and as their city of Minneapolis imploded in a catastrophic moment of fury, grief, and protest, the band alternated between doing what they could to support mutual aid efforts and holing up in the studio to channel their complicated emotions into song. Along the way, they also parted ways with their previous rhythm section, further escalating their sonic reinvention.

“It kind of gave us an entirely new identity,” Jake says. “It almost feels like we’re completely different people. The three of us who were remaining wanted to pursue this new direction with the band and kind of embrace the chaos that comes with living in 2021.” Away from the gaze of the public, they were free to make whatever best captured their mood in the moment. “We would write stuff previously with the understanding that we are writing to play live,” guitarist John O’Brien says. “And then when playing live stopped being a thing that we had to worry about immediately, we were able to approach the songwriting process with a different mindset, being more production oriented, creating impossible textures and sounds.”

“The question we would ask all the time is, ‘What would be the coolest thing to do here?’ And then we would just go with that idea 100 percent,” says Joe. “We would just ‘follow the fun,’ is what Jake would say a lot.”

With the assistance of producers Caleb Hinz and Jake Luppen (Hippo Campus), Early Eyes also felt more liberated stylistically, and Look Alive! looks ahead to a post-genre future where emo, post-hardcore, Japanese city pop, and musical theater can coexist peacefully on one album. “We ran with so many different influences,” John says. “I mean, like, half the songs on the album just sound like a completely different band. We were just more unafraid to commit—like, alright, we're just going to make a punk song right now.”

There’s punk rage in “Dying Plant,” to be sure, and traces of despondence and ennui in the psychedelic melodies of singles “Parasthesia” and “Revel Berry.” But then halfway through the album, on the sleeper track “Rocket,” the angst cracks open like an egg to reveal a truly vulnerable, tender moment. “Let’s just be honest, I’m so scared,” Jake sings, stacking his voice into a sugary pancake of pop harmonies before stripping all of the effects away to simply state, “I love you.”

The effect is a band that still has the courage to wear their heart on their sleeve—even when that sleeve is tattered and covered in post-apocalyptic dust. In the album’s closing track, “Trust Fall,” Jake sighs and sings, “Hard to be the lone warm-hearted optimist, sinking down, increasing pressure, forever falling backward.” But as he lets go, he finds that connection he’s been yearning for: “Turns out falling backward isn’t so bad with conviction. I trust you, deep blue.” And just like that, a wailing guitar yawns back to life, the smoke clears, and the sun shines brightly again.

Ethel Cain

The jaded daughter of a dead preacher-man caught in an exodus, Ethel Cain winds her way through a dizzying attempt at escape from her suffocating upbringing only to find herself crushed within its jaws in the end. Hayden Anhedönia, the woman behind the curtain, serves as the architect for the visceral and haunting world of Ethel Cain.

Read Full Bio ⇢

Fontaines D.C.

On their latest album Skinty Fia, Fontaines D.C. are addressing their Irishness from afar as they recreate new lives for themselves elsewhere. For a band whose hometown courses through their veins - “D.C.” stands for “Dublin City” - the album finds them trying to resolve the need to broaden their horizons with the affection they still feel for the land and people they’ve left behind.

MUSIC

Kiss the Tiger

At a time when the world seems intent on pushing us further inward and further apart, Kiss the Tiger are here to rattle our bones and bust us out of our cocoons with some good old fashioned rock and roll. Fronted by the magnetic and disarming Meghan Kreidler, who draws on her background in theater to break the fourth wall between audience and band with her righteous fist pumps and high kicks, this is a band that doesn’t just play. They combust.

MUSIC

Read Full Bio ⇢

MUSIC

Genesis Owusu

Genesis Owusu is a Ghanaian-Australian songwriter and performer whose hard to categorize music draws from laid-back funk, hardcore rap, and the energy of alternative rock. Naming Frank Ocean, Kanye West, OutKast, and Jimi Hendrix as influences, his songs are both celebratory and introspective, while touching on relevant social issues such as cultural appropriation and police brutality.

COMEDY

Read Full Bio ⇢

Genesis Owusu

Genesis Owusu is a Ghanaian-Australian songwriter and performer whose hard to categorize music draws from laid-back funk, hardcore rap, and the energy of alternative rock. Naming Frank Ocean, Kanye West, OutKast, and Jimi Hendrix as influences, his songs are both celebratory and introspective, while touching on relevant social issues such as cultural appropriation and police brutality. After earning attention throughout Australia with early releases such as the 2017 EP Cardrive and his highly energetic live shows, Owusu's single "Don't Need You" received airplay from U.K. and U.S. tastemakers in 2020. His debut album, Smiling with No Teeth, arrived in 2021.

Kofi Owusu-Ansah was born in Ghana and moved to Canberra, Australia, with his family when he was two. In 2013, he formed a duo called the Ansah Brothers with his older brother Koji, better known as Citizen Kay, and began performing solo as Genesis Owusu soon after. In 2015, he started performing with a pack of dancers and backup singers in matching red outfits known as the Goons, adding a striking visual element to his live show. He also began receiving support through influential Australian radio station Triple J, placing as a Top Five finalist in their Unearthed High competition, then being named as an Unearthed featured artist in early 2017. Following the release of Owusu's Cardrive EP, his song "Sideways," produced by Perrin Moss and Simon Mavin of Hiatus Kaiyote, became a radio hit. Additional tracks such as "Wit' da Team" (2018) and "WUTD" (2019) attracted attention, and Owusu was awarded ACT Live Voice of the Year during the 2019 National Live Music Awards. His 2020 single "Don't Need You" became a number one hit on Triple J, additionally receiving airplay on BBC Radio 6 in the U.K. and American stations like KCRW and WXPN. He recorded his debut album, Smiling with No Teeth (2021), alongside notable Australian musicians such as Kirin J. Callinan, Touch Sensitive, and World Champion's Julian Sudek.

