Category: Music News and Interviews

Music news, interviews, features and giveaways

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Music News and Interviews

Jake Funke, (stage name: Funkss) is a producer and DJ based in Raleigh, NC who has been an instrumental figure in Raleigh’s burgeoning electronic scene.  Since co-founding Fooly Cooly at Neptune’s with fellow DJ Chocolate Rice, Funkss has been cultivating a name for himself outside of Raleigh as well.  Having recently been mentioned on NPR and opening for the likes of Yung Lean, Funkss graciously managed to take some time out of his busy Hopscotch schedule to answer a few questions for an interview. He played at the The Pour House on the last night of Hopscotch.

Listen here.

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Music News and Interviews

Hopscotch Interview: Negative Fun Records

People seem to get pretty excited about local artists, but what about local record labels?

Negative Fun Records, a Raleigh-New Hampshire split label, sat down with Blue Cadet-3 and Jake from State Farm at wristband city on Friday of Hopscotch to talk about upcoming projects, and what their label is all about.

Negative Fun was started in 2012 by Chris DeFusco and John Whitney “to document great music, regardless of genre.” They’re independent and release vinyl singles only, recording artists such as Ghostt Bllonde, Hoax Hunters, and Midnight Plus One. Negative Fun separates itself from the rest not only because they strictly record vinyl, but because they don’t confine themselves to a single genre. Their mission is to support great local music, and keep the spirit of independent record labels alive.

You can hear WKNC’s interview with Negative Fun through the link below, or on our iTunes podcast. 

Listen here.

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Local Music Music News and Interviews

Phian interviewed Local Band Local Beer veteran Clockwork Kids before they played at Tir Na Nog Irish Pub last Thursday.

Are Clockwork Kids’ drummers cursed? Their new drummer reveals all!

You can also hear three songs during the interview: Suffer, St. Peter’s Daughter, and Vacuum Heart.

Follow Clockwork Kids on Facebook and Twitter, and listen to more tracks on Bandcamp!

Listen here.

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Local Music Music News and Interviews

Phian interviewed Young Cardinals last Thursday before they played Local Band Local Beer at Tir Na Nog Irish Pub in Raleigh.

You can hear four of their songs during this interview: All You Others; Head I’m Not Home; Nothing Ever Happened, Not Even This; and A Dozen Places.

Check out the Young Cardinals on their website, like them on Facebook and hear more of their music on Bandcamp.

Listen here.

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Music News and Interviews

Giveaways of the Week: September 22nd – 28th

9/22: Danava w/ MAKE, Solar Halos @ Back Room

9/23: Senses Fail w/ No Bragging Rights, The Wind @ Cat’s Cradle

9/24: Tennis w/ Pure Bathing Culture @ Cat’s Cradle

9/24: Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds w/ Wailin’ Storms @ Pinhook

9/24: Shonen Knife w/ Pipe @ Pinhook

9/25: Yuna @ King’s Barcade

9/27: The Connells w/ The Backsliders, Chris Hendricks @ Raleigh Little Theater

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Music News and Interviews

PJ Sykes of Hoax Hunters swung by the Hopscotch live broadcast table to talk a bit about balancing being in a rock band with being a rock photographer, the Richmond scene, and defending the architectural quality of his favorite building in Richmond. The band rocked the Negative Fun Day Party at Legends later that week.

Listen here.

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Music News and Interviews

The background behind Father/Daughter Records is literally all in the name of the company; a father and daughter who joined forces to contribute to the greater good that is the music industry.

Being out of San Francisco, what brought Father/Daughter Records to the Hopscotch Music Festival is their signed bands that played at the festival this year: Mutual Benefit (Played at Vintage 21) & Gems (Played at CAM).

Jessie (the daughter in Father/Daughter Records) was nice enough to sit down with us for a little bit to give us some insight as to what she does and how she really appreciates what the Raleigh/Triangle is doing for the music scene. 

Listen here.

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Music News and Interviews

Hailing from Winston-Salem, NC, Judy Barnes is a musical group with a unique approach to their artistry. Like any true opera-inspired rock and roll band, all members of the group bring their own musical talents and experiences to create captivating tracks. Since 2000, Jodi Burns (vocals, piano) has been creating and exploring concepts that now constitute the repertory of Judy Barnes today. Expect rich harmonies, pulsating instrumentals, and angelic vocals composed in pure symphonic drama.

Jodi Burns and Tim Nolan joined me at Hopscotch Music Festival during WKNC’s live stream from Wristband City to talk about the journey of Judy Barnes and their self-described live performances full of “sad songs with jokes in between.”

Listen here.

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Music News and Interviews

Karl Kuehn, known across the N.C. music scene as front man/drummer of Museum Mouth and “almost rapper” OK McQueen, recently released new material under his new project, Family Bike. The duo stopped by Wristband City for a quick interview on the eve of their debut show at the Negative Fun Records Day Party.

Listen here. 

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Music News and Interviews

The Charming Youngsters will be back. Their show as a part of the Spazzscotch III Day Party is one of their last shows for the next little bit. After a successful crowdfunding campaign for their next album, they will be heading into the woods to record their promising new album. Their kickstarter campaign affords them the ability to try some new things on this record that they would otherwise be unable to do. It also gives them the ability to release their new album in new ways, possibly even on vinyl.

The band came by our table at Wristband City for Hopscotch to talk to us for a bit just before their show at Spazzscotch. We discussed their old album as well as their hopes for their new album along with the evolution that has brought them to where they are today. We talked about Spazz Fest and the Greenville scene that kicked off the band’s existence. Check out the interview above to here all that and more, and keep your eyes peeled for details about their new album.

Listen here.