Song of the week: "What Are You Waiting For?" by Paradise Fears. I interviewed Sam, their lead singer, earlier this week & got to shoot their show, and I was blown away by how good they were live. I had seen them before, but it was a different experience this time around.
I forgot to post my playlist from last week because it slipped my mind to write a blog post, so here's a Spotify playlist & then the tracks below:
"Rollercoaster" - Bleachers
"Back To The Shack" - Weezer
"The Exit" - Lydia
"Codes and Keys" - Death Cab For Cutie
"Luv, Hold Me Down" - Drowners
"AM/FM Sound" - Matt & Kim
"English Girls" - The Maine
"Sweet Time" - The Technicolors
"Modern Guilt" - Beck
"Dreaming" - Smallpools
"Dark Days" - Weslynn
"If You Wanna Stay" - The Griswolds
"Work it Out" - Knox Hamilton
"Gap" - The Kooks
"Geronimo" - Sheppard
"How It’s Going To Be" - Gerard Way
Sunday I had the opportunity to interview Sam from Paradise Fears, who was probably one of the sweetest humans I've ever had the chance of meeting. I didn't put in to interview them, but the band were kind enough to get The Blaze one and being their only press of the night felt kind of cool. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about interviewing him because I hadn't interviewed anyone in over a year, so I was rusty. I used my phone to record our conversation, but he had taken it from my hands and rested it on his knee, which I was caught off guard by and the entire time I thought it was going to crash onto the concrete with how often he was moving. But he eased me into conversation perfectly and took thought to all of my questions, and the nerves slowly went away.
After the interview, I had a photo pass for the night (which their drummer/tour manager Joey had to haggle the venue with because they originally weren't even going to let me in) so I'm really grateful for him & everything he did for my friend and I. I didn't stay the whole show, but before leaving I thanked Sam again for the interview and got a dry ID for the station (those things when people say "hey, I'm blah blah blah from this band and you're listening to *insert station here*), which he was so excited to record.
The article on COTMA will be up on Friday morning, but you can listen to the audio from my chat with Sam below:
Tuesday, Kaley & I interviewed John O'Callaghan over the phone, and after a bit of technical difficulties, which he didn't seem to mind, we got him on air and chatted for 20 or so minutes, which was a lot longer than I thought we would talk to him. Every time I see him I talk to him for 10 or so minutes, but he's just a pleasure to chat with. He's a genuine guy and I'm really grateful that Kaley & I had that opportunity. Along with my other article, an article about this interview will be going up on COTMA this Friday, too. You can listen to the audio below:
And that leads us to today. I had my DJ shift, but next week's spring break, so I will return after the break. Over break I get to go to Pot of Gold and Viva PHX, so it's going to kill me, but I'm stoked about it. Here was what I played today during the 12-1 PM hour (listen on Spotify here):
"The Business of Emotion" - Big Data ft. White Sea
"Left Hand Free" - alt-J
"Runaway" - Katastro
"Even Better Yet" - The Format
"Everything Under The Sun" - The Vinylheads
"Rainbow Connection" - Weezer ft. Hayley Williams
"Swimming Pool Blues" - Miniature Tigers
"Somebody New" - Joywave
"Girlfriend in a Coma" - The Smiths
"Before The Dive" - St. Lucia
"English Girls" - The Maine
"The Heinrich Maneuver" - Interpol
"A-Punk" - Vampire Weekend
"Cecilia and the Satellite" - Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
"Waves" - Magic Man
Today, some good pals of Future Sunsets' got signed to Fueled By Ramen, which is the perfect fit for this band (they're also my career goals if I want to ever work at a record label. I'd pick FBR.) The label welcomed Against The Current to their family this morning while I was at work, but it was very exciting news!
I'm also obsessed with their latest EP, titled Gravity. Here's the music video to the title track:
And that concludes my two weeks in review. I cannot wait for Pot of Gold & Viva PHX, so expect lots of updates after those two events occur.
Song of the week: "Darling" by MAX. I featured MAX in my "artists to watch in 2015" article I wrote for Examiner and he's a featured artist to watch on The Blaze's music blog, COTMA. According to Pete Wentz's not-so subtle hints he's been dropping on Twitter for the past week, he's also the latest addition to DCD2 Records, home of literally every single one of my favorite bands, including Panic! At The Disco, LOLO, New Politics, Cobra Starship and of course, Fall Out Boy. So happy that one of my favorite new solo artists found a home with all of my all time favorite musicians.
