Presented by Noise Pop Festival, CinemaSF and Tunnel Records

Featuring: 

Solo Acoustic Performance by FANTASTIC NEGRITO at 8pm
Screening of WHITE JESUS BLACK PROBLEMS at 9pm

Q&A to Follow

FANTASTIC NEGRITO:  When you listen to Fantastic Negrito, you’re invited to hear the story of life after destruction. Each song is a real story about a musician from Oakland who experienced the highs of a million-dollar record deal, the lows of a near fatal car accident that left him in a coma, and is now in the midst of a rebirth that took him from the streets of Oakland to the world stage.

WHITE JESUS BLACK PROBLEMS:  To accompany the full-length studio album, Fantastic Negrito created an entire companion film set to the music. White Jesus Black Problems was written, recorded, and filmed in Oakland, where the artist grew up and currently resides. The multi-media work is based on the true story of Negrito’s seventh generation white Scottish grandmother (Grandma Gallamore), an indentured servant, living in a common law marriage with his seventh generation African American enslaved grandfather (Grandfather Courage); in open defiance of the racist, separatist, laws of 1750s colonial Virginia.

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Presented with SF Sketchfest, KEXP and Great American Music Hall.
Proceeds will benefit Carel Struycken (The Giant) who lost his home in the Eaton Fire.

photo: Jakub Moser

Red Room Orchestra
Formed by San Francisco producer and multi-instrumentalist Marc Capelle in 2017, The Red Room Orchestra is a collective of popular, jazz, classical, and electronic composers and performers who’ve played and recorded alongside the Bad Seeds, the Plastic Ono Band, Cibo Matto, Oingo Boingo, Sonic Youth, CAKE, American Music Club, Lou Harrison, the Steve Reich Ensemble, the Nels Cline Singers, Rodriguez, Iggy Pop, Tune-Yards, Bill Frisell, and more. They’ve offered live renderings of the music of David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks,” reinterpretations of the soundtracks of Wes Anderson’s “Rushmore” and “The Royal Tenenbaums,” and for SFFILM they composed and performed original scores for the short films from Stephen Parr’s Oddball Films archive.

Meet DāM-FunK. He’s not just a musician; he’s a Modern Funk trailblazer and style icon, blending music, fashion, and culture. Originating from Pasadena, CA, he roamed the vibrant streets of L.A., always ahead of the curve in the Modern Funk scene.

As a digital trendsetter, he’s redefining the game. DāM-FunK has rocked collaborations with major players like Rockstar: GTA, Apple Music’s Glydezone Radio, Serato, Splice, and Melbourne Instruments. And that’s not all; his extensive list of partnerships also includes Stussy, Born X Raised, Stones Throw Records, and more. Now, he’s spreading his wisdom as a board member at TEC Leimert, a tech and entertainment nonprofit with a mission to create opportunities for local youth and budding entrepreneurs pursuing creative careers.

Mentored by legendary music producer Leon Sylvers III, DāM-FunK learned the art of the game and the secret to everlasting relevance. Beyond making music, he’s been a driving force in shaping a flourishing L.A. music scene. He founded the legendary club nite: Funkmosphere which gave many artists and DJ’s shine, for music goers in the city and surrounding areas.

Towards the end of 2020, both California natives Ellie English and Resa Jonasson got serious about what they wanted to accomplish musically… And boy did they hit their mark.  Within a few months the two had six songs, demos, a studio space and VIOLA, PAGOTO. Their debut record “7989” was released on Licorice Pizza Records August 9th, 2024.

A group of best dudes playing Nasty Groove Punk. Pulling from 70's psych and metal, 80s punk and 90's grunge, HIGHWINDS creates an energy that is raw yet articulate and seemingly without a singular genre.

Forest Lawn has been blowing eardrums in LA’s underground metal scene with their unique style of Dungeon Metal. Singer Lev Merka brings chaos to his stage as his tortured vocals are driven by Brett Hanson’s evil riffs and Joseph Herzog’s hard hitting drums. The band is currently recording their second album which is expected to be out later this year

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Theya is a Bay Area metal band known for their heavy, melodic riffs and energetic live performances. They've been making waves in the local scene, with recent shows at venues like the Kilowatt in San Francisco and the Ivy Room in Oakland

Hailing from Taipei, Taiwan, Yuka grew up with the birth of the electronic music scene in Asia in the late 90s. With a mix of Chinese, Dutch, and Japanese ancestry, Yuka has been influenced by a variety of musical traditions. Yuka became serious about making music and started DJing in London.

Her musical style is influenced by Aphex Twin and Björk, and she likes 90’s acidic, psychedelic, and oriental rhythms. Her sets are a mix of genre-overlapping styles, telling a story and creating a formidable musical journey. Immersed in a multi-cultural and conflicted atmosphere, her experience in Eastern and Western cultures inspires her creation of music.

Originally born in South Korea, now located in San Francisco, 3kelves tries to capture thefeeling of nightlife into his music. After playing lots of DJ gigs in SF opening for acts likeKaytranada, Disclosure, SG Lewis,Chromeo, Purple Disco Machine, TheBlaze, Washed Out,he is now hoping to create more songs that he would love to see played out throughout theworld.He has released with Kitsune Musique, Nervous Records, Tensnake’s True Romance,and many world-wide record labels. He has also toured Europe(Germany, Paris, London,Netherlands), Los Angeles, and South Korea.

Celebrate 15 years of Animal Shapes with Geographer! Relive the magic of their iconic album on a special anniversary tour.

It’s an amusing paradox how Parra for Cuva’s new album Juno, containing recordings of the South American ronroco, an Indian flute player, and the hammered dulcimer, an ancient Persian instrument, was almost entirely produced within the four walls of the artist’s studio in Berlin. Back in 2019, the German musician found himself in a sort of pre-pandemic lockdown – his girlfriend was pregnant at the time and the couple’s activities were mostly confined to their home. Still, Nicolas Demuth managed to fit the world into Juno – explorations with new instruments and languages, tracks named after African animals and exotic destinations. Interestingly, the album itself, Juno borrows its name from a child that lay safe inside a womb and hadn’t yet experienced the world at all.
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That’s the beauty of the 21st century though, one barely has to leave a room to travel far and wide. Parra for Cuva’s previous highly acclaimed album, Paspatou, titled after the butler of Jule Verne’s “Around The World In 80 Days”, already hinted at the musician’s worldly outlook. It also carved a unique position for Parra for Cuva as an artist, who brought a truly original sound to electronic music by mixing emotional dance floor experimentations with acoustic and ethnic soundscapes. Juno takes this global interaction further with the participation of seven musicians from around the world, many of whom Nicolas met online and worked with remotely. For the artist, music-making isn’t about converging ideologies and world views, rather these multi-cultural collaborations were forged solely on the basis of a mutual love of music.

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Video Age make breezy and timeless songs that are so ineffable, they can only be the result of a decades-long friendship and songwriting partnership. Across four albums, Ross Farbe and Ray Micarelli have gleefully worn their influences on their sleeve, writing inviting tunes that reference sounds ranging from disco to pop and indie rock. On their latest LP, Away From The Castle, the New Orleans duo have strayed from nostalgia and instead have honed their own unique musicality, making songs that sound like themselves with a taste of inspiration from classic singer-songwriters of the 60s and 70s. The album is a testament to the possibilities that come from getting out of your comfort zone, the freedom of writing vulnerably and unselfconsciously, and the joys of getting to work with your closest companions.

Loaded guns, space heaters, and big skies. Welcome to the lethal littered landscape of Jim Heath’s imagination. True to his high evangelical calling, Jim is a Revelator, both revealing & reinterpreting the country-blues-rock roots of American music. He’s a time-travelling  space-cowboy on a endless interstellar musical tour, and we are all the richer & “psychobillier” for getting to tag along. Seeing REVEREND HORTON HEAT live is a transformative experience. Flames come off the guitars. Heat singes your skin. There’s nothing like the primal tribal rock& roll transfiguration of a Reverend Horton Heat show.

Black Joe Lewis is the realest motherfucker there is. When Covid sidelined his touring this past year, he started laying concrete to help support his baby mama and his kid. That’s fuckin’ real. When Joe and his band, the Honeybears, popped onto the national stage over a decade ago, many critics embraced him but still, there were some that maintained that they hadn’t paid their dues. Joe’s still here. Still going. Still cashing checks and snapping necks. The dues of hard work; the delirious heights of the industry as well as the disappointments and low hanging fruit. Through this all, Joe’s only honed his mastery over gut bucket blues guitar and his true voice. It’s a vital and distinctly American voice that never anticipated the attention he wound up receiving, never went looking for it either. It just started happening. The garage, the blues, the propulsive and synergistic live performances that inhabit the spaces of James Brown, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and the MC5...those things happened naturally from the very beginning and could only be accurately communicated in the live experience, not a press release or a slick brand campaign. Sharon Jones, Charles Bradley, Cedric Burnside and Lightnin Malcolm, The Dirtbombs, Detroit Cobras, the Strange Boys; these are some of the artists that Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears shared countless bills with; almost a roll call of the most influential soul and garage bands of the last twenty five years. Has the soul blues garage explosion from that era been commodified or worked into the overall template of pop rock? Sure. But the ground floor was a vital space for people that like guitars and grease and at this point Black Joe Lewis is one of the last standing that was there. Last of a dying breed. Or maybe a missing link. Does this make him a throwback? A throwback to a throwback? It’d be tempting and easy for Joe to go along with that but nah, we don’t think so. We know that Joe Lewis is genuinely doing his thing and that he’d do it regardless of what’s coming down the pipe. A stone cold original and a veteran at that. If you like whistling in your music and some floppy hat, quaky kneed dudes cloyingly singing at you, then you might not “get it” but whatever...there are enough intrepid, degenerate weirdos that do. Those are the folks Joe cares about. Not the glad handing set. Not the fair-weather friend set getting down with the flavor of the month. Like the title of his last album says, “the difference between me and you” is Joe defining for himself that there’s the belabored wannabes and then there’s dudes that actually “HAVE the blues”...whatever the hell THAT is! Joe’s concrete pouring boss is gonna miss him.

