It’s no secret that Nashville-based pop-rock group The Band Light hashas been captivating fans through catchy and hypnotic lyrics, various One Direction covers, and lively content throughout their social media and band vlogs. From opening for Switchfoot, Quarters of Change and Modern Alibi, attending Jonas Con, and to recently releasing new music, The Band Light has been having a very exciting past couple of years
We sat down to talk with the band members – lead singer Konnor Dolberry, drummer Trevor Young, bassist Jack Glenn, and guitarist Garrett Goodrich – about how their band began and where they are now.
Laughter filled the room as the members reminisced on the band’s beginnings in high school theater. After their school’s production of Footloose was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dolberry, Young, and Glenn creatively took it upon themselves to make the musical’s soundtrack their own. After a few sessions together, they quickly turned the heads of their classmates and caught their attention.
“We had these two songs, ‘harmony’ and ‘promise you,'” Konnor told us. “Those songs came out and a bunch of people at school really liked it! We were just kind of surprised by how it caught on with everybody.”
Eventually, seeing that Trevor Young had musical talents of his own, and after various attempts made by Garrett of getting him to audition for the band, Jack and Konnor finally took Garrett’s word and gave Trevor an audition.
“Garrett saw the vision, and we decided to go to Trevor’s house. We played ‘promise you’ once, and we all looked at each other and we’re like, ‘All right, he’s in!” said Konnor.
As the band began to flourish, the meaning of The Band Light became something more to not only the fans, but to each of the boys themselves.
“I think the biggest thing for me has always just been connecting with people. I wanted to be in [the band] because of the connection to these guys. I thought they were freaking awesome in high school. Now as we’ve grown and as it’s changed, I want this band to be the place where people can connect and develop real friendships and relationships,” recalled Trevor.
For The Band Light, 2025 has been a rewarding and memorable year so far. Along with opening and playing for various bands and attending Jonas Con earlier this year, the band released two new addicting songs, “Dreamboat” and “All I Need,” which created a major turning point for the band’s music.
“[‘Dreamboat’ and ‘All I Need’] are us stepping into the full evolution of what we’re becoming,” shared Konnor. “We’re building up to something, and we have an awesome team around us that we didn’t have before that’s able to help us with it. It’s just like all hands on deck now and it’s like we’re just full sent in everything!”
In this new era for The Band Light, they continue to leave fans on the edge of their seat, teasing their upcoming single “Turning Red,” out on September 19th. Konnor spoke about the story behind their newest song, which all started with a disappointing text message.
“It’s about a situationship – this girl that ended things with me 30 seconds before we went on stage for the Quarters of Change show. I literally got a text as we were about to go on stage, and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s cool.’ I put [my phone] back in my pocket, walked on stage, and wrote the song when we got back.”
And as their music has grown and changed, so has the band and the messages they want to send.
“The way this band started was almost as an outlet for us to create the things we wanted to – in a group without the fear of judgement or being cool. Eventually, that caught up with people in high school and grew into what it is now,” Konnor explained.
“Now, the meaning has shifted to not just being an outlet for us, but as a message to people to be fully themselves, no matter what that means; how messy, or how stupid people may think it looks. We are devoted to encouraging people to be themselves and creating the communities in which they can.”
Be on the look out for more updates from The Band Light on their social media, and be sure to stream Turning Red, out on September 19th!
Val Merza has always wowed fans and elevated to new heights as she began to release new music. Her debut EP, Colors, sparked Charlotte’s music scene with her vibrant lyrics. Following the EP’s release, she released two singles, “Hard To Love,” featuring Jay Hoff and “2641 (The Mom Song,)” which both express honesty and vulnerability through her personal experiences.
On May 9th she released her newest single “Manic Pixie Dream (MPD).” In the song, she explores the idea of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope, a young female character in pop culture who has a quirky and unique personality who often is seen as a love interest to the male protagonist. This character is sometimes described as an idea – someone that is the male protagonist’s love interest, and helps him with finding a meaning to life, and giving him a sense of purpose.
“In a lot of media, she’s only important because of her association to the male protagonist. It’s like the typical sad and depressed boy meets a girl who’s basically the personification of a fairy – bubbly, full of life and exciting,” Merza described.
As she delves more in-depth into the character trope, she describes it as a person that is mainly just an idea, how this idea does not exist, and that people are who they say they are, regardless of the expectation that many people make up. Eventually, Merza put the idea of the trope to music.
“She doesn’t really have much substance to her,” she says. “There are some variations of that character. In real life, that’s not how it works. People are people. The way I always introduce this song when I am about to perform it is: ‘This song is about how someone will fall in love with the idea of you instead of your actual personality, and then get mad when you don’t meet those expectations that they made up in their own heads. This isn’t about a real person.’”
In some of her most recent songs, she explores her vulnerability, delving into her past experiences, writing thoughtful lyrics, and transforming them as a way of healing. In “Manic Pixie Dream (MPD)” Merza defies expectations, knocking down ideas and perceptions, and gives way towards a confident evolution of her music.
“It’s way more upbeat, especially than the most recent songs I’ve released, like “The Mom Song” and “Hard to Love.” Those were more sad and thoughtful. “Hard To Love” sounds like what healing feels like, while “MPD” is the petty version of that,” she says. “I’m kind of coming to my senses and realizing, no, I’m not hard to love.”
Within the lyrics of her newest single, she gives encouragement and a reminder to her fans, that they are enough, and it is no one’s responsibility for being an idealized version of what someone may think of you.
“It’s okay to just be yourself. No guy is worth making yourself smaller for because that is eventually what I did, and I’m still working on getting it back. Never love anybody more than you. That’s kind of the message of MPD and what I want people to take away from it. Don’t let any man or anybody make you feel like you’re too much.”
“Manic Pixie Dream” is the first song Val will be releasing since her two latest singles. Returning to the studio brought back excitement, especially when she showed the song to her band.
“There are parts where my guitarist was getting excited about playing. It’s going be so much fun to play live. I could just imagine people screaming back, ‘I never lied about who I was,’ and I’m just excited!”
In addition to her single, Merza will be having a joint single release party and will be celebrating her birthday at Petra’s on May 10th. A year prior, she had a similar party around the same time, and the Charlotte community that she has received so much support from. She’s excited to share Manic Pixie Dream with everyone.
“Last time, it was so much fun. The entire community showed up, and I had really great talent. I had Lisa de Novo and Zach Robbins with their full bands.I’m especially excited to play “Hard To Love” and “MPD” the way that we’ve been rehearsing it. It’s gonna be a lot of fun!”
Stream Val Merza’s song Manic Pixie Dream (MPD) on Apple Music and Spotify!
Photo courtesy of Merrick Winter and Romy Bayhack, Big Hassle PR
Aboard a train and traveling along a slow and patient route, Merrick Winter found himself on a journey. He left behind the chaos of the east coast of the US and discovered the serenity of what lies out west. As a British-American who moved to the UK as a child, he not only had the opportunity to explore his home country but also to take in the exquisite landscapes of America – the sceneries that most of us may miss while on a long road trip.
“I took a train from New York to California as a way of just sort of seeing my home country and wanting to do the journey a little more slowly to take in the sights,” Winter said. “On the East coast, it’s a little bleak, but as you get out west, the landscape just starts to sprawl and reveal itself in ways that you just won’t see that side of America.”
In no rush to get to his destination, what Winter saw and experienced on his slow yet mesmerizing trip was unforgettable. To add to the scenic views, he also met many strangers aboard the train. Each person Winter had encountered were all very different. From diverse backgrounds, each conversation he had experienced gave him a rich and emboldening perspective of how they saw the world around them.
“The thing that I took away from each conversation was the differing perspectives on life and on our shared country. That was the thing that interested me the most because you had rich folks, poor folks, and everyone in between. You even had old white couples, a black single mom with an autistic kid, and Amish folks who were all coexisting in this little microcosm of America,” he said.