Geoffrey Asmus

Geoffrey Asmus began performing stand-up in 2013 immediately after wasting $143,548 on seven college degrees and becoming a 1st grade teacher. He regularly performs at the World Famous Comedy Cellar in New York City and was featured at Just For Laughs in Montreal as a ‘New Face.’ Geoffrey has opened for Dave Attell, Mark Normand, Dan Soder, Fortune Feimster, Sam Morrill, and Daniel Sloss among others.

Read Full Bio ⇢

Haley Heynderickx

It takes a mix of skill and luck to tend a garden well, but it’s impossible without a certain amount of kindness tended. While the cyclical nature of gardening seems inherent, in some ways, Haley Heynderickx is just beginning. Her debut album, named 'I Need to Start a Garden' out of a search for calm through these waves of uncertainty and upheaval, is out now via Mama Bird Recording Co.

Read Full Bio ⇢

Kiss the Tiger

At a time when the world seems intent on pushing us further inward and further apart, Kiss the Tiger are here to rattle our bones and bust us out of our cocoons with some good old fashioned rock and roll.

Fronted by the magnetic and disarming Meghan Kreidler, who draws on her background in theater to break the fourth wall between audience and band with her righteous fist pumps and high kicks, this is a band that doesn’t just play. They combust. And watching them set the stage ablaze, it’s hard not to feel that tension that’s been built up in all of us these past few years slowly release, too, like a collective exhale set to ratcheting guitars, buoyant bass lines and Kreidler’s perfectly pitched screams. Theirs is a clean-burning fire. Hell, you might even call it healing.

“We want to give the audience an experience that is visceral and jolts them awake— creating community in that moment,” Kreidler notes. “I think that’s a really nice gift you

can give people: Just let go.”

Over the past few years Kiss the Tiger have set the Twin Cities ablaze, and there’s nary a club, block party, park amphitheater or backyard that they haven’t transformed with their commanding live shows. And their rigorous performance schedule has paid off: The band has never sounded tighter or more certain of its mission. Kreidler is backed on stage by her longtime partner and creative foil, Michael Anderson, on rhythm guitar, plus lead guitarist Bridger Fruth, bassist Paul DeLong, and drummer Jay DeHut.

Their sets are often accompanied by sing-alongs to regional hits like the hard-knocking “Motel Room,” their ode to pandemic loneliness, “I Miss You,” or their pleading anthem “Hold On to Love,” all of which have become instantly recognizable to locals thanks to regular airplay on the tastemaking public radio station 89.3 The Current. (“Hold On to Love,” specifically, spent a whopping nine weeks at No. 1 on The Current’s Chart Show and was inducted into the Chart Show Hall of Fame.)

Their latest album, Vicious Kid, is a tour de force through the band’s increasingly sophisticated songwriting, which is handled jointly by Kreidler and Anderson. There are plenty of moments where they embody the spirit of late ‘70s new wave punk, like in the ridiculously fun “Who Does Her Hair?” But they have started weaving in softer textures, too, like the crooning and feminist alt-country ballad “Grown Ass Woman” or the skeletal and simmering “Out of My Mind.” Unsurprisingly, Vicious Kid was named one of the Best Minnesota Albums of 2021 by the Minneapolis Star Tribune and highlighted as their longtime critic Chris Riemenschneider’s personal favorite that year.

In addition to exploring a wider variety of sounds and genres, Vicious Kid also features some of Kiss the Tiger’s most thought-provoking lyrics to date. In “Grown Ass Woman,” Kreidler pleads, and then demands, that she be allowed to cut her own path in this world—a message that dovetails seamlessly with Kiss the Tiger’s approach to making music. “The angel of death wants me to draw another breath/But angel won’t you leave me alone,” she sings and sighs. “Even near the end not a foe or a friend/Is gonna tell me what to do.”

In addition to headlining their own barn-burning shows, Kiss the Tiger have also been tapped to open for prominent acts like Lake Street Dive, The Suburbs, Ike Reilly, Jackie Venson, Black Joe Lewis, and Daughtry. They have also brought their act on the road to open for Philly’s Low Cut Connie, Austin’s Emily Wolfe, and fellow Minneapolis indie favorites Bad Bad Hats. Given how quickly they’ve won over the Twin Cities, Kiss the Tiger are poised to roar into more markets soon. Their transcendent, heart-forward rock and roll is right on time.

Written by Andrea Swensson
Freelance music journalist, author, and host of the Official Prince Podcast,

Lowertown

After meeting in maths class, best friends Olivia Osby and Avsha Weinberg bonded over a mutual love of jazz. Avsha, a first-generation Israeli immigrant, had conservatory aspirations while Olivia spent her formative years writing poetry, feeding melodic snippets to a small but devoted online following. Almost every Lowertown offering is anchored by a near-naked guitar progression, as emotionally evocative as Olivia’s soul-baring lyrics.

Read Full Bio ⇢

Lowertown

After meeting in maths class, best friends Olivia Osby and Avsha Weinberg bonded over a mutual love of jazz. Classical pianist Avsha, a first-generation Israeli immigrant, had conservatory aspirations while Olivia spent her formative years writing poetry, feeding melodic snippets to a small but devoted online following.