Punk rock like abuela used to make!

Piñata Protest is a “Tex-Mex punk” band from San Antonio, TX. Their self described sound and attitude arises from the two counter-clashing worlds that the band embraces: punk and Tex-Mex.

Piñata Protest’s unique and catchy sound takes the traditional folk rhythms of Tex-Mex music (conjunto and norteño music that is native to the South-Texas and Nortern-Mexican region they originate from) along with the three-row button accordion and combine that with the fast tempos and attitude of punk rock, ska, and many other genres. Along with the use of traditional instruments and rhythms the band also sings in their regional mix of Spanish and English (or Spanglishas it’s called locally). Their songs lyrics cover a range of topics, from political topics close to the ethno-identities of the band, drinking, love, religion, and racism. Adding to their sonic performances is a lively and energetic live show that ignites crowds to mosh, skank, and twirl their dance partners.

The king of Power Pop returns to San Francisco after more than five years! Paul Collins brings you the best of The Nerves & The Beat...60 minutes of non-stop Power Pop! From the thundering bass line of Rock n Roll Girl to the pounding eighth notes of Don’t Wait Up For Me, to the soaring
harmonies of One Way Ticket all the way to the singalong classic Hanging On The Telephone, this is Power Pop at its best, vintage loud rock n roll! All hits and no filler!
This time Paul Collins is backed by Softjaw, Southern California favorites. As Paul puts it “A friend of mine sent me a clip of Softjaw performing “Working Too Hard” and we were off to the races!" Get ready for 60 minutes of non-stop POWERPOP hits featuring the best of The Nerves and the Beat!

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The Goods are a power pop band. Falling somewhere between the skinny tie punk-pop of the late 70s and the left-of-the-dial college radio of the early 90s, their sound is classic and organic, with enough self-awareness to avoid falling into retro-revival affectations. The band combines big guitars and bigger hooks into a distinctive power pop tapestry- dead-ringers for guys who grew up equally obsessed with The Beatles and The Ramones, and spent their formative years worshiping at the altar of Tom Petty with Cheap Trick and Green Day spinning in their car CD players.Frontman Rob Good is a veteran of the Bay Area underground, having played the sideman in stalwart Bay Area outfits such as Ryli, Sob Stories, Cocktails, and Re-Volts. Good now steps center-stage to showcase a knack for clever songwriting and catchy melodies

Purveyors of raw power pop and punk, The Wind-Ups like to leave your eardrums ringing, but with a nice melody smashed into your brain, too. Hailing from Chico, CA, they've got two LPs on Mt. St. Mtn, and a live tape with Dandy Boy Records. A third full-length is set due to drop sometime this summer.

HABITAAT (Tomas Wischerath) is a San Francisco based DJ, composer, and producer who is pushing the boundaries between organic bass and high-energy dance music, creating a sound he describes as “electronic music inspired by nature”. Born in Brazil and raised in the Bay Area, HABITAAT’s sound is deeply influenced by hip-hop beats, cinematic movie scores, and underground dance music—crafting immersive sonic landscapes that transport listeners to a world where rhythm meets the raw beauty of the earth. Blending infectious dance beats and ethereal melodic sounds, HABITAAT’s soundscapes mirror the beauty of our own natural world in danceable and psychedelic ways.

A rising force in indie electronic music, HABITAAT has graced legendary stages, including opening for CloZee at Red Rocks in 2022, and sharing lineups with artists like Bonobo and Duke Dumont. HABITAAT has become a staple in both ecstatic dance and electronic festival circuits. With a growing catalog of music, including two album releases in 2024 (Grow, Fall In Deep), his work continues to explore what connects us to nature through sound.

HABITAAT’s music resonates with both deep-listening organic bass DJs and feel-good partygoers, offering an experience that is as meditative as it is high-energy. Whether played in the depths of a forest, the pulse of a nightclub, or under the stars at a festival, HABITAAT’s music creates a space where movement, connection, and nature unite.

Almost out of necessity, Les Savy Fav’s sixth LP was born in a pocket reality: singer Tim Harrington’s Brooklyn attic. “A freaky barn,” as he calls it, the room was built over the ruins of black mold and plywood, a de facto studio. Different from anywhere they’d ever recorded, the space allowed for a much-needed rebirth for the long-running post-hardcore band. In that in- between, they pieced together what would become their latest evolution, OUI, LSF, growing the album’s title and cover art out of a patch of grass. “The record grew organically — literally and figuratively,” Harrington notes wryly.

It’s impossible to talk about Les Savy Fav without acknowledging that it’s been more than 10 years since the guys released 2010’s Root for Ruin. But it’s not like they had a messy breakup or quit to become bankers. They just had a lot of living to do. “When we finished our last record, there was a sense that if we were going to do more, we wanted to do something more ambitious,” Harrington says. “I think it took us a while to even get in a space where that was possible.” Remember, these five men — Harrington, Seth Jabour, Syd Butler, Harrison Haynes, Andrew Reuland — have been friends and collaborators since 1995, when they attended Rhode Island School of Design. It takes a beat to shake old habits.

Originating in San Francisco in 1965, the FLAMIN' GROOVIES have been touring and performing (in)consistently for nearly six decades, exceeding all expectations, presenting their own unique and infectious style of rock 'n' roll with such cult classics as "Slow Death," "Teenage Head," and of course, "Shake Some Action." The current lineup features Cyril Jordan, Tony Sales on drums, Atom Ellis on bass, and a couple newer, younger members Sean Fitzsimmons and Miki Rogulj on guitars.

Their live show features a repertoire that spans the band’s career, emphasizing both 1971’s “Teenage Head” album (associated with more old time rock 'n' roll, rockabilly, Stones and Yardbirds influences), as well as the power pop period (Beatles and Byrds influenced) more associated with the band's three albums on Sire Records in the late 70s.  Their place in history is well established as one of the all-time greatest bands from San Francisco (and the world) and as progenitors of real rock 'n' roll.

Th’ Losin Streaks story began in 2003, and things happened quickly: their debut record, “Sounds of Violence,” was released in 2004, followed by tours of Europe and the US, and invitations to open for legendary acts like The Zombies. The band and the record collected kudos and built a wide-ranging fanbase that includes The Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra and E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt, who proclaimed the group’s “Your Love, Now” as “The Coolest Song in the World (this week)” in his Billboard column and sent the tune into heavy rotation on Sirius’ Underground Garage radio station.
In 2011, the group went on hiatus, returning to the stage in 2017 following an invitation to open for Iggy Pop at the Burger Boogaloo festival.

“Last House” is the third album from Sacramento’s Th’ Losin Streaks.The album was recorded at Louder Studios in Grass Valley, California, with Tim Green (Nation of Ulysses, Fucking Champs) behind the board. Green played piano on several tracks, and Anton Barbeau – a friend of the band since the beginning – plays organ on some cuts. All of the band members – Tim Foster, Stan Tindall, Mike Farrell and Brian Machado – contributed to the songwriting, and the album also features a cover of The Weeds classic “It’s Your Time.” The album cover and other photos were shot by their pal (and Bay Area punk legend) Al Sobrante.

Power pop enthusiasts whose music captures the point where punk attitude and pop melodies meet.

San Francisco based singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Christine McCann has reemerged as SWISS. Christine started her musical path in a pizza shop in Venice Beach working with a collection of outcast musician’s, comedian’s, and actors. She was told by the pizza dream team that she was actually pretty good at writing and performing songs and she never looked back. After 5 years in the SF based alternative rock band, Columba Livia, SWISS. embarks on a new sound that is dark and stormy, but light on their feet. Heartfelt and moving, yet agile. They cut right through, they spin right out. They swim through frequencies alive and questioning everything around them in an angsty but therapeutic kind of way.

Cardboard People, a dynamic Bay Area group founded in 2020 by Chicago native singer Yunoka Berry and Bay Area producer Jim Greer, has been creating a buzz with their high-energy performances and eclectic pop sound. Known for Berry’s gale-force vocals and their innovative musical approach, Cardboard People has carved out a unique space in the Bay Area music scene. Their live performances have graced venues from the SFMOMA to First Thursdays with NoisePop, captivating audiences with their visceral energy. On the heels of high profile collabs with Big Freedia & Del The Funky Homosapien, the group has shared the stage with Allen Stone, Angelo Moore (Fishbone), Afterthought, Juicebumps, Ellie Stokes, and lots of other Bay Area artists.

Oakland’s Shutups have spent nearly a decade perfecting their genre avoidant brand of alternative rock—releasing seven EPs, a dozen music videos and two full length records that borrow equally from early Bay Area pop punk and 70’s AM power pop as they do from nu metal.

Signing with Kill Rock Stars in 2020, Shutups have toured throughout North America extensively, playing alongside The Blood Brothers, The Armed, Man Or Astro Man?, Black Marble and Mike Krol.

Shutups are currently working on the follow up to 2022’s I can’t eat nearly as much as I want to vomit with Bay Area producer/engineer, Jack Shirley.

