Kendra: In your latest single, “Nightmare” you say you’re “too old/not old enough,” but how old were you when you realized music was something more to you than just something you wanted to listen to?

Dolly Dagger: I was around 14 when I first started writing songs, but it was around 21 that I decided to actually take music seriously as a business which is when I started to learn about the industry, really focus on my songwriting and releasing music properly instead of just as a hobby. 

Kendra: Sticking with “Nightmare,” this song feels like one of the most relatable right now because the world, it’s a mess. Of course, we all have our struggles but do you think that the world and society also being in turmoil makes the weight of our troubles feel heavier? 

Dolly Dagger: Absolutely! I think there’s some comfort in the shared trauma, it comes with a certain understanding towards each other, but I don’t think that necessarily makes it any easier to deal with. We’re all going through something and the world is facing a lot of division among belief systems and values and that’s really hard to navigate as a collective.

Kendra: On the flip side, the video for this song is so fun, and very timely given the US government was like, yeah – aliens, they’re real. But your love of space and its inhabitants came from watching ‘The X-Files’ growing up. If you could travel back in time and pen a song for the show, what do you think it’d be about? Would it be about Mulder and Scully, the government, or simply an alien lifeform?

Dolly Dagger: Ha! I used to watch reruns with my dad in Australia, he was obsessed! I think a campy synth-heavy song to go along with a scene including the Lone Gunmen, there’s something about those three with all their technology and backdoor shenanigans that I always loved watching!

Kendra: ‘The X-Files’ was a wild ride, but life in LA can be just as crazy. When did you make the move there from Australia? 

Dolly Dagger: I think it was officially in 2015, and I’ve been back and forth since then. I’m predominantly here but I’m really looking forward to being in Australia a little more in the future, perhaps playing some shows and taking my American friends on a few road trips. 

Kendra: With that, if you had to compare your upcoming debut EP to a spot in LA that inspired you most, what would it be and why?

Dolly Dagger: That one is easy, Mount Wilson Observatory! It’s my go-to spot when I’m looking to get grounded, I love all the antennas and space vibes and it’s really gorgeous on a summer night. It’s a nice drive up and a couple of years ago, I had my birthday there where we got to view space through the 60-inch telescope! 

Maybe it hasn’t quite inspired the lyrical content, that’s always very emotion-based and usually about people or life events, but it definitely is a place of calm that helped me through all that emotion and obviously inspired some visuals! 

Kendra: Growing up the women in music that were popular were like Britney and Christina, badasses but also very much controlled by the industry. Today, it feels like women are taking the reins completely from what they release to how they move about their careers, including yourself. You are releasing music that doesn’t feel curated by a boardroom of executives. It’s real and expressive. While artists like this have always existed, why do you think that’s more ever-present now with artists like Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish?

Dolly Dagger: I think audiences got sick of the way labels would package those artists and we got sick of their tricks and perfections. When the industry shifted to streaming and social media, it became so much easier for other artists to have a voice and reach their audience which may have previously been ignored by labels. 

With that came a level of depth and authenticity we hadn’t been exposed to through the perfect, shiny pop world of the 2000’s so the labels recognized the changes and realized people connect more deeply with an artist’s true personality, not something manufactured. But we love our Britney /X-tina era and it’s nice to see that even they have a bit more freedom to be who they really want to be these days!

Kendra: Time for a side note – August was just a huge month for me, with so many loved ones’ birthdays being celebrated, so I’d love to know what song you’d dedicate to your loved ones, be it friends, family, or both…

Dolly Dagger: That’s so cool, my mum and brother have August birthdays! I’d like to dedicate the classic, soulful hit “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers and hope everyone has a lovely, lovely day!

Kendra: Lastly, with your debut EP on the way, what else can the people out there expect from you as 2023 rolls along?
Dolly Dagger: They can expect another music video as well as unhinged videos on social media, maybe some behind-the-scenes leading up to the release, and a chance to get to know my alien friend a little better! But I’m most excited about the live shows and set we’re working on as well as the merch. I can’t wait for everyone to see it because it’s truly a masterpiece that encapsulates the whole EP!

The post Getting Extra(terrestrial) with Dolly Dagger appeared first on ZO Magazine.

From the Bay Area to the sweet sounds of the past, we caught up with Rob Good of The Goods to discuss all of that and then some, like the time he was in a bar with one of today’s biggest names in music – and didn’t realize it. Find out who that was, as well as more about The Goods’ self-titled debut EP, and more below! 

Kendra: So not too long before 2020 rocked us to our core, you had a bit of a reconnection at a show. Do you ever look back to that night as one of those moments of fate?

Rob Good: I don’t know about fate, but it was a fortunate coincidence that allowed our drummer Paul and me to reconnect. It does illustrate to me the importance of putting yourself out there because you never know who you’re going to meet and what coincidences will end up shaping your life. I tend to be pretty introverted and my natural inclination is to hide away, but I fight that natural inclination all the time because “out there” is where all amazing things are actually happening.

Kendra: Fast forward to the present and The Goods are working on the self-titled EP up in the Bay Area. We’ll talk about the musical influences, but I’d love to know if you ever felt inspired by your surroundings; are there any local spots you like to go to, to clear your head when you need to focus on music?

Rob Good: I’ve lived in the East Bay my whole life, and I love Oakland, and the musical history of the Bay Area punk scene factors heavily into our music. I believe Oakland has the best tacos in the United States and I will absolutely die on that hill. There’s nothing more inspiring than a good taco. Oakland is also like the underdog to San Francisco, and I guess we kinda feel like underdogs too.

