by Maylin Lei
Credits to ilyaimy.com for providing the cover picture
My EP, When Pigs Fly, is the first body of music I’ve ever released. I purchased my first guitar little over a year and a half ago and only began writing songs after a year of learning to play guitar. However, when I found out how enjoyable it was to write songs, I knew that I was onto something.
by Fane
I am Fane, creator of Gnostic ambient folk songs, drone hymns and Neolithic dub. A study into the healing effects of Neolithic monuments captured my imagination.
Positive Reinforcement Cookies is the Drool Brothers 8th release. I, Chuck Mancillas, play drums, sing lead and am the primary songwriter and engineer. My Brother, Tom Slik, is the bassist, idea curator and serves as father wisdom. We are joined by instrumentalist Dan Marfisi (bongos, xylophone, keys, guitar, and vocals) and lead guitarist East Los heart throb, Rico Garcia.
The song ‘Warsaw Ghosts’ from The Family Grave’s album Everybody Is Flawed is a tribute to the Polish capital, soaked in history and emotion. Here, its writer explains.
“And the ghosts are laughing, because this is Warsaw.
The vodka is cold but our hands are warm.”
by Greg Connors & Catherine Swan
Photo by Gretchen Pellaton
“Greg Connors is back with the release of is his new EP Holographic Static Proportion; it’s rough around the edges, jarring at times, (occasionally even skull-rattling). This album has all the earmarks Connors has become known for, brutally capricious lyrics and a quick dark wit. As a writer, he continues to mine the rubble of human relationships for nuggets of understanding and tenderness amongst the fury and confusion. A versatile storyteller, Connors will draw you in, hit you hard where it hurts and probably give you a good laugh as well.
Where were you when that tree fell in the forest? Check out Holographic Static Proportion and see what you hear…”
-Catherine Swan
by Kaleb Hikele
The years 2015 to 2017 were most probably the most crucial building block along my musical path. I’ve spent the two years struggling with a degenerative tendon disease leading to a derailing chronic wrist injury.
At first, I was misdiagnosed, and it took six months to understand why my wrists were escalating in pain. Since March 2015 I have routinely been a patient of several clinics, in and out of several hospitals, X-ray/Ultrasound/MRI scanning beds, frequented medical specialists and doctors offices around the city with minimal results.
It still affects me every day now. But I have new music released since and I’m moving on!
by Luis DH
For most artists, songs and albums are like snapshots of periods of time and their lives at those moments. Creating and expressing yourself can be both a healing and a learning experience – to know more about yourself and the world around you.
Last year I went through the worst and messiest breakup ever. I saw things I thought I would never see. I got to witness the ugliest part of human nature, and it was truly heartbreaking – and the ultimate test in life.
But I survived.
And I decided to express all those feelings through songs.
This is the story behind every track on my latest album, “メタポップ (Metapop).”
by Ref Records
Ref Records, Llc. was founded to provide a platform to artist old and new that embody a unique presence reminiscent of a time when music was as creative as competitive.
by SYBLING
Hello there!
We are sisters Alice Makwaia and Mariana Quinn-Makwaia. We make up the duo SYBLING.
We have lived in New York City just about our entire lives, and we like to think our music mirrors our NewYorker-ness (eclectic and a bit mysterious).
by Red Bovine
To begin, the album took about a year to finish, from writing to final production. Ultimately, I think it describes a period of thawing out from a pretty deep depression. The loss of several family members, a big move from Illinois to Oregon to live closer to my sisters after graduating from college to begin processing a lot of dark stuff that was hanging over me. So this album was a product of that time, of coping, thawing and trying to navigate my way back to somewhere that would hopefully be a lot healthier.