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Lo-fi

How an Emo Rock Opera Saved my Life

by Tucker Coughlin a.k.a. In Luna’s Garden

Mina / In Luna's Garden


Desperation Breeds Creativity.

Mina vs the Pit of Despair is an album born out of desperation. I’ve struggled with chronic depression and suicidal thoughts since I was 11 years old. I’m sure many of you can relate to teenage years full of tumultuous emotions and searching for answers. My memories of high school and early college are filled with trips to the doctor, seven different therapists, countless medication modifications, and reading philosophy and religion, all culminating in a 3-month inpatient residency. No matter what I did, nothing could convince me that life was worth living. In a final attempt, I decided to construct my own thesis on why life is inherently good. This effort would coalesce over two years into my debut album, Mina vs the Pit of Despair.

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Swimming Against The Current

by Old Magic Pallas

Old Magic Pallas


We are a Brazilian band that emerged in the 90s, more precisely in 1994: Old Magic Pallas. Oh gosh, 30 years! Time flies… We met in a CD store that belonged to our drummer, where we always met to listen to the releases of the bands we liked, mainly British alternative rock. In fact, our band’s name comes from the liner notes of Blur’s Parklife album (it was the name of one of those racing dogs).

At that time, few bands played this style of music in the country, and even fewer sang in English.

This was even the motto for a documentary called “Guitar Days – An Unlikely Story of Brazilian Music,” which details the independent scene of that time and where we are mentioned.

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Solitude

by Lyndon

Solitude by Lyndon


People ask me what instruments I play, and usually, I respond with, “Whatever gets it out of my head.”

Music has been an outlet for me for more than half my life at this point. I come from Chesapeake, Virginia, a place where music (let alone any form of art or entertainment) is totally underrated, never even remotely appreciated.

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Those Who Ride With Us Through The Night

by Oly

Oly


My story starts with my Mexican parents. They eloped from Mexico City then had me in Los Angeles.  Their early gift to me was a stand-up piano for kids. According to my mom, I spent most of my time on it, writing songs and playing them over and over. When I was a teenager, I was the frontwoman in a punk/indie cover band, then played in a few post-rock bands. I became obsessed with the label Thrill Jockey, and moved to Chicago because they were based there. My sister was my biggest champion—she accompanied me on the long drive. Even though she slept most of the time in the passenger seat, her love and support meant the world to me.

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Some things stop, some things don’t

by jakson

jakson


I am jakson.

jakson is a musical project by me, jakson.

It first began in 2019 with the release of ‘guilt.’ There have been three releases since.

The latest release, ‘too artsy for the footy kids, too footy for the art ones,’ was released in February 2023.

It was written and recorded in my bedroom as I moved across Melbourne, Bendigo, and Canberra over the last three years. Its title comes from a line in its second song, ‘michael cera, serotonin.’ It references how I fit in socially, growing up in a country town with an interest in sports and art.

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I wasn’t thinking about what I was going to think about

by Ben VanBuskirk of Blackout Orchestra

Ben VanBuskirk aka Blackout Orchestra


I can’t talk about music.

Okay, that’s not entirely true. I have the language. I can talk about what a particular song means to me, or I can talk about what that drummer is doing on the hi-hat that makes you know it’s them. Music history is an easy one – I’ve devoured all the rock bios, read all the critical analysis, seen all the interviews. I eat, sleep and breathe music. So why does it feel hard to talk about?

Not to sound all new-age about it, but music is elemental. Larger than life. When I was a kid, like most kids, I was into superheroes. The bright colors, the high stakes, the every moment of a story that meant something important to the larger narrative. As I grew up, music was the only “adult” thing that felt that exciting, that vital, that universal and yet intensely personal.

So of course I became a musician.

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Finding A Community

by Tom Smith


For me the most important thing about music and song writing is creating community. I have spent periods of my life feeling quite isolated. In 2013 after 12 years in Brisbane having convinced myself I was excluded from the local music community, I realised I was in fact very lucky to know many musicians who turned out to be so generous and supportive they recorded versions of my songs for what became the ‘You Do It I Can’t Be Bothered’ project.

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A way to connect with yourself

by Irene Sánchez

A way to connect with yourself by Irene Sánchez

Music has always been said to be a universal language, but I don’t agree. Music has as many meanings as people who listen to it. What for us can be a sad melody, for someone from the other side of the world, it can be the happiest of songs, that’s why I refuse to believe that music is universal. However, I don’t think this is a problem, but an advantage to be able to communicate with ourselves. Art shows us the reality that we need to see.

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2020 – A platter of songs for you to snack on

by Oliver Scott Draper

2020 - A platter of songs for you to snack on by Oliver Scott Draper
My short 4 track EP, “2020”, first took form before the year it’s named after before all of this insanity took over. I often think it’s best to leave a song’s meaning up to the interpretation of the listener. But, if there were an outlet to air out my thoughts of my songs, it would be here. So I’ll go through each track in the lineage of which they’re recorded and break them down.

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