“Olivia’s start in poetry had a huge influence over our music,” says Avsha. “That has been one thing that has stayed consistent in the music: allowing the lyrics to move with the music the way Olivia feels. It’s interesting to have the words decide the rhythm rather than a traditional guitar or drum.”

For the pair of highschoolers, the band’s initial success was unprecedented. Almost every Lowertown offering is anchored by a near-naked guitar progression, as emotionally evocative as Olivia’s soul-baring lyrics. They signed with Dirty Hit before graduation and quickly amassed millions of organic listens on their debut project Friends.

Debut album I Love To Lie is their most varied artistic output yet. Recorded with Catherine Marks in London, it’s a collection of work that highlights the duo’s knack for violently provocative underdog anthems of youthful dissonance and disappointment, the melding of nostalgia and nouveau, and clashing homages to early emo and pop-punk politicism. While they once insisted on non-traditional song structure - forever fearing an inane return from verse to chorus - they’ve since “reeled it in,” favouring coherence over chaos.

These artistic decisions not only reflect their evolving capabilities, but confidence, shares Olivia. Long gone are the days she would cringe over her ultra-vulnerable lyricism, or unique vocal fry. Finally getting the opportunity to tour and meet their loyal fans has also served as “proof of Lowertown’s progress.” It’s the major music milestones like these that have, for the first time, shifted the band’s focus from the future. Even though the destination is still to be determined, Lowertown are determined to enjoy the ride.

COMEDY

Read Full Bio ⇢

MUSIC

The Heavy Heavy

The Heavy Heavy create the kind of unfettered rock-and-roll that warps time and place, immediately pulling the audience into a euphoric fugue state with its own sun-soaked atmosphere. Led by lifelong musicians Will Turner and Georgie Fuller, the Brighton, UK-based band began with a shared ambition of “making records that sound like our favorite records ever,” and soon arrived at a reverb-drenched collision of psychedelia and blues, acid rock and sunshine pop.

Read Full Bio ⇢

The Heavy Heavy

The Heavy Heavy create the kind of unfettered rock-and-roll that warps time and place, immediately pulling the audience into a euphoric fugue state with its own sun-soaked atmosphere. Led by lifelong musicians Will Turner and Georgie Fuller, the Brighton, UK-based band began with a shared ambition of “making records that sound like our favorite records ever,” and soon arrived at a reverb-drenched collision of psychedelia and blues, acid rock and sunshine pop. As revealed on their gloriously hazy debut EP Life and Life Only, The Heavy Heavy breathe an incandescent new energy into sounds from decades ago, transcending eras with a hypnotic ease.

In dreaming up Life and Life Only, The Heavy Heavy tapped into many of the musical touchstones that Turner describes as “deeply entrenched in our psyche”: Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones, British Invasion pop acts like the Hollies, folk-blues duo Delaney & Bonnie, to name just a few. Pushing past the confines of reverential pastiche, the band imbues their output with a strangely charmed quality and heady authenticity undeniably tied to their status as artists on the fringe, both philosophically and geographically. To that end, Turner hails from the remote town of Malvern, an enchanted stretch of the English countryside once frequented by the likes of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and Kate Bush. “It’s famous for the healing qualities of its water, and there are ancient trees where the Druids used to worship—there’s a sort of magical-hippie aspect to it,” he notes. Fuller, meanwhile, elevates every track with her spellbinding vocals and magnetic yet wholly unaffected presence, building upon a kaleidoscopic career that’s included performing at Montreux Jazz Festival as a teenager as well as acting in the London theater.

Rooted in their effusive harmonies and fuzzed-out guitar work, Life and Life Only contains the first track Turner and Fuller ever recorded as The Heavy Heavy, a lilting piece of psych-pop titled “Go Down River.” “I’d had this song a while and couldn’t quite finish it, but then once Georgie added her vocals it all came together,” Turner recalls. “The male-female harmonies gave it this whole new sound; it just felt like lying in the green grass on a hot sunny day.” Self-produced in a London flat, the six-track project also brings that transportive power to songs like “Miles and Miles” (a bright and jangly number whose whirlwind velocity calls to mind late-’60s/early-’70s road dramas like Easy Rider and Vanishing Point), “Man of the Hills” (a groove-heavy homage to Turner’s otherworldly hometown), and “Sleeping on Grassy Ground” (a sweetly languid epic featuring a near-operatic vocal performance from Fuller, a classically trained singer).

With their full-length debut due out in 2023, The Heavy Heavy recently expanded their lineup to five members, allowing for an even more vast and bombastic sound now touched with heavenly four-part harmonies. A massively prolific outfit who’ve written and recorded hundreds of songs in the last two years alone, the band feels perpetually inspired by the pursuit of making music that provides a rarefied pleasure. “The driving force behind all our songwriting is to feel good, and to make other people feel good too,” Fuller points out. And thanks to their uncanny grace as sonic alchemists, The Heavy Heavy ultimately perform a certain magic with their music: eliciting a sublime daze that goes far beyond pure escapism.

MUSIC

The Local Honeys

The Local Honeys (Linda Jean Stokley and Montana Hobbs) come from a long line of storytellers and a lineage of strong Kentucky women that aren’t afraid to tell it like it is. With their self-titled La Honda Records (Colter Wall, Riddy Arman, Vincent Neil Emerson) debut, the duo have mastered the art of telling a good story, while pushing the envelope within the traditions they hold dear.

