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Author: WKNC Admin
While She Sleeps is one of the most underrated metalcore bands out there right now. Their carefully crafted melodies, pop hooks, and aggressive breakdowns give them a refreshing sound that perfectly combines styles from bands like Architects and Northlane. I saw these guys in February of this year and went into it without many expectations, and it turned out to be the best concert I had EVER been to. They entered the stage and immediately unleashed their aggression, excitement, and passion unlike anything I had ever seen with their new song FAKERS PLAGUE. The audience absorbed that energy and threw it right back, not hesitating to open the pit and sing along. People were hugging one another, sitting on shoulders, headbanging, screaming together, and becoming totally lost in the music. All of which is normal for a metalcore show, but the positive energy that flowed within the audience and between the audience and stage was undeniable. Each member of the band was smiling and laughing in the midst of the chaos the entire set. I followed the progression of their tour on social media and their shows just seemed to get more and more wild until the singer was hanging upside down from the rafters and the guitarist crowd surfed during his solos.
While She Sleeps formed in Sheffield, England in 2006 and includes vocalist Lawrence “Loz” Taylor, guitarists Sean Long and Mat Welsh, bassist Aaran McKenzie, and drummer Adam Savage. Loz Taylor came into the band as the lead vocalist for their third EP that was recorded in a home studio. The band grew in popularity as they toured extensively across the UK and Europe and eventually won the Kerrang! Awards 2012. When asked the origin of their band name, Taylor explained it was inspired by a story of a woman murdering her husband while he slept and changed it to “she” instead of “he”. Taylor also indicated that “she” can be used as a reference to a sunken ship or vehicle, as they are often referred to with a feminine pronoun. While She Sleeps has shared the stage with bands like Bring Me the Horizon, Bleed from Within, Betraying the Martyrs, Asking Alexandria, Motionless in White, and Thy Art Is Murder. They’ve gone back to their punk-rock, DIY roots and started their own label called Sleep Brothers in order to regain total control over their process. Their newest album So What? is proof that these guys know exactly how to bring their music to the next level. I highly recommend checking them out and seeing them live if you get the chance. This band is explosive.
-Sarah
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Cavetown Sleepyhead Album Review
As a longtime fan of Cavetown I was incredibly excited to give this new record, Sleepyhead, a spin, especially because I have already fallen in love with the first two singles that were released late last year and earlier this year. I also nearly LOST it when I saw that chloe moriondo and Drew Monson were featured in the record.
The first time I listened to this album I threw it on shuffle and had it on in the background while working, and when I heard ‘Wishing Well’ Ft. Drew Monson I loved it, but was kind of confused since it didn’t really sound like Cavetown. It was a pleasant surprise seeing as to why. This track is the beautiful blend I would expect in a collab between these two artists. It’s distorted vocals display Drew’s heavy input in the track and make it one I continue coming back to. The same can be said with the track ‘Snail’ Ft. Chloe Moriondo, it’s smooth Cavetown vibe with Chloe’s energy makes this track a perfect piece for the last portion of the record. Their vocals have the perfect contrast that make the track sound like a story being told back and forth, it’s almost fairytale like. The instrumentation choice also sets it apart from the rest of the works, there is a slight folk-like influence, but like much of this record it’s very string instrument centered.
While this record has an incredibly strong start, featuring the first two singles that were pre-released, the last half of this record ends it even stronger. Maybe I’m just overly emotional at songs about mum’s, but I absolutely adore the track ‘I Miss My Mum’. The lyrics in the track are incredibly strong, somehow making me deeply sad and happy at the same time, something Cavetown does best. In fact that’s sort of the theme I got from the whole record, it’s like a beautiful tragedy, seeing the beauty in things that might be painful as well.
After giving this record another few spins I have to say ‘For You’ has become one of my absolute favorite moments. The way it borrows from Sweet Tooth and emphasizes what was already one of my favorite hooks on the record really gets me hype, it’s also one of those tracks that makes the record feel like one solid unit. I can’t stop myself from singing alone every time I hear it. This new record was a heartwarming listen from start to finish. It’s authentic, raw, and stripped back. The perfect blend for its emotional impact. I give it five stars and definitely recommend it.
