Author: WKNC Admin
Hopscotch creates the optimal environment for music discovery. Many music festivals have multiple stages but few host fourteen venues for anyone with a wrist band to drift in and out of. This drifting brings about a method of discovering music that fits well with the Internet music age. We live in a world where the customer really is always right because their entire experience has been personalized for the individual. In this case, it is a personalized concert for three nights straight.
I had few artists that I absolutely had to see: Earl Sweatshirt, A-Trak, and Future Islands. Saturday was the most open out of all the nights. Other than Saints Apollo, Adult. and Big Black Delta, I had no shows planned out. Out of of all the new bands I saw perform, no show was more entertaining than The Everymen’s performance at The Pour House. I almost walked out before it even started, too. I went in ten minutes before the start of The Everyman but ran into DJ Sarahnade from Post Rock Block. right outside. She had seen this band earlier and was coming back for more.
“Piano’s over the head kind of stuff” she explain to me.
I was sold.
It turned out to be the best rock show I’ve seen in a long time. The energy and stage presence The Everymen had was outstanding, and the crowd showed it right back. Everyone for at least the first few rows was going hard to a the male and female fronted band. The lead singer/guitar player made for great mid-song commentary.
At one point, a duel was put forth between the sax and piano player. This ended with the keyboardist picking up his piano, laying one end into the crowd and just going nuts on it. This New Jersey band will forever be cemented in my memory bank.
My personalized concert ended up being spot on thanks to the amazing people who put the effort into making Hopscotch a success.
You can find their Bandcamp here – bandcamp
-Muta
(Not pictured above: The awesome and crazy keyboard player)
A new semester and a new “Eye on the Triangle.” In this edition, we talk about recent controversy surrounding feeding homeless in Raleigh’s Moore Square.
Keep it tuned to WKNC all week long for your chance to win tickets to any of these great shows below! Just be the correct caller when the DJ asks for it, and you and a friend could be hitting up some of the coolest local acts around.



Whenever I was told that I was going to interview High Highs I had to admit that I was not terribly familiar with their music. However,I was quick to change that whenever I started listening to their songs and immediately became addicted to their smooth and dreamy vocals. Their lead singer, Jack Milas was kind enough to give us a call just a couple of hours before their show started on Friday Night at the Memorial Auditorium. Now I would be lying if I said I was not a bit nervous for this interview, because I definitely was. With the popularity that High Highs received with their song “Open Season” I was afraid that their fame would get the best of me; but boy was I proven wrong as soon as the conversation took hold.
Once the phone was answered, Jack’s Australian accent was quick to erase any possibly tension that could have been formed prior to. Being very laid back and respectful to all the questions, Jack was able to make the interview seem like a conversation that I could have had with one of my closest friends.
The question from this interview that stood out the most was the one that we asked most the artists we interviewed at Hopscotch which is “If you could describe your sound as a room, what would that room look like/have in it.” Instead of one of the very obscure rooms that I heard in previous interviews, Jack simply put that his room would be a cathedral. It was in this instance that I gained a whole new respect for Jack and the band as a whole, because they were completely correct in the answer. Not just for its wonderful acoustics, but also religious setting, the room seemed a perfect fit for their echoing and powerful lyrics. Jack was able to represent his band beautifully in the all too short interview that he provided myself and the station with on Friday afternoon. You better bet that I didn’t pass up their set that night either.
Where do I start with these guys? I knew from the beginning that the interview was going to a little out of the norm just by the way these guys sound and perform their music. With that being said, that is the exact reason I looked forward to the interview so much (and trust me, my expectations were definitely met).
Pretty much exactly on time, the entire three piece band consisting of Ryan Clancy, Ryan Spencer, and Adam Pressley walked right up to our 88.1 WKNC table at Wristband City and formerly introduced themselves. Once the interview was on its way, the band seemed to be having a little fun with it while also pointing out that their music is definitely different than most of the indie rock scene today. When asked how they were different, they did not hesitate to explain that it is because of their live foam party shows and mixture of unique sounds and lyrics. The band went on to say that if they could describe their sound as a room, then it would be the live portion of an Applebee’s restaurant; which you can take whichever way you possibly want.
Throughout the whole interview and even through the end of it, I was having a hard time letting the thought out of my mind that this band could be the next big thing; because it is definitely possible. Being a fairly young band and on the rise with extremely infectious music, how can one not think that? I was just glad Jamaican Queens decided to drop by WKNC on their quick and inevitable ride to the top.
Jamaican Queens
Pretty much exactly on time, the entire three-piece band consisting of Ryan Clancy, Ryan Spencer, and Adam Pressley walked right up to our 88.1 WKNC table at Wristband City and formerly introduced themselves. Once the interview was on its way, the band seemed to be having a little fun with it while also pointing out that their music is definitely different than most of the indie rock scene today. When asked how they were different, they did not hesitate to explain that it is because of their live foam party shows and mixture of unique sounds and lyrics. The band went on to say that if they could describe their sound as a room, then it would be the live portion of an Applebee’s restaurant; which you can take whichever way you possibly want.
Throughout the whole interview and even through the end of it, I was having a hard time letting the thought out of my mind that this band could be the next big thing; because it is definitely possible. Being a fairly young band and on the rise with extremely infectious music, how can one not think that? I was just glad Jamaican Queens decided to drop by WKNC on their quick and inevitable ride to the top.
High Highs
Once the phone was answered, Jack’s Australian accent was quick to erase any possibly tension that could have been formed prior to. Being very laid back and respectful to all the questions, Jack was able to make the interview seem like a conversation that I could have had with one of my closest friends.
The question from this interview that stood out the most was the one that we asked most the artists we interviewed at Hopscotch which is “If you could describe your sound as a room, what would that room look like/have in it.” Instead of one of the very obscure rooms that I heard in previous interviews, Jack simply put that his room would be a cathedral. It was in this instance that I gained a whole new respect for Jack and the band as a whole, because they were completely correct in the answer. Not just for its wonderful acoustics, but also religious setting, the room seemed a perfect fit for their echoing and powerful lyrics. Jack was able to represent his band beautifully in the all too short interview that he provided myself and the station with on Friday afternoon. You better bet that I didn’t pass up their set that night either.