Read Full Bio ⇢

Mary Santora

The slightly dark, incredibly quick, observational style of Mary Santora's comedy is one that is uniquely her own. Drawing from real life experiences, Mary takes the audience on a storytelling driven ride, while seamlessly weaving in and out of crowd interactions, leaving a lasting impression on anyone who sees her. Santora's debut album, "Hillbilly Boujee" hit #1 on both iTunes and Amazon, #5 on Billboard, and can be heard regularly on SiriusXM.

MUSIC

Maxo Kream

After a handful of independent projects and two major label albums, Maxo has established his place in the Hip-Hop Industry and is there to stay. With evident southern influences and a critically acclaimed storytelling ability, the Nigerian-American has accumulated hundreds of millions of streams across platforms and collaborated with artists like Tyler the Creator, A$AP Rocky, Travis Scott, Megan thee Stallion, Playboi Carti and many others.

MUSIC

MJ Lenderman

Jake Lenderman lives in Asheville, North Carolina. He plays guitar in the indie band Wednesday, sometimes fishes on the Pigeon River, and creates his own music as MJ Lenderman. His latest solo release with Dear Life Records is titled Boat Songs. Lenderman describes the album as his most “polished” sound to date, built around songs that “chase fulfillment and happiness.”

MUSIC

Read Full Bio ⇢

MJ Lenderman

Jake Lenderman lives in Asheville, North Carolina. He plays guitar in the indie band Wednesday, sometimes fishes on the Pigeon River, and creates his own music as MJ Lenderman. His latest solo release with Dear Life Records is titled Boat Songs. Lenderman describes the album as his most “polished” sound to date, built around songs that “chase fulfillment and happiness”—whether that means buying a boat, drinking too much, or watching seeds fall from the bird feeder.

Boat Songs is the followup to Lenderman’s 2020 label debut, Ghost of Your Guitar Solo, and subsequent release, Knockin’, with Dear Life Records, both of which were critically acclaimed for their off-the-cuff alternative country sound. But with Boat Songs, Lenderman emerges confident as ever, an innovative yet unassuming artist, straightforward and true.

Recorded at Asheville’s Drop of Sun with Alex Farrar and Colin Miller, Boat Songs is the first album Lenderman made in a professional studio. WWE matches and basketball games were silently projected on the studio walls during recording sessions. And you can hear their power in these ten unapologetically lo-fi tracks, each brimming with pent-up energy and the element of surprise.

A clavichord honks throughout ‘You Have Bought Yourself A Boat’ with the playfulness of a live Dylan/Band set. ‘SUV’ screams with My Bloody Valentine distortion. When Xandy Chelmis beautifully bends his steel guitar on ‘TLC Cage Match’ you can't help but think of Gram Parsons. And ‘Tastes Just Like It Costs’ howls with the intensity of Crazy Horse era Neil Young. Boat Songs is fearless and it’s exciting. It challenges the perception of what modern day country music is supposed to be and where it can go.

But no matter where Boat Songs goes sonically, the album is deeply rooted in Lenderman’s natural gifts as a storyteller. Someone once asked Hank Williams what made country music successful and he said, “One word: sincerity.” Filled with everyday observations ripped straight from his journal, Lenderman’s lyrics are sincere in their absurdities, with the vulnerability and honesty of Jason Molina and Daniel Johnston. There are moments of humor (‘Jackass is funny like the Earth is round’), admission (‘I know why we get so fucked up’), and recognition of beauty others might not stop to see (‘Your laundry looks so pretty...relaxing in the wind’). Read alone on the page, ‘Hangover Game,’ ‘You Have Bought Yourself A Boat,’ and ‘Dan Marino,’ stand out as perfect little poems, unpretentious and real. Simply said, these songs are unforgettable.

Or you could also say it like this: listening to Boat Songs by MJ Lenderman is like joining your best friends out on the porch. The neighbors might be yelling and the bugs might be biting. But y’all are shooting the shit and letting loose, telling the same old stories again and again. But it don’t matter how many times you’ve heard them, because they're from the heart—and in the end they always make you feel alive again.

Words by Ashleigh Bryant Phillips

Momma

Following Momma’s beloved 2020 LP Two of Me, which introduced the world to the symbiotic writing style & profound creative intuition of founders Etta Friedman & Allegra Weingarten, the band’s third studio album Household Name reveals an exciting new chapter marked by both personal & artistic growth. Mastered by Grammy-winning engineer Emily Lazar, the album is a tightly-stitched collection that is magnetic & dynamic.

Read Full Bio ⇢

MUNA

MUNA is magic. After releasing their now viral, life affirming, queer anthem “Silk Chiffon,” featuring the band’s new label head Phoebe Bridgers, the band took 2022 by storm. MUNA, the band’s self-titled third album, is a feat of an album — the forceful, deliberate, dimensional output of a band who has nothing to prove to anyone except themselves. MUNA is comprised of Katie Gavin (she/they), Naomi McPherson (they/them), and Josette Maskin (she/they).

Read Full Bio ⇢

Nur-D

One of the fastest rising stars in Minnesota's music scene, Nur-D burst onto the stage in 2018 and has been making headlines ever since. Performing on stages alongside national acts like Migos, Logic, Tyler The Creator, and The Wu Tang Clan, Nur-D is well on his way to becoming a house hold name. Nur-D is a breath of fresh air in the Hip Hop world and fans are feeling the same.

Read Full Bio ⇢

COMEDY

MUSIC

Oh He Dead

Oh He Dead hails from Washington, D.C., and is quickly garnering national attention. Lead singer CJ Johnson, “maneuvers her powerful voice — a combination of Stevie Nicks and Tracy Chapman” (NPR) in rhythm with the band’s “infectiously groovy” and “sublime instrumentation” (NPR) to create an “infectious and soulful sound” (Washington Post). Founded in 2015 by Johnson and Andy Valenti, the now six-piece group weaves in and out of genres ranging from soul to funk to folk to rock, all tied together by the stirring harmonies of Johnson and Valenti.

