Category: Artist of the Week

Grinding, heavy beats, psych and space pop keys, groovy, soul-inspired samples, sensual vocals, and even some funky guitar licks on singles like “Boat” are proof positive that DIY Russian artist, MITYA (pronounced ‘MIT-yah’ with emphasis on MIT), is ready to be heard in the States.

The 20-something, Mitya Burmistrov, captain of Russia’s beatbox team is a programmer, composer, songwriter and vocalist. He obviously has a range of musical talents, having also served Russia in other electronic/beats oriented roles, including OneBeat fellow, RBMA bass camp fellow, and Universiade Ambassador worldwide for Russia.

As far as we can tell, this is his first premiere in the U.S.. His debut release, Crest, dropped officially on June 10th.

MITYA has amassed over 40K Likes on his Facebook page in less than a year. That’s 40,000! It’s not easy to get 40K Likes in less than a year without some publicity and ‘music love’.

The organic, semi-viral online love for MITYA is not surprising after listening to his spins. In fact, we’re already streaming the full release for a third time, and that’s a really good sign when you besieged by hundreds of releases every month.

Burmistrov lists his top musical influences as Supertramp, Damon Albarn, and The Beatles.

That’s an interesting selection.

We would have expected Prince to be in that list considering how ‘Prince-like’ MITYA’s hooks and grooves are.

The single, “Spontanka,” adds to the fascination of MITYA’s sensual and tantalizing sounds; he’s not just laying down beats, he’s doing a lot of experimentation with percussions and samples, straddling the boundaries of hip hop and electronic music.

“Boat“ – MITYA from Crest

“Spontanka“ – MITYA from Crest

MastaMicBeatbox on YouTube

Mitya Burmistrov on Facebook

Since their formation in 2012, the suave Nashville pop groove band with the cool name, Sol Cat, has built up a regional following in their home state of Tennessee and beyond.

But next month, the band, which has toured with The Weeks, Reptar, Rubble Bucket and Turbo Fruits, among others, will play their biggest gig yet at one of the most popular music festivals in North America – Bonnaroo.

That’s a big deal for any band, especially considering that most festival goers will hear the band for the first time when Sol Cat takes the stage on June 14th in Manchester – practically in their backyard. The band won a BMI-sponsored ‘Road to Bonnaroo’ battle of the bands in February, after coming in second in the competition for three years in a row.

Combining melodic, yet understated, guitar riffs with grooving keys, pop infusions, sensual vocals, and smooth rhythmic beats, Sol Cat have created, in a way, their own unique sound. It’s a tricky task to categorize it, which is actually refreshing. Songs like “Body Like That” and “Bread on the Table,” from the band’s Body Like That EP, set to drop on May 12th, are sure to sway drunk and stoned crowds at Bonnaroo. The band of 20-somethings makes no bones about their beer-soaked, pot smoked party-fueled lifestyle.

Some critics, and band members, have alluded to the fact that Sol Cat could be more well known by now if they hadn’t struggled with their sonic identity over the past few years and frequent line-up changes. In fact, Sol Cat had cycled through three bassists before deciding to go forward without a bass player; at least for the immediate future.

Since it’s not so easy to put into words, we turned to the band to describe their sound. Guitarist Johny Fisher list Sol Cat’s style as a “combination of psychedelic, jungle and groovesrock,” elaborating that “there isn’t a one perfect effigy to reference for Sol Cat…it’s at once some old school 70’s groove and some new-now atmospheric bumping that you would find just as at ease in a beer-strewn pool barn as you would [at] a moonlit festival where everyone is covered in Day-Glo.”

Fisher said the band’s top musical influences include Toro Y Moi, Tame Impala, The Strokes and The Doors. Sol Cat dropped their self-titled debut album in February 2013, a three-track EP, Welcome to Cowabunga that following October and are set to drop their new EP on Tuesday, followed with a sophomore full-length later this year. They’ve also performed at SXSW and will perform at the Austin City Limits Festival in the fall.

The other band members include vocalist Brett Hammann; Jeremy Clark on keys; Jaan Cohen on guitar; Tom Meyers on drums. With the exception of Meyers, the four other members of Sol Cat met while attending Belmont University.