Kendra: Now the music, it’s clear that the ‘60s played a heavy hand in helping create the foundation for this EP. Which I found interesting because I talked to another band this month, SUSU out of New York City, whose latest single harkens back to classic ‘50s girl groups. Why do you think that era speaks to modern-day artists?

Rob Good: So much has been said about the music of the ‘60s that it’s hard to even talk about it without resorting to cliches. For me, I see the ‘60s as the time when pop music really became a medium of artistic expression, and great artists had the opportunity to essentially create their own idioms, and that’s when so many of the blueprints that artists still follow to this day were written. The medium of recorded music also went through a huge revolution at that time, with artists, producers, and engineers really expanding the limits of what was possible in the recording studio. Recorded music went from being more of a document of the live sound of the band to an art form all its own.

Kendra: That ‘60s vibe was ever present on “David Jones Is Dead,” but what I found interesting was what led you towards this track. We are losing icon after icon, and I often think – do we have those types of artists today? Like when Michael Jackson passed the world stopped. And, yes – Beyonce and Billie Eilish are huge artists but at the same time, we’re not all singing their songs like we were Michael’s. I think that’s just because music is consumed so differently now. It feels less communal in many ways. All of that said, do you think we’ll ever have another Michael, Whitney, an artist like that?

Rob Good: That one I’m not sure about…I’m probably one of the worst people to ask about contemporary music because I listen to so little of it. It does seem to me like we’re past the point where everyone in the world is listening to the same record, like they were with The Beatles or Michael Jackson, and so in that sense maybe it would be tough for a single artist to have that kind of effect. But who knows? Certainly not me. 

Funny story…I was at a bar in Nashville a few years ago and there was a really distinct-looking guy partying there that caught my attention – tattooed head to toe, face tattoos, the whole deal. I didn’t think too much of it but after I got back to the Bay Area, I happened to see a Rolling Stone magazine somewhere and that guy was on the cover! Turns out it was Post Malone. I’d heard the name but had no idea who he was.

Kendra: Time for a side note – August is a huge month for me, with so many loved ones’ birthdays being celebrated, so I’d love to know what song you’d dedicate to your loved ones, be it friends, family, or both…

Rob Good: My birthday is in August so it’s a special time for me too! Our catalog is pretty limited at the moment, so I don’t think The Goods has a song that would be a fitting dedication. But if I was going to sing a song for my loved ones, I’d choose “In My Life” by The Beatles.

Kendra: Lastly, with ‘The Goods’ out now, what else can the people out there expect from you as 2023 rolls along?

Rob Good: We’re just trying to play as much as possible, and lay the groundwork for some future touring. We’re also starting work on our first full-length LP!

The post Delivering The Goods appeared first on ZO Magazine.

Kendra: Have you always been drawn to music?

Phil Q.: My whole life I’ve always been drawn to music. The first song I remember listening to was “Got to Get You Into My Life” by Earth, Wind, and Fire. Since then I’ve never left the house without music. 

I have played piano since I was six and sang since I was 10 with my mom’s karaoke machine. I didn’t realize that music was my passion until I started playing other instruments and producing music at age 16. No matter what phase in my life I’m in, music has always been there for me. And now I get the chance to create something of that caliber, to be the music that can shape someone else positively. Circle of life!

Kendra: Your EP, ‘Supernova’ dropped back in April, and you said it’s the sort of music that makes listeners feel like they’re floating in space. Which, “Dream” is definitely that song for me. With that, if you could float in space (or perhaps you’ve done so in a dream), what would you hope to see? 

Phil Q.: That’s a very good question! If I floated in space, It would be for more than just seeing the vast reaches of the universe, which I want to explore. I would also float in space as a form of escape from our world. We live in a world full of all kinds of things: stress, anger, sadness, and the like. Every once in a while it’s nice to escape from it in search for peace and serenity. In space, you can wander the infinite cosmos and find things that you’d never see back on Earth; learn more about the universe and yourself. That’s the kind of world I want to transport my audience to when the “Supernova” EP starts playing.

Kendra: But to bring it back down to earth, I also really enjoyed “Rooftops.” I think if I had to pick a favorite, that’d be it, and it made me want to ask you about the Bay Area. Do you ever write on any rooftops there, or do you do most of your musical work between four walls? 

Phil Q.: When I write, it is anywhere BUT the four walls. I usually come up with the best lyrics when I’m immersed in the experience itself. Most of my best work is written on the road on a chill night drive down 880. I would blast the music on repeat, just watching the lights speed by, and I would write because I was in the right headspace to do it. When I wrote rooftop, I thought of the time I was just chilling on a hilltop in the Bay Area with my friends, and where my imagination took me when I looked up at the stars. I just traded the word, “hilltop” for “rooftop.”

Kendra: Other than floating, this album is full of what you like to call “date night anthems.” With that, what do you think is the absolute perfect activity for a first date?

Phil Q.: I’m really glad you asked that! The perfect date night activity for me is speeding down the 880 highway with my date in the passenger seat, just engaged in deep intimate conversation surrounded by chill music. No need to impress each other, no need for all the pressure of a first date. Just us, being vulnerable with each other and confiding in each other. That is when a real connection is usually formed.

Kendra: On top of ‘Supernova,’ you also have another new single, “Dawn to Dusk.” You worked with Khaysie on that. How did you two connect? 