MUSIC

Orville Peck

Orville Peck is a country recording artist and songwriter known for his deep baritone voice, strong musicianship and songs that are sincere yet bold in their storytelling. Never confirming his identity, Orville, who is openly gay and lived an itinerant life across South Africa and the rural south, is never seen without his signature, fringed mask. When Orville is not performing or touring, he lends his time to activism and the causes he is committed to.

Sam Tallent

Sam Tallent (“the absurd voice of a surreal generation”- The Denver Post) is a comedian and novelist. For the last decade he has performed more than 45 weekends per year in North America, Asia, Australia and Europe. His writing has appeared in Birdy Magazine and on VICE.com and he’s told jokes on Comedy Central, TruTV and VICELAND. He lives in Colorado and cooks dinner for his wife every night.

MUSIC

The Scarlet Opera

Fusing the grandeur of the theatre with the raw energy of rock and roll, The Scarlet Opera - a five piece band hailing from Los Angeles - offers an escape into the throes of love, lust, glamour and passion. Formed as ‘Perta’ in 2016 and reborn in 2022, The Scarlet Opera is led by lyricist and frontman Luka Bazulka, whose authentic narrative and vocal prowess are matched only by the musical talents of band members Colin Kenrick [keyboard], Daniel Zuker [bass], Justin Siegal [drums] and Chance Taylor [guitar].

Shamarr Allen & The Underdawgs

Shamarr Allen is the definition of New Orleans! Hailing from the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, Allen has influences in jazz, hip-hop, rock, funk rhythms, blues and country. He is the lead vocalist and trumpeter of his band “Shamarr Allen & The Underdawgs.” With a scintillating and unique sound, look, and exemplary talents, Shamarr Allen transcends musical boundaries. He is the True Orleans experience!

MUSIC

Read Full Bio ⇢

MUSIC

Read Full Bio ⇢

Sierra Ferrell

With her spellbinding voice and time-bending sensibilities, Sierra Ferrell makes music that's as fantastically vagabond as the artist herself. Growing up in small-town West Virginia, the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist left home in her early 20s to journey across the country with a troupe of nomadic musicians, playing everywhere from truck stops to alleyways to freight-train boxcars speeding down the railroad tracks.

Sudan Archives

As Sudan Archives, Brittney Parks first emerged onto the scene as a self taught avant-garde violinist, channelling sounds through loop pedals. She has combined left-field strains of R&B, hip-hop, and experimental electronic music with hypnotic string loops and the fiddling style of West Africa. After bursting onto the scene in 2017 with "Come Meh Way”, she masterfully bridged the gap between her early glitchy, avant-garde compositions and timeless songwriting for her debut album Athena.

Read Full Bio ⇢

MUSIC

Thee Sacred Souls

For Thee Sacred Souls, the first time is often the charm. The band’s first club dates led to a record deal with the revered Daptone label; their first singles racked up more than ten million streams in a year and garnered attention from Billboard, Rolling Stone, and KCRW; and their first fans included the likes of Gary Clark Jr., The Black Pumas, Princess Nokia, and Timbaland. Now, the breakout San Diego trio is ready to deliver yet another landmark first with the release of their highly anticipated, self-titled debut.

Read Full Bio ⇢

Thee Sacred Souls

For Thee Sacred Souls, the first time is often the charm. The band’s first club dates led to a record deal with the revered Daptone label; their first singles racked up more than ten million streams in a year and garnered attention from Billboard, Rolling Stone, and KCRW; and their first fans included the likes of Gary Clark Jr., The Black Pumas, Princess Nokia, and Timbaland. Now, the breakout San Diego trio is ready to deliver yet another landmark first with the release of their highly anticipated, self-titled debut.

“Every step of the way has just been so organic,” says drummer Alex Garcia. “Things just seem to happen naturally when the three of us get together.”

Indeed, there’s something inevitable about the sound of Thee Sacred Souls, as if these ageless songs of love and loss have somehow always existed, as if Garcia and his bandmates—bassist Sal Samano and singer Josh Lane—have been playing together for a lifetime already. Produced by Bosco Mann (aka Daptone co-founder Gabriel Roth), the record is warm and textured, mixing the easygoing grace of sweet ’60s soul with the grit and groove of early ’70s R&B, and the performances are utterly intoxicating, with Lane’s weightless vocals anchored by the rhythm section’s deep pocket and infectious chemistry. Hints of Chicano, Philly, Chicago, Memphis, and even Panama soul turn up in their music, and while it’s tempting to toss around labels like “retro” and “vintage” with a deliberately analog collection like this, there’s also something distinctly modern about the band that defies easy categorization, a rawness and a sincerity that transcends time and place.

“I think we found the best of both worlds with this band,” says Lane. “We get to be innovative and honest and challenge ourselves as artists, but we also get to dig deep and pay homage to the foundational stuff that helped shape us.”

It was that shared love and respect for the foundations of soul that brought the band together in the first place. Launched in 2019, the group began with Garcia and Samano, who bonded over their similar experiences growing up in southern California and a mutual affinity for record collecting. While Samano didn’t pick up the bass until he’d already graduated from high school, Garcia had spent much of his teenage years obsessing over guitar and drums and teaching himself how to record on an old Tascam tape machine, and the pair’s mix of technical know-how and innate curiosity proved to be an ideal match. All they needed was a singer.