“Body Like That“ – Sol Cat from Body Like That EP – May 12th

“Bread on the Table“ – Sol Cat from Body Like That EP

Here are a couple of tracks from their self-titled debut LP:

“Dirty Glasses“ – Sol Cat from Sol Cat (via YouTube)

Sol Cat official website

Hailing from the beautiful Gold Coast of Australia, indie dance pop band, Fairchild has been growing in popularity over the past couple of years beyond the shores of Australia to the shores of England and North America. It all started with the release of their debut EP, Burning Feet , which was making the rounds among indie buzz band bloggers and fans after the title track was circulated.

And while the buzz from Burning Feet was still fresh, Fairchild dropped the sophomore EP, Sadako, last November. It has propelled Fairchild’s popularity to new heights.

“Burning Feet“ – Fairchild from Burning Feet EP

Both EPs were recorded under the brilliant guidance of celebrated producer Catherine Marks, who has famously produced albums for artists like The Killers, Wolf Alice and Foals. What young, relatively new, and talented indie band wouldn’t love collaborating with a producer of such caliber?

Two years ago, as their popularity was growing, the six members of Fairchild decided to leave Australia and establish new roots in Manchester, England for the recording of Burning Feet and for the kind of access to opportunities a place like Manchester offers a talented band with a growing fan base and increasing blogger and press love.

Shortly after settling in England and dropping Burning Feet, Fairchild hit the road for successful tours through Singapore, Hong Kong, China and North America, sharing the stage with bands like Neon Indian, Parachute Youth, Flume, Last Dinosaurs and The Griswolds, and performing at musical events like Canadian Music Week and Music Matters Live.

Fairchild’s funky, pop-glazed melodies and beats, harmony-laden choruses, catchy, energetic guitar riffs, sparkling keys and groovy bass lines are so wonderfully delivered that they sound like they’ve been making music together for a decade or more.

“Stay Young“ (Midnight Mix) – Fairchild from Fairchild

The magic between band members – Adam Lyons (vocals), Nathan Lyons (keyboards), Tim Voeten (guitar), Patrick Huerto (guitar), Tommy Davies (bass), and James Alexander (drums) – is evident in song after song of the band’s relatively small, but impressive, discography.

Last November, Fairchild dropped their newest self-produced EP, Sadako, via Canvas Sounds overseas and OK! Good Records in the United States. Sadako, which spawned the standout single, “Aracadia,” was also mixed by Marks in London’s Assault & Battery Studios. Other standout tracks include “Dancer” and “Figure It Out.”

“Arcadia“ – Fairchild from Sadako EP (2014)

Fairchild on Facebook

See the band’s live set performance at KEXP Seattle (May 2014)

Stream more of the band’s songs, like standout tracks, “Figure It Out,” “Disco Retreat” and “Dancer” via Soundcloud

San Francisco musician Paul Desjarlais, aka, Pseudonym, sort of lives in an imaginary world, and has done so for at least two decades, according to his own autobiographical details. Desjarlais, and the “other imaginary band members that pretty much live in my head,” has made some of the best indie pop most people have never heard.

Even though his newest album, Revolving Door, is his first release of new material in 17 years, Pseudonym has already created a small, but substantial, discography of whimsical, experimental and thoroughly enjoyable indie songs. We’ve spun Revolving Door more than a dozen times, and will again and again for a long time to come.

A good sign of a truly great album is one that you like a lot on the first spin, and that you come to love with each subsequent spin. And what makes Revolving Door even more magical and thrilling is the fact that it came out of nowhere – it was, at first, just another submission in our email box from a total stranger. Tracks like “Art School Lady” and “Better” are just a couple of examples that Desjarlais’ talent and creativity have not faded with time.

Art School Lady – Pseudonym from Revolving Door

Better – Pseudonym from Revolving Door

As a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and vocalist, he decided two decades ago to go solo and write, record, mix, master and distribute his own music under the Pseudonym moniker after years of playing bass in Boston bands like The Uncalled Four and Haberland while attending Boston University. Within a three-year period in the mid to late 1990’s, Desjarlais wrote and recorded some of the best under-the-radar indie pop songs we’ve heard in a long time.

In 1995, he dropped his debut LP, Pabz, an exciting and multi-faceted album that was a harbinger of things to come. Not long after releasing his debut, Desjarlais began writing and recording new demos. By 1998, he decided to leave the faster-paced northeast behind to make the trek out to the sunnier, warmer side of the continent, following Horace Greeley’s famous advice penned back in 1871: “Go west, young man.”

Shortly after arriving in San Francisco at the dawn of a new century, Desjarlais began to mix and master a new collection of magnificent indie pop, rock, lo-fi, psych, shoegaze and experimental tracks that would become his masterpiece sophomore album, Pig Tail World, an album that remains obscure even though it received enthusiastic reviews from the underground press at the time (before there were bloggers).