With each encounter, time stopped, stories were told and heard, experiences were embraced, and connections were formed. Every experience opened his eyes, staying with Winter forever.
“It was a very peaceful experience. I think what I took from it was that each interaction was far more pure than what I’m used to when I encounter strangers, and it was because there was an investment of time,” he said. “I got these wonderful little stories from people who I would never meet in any other context. You wouldn’t have that kind of conversation with the person sitting next to you on a plane. Modern life is brief and abrupt.”
Because of his conversations with the people aboard the train, it sparked inspiration behind his single “The California Zephyr.”Each story and interaction is incorporated into the song, bringing each experience to life through the tranquil lyrics. Light laughter and excitement filled the room as Winter reminisced on one of the conversations he had with a passenger who had an encounter with a few well known artists in the late sixties.
“There’s a verse in [the song]: Leroy talks of ‘69, of Haight and Ashbury in his prime, of lighting up with Morrison. See everything was hazy then. He says you know the future waits for no one. And every single moment here is stolen.
That came from a conversation with an old fellow who used to live in the Bay Area. He asked me, ‘Do you know the band The Doors? I used to smoke with them! Jim Morrison came on my boat once.’ And that’s probably one of his favorite stories to tell.”
Every moment and conversation remained special for Winter, as if it was a certain piece of treasure that he was trying to find, and valuing it for the rest of life.
“I just love picking up those little things. They feel like nuggets. They feel like that’s my whole purpose in songwriting. I’m like a bit of a magpie when it comes to songwriting – I love collecting little trinkets and stringing them together,” he laughed.
“The California Zephyr” is one of the songs on Winter’s upcoming sophomore EP of the same name that releases on May 9th. Winter references the EP as a travelogue of his experiences and covers themes of longing, growing up, and homesickness.
“I think I’ve always had a deep sense of homesickness and that comes from moving countries when I was 11, learning a whole new culture moving to the UK as a kid. I’ve been away long enough that I sound like an outsider, and to kind of look at my home country both critically and lovingly,” Winter explained. “I feel like I did a lot of growing up in between these songs. It feels like us searching and a process of growing up as well.”
Winter even recorded a live, orchestral version of “The California Zephyr” with the Lockeland Strings, which was a dreamlike experience for him.
“Within a couple of takes, we had it, which was incredibly surreal because everything, all of my pauses have been meticulously notated on a score,” he said. “To hear that and to basically just be able to stand there in the middle of the room, in front of the mic, play how I would play, and have an entire orchestra support what you’re doing is something I will never forget. I hope to do it many more times in my career.”
Winter also spoke about another recently released song that will be included on the EP. “Carry It Forwards” explores a dark time in his life. Change was some of the main themes of the song, giving listeners and himself a chance to reflect on heartbreak and obstacles in life.
“I was going through a lot of changes – going through a breakup and realizing that there were certain people in my life who it was better for me not to be around,” Winter stated. “I think that song in particular is amusing on what happens to you when you hold onto bitterness and resentment. It’s still useful. It’s still useful to me every time I sing it.”
The song serves as a reminder to always keep going, to not let bitterness hold you back, and to change for the better.
“It still feels important to remind myself or whoever that there’s an element to snap out of it. If you need a reason to,” he says, “find one.
If you’re screaming out for meaning, don’t wallow.”
Merrick Winter will be releasing his sophomore EP, The California Zephyr on May 9th! Pre-save his album here, and listen to him on both Apple Music and Spotify.
In a flash, one particular moment can change your entire life unexpectedly. It can be getting your first car, getting an acceptance letter to your dream school, making new friends, or listening to a song that’s so incredibly honest it pulls on your heart strings. The debut album by the Virginia-based folk band Palmyra is one of those moments and is a memorable album that you will not forget.
The three best friends of Palmyra – Teddy Chipouras, Mānoa Bell, and Sasha Landon – released an album that not only served as a form of release, but also crafting a heartfelt letter to their fans, in the form of 10 beautifully vulnerable songs about healing and self-acceptance. The process and even the release of Restless had even united the band.
“It’s been a whirlwind less than a month since the record came out, which is cool! Emotionally, we’re all actually super united,” said Mānoa. He even expressed the excitement of being back on tour, and the passion that the three all have for creating this album, all fueled by their love for the adventure that lies beyond twist and turns of the road, and the shows they are eager to play.
“Sasha and I were just talking about how we’re looking forward to being on the road. We’ve always loved touring and playing shows, and it’s especially exciting right now because it’s like that thing we’ve been working on for four years, like releasing this record, and writing these songs,” he said.
All three explored the depth of the album as they spoke candidly of their creative process and experiences. Playing the songs whether in the studio, or even live served as a transformative process for the band. Writing and creating the songs and bringing them to life not only brought the band closer together, but also created a sense of relief, a chance to take a breath.
“I think playing the songs every night is like the biggest release that we get, or for me at least,” says Sasha. “It’s writing the song when you have something that is sitting heavy on you. Having it come out is really cathartic.”
Sasha, listening and creating the music, even described the process of how a song takes on many different lives, calling the final piece as both scary, yet cool.
“Something that the three of us talk about is how a song has many lives. It starts in one person’s head, it goes to the group, we turn it into something else, we start playing it in front of people, they turn it into something else, we take it into the studio and the people we work with, and we turn it into something else. Now it’s out in the world for anybody to interpret it how they want to,” they said.
“That is a really kind of scary, cool, yet beautiful thing. A lot of these tunes are about being tired, from traveling, and pushing ourselves all the time to do this thing that we love. The ways that that wears on us and our relationships and the people that matter to us and each other. I think we all had our hands in it from the jump. It’s definitely cathartic to have it out there and I’m proud of it.”
The bond of the three’s strong friendship and acceptance had been a huge part of the journey for the band, as they faced many life altering events. Sasha openly spoke about navigating and understanding their bipolar diagnosis and beautifully channeling it into the album’s fifth track, “Shape I’m In.” Sasha even described the track as apologetic.
“Lyrically it’s a song about not being able to make sense of anything that’s happening around you and not knowing what to say other than, ‘I’m sorry.’ There’s a line in the song near the end that’s like, ‘Won’t you take a look? Won’t you take a long one? I think that’s what the whole song is trying to do, like ‘Here’s this thing that I have to look at every day, won’t you look at it with me? I’m doing so much better now than I was when I wrote it, but that’s where it came from,” they said.
The album concludes with an exhale with “Carolina Wren,” a song that expresses acceptance and embracing everything that you have experienced, the good and the bad. Sasha described the song as being present and getting a moment to sit still while dealing with the internal and external factors of what’s happening in life and harnessing it.
“I think for all of us it is about fleeting moments of gratitude, guilt, exhaustion, and joy. The last four years have really flown in a beautiful way. You blink and you’re here and it’s today and there is a whole new can of worms that life is giving you to deal with,” Sasha described.
“We are always moving even when we’re trying to sit still. And I think “Carolina Wren” is the tune that I wrote after sitting still for kind of the longest I had in a while. It is about trying to hold onto what you can, and really trying to be present when you have a moment of clarity, which is such a hard thing to do.”
In addition to the release of these 10 beautiful songs, Palmyra will be traveling to Charlotte on their tour with the same name, sharing the stage with Joseph Terrell at Petra’s Bar in Plaza Midwood. While the band is beyond excited to be traveling back to the Queen City to play at the bar, they are also looking forward to seeing fans, old and new, and immersing themselves back into the lively city.
“I really like the community that goes to Petras. It feels super comfortable. I think we’re looking forward to hopefully seeing some new faces. I’m hoping to have a moment of, oh, it all makes sense now,” said Landon.
Fans can even expect a chill, yet lively night at the bar as they introduce songs from their latest album.
