Issue 5 / Summer 2019 (Suburban Rose Magazine)

5: SUMMER 2019

welcome to the era of the concept band.

2019

internet indie awards pg 6

I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME pg 26

+ missio, hunny, san cisco, hayden calnin, the millennial club

sponsored

WATCH US BLOOM

CONTRIBUTING STAFF Editor-in-Chief

Misc. Staff

Alex Music ·

Alexandra Thomas ·

Check it: I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME (26) IG: @alexmvsic

Opinions expressed by individuals within this issue do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Suburban Rose.

Check it: Missio (6) IG: @AETPhotos

Mia McGill ·

WE

Check it: Scarlett Stevens (18) IG: @miarosemcgill

Editors Molly McCaul ·

Bethany Camp ·

Sandra Garcia ·

Silvia Pellegrino ·

Check it: Single Use (21) IG: @bethany.camp

Check it: Summer Homes (36) Twitter: @houseonaiake

OUR STAFF

Check it: Hayden Calnin (46) Twitter: @insideyourmiind

Check it: “not over” (59) Twitter: @websiings

Audrey Battis ·

Check it: HUNNY (40) IG: @audreybattis

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ssue 5 marks the first time I have written the cover story for Suburban Rose. I was able to interview Dallon Weekes of I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME, a goal that I’ve been seeking to accomplish for quite a while. Thank you to Heidi Ellen Robinson Fitzgerald for being amazing while setting up the interview, and thank you to Alexandra Thomas for being an incredibly talented and dedicated photographer who always manages to get the shots we need and more.

There is this fantastic quote from Dallon that arrives towards the end of the interview: “I think it’s important to not forget that everyone starts out as a fan of something.” It is weird to think about, but it is so true.

A year ago, Suburban Rose released

our first print issue, something I never could have imagined back when I was “just” a fan of music. Cut to now and I have grown even further. I am no longer terrified of phone interviews, I am selling ads, I am writing things that are meaningful to me. And I am still a fan of so much art, because without that, what is there to strive for?

Thank you to all staff and contributors for this issue. And to our readers, enjoy.

Alex Music, EIC suburbanrosealex@gmail.com

Photos (clockwise from top): Molly McCaul, Alexandra Thomas, Katalina Vasquez

Photo: Anisha Essani

Please respect our staff/community. Material from this magazine may not be reproduced without credit to or permission from its owner, which when not stated is Suburban Rose LLC.

table of

contents what’s been new? 4 internet indie awards 6 missio 10 art from our readers 16 scarlett stevens of san cisco 18 single use 21

i dont know how but they found me 26 summer homes 36 hunny 40 hayden calnin 46 ARIZONA live 49 MUNA & representation 52 the millennial club 56 escape 58 not over 59 trending 60

community.

a q u a r t e r ly c h at w i t h o u r re a d e r s .

WHAT’S BEEN NEW? What song has been your jam this summer?

Tour of the summer?

@kayla.spaar

@arceliaalopez

@pizzapartywill.jpg

Dream festival headliners? troye sivan and lany -@jennabroussard

@treeweekes

Chvrches, EZI, Valley, & Drive!Drive!

-@the_musicenthusiast the 1975 or von wegen lisbeth -@noshitwill The Strokesssss -@madiflorence

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katalina vasque z IG: @katalinan a

SuburbanRose.Com | @SuburbanRoseMag

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suburban rose magazine presents...

INTERNET INDIE AWARDS the hottest new independent artists who are finding their niche online, nominated and chosen by our readers.

x#1- Mom Rock

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Boston-based Mom Rock placed first in the Internet Indie Awards by a significant margin. When asked about their favorite part of being an indie band in 2019, they responded: “There’s a strong and inviting community of artists supporting each other, especially in the college music scene in Boston. People are building venues in their houses, booking bands, promoting shows, writing, engineering, mixing, and mastering great music, and thriving while doing it. Everyone wants to see something crazy and energetic, and that pushes us to put on the best shows possible whether we’re playing in someone’s basement or on a festival stage. Also, the unpredictability of how far our music can reach is extremely exciting, because it’s so easy to release the music we want to make independently without oversight of a major label (unless you count our moms <3).”

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#2- The Polar Boys The Polar Boys make indie rock/pop jams evocative of their Miami roots. “We are extremely grateful for having listeners that engage with us as much as they do,” the band says of their audience. “Most people that find out about us are told through word of mouth from our experience, which means there’s a ton of people out there actively spreading and promoting us, which is not only exciting, but humbling.

Our listeners believe in us, and we think we’re gonna make them really proud with what’s coming next.”

Background Photo: Alexandra Thomas; Photos (in order): annatxrres (IG), Steph Estrada, Isabel Epstein

x#3- Natalie Claro

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Natalie Claro is taking the world by storm, returning soon with some stellar new releases. “My short album Selfish Topics comes out August 10th, preceded by a single ‘Seven Twenty Seven.’ I wrote every song in my room or in different motels while on tour last year, recorded it in various studios throughout the country like Spotify Secret Genius and Warner Brother Studios, and did all my electronic production on my tiny MacBook air in practically any coffee shop I could access. [I’m] very excited to promote mental health and self care being that this is what my next ~era~ focuses on. After that I’m hitting the road and destroying every city that will welcome me.”

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#4- YOUTHFOOL Exactly a year ago, YOUTHFOOL were featured in Suburban Rose Issue 1. Since then: “There has been tremendous amount of growth both within and outside the constraints of the band YOUTHFOOL. As people, we’ve focused a lot on the mature energy that we’re looking to bring in our songs, while still keeping that youthful energy that we always want to be known for. As a collective band, we’ve grown from a confidence perspective to make the kind of music that WE want to hear. Stepping out of our comfort zone, especially from a creative perspective can be difficult, and weird shit can happen, but we’ve continued to move forward, and we can’t wait to show the world everything else that we have to offer.”

x#5- Glass Cactus Glass Cactus has seen overwhelming support within their scene in the time that they’ve been releasing music. They take pride in the indie prefix, making it clear that for them, it’s all about the creativity that artists all around are tapping into to make art that has true personal meaning. “To us, indie music means our ability to express the rawest ideas we have as well as a medium to share the result, even if it is unnecessary or just widely inaccessible—especially if it is inaccessible.”

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sponsored

Background Photo: Alexandra Thomas; Photos (in order): Sidney Tep, Alexander Lam

missio

What is your first music related memory?

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Matthew: I was scared shitless when I was seven, I think. It was my first piano recital and my piano teacher would invite all of her students over to her house with all of the parents watching.

I just remember being a kid and being so nervous to play the piano in front of people.

David: This is kind of a weird one, but growing up my mom was into country music. She was specifically into George Strait. I hardly have a recollection of this memory because I was so young, but she tells me this story of how I was in my room, standing on top of the table, doing air guitar and singing. She walked in

photos & interview: alexandra thomas

and I was super embarrassed; which was such a weird and out of character thing for me to be doing at the time.

What drew you to the music industry?

