Salty Lyrics and Love Songs

Salty Lyrics and Love Songs
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The Growlers, based out of Costa Mesa, play spooky, slowed-down surf pop. It’s an unexpectedly morose sound, considering their proximity to the beach, great surfing and ample sunshine. This spring sees the band touring through Salt Lake City on March 8, playing Austin’s SXSW, the sold out, two-weekend-long Coachella, and releasing their third album, Hung at Heart. … read more

Film Festival Circus: An Interview with Paul Rachman

Film Festival Circus: An Interview with Paul Rachman
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For the past 17 years, Paul Rachman has made the trek to Park City every January to be a part of what he describes as the film festival “circus” that overtakes the small mountain town. Rachman helped found Slamdance Film Festival in the mid-’90s and currently serves as the Festival’s east coast director.  “[It’s] important to me because there is a tight community of people helping each other,” he says. … read more

Chompin’ Candy Coated Vicodin with Xray Eyeballs

Chompin’ Candy Coated Vicodin with Xray Eyeballs
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I first encountered Brooklyn’s Xray Eyeballs last October during CMJ. Moments before they took the stage, I met lead singer and guitarist O.J. San Felipe as he was trying to sort out the bar tab for his band. I asked what band he was in and he enthusiastically responded “Xray Eyeball!” with a noticeable accent. Five minutes later, he and his three stunningly beautiful band mates (San Felipe is currently the only male member of the band) took the stage. … read more

Coachella Packing Checklist

Coachella Packing Checklist
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This April, I’ll make my maiden voyage to the land of Indio, Calif. for the first weekend of Coachella. Although 2012 marks my first time, a number of my friends have been making the trek for years now. Considering how quickly both weekends sold out, I’m guessing many will be on the verge of losing their Coachella virginity. To make the first time a little less painful, I consulted some friends to create a handy Coachella packing guide. Enjoy! … read more

Wandering into  the Wild West: Spindrift Returns to Salt Lake City

Wandering into the Wild West: Spindrift Returns to Salt Lake...
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It’s a rare treat to find a band who so easily transports listeners to another place. It’s even better when the experience is enhanced during their live sets. On multiple occasions while watching LA’s Spindrift perform, I’ve felt the transformative and utterly delightful power of their mostly instrumental and moody spaghetti western songs. The music is driven by its imagery, and surprisingly, it is done without the use of many lyrics. … read more

Letterpressed with Love: The Mandate Press

Letterpressed with Love: The Mandate Press
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Ben Webster, who founded The Mandate Press in 2004, studied graphic design in college, graduated to land a job working in a modern print shop helping with pre-press, and eventually took a letterpress class through the University of Utah’s Book Arts Program. “The appeal is that impression, that tactile quality,” he says. “You experience something that has been letterpressed: You can see it, you can feel it—it has some character to it. It has some soul.” … read more

Euphoria in Motion: Teen Daze Releases All Of Us, Together

Euphoria in Motion: Teen Daze Releases All Of Us, Together
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Although the music Teen Daze creates is easily classified as down-tempo chillwave, Teen Daze is anything but mellow in a live setting. When I caught his performance during New York’s CMJ, Teen Daze quietly informed the crowd that he’d be playing some new music and hoped the crowd would get friendly with one another, before diving into a half-hour set that saw him head banging over his MacBook and Ableton Live sequencer, thrashing about as if he was in the midst of a seizure. … read more