Blurry lights, late-night, pink roses, and a tremendous amount of drama: Enter the world of The Spotlights. My name is Vincent, and I’m here to tell you the story of our first EP called THISWILLMAKEAFUNSTORYONEDAY.
EMO
Sifting Through Garbage: The Pet Traits Story
by Kyle Johnson
I have an incredibly vivid memory of the first time I heard Bad Brains. It was the first punk rock I had ever heard. I was fourteen years old, and I’m twenty-one now, but I can still conjure the feeling of that moment. The music tore through me. I felt the sound more than I heard it. It was summer, and I was staying in on a beautiful day to listen to music that a youtube algorithm was recommending me – but I’m so grateful I did. It made something click in my brain, like a light in a dingy basement being flicked on for the first time. I felt completely at home in the break-neck speed and sheer volume of the music. If you know that record, the first Bad Brains record, it is insane sounding even by today’s standards. I left the first playthrough of hundreds a completely changed kid. The world looked and felt different. I was in on some kind of secret.
I would later learn, of course, that I was far from being the only person that had this exact revelation. Very far. But it felt so special to me. I’ve played in bands and written at least a couple hundred songs since that day. I started a band with my best friends (Bad Nostalgia, check us out) that’s still kicking to this day, and we’ve played countless shows. We made an album by ourselves. I have grown as a person and lived through trial and tribulation as we all have. But that first experience hearing punk rock music was my watershed moment.
It encapsulated everything I love about music, art, and life. It’s all lead to me starting Pet Traits. I wanted to capture that feeling of excitement and wonder and use it as a creative power-tool. I threw out a lot of what I knew about music: the conventions, the chase of perfection, the safe bet, for total creative liberation. This is how I did it.
Impostor Syndrome – The Triumphs and Struggles of a Small Artist
by Riley Hart
Less Than Three is a project that has brought me so much joy and so much frustration in the span of little over a year. Being a small artist in a big industry feels so lonely at times, and yet, I find myself continuing to put so much work into my music. The only thing you can really do in my position is just put yourself out there and hope. These feelings of helplessness and self-pity are what drove me to write my first full-length album Impostor Syndrome.
Learn To Fall
by Yanny
As a kid, I liked to skate. I wasn’t that great, but it was never about that. It was about feeling the board beneath my feet roll, almost like an extension of myself. It was all about the ride. I remember when some of my friends that didn’t skate would want to learn, they’d always ask me to teach them what they needed to know and I ever had the same response; “Learn to Fall.”
Everything Was Not Fine.
It was a frigid December and I was sitting in a tree thinking I was unreachable, this was incorrect. Very incorrect.
From Death, Comes New Life
by Kirk Kisch (with the help of David Vega)
Around the age of 18, I was in a Pop Punk/Hardcore band called “All That.” At the time that was the style of music I wanted to work with, but at the same time, I wanted to mess around with some acoustic songwriter stuff. So I figured, on the side, I’d start my own solo acoustic project. Of course, I needed a name, but I didn’t want to go with my own name. I wanted an artist name, something that stood out. So that’s when I went through the good old music library and came across one of my all-time favorite songs. Among the Wildflowers.
New beginning…by exposing the past.
A spirit…with a forceful voice. I’m not ever the same…I always change.
REVOLUTION THROUGH MUSIC
by Lucifer 777
The world is chaotic. I believe so at least. War, hate, murder, all is loose. I will attempt to bring revolution and impact the world with my music.
Fuvk finds her Lyrics Therapeutic
This week’s featured artist fuvk definitely finds her music to be therapeutic. She started writing lyrics as a coping mechanism for depression and anxiety, and she hopes that people can find a sense of relatability through her words. Even if people can’t share her experiences, they probably can understand her sentiments in the music and lyrics and find solace in that kind of solidarity.
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The Quality of Home Recording as done by fuvk
Although our artist of the week known as fuvk recorded her early tracks in her bedroom, the quality stands out compared to other home recordings of non-electronic music. How does she do it?