David: For me, it’s more about creating art than music, per se. It’s more than just music for me. I think I was drawn to it from a really early age. It was interesting to me that a person could come up with a band—and you started with nothing—then you’d write songs and you’d name your band and all of a sudden there’s something. I’ve just been really attracted to creating stuff and putting all of the pieces around it. It just makes sense to me.

Matthew: I agree with that. I never tried to be in the music industry. I always just wrote because I had to write to get stuff out. It’s funny how life brings you into where you’re supposed to be. When we signed our first major label deal, I just could not believe that we were doing it.

What started out as simply loving writing and playing piano turned into my actual job. It’s pretty exciting.

Which of your lyrics have the most meaning to you?

Matthew: I think mine’s still, “You’re not a monster, I’m not a monster, but we have monsters inside of us.” I think that says so much on the surface, but when you really dive into that, it can mean so many things. Despite people’s issues and struggles that they have, I love that we all have monsters, but you’re not a monster. We just have these things inside of us—whether it’s impatience or anger or depression or anxiety, we all have these things, but it doesn’t make us those things.

David: I’m going to give a two-part answer. I was going to say a very similar lyric, but from “Animal.” “I’m an animal, you’re an animal.”

I think that ultimately “I See You” as a collection of lyrics is my favorite. Collectively, it really says everything that I would ever want to say; because it’s a connection song. It’s bringing people eye to eye. It’s not about the differences, but about seeing each other.

It goes through the bad and the good. For example, in the third verse, once you get through, “I see you when you’re down and depressed, I see

you when you’re lying, I see all these little things,” when you get to the third verse and it’s, “I see you when you chase all the dreams inside your head,” you know, the good things—I see all of that. And to me, the collective balance in a song is amazing.

What are your favorite and least favorite parts of this industry?

Matthew: My least favorite part of this industry is that I don’t feel like anyone knows what they’re doing. I feel like everyone is just guessing, and that really sucks.

David: My least favorite part, in some ways, is also my favorite part. It’s money. My least favorite part is that we have to make everybody money for us to continue to do this—a lot of people, including ourselves, we have to provide for ourselves—and that pressure is something I wish we could not have to deal with. I also love—and it’s been one of the most satisfying and fulfilling things that I’ve ever experienced— creating art from a pure place

and being able to provide for my family. Like, what a great and beautiful gift that is also a double-edged sword. I would say the politics and the suits and the labels, but that’s all money. It’s all money.

Matthew: I love our fans. I know that they aren’t considered to be music industry per say, but we can’t do what we do without the fans. We can do what we do without the music industry and labels and stuff, but we can’t do it without people listening. So I love the fans.

David: I am so idealistic about when fans actually appreciate and hear music. When I hear music and I react to it... it is really special to see fans do that. To see fans hear a song and make it their own, relate to it, and be a part of it, that’s the best.

What musicians have helped you to grow as an artist?

David: I think our producer, Dwight Baker. Not a lot of people know how much time [he puts in]. I worked with him for five years as an audio engineer.

He has a background as a musician, as a drummer, as all of these things. He’s such a good producer and such a good songwriter. He plays in a band called The Wind and the Wave, which is truly one of my favorite artists. He also

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happens to be one of our best friends.

I think about the types of people that have had real influences on me, and no one has had more of an influence than him. He always brings it back to, “Why are you doing what you’re doing?”, which is an important place to come from.

Matthew: I would say Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie, [from] an inspirational standpoint. He has shaped a lot of my love for music and melodies. I think he’s one of the top-notch music and melodies people out there.

Then, from a personal standpoint, my buddy, Chad Carouthers. He was the very first guy to push me to do a record on my own. I didn’t know anything about anything, and I remember working with him for a week and a half. He lived in Dallas and I was in Austin. I drove back home from Dallas to Austin and I turned on the X and Y record from Coldplay. It was the first time after seeing how he worked little by little: guitar, and then add drums, and then building the track. It was the first time I listened to a song and was like, “Oh, I never heard that part. I never heard this! I never heard this!” I had separated the music for the first time and it blew my mind. I remember thinking on the way home, “I’ll never be able to listen to music the same from this point on,” because then I knew how it worked, and I didn’t know before that.

So, Chad pushed me into what the producer life is like and what it’s like to make a record. I was so excited.

What’s your favorite song off of your new album, The Darker the Weather//The Better the Man? Matthew: I think “I See You.” I listened to that 150 times. I just could not get enough. I could not believe that we got to be a part of writing that song.

David: It feels really cool for me personally, getting to have pieces of my personal story on the record. The song “Do You Still Love Me Like You Used To?” is really special to me and my wife. When we set out to write

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cont. this record, we could have just written a very dark record like we did on the first one, but instead, we both made an effort to go out further. That allowed us to explore different areas. For me personally, getting to have a song that I know is so true and can remind me [of good] even in times of like, “God damn, this sucks.” That’s a good thing for me.

When you released your song “Rad Drugz” you asked people what their rad drugz were. What would you say are your top three?

David: Number one for me, I have a long, long, standing work addiction.

I’m a perfectionist that will not rest. I will sacrifice any and all relationships in my life over it.

“I could not believe that we got to be a part of writing that song.”

Matthew: You’re a perfectionist for the things that you love.

David: Yes. If I don’t care about it then it’s gone.

Matthew: [Laughs] You and I are very similar there.

David: That’s what I struggle with most, in that it affects the people I love the most.

Matthew: My first one would be Grizzly Wintergreen tobacco. I’m trying to quit it, but man, if I go a day without it, I am a bitch. [Laughs] I am a mean, mean asshole. My second would probably be trying to be original, trying to be different than everyone else.

I spend way too much time thinking about that. And third would probably be Netflix. It’s been really nice on this tour. We haven’t had time to do much so I haven’t watched much, but when I’m home, I love Netflix way too much.

David: My second one would be the phone. My wife and I talk about it all the time. We go through these long ass days, we’re so tired, and you’d think at the end of the day you would come home and just want to lay in bed and talk and comfort each other. But we just get on our fucking phones, and it’s terrible! You feel like you need it! My third thing is something I’m not even trying to change; I crave my comfort foods from home whenever I’m on the road. I just went home and literally went on the restaurant tour of Austin.

I went to all my favorite spots and it was like, “Alright! Here we go!”

It was pretty bad. I’d put that at number three, although, I’m not mad about that. (Laughs.)

If you could only be known by the world for one of your songs, which would you want it to be and why?

Matthew: “I See You.” I think that song just speaks to so many

tear out for a double-sided poster

m people. In this day and age, there are so many hurting people. We have a lot of really awesome songs, but what I love about “I See You” is it impacts people in a positive way. I think I would want to be known by that over anything.

David: Same. More than any one song, I think our goal is to make connections with people, so that song is right in line with our hearts. If we boil it all down, that’s what we really wanted to do.

Matthew: That or “Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea,” just because I love that song.

What’s been the most difficult thing you’ve had to deal with as an artist?