“I remember coming across Josh on Instagram,” says Garcia, “and I thought he could be a good fit even though he was doing something a little different. We invited him to come to a rehearsal with us, and he just came up with these great lyrics and melodies right on the spot. We knew he was the guy after one take.”

Joining a group like Thee Sacred Souls wasn’t an obvious move for Lane, though. A Sacramento native, he’d fallen in love with music through the church and studied classical voice in college, where he sang everything from French arias to Italian opera. When he moved to San Diego in 2017, he planned on becoming a solo artist, and his ambitions skewed more toward dreampop and chillwave than the old school soul sounds Garcia and Samano were cooking up.

“I grew up with a lot of the classic references like Al Green and Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield,” Lane recalls, “but I always just thought I’d sprinkle little bits of that into whatever I ended up doing. When I met these guys, though, they introduced me to deep soul and lowrider stuff like Thee Midniters, and that really opened things up.”

Performing live as a seven-piece (the core trio plus guitar, keys, and two backup vocalists), the band generated a local buzz almost immediately, which put them on Mann’s radar and led them into his Riverside, CA, studio. At the time, Mann was planning to launch a new Daptone imprint named Penrose Records, and Thee Sacred Souls were an obvious fit for the label’s inaugural release.

“They had a sound that caught my ear right away,” says Mann. “The combination of Sal and Alex’s taste and touch in the rhythm section with Josh’s masterful sense of voice and melody was just so fresh. I knew they could make an album that would blow some minds.”

The band more than delivers on that promise with Thee Sacred Souls, which opens with the mesmerizing lead single “Can I Call You Rose?” With lyrics penned on the spot by Lane during his first rehearsal with the group, the track is a silky slice of pure romance and an ideal entry point into the group’s timeless sound. Like much of the album, it’s a bittersweet meditation on matters of the heart and the primacy of love, one fueled by lush horns, velvety vocals, and an impossibly smooth rhythm section. The unhurried “Lady Love” tips its cap to the South Side of Chicago as it reckons with forgiveness and second chances, while the doo-wop tinged “It’s Overflowing” draws on both classic Chicano soul and Jamaican rocksteady music in its pledges of devotion, and the nakedly sensual “Future Lover” flips the band’s lineup on its head as it revels in the highs of infatuation.

“For a lot of songs, Alex writes the instrumental and demos them out at home,” says Samano, “but ‘Future Lover’ actually grew out of an after-practice jam session one day where we all switched instruments. I was on drums, Alex was on guitar, our guitarist was playing bass, and it all just clicked into place as soon as Josh started singing.”

The album’s vocals—both Lane’s beguiling leads and the collection’s airy female backups—serve as the glue that often binds these tracks together, imbuing the hypnotic arrangements with an undeniable sense of emotional urgency. The restless “Weak For Your Love” highlights Lane’s dazzling falsetto; the charming “Easier Said Than Done” complements his laidback delivery with a wordless counter melody; and the lilting “Trade Of Hearts”—a duet with vocalist Jensine Benitez—even brings Garcia and Samano in for call-and-response lines. But perhaps it’s the bittersweet “Sorrow For Tomorrow” that best showcases the breadth of Lane’s range as he shifts effortlessly between mellifluous vocal runs and semi-spoken passages all about loss and healing, growth and forgiveness, longing and regret.

“That song is basically permission to cry,” says Lane. “It’s a reminder that it’s okay to be open to pain and not to feel like your emotions are a burden or make you any less of a man.”

Ultimately, that’s what Thee Sacred Souls is all about: not just accepting our emotions, but embracing them as a beautiful and fundamental piece of the human experience. It can be difficult, no doubt about it, but as with everything else they do, Thee Sacred Souls make it look easy.

MUSIC

Read Full Bio ⇢

Sierra Ferrell

With her spellbinding voice and time-bending sensibilities, Sierra Ferrell makes music that's as fantastically vagabond as the artist herself. Growing up in small-town West Virginia, the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist left home in her early 20s to journey across the country with a troupe of nomadic musicians, playing everywhere from truck stops to alleyways to freight-train boxcars speeding down the railroad tracks. After years of living in her van and busking on the streets of New Orleans and Seattle, she moved to Nashville and soon landed a deal with Rounder Records on the strength of her magnetic live show. Now, on her highly anticipated label debut Long Time Coming, Ferrell shares a dozen songs beautifully unbound by genre or era, instantly transporting her audience to an infinitely more enchanted world.

Co-produced by Stu Hibberd and 10-time Grammy Award-winner Gary Paczosa (Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Gillian Welch), Long Time Coming embodies a delicate eclecticism fitting for a musician who utterly defies categorization. "I want my music to be like my mind is -- all over the place," says Ferrell, who recorded the album at Southern Ground and Minutia studios in Nashville. "I listen to everything from bluegrass to techno to goth metal, and it all inspires me in different ways that I try to incorporate into my songs and make people really feel something." In sculpting the album's chameleonic sound, Ferrell joined forces with a knockout lineup of guest musicians (including Jerry Douglas, Tim O'Brien, Chris Scruggs, Sarah Jarosz, Billy Strings, and Dennis Crouch), adding entirely new texture to each of her gracefully crafted and undeniably heartfelt songs.