– DJ Psyched
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The Local Beat: To Julian
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Chainsaw Charts 3/31
Artist Record Label
1 AVERSIONS CROWN “The Soil” [Single] Nuclear Blast
2 AUGUST BURNS RED “Paramount” [Single] Fearless
3 AS I LAY DYING “Destruction or Strength” [Single] Nuclear Blast
4 CATTLE DECAPITATION Death Atlas Metal Blade
5 MAKE THEM SUFFER “Erase Me” [Single] Self-Released
6 KING DIAMOND “Masquerade Of Madness” [Single] Metal Blade
7 UPON A BURNING BODY “Built from War” [Single] Seek & Strike
8 IN HEARTS WAKE “Worldwide Suicide” [Single] UNFD
9 METAL CHURCH “For No Reason” [Single] Rat Park
10 AFTER THE BURIAL Evergreen Sumerian
So you’re spending a lot of time at home right now and you’re trying to find some way to spend the time productively, then you see that instrument in the corner and you have a brilliant idea, but you’re not sure how to start… You’re in luck! Cause my sister recently asked me to help her figure out the basics of piano (from this exact scenario) so I figure I can make a little post to get anyone in the same boat started.
First things first we have to learn the notes on the keyboard and how to read them.
I like to think of the notes as two clusters (separated by the black keys)
Cluster 1 is C D E, there are two black keys between these three white keys.
Cluster 2 is FGAB, there are three black keys between these four white keys.
This pattern repeats through the entire keyboard. The colors above match the pattern, so where the light blue C is, the following light blue is also a C but higher in octave. As we go to the right of the piano the octave gets higher (so the sound is higher). If we go to the left the octave lowers and the sound is deeper.
How to read the black keys:
This is where we get those sharp and flat notes.
A sharp is notated with a (#) symbol and a flat is more like a lowercase B (b).
A sharp is simply the black key to the right of a white key. So if we are at C and we go to the black key directly to its right we have C sharp. Right of D is D# and etc…
Flats work the opposite way. If we want to label a black key as flat we just have to take a white key and go to the black key on it’s left. So if we go from D to the black key on the left we have Db.
This means that a black key can have two names, C# and Db are the same note. Music theory is a lot lol, you don’t really have to worry about it right now but basically it depends on the key you are in which name you would use. But key signatures come later, first let’s just get comfy with the notes.
The last thing worth noting here is that two white keys appear next to each other between ‘clusters’. EF and BC. In these cases sharps and flats still work the same way. Fb is the same as saying E and E# is the same as saying F.
The best way to learn any instrument is to learn some simple tunes, now that you know the notes you’re ready to take on some youtube tutorials with confidence 😀
Until next time,
DJ Psyched
Things are moving slowly. Some things feel like they’re not moving at all. However, despite the empty streets and closing businesses, people are coming together to support one another and sustain our community during the pandemic.
WKNC, as a community partner and participant, wants to use our platform to share some of these fundraisers and inform you about their creators to further their outreach. We appreciate and admire everyone doing the groundwork and heavy lifting that it takes to sustain a community, several industries and the emotional wellbeing of their beneficiaries.
First and foremost, is the Raleigh Music Venue Employee Fund. This fundraiser collectively supports Lincoln Theatre, Slim’s, Kings, the Wicked Witch and the Pour House. The campaign was created by Van Austin at Slim’s, Chris Malarkey at Lincoln, Paul Siler at Kings, and Adam Lindstaedt with the Pour House. The funds for this project are being collected through Venmo using the handle @Raleigh-Downtown-Music-Venues. Kings, via their Instagram page (@KingsRaleigh) described this fundraiser as “a fund to help out our employees during this time.” In the same post, they wrote they have received an “outpouring of offers to help [their] employees stay afloat during this crisis…” which we at WKNC are amazed to hear. Many of our current and former staff and students have gone on to work and be involved with at least one of these venues, and as an organization we work closely with them to promote, curate and attend events.
It is important to note that some of these venues are partner venues and co-owned by the same individual. For example, Timothy Lemuel runs the Wicked Witch, the Night Rider and Ruby Deluxe, but the latter two venues are not receiving funds from this campaign and have another process of their own to be discussed later on in this post.
Keep a lookout for more information on the Raleigh Venue Fund in an upcoming interview I’m working on with a few individuals involved in its creation. For now, you can see more information about the fund via the social media of each of the venues. The venues and their handles are listed below.