Like the towering mounds of toxic waste from which it gets its namesake, the music of Oklahoma City noise rock quartet Chat Pile is a suffocating, grotesque embodiment of the existential anguish that has defined the 21st Century. It figures that a band with this abrasive, unrelenting, and outlandish of a sound has stuck as strong of a chord as it has. Dread has replaced the American dream, and Chat Pile’s music is a poignant reminder of that shift – a portrait of an American rock band molded by a society defined by its cold and cruel power systems.

Besides being the name of a largely forgotten (and panned) 90s film, Cool World makes for an apt title of Chat Pile’s sophomore full-length record. In the context of a Chat Pile record, the words are steeped in a grim double entendre that not only evokes imagery of a dying planet but a progression from the band’s previous work, moving the scope of its depiction of modern malaise from just “God’s country” to the entirety of humankind. “Cool World covers similar themes to our last album, except now exploded from a micro to macro scale, with thoughts specifically about disasters abroad, at home, and how they affect one another,”says vocalist Raygun Busch.

Though very much on-brand with Chat Pile’s signature flavor of cacophonous, sludgy noise rock, the band’s shift to a global thematic focus on Cool World not only compliments the broader experimentations it employs with their songwriting but also how they dissect the album’s core theme of violence. Melded into the band’s twisted foundational sound are traces of other eclectic genre stylings, with examples of gazy, goth-tinged dirges to abrasive yet anthemic alt/indie-esque hooks and off-kilter metal grooves only scratching the surface of what can be heard in the album’s ten tracks. “While we wanted our follow-up to God’s Country to still capture the immediate, uncompromising essence of Chat Pile, we also knew that with Cool World, we’d want to stretch the definition of our “sound” to reflect our tastes beyond just noise rock territory,” reflects bassist Stin. “Now that we had some form of creative comfort zones in place after hitting that milestone of putting out a full-length record, album #2 felt like the perfect opportunity to challenge those limits.” Besides stylistically stretching the boundaries of the Chat Pile sound, Cool World is also the band’s first record to have someone else handle mixing duties, with Ben Greenberg of Uniform(Algiers, Drab Majesty, Metz) capturing and further amplifying the quartet’s unmistakably outsider and folk-art edge.

Four years into making their fourth album, Frog in Boiling Water, the four members of DIIV needed to talk — not later, but now.

The extended process had been uncertain and sometimes grueling, not only pushing them to up their musicianship but also taxing most every resource and bond they had ever cultivated. During the prior decade, DIIV had helped revitalize dream-pop and shoegaze alike, culminating in 2019's unapologetic genre showcase, Deceiver. But with it, DIIV were now out of contract, proverbial free agents who didn't owe anything to anyone but themselves — that is, to make a record that challenged them, that pushed their sound beyond any previous parameters.

But after all that collective toil, their relationships with one another were fraying badly inside that singular alchemical state of being a band, where dynamics of family, friendship, and finances become entangled in a Gordian knot. There were suspicions and resentments, bruised egos and anxious questions, all fingerprints left by a quest that demanded DIIV grow both together and apart. So on June 1, 2023, just before they began to mix four years of effort, DIIV — Andrew Bailey, Colin Caulfield, Ben Newman, and Zachary Cole Smith — gathered in Echo Park Lake, the scene of so many halcyon hangs in their early days, under vaguely gray skies to air accumulated grievances. They dropped the shields of professionalism that had let them work amid the rancor and allowed themselves to get mad and bummed, real and vulnerable. Really, it could have broken DIIV before Frog in Boiling Water was finished.

Presented by Noise Pop Festival and Great American Music Hall

St. Vincent

Annie Clark made her recorded debut as St. Vincent in 2007 with Marry Me, quickly becoming regarded as one of the most innovative and fascinating presences in modern music. Her subsequent albums would include Actor (2009), Strange Mercy (2011), her self-titled fourth album and winner of the 2014 GRAMMY for Best Alternative Album. In 2017, her fifth album MASSEDUCTION would break St. Vincentinto the U.S. and UK top 10s and win two more GRAMMYs (Best Rock Song for its title track, and BestRecording Package). 2021’s Daddy’s Home found St. Vincent channeling the hungover glamor and gritty sepia-toned soundtrack of 1970s downtown NYC to an ecstatic reception, ultimately winning her a second Best Alternative Album GRAMMY. Following a 2021-2022 global tour that reaffirmed St. Vincent’s status as one of live music's preeminent forces with headline appearances at the likes of the Hollywood Bowl and Radio City Music Hall, Clark would begin work on album number seven: Her first fully self-produced album (having co-produced every one of her previous efforts), All Born Screaming is St.Vincent at her most primal. Featuring Clark leading“a curated group of rippers” through the brawny“Broken Man,” the mordant catwalk sashay through the deafening assault of self-loathing that is“BigTime Nothing,” the sublime, elegiac earworm “Sweetest Fruit," All Born Screaming is equal parts spiritual desolation and rapturous acceptance.“If you’re born screaming, that’s a great sign,” says Clark,“because it means you’re breathing. You’re alive. My god. It’s joyous. And then it’s also a protest. We’re all born in protest in a certain way. It’s terrifying to be alive, it’s ecstatic to be alive. It’s everything.

Kraus is the recording project of American musician and producer Will Kraus. His abrasive yet melodic music typically compiles heavily manipulated samples with acoustic instrumentation. Though originally from Texas, he has largely resided in Southern California since 2019. He has produced for & performed with various artists including Wisp, Cryogeyser, Winter & more.

Uncle Chris is a six-piece collective born in the practice rooms of the University of San Francisco. Since 2018, they have been playing at various house shows and local venues around the city, bringing friends and strangers together for nights full of storytelling and improvisational spirit. Uncle Chris’s sound is defined by a melodic saxophone, a soulful female vocal lead, and complex yet subtle conversations between the guitar and bass.

In 2019, the band released their debut single, “Green Eyes,” which generated over 3.5 million streams on Spotify. Later during the 2020 lockdown, the band was able to channel their creative energy into producing and ultimately releasing two more albums, which seamlessly blend the complexities of jazz with the accessibility of indie pop, and are a testament to the band’s unique sound and artistic vision.

Marika Christine is inspired by the power of tenderness. Her music creates a whimsical atmosphere to navigate the highs and lows of life. Sonic influences include Laurel Canyon folk, indie pop, and gentle psychedelic rock. She has been active in the San Francisco Bay Area music scene for eight years. She’s been featured on tracks by Mild Universe, Asha Wells, and Butterman. Her first full-length album, Soft Like an Apricot, was released in 2023 and she plans to share new music in 2025.

For a debut album, newcomers to her music will quickly realize her immense capabilities as a songwriter, vocalist, and musician. This record could have been released in the 60’s or 70’s and reached critical acclaim, but it’s being shared in 2023, and we think that same acclaim is within reach. One of the most cohesive and decade-spanning sounding records we’ve experienced all year, Marika Christine has floored us with the fresh release of Soft Like An Apricot - We Write About Music

Landing in the SF Bay by way of Bakersfield at 17, Al Harper has honed a unique California sea-breeze sound with a subtle twang the likes of Linda Ronstadt or The Roches might approve of. Over the years, she’s made her way around the SF music scene (with an indie-sleaze era stint in New York) lending a proprietary blend of bittersweet vocals, guitar and keyboards to various acts including Baby Cakes, Tony Jay and Eternal Drag.

Is it shoegaze? Is it dreampop? It’s just Pure Hex. Born in San Francisco’s DIY music scene, this 5-piece band has conjured their own spellbinding take on alternative rock and ‘90s grunge nostalgia. Reminiscent of Deftones, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Mazzy Star, they’ll hit you hard with swirling guitars and colossal drums, and keep you drawn in with dreamy, haunting vocals.

Eluding all expectations of the current alternative rock space, Glixen come from Phoenix, Arizona and have taken their sound coast to coast on tour in North America. As influences, lead vocalist/guitarist Aislinn Ritchie cites My Bloody Valentine, No Doubt, and T.A.T.U. In the same breath, also citing heavier acts such as HUM and My Vitriol. Ritchie founded Glixen in 2020 and later added the talents of lead guitarist Esteban Santana, drummer Keire Johnson, and bassist Sonia Garcia.

Glixen released their debut EP She Only Said via Julias War Records on August 11th, 2023. The lead single Splendor sets the tone of the EP by masterfully capturing the swirling ambiance of 90s rock, ethereal pop vocals, and fuzzed out walls of guitar all wrapped up in a lacey white ribbon. She Only Said is a cathartic anthem that feels like glitter and thorns down the listeners spine.

Likened to a soft summer rain, She's Green is a Minneapolis-based dream-inducer composed of vocalist Zofia Smith, guitarists Liam Armstrong and Raines Lucas, bassist Teddy Nordvold, and drummer Kevin Seebeck. The band has played numerous shows throughout the Midwest and East Coast, sharing bills with acts like Hotline TNT, Glixen, Friko, and more. The Star Tribune recommends bringing “earplugs and maybe a tissue for their set.”

Initially gaining recognition with their first two singles, “River” and “Smile Again” — both recorded and mixed at home — the band’s raw emotional intensity shines through their honest and explorative songwriting. Following the release of their debut EP, Wisteria, they were named one of First Avenue’s Best New Bands of 2023.

In April 2024, She’s Green topped the votes from industry professionals in MPR station The Current’s inaugural Scouting Report Poll, celebrating Minnesota's rising artists.