“We have a lot of fun on stage. We try to make a fun inviting space for everybody,” says Teddy. “We’re gonna play a lot of the new record, which we’re having a lot of fun doing. Our buddy Joseph Terrell, who’s in a band called Mipso, he’s gonna be opening up the show and he is incredible.”
Ahead of the rest of their tour, the band is looking forward to playing at the Iron Blossom Music Festival in Richmond, VA as well as playing more house shows, which is a change of scenery. For Palmyra, where they can really connect and get to know their fans.
“These small, intimate shows are just in people’s living room or backyard. There’s often between like 20 and 50 people, and we get to meet everyone there. It’s so different from a club show,” said Teddy. “It’s fun to mix it up and go back and forth between these club shows and house shows and get both the feeling of a rock band and feeling like a folk group, really connecting with the audience.”
The band however, expressed that while many exciting things are in store for Palmyra, small or big, they are always looking to make music with each other.
Sasha ecstatically says, “There are so many cool shows on our calendar that I am pumped about. And like Mono was talking about, the crew that we have right now is so fun. We are such a fun group. It’s our first time in a big van! I’m just excited to have some fun on the road with my buds!”
Springtime is not only a time for the flowers to bloom and the trees to patiently grow back their leaves. It is also a time for a new era of artists to release songs that express change. What better way to represent this transformative season than by listening to briZB’s new EP rough night??
Charlotte bedroom indie-pop artist Bri Huynh, also known as briZB, released her latest EP back in March and met with Crowdsurfer Magazine to discuss her new music. The new EP challenged her to revisit old experiences and explore the old wounds of navigating and outgrowing a relationship. Revisiting these memories even helped her see how much she had changed as a person and as an artist.
“I wrote all of the songs three summers ago, right after I’d just got out of high school. It’s kind of interesting. It feels like I’m opening an old wound and diving back into that. It feels different because I’m older now and I think differently. They’re near and dear to my heart,” she said.
Writing the lyrics was eye opening, as she found it was a way of getting what she was feeling out into the open. The tracks of the EP beautifully paint a picture of a reflection of her past experiences and looking forward towards a new chapter in her life.
“I like to reflect back on it a lot, but writing [the lyrics], it really was just like a way for me to get all the words out, so I wouldn’t be holding onto them myself,” Bri said. “All of the lyrics kind of just showcase my insecurity in this relationship and how this person made me feel and why I felt like I couldn’t do anything about it. The track list is really important to me because it starts with entering into this relationship and then it ends with it being over and done and trying to move on.”
Additionally, while writing the EP, Bri mentioned an encounter with another artist that gave her the courage to delve deeper into her own experiences. Inspired, she took that conversation and channeled it into music.
“We had this conversation after I had ended this relationship with this person. I met her at a show, and she was on tour and she told me that I should keep pursuing music and that I shouldn’t give up. If it’s my dream, then I can do it, and it’s not something that I should ever feel like I should regret doing, and that it’s okay to try and to just keep pushing through,” she said.
This conversation gave Bri a spark of clarity to craft her meaningful and relatable lyrics, while also creating a vision of hope of what’s to come.
“I took that conversation home with me, and I was writing, and it felt like I was able to take this conversation and I could see a hope for my future. I wouldn’t just always be sad. I wouldn’t always be dwelling on this relationship and how it went wrong because there are so many other things for me.”
The overall conversation even served as inspiration behind her fourth track, “emma,” which serves as a reminder that amazing days are ahead, regardless of any obstacles that may stand in her way.
“I really love that song because it just reminds me that there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and it’s okay to have a bad day or two, but there are always things to look forward to, and things will get better,” she said.
While Bri is finishing up her studies in college, she gave Crowdsurfer Magazine a small glimpse into what she is looking forward to and what exciting plans that this year has in store for her.
“I’ve got a whole year to go. I have a couple of really cool gigs lined up later this summer. I’ll be starting on working on new music so that’s really exciting too!”
Be sure to stream rough night?on Spotify, and to also follow Bri on her social media for more updates on new music and upcoming shows!
Austin-based singer-songwriter Sisi Berry sits at my kitchen table, coffee mug in hand, ready to entertain. Red cowboy boots and a white tank top on, she shares a sweet smile. Sisi emanates that effortless I-just-woke-up vibe that reminds me of female rockers from the 70’s, with the kind of messy hair and no bra je ne sais quoi that feels impossible to fake.
She rattles off anecdotal stories of her life, themes including heartbreak, the importance of family, and finding joy in the small moments. She names artists she loves at the moment, notes feelings of imposter syndrome that sometimes come up, and plans a summer full of finishing a new album and the promise it brings. It’s always positively refreshing and delightfully entertaining when I get to sit down with Sisi. I wanted to do a deep dive about her life, and ask her about where she came from, what moments impacted her the most, how she twists life lessons into lyrical expressions. In this interview, she dives into her new music, her writing process, and much more. Here’s my conversation with Austin’s next rising musician, Sisi.
Crowdsurfer: Tell us about who Sisi was growing up.
Sisi: I am one of five brothers and sisters. And I helped my mom raise them. My identity, more than anything, has always been that I’m my mother’s daughter, and I helped raise the kids. I didn’t play music. Music was more of like the loud background noise. It was in our house because we’re Latino. So it’s just always in the background. Not because any of us played it, per se. I sang in church. What I did more than anything was write with my sister, because my sister’s a poet. She’s six years younger than me, but we just wrote all the time. So more than a singer, I felt like a writer. And then I started singing around high school.
The first song I ever sang was the National Anthem. Because I wasn’t tall enough to get put on the court for the volleyball games. But I would sing the National Anthem. Which is why when I sang in the Austin FC and everyone said, you have to learn the song, I was like, no, I know that song better than I know any song.
Sisi growing up was just a little kid. Me and my siblings played outside all the time and I raised the kids and babysat everybody in the neighborhood, worked as a lifeguard. I was just a little worker. Forever. That’s literally what I feel like I’ve always been.
Crowdsurfer: When did you first find interest in music in the sense that it became something you made and created?
Sisi: You know when you write something good, and you want to share it, and then your sister or your sibling thinks it’s good, and then they’re connecting to it, and then you’re like, this is cool, I think I’m doing the thing that people do. And it started kind of locking into place.
I felt in college, when there was very much a fork in the road between pursuing medicine and playing music, that it felt like a choice, that it couldn’t be a hobby. Music was so backseat. It was like this thing that I did, like the way people like to go to the gym. I was like, I play music. I played in a band. And the more I played the more I felt like it was a tangible option. I didn’t grow up in the industry or whatever. So you don’t see it as an option. It’s just stuff that other people do. It’s worlds away from you. And the more I did something, whether win Battle of the Bands, or have a band in general, go to a studio for the first time, because that was the award for winning Battle of the Bands in college, or play a show and people being stoked, because they’re like, aren’t you the girl that played last night?
And that feeling alone, being like, that your songs were memorable, that someone’s night was about something that you did, that you existed at all. So you almost felt like, you were more alive and more connected, in a new world, and that was a big click for me, I guess. I remember calling my mom. I was sitting on the top of my roof and crying because I felt really bad to not pursue medicine.
I’d gotten the opportunity to have a full ride for pre med and I was essentially walking away from it. And to go, you know, play my little guitar, which my head space really did have a different – not a disrespect for it – but like a vanity almost like playing and writing. It felt like a selfish way to spend time or something. Like I could not wrap my head around it ‘cause it was serving nobody but me. So music felt selfish until it felt like it was connecting to people and serving some other, some other new thing, an emotion for people. Or myself, actually, because I’d never really written for people. It was just helping me process life and I needed it.
Crowdsurfer: What is your songwriting process like?
