An Interview with Wire @ Pitchfork Music Fest

An Interview with Wire @ Pitchfork Music Fest
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With their new album, Change Becomes Us, Wire revisits unrecorded material from the late-’70s, and reworks it into something new and exciting. I spoke with members Colin Newman, Graham Lewis and Matthew Simms about the new album, debunking oddball political accusations and playing Pitchfork Music Festival for the first time.  … read more

An Interview with Adam Ant

An Interview with Adam Ant
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Adam Ant recently released his ninth album, Adam Ant Is The Blueblack Hussar in Marrying The Gunner’s Daughter, and is setting to start another tour of the U.S. After a 17 year hiatus from the music industry, Ant’s record is not only a new beginning as an artist, but a new approach to the business side of the music industry.  … read more

Music + Beer = Family = The UBC Music Squad

Music + Beer = Family = The UBC Music Squad
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If you’ve never met Utah Brewers Cooperative Business Manager Cindi Robinson, then you have never seen such a passion for local music. From tabling at shows for animal-activism promotion to organizing bake sales for bands to raise money to go on tour, Robinson now continues her superlative enthusiasm for the local music scene on a day-to-day basis at UBC, as she has surrounded herself with notable local musicians by hiring them to work for the brewery. … read more

Localized: Polytype & King Niko

Localized: Polytype & King Niko
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Five dollars can get you a number of things, but only one night a month does it get you access to a live show with three of Salt Lake’s best up-and-comers. Indie surf-rockers Beachmen will be opening for the mind-expanding Polytype, followed by the party rock of King Niko. It’s all going down Friday, July 12, at Urban Lounge at 10 p.m., brought to you by Bohemian Brewery. It’s 21+, so if you’re underage or can’t attend, don’t forget to make use of GigViz.com for live streaming of the show! … read more

The Weekenders: A Raw Diet of Rock n’ Roll

The Weekenders: A Raw Diet of Rock n’ Roll
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I think Salt Lake has a handful of original rock acts and everyone is doing something a little different. I feel there is synergy to the scene and many of the acts complement each other.  … read more

Muscle Hawk: One Man’s Thrash is Another Man’s Treasure

Muscle Hawk: One Man’s Thrash is Another Man’s Treasure
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The Arts Festival is one of our favorite shows to play. We get to reach every age group and make them all dance together. It’s beautiful to look out at the crowd and see 7 year olds trying out breakdance moves right next to a group of 60+ year olds bustin’ out some old-school jigs. … read more

Millie and the Moths: The Devil’s in the Details

Millie and the Moths: The Devil’s in the Details
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“We love moths,” says Montag. “I used to play with them as a kid and viewed them as approachable butterflies … We love the strange and unusual.” … read more

From Ohio and Back Again: Hawthorne Heights Return To Warped Tour

From Ohio and Back Again: Hawthorne Heights Return To Warped...
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Weathering more than their fair share of hurdles, including label disputes and the unfortunate loss of friend, guitarist and screamer Casey Calvert, nothing has managed to keep Hawthorne Heights from playing the music they love. We caught up with vocalist and guitarist JT Woodruff in-between shows on their way to the tour start in Seattle to talk about their new album and what it’s like being part of Warped Tour.  … read more

They Might Be Giants: Conquering With Nanobots, an Interview with John Linnell

They Might Be Giants: Conquering With Nanobots, an Interview with...
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Coming off their 16th studio album, the alternative indie rock duo They Might Be Giants, have been riding high on a sell-out tour spanning across three continents. SLUG got the opportunity to chat with Linnell over the phone before they come to town this Saturday at The Depot, discussing the tour so far, their new album, Nanobots, and creating music, thoughts on the R&R Hall Of Fame and what people can look forward to at this Saturday’s show. … read more

Eighties Fan: A Conversation With Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell

Eighties Fan: A Conversation With Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell
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“I think I’m always optimistic,” says Tracyanne Campbell from her flat in Glasgow. “It might not seem like that, but I think I’m always, ultimately, trying to look on the bright side.” As the leader of the Scottish group Camera Obscura, Tracyanne Campbell needs hardly any introduction at all—she’s one of the brightest-shining indie stars of the last decade. From a diverse body of influences, ranging from classic country to melancholic British indie-pop, Campbell and her bandmates have built a stellar body of work, replete with catchy tunes and supremely bittersweet, sardonic lyrics. … read more

Written in Random: Parquet Courts

Written in Random: Parquet Courts
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To me, “songwriting” usually evokes an image of deadbeat longhairs dinkin’ around on their instruments and crushing PBR cans one after the other, as any vestiges of the “creative process” dissipate into trite stereotypes of punk or indie musicians. Parquet Courts, however, generate images of notebooks and struggle. Guitarist and vocalist Austin Brown says, “[Andrew Savage (guitar/vocals) and I] both just write a lot … Through the practice of writing, sometimes, on those good days, I can sit down and a song will come out or a lyric will come out that I can feel inspired by later.”  … read more

Full of Hell: Beautiful Mutilators

Full of Hell: Beautiful Mutilators
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Rudiments of Mutilation, the sophomore album by Full of Hell, to be released on June 11, is not an easy listen. It begins with harsh, piercing noise, slowly followed by wails from vocalist Dylan Walker and shambling, rumbling drums. An explosion of crusty blastbeats and hardcore riffs break the tension before the band delves deep into a downtrodden doom sound, with Walker’s voice channeling chaos all the while. This is intentionally ugly music—music that is designed to make you feel the worst of humanity. “We want to make really harsh, negative music that induces pain,” Walker said in a recent phone interview with SLUG. “It’s kind of beautiful in a way.”  … read more