The Underground Music Monthly wrote that Pseudonym’s “unique and upbeat songs burst forth happily from your speakers with the same elation a young child leaps forth from bed on Christmas morning to open brightly wrapped gifts.” The zine Mommy and I Are One hailed Pig Tail World, writing that “the vocals are absolutely astounding and, you would never guess that this record was made in an attic and a basement. This is a big album with big sounds and songs that really give weight to the word ‘catchy.'”

Not surprisingly, Desjarlais lists his biggest musical influences as The Beatles, Big Star, Elvis Costello, Matthew Sweet, The Beach Boys, XTC, Magnetic Fields and The Pixies. There’s a little bit of each of these artists in his work. He maintains, however, that “the actual music is whatever comes out on the way there.” There, we surmise, is the journey that he travels from his imagination, musical influences, and his own whimsical admiration of, and exceptional talent for, catchy pop tunes.

“I shoot for a unique sound, but I’m still a sucker for a good pop hook,” he said. And yet Desjarlais still manages to masterfully weave other genres, like psychedelic, lo-fi, rock and shoe gaze, throughout his discography with stunning results and originality.

That is pretty much the mantra of the majority of his songs, whether on Pabz – which was recently re-mastered as a MP3 album – Pig Tail World or Revolving Door .

Two years ago, he released a six-song EP, Stupid Star, featuring songs that did not make it onto Pig Tail World for one reason or another. The EP boosts the significance of Pig Tail World recording sessions even more so as an important moment in the best of ‘underground music’ history.

The Pig Tail World–Stupid Star recordings are bursting at the seams with Beach Boys-like harmonies, Guided By Voices guitars, Pixies quirkiness, Beatles-influenced hooks, lush melodies, hazy summer reverb, typewriters, sound effects, percussions and rhythms created by banging on cardboard boxes, bottles, pots and pans (“Throw Some Love My Way”), and an occasional melancholy song (“Kill Me in The Rain”) as well.

“I tried to keep things pretty organic; there’s no midi, SMTE, or any computer stuff really at all, except…traces of drum machine on a few songs. For rhythm, I mostly hit objects with drum sticks.”

Pig Tail World leaps right out from the beginning with the opening track, “Crashing,” on which you can hear the battered bottles, pots and pans in the background. (Considering he originally recorded these songs in 1998, it is not a stretch to proclaim that Desjarlais was an original DIY one-man band – the real ‘real deal’)

“Crashing” – Pseudonym from Pig Tail World

“Kill Me In The Rain” – Pseudonym from Pig Tail World

On track after track, it’s all there for everyone to hear: lo-fi indie (“Pig Tail World” and “Blow Up”), dreamy Brian Wilson-channeling tracks (“Live Angel Wire” and “Broccoli Blues”), pure power pop indulgence (“Ice & Snow“), psych pop (“Disappearing” and “Over My Head”), and tracks ( like “Ray Gun”) that Apples in Stereo fans will surely dig, with varying influences from musical periods like “mid-60’s Top 40, late-60’s psychedelia, early 70’s pop, and late-70’s punk rock,” he added.

“Disappearing” – Pseudonym from Pig Tail World

“Ray Gun” – Pseudonym from Pig Tail World

It’s curious, of course, that Revolving Door, released on February 12th, is only Pseudonym’s fourth release in nearly two decades; he strikes us as much more of a prolific artist even though he wrote on his Bandcamp page that he “record new songs once in a while if I get a chance.”

Perhaps he is much more intent on making each release a deliberate and worthy endeavor rather than dropping albums for the sake of satisfying a small, but loyal, army of music critics and indie fans that Desjarlais has acquired, and even reacquired, over all of that time. That said, because he writes and records such amazing music, it would be a treat to all lo-fi, indie, power pop, shoegaze and rock music lovers if Desjarlais recorded more frequently.

The important thing is that he is no longer under the radar with the publication of this Artist of the Week feature, an honor well deserved, a number of times over. Let’s just hope it’s not another 17 years before he releases another album of new songs.

Pseudonym on Facebook

Over the years, we are always impressed with DIY one-man bands who are able to craft, record and mix amazing songs that sound better than a lot of bands with four or five members. From Derby, England, Grawlix (pronounced ‘Graw-lix’), the one-man band helmed by musician James Machin (formerly of My Psychoanalyst), does just that.