Sisi: Everything I’ve ever written is anecdotal. Everything I’ve ever written is like a, Hi, nice to meet you, my name is Sisi, this is all real. I even have a song that says, “And if someone asks you, What happened? I hope you send them my Spotify link.” So if you need to know anything, it’s all there. Between family stuff, and love stuff, and work stuff, and life stuff, faith stuff, all the things. Just being anecdotal.
Crowdsurfer: How do you feel like your family and your heritage has influenced your music?
Sisi: My family has impacted everything. It’s the pursuit and my biggest why behind it. Like, the reason that it doesn’t feel selfish is because my dream is to retire my mom with my music. To take care of my family and that be the the reason we’re all okay. Which is probably a hero complex that I have to work through in therapy. But, I just want everyone to be okay. And I want them to have every option in their life.
I think that’s everybody’s dream. And I’ll speak for most Latino kids, that like, our dream is to take care of our mom. Like, take care of our family. That’s a very ingrained part of our culture in general. My mom is everything, and has done everything and sacrificed her whole life for us. So that’s the big impact.
Being my mother’s daughter also means that I was raised very Venezuelan. We’re a military family, and my dad was American. But we were raised in the most Latino household ever. My family is very, very big. And whether we were in Venezuela, or Germany, or New Orleans, or Washington, or El Paso, or San Antonio, it was little Venezuela. If you asked, “Where are you from?” After moving so much, I was like, I’m from my mom’s house. This is where I’m from. I’m a military kid with a Venezuelan family. So the impact of being Latina is, is more, if anything, my personality and like gusto and the matriarchal feeling of being a Latino woman raised by my mom. I feel a lot of like power, if that makes sense. I feel a lot of ownership over self. It’s less to do with do I sing in a certain genre or anything. It’s more of like, I write different feelings in different languages, certainly. But the influence of being a Latina and a Venezuelan daughter is more of like my core’s confidence or something.
The way that I perform is definitely influenced by how I love to dance. And I love to dance because all we do is salsa, merengue.
That’s all we do at my house. That was the influence of music. We didn’t see it like, oh, let’s be singers. It was like, blast salsa, and then we’re going to make arepas.
Crowdusrfer: Let’s talk about your live performances. You performed at Austin City Limits music festival last year. Tell us about that. What does it feels like to be on stage?
Sisi: Performing is my favorite thing in the entire world. When I perform, I feel so comfortable and so myself. A stage like ACL also made me feel like, like you get a sugar crash. You’re like, Oh my God, if it’s not this, then I don’t want it, and you get really hungry and you get really sad at the same time.
But when you are performing it’s the fucking best feeling and it’s also really really humbling because you’re watching people sing songs – like people are singing my lyrics. What?! But it also makes you be like, I’m gonna give you the best show I can like if you came to see me then I want to I want to live up to it.
A big stage like Tito’s stage? So fun. That’s the furthest I’ve been from my bandmates, they were so far away from me. So I was like, where are you? But it also had so much playground and it also tapped into a new way of performing. Like, how can I move around the stage? Who, what areas can I look at? You know, what different version of connectivity can I tap into? And what else do you want from the performance? What, who else can fit on stage? What could be cool? Dancers, stage elements, different outfits, etc.
Any working musician in Austin, I think, that has been here as long as I have, knows the shows we’ve played at 1am for four people, so that’s the first thing I thought of when I was at the Tito’s stage and I saw at soundcheck and you’re like if nobody’s here that’s gonna suck and then it filled and then there were people and then I cried twice because I’m a child and my mom’s there.
Crowdsurfer: Let’s talk about Sisi. Is Sisi different than you?
Sisi: Sisi (pronounced Cee-cee) is my name and I go by Sisi because my name is Ana Cecilia and Sisi is what I’ve been called in my family forever. Sisi sometimes gets pronounced Sissy and it gives me a heart attack.
So all the merch was created to help with that sentiment: Sisi, yes yes, ya ya, oui oui.
Is Sisi me? I like to think there’s a lot of connective tissue to all of it. I don’t feel like I compartmentalize too many parts. All my music is really vulnerable, I say a lot of the things that are actually going on in my life. But, I don’t know, I catch myself being very myself, almost to a fault, uh, during shows. And I just feel like friends with everybody. When I’m playing I feel like everyone’s my friend. So I think on stage I just feel like, we’re all in our own little, you know, friend group and we’re all there that night and it’s like, what’s up guys? What are we drinking? I’m gonna sing y’all this one song about that one asshole.
But me performing is the most honest part of me. The irony is that me performing feels like the least performative version of myself. And perhaps the rest of my life has nuances of like different composures that are more performative to just get through the day. On stage, that’s as clean as it gets. That is all me.
Crowdusurfer: Tell us about your latest release, Sugar.
Sisi: I’ve written so many sad songs that I was also very excited to finally write something that didn’t feel like a sad song. It’s a song on me thinking about the way the world is moving. And the rhythms of how people fall in love or not fall in love, or how they try. And I was sitting at one of my favorite spots called Rosie’s that everybody should go to, it’s in my neighborhood. And in last year’s sad girl summer, I would go on long walks with my dog, walk to Rosie’s, sit in a corner, and order enormous amounts of champagne and watch the world be the world, right? And this little bistro has these little cute kind of European two tops. So a lot of people go on dates there. It’s really cute and romantic and flirty and I’d just sit in a corner with my dog and watch people. And I would eavesdrop obviously. I would hear people doing the thing where you meet people and the way that people would intro themselves. It’s all very bizarre. Like when you’re on the outside, especially with your nervous system being in a heartbreak era, watching people reattempt it, I’m like, that’s, what? And you’re hearing them say things, and you’re like, mmm, that’s not gonna work. And then it does work, and I’m like, oh, she liked that one. What? Like, what are you talking about? And it was escapism, certainly, to listen to other people’s lives. But it also was impressive. People showing, giving their best foot forward. It’s almost like they gave the dessert before they gave the entree. Like, you gotta give all this sugar. And sugarcoating kind of everything about yourself and that maybe if it’s just sweet enough that they’ll see you again and you’ll go in for like an appetizer or an entree.
And my head was like, oh, they’re doing it, there’s no slow roll here on how you meet someone. This is: give them as much of the candy and then maybe they’ll be interested in something more like fully getting to know the monotonies of ourselves. I was just really impressed by some of the lines because they were all the same.
Sisi’s new single, Sugar.
And I was like, no way. Do they have flashcards? Like, is there a newsletter I’m not getting? They said something along the lines of like, “Hey, this was awesome. I’ve got an early morning, but this was incredible. I hope to see you again.” But they’re definitely not gonna see each other again. Or they’re like, “Oh my God, we have so much in common. I love you. Let’s go to Mexico tomorrow.” It’s either all in, or all out. And it was impressive and it was entertaining and it was a world that I don’t want to be part of. But it was sweet to watch. It was just as sweet to watch as it was to do. Like the sweetness that they were giving. And so that’s what Sugar is about. Sugar is the watching them be sweet. So sweet that you’re like, I don’t even know if that’s real.
Crowdsurfer: How have you been writing your new album and what topics are you covering on the new album?
Sisi: I am doing this record with Chris Boosahda. People know him for being a part of Shakey Graves, producing Wild Child. He’s an incredible producer. I’m so excited to work with him. A lot of it’s been about what’s going on, what have I written in the past, what do I want to include on the record that feels cohesive and it feels like the one good sourdough bread all together rising at the same time rather than like a basket of random shit.
The topics range, it’s kind of like a journey. You can literally listen to it in order and be like, oh, she was not okay. Some, kind of okay. All right here. Some of my songs are about how I do recognize love to be very real because of the love of my parents and the sweet family life. So it’s the acknowledgement of that love, love is so versatile and the ways that we should need it or want it don’t have to be. You don’t lose love. You lose the people that give it but not love. Love always belongs to you. So you never have to go find it. You walk away with yourself in every interaction, and you wake up and you go to sleep with your own head and your own heart. So you’re not without it ever. It’s just a gift you get to give and receive in different ways.