As per usual, my DJ shift was earlier today, and I played a pretty solid playlist today. Check it out here and view all of the tracks below!
"Video Girl" - FKA twigs
"Step" - Vampire Weekend
"Killing Me" - decker.
"Riptide" - Vance Joy
"Stardust" - Neon Tiger
"Love You Much Better" - The Hush Sound
"Identify" - The Maine
"High" - Young Rising Sons
"You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away" - The Beatles
"Boyfriend" - Best Coast
"Sex On The Regular" - Miniature Tigers
"I Wanna Get Better" - Bleachers
"Cecilia And The Satellite" - Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
"Dreaming" - Smallpools
"Shut Up and Dance" - Walk The Moon
This time last year, I was pretty clueless when it came to local music except for a few bands here and there, but now I've expanded my horizons and learned about so many local bands and even befriended a few, which is super rad.
Coming up on one year (tomorrow, actually) marks the first time I ever interviewed a band. That's also the last time I interviewed a band... haha. But luckily for me, I have the opportunity along with DJ Kaley K to interview John O'Callaghan from The Maine next month. Super stoked on that, plus some other interview opportunities may pop up around then, but we'll see!
This week's been pretty solid so far. The only thing that'll make it better is seeing Panic! At The Disco from the barricade again, like the past two times. Here's to hoping!
And in honor of seeing the lovely men of Panic! on Friday, I'm signing off this post with the piano version of "This Is Gospel." My favorite part about this entire video is that Brendon told them to throw whatever they wanted on him, so they literally threw whatever they wanted. Beautiful.
Song of the week: "Waves" by Magic Man in honor of them being announced on the lineup for the Chipotle Cultivate Festival, which I get to review for COTMA! So many exciting shows coming up this spring, but I'll get to those in a bit.
As always, here's my playlist from today. I tried making it special and played songs only by bands coming into the area over the next few months, and I did pretty well except for one. I'm seeing most of these bands this year and I am way beyond stoked for it. Listen here.
"Karaoke" - Smallpools
"I Thank You" - The Mowgli’s
"Blue Sky" - Banana Gun
"Next In Line" - Walk The Moon
"Acres of Lust" - Sonny & The Sunsets
"Cameras" - Matt & Kim
"The Way We Talk" - The Maine
"Flashed Junk Mind" - Milky Chance
"Where The Streets Have No Name" - U2
"Waves" - Magic Man
"Reality" - Never Let This Go
"Kings & Queens" - MisterWives
"Holding On To You" - twenty one pilots
I'm limiting my concerts this year, but I'm going to four festivals between March and April, but the lineups were way too good to pass up. March brings the Pot Of Gold Festival (I'm seeing Bleachers, New Politics, Echosmith, Chromeo, New Politics and Fall Out Boy all in the same weekend, oh man), the Viva PHX mini festival (Halsey, Young Rising Sons, Smallpools, and so many of my local favorites), FestivAltAZ (MisterWives & Panic! At The Disco are playing, the only two reasons I needed to go) and then the Chipotle Cultivate Festival, which was announced earlier this week (my loves twenty one pilots are headlining and Magic Man are slated to play).
My Future Sunsets dudes have been hard at work in LA, working on covers and music with all of their pals over there. The most recent is their cover of Taylor Swift's "Style" with the always dazzling Tori McClure. They've done so much over the past few months and I'm so excited to see everything come together when everything's finally released. Check the "Style" cover out below:
In other music news, The Maine finally set a release date for American Candy, which is one of my most anticipated albums this year. If you're tuned in to The Blaze, we're giving away tickets to their show at The Marquee Theatre on April 3, which is the first date of the entire American Candy Tour. I'm excited for a lot of albums this year, but this one having a piece of home in it I think makes it the most special to me. I finally get what Jared said when he said a few months back that this record is pop songs dressed up as rock songs, but I dig it. I'm also so into that this album is the polar opposite of Forever Halloween. Oh, and I stayed up late on Monday night just to watch the premiere of their lyric video for their first single. It was well worth the wait.
