Vancouver Sleep Clinic
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYVANCOUVER SLEEP CLINIC Vancouver Sleep Clinic is the lustful, ambient guise of 26-year-old singer-songwriter and producer Tim Bettinson. Across his catalogue, elements of anthemic indie rock, intimate R&B, and sophisticated folk provide a sweeping film soundtrack for Bettinson’s gentle vocal and expansive storytelling. Emerging from his native Brisbane, Australia on the strength of a series of singles including “Someone To Stay,” “Middle of Nowhere,” “The Wire,” and the bedroom-produced viral cover of “As It Was,” Vancouver Sleep Clinic is poised to shift from under the radar success story to 2023 global headline mainstay.GHOSTLY KISSESMusic has always been around Margaux Sauvé, born in Quebec to a family of musicians; she picked up the violin at the tender age of five. Moving on to the Conservatoire in Quebec, she quit due to“missing the fun part of it” but still loved music so started to play violin in local bands. Singing came a bit later as she thought that “to be a singer you had to have a powerful voice and be loud”, something that doesn’t come naturally to her as a quiet, thoughtful person. Alongside this, the pop music on the radio whilst growing up in Quebec wasn’t connecting with her, so it wasn’t until she started to write music whilst studying psychology at University that the creativity and desire to express revealed itself: “it just opened a completely new path for me”. Writing music as Ghostly Kisses arrived at a moment where Margaux was in “a living situation I was not able to get out of. A toxic relationship where I had a hard time understanding what was happening.” With this knowledge, it is understandable that most of her early music has a sorrowful but exploratory mood; knowing there were things she needed to express, but not understanding quite how instinctively she was writing until years later it became apparent what she was singing about. And now, with ‘Heaven, Wait’, her mesmeric debut album ready for release, her songwriting has developed to the point that this is the first time she has written and felt like she was part of the conversation. Able to view herself with an external eye, the album reflects transitions and rebirth – still talking about difficult situations, but with the ability to cast someone else in the lead role, giving the music a deeply personal yet starkly universal appeal. One which Margaux feels has come from “a more mature, adult way of looking at it.”Identifying key themes of the album, Margaux frames the album artwork within the context of the songs as being “from water towards the air, there’s a lot of dark around me and I’m just going through to the light.” And that feels like the crux of the album, that nothing is perfect – there are always difficult situations, but it is about trusting the process and working hard towards something positive.
DURRY
– w/ PINK BEDS- ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYDURRYFormed in 2020 in the depths of the pandemic, quarantined siblings Austin and Taryn Durry joined forces to make music together for the very first time. In 2021 their careers were launched by their tiktok viral track Who’s Laughing Now. Quickly gaining notoriety on social media and beyond, Durry is poised and ready to take on the music scene with their unique brand of Nostalgic Indie-Rock.PINK BEDS Pink Beds is a cerebral indie pop band formed in 2020 at the cusp of the initial lockdowns. Composed of four friends from Asheville, NC, they’ve cultivated a strong bond through a shared passion for lush soundscapes, artfully crafted tunes, and rhythms you can’t help but be moved by. The mélange of dream pop, new wave, lounge, and disco aims to create an ethereal listening experience with a combination of low-end groove, velvety guitar, silky keys, gritty synth, and catchy melodies. Making good use of isolation, the group combined their songwriting abilities and production chops to manifest a lush, warm, and evocative sonic environment with their December 2020 debut LP, All I Have. From tracking and production to mixing and mastering, each stage of the process was kept entirely within the group. The essence of Pink Beds, like its namesake, should be enjoyed with your own senses and a group of good friends. Along with two singles in 2021, the band released a live album in 2022, Live From Echo Mountain, from the fabled Echo Mountain Recording in Asheville, NC. After a productive 2022 securing a foothold in southeast markets, becoming a FloydFest On-the-Rise artist, and a Relix Magazine Sonic Showdown Finalist, the band is releasing a new album in the Spring of 2023. Pink Beds comprises Aaron Aiken (Vocals & Guitar), Jackson Van Horn (Keys & Guitar), Ryan Sargent (Drums & Percussion), and Logan Hall (Bass). “What started out as a casual jam to entertain a keg party has morphed itself into one of the most intriguing new musical acts in Western North Carolina.” Aiken, a Brevard native, now fronts an Asheville group that stands at the intersection of indie rock, psychedelic folk and cerebral pop. It’s a seamless blend, more so a vibrant flow, that harkens back to the sounds of early 2000s indie icons The Strokes and Keane, with a thick thread leading to the melodic camps of Tame Impala and Snow Patrol.” — Garret K. Woodward, Rolling Stone Contributing Writer