Before everything, there is After. After consists of Graham Epstein and Justine Dorsey. They met on Hinge in Los Angeles, CA, and formed After once they realized they’d probably do better as a band than as a couple. They were both born on August 23, 1995, and this is either coincidence or kismet depending on which of them you ask. With references ranging from Michelle Branch to Portishead, Fountains of Wayne to Enigma, After is the atmospheric Y2K trip-hop pop band you always knew you needed because you once heard it in a dream.

Their new single, “The Element,” produced by Mark Isham protégé Lucas Starbuck, is inspired by ‘90s trance music and the melodies of Frou Frou. While writing lyrics, After saw images of a girl walking alone at night in a dark futuristic city, taking an underground train, a force called The Element pulling her through time and space. The trance solo that features in the song is the “rolling yellow lights” of a tunnel flying past as she stares out the window into nothing... bound for a bright white light. It’s an electronic ballad of mystery and time that you can dance to.

After has recently opened for Erika de Casier and is planning DJ dates around the release, as well as a self-directed music video.

Known for a creatively languid style that swings lyrically from highly personal alt-rap to morbid horrorcore, Earl Sweatshirt helped launch Odd Future into hip-hop prominence around the turn of the 2010s and soon became one of the most unique rapper/producers around. After he made his solo debut in 2010 with the acclaimed mixtape Earl, his first two albums, Doris (2013) and the seriously (and descriptively) titled I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside (2015), charted in the upper reaches of the Billboard 200. By the time he released his third LP, Some Rap Songs (2018), Earl had either produced or appeared on tracks by most of the Odd Future affiliates, including Tyler, The Creator and Frank Ocean, as well as similarly left-field artists such as Danny Brown and Denmark Vessey. His fourth album, the tightly focused Sick!, arrived in 2022, and he surprise-released Voir Dire, a record made collaboratively with producer the Alchemist, in 2023.

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Presented by Noise Pop Festival and Great American Music Hall

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Benjamin Gibbard
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Benjamin Gibbard is a multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of Death Cab for Cutie, formed in 1997. The band has since recorded ten studio albums, including, most recently, the critically acclaimed Asphalt Meadows (2022). Gibbard is also one half of the electronic duo The Postal Service, whose sole album, Give Up (2003), is certified platinum and the second best-selling title in the 37 year history of Sub Pop Records. Gibbard released his debut solo album Former Lives in 2012. In 2009, in collaboration with Jay Farrar (Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt), he released the album One Fast Move or I’m Gone (2009), which also served as the soundtrack to the eponymous Jack Kerouac documentary. He has scored two films: Lynn Shelton’s Laggies (2014) and, along with musician and producer Steve Fisk, the Kurt Cobain documentary About a Son (2006). Additionally, he wrote and recorded two original songs featured in the 2011 remake of the classic film Arthur.
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Gibbard is an avid ultra-marathon runner and a longterm resident of Seattle, WA.

As Sea Lemon, Seattle’s Natalie Lew crafts outwardly bubbly dream pop underlined by a subtle snarl. This sound is at its finest on her new EP, Stop At Nothing, announced today, to be released August 25 on Luminelle Recordings. Lew’s latest single, “Vaporized,” finds her formula at its peppiest. Springy and uptempo, the summery song is carried by jangling guitars and reverb-drenched vocals that come together to evoke acts like The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and Launder. “Vaporized” is accompanied by an ominous, campy video, filmed around Seattle, directed by Otium + Lew herself. The track follows recently-released shoegazey single, “Cellar.”

Boozy, sunsoaked power pop with a hint of having a good time and a dash of having a blast.

You don’t have to actually die to start over, but you might have to pretend to. Fake Your
Own Death was born out of a studio apartment located above a bar in Berlin where
Terry Ashkinos (previously of SF indie stalwart Elephone) was studying the fall of the
Soviet Union and eating pretzels. A handful of songs became a collaboration between
Terry and drummer Scott Eberhardt (LSD and the Search for God), Adrian McCullough
(El Terrible) on bass and synth, and Shane Ryan on guitar and synth.

LUCKY is a brand new collaboration between Andrew St James & Peter Kegler. The pair, having met at one of the formers “Fast Times Presents” parties in ’22, recorded a 7 song LP with friends Zach Elsasser (Jay Som, Affectionately) & Joe Santarpia (Mac Demarco, King Gizzard..) at Santo Recordings in Oakland, Ca. It has yet to be released.

El Cousteau, a Washington DC native, began his music career in 2015, quickly making a name for himself with the release of singles and projects such as "Chef," "Straight Drop Season Vol 1 & 2," and the highly acclaimed "Dirty Harry." His innovative sound and compelling lyrics garnered attention from prominent publications like the Washington Post, NPR, and Pitchfork.

KEXP is coming to Noise Pop 2025!
February 25th-28th, in collaboration with Noise Pop Festival in San Francisco, we're hosting 8 Live on KEXP sessions, broadcasting live from 25th Street Recordings in Oakland. Featuring artists from the festival lineup as well as some hand-selected local acts, we can't wait to give Live on KEXP the Bay Area treatment. Cheryl Waters and Larry Mizell, Jr will be in town hosting their shows each day along with the sessions, and welcoming special on-air guests. It all goes down live, February 25th-28th, 10AM-4PM Pacific.

Tune in and listen to the Midday Show and the Afternoon Show on Thursday Feb. 20th and Friday Feb. 21st for an opportunity for you and a guest to score exclusive backstage passes to one of our Live on KEXP at Noise Pop sessions - which are recorded on a closed set and not accessible to the general public. More KEXP Bay Area events are listed at KEXP.ORG/Events.

In the early 1970’s in South London, a group of black musicians, who all emigrated to the UK from the Caribbean as children, formed the group. Led by Patrick Patterson (guitars, vocals) and Steve Scipio (bass, vocals) Cymande was so unique and ahead of its time that, not withstanding the success in the States in the early‘ 70s, it hasn’t been until recent years that the general public has truly begun to catch on.

Earlier this year, Cymande’s unique story was told on the on big screen for the first time inthe UK (via BFI) and in cinemas around the world (via Abramorama) with Getting It Back: The Story Of Cymande (directed by award winning director Tim Mackenzie-Smith). This empowering and thought-provoking documentary shows the band’s depth of influence across decades and features interviews with Mark Ronson, Laura Lee and Mark Speer (Khruangbin), DJ Maseo (De La Soul), Jazzie B (Soul II Soul), Cut Chemist, Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Louie Vega, Kool DJ Red Alert, and so many others.The film debuted at SXSW in 2022 and has now travelled the world twice over. It continues to play in cinemas around the world globally.

Since Cymande’s reformation several years ago, they have been quite active touring. Recently they’ve played at We Out Here and All Points East to audiences packed with teens and 20-somethings. “And singing along with the songs!” marvels Steve, “They’re familiar with the material.”

“It’s the hip-hop community loving the music through crate digging,” confirms Patrick. “The response has been fantastic,” Steve continues.“Even far out places like Romania where we played earlier this year was one of the best receptions we had anywhere. Our first tour of Australia also happened this year and we were so surprised that we did ten shows in two weeks and every single one sold out. I don’t know if we could ask for any more than that expression of love.

A headlIne European tour earlieri n 2024 in Europe led to every single show selling out as well. The band will return to the road globally in 2025 to support Renascence. Their success story continues to reach new heights and new audience’s decades into their career.

‍Cymande (sah-man-day). The most important black British group of their generation, a bandso many people have heard,but yet not “heard of."

Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn share a common collaborative ethos, a genuine sense of musical curiosity, and a cosmopolitan eagerness to escape the conventions of genre. That shared vision first brought them together on 2022’s Pigments—icy and warm, stripped-down and grand, familiar and otherworldly—and now it has reunited them for Quiet in a World Full of Noise.

By turns intimate, soul-baring, spectral, and startling, Quiet in a World Full of Noise blends atmospheric and orchestral soundscapes with mellifluous soul, jazz, and journalistic vocalizing—driving it all home with stark, confessional lyricism. The new album finds Richard at her most raw and exposed. This year, Richard’s musician father experienced mini strokes while being diagnosed with cancer; last year, her cousin Cisco was fatally shot seven times in New Orleans. Richard channels the emotional impact of these traumatic experiences of loss into her lyrics and vocal performances, which are left bare and human here, raw and unprocessed across the album. Quiet expands the definitions of what constitutes progressive, avant-garde R&B by rewriting them altogether.

On paper, Richard and Zahn’s audacious, impressionistic musical collaborations feel like a surprising match. Richard, a New Orleans–reared visionary, has had an improbable journey from late 2000s reality television and mainstream pop with girl group Danity Kane to become one of the most prolific, experimental, and visible indie R&B singer-songwriters of the last decade and a half, with seven solo albums under her belt. Zahn is an East Coast–raised multi-instrumentalist and composer working at the intersections of jazz, Americana, classical, and ambient pop. His growing solo discography includes People of the Dawn, Sunday Painter, Pale Horizon, and Statues I & II, as well as the duo’s first release, Pigments. “Pigments was one of the best projects I’ve ever made,” Richard says, “and the furthest I’ve ever been pushed as an artist.” The album was a critical hit, hailed as Best New Music by Pitchfork and receiving praise from Stereogum as Album of the Week, NPR Music, Bandcamp Daily, The Fader, Bitter Southerner, and Edition, among many other publications.

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The American Analog Set formed in Fort Worth, TX sometime in 1995 and gained its footing through the nineties and early aughts in Austin, TX. From their humble beginnings recording their mellow rock albums in living rooms and home studios, The American Analog Set went on to release 7 full length albums, a multitude of highly-sought-after 7"s and EPs, and toured the world - from house shows and clubs to headlining tours and festivals- while gathering a loyal global fanbase. Though the band went on hiatus after the release and tour in support of Set Free in 2005, they never truly went away as their music continued to make their way onto playlists while fans patiently waited and hoped for more.

