Category: Festival Coverage

Previews, reviews and coverage from music festivals like Hopscotch and Moogfest

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Festival Coverage

Venue Profile: Kings Barcade

Attending Hopscotch? Wanting to know what to expect? Here’s a little snippet about one of my favorite venues, Kings Barcade.

The venue has hosted some big acts, such as M83, The Avett Brothers, Surfer Blood, and Smith Westerns to name a few. But this year at Hopscotch it will be the location for Lilac Shadows, Wildhoney, Dad & Dad, Jenny Hval, and many more bands to rock out. 

Kings is located on West Martin St and is home to some great decor. The lighting is the coolest aspect of the venue; between the stage lighting and the illuminated crown, one can really vibe with the music, no matter the genre. 

Outside the venue is a great place to hang if you’re trying to get some cool air after dancing your butt off! The beautiful metallic mirrors and hanging ferns are a simple, but nice touch for the place.

Not to mention, Kings has one of the best venue restrooms. It excels in cleanliness.

*All images taken by Katelyn Auger

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Festival Coverage

Thursday night Hopscotch at Neptunes

While one of the most engaging parts of Hopscotch is racing from venue to venue to catch your favorite acts, it’ll be hard to find a reason to leave Neptune’s Thursday night.

Kicking off the lineup is David Mueller’s solo electronic project TZYVYX (pronounced civics). Mueller is a member of Raleigh’s Birds of Avalon and Heads on Sticks, but his solo project eschews traditional song structures for experimental electronic soundscapes. TZYVYX builds off of little, using few vocals, sleek synthesizers, and minimal percussion to fill the room. His live performances incorporate the use of projectors and CRT TV sets, creating a powerful atmosphere hard to step away from.

https://soundcloud.com/tzyvyx

Following TZYVYX is former Asheville local Nick James. James was previously in a Raleigh band, Oulipo, but also has adopted a radically different sound for his solo music. With slow, grinding tempos, his tracks use building chromatic melodies and drones to create a supremely menacing post-apocalyptic atmosphere. As tension builds James sporadically releases that kinetic energy with thick-as-concrete industrial bass punches. It’s startlingly cathartic for music that seems so sparse, but feels natural. Utilizing visuals for most of his live performances as well but had the following to say on them in an interview with The News & Observer: “…with my show, I kind of thought, since it’s built for sound systems – there’s a lot of bass, there’s a lot of heavy, kind of reverberating, cinematic sound – I want visuals, but projections aren’t necessarily high-definition enough. So, I’ve kind of gone with this HDMI, dual flat-screen situation that gives it this kind of high-definition sound environment that, when people are listening to the music and watching the visuals, it’s a much different, musical experience.”

https://soundcloud.com/nxjames

Up next on Thursday night’s lineup is Chicago’s Teklife member DJ Earl. After gaining a steadfast knowledge of Chicago’s juke culture at a young age from other Teklife DJs like Rashad, Spinn, and Traxman, DJ Earl began producing his own sounds that promote a fresh generation of footwork. While Earl was not a part of the official Hopscotch lineup last year, he took the stage of King’s the night before with DJ Paypal and DJ Big Hank kicking off the festival.

https://soundcloud.com/djearlteckz

Closing out the night at Neptunes is UK producer Mumdance whose energetic, grime dance music will make it hard to leave the parlour to race over to CAM to catch Cashmere Cat.

https://soundcloud.com/mumdance

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Festival Coverage

Hopscotch 2015 Artist Map

Each year, Hopscotch Music Festival brings in an incredible lineup of artists from all over the state, country, and world to play the three-day music festival in Raleigh. But have you ever wondered exactly where all of the bands are from?

WKNC’s dJ/dx used Mapbox to create a map of this year’s Hopscotch artists based on the hometowns listed on their Hopscotch Artist Bios. The marker’s aren’t quite exact, but they are placed near each city/town. You can click on each marker for the corresponding artist/band’s name, and clicking their picture will take you to their Hopscotch Artist Bio page.

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Festival Coverage

Going with the Flow

Last year, one of the most important lessons that I learned about Hopscotch is how important it is to just go with the flow. When I started on Thursday, I thought I had everything planned out; all the bands I wanted to see were highlighted on my artist lineup print out. As the night went on, I started to talk to more and more people who were excited to see artists I had totally overlooked. When I broke away from my “ideal” schedule, I found that my Hopscotch experience was much more interesting, exciting, and diverse—not that there’s anything wrong with trying to plan, just be sure to keep an open mind! 

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Festival Coverage

Food at Hopscotch

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Festival Coverage

Reverb Fest: An Interview with Phil Pucci

The next time your friend looks at you and says “Hey, we should make a music festival!” you should maybe consider it before looking at them like they’re crazy.

That was almost exactly how Reverb Fest got started a year ago by Phil Pucci when he and his girlfriend were hanging out by the Neighborhood Theatre in Charlotte.

“I come up with good ideas all the time but I never follow through with them,“ said Pucci, “My girlfriend was the one who pushed me to start Reverb Fest. We booked a bunch of local bands to play in Charlotte and ended up raising over $2000 for charity.”