Phil Q.: Khaysie and I met one night at the 626 Night Market in Pleasanton. He was a host and I was one of the performers. That was around the time he wanted to begin his music career too! We spent the next 1-2 years sharing the stage in many different places around the Bay Area. Then we figured that it was time to share a song too! That’s when we came together to create the ultimate party song that transitioned from day to night. Khaysie began the song with his pop-inspired daytime party anthem, and I ended with some R&B dance music for the nighttime, representing how the party doesn’t stop, no matter what time it is.

Kendra: Time for a side note: This month I’m asking everyone for a song they listen to when they’re feeling a little lost creativity and are in need of some musical inspiration…

Phil Q.: For me, the song I would mostly listen to is anything in the Are & Be Spotify Playlist whenever I need inspiration. I also branch out to other different genres to figure out how to put together certain elements from different styles to create my unique sound. I can’t pick a song in particular, but anything in that playlist I’d listen to to gain inspiration.

Kendra: Lastly, with ‘Supernova’ and a new single out now, what else can fans be on the lookout for as we roll into summer?

Phil Q.: I’ll be performing all my new music around the Bay so follow my Instagram for more details! I also have a secret summer single coming out very soon, as well as a few other projects on the way! Find me under the name, Phil Q. on all streaming platforms!

The post In the Stars with Phil Q. appeared first on ZO Magazine.

Kendra: You were a founding member of Moby Grape, an iconic band that came out of San Francisco back in the late ‘60s. I gotta say, I love that era, but the city is not one of my favorites. Only because of all the hills. My stomach cannot take it. However, I tell everyone – if you go, you gotta see Haight-Ashbury. Was that a place you and Moby Grape found yourselves often back then? 

Peter Lewis: In those days we lived in Mill Valley. There was an old ferry boat (the Ark)  in Sausalito where we practiced every afternoon and then played every weeknight. So it was more practical for us to live in Marin. On the weekends we went to the city and played at the Fillmore, Avalon, or Winterland.

Kendra: And there is an abundance of differences in the music industry when you compare then to now, but is there anything we rarely talk about from that time in music that’s now just a memory that doesn’t get mentioned enough?

Peter Lewis: If you’re talking about differences in the music business between then and now, I would say that the days of Ahmed Ertegun at Atlantic or John Hammond at Columbia are gone. Nowadays multinational corporations dominate the music industry and what they want are not one-of-a-kind artists like Marvin Gaye or Bob Dylan that can’t be easily replaced if they burn out or kill themselves on drugs. 

If you want a major record deal now your best shot would be winning ‘The Voice,’ or some other talent show contest. From the record business’s point-of-view, you would have already been pre-sold, have name recognition, and there’s no risk for them. Of course, what we risk is ending up with a lot of great singers who have nothing to say and the danger of turning music from an art form into a sport. 

But I do not doubt that some real voices from the subculture are still out there and will get heard when they are most needed. I just wouldn’t look toward today’s big record labels to be their messenger. 

Kendra: Now let’s talk more about the present. You went personal with the last record and more universal with ‘Imagination.’ Why did you feel the need to be more all-encompassing this time around?

Peter Lewis: I see more and more people nowadays trying to drink their way through life, killing each other for no good reason and/or leaving a trail of broken homes and hearts behind them. Although I still believe there’s hope for a better future, it would all depend on being able to finally reach some kind of consensus about how to keep these kinds of terrible mistakes from getting repeated over and over. This is what I wrote the first song,” Just Like Sunshine,” about.

In the second song “Without You,” I intended to use the word “you” in a collective sense. The idea was to suggest that no goal is worthy that can’t be shared. This may be another way of saying, heaven is not a private party where everyone gets a  whole universe to themselves. People who are looking forward to that kind of final reward are the ones who have probably lived the most selfish lives and just might end up in that other place.

The third song, “Frank Zappa’s Ghost,” deals with the spiritual energy people create with their lives, but that doesn’t die when they do. Seen this way, the human race becomes like a relay race, where torches of spiritual energy are passed from one host to another. In the case of this song, I play the role of receiving host.

There are undoubtedly a lot smarter people out there than I am. So I will leave them to interpret the other songs on this record if they are interested. I would only hope they will see them all in the end as attempts to communicate something true about what they have seen and felt in their own lives as well as my own.    

Kendra: ‘Imagination’ also covers the idea of mortality. Something I think we all struggle with, me especially. I even had to take a break while writing these up because my head started spiraling a bit. Other than music, what’s helped you sort of cope with your own mortality?

Peter Lewis: I personally just try, without hurting others, to do my best every day and let the chips fall where they may.  What I don’t dig and never did, is the culture of fear we all live in. With the afterlife concepts of Western religion and the authoritarians threatening us while we’re still alive, all of us are conditioned to be deeply afraid of suffering and death. 

Of course, the whole idea of the sixties counterculture was to free ourselves from this established reward and punishment style of controlling our behavior. Looking back at it now, some of us might say we failed. But after that came the seventies and artists like Jackson Browne. To me, his songs, especially “After the Deluge,” were directions to a new kind of inner freedom. That’s when I started reading Carlos Casteneda. In his books I learned of an escape from the classical judgment-day death we were all taught to expect. 

In Casteneda’s explanation, mortality is not something to be afraid of but is accepted as a challenge. It is the path of knowledge upon which those who tread, do it in pursuit of total freedom. Casteneda’s books are still available to anyone interested. I still read them and have found what he has said to be the truth.       