David: Dealing with my own expectations—especially as you grow and get bigger opportunities—your expectations grow. You think you’re in control like, “Oh, if we do this, then this is going to happen.” For me, [it’s] just having to remind myself that no matter what, we are really not in control, like this journey we’re on is just kind of happening and we are going to make the best decisions we can. Sometimes things are going to go really well, and other times things aren’t going to go that well. So just learning when your expectations aren’t met. We both have our goals, we’re driven, and we want to do stuff, but when our expectations aren’t met, not being overwhelmingly in the dark-

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ness of that. And trying to see the balanced other side and the reality of that.

It’s hard not to get sucked into every single thing that’s going wrong in this big of an operation.

Matthew: I lean more cynical towards life. Sometimes I’m overpowered. [I know that positivity] is available to me.

But sometimes I just love being cynical and really dark, and I don’t even want to take the time to be positive. As an artist that can be difficult, because you can impact a lot of people with hope. I think you can impact more people with hope than with cynicism and I think the world needs to hear more of [that versus] the glass half empty thinking. It’s tough sometimes to want to be positive when I have no positivity in me whatsoever.

David: Or it’s tough to resonate and feel authentic in your positivity.

What was your reaction to hearing one of your songs on the radio for the first time?

David: It was so surreal. The first time I heard it, I turned on Alt Nation. My wife was in the car. It was hard to believe for me, even still. I’ve heard our stuff on the radio a handful of times now here and there and it’s still just shocking to me. Thankfulness is still the reaction. I’ve been a part of writing so many songs whose outward stated

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goals were to be on the radio and it’s just so hard. It’s so hard to do. So, when it does happen, just thankfulness.

Matthew: I had heard it in my car in Austin several times and I was like, “Oh this is cool.” But in my head, I was like, “Oh this is just local radio or whatever.” What impacted me was we were in Denver one time and I heard Alt Nation playing in an Uber and our song came on and I was like, “OH SHIT! I forgot Alt Nation plays all over the country!

It’s not just in Austin!” So that was really cool for me.

What are your biggest hopes for the future of the band?

David: My biggest hope is that we can set ourselves up for the rest of our careers. We can continue to make art and say what we want to say, play shows for our fans and anyone that wants to appreciate what is happening, our show, the music, what we’re saying, whatever.

And we can go and play shows and write music and do it our way. I think if I’m able to do that I’m going to be really, really stoked on my life. Regardless of if we’re playing Madison Square Garden or if we’re playing 500 cap rooms, if we’re able to write music that matters to us and push any creative boundaries we want to push, it’s going to be really cool.

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community.

art f ro m

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readers

virginia bayne IG: photos.by.vab

from the ashes hot pavement burns the bottom of my feet as I look to the prickly green structure ten feet away a dog strutting by with booties and its owner yapping on a phone that could overheat any second a bright yellow ball blazing like the kids who yell a string of numbers wanting to get ignited as if mimicking the caves of my arms the back of my neck warm like cake out of the oven a word I wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t use will scoff at when compared to whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s between my legs in this summer that never ends sticky hearts and loud mouths large caverns and cool shops my home and my hell

-tiana gaudioso IG: tianatakespoetry

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katalina vasquez IG: katalinana

bex saunders IG: bexsaundersphotography

scarlett stevens of san cisco

interview by mia mcgill

How did you first get into drums?

So my dad is a music manager and before that, my mum and dad owned a live music venue in Fremantle, where we’re all from. So I grew up just watching lots of bands play, and then when my dad started managing bands, I went on tour with one of the bands that he was working with, ‘cause I was, like, ten at the time, and they just brought me along for the tour.

Jack Johnson was the main act and an artist my dad manages was supporting, and somewhere on this tour, there was, like, a barbecue and a drum kit at this house, and Jack Johnson’s drummer showed me how to play a basic rock beat. That’s what kind of set me off on my path drumming—I just really liked it and then I begged my parents to let me take lessons.

You’ve been singing on the band’s tracks since early on with the Awkward EP—how did the singing/drumming dynamic come about?

I just got thrown into [it], because the producer and the boys were like, “you have to sing on this track”—and that song was written in the space of, like, two hours. It all just happened really quickly, like all of a sudden I was just singing on a song and I didn’t really have a say in the matter. And then when it came time to learn it for our live set, it was actually just something that kind of came naturally—I could do both at the same time. But I don’t do anything too crazy on the drums, and as long as I’m not doing drum fills, I can hold a beat and sing at the same time. You just find a way to get the lyrics and the rhythms to interlock, and yeah—it always kind of works out in my head. It takes a few tries, and once it’s there, it’s locked in.

Photo:s Olivia Senior

How about some of your other projects— like I’ve listened to some of the Ghetto Crystals tracks on Triple J Unearthed…

That’s my uncle’s project, so I just kind of joined just to have fun and do something that’s completely out of my realm. It’s something fun to do on the side—of course, San Cisco’s always my

main project, but saying yes to things like that when those sort of opportunities come along… like I did play in Jay [Watson] from Pond’s band, GUM, and that’s really good—you always learn something from it, from the experience, and just get better at your craft, ‘cause I’ll push to learn things a different way—especially with the GUM stuff, ‘cause I was learning Jay’s drum beats, and I was like, “oh I would never do that, but that’s so cool,” like it just makes you better.

one would take you seriously because you’re a kid, and you’re constantly being told that you only got gigs because you were cute, and then becoming a woman, it’s kind of the same thing— you just have to put up with people being assholes. I did have a really tough time in the early years of touring with San Cisco, just because no one was really talking about the kinds of issues that are, like, so talked about now, which is amazing, and I feel like the landscape has completely changed.

Speaking of stuff on the side, tell me a little bit about how you got into DJing.

I know in the US there’s a lot of controversy surrounding festivals booking really low percentages of female acts— most festivals have lineups with under 25% of the acts having any women in them at all.

My mum and dad used to buy records back in the day and have a big record collection, and so I always just had a

“I feel like the landscape has completely changed.” play around vinyl and would just say yes to DJ gigs without even knowing what I was doing and just bring vinyl and just fade in and fade out. It’s just about song selection for me, like, just playing songs I love and I don’t really overthink the mixing side of things— I’m not like a big party DJ or anything.

At what point do you feel like people in the industry started treating you differently as a female?

Well, I guess I’ve been doing gigs since I was twelve, and being in, like, a kid band—‘cause my band before San Cisco was The Flairz—and then no

That movement is really big in Australia—lineups without males, and I think it’s really big there since the scene is a lot smaller so it’s easier to make people aware of these issues, but in America, it seems to be a bit less so. We always tour with female-led bands or female solo artists, because it’s just a better energy—if you’re on a four-week tour, I don’t want it to be all dudes—it’s just nicer. I think people are getting tired of seeing the same, just five guys on a stage.

Have you ever found that any male drummers or industry professionals will “mansplain” things to you—like assuming you don’t know as much because you’re a woman?

Yeah, definitely. Like in the really early days of gigging, guys would just come to me with unsolicited advice about, like, what gear I should have or how I should play. And they just felt like they could comment on my playing style and my equipment. And also—I don’t care, [because] I’m not a drum nerd.