Sprung from her self-described "country heart but a jazz mind," Long Time Coming opens on the unearthly reverie of "The Sea," a haunting and hypnotic tale of scorned love. Its bewitching arrangement is adorned with sublime details like Ferrell's tender toy-piano melodies and Scruggs's woozy steel-guitar work. In a striking sonic shift emblematic of the whole album, Ferrell then veers into the galloping beat and classic bluegrass storytelling of "Jeremiah," a heavy-hearted but sweetly hopeful romp featuring Jarosz on banjo and octave mandolin. Another impossibly charming bluegrass gem, "Bells of Every Chapel" sustains that wistful mood as Ferrell muses on the exquisite pain of "loving someone unconditionally with all your heart, but they don't receive your love the way you want them to." Graced with Strings's nimble acoustic-guitar work and the heavenly harmonies of O'Brien and Julie Lee, "Bells of Every Chapel" reaches its breathtaking crescendo as Ferrell belts out the song's closing lyrics, effectively twisting that heartache into something strangely glorious.

One of the most enthralling moments on Long Time Coming, "Far Away Across the Sea" finds Ferrell serenading her tragically distant beloved, channeling the track's ardent longing in wildly cascading guitar lines and the fiery trumpet work of Nadje Noordhuis. "Since I'm singing about the ocean in that song, I wanted it to have a calypso vibe -- but then there's also a bit of a tango feel to it, and some Spanish influence too," Ferrell points out. Noting that she first became fascinated with island music while touring with blues singer/songwriter C.W. Stoneking, Ferrell also infuses an element of calypso into "Why'd Ya Do It" -- a beguiling and bittersweet lament whose lyrics perform a sort of poetic love spell ("My love for you's a deep blue ocean, baby/I just wanna swim inside").

In her elegant blurring of musical boundaries, Ferrell brought her vast imagination to the reworking of two signature fan favorites, including "In Dreams" -- a song previously glimpsed in a viral video that's now amassed nearly four million views on YouTube. A bold departure from the rugged simplicity of that rendition, the album version of "In Dreams" unfolds with an unbridled splendor that wholly intensifies the impact of Ferrell's outpouring. Meanwhile, in reimagining the self-reflective "Made Like That," Ferrell introduces unexpected flourishes like loping percussion and luminous piano tones, ultimately building an even more immersive atmosphere around the song's softly devastating confession. "When I wrote 'Made Like That,' I was thinking about where I am now compared to what my life was like in West Virginia," she says. "It was hell for me to be stuck in a small town, but I got out and finally realized what the world had to offer. Now I'm here, and I'm so much healthier and happier."

Despite its endless wandering into new sonic terrain, Long Time Coming is indelibly rooted in Ferrell's ravishing vocal presence, revealing her extraordinary ability to draw enormous feeling from just one single note. A lifelong singer, she got her start performing covers in a local bar at the young age of seven. "There was this little dead-end bar nearby that my mom and I would go hang out at during the day, and I'd get up and sing Shania Twain songs," she recalls. "There'd be hardly anyone in there, so I'd have free rein of the place." Later on, while living in a trailer park, Ferrell had a chance encounter that would soon turn out to be life-changing. "I met all these homeless kids who were traveling all over the place and playing amazing old songs, and I wanted to be a part of that," says Ferrell. "The music they were making was so honest, so pure. It seemed important to bring that kind of music back, and it's been with me ever since." Though her years of traveling proved immensely formative, Ferrell eventually settled in Nashville in her late 20s. Soon after her arrival, she began taking the stage at major festivals like The Avett Brothers at the Beach, AmericanaFest, and Out on The Weekend and touring with the likes of Parker Millsap and Charley Crockett, immediately captivating crowds with her joyful and spirited live set.

A consummate musician's musician, Ferrell found an easy camaraderie with the many luminaries who accompanied her on Long Time Coming. To that end, her most cherished moments in the album's production include the recording of the soul-stirring choir-like harmonies of "West Virginia Waltz," as well as Rory Hoffman's impromptu whistling on "Bells of Every Chapel." ("Rory's got one heck of a whistle on him," she marvels). At the same time, the making of Long Time Coming fully affirmed her affinity for lifers like Strings. "Billy's in it for the music, which is something we have in common," she says. "We're just gonna keep playing till we're not on this Earth anymore."

While the wayward sound of Long Time Coming is in many ways a perfect echo of Ferrell's free-spirited nature, there's also a much deeper intention at play: a desire to expand her listeners' capacity for wonder, so that they might uncover some enchantment in their own lives. "A lot of us are taught to wake up, go to work, make money, eat, sleep, rinse, repeat," says Ferrell. "It's so easy to get caught up in that nine-to-five routine, and end up numb and dulled-down to everything. I want my music to help people break away from that -- to get lost in their imagination, and start seeing how magical the world can be if you just pay attention."

Wet Leg

Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers each wear a small gold necklace made by Hester: one that says Wet, and one that says Leg. They only released their debut single, Chaise Longue, in June 2021, but its dry wit, Mean Girls nod and thumping indie-disco beat turned it into a runaway hit. They were on the radio every time you turned it on. They supported everyone from CHVRCHES to Inhaler, sold out their entire 2022 tour despite only having two songs out in the world and now have all the makings of the pop stars you've been waiting years to discover.

Read Full Bio ⇢

Wet Leg

Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers each wear a small gold necklace made by Hester: one that says Wet, and one that says Leg. They only released their debut single, Chaise Longue, in June 2021, but its dry wit, Mean Girls nod and thumping indie-disco beat turned it into a runaway hit. They were on the radio every time you turned it on. They did Jools Holland & Seth Meyers, supported everyone from CHVRCHES to Inhaler, sold out their entire 2022 tour despite only having two songs out in the world (Wet Dream followed in September, another absolute corker) and now have all the makings of the pop stars you've been waiting years to discover. Would you like them to assign someone to worry your mother? By the time festivals resumed last year, everyone who saw them had an answer: yes please.

