Music Is A Staple

by Gretchen Pleuss

Music Is A Staple by Gretchen Pleuss

Photo by Thornburg Creative

Much of my childhood is hazy in my memory because of its ever-shifting nature. The one thing that I can still recall with rather unhindered detail is finding my voice as an artist even when life itself was uncertain.

When my parents split, it was messy. The house foreclosed, my mom and I moved in with my grandparents four hours north, and my two older sisters stayed in Cincinnati with my dad. As my mom struggled to find a job and a sense of new permanence in Akron, my aunts and grandparents stepped up and helped with caretaking duties. I was eight or nine years old.

Continue reading

A Phobia of Repetition

by Cold Pickle

The Phobia of Repetition by Cold Pickle
I grew up listening to a lot of alternative rock music — a good handful of hip-hop but nothing in-depth. Most of my musical influence came from Nine Inch Nails and the “industrial uprising.” My parents met at a Ministry concert at the first actual venue I ended up playing at, in the closest city’s bar scene. My dad got me into every good popular metal, hardcore, punk, rock band I can think to listen to today, besides newer bands of this generation.

Continue reading

Ancient Lullabies, Forgotten Tongues

by Todd Tobias

Ancient Lullabies, Forgotten Tongues by Todd Tobias (about the album Amialluma with Chloë March)

Instrumental mood music is my thing, so I expected my latest project to end up as an ambient album in my collection of solo works.  But after I finally had a pool of finished tracks to draw from, I decided to ask my fellow Hidden Shoal label mate Chloë March if she might have a listen and see if she’d like to add her lovely voice to the music.

Continue reading