I care about drumming, but I don’t care about having the coolest lightest case or cymbal, [so] it would drive me nuts. And so many backhanded compliments, like, “You’re great… for a girl,” and it’s like, most of my favorite drummers are women. Female drummers happen to be some of the best drummers, like Chloe [Saavedra] from Chaos Chaos. I also used to work in SuburbanRose.Com | @SuburbanRoseMag

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a record store, and you’d answer the phone, and immediately people would just be like, “I need to speak to one of the guys there.” Like, about what?

Do you find that people who come to your live shows are surprised that you’re the drummer?

I think if they’re coming to the shows, they already have a good idea, but whenever I’m out during the day—going shopping and meeting people— when I tell people I’m on tour and play in a band, they’re always like, “Are you the singer?” and I say that I’m the drummer, it’s always such a big deal for people, which is nice, I guess. People always assume you’re the singer.

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What advice would you offer to any female musicians intimidated by the prospect of starting a band?

I think it’s a really positive time for women to be in music, and there’s always support for you there. If you encounter some sexist behavior or sexist comment, you can always talk to other women about it, and I just think there are some really good people in the industry… now. I can’t imagine what it was like in the 70s or 80s, but I think we’re just in a really good place at the moment, in music. I think you’ve just got to go for it—the only way to learn how to do it is to just do it. And just have fun with it! I think if you have huge expectations—I mean, it’s great to be career-driven, but you just don’t

know with music, where it could take you, and that’s the best thing about it—that you can always have fun with it and it can be a hobby, and I think when you let go of wanting to “make it,” that’s probably when you’re gonna have success.

When can we expect new music from you guys? Will you be singing more?

We’re playing a new song tonight, and then hopefully the album will be out next year. And we’ve got a couple singles out this year—we played this new song for the first time in Minneapolis; [the crowd] loved it. And yup, a little bit—more so than the last album.

SINGLE USE A PH OT O SE RI ES BY

BETHANY CAMP SuburbanRose.Com | @SuburbanRoseMag

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ver since I learned that every plastic water bottle you throw away takes hundreds to thousands of years to degrade, it has made me much more aware about how much single-use plastic I use. I came across a more contemporary practice that Coca-Cola has started called the plant bottle, which uses processed sugarcane in order to help create plastic so that it can be fully recyclable. These images of the plastic plant bottle among the sugarcane, sugar, and molasses represent where these new types of recyclable bottles have come from and the renewable resource direction that companies are trying to gradually switch to. However, there are still many issues with using single-use plastic in the first place because it is still creating more plastic that requires a myriad of resources to be able to recycle.

Even though sugarcane is a renewable resource, the amount of water, chemicals, and energy needed to grow and process this much sugarcane is still detrimental to the environment. According to the World Wildlife Fund, sugarcane requires more water to grow compared to most other crops.

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Other bio based materials, such as corn, sugar beets, and wheat, can also be utilized to help make plastic.

Being educated about where our plastic comes from and what it takes to make it is very important since the sheer volume of plastic bottles in our world can make it seem like an unlimited resource at times. These images of the plant bottles and the sugar factory are made to educate and remind the viewer about how many resources go into making plastic bottles, even when they are plant bottles. When I first started this project I had thought that the plant bottle would be the answer to the problem of single-use plastic. However, it seems that at this point any kind of bottle that is only used once and then discarded will still require way more resources than a consumer would expect and then it will turn into waste after just one use. Reusable water bottles are the best choice for the environment, but sometimes they are not an option, so continuing to learn about where our single-use plastic water bottles come from and what processes they go through after we use them is very important so that we can understand what impact they have on our environment.

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from the cover.

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I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME ARTICLE / INTERVIEW: ALEX MUSIC PHOTOS: ALEXANDRA THOMAS

D A L L O N W E E K E S O N A P O S T R O P H E S , A U T H E N T I C I T Y, A N D FA N D O M .

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PLEASE NOTE: The band’s name is spelled in a unique way… No apostrophe in ‘Dont’ and no comma after ‘How.’”

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found this notice placed midway into the confirmation email for my telephone interview with Dallon Weekes, the frontman and bassist of the ostentatiously named alternative band I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME. Shorthand, their name is stylized as “iDKHOW” (“Small ‘i’ - Cap ‘DKHOW,’” the email further stresses). This moniker has always evoked within me a curious feeling. There’s something dire about it. Megalomaniacal, yet nonchalant. A quick Google search reveals that it is a line taken from Back To The Future.

But why the lackadaisical punctuation?

I Googled a bit more, and it turned out that trusted names like Genius, Songkick, and Wikipedia incorrectly display the band’s name with an apostrophe in the “Dont.” This explained the wariness of the email, but I was still unaware of the reasoning behind it all.

So, days later, I introduced myself to Weekes and opened the discussion by expressing my weird desire to know that very truth. I was gifted with what every journalist craves from an interview.

Piqued interest, and the words “No one’s ever asked me that before.”

He went on to answer succinctly: “I used to be in a band where punctuation was a big deal, so I just wanted to take the opposite approach and get rid of it all.”

This quote is best understood in the context of Weekes’ immediately prior musical foray, a multi-year stint with Panic! at the Disco (note the exclamation mark), in which he came to achieve official membership with his contributions on Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!, the band’s fourth studio album, only to wane back into the title of touring member during the following Death of a Bachelor album cycle. In late 2017, he announced his departure from the project altogether, his heart set on focusing wholly on iDKHOW, the band he and former Falling in Reverse drummer Ryan Seaman had been writing for and performing as in secret since 2016.

“I am keen to move on [from being defined by Panic! at the Disco], but, you know, in a respectful way, because it

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iDKHOW

+ for suburban rose magazine

was part of my life for almost a decade,” Weekes clarifies. “It’s part of my resume and it’s not like I’m ashamed of that or anything, but looking forward and moving ahead is something that I really want to do and look forward to.”

But it is important to remember that understanding iDKHOW’s past is integral to understanding who they are today, as this is not the first time that Weekes and Seaman have collaborated musically. In the late 2000s, they were part of a band called The Brobecks. Fans of the two musicians praise and support The Brobecks’ discography to this day, which Weekes describes as “amazing and incredibly validating” for a band which hasn’t formally existed since nearly a decade ago.

He continues, “At the time when we were doing The Brobecks it was a struggle to gain people’s attention and get an audience. And we did it okay; we reached a certain level as a local band in Salt Lake City. Touring regionally, we did okay, too. But never enough to sell out a 700-cap room, or something like that.

We never got to reach that status.”

At live shows, iDKHOW have chosen to play select songs from The Brobecks days. While Weekes subscribes to the mindset that crowd size does not matter (“It feels the same for me whether I’m playing for 20,000 people or 20 people”), he admits that there is something special about hearing the large rooms of people on their most recent tour recognizing and belting along to old Brobecks songs. “To have a room that size singing

“IT FEELS THE SAME FOR ME WHETHER I’M PLAYING FOR 20,000 PEOPLE OR 20 PEOPLE.” SuburbanRose.Com | @SuburbanRoseMag

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[those] songs… means a lot.”