Skegss
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYSKEGSS In the six years since their inception, Skegss (singer/guitarist Ben Reed, bassist/guitarist/vocalist Toby Cregan, and drummer Jonny Lani) emerged from their laid-back, Australian small town roots as unlikely anti-heroes of the country’s vibrant rock scene.They’ve even topped the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) singles charts numerous times and, more recently, their debut LP My Own Mess reached number two on the album charts and earned an ARIA Award nomination for ‘Best Rock Album.’ Australia’s coastal sensation never lost their underdog flair despite their achievements, and it’s that same spirit that defines their second studio album, Rehearsal—a 13-track thrill ride through modern disillusioned youth. Released late March 2021 via Loma Vista Recordings Rehearsal debuted at #1 on Australia’s ARIA Album and Vinyl sales chart with first week sales and was the triple j feature record. In addition- Rehearsal earned the trio of Toby, Ben Reed (vocals, guitar), and Jonny Lani (drums) their first cover story at NME Australia, while its singles collectively earned early praise and support from Consequence, DIY, Rolling Stone Australia (‘Song You Need to Know’) and had 2 tracks place in the triple j Hottest 100 voted singles of the year. (‘Under the Thunder’ (#27) and ‘Fantasising’ (#66)) Rehearsal was recorded at The Grove Studios with Grammy-award winning producer Catherine Marks (Foals, Wolf Alice), who added a veteran’s finesse and expanded upon the rustic charm of demos the band tracked at The Music Farm using vintage gear from the ‘60s and ‘70s. From Reed’s self-made lyrical philosophies inspired by his favorite stand-up comedians to Toby Cregan’s reflections on life and his dog, Rehearsal is the most candid and electrifying snapshot we’ve seen of Skegss yet.ADAM NEWLING Raised in Cronulla born to first-generation Greek mother and Aussie father, Adam Newling is an alternative artist who utilises country sensibilities and eclectic knowledge of sound in his music to unprecedented effect. With big dreams of one day performing in the heart of Nashville, he has arrived to light up our hearts, guitar in hand.FLYING MACHINE
Ceremony
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYCEREMONY Ceremony’s lead guitarist Anthony Anzaldo doesn’t want to talk about the fact that his band has been around for over ten years. Or that they’ve drifted away from the hardcore genre that made them, or that they jumped ship from their long-time label, Matador Records, to join Relapse Records instead. Or that their sixth album will mark four years since the iconic punk band has released any new material. These things aren’t really important. What matters is that In the Spirit World Now is Ceremony’s most driving, intelligent collection of songs to date. “We knew this had to be the best thing we have ever done,” admits Anzaldo. “We couldn’t come back after four years with a record that only had a few good songs.” Produced by Will Yip (Title Fight, Circa Survive, Turnover) and mixed by engineer Ben Greenberg (The Men, Pharmakon, Hank Wood And The Hammerheads), In the Spirit World Now grows with each listen, balancing Yip’s pop sensibilities with Greenberg’s noise-punk influence through dramatic, shining synthesizer hooks and a mature vocal strategy. Drummer Jake Casarotti and bassist Justin Davis power through the 11-tracks as a strong yet sparse backbone that interlocks with guitarists Andy Nelson and Anzaldo to create a pop-centric, post-punk canvas for frontman Ross Farrar to expel the most vulnerable parts of himself. (And, thankfully, there are many.) Farrar, who has been studying and teaching at the Syracuse University MFA Poetry Program for the past three years, has found himself as a vocalist on Spirit World, not only sounding more confident and in the pocket than he ever has before, but exploring amorphous lyrical territory about arrested development, botched relationships, and the never-ending hamster wheel of self-destruction so many creatives fall into. “I’ve been very interested in will, as in a person’s faculty of consciousness and how we navigate actions and self-control,” Farrar says. “I’ve been worried for a long time that my lack of self-control will inevitably destroy me, so any paranoia on that matter is focused on this record.” Spirit World is a carefully composed punk record by a band who is so in tune with one another as players that their physical separation didn’t affect the music when it came time to get together and work. Despite living in opposite ends of the country, they met up, rehearsed the new material, and demoed it out in Anaheim at a friend’s studio. After two weeks, the tracks were loose with Farrar only mumbling melody ideas on top of the band. A few months later, they linked up with producer Will Yip and he flushed out the demos, helping develop the structure as the songs took shape in the studio. To add some grit to their slew of polished post-punk hits, Anzaldo called on Greenberg to help develop melodies and interject synthesizers and keyboards into the songs before he mixed the record. “We really took it song by song on this album,” says Anzaldo. “We pushed ourselves more than any other record. We didn’t have a lot of time together, so the time we did have was precious, and we were hyper-focused on making the best songs possible.”support bands:GELSRSQTONGUES OF FIRE