Not even a year since founding Grawlix, Machin fittingly dropped his debut album, Good Grief, on Valentine’s Day. We say ‘fittingly’ because there is love and heartbreak, raw emotion and despair – the inevitable contradictions of the foolish heart – present and lurking about within the ten tracks of this accomplished LP.

Good Grief‘s remarkable sonic journey is full of fuzzy, warm guitars, hauntingly beautiful piano melodies, and Machin’s wonderfully pained vocals that morph from moments of whispery, hushed melancholy into uplifting and flourishing choruses that quickly wash away any remnants of despair or discord, providing hope to a world that is too often plagued by darkness. Grawlix lovingly blends all of the aforementioned elements with ambient folk, shoegaze and dream pop on standout tracks like “Run Forever” and “Atlas Bear” – just a couple of the songs (available below for streaming or download) that we’ve listened to at least a half dozen times in the past couple of weeks.

Machin’s self-professed musical mentors – Bon Iver, Perfume Genius and Panda Bear, among others – are clearly beckoned, and well represented, but never imitated; Machin is too innately gifted as a songwriter, and a talented musician, to settle for cheap knock-offs. Instead, he belongs within their ranks.

Good Grief is one of the finest albums we’ve heard so far in 2015. From this point forward, Machin’s work can only be served justice by popping up on the radar screens of dazzled indie bloggers and music reviewers everywhere. We can’t wait to hear what he delivers next. But, for now, we’re content with Grawlix’s enormously satisfying debut.

Run Forever – Grawlix from Good Grief

Atlas Bear – Grawlix from Good Grief

Bonus: “Clump Soul” video by Machin’s former band, My Psychoanalyst

Purchase Good Grief on limited edition vinyl or digital download via Bandcamp

Grawlix on Facebook

Grawlix Official Website

Twitter handle: @grawlixband

Coming Up: : Best DIY Music of 2015, Vol. II; Bands You’ve Gotta Hear @SXSW; 5 Bands That Rock. Don’t miss the latest Top 10 Indie Rock Songs charts playlists

Avindale is an exciting El Paso indie rock band whose sound can be best described as a mix of powerful ambient guitar melodies, distinct bass lines, dynamic drum beats, and evocative vocals that draw from the band members’ diverse musical interests.

Early in 2014, the band released a 7-inch containing two triumphant singles – the funkier, more electronic Grizzly Bear-like, “Azure,” with its slick guitar and bass hooks, followed by the ringing guitars and melancholy mood of “Not Even Gold.”

Azure – Avindale from Azure/Not Even Gold 7″

Not Even Gold – Avindale from Azure/Not Even Gold 7″

So where did this promising new band start out? In 2011 – four years after first forming – the band released their debut EP, Cycles, containing three demo tracks. But it was their 2013 sophomore EP, Lost In A Place Some Call Home, recorded with the help of engineer/producer Dryw Owens (Indian Lakes, Culprit ), that really started gaining traction with music lovers, and with which the band felt they were finally producing the sound they always envisioned.

“Her Piano” – Avindale from Lost In A Place Some Call Home

Following the release of Lost In A Place Some Call Home , which also included a Japanese release on Cars and Calories Records, with distribution through Tower Records, Avindale set out to tour the U.S. and Japan, gaining more fans along the way. Standout songs from the EP include “Come Through,” “Her Piano,” and “Summer Meets Winter” (watch the db Session video) . In November, the band released the single, “Dreamer,” a mellow pop song that floats along on the wings of soaring and swirling synths and guitars that deliver encouraging lyrics of better days ahead.

“Dreamer” – Avindale from Dreamer single

Avindale’s blending of rock, electronic, ambient and jazz creates wonderfully rich and textured sounds that draw the listener in to hear more. That’s part of what makes labeling the band not such an easy thing to do. To that point, lead vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist, Oscar Alderete, says they consider themselves part of a “new wave of rock music that can not really be defined, where different influences are merging together.”

Unfortunately, the band has to travel far from their home base to participate in this ‘new wave of rock music.’ That’s simply because the El Paso music scene, Alderte told IRC, “has not had much to offer. El Paso, he said, is a “considerable distance from other cities with a stable or even growing music scene,” which in turn, “motivated the band to work even harder.” And that’s good for music fans everywhere. The more the band can get out of El Paso – especially to big music cities like Austin – the more their popularity is bound to spread.