One of the most interesting aspects of iDKHOW’s growth was their choice to start their journey in secrecy, dropping information about the concept around their band through posts that call analogue media to mind. “I think [this] was just a result of seeing the current landscape for music and advertising that you ‘have to’ live in, especially if you’re a new band. I mean, everywhere you look right now, you’re constantly being sold something. You know, ‘follow us here, subscribe to that, make sure to comment...’ blah, blah, blah, blah. There’s this weird, in-yourface, nonstop stream of being told what to do all the time.” So Weekes thought back to his own youth to develop the iDKHOW aesthetic. “The best way to [go against all] that was to sort of emulate the way that I discovered bands when I was young.” These, he explains, were the days of MTV, music stores, and talk shows, and unless you followed up on an artist you heard, there was a chance

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you would never hear them again. “You had to put in some work to track down a band that you connected with.”

The secrecy around iDKHOW when they first began to enter the scene “definitely [helped] build a foundation of hardcore fans,” Weekes reminisces.

“Starting in secret like that really created this sort of exclusivity. We became this little secret that people had that they shared with their friends, and then I think it really set the tone for our fanbase. Not only in terms of how excited they were to be a part of this whole secret, but it also created this group of detectives, almost, [who] find out every little thing that we’re doing. Nowadays, they find things out even before we know, which is insane.” His tone was more impressed than anything.

This anecdote made me think back to a few years before my work in the music industry began, back to when the most I could say about my relationship with musicians was that I was a fan of many. There was once a time when I

“WE BECAME THIS LITTLE SECRET THAT PEOPLE HAD THAT THEY SHARED WITH THEIR FRIENDS.”

“EVERYONE STARTS OUT AS A FAN OF SOMETHING.” could intimately relate to the simultaneous solidarity and shame these iDKHOW fans certainly feel in relation to their own zeal for the band. Solidarity, because they have found collective solace in otherwise niche art, then shame, because, to the general population, this widely uncharted source of fulfillment through connections facilitated by the internet can appear nuanced and strange.

But Weekes makes it clear the immense emphasis that he places on the principle of fandom, augmented by his status as an unapologetic fan of much himself (Teenage Mutant Ninja

Turtles, Iggy Pop, and his wife and children are a few entities that he lists explicitly within the interview). And to those who foster shame among fans?

“I just have such a distaste for all of that,” he admits. “...There [are] way too many people and places I’ve seen, especially around L.A. and Hollywood, that [create] a very ‘us’ and ‘them’ atmosphere when it comes to fans. They sort of forget what it’s like. They get more concerned about being seen a certain way—status and popularity and celebrity and all that stuff.... I think it’s important to not forget that everyone starts out as a fan of something.”

Dallon Weekes has evolved quite dramatically, from a self-proclaimed fanboy to a man who can omit an apostrophe from his band name if that is what he so desires. He is creating his own grammar, and with it, forging a more independent path in an extremely commercialized era of music.

So perhaps his words speak the most important truth to remember as we stand peering at the precipice of fame, of fear, of change. As we begin, so forever we continue—at least as fans of something.

SuburbanRose.Com | @SuburbanRoseMag

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summer homes a celebration of the modern music festival scene

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photos/words by

molly mccaul “Don’t skip over the small bands during the day. Even if you don’t know them, man, they’ve got some energy.”

Supporting local and up-and-coming art has never been unimportant, to say the least, but this past June the sentiment rang louder than ever. These innocuous words of wisdom would any other day seem common sense, but, coming from an idyllic-looking former Deadhead basking in the violet light of Death Cab for Cutie’s Saturday set at Firefly Music Festival, they became a microcosm of the larger charm of festival culture.

Just one of my many newfound friends later lost to the hustle and bustle of the Woodlands’ pits, the gentleman who offered this advice was far from alone in his beliefs. Throughout the weekend, massive crowds gathered at stages like the Bud Light Dive Bar, where Magic Giant crooned to a hundred people packed into a viewing area made for thirty, the Treehouse (and its low-rise stage, which

was no match for throngs of half•alive fans), and the Hideaway Stage, aptly named for its cozy location just off the beaten path where the likes of Hippo Campus and later Jukebox the Ghost played backed by a soaring forest.

Even after three days, the fest had enough music and enough enthusiasm from attendees to give every act the star moment they yearned to have—an endless sea of fans taking in their momentous live shows.

It seems a major feat for a band billed at the bottom of a fest lineup to bring in such expansive, invigorated crowds, and partially this is owed to the sheer size of fests themselves. Ever since 1969’s Woodstock brought in a million concertgoers, festivals have been rapidly expanding, and Firefly is not alone in its ability to lure in fans. As reported by Nielsen Music, a whopping 32 million people attended at least one music festival in 2014, with the average festival goer travelling over 900 miles to attend.

It’s become a trend that seems to no longer rely on a fest’s ability to book big-name headliners to entice visitors; festivals have gone from a local activity for music lovers to a social movement and near rite of passage for the summer season.

Perhaps that’s part of the beauty of festival season: it brings together people of countless backgrounds under the common bond of the experience.

For those three or four days, you can be whoever you really are (or whoever you really want to be), because the likelihood is that you won’t be the only one. In fact, no matter how outlandish, those tens of thousands of strangers around you won’t even look twice, because anything goes. Festivals draw every crowd from young teens to pop aficionados to retirees to indie-centric college kids, and for a little bit they’re all the same people with the same goal—to escape the hazards of everyday life and enjoy something so much bigger than themselves.

Something special that seems to happen at festivals, surrounded by so many people of so many backgrounds, is that unbridled creativity comes to light. Festivals like Glastonbury are known for their sea of flags, and seemingly in response others here in North America have caught on. At Firefly alone, one could see a spattering of Danny DeVito-themed posters, a cardboard “Bolbi Malone” (Post Malone’s signature tattoos on the Jimmy Neutron recurring character’s likeness, in honor of the former’s Sunday set), and inflatable dinosaurs all bouncing

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with friends I made online… we all stayed together and saw our favorite bands together,” while another looked fondly back on an impromptu set from a big-name artist at Sea Hear Now 2018. “Bruce Springsteen surprised everybody by coming on stage to play a few songs with [punk band Social

Distortion]. The crowd went crazy— it’s New Jersey, everybody loves The Boss!” No matter who you ask, their favorite festival memories stem from the music itself, and with fests offering bigger, bolder, more varied lineups, that may soon be an opportunity for all music fans, even those of under-the-ra-

“There’s no right way to attend a fest.”

Chart: Patrick Jenkins (Pitchfork)

along to the music.

The spirit of self-expression has permeated all aspects of festival culture, from the ever-popular glitter hair looks to signs even more creative than a high school class election’s, and it’s an awe-inspiring thing to witness. In a world full of conformity and uniformity, the general anonymity that festival weekends allow is all it takes for folks to feel most at ease with their most expressive selves.

At the end of the day, though, the heart and soul of these events is their artists. In an informal survey I conducted of festival goers, all of them gave the lineup as a major reason for attending. People, after all, want to see the bands that make them fall in love with music, and having a lineup of 1012 favorite bands can prove to be much more financially savvy than attending just as many individual shows.