In the meantime, the band’s founder/frontman Andrew Kenny formed a new band, The Wooden Birds, released work as a solo artist, and was a touring member of the Juno Award winning Canadian band Broken Social Scene and Texas-based group Ola Podrida. Kenny also wrote and performed the original score for Alex R. Johnson’s critically acclaimed feature film Two Step which made its world premiere at SXSW Film Festival.

In 2023, The American Analog Set surprised fans with the release of For Forever, their first album in 18 years. It found its way onto the airways and playlists and into the hands of waiting fans and the vinyl sold out within days. Next came New Drifters, a 5xLP boxset of the band’s first 3 albums (The Fun Of Watching Fireworks, From Our Living Room To Yours, The Golden Band), released by Numero Group and named by Pitchfork in their “Best Reissues and Box Sets of 2024” list. The band will see a second boxset in 2025 with the release of their Tiger Style-era releases (Know By Heart, Promise of Love, Set Free) via Numero Group.

Reinvigorated by the release of their 7th full length, For Forever, the Numero Group’s release of the New Drifters boxset and forthcoming Tiger Style reissues boxset, the band decided it was high time to get back on stage once again. In Fall 2024, The American Analog Set announced their first proper shows in nearly 20 years with a very special show called “Magic Hour, an intimate, immersive live show featuring a 90 minute set of thoughtfully selected songs from the band’s first six albums performed by original members. The shows sold out within 24 hours. With “Magic Hour”, The American Analog Set remind us all why, after 25+ years as a band with multiple album releases and world tours, they remain the go-to bedroom-pop band from deep in the heart of Texas.

Through the years, American Analog Set not only gained and maintained a very loyal following of fans around the world, but also the respect and fandom of their fellow musicians and recording enthusiasts. Of The American Analog Set, Ben Gibbard has said, “Death Cab would not be where we are today without the influence of this great Austin band.” And Mark Hoppus of blink-182 said, “Know By Heart is one of the best albums from the greatest band that never got the light it deserved.”

Sometimes an artist’s stage name and birth name are used interchangeably; sometimes the latter is clearly one
costume of many, a small part of a larger identity. For Sage Elsesser, Navy Blue might have started out as a
narrow outlet, a way for the then-art student, who had already enjoyed a measure of fame as a professional
skateboarder, to work through his ideas about spare, confessional hip-hop. But as that outlet has come to yield
some of the most accomplished rap music of its era—rap music that has been, to this point, deeply
introspective, even mournful—it has come to seem like the totality of his person. With Ways of Knowing,
Elsesser’s brilliant new Def Jam album as Navy Blue, the artist aims to round that persona into something
fuller, richer, truer to his three-dimensional life. “I can transmute my grief into something more,” he says. “I don’t
need to be in a state of excavation all the time.”

Starling is a four piece female fronted Los Angeles born and based Alternative Rock band. Their most notable recent shows have been Echo Park Rising Festival on the EchoPlex stage, SWAY fest day one they are set to play come December, and their recent DIY West Coast tour. Their first EP ‘2324’ that came out in September landed them on Spotify playlists “Shoegaze Now” (which held the #2 spot for 3 weeks) and Fresh Finds Indie. The band is nearing completion of their next EP which will likely come out late winter/ early spring 2025. They have garnered excitement locally because they are not just another shoegaze band, they have a fresh and exciting sound though they fit in well on those bills. Their music has a soft heaviness, weaving from grunge, to songwriter, to shoegaze. The absolute genre is hard to pin but the feel is a general yearning - for contentment, a person, a place. Combining bedroom warped production with angular leads and rich vocal melodies, Starling offers a uniquely vulnerable and enthralling style of rock.

The Futurelics are sacred keepers of the flame for big band culture, Afro-Indigenous musical mystics that honor funk, blues, house, jazz, Afro-Cuban music and Afro-Dominican Palo. Planet Futurelic prioritizes artists wellbeing by creating a sustainable eco-system for sovereign artists.

San Francisco CA based Producer Songwriter James Wavey aka Michael Bridgmon Alleyes Manifest is known for rhythmic poeticisms and presents them in a rocking soulful style.

SF based indie rock band The Moondrops consist of Hussain Khan (Guitar/Vocals), Craig Lager (Guitar/Vocals), Alex Bru (Drums), and Josh May (Bass). Having been a powerhouse in the Northern California DIY scene since 2017, The Moondrops have grown and evolved throughout their career to a new era that truly reflects the inspiration and passion of the project.

Sadie Alan is an SF based singer-songwriter. Her sound blends folk and country-influenced melodies with intimate lyrics to create a unique style that attempts to translate her inner world to an audience. Her vocal-forward sound places emphasis on the stories she tells lyrically, while her talented band backs her up with catchy riffs and strong rhythms that help bring these stories to life.

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To 'credit electric' is to credit the electricity flowing thru allliving beings. The band in its ever evolving phases of recordingexplore the depths of alternative music. It's live the band placespedal steel and saxophone over interwoven guitars to silhouette thewriting of Ryan LoPilato .  The band continues to evolve in sound witha steady release of material; Including 3 project releases in 2024 andplans for more in '25. This performance is consisting of RyanLoPilato- voice and guitar, Evan Hiller - pedal steel guitar, JudithHorn - saxophone, Al miner - drums, Paul Montes - Bass.

Jacob Aranda is a Bay Area singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and luthier.  His new album “War Planes,” is out September 1, 2023 on Speakeasy Studios SFrecords. Born and raised in a Latino household in rural Illinois, the culture of his upbringing and the necessary resourcefulness of rural living birthed in Jacob an artistic desire to express himself through music.  While his first album, “Great Highway,” released in 2018, was an expression of hopelessness and longing, “War Planes”  is fundamentally an album about healing intergenerational trauma and doing so through art. This ethereal, psychedelic country album feels like a next chapter, with elements of rebirth and reflection. Produced and engineered by Desmond Shea (Tarnation, The Court and Spark) at SF’s legendary Hyde Street Studios, it features the talents of friends and Tarnation bandmates, Paula Frazer (bass, vocals), David Cuetter (pedal steel), Sam Berman (drums), Patrick Main (piano, vocals), and Meryl Theo Press (vocals). Also joining the sessions were musicians Alisa Rose (violins), Jason Loeks (upright bass), and singers Karina Denike (Dance Hall Crashers), Michael James Tapscott, Lydia Walker, and Sara Gallagher (banjo, vocals).

Dublin four-piece Lankum (brothers Ian and Daragh Lynch, Cormac MacDiarmada and RadiePeat) have gained worldwide acclaim for their first three albums and captivating, euphoric live performances.

Their fourth album “False Lankum” has been universally heralded, reaching no.2 in the Official Irish Album Charts on release, receiving a Mercury Prize nomination and significantly eclipsing the success of their previous album, the Choice Award winning, “The Livelong Day”.

The record heralds a new stage in the metamorphosis of the band into a modern day power house, drawing on traditional and primitive methods to create bold and singular music that transcends its folk roots: an entrancing, widescreen sound incorporating experimental overtones and rumbling drones wedded with classic songwriting, close vocal harmonies and timeless narratives.

Their live show has evolved into a deeply moving collective experience, with the band performing together as though they are a single lung: sounds expand and collapse from indistinguishable mouths, lungs, fingers, keys and feet, while a wall of amp stacks push the intensity of the show to new levels.

“This maybe modern Folk Music’s own OK Computer”

MOJO UNCUT ALBUM OF THE YEAR

LOUD AND QUIET ALBUM OF THE YEAR

MOJO ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

Multi talented instrumentalist Mezerg is a pioneer of modern music technology and one of the most creative musicians you’re likely to come across. Hands and feet linked to his instrument, he makes electronic music from unexpected elements, with rhythms that ranged from funk to acid techno, improvising with keyboards, effects pedals and the theremin which has become emblematic of his project. Mezerg merges the electronic with the acoustic to create an impressive and unique live performance that you can’t take your eyes off. Somewhere between house music and an acoustic performance, this nightlife one-man band pays homage to both the jazz bars and the nightclubs of this world with a whirlwind of energy and irresistible sounds.

When most bands get round to releasing album number live their sound, weighed down by expectation or having resorted to formula, has generally ossified. It might still sound good and fans will probably lap it up, but the days of adventure and exploration are quite often long gone.

Warmduscher are not most bands. Rather than closing up shop, on album number five – the magical Too Cold To Hold – they are most determinedly opening up. Taking on board the repetitive and polyrhythmic grooves of gqom (an alluring South African take on house music), adding in a dash of hip hop flavours and even jazz, and then harnessing that to their punk-funk, disco pogo, it’s a spellbinding mix that results in their best and most ambitious album to date. You could say they – the wonderful 12-legged groove machine comprised of Clams Baker Jr., Benjamin Romans Hopcraft, Adam J. Harmer, Marley Mackey, Quinn Whalley, and Bleu Ottis Wright – were, in fact, just getting started.

“I think we’ve realised we can hit the same emotional zone with different influences,” enthuses Ben about the 2024 version of Warmduscher . “We’re experimenting with
different ways of orchestrating the feeling of listening to a Warmduscher song and having the maturity to accept that a lot of the things that we like about ourselves are based on tonality and groove. It’s not just based on having a guitar that sounds fucked up.”