Lastly, with my next huge concert being the Pot Of Gold Festival (I'm seeing Panic! At The Disco headline my school's spring-fling-type concert next week though, and I'm shooting some shows hopefully in early March), I didn't get to talk about Fall Out Boy last week. Two years off of hiatus, it seems like yesterday, to be honest. I remember leaving my English class to go to the bathroom to check Twitter and my entire timeline was all Fall Out Boy. They're my favorite band, they always will be. Two, three, four, five years in the future, they'll still be my favorite band. I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing without their music. I wouldn't like half of the music I like now with their music.
Last year, they uploaded a one year later video on their account, narrated by Patrick & Pete, and honestly, it brought me to tears. How much one band could do in one year with being away for so long. It's incredible.
Song of the week: "We All Roll Along" by The Maine from their 2008 release, Can't Stop, Won't Stop. Why? I'll get into that later.
But for now? Here's my playlist that was played on The Blaze today during the 12-1 PM hour! Listen to it on Spotify here (as always) in case you missed it or just want to hear it again. All of the tracks are below:
"Sweet Time" - The Technicolors
"Days Are Gone" - Haim
"Rude Boy" - Diners
"The First Single (Cause A Scene)" - The Format
"More Than Life" - Magazine Society
"Birthday Girl" - The Roots ft. Patrick Stump
"Right Now" - Never Let This Go
"Rollercoaster" - Bleachers
"Panic" - The Smiths
"Tightrope" - Walk The Moon
"Stay" - The Love Me Nots
"Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" - Green Day
"In Exile" - Thrice
"Run" - The Maine
This past week/weekend was insane, with the Super Bowl going on and stuff. I'm not a sports person, at all, and having all of the main events downtown was a lot for me. I mean, it was cool, but not really my thing. I saw Jimmy Fallon rehearse for his post-Super Bowl live show (rad) and saw Walk The Moon and The Technicolors play a free concert just a few blocks down from where I live.
If you don't know, The Technicolors are a local band who just recently signed to 8123, a local record label with artists signed to it like Lydia, This Century, Nick Santino (formerly of A Rocket To The Moon *insert crying emoji here*), and most notably, The Maine. If you listen to one artist, you listen to them all, which is actually really cool, because these bands really all have their own sound, but are deeply rooted with their hometowns, most are here in Arizona, but some aren't. The band that has the biggest connection here in Arizona (at least I think) is The Maine.
Back in 2008, my parents had a family friend who had a daughter a few years older than me, so I hung out with her whenever our parents hung out together. She was obsessed with bands like My Chemical Romance, Green Day, blink-182, Fall Out Boy, and Panic! At The Disco, and then she showed me smaller bands, too. One of them was The Maine. She was so passionate about these guys, and hey, I was in 8th grade, so why not? I think the first song I listened to of theirs was "Girls Do What They Want," which I would jam out to pretty hard because I thought it sounded like a Jonas Brothers song at the time. I really didn't take a liking to The Maine until high school, but little did 8th grade me know (high school me, rather) that I would grow incredibly close to the five guys that make up The Maine.
I was supposed to go to An Acoustic Evening with The Maine last year (yeah, the show they filmed their DVD at), but I had another commitment that night. Then, I was supposed to go to the 2014 Vans Warped Tour, but was unable to get a ticket. They then announced that they would be playing the Summer Ends Music Festival, but the entire festival got rained out during their set and it had to move to a tiny venue (plus I ended up getting sick that day, so I couldn't even see them at all). A month later, they played a secret show at a really tiny venue here in Phoenix, and as usual, they met everyone afterwards (they're kind of known to do that). Since there were so many people in such a tiny venue, I was unable to talk to all of them, but I was able to get to chat with Pat for a bit and then John before leaving. It was cool to watch them interact with fans who they had seen before at multiple shows, greeting them like old friends and spending the time to really have conversations with them. I had never seen a band like that do that before, especially a band as (pretty) big as The Maine.
In January, they announced the American Candy Tour, which is kicking off here, in Arizona, which is weird, because they usually end tours here or just do album release shows here. They were selling tickets in person all the way in Tempe, so I took the shuttle from downtown Phoenix to Tempe, was picked up by my friends, and went with $20 cash to buy a ticket. I stepped up to John & Jared's shared ticket window and was immediately greeted by John as he pressed his hands onto the glass, asking me how I was and how it was great to see me, followed immediately by a ton of questions on how school was going (he used to go to my school, weirdly enough). I was so overwhelmed by the fact that I hadn't seen him in months and talked to him for five minutes after he had a couple of drinks that I was genuinely surprised that he remembered me and the brief conversation that we had. I bought my ticket (it's still creased from when he handed it to me) and he said he would see me when they were all finished up, and soon enough, he told me he remembered me.