The first Reverb Fest benefitted the Chronic Illness Relief Fund (CIRF). It featured local Charlotte bands including Pullman Strike, Late Bloomer, and Hectorina. There was a mini Reverb Fest earlier this year titled “Eskimo Kisses,” also benefitting CIRF.

“The last one we had the first time we got a headliner, Diarrhea Planet. That was pretty special because it clearly indicated we were growing at a fast pace and getting more appreciation.”

This year, for Reverb Fest III: Slamdunks, the festival brought in a regional headliner – Beach Fossils – and expanded from just Charlotte to include other North Carolina acts like Elvis Depressedly, Jackson Scott and Family Bike. The festival this year benefitted the Humane Farming Association.

Pucci, a member of Charlotte bands Aggrocragg, Serfs, and Melt, believes Reverb Fest is unique from other music festivals in the area for multiple reasons.

“We try to get a lot of under the radar acts to play with bigger headliners. We have lots of these smaller bands playing with these big acts that they normally never would be able to perform with,” he explained “We also put a lot of emphasis on younger bands, people in their 20s…bands playing their first shows…some might just get passed up on other festivals. 

“There’s also a pretty big DIY aspect to it. I think a lot of other music festivals lose that DIY feel eventually – which is perfectly fine, they’re still great – but it’s definitely something I want to hold onto with Reverb Fest,” said Pucci.

Pucci hopes the festival will continue to grow in the future – possibly to a 3-day event – but definitely wants it to stay in Charlotte.

“I want Charlotte to have an alternative music festival destination for people in the region…something to help put Charlotte on the map,” said Pucci.

Wherever it’s headed, Reverb Fest has already left a lasting impression on the Charlotte area. 

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Festival Coverage

Family Bike Interview before Reverb Fest III: Slamdunks

Only a few days away from Reverb Fest, I chilled by a pool with Karl Kuehn from Museum Mouth to discuss his newest musical project, Family Bike. Family Bike is playing the day-long Reverb Fest in Charlotte, NC this Saturday. This edition of Reverb Fest benefits the Humane Farming Association, featuring seven North Carolina bands including Double Barrel Benefit 12 alumni Elvis Depressedly. Kuehn and I sipped on Pellegrino and chatted about the band’s upcoming release, their fast-pace touring, and hating FB drummer Taylor Haag. 

Emily Ehling: Just so I don’t use the same questions you’re always asked, tell me the normal Family Bike questions. This might be cheating but tell me anyway. [both laugh]

Karl Kuehn: Lately a lot of people have been asking how much I love Taylor Haag, which I think is a really weird question, maybe even cryptic or backhanded, because I love him but I also really hate him. I think I love him as much as I hate him probably. Another question I’ve been getting asked a lot recently is who the “other guy” is in Family Bike, who is actually Tommy Hall. He’s also in another band called Pet Names.

EE: Aw, that’s actually pretty sad to be the “other guy.” 

KK: Yeah, but Tommy is the best and he’s super sweet to play bass for us, because there’s bass all over this record.

EE: What an angel. So, already being in a very established band like Museum Mouth, how do you negate away from Family Bike being considered a sort of side project?

KK: I just treat it like another band. It’s easy to be in this band and it was easy to start and record with this band. Taylor and I had already had the songs that appear on the record just sitting around for a while and they were probably never going to get released if we didn’t start this band. 

EE: Since we’re on the subject Museum Mouth and Family Bike being separate, how would you describe the difference in sound between the two bands.

KK: I would say that if these bands were cast in a sitcom, Museum Mouth is the important main character, the protagonist. Family Bike is like the weird uncle. Lovable, but just strange. [laughs] 

EE: Like the drunk uncle at a wedding.

KK: [laughs] Yeah, just like… why is he like that?

EE: So this band is relatively new, but it seems like you have already done a lot of cool stuff.

KK: We have! 

EE: And cool upcoming stuff, like Reverb Fest… which is what this interview is about. 

KK: Yeah! Well, we started recording in the middle to the end of last year. As the record was being finished, some friends in Lilac Days hit us up about going on tour. So we did, and we got home, made sure everything was in line for putting out the vinyl [Everything You Own Is Anagrammed] on Negative Fun/EggHunt Records. We went on tour again, and played a bunch of shows in North Carolina and Virginia, then came back and got asked to play Reverb Fest which is really exciting. We’re also touring two more weeks in the beginning of June when the record is actually out. I guess when you make an album, and a label shows some interest, then things just start rolling after that. This was really just started for fun and now we’re on tour a bunch! It’s kind of zany. 

EE: That is really cool.

KK: Definitely. Phil Pucci, one of the two people that book all the Reverb Fest stuff, had asked me some questions about the band when he heard I started it. I sent him the record, he really liked it, and asked us to play. Pretty cool.

EE: Nice! So you mentioned earlier that all of you are in different bands?

KK: Yeah, Tommy is in Pet Names and Taylor is in a band out of Richmond called Young Scum. 

EE: That is such a good name.