I wrote a song recently called Rhythm and Blues that I’m so stoked on because it’s about the accountability also of recognizing that if you stayed in something that you made a choice. Like I made a choice to stay, you know? And why, and is the self analysis of that. Who was that girl? And Rhythm and Blues is about being like, well, I gave you rhythm and you gave me the blues and, and choosing to be without the sadness is choosing or like deciding, acknowledging that we’re definitely not together. And when it becomes your identity to be the sad girl.
There’s not a strategy necessarily on what I’m writing and how I’m writing. It’s more that I’m just letting the way that my anecdotal self wants to write, because I write fast like that, and I write things I like when it’s like that. For future music, I’m not sure. I’d like to try and explore other ways of writing, but this one is, as I’m feeling it, what I’m feeling, and how I want to bop to it, which is different.
The beginning, the first parts of the record, I was putting out music that’s I don’t want to bop, I was just kind of throwing up. You know what I mean? And these, especially Rhythm and Blues, is parts of music that I love, like, R& B, and soul music, and vibing, and kind of grooving and dancing. And R&B has that, and I’m so excited to put it out.
Crowdusrfer: Tell us about Who’s Gonna Worry About Me.
Sisi: Who’s Gonna Worry About Me is the first song I wrote where I felt the listener’s response. As I would release pieces of the lyrics, people would write me and say, “I really needed this song. This song means a lot to me.” And I was like, what? Like, are you, are you lying? Like you’re actually listening to the song?
And the opportunity to do a music video was also probably the most transparency of actual pain I felt because we got to lean into asking how do you give the impression of those lyrics? And that was the first time that I got to do a project with a proper team. It was produced by Gaby DeLeon, and filmed by Gaby Deimeke. And there was an actor, Jeremy Vandermause, and that was new to me too. And that was a huge, um, momentum and morale boost for me.
Crowdsurfer: What are you looking forward to the rest of the year and onward?
Sisi: I’m not like an already big thing, and I’m not starting from scratch, but there’s this runway, and there’s a pot of water coming to a boil and you’re just like, it’s almost boiling, like it could be a thing. We could really cook some dope pasta, but like it’s not there yet.
And so I think the goal of putting a team together to release this record in this way feels like a really real science project of being like, this is what actually works for an artist in my scenario. And being from Austin, and wanting to represent Austin, I feel really proud to have been a working musician in this city for this long, and I feel really loved and supported here. So to try and honor also this city and the space that’s nurtured me by doing the damn thing. If they’ve given me platforms to try and support me, then I gotta go and do this shit, you know. I’m looking forward to seeing what that actual momentum for the record means from an indie perspective.
Here’s what I want to see: What does breath look like for this record? And who do I become in trying to give it breath? Cause it’ll be someone I haven’t been yet, cause I haven’t done it yet. So, who the heck am I gonna be?
Atlas Genius is an indie/alternative band hailing from Down Under in Adelaide, South Australia. They formed in 2009 when brothers Keith (vocals/guitar), Steven (synths/keys), and Michael (drums) Jeffery decided to form a band after being influenced by bands such as The Beatles, Death Cab for Cutie, Beck, The Police, and Phoenix. Known for infectious hooks that swept the music blog space in the early 2010s, Atlas Genius is ready to release its 3rd studio album End Of The Tunnel on August 23rd.
I got a chance to sit down with Keith Jeffery after their performance at BeachLife Festival 2024 to ask him about the new album, Atlas Genius’ past songs, and the influences that have led the band to where they are now:
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In your set earlier today, you mentioned that you have not been back to the US in about 5 years. When prepping for this interview, I saw that Atlas Genius was on the lineup for BeachLife 2022, so what happened?
Well we were booked to play it, but through the “magic” of COVID, we ended up having to postpone it, making this our first BeachLife festival.
That makes sense, well we’re happy you made it to this one. In comparing Australian culture and lifestyle to the California lifestyle, what’s similar and what’s different?
I grew up near the beach, so where I’m from [Adelaide] and here have a lot in common. But general culture…. I’d say that Americans are about +20 dB louder on average. It’s not bad, it’s just the difference. Also, I feel that the U.S. has had an extra 100 years or so of being this melting pot of so many different things, whereas it’s happening now for us [in Australia]. For a long time we were just this baby country and we’re pretty sparse—we’re only about 26 million people. Coming here was intimidating!
It’s funny that you mention the “time to mature” for American culture because I feel like whenever I’ve talked with artists from Europe, it’s the opposite. We’re the baby country to them. On the topic of Aussie culture, I’m personally really keen on artists on this ‘new wave’ of rock/alt coming out of Australia, like Royel Otis, Spacey Jane, Skegss, Lime Cordiale—who actually brought out Colin Hay when I saw them in LA…
Well, I think [Colin Hay] was actually born in Scotland, but we claim him!
Oh woah, I did not know what. But, it’s Colin Hay!
It’s like AC/DC, they were born in Scotland too, but we also claim them. And The Bee Gees were from England, I believe. We’re just stealing everybody!
You are blowing my mind right now. Aside from all of the so-called “thievery,” how would you describe coming up as an artist in the Aussie music scene to an American audience?
The music I loved growing up always came from abroad, usually either New York, LA, or London. There are obviously a lot of talented bands and artists from our own country, but my influences often came from elsewhere. I have friends here who grew up in New York or LA, their favorite bands are from New York or LA. My favorite bands aren’t from Adelaide. We just haven’t had those bands from here that just changed the scene yet, at least from my city. Like when The Strokes came up, or when Nirvana came up, everything just shifted. There’s Kevin Parker [of Tame Impala] from Perth, but that hasn’t happened where I’m from. We’re kind of underdogs, so it makes you want to try hard, and I guess my whole life was just trying to get out.
Has that fueled your creativity for the band?
Yeah, I was always really unhappy living in a small town and just wanted to get out. When you’re young it feels like “Is this it? Am I trapped here? America looks pretty great.” I go back now and I love it, but it’s because I know that I can leave. I grew up wanting to be Kurt Cobain, even though I didn’t sound anything like Kurt Cobain, but it made me play music for years–I just wrote a bunch of songs, didn’t really go anywhere, quit, went and studied architecture, and that’s when “Trojans” happened.
Really? That’s a cool roundabout way to get there.
Yeah, at that moment I was living more like Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption. After 20 years, he finally doesn’t give a fuck whether they release him or not, and that’s when they release him. That’s what happened.
The tides just decided to shift your way.
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In 2013, Atlas Genius’s debut album When It Was Now peaked at No. 34 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The whirlwind of media coverage from sources like MTV, Billboard’s Heatseekers, Triple J, and Neon Gold propelled them to several U.S. tour dates and various music festival appearances such as SXSW, Sasquatch!. Firefly, Summerfest, Lollapalooza, Bluesfest, and several others. They followed this success with their second studio album Inanimate Objects in 2015. Currently, their top track “Trojans” has amassed 116 million streams on Spotify.
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Atlas Genius has not only one but TWO songs on the legendary FIFA soundtrack. What does that feel like?
It’s been really cool. Our bass player, for example, is a bit younger. His friends know us from FIFA. Their most well-known songs are “Stockholm” and “If So,” which are the two songs from the game. It’s a great honor to be on them, I figure it’s like what being on the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater soundtrack was like when I was a kid. All of my favorite bands were from those games, like the reason I know Primus and Mõtorhead are because of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.
That’s a great comparison. Nowadays, I feel like it’s FIFA, the Skate 3 series, and Grand Theft Auto that fill that role. On the topic of your past music, your first album was released in 2013, and your second full album followed in 2015. I feel like social media at that time was so different from the machine it has become– TikTok wasn’t even a thing yet. What was it like rising at the time when social media was a fraction of what it is now?