Kendra: One of the songs on ‘Imagination’ is “Frank Zappa’s Ghost,” which you say came to you in a dream. Do you keep a notebook or anything by your bed for instances like this?

Peter Lewis: No, the way this works for me is that if I can wake up without losing a melodic idea that comes to me in a dream, with or without words, I immediately go to my studio and record it. I also suspect having done this in a dream state. I say this because a few times I have turned on my recorder and found song ideas that I don’t remember putting on there.

Kendra: And why do you think it was Frank Zappa in that dream?

Peter Lewis: Because I actually heard the underlying chords and Frank Zappa singing the hook. I was dreaming about being in a famous deli in Hollywood called Canters. Frank Zappa was there holding court in one of the biggest booths. He was surrounded by some other LA musicians,  beckoned me over, and then started singing “I’m a Frank Zappa’s Ghost”

That’s when I was woken up suddenly by the sound of knocking. I still don’t know for sure if I heard this in the dream or if it actually happened. All I can say is that it was real enough for getting me out of bed to open the front door. So that’s where the song begins.

Kendra: Time for a side note: This month I’m asking everyone for a song they listen to when they’re feeling a little lost creativity and are in need of some musical inspiration…

Peter Lewis: I heard Pete Seeger say in the ‘Dylan’ Scorsese doc that no one ever really writes a new song. His point was that we all take bits and pieces of music we’ve heard before, rearrange them a little and add our own words. I would agree with him. The trick would be ingenious enough to capture the interest of listeners originally. 

So there isn’t just one song I listen to when I get stuck for inspiration. What helps me get beyond a creative impasse is more a case of admiring some of the more successful songs written by my peers and telling myself, “If they can do it, so can I.” At the same time, my goal is not to copy or try to outdo them. It’s more like Neil Young once said, “Just keep working on it and it’ll be great.”

Kendra: Lastly, with ‘Imagination’ out on June 16th, what else can fans be on the lookout for as we roll into summer?

Peter Lewis: For a while now I have been playing with my daughter, Arwen, and a very gifted singer-songwriter and guitarist, George Adrian. We will be playing a set of original songs at the International Pop Festival at 2pm on August 5th at the Redwood Bar in Downtown LA next. 

I live in the Santa Ynez Valley and we often play at a local nightclub in Solvang called Lost Chord. There is also talk of a solo gig for me at the City Winery in New York City. This would be for the fall, but nothing has been finalized yet.

The post Peter Lewis and Pure Imagination  appeared first on ZO Magazine.

Kendra: You’re based in LA, which is rich in hip-hop history. Do you think there is an advantage to being in a place that’s known for its music? Like, you’re not out in…Nebraska. You know? 

Skitso: There is an advantage, you can actively go out and connect with music industry professionals daily because they are all here. Sure you can connect with them on social media but face-to-face meetings is where greatness happens. 

Kendra: Speaking of LA (a place I called home 16 years and often miss), if you had to compare your December 2022 release, ‘Currently Chasin Currency’ to a neighborhood within the LA area, which would you say your record’s vibe is most like?

Skitso: I would say the vibe is mostly like the Westmont area. The cross streets being Imperial and Vermont or Century and Figueroa.

Kendra: On the album, you’re doing a lot, including rapping about your “Favorite Topic,” money. No, big money. So everything from the subject matter to the overall sound took me back to high school. Which, we’re around the same age so perhaps that’s why. With that, I’d love to know what you were like back in the early 2000s. Were you kicking off your big-money goals then?

Skitso: I was hustling, selling candy and different products like that to buy studio equipment. Definitely not doing as much as I am now; the bag is different. 

Kendra: And while hip-hop may be one of the youngest genres, it continues to be the most influential. Not just in music either; fashion, the way we speak – hip hop continues to make its presence known. With that, what about hip hop, or possibly who in hip hop, inspired you to be an artist? Was it someone from the early ‘00s?

Skitso: I would say, Eminem, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, and Jay Z inspired me. 

Kendra: The album also features the addictive nature of “Boss Moves.” For you, what separates an artist that’s a boss from one that’s merely just an employee clocking in and out? 

Skitso: What separates a boss from an employee basically comes down to ownership of your music. It also comes down to investing in other businesses to bring yourself wealth outside of music. Being a boss is also a mentality. You have some rappers who wait on opportunities and wait for things to happen to them and you have artists who create opportunities and aren’t afraid to invest in themselves.

Kendra: Lastly, with ‘Currently Chasin Currency’ out now, what else can people expect as we continue into Spring and soon into Summer?

Skitso: A lot of my shows and promotions for the album. I have been doing a lot of interviews and marketing lately as well.

The post Currently Chasin Skitso appeared first on ZO Magazine.

The struggles of being in a creative field and living in a city, a city in California no less, often come with a myriad of struggles. However, those struggles can often be used as fuel to push us forward. This is something Marika Christine has done with “Music and Heart,” an homage of sorts to San Francisco that can be found on her May 26th release, ‘Soft Like An Apricot.’ We talked about the city she loves, the locally sourced video, and more in this brand-new back-and-forth exchange. 

Kendra: Have you always been on the path to being a musician or had you been on another before now? 

Marika Christine: I have always been in love with music but have explored many different musical avenues. I did musical theater as a child which led me to classical voice in high school. I went to a public arts high school that introduced me to many different kinds of music. I was eventually inspired by my peers who were writing and performing their own songs. I realized that songwriting and playing in bands were the perfect musical outlet for me.