Will Sheff / Okkervil River
– WITH mmeadows- ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYWILL SHEFF / OKKERVIL RIVER After nine critically acclaimed albums, after twenty bandmates, after countless bars and clubs and theaters and festivals, after two full decades, Will Sheff is letting Okkervil River drift out to sea with Nothing Special, a rich and cinematic collection that marks the acclaimed indie songwriter’s first release under his own name. Written through a period of painful loss and deep transformation and recorded with a mix of old friends and new collaborators (including singer/songwriter Christian Lee Hutson, Dawes drummer Griffin Goldsmith, and Death Cab For Cutie pianist Zac Rae), the record represents more than just a change in name; it’s an act of liberation and self-determination, an emotionally raw reckoning with grief, identity, and hope that blurs the lines between fiction and autobiography, surrealism and humor, stoicism and a deepening spirituality. Formed in Austin, TX, Okkervil River embraced both frenetic rock and cerebral complexity as bandmates came and went over its twenty year run, but the group’s north star always remained firmly fixed in Sheff’s emotional vocals and striking lyrics, which could turn even the most seemingly mundane observations into profound philosophical revelations. NPR hailed the New Hampshire native’s “dazzling” way with words, while Pitchfork declared him “one of indie rock’s most ambitious thinkers,” and The New York Times raved that he “writes like a novelist.” With Nothing Special, Sheff begins his next and most compelling chapter yet.mmeadowsFor musicians Kristin Slipp and Cole Kamen-Green, mmeadows is a means of survival, an outlet to anchor themselves from the currents of life. Fluid and rhythmic, organic and electronic, their singular alt-pop songcraft is the synthesis of complementary talents, mutual trust, and years of partnership. Each brings a distinct background to the sound: Slipp is a current member of Dirty Projectors, with writing and performance credits on their 2020 release 5 EPs. She grew up in Maine, devoting herself to the choir and a true New England-kind of work ethic which has since flourished in New York City’s music community. Kamen-Green has worked with Beyonce, writing and performing horns on Beyonce and Four, as well as projects with Diana Ross, Harry Styles, Laurie Anderson, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Taylor Swift. He came up as a ‘90s kid in lower Manhattan, immersed in the cultures of hip-hop, dance music, and jazz (his uncle is the avant-garde drummer Joey Baron). All the varying hues oftheir influences now filter into Light Moves Around You, the duo’s full-length debut, a dynamic and deeply-honed collection of pop songs that silence chaos and celebrate the tender acts of making space and taking care.
Deserta
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYDESERTAFor Matthew Doty, Deserta has always been about exploring a sonic universe that allows him to express a kaleidoscope of emotions, without having to say much at all. Through a patchwork of reverb-tinged textures – drone guitars, lingering synths and driving percussion – the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist weaves together stories of care, frustration and catharsis that ultimately stretch to a gentle resolve. On new album Every Moment, Everything You Need, Doty chronicles the kind of year we all fear, full of uncertainty, tension and sustained pressure, and transforms it into a celebration of perseverance. It’s an essential reminder that we have the power to shape the stories we tell. The LP was mixed by Dave Fridmann (Tame Impala, Mogwai, Interpol), with Beach House and Slowdive producer Chris Coady engineering and co-producing. Cor de LuxCOR DE LUX grew out of the music scene of North Carolina’s Outer Banks in 2018. The band found each other over a by chance conversation about a love of music between its two founding members (guitarist Tim Lusk, and guitarist and vocalist, Dawn Moraga) while Moraga waited for a phone repair in Tim’s shop. This turned out to be the catalyst for their band’s formation, with John Bliven quickly added on bass and Thomas McNeely stepping in for founding member and drummer Dana Quinn in early 2022. Their music (a mixture of post-punk, goth-tinged pop and shoegaze) has earned the tongue-in-cheek nickname ‘Shoe-Gazi’ by friends.