Kings: Instagram and Twitter @KingsRaleigh, Facebook.com/KingsInRaleigh
I should note here that Kings has also created a website through which community members can tip the bartenders virtually.
The Pour House: Instagram @ThePourHouse, Facebook.com/ThePourHouseMusicHall
The Wicked Witch: Instagram @theWickedWitchRaleigh, Facebook.com/919WickedWitch
Slim’s: Instagram @Slims_Tagrams, Twitter @SlimsRaleigh, Facebook.com/SlimsRaleigh
Lincoln Theatre: Instagram @Lincoln919, Twitter @LincolnRaleigh, Facebook.com/LincolnTheatreNC
The next fundraiser is the Raleigh Queer Venue Initiative GoFundMe, which was organized by Janel Sheehan almost two weeks ago. As of this writing, they have surpassed half of their expected goal, thanks to the dedication and support of the Raleigh community. Pulling a quote from the GoFundMe description, “The Raleigh Queer Venue Initiative is made up of the sole queer music venues in Raleigh: Ruby Deluxe, Wicked Witch, and the Night Rider. Our purpose is to give LGBTQIA, as well as marginalized folx a safe space to dance, create, perform, and support one another.” The description goes on to express that these spaces are also locally owned and operated by queer individuals. Currently, as of a GoFundMe update posted on March 24, “[they] are looking at around 11K total a month to retain all of our spaces for Ruby Deluxe, Wicked Witch, and The Night Rider.” Of their $11,000 goal, the money raised will go towards paying rent on the venues and provide income to their staff members who can no longer work due to closures. The contributions from the Raleigh community are directly allowing for these safe spaces to remain open and in operation after the pandemic crisis alleviates.
The Venmo, if you choose to use that rather than GoFundMe, is @RubyDeluxe-TheWickedWitch.
We thank Janel, and all of the RQVI workers, for curating this GoFundMe and for creating safe spaces for the LGBTQIA community in Raleigh and the Triangle.
Next up is the Raleigh Tee. This fundraising campaign was created by Jonas Chisolm and his roommate Austin Chappell. The two of them started an online shop in which individuals could purchase a T-shirt and/or a sticker (in rainbow or black and white) through which all profits would go to the NC Restaurant Workers Relief Fund and the Raleigh Music Venue Fund (mentioned above). For those interested in purchasing any of this project’s merch, doing so can be processed via Facebook.com/TheRaleighTee. The logo for the shirts and stickers was made by a close friend of the two founders, Nicholas Rossitch, and after some creative work on Photoshop, the idea for the Raleigh Tee was born.
The project debuted on social media (Instagram @theRaleighTee) two days ago (03/25/2020) and is quoted with having 200 orders in the first 8 hours. Jonas has commented that he and Austin only expected to sell 50 shirts initially and have been amazed at the community engagement, reposting and purchasing of the products in their startup.
Thank you to Jonas and Austin for your work and contributions to the workers of North Carolina and Raleigh specifically.
I’d also like to take a moment to give credit where credit is due. Yvonne Chazal (right, above) and Phian Tran (left) have compiled a very expansive Wake County Resources for COVID-19 document. The incredibly well-organized document covers topics like health resources (including mental health), food resources, housing and shelter, utilities details and more. Truly if I were to list out all of the categories they discuss, you’d be both in awe and shocked at the mass amounts of information that they have. The document’s creation was open to public collaboration and both creators actively reached out to their social media connections to make sure that they were collecting all the necessary details and subjects that constituents would be interested in. Please view this free resource during your free time. It will certainly make you feel better about our situation knowing what options are available.
Yvonne and Phian are both dearly loved and appreciated as local influences, musicians and WKNC alums. Thank you, Yvonne and Phian.
The aforementioned resources are only a small portion of the ongoing efforts to protect ourselves and our community. There will be more installments and updates to come. Once again, keep your eyes and ears out for an interview with representatives from the Raleigh Music Venue Employee Fund.
Want to help out but can’t donate? Call your representative (via 202-224-3121) and ask them to #SaveRestaurants.
Stay safe, stay inside, flatten the curve, promote solidarity. WKNC loves you and is grateful to everyone involved in these projects.
-Laura Mooney (DJ Beowvlf)