Oh yeah, I mean Instagram was sort of in its infancy. I remember going to the original Instagram office and meeting Kevin Systrom in 2012. It was still this new thing and it was cool, but back then it was a lot of blogs which were crucial for bands like us without a label. Blogs were our form of virality and really helped “Trojans” spread, which we’re super thankful for. I think the difference now is that all of those blogs were a passive thing for us, where we didn’t go searching for those sources, they found the song and did the work for us. Now, the energy that you have to put into maintaining a TikTok and Instagram account means less energy that you could be putting into recording or playing shows, and that’s potentially a problem. It’s fuckin’ difficult.
It must be draining to pour yourself into your music, and then feel like you’re “selling” your music right after.
Yeah, I think certain types of music work well for this social media framing, but if you’ve got like a 7-minute jazz odyssey… it could be incredible, but hard to get out there. I think we need to find a way in this new world of music for artists and fans to connect when they don’t have a song that’s going to be Top 10 Viral Hits.
Maybe we need to go back to more of those blogs and tastemakers. I do feel like some of those still live on social, but when there’s this constant push for virality, it changes up what artists are making.
Right, it still has to feel fresh. I remember when I was 14 or 15 and first heard Nirvana and went “what the fuck is this?”, and it was my mate who gave me his CD which he got from his CD Of The Month Club–he got Metallica’s ‘Black’ and Nirvana ‘Nevermind’– but I heard those songs in a very organic way. Maybe we can head back in that direction, I don’t know.
With your new album coming out, I really like your new sound. What is the band excited about with this release?
This record was made leading up to the pandemic, so we haven’t released it until now, 4 years later. We recorded a bunch of songs and cherry-picked the songs we really love and work together, so it’s sort of a “best-of” from the last 6 years. The songs that mean the most to me are “Don’t Let Love Be A Stranger” and “Nobody Loves Like You.” It’s a strong record because we had the time to do what we wanted to, but it’s taken way too long to come out. It’s a huge relief to have it coming out.
Right, you added “Don’t Let Love Be A Stranger” to the setlist, so BeachLife fans were treated to that. Getting a little more granular into the recording, what were some new things that you tried on this record– recording strategies, new tones, new inspirations… what felt new?
When you ask that question, what springs to mind is the approach we had on the first two records. We went in, and we didn’t have songs written and created the songs as we were recording. For this album, we did it the other way where we wrote songs, and then went in to record them. It’s so much easier and more enjoyable, I don’t know why we haven’t done it like this before.
What feels easier about it?
It’s like building a house, but you don’t know what the top floor will look like, and then once you’re at the top floor, maybe you want to change the basement, and sometimes it collapses. You can come up with unusual songs that way, “Trojans” was written that way.
Since we’re at a music festival; if you could build a dream lineup for you + any three artists, what are you building?
You know, I think I would just build a 90s lineup. Nirvana is one of my all-time favorite bands. I never get tired of them, I can always put on Nevermind or In Utero, or even Bleach. Smashing Pumpkins, I’d put in early 90s Red Hot Chili Peppers. And Soundgarden. And Rage Against The Machine I’d have to put. I saw them when they reformed back in 2000 and it was mind-blowing. So there you go, I gave you 5 bands. We would just open for all of them.
Great picks. How would you feel opening for all of those groups?
I’d have to open because you couldn’t follow any of those acts up! You just shouldn’t.
First concert, best concert?
First concert was Don McLean in Tasmania, we were on a family holiday, I would have been like 4 or 5. Best concert was Paul McCartney in ‘93 in Adelaide.
That’s massive. Did he do Beatles and Wings?
Yeah, and he had this new solo record out at the time called Off The Ground,and I loved it as a kid.
I’ll have to give it a listen. I know Sir Paul has given us a few recent releases.
I’m not sure, I haven’t kept up recently. I did meet him once, which was mind-blowing.
Woah! Where was it?
In front of the Beverly Hills Hotel. I was doing press and had a guitar in my hand, and he came up behind me and said “Go on, play us a song then!” and I turned around and it’s fuckin’ Paul McCartney! We chatted for a couple of minutes.
That’s incredible! Did you play him something?
No! Everyone asks that, and I really should have, like “Actually, here’s my new song!”. I asked him for a photo and he explained that he doesn’t do photos because he doesn’t want to feel like a trained monkey. He was so great, just a magnet of energy and such a sweetheart, going around spreading joy.
Ending on a high note talking about Paul McCartney! Anything you want to leave readers with?
We got new songs, people! Hopefully we’ll be on the road this year, and we just really appreciate doing all of this. When something gets taken away, you appreciate it all a lot more.
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End of the Tunnel is set to release on August 23rd, 2024. Atlas Genius excels in crafting captivating melodies to go along with their overall intimate lyrics. They are a band that creates a world within their songs that people can feel and live in, acting as a cinematic soundtrack to your life. They have recently released “On A Wave” and “Don’t Let Love Be A Stranger,” two upcoming tracks from their album. The soaring chorus for “On A Wave” feels like Atlas Genius at their biggest yet, emphatically making a point that they have returned to the music scene. For those souls that flow through the trials and tribulations of love and life, let Atlas Genius be your soundtrack.
Fans of the pop rock space may know the name Hardcastle from a few of their well-known hits. In 2019, the Nashville-based band was gaining heavy traction, joining The Band Camino on a sold-out national tour. Unfortunately, COVID impacted the world shortly after the tour concluded, and subsequently, the band. With the group going their separate ways, singer and guitarist Graham Laderman decided to realign with his artistic vision and set his sights on beginning anew in Los Angeles.
Since then, Graham has assembled a surrounding team, including managers, producers, and new bandmates, to venture into new musical territory. With a few upcoming shows and new music locked and loaded, Hardcastle is gearing up for a righteous return to the stage (and headphones). I got a chance to interview Graham at his recent Los Angeles show at Paramount LA and asked him a few questions about his musical journey.
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So before we get into it, you have to tell me what happened with your hand here.
Without going into too much detail, a car hit another car at an intersection, and I was sort of caught in the mess. I looked up, and there was just a car flying at me, and then everything went black. I didn’t lose consciousness, but I closed my eyes and sort of tensed up–when I opened my eyes the world slowly came back into focus and there was a ringing in my ear. I started checking my head after and was just thinking “Oh my god, I’m alive,” and I looked down at my hand and just saw a lot of blood. I had to get 11 stitches in my thumb and it kind of looks like Frankenstein. It’s very visceral when I talk about it, to be honest.
Wow, that’s insane. I’m happy that you’re okay cause that sounds like it could have been a lot worse for you. Obviously, you were dealing with a lot of shock, and then went to the hospital I assume, but how long after the initial hit did you think “Oh shit, I have shows coming up?”
Immediately. It was the next thing I thought about after realizing I was alive and that my head wasn’t bleeding. Still, despite the stitches and the arm brace, I’m just happy to be here.
How is it affecting the string of shows you have coming up?
Well, I definitely can’t play guitar, which is going to feel so different. I’ve played since middle school and I’ve always been so connected to it ever since I started. I’ve been building out my pedal board and started getting into a lot of capabilities for live shows, and it was feeling like a big culmination of a lot of years, especially now working with a five-piece band and really getting close to how things sound on the record. Now, it’s opened my perception to “Who am I without a guitar?” I have to really tap into a new area as a singer. A week ago I was thinking that I’d never put my guitar down, but I’m excited to get in touch with my power as a frontman and see where it goes. It’s a growing experience, for sure.
Right, I like your optimism there. Let’s hope that your next artistic change doesn’t come at the hands of an accident like this again though, yeah?
Haha, definitely. I like to think of it this way– you have this energy, and you can spend it in a lot of different ways. I’ve just been trying to spend that energy looking into what the opportunity is here.
I want to hear about being raised up in the Nashville music scene from a stylistic influence perspective, how does that experience carry on with you still?