Friday night, they were all at the Walk The Moon concert supporting The Technicolors. I knew that they were there, I mean, they're signed to the same label, are close friends, the concert was free and in their city, the list goes on and on. I had left the pit after The Technicolors had ended (rumors about a certain boy band member being across the street started to circulate and that's something that I don't want to get into), and on our way out, I noticed a few familiar faces. Make that five familiar faces. I saw Pat first, and greeted him with a big wave and an even bigger hug, and he really seemed so happy to see me & my friends. He asked us what we thought of The Technicolors, and I had never seen them before, but I play them during my shifts on the station, so I told him they were really good & it made me more excited to see them in April when their tour starts. We talked for a while, laughed a lot, and then I decided that it was time to continue our trek out of the crowd, so we hugged again & said our goodbyes.
John was standing a bit far back, and he got a hair cut (a very much needed one, mind you) and he looked so good that I didn't even recognize him at first. I kept whisper-yelling "John" while semi crouched so he would see me awkwardly positioned between people, and after a few attempts, he bent down, beer can in hand, with the biggest smile on his face. He asked how I was, complimented my hat, and then we chatted a bit before Halvo (Cobra Starship's bassist & John's best friend/college roommate who I had met earlier that day) had cut in.
Then this was when I was really going to leave. Kennedy saw me from inside of the crowd, and there was no easy way for him to get to me. He waved feebly, squeezed his way between people (Jared and someone else I think) before popping next to me. Kennedy went through a lot over the past few months, and he looked so much happier and healthier on Friday night, if not the happiest and healthiest I've ever seen him. I had only talked to him once in my entire life, and it was one of the quickest interactions I've had with any of them, but it meant a lot that Friday we got to talk. We chatted how we were, The Technicolors, American Candy, and life. I remembered him saying to be gentle with hugs in his lengthy post shortly after the band's blackout period ended, and when he went in for one, I half whispered "I'll be gentle" and he looked at me with a really sincere face and said "Thank you."
Also side note...this happened today:
I guess what this whole thing was a huge post saying that a lot of things mean a lot to me, but this band is one of them. Everyone probably thinks with me that every band is my favorite band, which may be true because music has gotten me through a lot and I try to connect it with stuff that's kind of sucky sometimes, but I can honestly say I've never met a band as passionate about what they do other than The Maine. So they're my favorite bunch of dudes.
Here's to American Candy. And Pat, I'm holding you to the pre-listening thing of the album you're attempting to plan. You promised that invite.
Closing out this blog post with a music video, as per usual. Here's "Run" off of The Maine's Forever Halloween, which is the song I ended my shift with today.
Have a rad rest of your week, everyone. Don't sweat the small stuff.
Song of the week: "One Four Six" by Eagles In Drag, one of my favorite local bands of the moment, mainly because it's all members of local bands that I love already. Definitely give them a listen, they have a five song EP that came out last year and the whole EP sort of reminds me of Gerard Way's Hesitant Alien, but not. If that makes sense.
I always feel like my DJ playlists sum up my moods for the week, because half of these songs I added into my iTunes library over the past few days, so it's kind of funny how it all works out that way. Check out what I played below, listen to it on Spotify here, or do both if that's what you're into.
"Somebody New" - Joywave
"Got To My Head" - Waters
"God Keeps Me Alive" - Gospel Claws
"Shake It Out" - Florence + The Machine
"Single Station" - The Vinylheads
"Pumpin Blood" - NONONO
"Sex On The Regular" - Miniature Tigers
"Flashed Junk Mind" - Milky Chance
"Come As You Are" - Nirvana
"Next In Line" - WALK THE MOON
"Take What You Can Carry" - The Maine
"Video Girl" - FKA twigs
"I Wanna Get Better" - Bleachers
"Kings And Queens" - MisterWives
Super excited to start promo'ing the station and Future Sunsets again. Speaking of Future Sunsets, they released a cover of the newest All Time Low single, "Something's Gotta Give," featuring Dave Days. Watch it below and keep an eye out for an iTunes!
So so so much is happening downtown because of the Super Bowl. They transformed CityScape and it's surrounding areas into a mini-campus for tourists to meet NFL alumni, go to free concerts, all stuff like that. They even built a rock wall like the Grand Canyon. Like...what? I'm just not about everything being so congested; I haven't even ventured down to the Super Bowl Central because I know how insane it is.