KK: It’s a super good name, but he kind of hates it which is really funny. For months and months he actually kept this other band a secret from me, then slowly started talking about it to me.

EE: [laughs] Woah, very scandalous. 

KK: He is still is kind of secretive when he talks about it. Young Scum is good though, I got to meet a few members when we were up in Virginia. 

EE: Alright, Reverb Fest [both laugh]. You have to be excited. There are some pretty big names playing and also some of your local favorites. 

KK: Definitely! The new Mineral Girls record is really good so I’m excited to hear some of those songs live. Museum Mouth got to play with Elvis Depressedly for Double Barrel Benefit 12, so it’s cool to get to play with them again. They’re rad.

EE: It is definitely cool seeing DBB alumni playing together again. So, I’m not going to lie, I’m a little confused about the release of Everything You Own Is Anagrammed. Let’s clear that up. [both laugh]

KK: Right. The record isn’t out yet, but when you put something out on vinyl, but before you get the copies for the label, you have to approve a test press. Since our vinyl got delayed a bunch and we were about to go on this tour with no merch at all, we ordered a bunch of test presses to sell as an exclusive type of thing. We were really early on in the round of press for the album so we couldn’t give anyone downloads for it yet or it would leak, so that was unfortunate. Once the record comes out for real on May 26th, the people who bought test presses will get the downloads. 

EE: Alright, that makes sense. Thanks for run-down. 

KK: Totally. Aside from those test presses, we also had two songs stream on BrooklynVegan. The full stream for the album doesn’t go up until next week.

EE: So look for that, readers. As we’re finishing up here, do you have any parting thoughts?

KK: Please buy our album! [laughs] A lot of time and a lot of nice people’s money went into making this happen, so it would be cool if you supported. 

Look for Family Bike’s full stream of Everything You Owned Is Anagrammed on Modern Vinyl 5/19 and the album release on 5/26.

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Festival Coverage

Artsplosure Music Schedule

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WKNC is proud to once again be a media sponsor of Artsplosure, the Raleigh arts festival. Check out their great music lineup!

Friday, May 15

Main Stage | City Plaza on Fayetteville Street

Saturday, May 16

Main Stage | City Plaza on Fayetteville Street

  • 2 p.m. ChoroBop
  • 4 p.m. The Town Heroes
  • 6 p.m. Jarekus Singleton
  • 8 p.m. Elvin Bishop

North Carolina Stage | Fayetteville Street (State Capitol end, Morgan Street)

Sunday, May 17

Main Stage | City Plaza on Fayetteville Street

North Carolina Stage | Fayetteville Street (State Capitol end, Morgan Street)

  • 12 p.m. Fairmont Gospel Revue
  • 2 p.m. Triangle Community Orchestra
  • 3 p.m. The Mantras (sponsored by WKNC)
  • 5 p.m. The Congress
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Festival Coverage

Photo highlights from this year’s Phuzz Phest in Winston Salem. Featured act’s are (from left to right) Cymbals Eat Guitars, The Human Eyes, Nest Egg, ET Anderson, Protomartyr, and Blursome

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Festival Coverage

Phuzz Phest

Sunday night at Phuzz Phest this year was definitely one for the books. Kicking off the night at Krankies Coffee with the Tender Fruit, the crowd was treated with an unplugged performance that left chills down the spine and hearts full of emotion. After this great start to the night, I knew the rain and storms outside would not put a damper on all of the great musicians that were still to be seen. After leaving Krankies, I trekked through the rain to see Family Bike at the Garage. With their first full album on the way, many (all) of the songs consisted of what is to be expected with the anticipated release with songs that are dedicated to bands like TOOL and people like Carson Daly.

After Family Bike finished their thirty minute set, I rushed next door to the Millennium Center to see one of my favorite local groups, River Whyless, who is out of Asheville, NC. All in all, River Whyless had the most breathtaking vocals of the entire festival. Together Ryan O’Keefe (guitars, vocals), Halli Anderson (violin, vocals), Alex McWalters (drums, percussion) and Daniel Shearin (bass, vocals, harmonium, cello, banjo) all come together to harmonize folk songs that illustrate rustic settings of woodsheds and the making maple syrup. From the Millennium Center, I walked back across town in the pouring down rain and secured my spot indoors at the cozy Reanimator Records where Lowland Hum played to a packed house that overflowed to a crowd that stood in the rain just to hear the beautiful music of Daniel and Lauren Goans who are originally from the neighboring Triad city of Greensboro, NC. With lyric books in tow, everyone hung on to every word that was sung from their new self-titled album that released earlier in the month.

With every performance up to this point absolutely breathtaking, I expected nothing less from the last performer of the night- Hamilton Leithauser (of The Walkmen, and The Recoys). My expectations of Hamilton were met above and beyond as himself and his band performed a perfect mixture of fast and slow paced rock songs that pulled at the heart strings every single time. Growing up a huge fan of The Walkmen, Hamilton’s solo act confirmed all of my preconceived notions about what it means to be a rock band based out of New York- professional with the perfect amount of madness to go along.