It’s not about forgetting everything you know about Warmduscher, then – they’re still an outfit proudly residing in la-la-land, where chaos reigns and their passionate diatribes and observational absurdities reveal the playful underbelly of modern life – but maybe looking at them from another angle. A diamond might look different in another light, but it’s still a diamond.

Much of this reinterpretation comes from the shock of the new. New influences, new label Strap Originals new goals and a new producer. Previously, the band had worked with outside producers (Dan Carey and Hot Chip’s Al Doyle and Joe Goddard among them) to realise their vision. This time they took it inhouse, trusting Ben, alongside Jamie Neville, to bring their sound alive.

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Byron Westbrook’s Shelter Press debut is his most mesmerizing album to date – a set of electroacoustic pieces that advances the rough blueprints laid out by legends like Maryanne Amacher, Bernard Parmegiani and Luc Ferrari.. if you’re at all interested in electroacoustic music, ‘Translucents’ is just about as good as it gets.” (Boomkat)

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Like a nocturnal highway stretched out between Midwest cities, Nightosphere exists in an expansive, open realm marked by subtle shifts in landscape and punctuated by sudden bursts of noisy, explosive urgency. This energy is fueled by Brittany and Claire, who trade guitar/vocal and bass duties throughout their live performances, and Hop, who looms powerfully over the drumkit. Through hypnotic compositions, this Kansas City-based trio weaves the structures and sounds of slowcore, post-hardcore, and shoegaze into a vast emotional tapestry.

With their dynamic range and frequent meter changes, Nightosphere has drawn comparisons to a diverse array of acts, including Big Brave, Unwound, Portishead, Wednesday, and Emma Ruth Rundle. Formed in early 2022, the band quickly became a part of the thriving Kansas City scene, touring the Midwest twice that year, in August and October. They released the singles “Foxfire” and “Faim Dévorante” in preparation for these tours.

In February 2023, Nightosphere collaborated with Flooding and Abandoncy to release a 3-Way Split EP. This year also marked the release of their full-length debut, Katabasis, which dropped in April and was featured on Destroy//Exist’s “2023 Albums of the Year” list. Katabasis was also cited by Chat Pile as one of their 10 Favorite Albums of 2023. In September, Nightosphere headlined an East Coast tour and subsequently supported Chat Pile and Nerver on their 2023 U.S. tour.

Nightosphere has also shared stages with acts like They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Explosions in the Sky, Stuck, Knifeplay, and Horse Jumper of Love.

— Nathaniel Perkins

San Francisco-based musician Thomas Dimuzio opens with an immersive surround sound performance featuring the Buchla 200e modular synthesizer, live looping, real-time processing, and field recordings. Thomas Dimuzio is a San Francisco-based musician, composer, improviser, sound designer, mastering engineer, and music technologist. Known for his immersive sonic explorations, Dimuzio creates music that transports listeners to otherworldly soundscapes.

Oakland-based singer, songwriter, and producer Dani Offline has gained a fervent following for her singular aesthetic, blending dreamy melodies and hypnotic grooves with introspective lyrics that feel both personal and universal.

A transplant from Birmingham, Alabama who came to the Bay for graduate studies at UC Berkeley, Offline spent her formative years bouncing between the U.S. and Europe – a time that widened her perspective to embrace inspiration from all areas of music and creative endeavors.

She was, in her words, singing before she was talking, and was steeped in jazz and hip-hop from an early age, citing Sarah Vaughan and Betty Carter as major influences. 

Her most recent EP, Mirror, is an evocative collection of tunes that reflect an overarching concept of transition in life, containing the singles “I Believe You,” “Lust for Life,” and “Be My Baby” that were in part inspired by the changes of the seasons.  

She has been performing around the country and in the Bay Area as part of the series produced by Smartbomb, Bandcamp, and White Crate, sharing the stage with artists including The Seshen, Jada Imani, and Madison McFerrin.

“It’s the downward spiral, got me suicidal/ But too scared to do it so these pills will be the rifle.” That’s how Detroit rap phenom Danny Brown kicked off the second verse of the title track to his breakout 2011 miXtape XXX, and his astounding new album and Warp debut Atrocity EXhibition picks up right where that record left off.

A thematic sequel to XXX’s hairline-trigger hedonism and despair, Atrocity EXhibition finds Brown ruminating on life after greater success—how things changed, how they haven’t, and how the potential of the future is often irreconcilable with the realities of the present. “I couldn’t tell the story of what happened after XXX because I was living,” Brown eXplains. “I had to live life to write about it.”

Brown began work on Atrocity EXhibition in the summer of 2014, linking up with producer and frequent collaborator Paul White on the bulk of the album’s cuts. “Me and him are the same way,” Brown enthuses on the pair’s partnership. “He’s out there, and I’m out there too. We just want to make music...You never heard nobody rapping over this type of production before. This is not regular rap.”

Acid Tongue is an American garage band heavily influenced by classic soul, punk & psychedelic rock. Formed in a damp Seattle basement in 2015, the band immediately hit the road, extensively touring the US & Europe and refining their unique brand of rock & roll.

Horrhaus was formed in Oakland, California in 2014 by Lacey Lu Carey and Daniel Loreaux. The duo would soon after add guitarist Alisen Boada and release a couple EP's before disbanding in 2019.Nearly a decade after forming, Daniel has dug up the Horrhaus name and slapped on some new flesh. Mr. Loreaux released the 1st Horrhaus full-length album "Callin' All Creeps" in late-summer 2023.

fresh and cheeky alternative rock band from San Francisco, California.

Mad Menace and The Murder Dogs are a fast-paced punk rock band hailing from San Clemente, CA. Calling back to 70’s punk, 60’s garage, and classic rock for a driving, raw sound. ala The Saints, Radio Birdman, Motorhead.

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Bay Area native Byron Mayhew infuses his smooth John Legend-style vocals over atmospheric guitar loops blending the sounds of Tash Sultana, Tom Misch, and Kings of Leon together in a surprisingly fresh mix. Using his looper pedal and a wide arrange of guitar effects, Mayhew creates broad sonic soundscapes that sound even more expansive than one person. Pairing his unique guitar sounds with his uplifting lyrics creates a truly distinct listening experience. Byron Mayhew is an artist you won’t want to miss.

Since 2017, Michael Michael Motorcycle’s been releasing a steady stream of Bay Area ear worm weirdness out into the world. The San Francisco guitar duo of Michael Pannone and Jesse Cobb combine with the mighty rhythm section of Marin County’s Jono Clay and Greg Moye to deliver a unique brand of harmony focused guitar driven music that draws from such genres as indie rock, folk, Americana, dream pop and good ole rock n roll.

In the songs on Los Angeles singer-songwriter Akira Galaxy’s debut EP What’s Inside You, pure
and unfiltered emotional connection is everything. In their romantic vortexes, nothing seems to
be in question, and consummate mutual understanding feels possible. Eventually, though,
difficult moments throw deeper truths into relief, exposing the ways in which the narrators have
been misled. Akira writes soulful and atmospheric alternative pop songs about being lost in
these kinds of states, inserting bittersweet or acidic asides.

meg elsier is an indie-rock singer, songwriter, and visual artist based in Nashville. One of the
most exciting new voices in the indie-rock scene, meg juxtaposes sweet vocals and opulent
melodies with grungy guitars and weighty production. Keen wit and self-awareness shine
through her lyrics, seamlessly weaving into the fabric of her ethereal shoegaze sound.
In late 2023, meg made her introduction with the release of her debut single, “ifshitfuq.” The
track was added to Spotify playlists like Fresh Finds, Fresh Finds: Indie, and Fresh Finds: Rock,
and was later included on Spotify’s indie editors’ Best Songs of 2023 playlist. She continued to
build excitement with singles like “iznotreal,” “baby,” “forlyleinsanfrancisco,” and “oldnews,”
which captured the attention of tastemakers like DIY Magazine, DORK, and Grimy Goods. After
unveiling new layers of her artistry with each single, meg is now preparing to reveal her full-
length album, spittake, out June 28th.

Known for their vibrant and unapologetic style, Bay Area artist ISSBROKIE merges underground necrotrap with upbeat pop sensibilities. What started as a hobby has evolved into a full-fledged career, with ISSBROKIE progressing from recording over YouTube beats in their bedroom to collaborating with the very artists who inspired their musical journey.

PUNCHING BAG is a two man show, Askari and Jahsy from Pomona, California.
They were friends from middle school that drifted apart after attending different high
schools. Six years later, they reconnected in 2021 through music. February 23, 2024,
the duo officially released their first song, “GROUP 1987”. Four months later, EMPIRE
signed their debut EP, “GYM RAT” which is a refreshing 16 minute, no skip, self-
produced, raw body of work.

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Sophie Allison has always written candidly about her life, making Soccer Mommy one of indie rock’s most interesting and beloved artists of the last decade. Allison has used Soccer Mommy’s songs as a vehicle to sort through the thoughts and encounters that inevitably come with the reality of growing up. After all, Soccer Mommy began as a bedroom-to-Bandcamp exercise with teenage Allison posting her plaintive songs as demos. Over the years, though, she has often enhanced that sound, using the endless production possibilities, newly at her fingertips, to outstrip singer-songwriter stereotypes. The records would start with songwriting’s kernels of truth, and she would then imagine all the unexpected shapes they could take. Every Soccer Mommy record has felt like a surprise. On Soccer Mommy’s fourth album, the tender but resolute Evergreen, Allison is again writing about her life. But that life’s different these days: Since making her previous album, 2022’s Sometimes, Forever, Allison experienced a profound and also very personal loss. New songs emerged from that change, unflinching and sometimes even funny reflections on what she was feeling. (Speaking of funny, this is a Soccer Mommy album, so there’s an ode to Allison’s purple-haired wife in the game Stardew Valley, too.) These songs were, once again, Allison’s way to sort through life, to ground herself. She wanted them to sound that way, too, to feel as true to the demos—raw and relatable, unvarnished and honest—as possible. The songwriting would again lead where the production would follow. Nothing overindulgent, everything real.