I'm seeing WALK THE MOON and my local loves The Technicolors on Friday though, going to the NFL Honors red carpet event on Saturday and then seeing Jimmy Fallon's monologue rehearsal on Sunday. It's going to be brutal, but so fun, even though I don't care about sports...at all.
This week's song of the week is none other than Fall Out Boy's "Favorite Record" off of their newest record that came out yesterday. Check out my review of it here.
After settling into a brand new school and work schedule, I managed to also fit in my weekly DJ shift. I was so happy to finally be back in the studio and I missed all of my friends who I made from working at The Blaze and I've gotten to see all of them since school started back up again, which made me really happy.
With my DJ shifts starting up again, my weekly playlists have also started back up again. Listen to today's on Spotify and check out what songs I played below:
"High" - Young Rising Sons
"Sleepwalking" - The Chain Gang of 1974
"Love & Drugs" - The Maine
"Over & Over" - Smallpools
"La La Love" - Neon Tiger
"Honey" - The Hush Sound
"Runaway" - Katastro
"Sweet Time" - The Technicolors
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" - Joy Division
"Waves" - Magic Man
"Talk to Talk" - This Century
"How It’s Going To Be" - Gerard Way
"Guns for Hands" - twenty one pilots
"Mansard Roof" - Vampire Weekend
"Budapest" - George Ezra
I'm so excited for this semester and just this year in general, I have a feeling it's going to be a good one. I'm cutting back on concerts this year, but I'm making the ones I go to count. First up is ASU's Devilpalooza but after that it's (hopefully) the Good Guys & A Girl Tour that (hopefully) I get to take photos of Paradise Fears, followed by the Pot of Gold & Viva Phoenix Music Festivals over spring break. And always, a video of the week. I'm seeing Jimmy Fallon's monologue rehearsal before his show here at the Super Bowl and my Fall Out Boy dudes (who I'm lucky enough to see twice this year!) performed last night on The Tonight Show. Check it out:
I think that's it for this week. But until next time!
2014 was a crazy year for me, to say the least. I transferred schools, met so many different people, started doing what I really wanted to do, etc.
Of course, I learned along the way more and more about myself, which was a very good thing. Some might say I haven't grown up, but I think I have. Here's the five things I learned:
1. Don't be afraid to try new things.
I've always been afraid to do things, whether it was eating a new food or going on an adventure. I swore to myself I would never do a lot of things, and this year I stepped out of my comfort zone.
2. Surround yourself with people who will make you a better person.
I tried the "being a better person" thing out last year, and it really does make you happier. I became obsessed with the happiness of others, and I gained a lot of really good friends out of it. Including these two guys:
3. Go to as many shows as possible.
I love music. That's no surprise there. I missed out so many opportunities last year (cough cough Vampire Weekend) because I didn't want to spend the money. This year I spent countless hours by going to 27 shows (yes, 27) and seeing over 50 artists, some I saw multiple times, whether they were supporting or headlining. Live music is way different than listening to a CD at home.
4. Don't be afraid to talk to people.
I met some of my best friends this year. Some of them I don't get to see too much, some of them live states away, but that's cool. They're doing what they love, and that makes me happy. Most of my friends I met at shows, whether it was waiting in line or talking to bands before and after concerts. I have some pretty funny conversations, inside jokes and random gestures with them, and it's incredible, to be straightforward.
5. Be yourself.
I couldn't stress this enough. If I love something, I shouldn't care what other people think. If I want to wear a dumb sweater to school or go see a Disney movie in theaters, I should. In the words of Pete Wentz, "you are what you love, not who loves you." It just took me a while to realize it.
As I said before, this year was super rad. The highlights of my year were meeting a band I've looked up to & admired for the past seven years and working so closely with another band who I was a huge fan of this time last year. Hard work really does pay off, and I never thought I deserved any of it.
2015, bring it. Can't wait to attend my first music festival, go to Los Angeles for the first time, and meet new people. Super stoked.
And since music has been a big part of my life, one of my favorite bands just released their final video from their third studio album. "Ode To Sleep", off of twenty one pilots' Vessel, was the first song I ever heard them perform live and it's been one of my favorites since day one. Being on this ride with them over the past year and a half was crazy, and in Internet terms, "my bbys are growin' up."