Kendra: ‘Soft Like an Apricot’ takes listeners through a cascade of soundscapes, but being that you’re from San Francisco, a city that has some great outdoor spaces, I’d love to know what outdoor area of your city you think best fits the feel of your May 2023 release? 

Marika Christine: I think ‘Soft Like An Apricot’ pairs well with a walk around Bernal Heights, Ocean Beach, Golden Gate Park, and really anywhere along highway.

Kendra: We have to stick with San Francisco because “Music and Heart” is this beautifully done homage to it. Now, whenever that city is in the news, it’s almost always because of something like how pricey it is or something else negative, but for you – San Fran is just home. So what initially inspired this love letter to The Golden City?

Marika Christine: “Music and Heart” was born out of a complicated relationship with San Francisco. I love the city so much and also have times when I feel deflated by the struggles that artists face to get by in the city. There are many layers of love and frustration that I channeled into the song. 

Kendra: As for the video, it reminded me of intros to TV shows from the ‘70s and even more modern shows like ‘The Office.’ How did you go about picking and choosing what and where to showcase in the visual? 

Marika Christine: During the pandemic I often went on walks around the neighborhood, bringing my camera along. It felt like treasure hunting, trying to catch a moment of nice light or a particularly interesting-looking house. So when I made the video for “Music and Heart” I took inspiration from my photographic hobbies and tried to document my surroundings organically. I chose not to go to the more touristy areas of the city and instead focused on places that I actually see in my day-to-day life. 

Kendra: Time for a side note: This month I’m asking everyone for a song they listen to when they’re feeling a little lost creativity and are in need of some musical inspiration…

Marika Christine: Something that always brings me musical inspiration is the Talking Heads’ live performance of “Stop Making Sense.” If I had to choose just one song it would be “Once in a Lifetime.”

Kendra: Lastly, with ‘Soft Like an Apricot’ out on June 126th, what else can fans be on the lookout for as we roll into summer?

Marika Christine: My album ‘Soft Like and Apricot’ will be out digitally on May 26th with a local release show at Rickshaw Stop on June 1st. I will also be going on a short California tour in June stopping in LA, Sacramento, and Santa Cruz. 

The post Golden Sounds from Marika Christine appeared first on ZO Magazine.

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The modernization of civilization has gifted humanity with so many things, but in the past couple of decades it seems as if all of that building has gotten too out of hand, and the impact of all of it weighs heavy on the hearts of those who’d rather not see their favorite venues turn into juice bars and yoga studios. At least that’s the case with people like myself and Peter Hartmann of Poppy Patica. We talked with Peter not only about the heartbreak of watching the city he came up in turn into a place he doesn’t recognize, but also about the new Poppy Patica album, ‘Black Cat Back Stage,’ which drops on May 5th. All of that and more await below!

Kendra: You’ve got a single out now called “Awful Sound” that is quite the delight, and with that, I’d like to know what great sound inspired you to first get into music? Was it a particular song, album, or artist? 

Peter Hartmann: Thank you! That would go back to when I was like 11 and heard Nirvana’s Nevermind for the first time. Also, I saw Ted Leo + the Pharmacists perform a lot in DC when I was growing up, and that was inspirational in a lot of ways. And my dad plays piano and sings and writes songs, so that introduced me to the idea early on.

Kendra: And you were sort of going about things solo for a while. What inspired growing Poppy Patica into a full band experience? 

Peter Hartmann: I came up playing in bands, so that was kind of the norm for me until I started Poppy Patica. I had a band in high school that played songs I wrote and played in a number of other bands in college. I saw friends perform solo while at college and afterward when I moved back to DC, and that kind of gave me the confidence to start this project as a solo endeavor. It was also kind of a reaction to leaving college and knowing that my bandmates in the band Peaks were all going to move to different cities. I wanted to have a project to work with after we graduated, so I figured that something I could perform by myself was the only sure bet. 

I continued to perform solo when I got back to D.C. playing guitar and drums with my feet. It was kind of a spectacle, but after one of my shows, a friend of mine told me he thought I could do better haha. The honest feedback was a good push to improve my setup. I had been seeing Sneaks perform around DC a lot at that time and got inspired by how she performed with just bass and a drum machine. Around that same time, a friend gave me an old drum machine that his coworker was getting rid of, so I adopted that as the sound for my new solo set.

It wasn’t long after that that I met Vishal Narang aka Airhead DC after we ended up on a bill together at the Velvet Lounge. He also had a cool solo set going with bass and a sequencer. I loved his music right away and eventually asked him to play bass with me. I had also recorded with Dan Howard (Swings) on drums who I knew from DC and college. The three of us played a handful of shows together in the summer of 2016. Both Vishal and Dan ended up moving to New York. I also played with AJ Thawley (Dove Lady) on drums for a while. Then I left town to travel and work remotely in 2017 and 2018. When I got back, I formed a new lineup for the band with Nikhil Rao, Jeremy Ray, and Chloe. 

Kendra: You’re from DC, and I’m from California and spent almost 20 years in LA so I know all too well your pain when it comes to watching a city turn into something unrecognizable. Which, you channeled a lot of that into ‘Black Cat Back Stage.’ For you, what has been the most disheartening thing about the constant gentrification of DC regarding the music scene there? 