NOIR BIZARRE featuring The Veldt, Dead Leaf Echo, Knives and Daggers and more!
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYCome catch The Veldt along with label mates Deadleaf Echo, Knives and Daggers (and more!) on their maiden Pop Up Shoegaze Psych out. The mini get together will be a showcase that will be traveling to Raleigh for the final night of the Noir bizarre festival Sept 8th and 9th. The Veldt hailing from Raleigh N.C. is a band that reached our audience in 2017 with the single I like the Way You Talk as a letter of introduction, becoming regulars in this space in the following years, with songs like Black and Blue or the Oak City Session of 2019, returning in this 2023 with a promo that is not so new if we consider that it is part of Illuminated 1989, an album produced by Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins, which must have been his debut album, plus Capital Records decided to can this material to record the Marigolds Produced by Lincoln Fong of the band Moose, plus time and experience gained from working with the likes of TV On The Radio, Mos Def, Lady Miss Kier (Deee-Lite), ARKane and toured or played with Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Pixies, Throwing Muses, Echo & The Bunnymen, Cocteau Twins, Manic Street Preachers, Phantogram, Modern English, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Oasis, Chuck D, Living Color and Schooly D, allow twins Daniel Chavis and Danny Chavis to reclaim this material, which will be available next fall in vinyl, CD, cassette and digital formats, while this first excerpt is already circulating on digital platforms such as Apple Music , Spotify and Bandcamp , as well as on 12” vinyl. DEAD LEAF ECHOKNIVES AND DAGGERSLEISURE McCORKLEANDRE LASALLE FREQUENCIES
Ty Segall Solo Acoustic
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLYTY SEGALL The man in the tree has a guitar, he’s gonna sing. But the sun shining through the branches— are those rays yellow or hazy gray? What day is today? When are you not going to feel this way again? “Hello, Hi”: welcome in to a new room to play the styles and feels that lie under Ty Segall’s fingers, easing fresh air into acoustic space with an assortment of love songs flowering in righteous unconsciousness. Plaintive and wistful, but unafraid. Like rain washing away yesterday, “Hello, Hi” pushes open the door, inviting the new to pass through all the old shades and degrees of hot and cold. Dark paths turn off abruptly into absurd darkness, then wind back through the broken rocks, ecstatic again. Absurdity again. It happens everyday. “Hello, Hi” is expansively rendered by Ty, mostly by himself, at home. The isolation suits the songs: you’re only ever as “at home” as you are with yourself in the mirror. Ty’s acoustic and electric guitars and vocal harmonies layer self upon self, forming a spiny backbone for the album. Textures at once gentle and dissonant root the songs as they make their move: melodic arcs convulsing in doubt and bliss and rage. Busting out of the endless gridlock into open space, these spirits pass on through. “Hello, Hi”’s flickering awakening to this trip: the opening three tracks’ train of sweet and salty reflections, before the abrupt crunch of the title track electrifies the senses. Good morning’s turned to good mourning in nothing flat, but there’s still a way up from the doldrums, to try again. Why can’t it be just as simple as “Hello, Hi”? What to do with yourself when love triggers loathing? How many more times do you have to go back there again? Pulling at the scratchy wool threads of an old sweater favored for warmth, comfort, protection, rejection, denial, blindness etc, Ty Segall dives from a clear, open sky, down through the marine layer and the shimmering waves of all the years. Radiating from the same mind fields as Goodbye Bread and Sleeper, mixed with shard edges of contrast and contradiction from things like Freedom’s Goblin, Manipulator, and First Taste, “Hello, Hi” is Ty’s most relaxed and complete production to date, an ebb-and flow fusion of words and music offering abstraction and acceptance as it wrestles itself through a fucked-up time. Your life and what you make of it — throughout “Hello, Hi,” Ty Segall charts a passage through its enduring tangles honestly, with clarity and confusion. CHARLES MOOTHART Charles Moothart is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with the garage rock musicians Ty Segall and Mikal Cronin. Moothart is the drummer for Segall’s current backing band, The Freedom Band. He was previously the guitarist for Segall’s backing band, the Ty Segall Band, and is the guitarist and vocalist in the pair’s hard rock project, Fuzz. Additionally, he is a member of Segall’s collaborative project with Ex-Cult’s Chris Shaw, GØGGS.