When asked about a favorite memory, it wasn’t about enjoying food or taking in the atmosphere that stood out the most, but seeing bands with like-minded music fans. One respondent reminisced on Music Midtown 2018, where she “was able to meet up

dar or underappreciated genres.

Even still, there is much work to do before festival lineups can be allinclusive, musically and socially. Vox did a deep dive earlier this year into the vast gender disparity at festivals, highlighting the fact that headliners are overwhelmingly male, and only 35% of total artists were female. It reflects the deep-rooted social issues of the value of art, and the value of women’s art especially. One group, Book More Women, is aiming to change that by highlighting the “pervasive gender imbalance that currently plagues music festivals” in order to “provide a visual representation of the problem, start conversations, and work towards better representation on future lineups,” in line with the social awareness that drives so many when it comes to supporting groups and deciding which fests to attend.

However, the future is not entirely bleak. Where certain fests lack, new opportunities arise; in response to the lack of hip-hop representation on Boston Calling’s 2019 lineup, Massachusetts artist Cliff Notez launched his own fest, “Boston Answering,” which was a massive success for local fans and musicians alike. The fest, as WBUR reports, was something of a challenge

to the systems that have oppressed local art (and especially art created by marginalized communities) for as long as commercialization has been prevalent in the music industry. It’s a testament to the power of festivals, whether big or small, that they’ve become so differentiated. Whether catering to a niche or appealing to the masses, music festivals seek to create a sense of belonging for all members of society, and events like Boston Answering and the Book More Women movement are especially important in elevating the most at-risk voices.

Whether you spend your summer cruising up and down the country following festivals or you’re new to the multi-stage scene, there’s an event for everyone. Taking the time to take in the sights and sounds, enjoying the bands you love and those you’ve never heard of before, and simply recognizing the overwhelming beauty of it all is evocative at the least, and inspirational at its most impactful. There’s no right way to attend a fest, and no right way to enjoy music—just don’t forget to follow the bag policy.

SuburbanRose.Com | @SuburbanRoseMag

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HUNNY photos & interview:

audrey battis

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You [just released] your debut album Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. If you had to pick a favorite off of it what would it be?

Kevin: I think my favorite is “Change Your Mind.”

Jason: I’m with Kevin on that one.

Kevin: Good bass riff, good bridge.

Joey: I like “A Slow Death in Pacific Standard Time.” It’s the most different for us, it’s fun.

Jake: I like “Smarter Ways of Saying It” because it’s emo as hell.

Jason: Very eclectic. I like that.

How was making Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. different from previous singles/EPs? Jake: We had more time to do it, we did it close to home, we did it with our

friend Carlos—

Kevin: Space Camp.

Jason: —who is our friend now but we didn’t know him going in, and we did it with a real producer this time. Our first EP was with a real producer as well, but we haven’t done that since then. So it’s been like four years of just doing everything ourselves.

Jake: No, I actually put my name down at Starbucks as Clifford. They call Clifford out and I go to get my latte, and it’s not my latte, it’s a cold brew. It’s got vanilla cream in it—I don’t want that! Turns out, these guys all also put Clifford down as their name. So, that’s how we met.

Jake: And Carlos is awesome and made the studio super comfortable. It was the most relaxed we’ve ever been recording.

What’s your favorite song to play live?

Jason: And we spent more time on it.

Jake: My favorite song to play live is probably “Televised.” Why? The tempo change in the chorus.

Jake: I said that already.

Jason: It’s fun.

Jason: [Laughs] You did? Oh, then we’re good.

Jason: I don’t like that one as much on this tour because I have to play guitar on it now.

How did you all meet?

Jason: Playing music.

Kevin: I also don’t like it that he plays guitar on it.

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Jason: [Laughs] See? Nobody’s happy about it.

Jason: Mine’s gotta be “Saturday Night.”

Joey: I’m liking “Slow Death” because we come out hot with that one first and people are like “What the heck is going on?” and it’s a new song and— Jake: Also a tempo change in that song.

Jason: Three of them.

You’ve gone on tour in support of multiple bands in the recent years. Will we see a Hunny headline tour anytime soon?

Jason: We want to... I think we will do one, but it’s not planned. It’s not in the books yet.

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Jake: We will do one, just not yet.

We’ve been offered a few fun things with bands we love, so we’re gonna do those because we like to tour with bands that we like. So after that, for sure.

Jake: I’d be interested, let’s give it a month and hit the poll again. I want to see if we take it to the streets the answer will stay the same. That being said, “Saturday Night” feels like a late summer track.

I made a poll recently on twitter about which single off Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.—

Jason: Oh, interesting.

Joey: that was you! I saw that [Laughs] Yeah, it was—about which was a better summer anthem and “Lula, I’m Not Mad” won. Agree or disagree?

Joey: “Lula” is pretty frickin’ summery.

Jason: It is, although “Saturday” [has] got good summer vibes too, though.

Joey: “Saturday” just wasn’t released first, so it didn’t have the bigger push.

Jake: It’s like September, it’s winding down.

Jason: You’re like, “I gotta go back to school—” Jake: “—And I’m gonna stay inside.”

Jason: A little bit more emo.

tear out for a double-sided poster

Jake: Exactly. I’m not listening to it at the beach, I’m listening to it at home on a Saturday night.

Jake: Did they?

Jason: Yeah, it’s really great.

Joey: Didn’t they?

Jake: We love coffee.

If you could choose any artist (or band) to collab with, who would it be?

Jake: I dont think so. In your dreams, maybe.

Kevin: I’d like a Charli XCX collab.

Joey: Well, maybe they will now. Putting that out into the universe.

Jason: [Laughs] They do have a good coffee machine. “Darth Latte” is its name.

Jason: I’m into that. That’s a great answer.

Kevin: She’s just writing hits left and right.

Jake: The catchiest choruses.

Jason: Let’s just leave it there.

What was the best part about signing to Epitaph Records?

Jason: Everything.

Kevin: Yeah, the best part is just getting a group of people that back us.

Joey: Or Kero Kero Bonito.

Jake: They understand what we wanna do, they support us...

Jason: Ooooh.

Kevin: It’s a family.

Joey: You know, what’d be cool is if we could get the two of them to collab together, because they did stuff together.

Jake: They’re awesome. Also, the coffee machine at their label office is fantastic.

What did your songwriting process look like, for Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. or beyond?

Jason: It all depends. One of us comes in with an idea and then we kind of flush it out on acoustic guitar.

Jake: Or just sit at Kev’s house with his laptop with stuff plugged in and just try different things. Trying not to top line on songs, and just write the song as it comes.

Jason: Yeah, we rarely just sit in our practice space with our amps on full blast and just jam stuff out anymore.

Jake: It’s more stripped down, yeah.

HAYDEN CALNIN SAYS “FUCK YOU

COLLINGWOOD”

AND FINDS HIS LONG LOST INSPIRATION IN A HOUSE NEAR THE BEACH silvia pellegrino

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ustralian singer and songwriter Hayden Calnin made a comeback in June with a brand new single, “F**k Collingwood.” Between a day at the studio preparing his next EP and the next, he found some time to exchange a few words with me during a Skype call.