Peter Hartmann: It’s hard to watch, and it’s happening everywhere, including here in the Bay Area. Seeing all of these new things pop up that culturally had nothing to do with DC was rough. The city no longer felt like it had a unique flavor. These new buildings and businesses seemed so generic that they could kind of exist anywhere in the country. I guess people want the same cookie-cutter condos, coffee shops, and clubs. It seemed like a lot of the people moving to DC didn’t really care about actual DC culture. I think it’s easier to live in a place where you don’t know what it used to be like. Then you don’t have anything to grieve about the changing face of the city.

The wave of change in DC was too big for me to stop, and I couldn’t live with the feeling of watching my hometown disappear anymore. I tried to be active and volunteer with organizations like Empower DC who were fighting for affordable housing and for a more just future of the city that would include longtime DC residents. The real loss in all of these cases is the displacement of communities that make the city what it is. For folks to lose their access to live in the city that they’re from is the real tragedy. 

Things like the loss of venues and DIY spaces feels kind of silly to talk about when the city government and developers are actively tearing apart communities. However, it all kind of went hand in hand. Union Arts was one of the very last warehouse spaces of its kind in DC. It was a big building in Union Market that housed artists studios and a performance space with lots of great shows curated by Luke Stewart. So many different facets of the DC music and arts community showed up at the zoning board hearings to try to save Union Arts, but ultimately the building was sold to become a hotel with an arts focus. I’m not sure what became of these plans, but at the time it kind of seemed like the hotel would have an artist and musician zoo of sorts for hotel guests to observe.

When I first moved back to DC, there were a lot of group houses throwing shows in their basements or living rooms, but that scene seemed to have mostly dried up even before the pandemic. Maybe there has been or will be, a resurgence of them, but when I left DC in early 2020, it felt like there weren’t many options for venues, especially non-traditional venues. I’m not sure exactly what caused this, but I would guess that the extremely high and rising cost of housing played a role. Luckily, some friends who had been hosting some cool shows in their basement before the pandemic are going to reopen their doors to host my record release show in DC on May 12th.

Kendra: This album, while personal, also has these universal ideologies to them. Has that always been something you strive for when writing music? That a wide variety of people will be able to relate? 

Peter Hartmann: I like to incorporate lyrics that feel poignant but also ambiguous. I want to make room for the listener to find their own meaning in the songs. I haven’t always had a philosophy about this, but I’ve used abstract or surreal language as lyrics for a long time to allow for various interpretations. There’s some magic lost when lyrics are too specific. I like for the meaning of the songs to be open-ended and for the experience of hearing them to be a bit like a puzzle. It’s fun to create multiple meanings with lyrics so that people kind of have to do a double-take and ask themselves what they just heard. It feels more true to real life. A personal song without a political element feels too indulgent. A political song without the personal element feels unrelatable. I like to write songs that include both so people can get what they need out of it.

Kendra: You have a balancing act of sorts with “Awful Sound” and “Sweetest Song,” but I have to say I was taken by “Band Aid” with Chloe M. Love the song but on the flip side of things, what do you think is something in the music industry that’s a huge issue that those in charge always just put a band-aid on instead of giving it the attention it deserves to actually be fixed? 

Peter Hartmann: Most people just stream music these days, so I think those streaming platforms need to be held accountable to paying artists more for their streams. I think there should be more local and federal funds going directly to artists and music spaces. 

This album includes new recordings of songs, new and old, from every phase of Poppy Patica up until that point. Some of the songs had been recorded and released before, but this album has the most fully realized versions of those ones. I wanted to pick two songs that had not been released anywhere before this album. 

“Band Aid” is the first Poppy Patica song that wasn’t written by me. Chloe wrote the song and we started playing it live as a band. We decided to record it as well to capture the live set we had been playing together. This lineup of the band has come to close, mostly because I don’t live in DC anymore, but had we all kept playing together, I was hoping to restructure the band and have everyone writing and singing. 

Everyone in the band is a songwriter and singer, so turning the band into a more collaborative project felt right. Then the pandemic came, this lineup of the band was kind of dissolving anyways, and I moved to California, so we never had the chance. Definitely keep an eye on the other three amazing musicians who played on this record: Nikhil Rao, Chloe M., and Jeremy Ray. They have been and undoubtedly will continue to be, making some incredible music.

Kendra: Now it’s time for a side note – with it being May, I always think of the end of the school year and all those memories of field trips, parties, and yearbooks. With that, I’d love to know what your fondest end-of-the-school-year memory was? 

Peter Hartmann: I think fulfilling my childhood dream of performing at Fort Reno was one of those memories. Fort Reno is the site of a free summer concert series that has been running in Tenleytown DC since 1968. I grew up going to shows there and had hoped to perform there one day. I went to high school across the street from the stage where the shows are held. On June 18th, 2007, a few days after graduating from Deal Junior High, which is also located on Fort Reno Park, my band performed on the Fort Reno stage with Deleted Scenes and Mass Movement of the Moth. It was the first show of the year and our band The Boom Orangutangs played first, kicking off the series that summer. It felt like a DC rite of passage.

Kendra: Lastly, with ‘Black Cat Back Stage’ out on May 5th, what else can fans expect as we continue towards summer?

Peter Hartmann: I’ll be doing a release show in DC on May 12th at the Cool Ranch, one in Brooklyn on May 19th at the Owl Music Parlor, and one in Oakland on June 1st. While I’m in New York, I’ll be finishing a new record I’m recording with Nate Mendelsohn (Market), and also an EP that I recorded with Paco Cathcart (The Cradle). Those two releases will hopefully come out next year. I plan to get a new band together in the Bay to play some local shows and hopefully do a longer tour in the fall.