Nick Lowe has made his mark as a producer (Elvis Costello-Graham Parker-Pretenders-The Damned), songwriter of at least three songs you know by heart, short-lived career as a pop star, and a lengthy term as a musicians’ musician. But in his current ‘second act’ as a silver-haired, tender-hearted but sharp-tongued singer-songwriter, he has no equal.

Starting with 1995′s ‘The Impossible Bird’ through to 2011′s ‘The Old Magic,’ Nick has turned out a fantastic string of albums, each one devised in his West London home, and recorded with a core of musicians who possess the same veteran savvy. Lowe brings wit and understated excellence to every performance, leading Ben Ratliff of the New York Times to describe his live show as “elegant and nearly devastating.”

Los Straitjackets are the leading practitioners of the lost art of the guitar instrumental. Using the music of the Ventures, The Shadows, and with Link Wray and Dick Dale as a jumping off point, the band has taken their unique, high energy brand of original rock & roll around the world. Clad in their trademark Lucha Libre Mexican wrestling masks, the “Jackets” have delivered their trademark guitar licks to 16 albums, thousands of concerts and dozens of films and TV shows.

Together Nick & The Straitjackets have toured extensively around Europe and the United States, and are releasing an EP of new songs in June 2017.

Since forming in 1989 in Buffalo, New York, Mercury Rev has made a career of boldly exploring the fringes of artistic perception, channeling colors and sounds and visions that always seem just beyond our mortal reach. The Guardian hailed the group as “a rarity in indie rock: a band who have continually evolved their sound, pushing at the boundaries of what rock music actually means over 25 years, borrowing from jazz, funk, doo-wop, techno, folk and more along the way,” while Rolling Stone praised their “majestic chaos,” and the BBC lauded their “shimmering psychedelic pop, immersive indie-rock, [and] spectacularly engrossing passages of sumptuous instrumentation.”

The band’s 1991 debut, ‘Yerself Is Steam,’ landed on Pitchfork’s Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time, and their 1998 breakthrough, ‘Deserter’s Songs’, upon its release was named NME’s Album of the Year, Pitchfork’s 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s (2003),Melody Maker’s All Time Top 100 Albums (2000),Uncut’s 200 Greatest Albums of All Time (2016) and multiple1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die lists. Diverse musical collaborations with legendary artistic luminaries as well as major festival and network television performances around the world have solidified their status as One of America’s most pioneering groups capable of straddling the line between mainstream appeal and progressive musical experimentation…

Ky Newman is a content creator and producer on the podcast Emergency Intercom.

atlgrandma, the artist persona of Liam Hall, is a key figure in Los Angeles’s leftfield pop community, creating pensive, digitally-curdled music that blends rock, rap, pop, and dance in new absurdist ways. As a producer, Hall has helped shape the sounds of artists like Willow, Snow Wife, Dorian Electra, The Hellp, D4ine, Izzy Spears, ericdoa, and Frost Children, frequently collaborating with pop masterminds Lil Aaron and Y2K.

Before moving to Los Angeles, atlgrandma lived in the suburbs of Atlanta, where his family resettled after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina. YouTube became his playground; he learned to play guitar, produce music, shoot videos, and develop basic fine motor skills, all at once.

Hall’s releases, such as 2019’s Even If We Don’t Get It Together and 2022’s Angelhood, explore the “brain rot” of the chronically online and dissect the empty promises of Western culture with a big Cheshire Cat grin. His latest work, Nightmare Blunt Rotation, arriving August 9, perfectly distills atlgrandma’s dementedly sincere worldview. Reminiscent of Odelay-era Beck, the album is a masterful satire on the types of characters one might meet at LA parties. The following single, Reaper, set for release in September, combines the blown-out sound of vintage bloghouse with a surprisingly compassionate encounter with Death himself.

Earlier this year, atlgrandma toured with Dorian Electra and Frost Children and co-produced their triple-billed rave-up “We Invented Love,” which dropped just in time for summer. He has also recently launched a semi-regular warehouse event series with Ky Newman, a fellow provocateur. This event series, which balances between party and performance art, is set to return after Labor Day.

Nightmare Blunt Rotation will be out August 9 on Smartdumb, a new label by producer Nick Sylvester, creative co-founder of godmode (Channel Tres, Yaeji, Pawpaw Rod, etc.).

A staggeringly innovative artist whose music crosses lines of pop, jazz, soul, and the avant-garde, Thai-Swedish vocalist and composerSirintipbrings her bone-deep and ethereal sound to the Joe Henderson Lab as part of the 2025 Noise Pop festival. The child of a Swedish mother and Thai father, Sirintip Phasuk grew up in Bangkok and moved to Sweden at an early age – an early experience that gave her insight into the feeling of othering that was central to her artistic impulse to create connections through music, empathy, and causes that are near and dear to her heart.

Liz Lamere has announced her debut album Keep It Alive, due May 20th via In The Red. After collaborating with late partner Alan Vega () for over three decades on his solo work, and starting out playing drums in punk bands, she is releasing her own music. Today, she also shares lead single “Lights Out,” the album opener which hits hard with brutal electronic drums, intense and poetic vocals, countered by dynamic textures and melodic synth riffs. The track channels the upfront positive spirit and deftly-brandished aggression that imbues the whole album.

In 2024, SOSA solidified his place as one of the most influential names in house music with the release of BLOW (White Girl In Town), one of the biggest tracks of the summer. The song racked up over 20 million Spotify plays and 245 million TikTok views, sparking viral moments across social media and setting the stage for a legendary summer run of shows across Ibiza, the U.S., and Europe.This year, SOSA continued his dominance with the ‘Bump Artist EP’, a groovy 3-track release that took Beatport by storm—all three tracks landed in the Top 10, with the title track going #1. His latest single, ‘Mezcal Bounce’, a collaboration with Kidoo, dropped on November 15th and has quickly become a fan favorite, further cementing SOSA’s reputation as a global tastemaker.His label, COCO, had an extraordinary 2024, establishing itself as one of the top-performing labels in the minimal/deep tech genre on Beatport. The label’s standout releases earned widespread acclaim and played a pivotal role in the genre’s continued evolution. On the live front, COCO’s sold-out UK tour packed venues in Birmingham, Cardiff, and Newcastle, culminating in its biggest show ever in SOSA’s hometown of Liverpool on December 27th.SOSA also delivered iconic performances at major festivals and venues this year, including Creamfields, Hard Summer, and Eastern Electrics. His sold-out headline show at London’s famous KOKO marked another career milestone in a year filled with unforgettable moments.

Seablite is a four-piece pop band from San Francisco inspired by 80s/90s indie and shoegaze. Seablite was formed in 2016 when Lauren Matsui (vocals / guitar) and Galine Tumasyan (vocals / bass) bonded over a mutual appreciation of early 90's Britpop and UK underground music.

San Francisco’s Aluminum has so far yielded a single (Spinning Backwards, 2020) and an EP (Windowpane, 2022), but their debut LP, Fully Beat, overflows with tenured confidence and a singular style that deftly comprises shoegaze, big beat, and jangle pop. With influences ranging from Orbital, to Wipers, to The Avalanches and Sly and the Family Stone, theirs is a multifaceted take on established forms, fed through fuzz and led by honeyed, dual vocal harmonies from Bay Area post-punk veterans Marc Leyda (of Wild Moth) and Ryann Gonsalves (of Torrey).

Milk For The Angry were born in the hills outside San Francisco in 2017, and have been fermenting ever since in crash spaces and warehouses around the Bay Area. Since their formation, they have released four albums and an EP, in the process experimenting with fuzz and buzz as well as various psychedelic avenues to arrive at the rounded glow of their upcoming release “Powder Trails on Fire”. The lineup currently consists of Dana Lindstrom (vocals, guitar), Michael Masters (guitar, vocals), Erinn Wilkerson (bass, vocals), and Michael Pinkham (drums).-Steffan Chirazi (SOUNDS, KERRANG!, RIP, BAM and SPIN)

We are a three-piece instrumental group that plays a mix of genres, ranging from psych rock, jazz fusion and world music to indie. We have been playing together for five years in San Francisco and Oakland. We practice every week at Secret Studios, and some of us originally met at Music City SF.

Sharpie Smile is the new band of Cole Berliner and Dylan Hadley who previously had the band Kamikaze Palm Tree.  As life long friends and collaborators, they’re taking an entirely new approach- using the same energy and style they had for KPT with a new pop outfit under Sharpie Smile. They are working on their debut album coming out under Drag City.

Deon Brown is redefining what it means to be an artist in the 21st century. As a producer, singer/songwriter, and visionary, his work captures the magnetic pull of innovation and intimacy. Raised in church, hailing from Pasadena, CA, he fuses R&B, gospel, hip-hop, and house into a sound that transcends genre, delivering stories of blackness, queerness, survival, and freedom. From his debut opening for Rico Nasty in 2021 for his first album Home, to the release of his newest project, 22(2), Deon is proving himself to be one of the most daring voices of his generation.

GEM777 is an experimental dance/electronic producer, vocalist and performer based in the Bay Area. GEM777 specializes in the cultivation of sonic alchemy, movement, and transcendence encouraging self expression and the freedom within it.