After a friendly chat about how life was going, I asked him if anything changed in himself and his music compared to when his last EP Dirt came out. He said, “I wasn’t feeling very inspired to write in the last couple of years… nothing I was writing felt genuine or deserving to be put out. I basically spent the last two years working with other artists […] just to help other people and get with the community. This next EP is very different; it is still pretty experimental and, well, sad… but it is shining a Issue Five

light on a different kind of emotion. [...] It is a little bit more hopeful and it has a lot to do with change rather than being caught in the middle of something.”

Calnin’s music has always been a major part of my life. I will never forget how I felt when I first heard “Coward;” it was as though he had the power to make the simplest song sound ethereal and honest. He believes that an element that every artist should have nowadays is truth.

“Truth to themselves. I have watched a lot of musicians I love just tailor their sounds to what’s going on in radio-land, and it always upsets me because I can see that [it’s] not what they wanna do and they are just caving to the industry instead of sticking to what they believe in.” I couldn’t agree more—record labels can put a

Photo: Spindle Magazine; Art: Gracey Calnin

lot of pressure on an artist, and I believe that the most important aspects of an artist’s career are honesty and authenticity.

Somehow the topic switched to his label, Nettwerk, and I asked if he had some projects that he was looking forward to fulfilling now that he had the means to do so: “No longer being an independent artist is a huge weight off me and my manager’s shoulders, just because we can now focus on what’s best for the art rather than the business. This new music has been ready for like a year but I have not been able to put it out; there’s always gonna be compromises with working with a label, but [Nettwerk have] been the first industry people that I’ve talked with that have felt right and that have got my best interests at heart. I am just excited.” Sometimes having a song ready for a while can be frustrating because the artist just wants to show it to the world but isn’t able to, so hopefully Calnin’s name will be heard a little bit more with the new outreach.

Having a track like “F**k Collingwood” released after the soul-bearing wait post-Dirt was like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Calnin discussed the meaning of the song: “ I t

“I knew I needed to get out of the city to get my head back straight.” below: art for the “F**k Collingwood” single

[just] came out one night. I was out, still living in Collingwood at the time.

I was in a really bad routine with my life, [and] I knew I needed to get out of the city to get my head back straight.

I just found a lot of things slipping in my life, [especially] artistically. […]

Once I had finished uni and started doing other things like music I just didn’t need to be there anymore and the only things that were keeping me there were friends and relationships. […] It wasn’t healthy anymore for my head, so I just made the decision to leave and say, ‘Fuck you Collingwood!’”

Every artist has parts of their work that they are really proud of but also parts that they almost regret putting out. I asked Calnin if he conformed to the rest of his colleagues and, after a heavy sigh and a chuckle, he answered, “Any song off the Dirt EP I am really proud of because it was the first bit of writing where I started being more honest in my lyrics and not turning things into analogies. It felt more real lyrically.

I was really focused on my friends and where they were at rather than where I was at. If I had to choose a song off that it would probably be ‘Waves’ or ‘Collision.’ It was the first time that I told someone that a song was about them,

which is weird.” When I asked about a song he regrets, he said: “A song that I regret… ugh! So many!” We laughed.

“There are songs that I would love to have never done, but a lot of them have helped. As much as I might not enjoy them, other people absolutely adore them, so I can’t say I regret it. But I mean… ‘For My Help.’” At this point, I was staring at him wide-eyed because that was one of my favorite songs ever.

He noticed how surprised I was and started laughing, and then kept going: “It’s one of those songs… it’s been the one song that has been constantly still kicking about and yes, there’s probably a reason for that and I tried to accept that, but at the same time, I haven’t listened to it in years because it just makes me cringe. […] Originally it was an eight-minute song but I didn’t know a thing about radio or what people’s attention spans were like so I redid this

four-minute version. […] As much as I was happy with it at the time, I just didn’t expect it to do what it did! It helped me to continue to do music so I don’t regret it but I think I probably would change it if I could go back in time.”.

After a bit of chitchat about some other songs and their previous versions, such as “Park Beers” and “Coward,” I asked my last question: “Do you think that nowadays it is more important to focus on the lyrics or the actual music?” He shrugged and then said, “I would say the sound. I’ve always personally connected to the feel of music rather than the words, and I think that some songs just don’t need words. On this EP coming out soon, there are two instrumentals because they just kinda spoke for themselves.

But the older I [get] and the more music I [hear,] as soon as I hear a song that

interests me musically there is no way I’m listening to the words either. It’s a funny one. […] I think it probably depends on where your head is at.”

From almost 40 minutes talking with Hayden, I can say I’ve learnt so much more about him and his musical persona. Hayden Calnin is an artist, and I am not using this word randomly. His music carries so much meaning and emotion that is rarely seen in today’s industry. This only makes me more excited about his full comeback in the music scene. It will be full of smooth autotuned vocals and echoed, emotional guitars. We could not ask for anything better.

“I’ve always personally connected to the feel of music...”

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Photo: Al Parkinson

A R I Z O N A

community.

by skylar watkins IG: thesadpunk_

live!

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MUNA’s Upcoming Album and the Importance of Representation audrey battis

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merican alternative pop sensation MUNA return with their newest singles, “Number One Fan,” and “Who.” MUNA, made up of Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson, have revealed “Number One Fan” to be the first single off their new record Saves the World, set to come out September 6th. “Number One Fan” follows an upbeat, catchy rhythm, and the lyrics preach a new kind of self-love. The synth-driven song opens with the line “So I heard the bad news / Nobody likes me and I’m gonna die alone,” a seemingly depressing sentiment until it’s followed by “Wouldn’t you like if I believed those words?” This new single is all about recognizing the negative voices in our minds and learning not to listen to them. Released on June 7th, the single comes just in time to be the perfect summer anthem of self-love and acceptance. “Number One Fan” colors the rest of the album; as MUNA put in one of their tweets, “in some ways i feel i have saved myself and in that way i feel i have saved the world.”

The following single “Who,” released on June 28th, isn’t quite as upbeat as “Number One Fan.” A more open and heartfelt track about unreciprocated love, Gavin poses the question: “I need to know who / Who, who are you singing about?”

“Who” certainly holds the weight and raw emotion that comes from thinking you knew someone, then finding out later that you really didn’t know them at all. Accompanied by the pain of loving someone who doesn’t love you back, Gavin laments in the bridge: “And it Issue Five

Photos: Matteo Mobilio

was like a dream to hear such a sweet melody / But I knew it was not for me”

The video released with “Who” pictures Gavin watching videos of Gaskin and McPherson laughing and embracing. In the sole shot of them with Gavin, however, the two appear cold and disinterested. The song and video paint a painfully clear picture of something we can all relate to: falling for someone who doesn’t feel the same way. The new singles fit into the narrative of the album in their own respective ways, both feeling genuinely introspective and honest.

There’s a bigger reason MUNA are really capable of saving the world.