The post Ripping Off the Band Aid with Poppy Patica appeared first on ZO Magazine.

While it may take a second to recall, everyone has that pivotal moment that sets them down the path they’re currently on. That moment that sparked a fire inside of them, and for Mya Byrne it centers around a VHS tape. What was on that? Well, you’ll have to keep reading to find out as we talk to the singer-songwriter about everything from going with the creative flow to trans representation to her new album, ‘Rhinestone Tomboy,’ which drops everywhere on April 28th. 

Kendra: When did you realize you wanted to be more than a spectator when it came to music and work on your own material? 

Mya Byrne: From the first time I ever saw a person play guitar in front of me. In my case, it was a teacher in nursery school. I knew playing music was what I wanted to do, and except for a brief flirtation with being a chef at age 19 when I worked as a sous chef at an artisanal pasta shop, that’s been the path of my life. Every single thing has been in service to art. But it was at age 23 when I truly committed myself to being a songwriter, as many people before had told me I wasn’t good enough, and then I realized they were wrong. And so I decided to just do it. 

Kendra: You’re doing it now though and doing it quite well! But before we talk about your April release, ‘Rhinestone Tomboy,’ I gotta say…I want a shirt with that on it so bad! As a tomboy who loves a bit of sparkle, I felt seen! As for the music on the record though, from what I’ve heard you sort of have that balance as well; a little grit, a little more emotion. Do you think about that when writing? Like, “hmm…maybe I need another upbeat one here, a little less this?” Or do you just let it flow and what happens, happens?

Mya Byrne: Honestly, I really do just let it flow. Most of my songs get inspired by little things I see or feel, or writing prompts. Or even funny things I text people; anything can be a hook! I also believe that nearly any song can be done in any context – for instance, “I’m Gonna Stop” was a SLOW country waltz, and it got turned into this Tom Petty-type roots rockin song. 

But when I go into co-writing sessions, I definitely have discussions with my partners in those rooms-usually “What kind of song should we write today,” or discuss what kind of song is missing from both our repertoires and try to write that. More often than not, though, it still comes from a line or riff one of us has and then goes off on. I also write a lot with friends over text as a writing exercise, like exquisite corpse style. 

Kendra: I’m leaning towards maybe the let it flow because that’s how “It Don’t Fade” came to be. You were walking around and the melody hit you. How long after that walk would you say the song was ready for the world to hear?

Mya Byrne: More than any of the songs on this album, that one was totally complete by the end of the day. I sang the song and improvised 80% of the lyrics into my phone recorder, and then rewrote it for my writing workshop that night. 

It took a while for it to develop into a repertoire song. Aaron Lee Tasjan had picked it from my album possibility playlist, and about a month before recording I’d started playing it live. It was one of the first new songs I played onstage after lockdown, I believe, at an outdoor concert. It took a while to really get it right in my brain because that octave swoop on the first couple notes of the pre-chorus psyches me out, to this day. 

Kendra: That song has this optimism in it that feels quite necessary nowadays. I know it came at one of the darkest times we faced as a whole. Other than music, what were some ways you kept optimistic over the past few years? 

Mya Byrne: Quite frankly, through AA, through gardening, cooking, talking to friends and fellows, journaling, taking stock of little things. I try to make a gratitude list every morning, I take a lot of walks. Honestly, songwriting is a constant outlet and it’s always amazing to me how I can take an awful situation and find beauty in it. 

Kendra: We spoke of balance earlier and that came to mind listening to the softer ways of “Lend You a Hand” and then the very rock n’ roll “Come On.” The latter though made me wonder – who are some of your rockspirations in life? 

Mya Byrne: Oh my…I mean, when I saw “Jailhouse Rock” on VHS at age 7 I saw my future. Elvis, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Marc Bolan, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, David Crosby, James Hetfield, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Steve Cropper, Pete Townshend, and David Bowie are just a few, and more recently I’ve found myself blown away by Jake Wesley Rogers, Allison Russell…I am a big deadhead and Bobby Weir is someone who continually inspires me. But the big one is Jimi Hendrix. He merged genre and expression on guitar in a way that makes me think and feel so hard, so much. More recently I’ve been inspired by Minutemen and Modest Mouse, and I’ll never not love The Band. 

Kendra: Time for a side note – So Easter is my favorite holiday and it just passed. Don’t ask me what the holiday is actually about because it’s only my favorite because I love Spring and the candy is top-notch. With that, if you were to receive an Easter basket, what sweet treat and album on vinyl would you hope was in said basket? 

Mya Byrne: Teehee! Cadbury’s Mini-Eggs, and Neutral Milk Hotel, ‘Aeroplane Under The Sea.’

Kendra: Lastly, with ‘Rhinestone Tomboy’ out on April 28th, what else can people expect from you as we continue into Spring and soon Summer?

Mya Byrne: I’m going to be playing some really fun shows in California and New York, and a couple of shows I can’t announce yet in Nashville. I’m hopeful I’ll have a booking agent soon. It’s really hard to be an out trans woman in this business, and as hard as I work and as lauded as I am, I still run up against discrimination, often couched in “not the right fit”-type rejections. 

So I go where people want to hear me, and in New York, I’m working a lot with a loose collective of trans folks and drag performers as well as my queer country pals on community shows which help pay my rent, along with studio work and the occasional out-of-town or big opening gig. 