So I moved to Nashville from Atlanta in 2016. In high school [in Atlanta] I was kind of playing this ‘Foo Fighters meets southern rock’, and I was just having fun and didn’t know anything about anything. I’d write half a song, and book shows and just make up the rest onstage, because I just wanted to play so badly.
When I made it to Nashville, I got into the songwriting program at Belmont for a year and a half before I dropped out, but I realized that writing lyrics was amazing, and that songwriting could be the center of gravity for the things that I wanted to do. I just started collaborating with a lot of people and co-writing with my bandmates at the time [Val Hoyt, Noah Christian, and Miles Laderman, Graham’s brother], and some early stuff with Old Sea Brigade [Ben Cramer]. I was such a hardcore The 1975 fan and got exposed to more pop music, whereas back in Atlanta I was kind of more anti-pop in a way haha. It just really helped to expand my sound and led to songs like “Back To You” and “Mundane.” We started to work with The Band Camino on those tours and show trades, and they’ve always been great at making those anthemic pop-rock songs, so getting to tour with them was a big influence. Somewhere in there though, I started to lose myself a bit, because I was trying to be so many things.
Yeah, being in a big music market like Nashville, there are so many different avenues a person can go. With Nashville especially, it goes a lot further than just country music, which is where people often stop at. I liked your term of anthemic pop rock to describe it, but there’s a lot going on over there. On to your LA move, how do you carry that experience over here?
The first thing that comes to mind is the power and process of collaboration and co-writing. When it came to writing the songs on the new record, I had some great help in my corner and narrowed the album down from a ton of songs. I also was just able to find myself again, which has been great. I was always the kid daydreaming in class about being out here in LA.
Is it what you thought it would be?
So far, it feels like I’m living that dream I’d think about when I should have been paying attention in class. A few months ago, I was in the studio recording a song that’s on the new record called “Down,” and I got to work with Rob Cavallo who’s produced for some of my favorite albums of all time, and I’m holding his guitar–if you listen to “Iris” or “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” it’s THAT guitar. We mic’d the guitar and muted the placeholder electric we had on the track, and I was literally living what I would be daydreaming about. I’m getting chills talking about it right now! It’s just all unreal.
Bring me up to speed with yourself, and with Hardcastle now– what are you excited about, and what has changed/felt new?
Over a year ago, I connected with Rob and Lisa Cavallo with Done Deal Management. Lisa has just been truly a life-changing mentor, and from the first moment I sat across from her at the table, I felt seen and encouraged to be myself wherever that takes me. I would start having A&R meetings with Rob which was crazy, and HE encouraged me to be myself too, even if it’s left of center. I was also in a place where I was ready and open to receive that kind of advice. Then I got back into the songwriting part and reconnected with the stuff that first turned me on to music, like back when I was a kid in the back of my dad’s car. I guess for a while, I had lost the connection to that ‘spark’–but fast forward to now after being in the studio, I have this record that’s everything I’ve ever wanted and that represents me and all of the people I’ve worked with for Hardcastle, whatever that entity is. I feel completely represented.
What would you like to tell Hardcastle fans about this new phase?
Overall I think it will be different, but it’s a return to center for me. You’ll hear it when you hear it!
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Through this band transition, Graham has kept busy under the Hardcastle moniker. He released the track ‘Malibu’ in 2023. Before that, Hardcastle collaborated with LA-based singer/songwriter Lorelei Marcell on a single called “Flashbacks,” releasing both a studio-recorded version, as well as a stripped-down acoustic version. 2022 brought fans 2 EPs– Hundred Million Seconds released in October, as well as One More in June. In between the EP releases, September 2022 brought listeners two additional singles “Holding on to You” and “Murphy’s Law”. While Graham’s strong songwriting and instrumental arrangement is present in all of his work, he leans heavier into the bedroom pop/pop rock genres.
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Currently, ‘Mundane’ and ‘Back To You’ are both around 5M plays on Spotify. Did either of those songs feel different during creation, and what are your thoughts on them now being a few years out?
When I wrote those songs, they both came as ideas while I was writing in my room on this $50 piano that I was borrowing from Val. Mikey Reaves, Val Hoyt, and Ben Cramer were collaborators that helped me fully realize ‘Mundane’. Owen Lewis, too, was a big part of the production. And then Madelyne Morris was my co-writer on ‘Back To You’. Although, it initially felt like those melodies just started coming out of me, kind of spiritually.
So you felt it right off the bat that they were special?
Yeah, and when all of those were popping off, it was everything. I just kept thinking about how lucky I was. After a while during that ‘lost’ period for me, the meaning and impact of those songs were sort of lost on me, too, but now that I got this going I look back on those songs with the same fondness and admiration.
I mean, that’s how I’m here right now! I remember I was put onto “Mundane” around 2020, and then have been sort of following you guys from then on. When I saw the show billing for Hardcastle @ Paramount LA I knew I could have an opportunity to do this chat here. It’s cool that those songs are part of the reason we’re talking now.
Exactly! That’s why those songs are amazing. I’m glad that they had an impact on people.
If you could tell past Graham anything, what would it be?
It’s clichè for a reason, but just keep going. Open your mind to new possibilities and give yourself some grace, and that’s really it. It’s a long journey, and you really don’t know how it’s all going to go. Earlier on, I thought I knew how it would all go, and that kind of poisoned the well a bit for me.
What about future Graham? What would you say to him?
Probably just to stay connected to joy. Trust that that’s a worthy investment, even if it’s something you can’t quantify or qualify.
Just to wrap it up here, and kind of a fun one to end on–who was your first concert, and best concert?
Oh, man! My first concert was Wilco with my family in Atlanta. I was raised on that band, and we saw them a couple of times in Atlanta. Every second of every day was Wilco, haha.
The one that jumped out at me when you said “best concert”–I remember Val and I camped out early in the morning to see Foo Fighters at Centennial Olympic Park. I remember the doors opened and we sprinted up to the barricade and got way up close. Actually, we tried to throw our demo CD at [Dave Grohl.]
That’s hilarious! How old were you?
I think I was a sophomore in high school. I remember thinking this could be our moment, like “Put us on stage right now!”
Amazing. Any other thoughts you had before we call it a wrap?
If anyone wants to bring us on tour, we’re looking to do that!
You heard it here first, everyone! Hardcastle is ready! Thank you for your time, Graham.
This was so fun, thank you!
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Hardcastle gave fans incredible onstage energy, thanks to Noah Christian (bass), Raul “Perro” Murillo (guitar), Aram Behshid (drums), Zeph Park (keys, guitar), and frontman/singer and interview guest Graham Laderman. Hardcastle has always had their roots in rock, but opts for an edgier sound that feels like it fits in your favorite 2000s alternative rock playlist on your iPod. The band performed fan-favorite “Mundane,” but left the rest of the setlist for their new and unreleased tracks, in addition to Perro surprising fans with a cover of the popular Spanish pop rock song “Lamento Boliviano.” Fans can expect Hardcastle’s new sound slated for release in May of this year, with the full record expected in early Fall 2024.
Molly Warburton is and up-and-coming singer songwriter from Lancashire, England. She picked up the guitar when she was 10, studied music and started playing gigs as a teen, with inspirations like Fleetwood Mac and Sigrid.
Molly has an addicting etherial vocal energy and a sense of storytelling in her lyrics, which makes her the next new musician to watch.
Her latest single “Midnight Hour” narrates that feeling of realization of the things in your life that are holding you back.
“Midnight Hour was written about two friends of mine. The song is about being in a dead end relationship with someone but having a moment of madness with someone else in your friendship group – a so-called “stranger” in the song. When you can’t stop thinking about what you could have and fantasizing about how young and free it would make you feel but in reality it isn’t something that would work or something anyone could ever know about.”