PATIO SHOW: Sylmar
– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVEDSYLMAR Sylmar is an indie-rock stoner jazz quintet taking the rock genre to the meat grinder. Through contagious hooks and crafty crescendos, Sylmar songwriting conflicts with cutting rhythms that counter and combine, drive and float, easy to digest but difficult to harness – all the while charming audiences with their increasingly popular feverish live performances. In response to Sylmar’s sophomore LP “Glass Ladders”, City Beat journalist, Brian Baker wrote “With a soulful Vampire-Weekend-meets-Radiohead sound, Sylmar’s new “Glass Ladders” is their best album to date.
PATIO SHOW: Day & Dream
– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING (FIRST COME FIRST SERVED) DAY & DREAMSelf described star gazers and forest dwellers, Day & Dream creates music that sounds like your favorite warm fuzzy blanket. Long time artists, musicians & singer/songwriters, Peter Frizzante & Abby Amaya, initially met in NYC, but didn’t start their indie-rock dreampop shoegaze band until they moved to Asheville, North Carolina. Abby’s roots are in California 60s coastal pop, while Peter’s is post-punk, indie-rock. Working together, the now husband-wife team showcase their admiration for sun-soaked sonic landscapes, lo-fi lounge, neopsychedelia, jangly guitars, jazz tones, and melodic pop structures. Reverb soaked and layered with soft whispery vocals, the result is an energetic and memorable reverie. Peter, the morning person, and Abby, the night owl — their band name is a nod to their opposite sleep schedules.The pair is often writing music or lyrics at home in between work and daily chores, finding inspiration in the human condition & the pain and joy of life. The band has played with many different local drummers (Jake Cavinder, Matt Hendler, Mike Fasano) and bass players (Marcos Waldheim, Erik Jan, Lowell Hobbs, Matt Tobia, Daniel Hyman). Their first single, “Nocturnal Creatures” was recorded at El Rancho Morbido Studios(Black Mountain, NC) & debuted in July 2018. This was soon followed by their first full length album, “With Every Breath You Die” in February 2019, recorded at Standard Electric Studios with Damon Moon & mastered by Greg Hendler in Atlanta. They went back to the studio in Julyof 2019 to record a handful of tracks at Echo Mountain Studios (Asheville, NC). The singles were engineered by Kenny Harrington & mastered by Jason NeSmith of Chase Park Transduction (Athens, GA) & Geoff Pesche of world renowned Abbey Road Studios (London).After canceling most shows booked for the last two years, the band has stayed busy indoors with numerous live streams & shooting music videos. They’ve had singles featured on several compilations: Green Witch Records (NYC), Sunday Records (Chicago), Stereoactive Media(Austin/Brooklyn), Shoegaze Pilipinas (Philippines), Holy Crap Records (Black Mountain, NC), Editoris (Panama), OIM Records (Oakland, CA), Bummer Recordings (Chattanooga, TN), and Shiny Happy Records (Indonesia). They’ve also been featured, reviewed, and Interviewed oncountless radio shows, playlists, news outlets & blogs, including Indie & Folk Radio, European Indie Music Network, God Is in the TV, Luna Magazine Collective, Indie Cronique, Destroy/Exist, Business Mirror, ABS-CBN, Abduction Radiation, Ausfarhrt, Pitch & Prose, Look at MyRecords, Pretty Decent Music, Luna Collective, We Love Lo-Fi Music, Simon Saxon, Indie Italia, Melodic Mag, MCCFunk, Impose Magazine, ORYL, WNC Original Music, DKFM, Drowned in a Sea of Sound, Lizzie Romain, Aylou, Holy Crap Records, DE Music, LeviathanFM, Mountain Xpress, Last Day Deaf, Al Son of Marketing, Diggin Radio Show, Visioner, & more.In 2021, they signed with Lilystars Records (ADA, Warner Music Group), owned by Clementine Castro (Oranges & Lemons, The Camerawalls).