The other band members include bassist Gary Espinoza, guitarist Chris Gards, drummer Beto Herrera, and percussionist and backup vocalist Oscar Diaz de Leon. The band’s musical influences range from Bombay Bicycle Club, Mutemath and Young the Giant to Indian Lakes and Radiohead. In the past, they’ve opened for Indian Lakes, as well as bands like Circa Survive, Dance Gavin Dance, Coheed and Cambria, A Lot Like Birds, and artist Johnny Craig. At a time when so many ‘indie’ bands, often at the hands of the record labels, are putting out predictably cookie-cutter releases, it’s refreshing to have bands like Avindale to listen to.

Avindale on Bandcamp

From an attic in rainy Glasgow, Scotland, DIY composer/musician Paul McLinden crafts wonderfully rich and diverse musical masterpieces as evidenced by the September release of his debut album, Head Happy. We love this album – every song is a gold nugget. It’s an indie masterpiece that somehow slipped under the radar.

After listening to Head Happy from start to finish about a half-dozen times, it’s even more impressive that McLinden is essentially a one-man band – he writes and sings all of the lyrics, plus plays and mixes all of the instruments on every song in his remarkable and growing discography.

Head Happy offers a wonderful diversity of songs – from hard-rocking romps like “Mr. Boogie” and “Quicksand” (conjures up Iggy Pop), to light, indie pop-driven songs like the title track, “The Way I Feel,” and “Whether The Weather,” as well as the Velvet Underground-sounding “Cheer Up,” and the melancholic and contemplative “Green Eyed Monster.” The only complaint we could possibly muster up is that we wish many songs were longer.

“Mr. Boogie” – Paul McLinden from Head Happy

“Whether The Weather” – Paul McLinden from Head Happy

“Cheer Up” – Paul McLinden from Head Happy

It’s impossible to listen to just a couple of McLinden’s songs and walk away with a truly representative idea of his musical abilities and accomplishments. To that point, we could not release our ears from his Soundcloud page, effectively streaming his entire discography and being thoroughly mesmerized by the wide range of genres, sounds, moods, topics, and ideas expressed through touching lyrics, intriguing compositions, raw rocking romps, breathtaking instrumentations, and his innate skills as an artist.

This journey of discovery of McLinden’s music has been enjoyable and revealing. He delivers time and again on tracks from his latest album and his earlier releases, including songs like the mysterious “Diagnosis,” the riff-heavy “Cheap Trick,” the bluesy cool factor of “Turn It On,” the dreamy instrumental, “If Only That Were True,” the soft summer breeze feel of “I Remember” and “Bad Pennies,” the more upbeat acoustic beauty of “Too Little Too Late,” and the whispery, enchanting harmonies of “Harbour,” which also appears on the soundtrack for the movie Return to Zero.

“Harbour” – Paul McLinden from Foggy City Orphan

“Cheap Trick” – Paul McLinden from This is That

“I Remember” – Paul McLinden from Paul McLinden

“Too Little Too Late” – Paul McLinden from This Is That

The list of great songs that have emerged from McLinden’s Glasgow attic over the past few years goes on and on thanks to album releases like this years’ Head Happy, 2013’s Foggy City Orphan, and 2012’s This is That EP.

McLinden’s precious gift for turning notes into things of sonic beauty also transcends indie rock. In fact, we were simply blown away by his talents for making magic with the piano and other instruments as he did, along with his collaborator Kenny Iglis, in scoring the stunning soundtrack for the BBC documentary, The Bridge: 50 Years Across the Forth.

“The Bridge” – Paul McLinden and Kenny Iglis from The Bridge: 50 Years Across the Forth

After listening to the Bridge soundtrack in its entirety, it’s no surprise that McLinden is a classically trained musician who was also once a member of the prestigious Scottish National Orchestra. The more we dig into his past, the more his resume flowers with accomplishments as a composer, songwriter and musician. He’s done our favorite genres a huge service by turning his talents to crafting and recording simple, three-minute indie pop and rock songs and releasing them for the world to enjoy.

“If Only That Were True” – Paul McLinden from This Is That

It was not much of a surprise to find out that we’re not the only ones who’ve noticed McLinden’s talents. As a matter of fact, just a few weeks ago, his side music project, Mothmatrix, had the track “Ghosts” featured on an episode of CSI.

And with one accomplishment after another under his belt, McLinden’s humility is refreshing, commenting that he relates to “people with a DIY attitude to music who are not dazzled by ideas of fame and fortune,” adding,“I am a man of few words and I prefer to say what I think through my songs.” On his Soundcloud page, McLinden added: “In it for the Monet, not for the money.”

