Music
Inky Hands and Pacific Sands: Socal Zinesters and the Development...
Incubated in the Pacific Coast and awakened by California sunshine, the ’80s L.A. punk scene birthed swarms of influential and notorious bands, and inspired youngsters Dave Markey and Jordan Schwartz to document the happenings in the xeroxed annals of their acclaimed fanzine, We Got Power. Recently, a compilation of photos, essays and reprints of the zine was published as the book We Got Power: Hardcore Punk Scenes from 1980s Southern California. SLUG got in touch with Markey to chat about the heady days of ’80s punk. … read more
Mommy’s Little Monsters on Punk Rock Halloween
Three years ago, Minor Threat, Black Flag and the Misfits played in the basement of an abandoned building somewhere in Salt Lake City. Of course, it was actually Utah’s xCOMMUNICATEDx, Pass-A-Fist and Youth Descent, impersonating and playing cover sets of some of their favorite punk bands in a Salt Lake tradition: Punk Rock Halloween. “It’s the idea of dressing up and being someone else for Halloween, but, instead, bands are doing it,” says Robin Banks, the local artist and SLUG Mag contributor who helps organize the event. … read more
Converge: Honestly Aimed Arrows
“Every new record should be the best possible version of your band.” Jacob Bannon—artist, label owner and Converge vocalist—has taken time out of his day to talk to me about his band’s new album, All We Love We Leave Behind. “I’ve always held the idea that if you’re making art, then the next thing you do should be a new step forward for you. I want to push things further and become a more cohesive artist and more successful in some way.” … read more
Mono
Having just released their sixth full-length album, For My Parents, and on the eve of the Salt Lake City stop of their current U.S. tour, Japan’s instrumental powerhouse MONO were kind enough to take a few minutes to talk to SLUG via email to give us some insight into the band, their new album, and everything in-between. … read more
Swagatha Christie: The Swagged-Out Mystery Interview
Swagatha Christie rolled through Salt Lake City for Mike Brown Fest at Urban Lounge on Thursday, Aug. 30. This Portland local legend made time out of her busy schedule to come rock some super progressive, dirty South swag. SLUG was able to sit down with her and ask her a little about herself, her music and her crew. … read more
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti: Making a Career Out of Strange
“Uncomfortable” is probably one of the best words to describe the early Ariel Pink albums, as well as the majority of interviews and a great deal of the performances. His eccentricities and diamond-in-the-rough garage pop drew people in initially, built him a fanbase of loyal, lo-fi cassette hounds, and did wonders for the beginning of the new chillwave genre. Released in August on 4AD, APHG’s newest album, Mature Themes, is a return to weird. … read more
Matteo: Blending Eastern and Western Styles in SLC
When a band says they play “folk” music, you probably imagine them sitting around in a circle playing banjos, acoustic guitars and violins. For local band Matteo, though, their foreign-sounding name hints that something is different about the instruments they use. Matteo blends traditional Asian instruments with more common, American folk instruments. Throw in some nice vocal harmonies, and you get Matteo’s unique sound, which is unlike anything else coming from other local bands. … read more
Big Business: Loud, Weird Rock
Formed by bassist Jared Warren and drummer Coady Willis, Big Business has been deafening fans of all things heavy with their brand of thick, freaky rock n’ roll for nearly a decade. Fresh off a tour of Europe with Unsane, now featuring three members, and armed with a brand new 7″, Big Business will be embarking on a US tour this fall. Before their stop in Salt Lake, SLUG spoke with Willis about the band’s current state of affairs. … read more
Intro: David Williams in a Dramatic Light
Salt Lake Americana songwriter David Williams will find himself in a different spotlight this month as the star of the dramatic film, Intro. The latest cinematic creation from director Brandon Cahoon will be one of the featured films heading into the 2012 Salt Lake City Film Festival. Cahoon had fallen in love with the idea of living with a musician and figuring out what makes them tick. Rather than do the traditional documentary style, he envisioned creating a dramatic film with Williams as the musical star. … read more
Erika Wennerstrom: A Glorious Bastard
Aside from having one of the best band names in the business, The Heartless Bastards are fronted by Erika Wennerstrom, a singer/songwriter who digs into deeply emotional territory and belts it out with a wail that’s somewhere between Janis Joplin and Marianne Faithfull. … read more
Bomb the Beehive: Bomb the Music Industry! Returns to SLC
The first time Bomb the Music Industry! played Salt Lake City in the fall of 2007 just so happened to be one of the worst days in Jeff Rosenstock’s life. “I had the flu, and I was having fever dreams in the van. It was snowing that morning, and I got woken up by a text message from a friend that said, ‘Yo, Radiohead just totally yanked your style, dude,’” he says. Even so, Bomb the Music Industry! rocked the fuck out of Red Light Books that night with their spazzy blend of ska, pop-punk and ‘80s-style hardcore. … read more
Euphoria in Motion: Teen Daze Releases All Of Us, Together
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