"It all seems so long ago now," says Rhian, still a little stunned by the rapid pace of it all. It has only been five months.

"There have been so many firsts for us since then," decides Hester, "that it makes it feel like time has moved... differently."

The next first will be their debut album Wet Leg, an instant classic that peels back the layers of the band to reveal the smart, dark heart at the centre of it. Wet Leg was mostly recorded in London, in April 2021, meaning they had a finished album before the world had even heard Chaise Longue. "I guess how it happened was unconventional," says Hester. They knew they were onto something special, and wanted to strike while the iron was hot. "We thought, we've got to record this stuff so it's locked in. Let's not waste time. And we weren't able to gig either, so it was a good use of time, before we could get out to play the songs."

The duo chose Dan Carey (Squid, Fontaines DC) to produce the bulk of it. They liked his style. "Dan said it was important to keep things moving, if we get in a cycle of takes, to stop and go on to something else, so you don’t freak out. It really works," says Hester. In part, they picked him because they liked his set-up. His studio was an open space, with no glass between them, no one wearing headphones or doing their part separately, behind glass. That wouldn't have suited them. "This was a different experience from the get-go. We just trusted in him," says Rhian. They had recorded a lot of their demos at home, on Garageband, and a lot of audio from those sessions was reused, rather than rerecorded. "They were super scrappy, but they already had an identity to them," Rhian explains.

From the paintings by Hester for the artwork of both Chaise Longue and Wet Dream, and the accompanying videos been directed by Rhian, Wet Leg's identity is ever-evolving, but distinct. "Like, surrealist prairie, but with lobster claws. It's very dreamy," says Hester. If you pick up a sinister vibe from their countryside children-of-the-corn setting, that might not be accidental. Rhian researched cults and baptisms, and they have taken the concept through to the video for current single Too Late Now. But for the album artwork, they've kept it simple. "It's a photo of me and Hester, just after we'd come off stage. I've got my arm around her waist, and she's got her arm over my shoulder, and we're hunched over..." says Rhian, before Hester finishes her sentence: "Like we're telling each other a secret." The image is a perfect visual representation of their friendship and all things Wet Leg.

***

Rhian and Hester first met at college, on the Isle of Wight where they both grew up, when they were 17. They didn't move in the same circles, then, exactly, but as they got older, they started playing in the same bands and hanging out with the same people. One of Rhian's projects was a solo act that she felt had come to the end of the line, and she was on the verge of giving up music completely. But first, to do some festival dates that she had already agreed to, she asked Hester to play guitar with her. "I thought, if we could do them together, we could have fun with it," says Rhian. "And it was really, really fun."

What happened was a revelation. "We'd played in other bands before, but always with boys, and my experience of that was that boys always know what they want. Playing with Hester was different. We just gave each other so much space," Rhian explains.

"I liked that it wasn't someone telling me what to do," says Hester. "I got to use more of my brain power and voice."

They spent the summer playing those festivals, watching every band they could. They both remember Idles at End of the Road festival, "and they just looked like they were having a great time. That was like a real lightbulb moment." Hester says they weren't sure, until that point, what would happen next, whether they'd even carry on. "But being at a festival and being a bit inebriated helps you come up with good ideas. You get drunken clarity on things," says Rhian.

Wet Leg was born. They wrote enough songs for a festival set – Wet Dream, Chaise Longue and Oh No came from that hectic early time - in the hope that they'd get booked to do a few more festivals. "So we didn't have to pay for our tickets," says Rhian.

Chaise Longue announced their arrival emphatically, demanding attention like its bratty narrator: "Mummy, daddy, look at me..." "It's just so dumb," says Rhian, embracing the Ramones tradition of proud simplicity. "We wanted to introduce ourselves like, we're not going to be like other bands, we're not indulging that 'struggling artist' thing. We are silly, we have a sense of humour, and start as you mean to go on. Also Hester, your guitar part is just so cool."

"Thanks dude," says Hester.

"That's the other thing about our band," says Rhian. "We're not virtuoso guitar players, but we were at school with all these boys, practising their scales, and it made guitar feel really inaccessible. But being in this band with Hester, there's no competition for who is most technically accurate. It's just like: does it sound good?"

The main focus for the band, right from the start, was fun, and a dry sense of humour ripples through the album, whether that's eviscerating a pretentious ex-boyfriend who sends unwanted texts (Wet Dream) or being sucked into the 3am doom scroll on the magnificent glam-stomp Oh No. "You know when you're having dinner with someone, and they check their phone, and just... go?" says Rhian. It's an 80s sci-fi film distilled into two minutes and 29 seconds.

"I wanted to write fun songs, I didn't want to indulge sad feelings too much, I wanted to write stuff that's fun to listen to and fun to play”. But then, Rhian adds, "the sad seeps through, as well."

Wet Leg is cathartic and joyful and punk and scuzzy and above all, it's fun. "Wet Leg was just supposed to be funny," says Rhian. More and more people are now in on the joke with the two of them, but that spirit remains at the centre of what they do. "As a woman, there's so much put on you, in that your only value is how pretty or cool or sexy you look. But we want to be goofy and a little bit rude. We want to write songs that people can dance to. And we want people to have a good time, even if that might not possible all of the time."

What Is The Live List?

This is not a “best of” list.

It’s a “most liked” list and artist development initiative from the folks who live for live.

Thank You To Our Partners

Bartees Strange

BenDeLaCreme