“Whalesong” – Paul McLinden from a single

Jet Black Sunrise is a Boston-based indie band with a knack for crafting dreamy modern pop compositions that pay proper respect to the band’s musical idols, such as Death Cab, Matt Pond, Counting Crows and Coldplay. The band – consisting of Matt Cronin, Nick Fede, Jay Schneider, Matt Smith and JC Zwisle – formed in 2010, and in that time, have earned their spots as accomplished musicians.

JBS weaves intricate arrangements, straddling the line between 90’s folk rock and experimental electro pop styles. JBS’s sound strikes a remarkable familiarity with The Wallflowers, the band formed by Bob Dylan’s son, Jackob Dylan, in the early 90’s. JBS’s songs are mellow and often drift from one chorus to the next with dreamy chords, soft ambience and poignant lyrics.

There’s no reason this band should remain largely under the radar, and you’ll probably feel the same way after listening to works like their 2011 LP debut, Falling (“Impossible,” “All Away,” “You’re Still My Love”), followed in 2013 by Capture, and most recently, the fine EP, Departures (“In Flight,” “Granite”).

“All Away” – Jet Black Sunrise from Falling

Described by some bloggers and the press as a fan-oriented experience, the band’s live shows grew in popularity within Boston and elsewhere, with fans singing along to their songs, and band members connecting with the audience in ways that few DIY bands do as well.

In March, the band released a charming new single, “Rockview,” in advance of the release of Departures, which you can listen to here.

“Rockview” – Jet Black Sunrise from Departures

“In Flight” – Jet Black Sunrise from Departures

The succession of albums in recent years demonstrates the band’s evolution in musicianship and songwriting skills, important progressions for any band. The band has opened previously for Bad Rabbits, Milkman’s Union, Nikolas Metaxas, and Reptar .

Baltimore DIY band Joy Classic pumps out catchy, feel good psych pop sounds layered with bright guitar hooks and twangs, reverb-soaked vocals, and punchy bass lines on standout songs like “Ya Know” and “Blossom.” We know when we’ve hit upon a talented, promising band when it’s difficult to pick just a couple of songs to highlight, despite the fact that their discography, thus far, is made up of only a half dozen tracks altogether.

  “Ya Know” – Joy Classic from Youth Buzz

Joy Classic’s sound is not easy to pin down, and yet they strive to pack as much intrigue into their compositions as possible, incorporating elements of 60’s-inspired California surf rock; dreamy, 70’s-style sunshine pop and crisp, melodic hooks representative of some of their top musical influences, like Tame Impala, The Strokes, and Beach Fossils.

There are even hints of east coast doo-wop and classic rock that color songs like “Saturday Night.” That track, among others available in this profile, are found on the band’s four-song debut EP, Youth Buzz. The EP was featured on Philadelphia’s XPN.org, along with various associated blogs, and received a good deal of support from Baltimore’s DIY-friendly community. The band continued to write new songs while performing concerts from Baltimore to DC, and opening for artists like Yuck, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, San Fermin, and Deleted Scenes.

  “Saturday Night” – Joy Classic from Youth Buzz

The band was originally founded by childhood friends Bob Elder and Justin Link in Portland, Oregon; however, the band moved to Baltimore to link up with Link’s former bass player, Matt Robinson, and to find a more fitting home base that allowed them to pursue their music together and still pay the monthly bills.

After countless attempts to fill an open drummer slot, Robinson’s longtime friend, Chrysta Ghent, secured the role by way of her seemingly effortless on-the-spot transition from guitar to drums. Following many hours of rehearsing and recording in a dark, graffiti-ridden warehouse, the band also released their first music video, the psychedelic-influenced , “Splash.”

  “Splash” – Joy Classic from Youth Buzz

Earlier this year, Joy Classic released “Metro,” a single from a rumored 2014 debut LP, which has yet to materialize. As Joy Classic continues to gain the attention within the Baltimore indie music scene, we can only say that we hope more music lovers from around the country recognize a band that really has something special going on.

  “Metro” – Joy Classic from Metro 7″

We’re hoping that they’ll be releasing a debut album soon before they become like too many other talented-out-of-the-gate buzz bands who make a splash and then fade from view because they don’t keep pumping out new music, or fail to properly promote themselves to sustain a key component in making it in the music business – momentum.