I simply hope that with all the great attention I’m getting, the dam breaks soon and I’m able to truly get back out on the road, where I belong, in a way that keeps me as safe as possible. I believe in my work and I know others do, too. I’m so grateful for everyone who’s platforming me right now—that includes you, too! Thank you!!!

The post Rockspirations and Rhinestones with Mya Byrne appeared first on ZO Magazine.

Like Angela Bassett once did (for different reasons) in the cinematic gem, ‘Waiting to Exhale,’ Valley Queen set their past aflame to start anew with their April 21st release, ‘Chord of Sympathy.’ Once the flames settled we got a chance to sit down with their own Natalie Carol to talk about the significance of the aforementioned, the importance of artistic growth, the idea of online personas, and more like their West Coast run that kicks off on April 23rd in San Francisco, California. 

Kendra: So y’all burned the past and started anew on ‘Chord of Sympathy.’ Do you think that you’ll continue this tradition with each new record or is this era of Valley Queen going to stick around for a while? 

Natalie Carol: I have no idea what’s going to happen next. I had no idea back then and I have no idea now. The torching the past idea came as I was envisioning visuals around the album. I didn’t realize we were torching the past as we were in the process of doing it. It’s hard to understand a phase when you’re going through it. I guess you’ll just have to watch and see if we burn everything down again, it’s very possible.

Kendra: Because some artists have had great careers sticking to the expected, while others—like Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and Paramore—you never really get the same album twice from them. Would you say being open to that artistic growth is what gives artists more iconic longevity nowadays?

Natalie Carol: Of course, right? The nature of being an artist is moving with change, creating a direction for yourself to go in even when you don’t know where you’re going. The whole process of making an album is both a personal practice and an artistic unfolding of the relationships within the collaborations on the project. It comes back to creating something for and inside yourself and those you make it with. That’s what resonates with listeners I think, or at least for me as a music lover and listener. 

Kendra: Let’s talk about “Cassavetes” and the idea of changing oneself for acceptance. In a time where so many are living online and infatuated with seeing people like their posts and comment on their pictures, do you think the internet has given us this sort of detachment from who we actually are because we’re stuck living to be this idea of “cool” in the virtual realm? 

Natalie Carol: That’s a good question. I think about what Kurt Vonnegut said a lot when dealing with the digital sphere, “We are what we pretend to be, so choose wisely what it is you pretend to be.” Seeing people’s personas online is like watching their egos digitally embodied. But I think it’s important to remember the ego has a function, it’s what individualizes us, what gives us a personality, and what gives us style or the ability to inspire others. Of course, if you leave it unchecked it grows into something destructive, and chaotic. 

The internet is certainly a place that makes me anxious because we tend to posture ourselves within it but inside it, there’s an immense potential to share something that transcends the medium. Ultimately, I feel like we’re all the same self looking at itself anyway.

Kendra: Back to the burning, because that’s what you did in the video for “Cassavetes.” You three set fire to a lot of things, including your debut LP, in the middle of Joshua Tree. This video took me back to my childhood because I’m from Cabazon in that area, and for fun, we’d just hit bottles and whatnot in the field as kids. With that, I’d love to know what’s something you wish you could’ve burned in that desert fire?

Natalie Carol: We had so much fun filming the video, we felt like kids in the way you just mentioned. We also cleaned up all the junk, I promise!

I think I already used the filming as a personal opportunity to burn old notions I had within my creative life I wanted to clear out. I had a lot of crippling notions about myself as an artist in the past, particularly that I couldn’t move forward or be successful without certain people to help me. It’s easy to trap yourself. The burning ritual that the video turned into was a way of un-tethering myself to notions that were keeping me from moving forward. I do still love our first LP, ‘Supergiant,’ tho! I burned it as a way of not living in the past.

Kendra: You’ll be back in the Joshua Tree area (in Pioneertown) at the end of April, wrapping up a West Coast run. Being from down there, we didn’t get a lot of tours coming through except for Coachella, Stagecoach, and artists that played the local casinos – but Pappy & Harriets really opened things up. Is this a venue you’ve gotten to check out already or will this be your first time? 

Natalie Carol: We have played Pappy’s twice before and we love it so much. I can’t wait to leave the city and see the Joshua Tree sky, and maybe some aliens.

Kendra: Time for a side note – So Easter is my favorite holiday. Don’t ask me what the holiday is actually about because it’s only my favorite. After all, I love Spring and the candy is top-notch. With that, if you were to receive an Easter basket, what sweet treat and album on vinyl would you hope was in said basket? 

Natalie Carol: Reese’s all the way. I’m down for the cups, I’m down for the pieces. Vinyl? Patti Smith’s ‘Easter,’ naturally.

Kendra: Lastly, with ‘Chord of Sympathy’ out on April 21st and a West Coast tour already booked, what else can people expect as we continue into spring (and soon summer)?  

Natalie Carol: I’ve collaborated with some friends on more pieces created within the ‘Chord of Sympathy’ universe you can expect to see throughout the summer. I’ll also be having some in-person conversations around the books and works that inspired the songwriting of the record in Los Angeles after our record release shows you should look out for, those announcements are coming later.

We are starting rehearsals with our 5-piece live band in two weeks, and I’m hoping this will start a chapter of going and creating some sonic worlds in the physical space. Come meet us there!!

The post Rising from the Ashes with Valley Queen appeared first on ZO Magazine.