Inspired by the likes of Haim, Jade Bird and Maisie Peters, “Midnight Hour” showcases twinkling synths, euphoric harmonies and emotion-fuelled vocals, as the upbeat dance-worthy anthem shines bright with a new-found confidence and self-worth. The lyrics, “Been stuck in the midnight hour, now I’m dancing till the sun” highlights the feeling of being trapped but eventually being set free and finally being able to really express your true feelings.
The accompanying music video is filmed in a “typical” date setting and represents the different feelings and sides to people’s relationships and how they might try and cover things up. The fun and playful video shows the singer dressed in different outfits and colours, reflecting the battle of mixed emotions when going through a difficult time. With over one million streams on Spotify alone, the artist has seen her music land on renowned playlists such as New Music Friday, New Pop UK and Chilled Pop Hits, to name a few. Garnering humbling support from the likes of Earmilk, Music Crowns and NOTION, she has performed at countless festivals and venues around the UK and Ireland, including London’s Shepherd Bush Empire, Manchester Ritz, and O2 venues across Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol and Birmingham. Appearing on the festival stages of Highest Point, Kendal Calling and Forgotten Fields, she supported Tom Meighan on his 2022 tour, and even appeared as BBC Introducing Lancashire’s Record of the Week! Needless to say, Molly Warburton is set to soar in success.
Have you heard of OAKMAN? If you haven’t, chances are, you will soon! This talented French pop/rock trio has had a big week, as they released their third EP, SCP, on September 30th. We had the opportunity to sit down and chat with lead singer/guitarist Marine and drummer Jesse about their new music. Check it out below.
Crowdsurfer: Give us a background about who you are and how you got started as a band.
Jesse: Hi! I’m Jesse, I play the drums. I started music with my brother Geremia who is our bass guitarist. Music was a big part of our family as my dad played music and was part of a band. We grew up in this environment of music and live concerts, so it was a normal thing for us. We picked up playing instruments at a young age and started playing as a trio with my dad.
Geremia and Marine met during high school. At that time, I was in college in a different city in France. Geremia and Marine played music together for fun. I thought they had a really nice taste of music. Later, they decided to start taking their music seriously as a duo. Afterwards, they came to my city, and we started something that we now call OAKMAN.
CS: Your third EP SCP came out yesterday! What did you to celebrate?
Jesse: I would say like French people, we went to a French restaurant and had a couple of glasses of wine with our close friends and team. We wanted to celebrate as a little committee in a restaurant. It was fun and we definitely ate too much!
CS: Tell me a little bit about the inspiration for the new EP.
Marine: The inspiration for SCP came from many different things. During the pandemic, we listened to many different artists including Phoenix, CHVRCHES, and The Weeknd. Even though I’m not much of a pop listener, I do love Dua Lipa, her music is really cool. All these influences, plus all the pop punk bands we’ve listened to in the past, inspired our new sound and this EP.
CS: You said your sound changed. Can you tell us about that and how this EP is different from anything you’ve done before?
Marine: So now we have more synth vibes than before. I have always wanted to experiment with these types of sounds, but I didn’t really have the time or the money. During the pandemic, I still didn’t have the money, but I had the time to experiment, so I decided to explore with analog music. It was a cool experience, and it gave me the chance to add new elements to our music, which is something I have always wanted to do. The pandemic was a good time for me to try new things.
Jessie: Also, we had more experience as people and as musicians after touring which gave us the freedom to experiment with new things. Our previous music was raw, with just the three of us with and our instruments. Marine started to produce our songs more and more and developed that skill. Which also gave us an opportunity to experiment in new ways and bring different sounds into this EP.
CS: Why did you pick SCP as the title track and why is it so special to you?
Marine: We chose SCP, which stands for Sugar Coated Pill, as the title track because it encapsulated all the different emotions you can find in the entirety of the EP. The song represents the kind of sweet but also spicy and crazy part of life as well as the fears many of us have. We felt that SCP was a song that represented all the emotions we cover throughout the EP.
CS: Your song “Murder” talks about a difficult subject that many people experience. Why did you feel it was important to write this song?
Marine: When I was writing this song, I didn’t know that I was going to talk about this topic. I always wanted to talk about this, but I never felt like I had the perfect song to do it. But after I wrote the first few sentences, deep in my thoughts/ I murder you for once, I started to think it was a good song for this subject.
CS: Who came up with the vision/idea for the music video for “Murder” and what inspired the idea?
Jesse: Marine, she’s the boss!
Marine: When I thought about “Murder,” I pictured somebody running away from something or someone, like their murderer. I wanted to go further into the idea of what would happen if the roles were swapped – the idea of the murderer becoming the victim and the victim becoming the murderer. I felt like this would be a more interesting concept because we always talk about the victim and the murderer, but sometimes the victim wants his/her revenge. So, I thought it would be more interesting to see it from this point of view and see the emotions that overtake the victim.
CS: You guys did such a great job on the video, we loved it!
Jesse: Thank you! It was pretty tough to shoot because it was outside and pretty cold. We wrapped at 6 am! But it was worth it!
CS: Switching it up a bit, who is your dream collaboration?
Marine: I have too many! I would love to collaborate with Phoenix and Dayglow!
Jesse: I never thought about this, but maybe Fatherson or I’d really love to collaborate with Enter Shikari! I think that would be a great mix because they are kind of crazy with their music.
CS: Who would you love to go on tour with?
Marine: Pheonix!
Jesse: Yeah! They are pretty big and maybe it would be easier for us to communicate with them and link up because they are French. I really like Manchester Orchestra but is like a different type of music. Honestly, I would like to tour with any pop punk or pop band. Touring with CHVRCHES would be amazing!
Marine: Yeah! CHVRCHES would be really cool!
CS: What do you hope people get from listening to your music?
Marine: I hope they get hope and motivation in their life and I hope they love the EP! I don’t know, this is always a hard question because I can’t speak for other people, but I hope they feel what we wanted to transmit through this EP. We hope they feel the emotions and see the authenticity that we wanted to share with them.
Jesse: As people, we are musicians, we are a band. But, we are also listeners like everybody else and we have our favorite bands and artists. So as a band, the most important thing for us it to try to recreate what we like about our favorite songs and artists. When you listen to a new song or watch the music videos, you are so into it. We want people to feel connected to us and we hope to build a bond with our fans through our music. Music is emotions – its’ happiness, it’s sadness. Music represents life. As a band we create music, but when we release it, it’s for people, it’s not only for us anymore.
CS: If you could go back in time and give yourself a piece of advice, what would you say?
Jesse: Work more!
Marine: That’s a good one!
Jesse: Sometimes I’m a bit lazy, you know. When you don’t see the results you want after working so hard to obtain a goal, sometimes you just stop and abandon the idea. I am that type of person. So, I would tell myself “Just go! Do it!” But I’m pretty sure there are a lot of people like me, so I am not alone!
CS: No, you definitely are not!
Marine: I would tell myself to be more confident about our music. Sometimes when we compose a song, we have some doubts and sometimes we feel like its not worth it. The song can be good, but we always have doubts. And I want to get to a place where we can be more confident and take more risks.
CS: What are some of your plans for the rest of this year and onward?
Jesse: Our EP came out yesterday, so we’d like to have the opportunity to defend our it on stage and play live shows. We will have some shows in France of course, but we’d like to tour Europe and the UK, and we’d love to go to the US and do a bigger tour there.
CS: Lastly, is there anything you want to say to your fans or mention?
Marine: You can listen to our new EP SCP on Spotify! Add our songs to your playlists. Any support means the world to us!
Jesse: Thank you for your support! You guys adding us on social media, chatting with us, buying merch, just everything, really means so much to us as a band. We need that support to keep pushing further and creating new music.
You can stream SCP here and make sure to keep up with OAKMAN Band on Instagram and Tik Tok. You’ll definitely want to keep them on your radar!
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