Julián Armando Gervasi also known by his stage name Loco Tranquilo, is a singer, songwriter,and composer originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, now based in San Francisco, California.

Immersed in the arts from a young age, Julián began crafting his musical identity at 17, inspired by the vibrant culture of his hometown.

After moving to San Francisco in 2016, he quickly became a standout figure in the Bay Areamusic scene.

As Loco Tranquilo, Julián is celebrated for his evocative live performances and innovative sound, which blends Argentine rock with psychedelic pop, jazzy melodies, andtouches of freak folk.

His work is heavily influenced by artists like Devendra Banhart, Ty Segall, Thom Yorke and Luis Alberto Spinetta, resulting in a rich and distinctive musical style.

Known for his genre-defying sound, unique voice and sincere storytelling, Julián Armando Gervasi as Loco Tranquilo has built a reputation for creating music that transcends boundaries.

His unique blend of cultures, influences, and emotions solidifies his place as a dynamic force in today's alternative and indie music

Badvril is a band that thrives on the tension between small-town isolation and the frenetic energy of city life. Originally from the backwoods of Washington, Badvril now calls San Francisco home. The contrast between these two worlds is central to their chaotic, narcotic grunge sound and visually arresting art. Led by Becket Schroeder and closely accompanied by Tessa Piccillo, the duo brings their personal experiences together to create the narrative that defines Badvril

Same Girls, core members Otto, Tyler, and Taifa are friends from childhood who have made music together for over 10 years. With two albums released - Young Minded, and Embarrassment of Riches - plus a third on the way, the friends look forward to many more years of music as a form of creative expression for their lives an experiences in the ever changing landscape of the Bay Area. The band views their approach to genre-bending songs to be similar to the rise of acts  like “The Smiths”, “The Cure”, and “My Bloody Valentine”, where a punk -driven world would give birth to fresher ideas. Same Girls' rock-forward sound takes a turn towards a heavier feel but keeps a melodic outlook in sound just as they do towards life.

Tastemakers of the generation. DJ of the Week has been nominated for the Top 21 Transitions of 2024. Widely praised for their radio sessions with Maggie, their sound has drawn in listeners from every corner of the earth's flat surface. Whether playing for a modest crowd of one hundred or a massive sea of one hundred thousand, the experience remains personal, intimate, and unforgettable.

The quietest voices can be the most durable.

American Football’s original triumph, on their 1999 self-titled debut, was to reunite two shy siblings: emo and post-rock. It was a pioneering album where lyrical clarity was obscured and complicated by the stealth musical textures surrounding it.

Like Slint’s Spiderland, or Codeine’s The White Birch, even Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock, American Football asked far more questions than it cared to answer. But there wasn’t a band around anymore to explain it, anyway. The three young men who made the album — Mike Kinsella, Steve Holmes, and Steve Lamos — split up pretty much on its release.

Fifteen years later, American Football reunited (now as a four-piece, with the addition of Nate Kinsella). They played far larger shows than in their original incarnation and recorded their long-anticipated second album, 2016’s American Football (LP2). The release was widely praised, but the band members still felt like their best work was yet to come.

‘I feel like the second album was us figuring it out,’ says Nate. ‘For me, it wasn’t quite done. I knew there was still more.’

Enter American Football (LP3). ‘We put a lot of time and a lot of energy into it,’ says Mike. ‘We were all thoughtful about what we wanted to put out there. Last time, it was figuring out how to use all of our different arms. This time, we were like — Ok we have these arms, let’s use them.’ The band used the same producer, Jason Cupp, and recorded the album at the same studio (Arc Studios in Omaha, Nebraska) as its predecessor — yet they approached it in a markedly different way. There was a determination to let the songs breathe, to trust in ideas finding their own pace. The final result is a definite, and deliberate, stretching of the band.

As a result, LP3 is less obviously tethered to the band’s past than the second album. An immediate contrast between LP3 and its two predecessors is its cover. The two previous albums featured the exterior and interior of a residence in the band’s original hometown of Urbana, Illinois (now attracting fans for pilgrimages and photo opportunities), by the photographer Chris Strong. But American Football knew that LP3 was an outside record. Instead of the familiar house, this time the cover photo (again by Strong) features open, rolling fields on Urbana’s borders. It is a sign of the album’s magnitude in sound, and of the band’s boldness in breaking away from home comforts.

American Football also joked that LP3‘s genre was ‘post-house,’ because of this very conscious visual break. But, in a strange way, there are links in LP3 with an actual post-house genre: shoegaze. The more exploratory members of the original British shoegaze scene were inspired by the dreamtime and circularity of house music (ambient house in particular), cherishing its sonic possibilities. That spirit drips into LP3, most obviously on ‘I Can’t Feel You,’ a collaboration with Rachel Goswell of Slowdive.

The album also features Hayley Williams from Paramore on the album’s catchiest moment, ‘Uncomfortably Numb,’ and Elizabeth Powell, of the Québécoise act Land Of Talk. Mike wrote lyrics in French especially for her.

LP3 is contemplative, rich, expressive, yet with a queasy undercurrent. It is heavy with expectancy, revealing its ideas slowly, eliciting the hidden stories people carry around with them. ‘I feel like my lyric writing has changed a lot over the years,’ says Mike. ‘The goal is to be conversational, maybe to state something giant and heavy, but in a very plain way. But, definitely in this record, I keep things a little more vague.’ As on the first album, the lyrics on LP3 may seem confessional and concentrated, but the more you scrutinize them, the further their meaning slinks away. Or, as Mike tellingly sings on ‘I Can’t Feel You”: I’m fluent in subtlety.

‘Somewhere along the way we moved from being a reunion band to just being a band,’ says Steve Holmes. American Football is now a bona fide ongoing focus, and they are making some of the best music of their lives. American Football (LP3) stands with two other rare reunion successes — Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine’s mbv — as a fine example of how a band refinding one another can augment, rather than taint, their legacy.

‘I think that there are those albums, or the music that you heard when you were younger, and they imprint on you,’ says Nate. ‘And no matter where you go, or what you do they’re always there.’ He is talking of Steve Reich — an early and ongoing influence on American Football — but he might as well be reflecting what is said of his own band, and the ardent following they inspire. American Football stands as an enduring symbol of elusive emotional landscapes, where introspection can be as dramatic as confrontation.

Wajatta is the musical duo of comedian/musician Reggie Watts and electronic music artist, DJ, and producer, John Tejada. Pronounced wa-HA-ta — it’s a mash-up of the artists’ last names. Brainfeeder released their latest single “Waiting For The Get Down” in September of 2023. Previous releases include 2020’s Don’t Let Get You Down, and their 2021 EP, Do You Even Care? The duo describe Wajatta's music very broadly as “electronic dance music with its roots in Detroit techno, Chicago house, ‘70s funk and New York hip hop.” The pair has received love from KCRW, The Guardian, Mixmag, Future Music, and DJ Mag among many others.

Reggie Watts is an internationally renowned Musician/Comedian/Writer/Actor who starred as the bandleader on CBS’s The Late Late Show with James Corden. Using his formidable voice, looping pedals, and his vast imagination, Watts blends and blurs the lines between music and comedy, wowing audiences with performances that are 100% improvised. He was the DJ at the 2021 Emmy Awards, and recently released his memoir Great Falls, MT [sites.prh.com]. As a solo performer, Watts brand of musical/comedy fusion has led to sold out headlining tours in the U.S. and Europe, including festivals such as Bonnaroo, SXSW, Bumbershoot, Just For Laughs, Pemberton and more, and he has released specials with Netflix, Comedy Central Records, and Third Man Records.

John Tejada has been at the vanguard of West Coast techno since 1994, releasing a succession of acclaimed albums, singles and EPs for such prestigious labels as Kompakt, Poker Flat, Cocoon, Plug Research, and his own long-running imprint, Palette Recordings (est. 1996).

Hailing from the East Bay town of Hercules,August Lee Stevensis a masterful young singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose work encompasses elements of soul, jazz, and modern folk. Possessed of a velvet-smooth voice and an innate gift for lyrical expression, Stevens is an artist whose profile is destined to rise.She has performed widely around the Bay Area and beyond, sharing the stage with Mara Hruby at Oakland’s New Parish and featured in NPR’s roundup of Tiny Desk Concert submissions.

Earlimart’s Treble & Tremble is a reaction to someone leaving the room without saying a word. It’s a lush,haunting affair informed by loss, but with a determined effort to let go and move on, tying clean knots froma tangle of loose ends. With numerous references to telephones, reports, conversation and music itself,Treble and Tremble is about communication and how we fail to communicate. Yet, amid the white noise,the record is also a celebration of the moments we break through.

yeemz (Yi-Mei Templeman) is a cellist, singer-songwriter, and composer from Santa Monica, California who aims to creatively fuse genres in order to welcome people of all backgrounds into her distinctly intimate and emotive storytelling. She is the founding member of internationally acclaimed classical piano trio, Trio Gaia – the most recent trio-in-residence at New England Conservatory. She has been writing music on the piano from a young age, but only began experimenting with singing and playing her cello like a guitar in 2018. Since then, yeemz has quickly established the roots of a uniquely multi-faceted career, performing and producing her own music, recording and arranging strings for other artists, and scoring music for film, all while performing around the world as a classical cellist, and teaching cello students of all ages. She will soon release the first single from her upcoming debut album. The single, “TSA”, is inspired by yeemz’s real life experience leaving water in her bottle going through TSA and also by themes from Bell Hooks’ All About Love.