It’s certainly no coincidence that their two new singles, arriving two years after their last album, came out during pride month. MUNA bring more than representation to the LGBTQ+ community—they bring hope. While

representation has certainly come a long way in recent years, there is still a long way to go. That’s where MUNA come in, seeking to normalize queer narratives in a unifying way. MUNA said in an iHeartRadio interview: “We wrote ‘I Know a Place’ to be like a contemporary anthem for the queer community. [...] We started writing it in 2015 after the Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage, and it was a really celebratory song, but we also knew that there were a lot of people in our community who still [didn’t] feel safe. So we wrote it also as a message of safety and nonviolence. And then it took on a new meaning after the Orlando shooting.” Additionally, during their live performance of the song at Honda Theater in 2017, they changed the bridge to: “Even if our skins or our Gods look different / I believe all human life is significant / I throw my

arms open wide in resistance / he’s not my leader even if he’s my president.” The band members have also talked before the song about how their concert is meant to be a safe space for LGBTQ+ people and people of color.

While certain songs do address LGBTQ+ issues specifically, a lot of MUNA songs focus on universal experiences. While raising and addressing issues the LGBTQ+ community faces is incredibly important, we’re all still human and we all share the same love and heartbreak. MUNA’s dark pop follows these all-inclusive narratives, while still being written for the underrepresented. In a recent interview with Paper Magazine, MUNA expressed their gratefulness for their platform and the ability to share their message, while voicing their frustration that these conversations about representation are still so necessary.

Yes, society has come a long way, but we still have so far to go. In a lot of ways, constantly having to advocate for your identity and lifestyle can be exhausting. At some level, we all just want to be able to live our lives and be accepted for who we are, and not have to constantly fight for that.

This is the kind of safe haven that MUNA build with their music: a place of acceptance and love, a place where the pain and heartbreak we feel is universally understood. In an increasingly divisive society, we need unifying and inclusive music now more than ever.

After all, it is 2019. We have no excuse to not pay attention to the kinds of artists we are supporting.

It’s important that we take the time to really think about this; if you’re streaming their music, you’re support-

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ing them not only as an artist but also as a person. If we want the world to be a better place, if we want the music industry to be a better place, we have to enact that change ourselves. Regardless of your political stance and beliefs, choosing to ignore already marginalized groups doesn’t make you anything other than a bad person. It’s about time we shift the spotlight. Support female artists, support LGBTQ+ artists, support POC artists. I’ll leave you with just one question, the one everyone should be asking themselves: Why aren’t you listening to MUNA yet?

Support female artists, support LGBTQ+ artists, support POC artists.

YOUR AD HERE CONTACT ALEX MUSIC (SUBURBANROSEALEX@GMAIL.COM) FOR PLACEMENT INFO

sponsored

the millennial club i nt e r v i e w by a lex music

What inspired your latest EP, She’s So Insane?

She’s So Insane took us over two years to finish. It’s certainly a short compilation of music, but as our debut to the world, I think it does a really good job of highlighting the spectrum of sounds we want to be known for as a band—as The Millennial Club. I feel like we are mostly known for writing love songs, but I think if you really listen, you’ll find it’s more than that.

What was the recording process like for the EP? When it comes to recording, we tend

to be somewhat of perfectionists.

We’re very DIY in our approach since we don’t necessarily record out of our studio. Of course we get our tracks mixed and mastered [by] some really talented engineers and professionals, but most of the recordings happen in our rooms—which is cool and unexpected because people have told us our music sounds very crisp and pristine.

It tells us we’re doing something right.

What would you say is your favorite song that you’ve written?

Most of our fans know us for our debut single “love is so hard!” but I think we all agree as a band that “MI,” in

particular, is all of our favorites on that release, and there are a lot of good reasons for that. For one, the song took forever to finish; it practically held up the whole entire release.

[It’s] really tough because we tend to be perfectionists when it comes to actually finishing music and calling it “done”—I mean, is a song ever done?

Not to mention, our boy Jake was still in school in South Dakota, and it was terribly hard to finish it without his phenomenal sax solo on the track. Overall, it must’ve taken us 8-10 months to finish that one track.

Can we expect a full length album anytime soon?

We’ve already begun the process of writing our debut album. Our debut EP, She’s So Insane, was a great introduction to our signature sound, but there is so much more coming. The new music will still sound like classic TMC, but with a lot of new styles that only our fans have experienced live.

We don’t have an exact release date for the full-length album yet, but the first single off it will probably come out on Valentine’s Day since we have a band tradition of doing something special for our fans every year on that date. It’s been really exciting, to say the least.

Who or what are some of the inspirations for your music?

It’s really hard to pinpoint specific artists that have inspired our music. Lots of people have opinions about how our music should be labeled as a genre, and we like to think it leans towards pop and R&B with an indie feel.

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We often get compared to The 1975 and LANY, but our influences are defiIssue Five

nitely more eclectic than that. Some of our favorite albums were written by bands that most people don’t expect.

To give you an idea, here are our top 10 favorite albums of all time as a band (in no particular order):

Coldplay - Viva La Vida (Prospekt’s March Edition) Hippo Campus - Landmark Beatenberg - The Hanging Gardens of Beatenberg Mutemath - Armistice Bon Iver - Bon Iver Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix The 1975 - The 1975 (Deluxe Edition) Madeon - Adventure Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow Duran Duran - Rio

What are some goals you have for the future?

When it comes to goals, I think every band tends to have similar goals: get featured in big publications, chart on Billboard, get songs spinning on the radio, or win a Grammy (lol), but for us, touring the world be so sick. We’ve come to develop relationships with fans from places we would have never imagined, like Thailand, The Philippines, Indonesia, Mexico, and [...] the UK. It’s unbelievable that technology has given us the ability to have a platform in all of these countries. It will be very unreal when we play our first international festival.

Are there any upcoming tours or releases we can look forward to?

We actually just wrapped up our first tour ever. It was a pretty short run, but we played some phenomenal ven-

ues like The Troubadour in LA, The Observatory in Santa Ana, and Slim’s in San Francisco. It was a very special tour for us because, for the first time, we felt like every single one of those shows were so so solid. I mean, the energy of the crowd was really different compared to our shows when we first started playing just a little over two years ago. You can really start to tell that you’re making an impact because we would look out in the crowd, and there are fans out there who seem to know every single word. It’s crazy.

In terms of future tours, it’s hard to say. Right now, we’re finishing a 2track EP with one of our best friends, Tori Romo, and we’re really excited for the world to hear just how angelic her voice is. After that, we’ll be shifting our focus to our debut album, which is going to be a true reflection of how we want the world to see The Millennial Club’s sound in our purest form.

SuburbanRose.Com | @SuburbanRoseMag

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scap

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not over sandra garcia

tell me how you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like the rain, but stand in it still on a day in may, after my heart, & listen. where my lips are happily bruised, the first time: a winter shower beating against the roof of your car. its thuds quicken & pulse. your hand, gripping my thigh how your voice rises soft over the raindrops & ripples through me. your teeth, shining but never cutting. there is thunder in the summer & i should say no, but the embrace holds me until the rumbling stops. i breathe in the momentary relief & then dry off. despite everything, my arms around your neck. & though that hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t changed: tell me how you like the rain. this evening plasters your hair to your forehead. here, our cheeks, pressed together still. how i only want to be in the rain with you.

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