Monday: Eagulls
Eagulls is a punk five-piece, hailing from the third largest metropolitan district of the UK, Leeds. Known and admired by a cult of ardent admirers for their raucous shows and unique sound, which falls somewhere between post-punk and slacker rock, these boys are selling out shows left and right. After lots of positive reception at SXSW and CMJ, Eagulls most recently won Best Music Video at the NME Music Awards for their notorious brain decomposition video for their single ‘Nerve Endings’.
Similar Artists: Parquet Courts, Savages, Speedy Ortiz
Tuesday: Ben Ottewell (of Gomez)
English singer-songwriter Ben Ottwell, vocalist and guitarist for the well known indie band Gomez, is on a three week US tour this May and June. Ben will be playing music from his solo albums Rattlebag and Shapes & Shadows, as well as some Gomez favorites. While his solo work is not a huge departure from his work with Gomez, the sound is definitely more low-key, melancholy, and acoustic driven – it is sometimes described as a more mature version of the issues presented in the Gomez catalogue.
Similar Artists: Gomez, Nick Drake, Tom Waits
Wednesday: Common Kings
Common Kings is made up of a collection of inspirations orchestrated into an array of head rocking beats, feel good vibes, and emotional fever. Their crazy, fun-loving attitude complements their live sound, resulting in pop hits infused with rock, reggae, and R&B influences. Growing up in Orange County, California, the band members all grew up in households full of colorful personalities and vibrant passions for music, which helped place them on the road to musical individuality and expression. Having emerged by covering the greats, Common Kings has become one of them!
Similar Artists: Bruno Mars, Musiq Soulchild, Ryan Leslie (R-Les), Maroon 5
Thursday: The Chain Gang of 1974
The Chain Gang of 1974 is the indie-electronica project of musician and DJ Kamtin Mohager. Born in San Jose, California and raised in Hawaii before moving to Denver where Mohager joined 3OH!3 as a touring bassist from 2007 through 2010. In 2011, Mohager released his second album under the name The Chain Gang of 1974, which was very well received by the press. Zachary Houle of PopMatters called the album, “an homage to the 80s, in particular the soundtracks to John Hughes films, and it is, in a word, fun.”
Similar Artists: CHVRCHES, Gold Fields, Dan Croll
Friday: Robert Francis & The Night Tide
Americana singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Robert Francis, is known for his emotional darkness and musicality, and is defined by his gravelly baritone. Raised in Los Angeles, Francis is the youngest member of a music-filled household, with a producer/pianist father, a songwriting sister Juliette Commagere, and Mexican mother who sang native ranchera songs around the house. At age 16, John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers accepted Francis as his only guitar pupil. Since then, Francis has released several albums and paid his dues in grimy bars across the nation. This year, Francis is embarking on a huge 3 month tour across Europe and the US.
Similar artists: Noah And The Whale, James Vincent McMorrow, Glen Hansard
Saturday: Nikki Lane
Many years ago, a teenage high school dropout Nikki Lane (née Nicole Lane Frady) packed a trailer and said goodbye to her home, Greenville, South Carolina, The South and any sort of life it suggested she live. Lane explains, “You grow up in The South, you grow up in a small town, your expectations are a little bit limited,” she continues, “People expect you to go to a four-year college, get married and follow that Southern way of life. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do but I knew it wasn’t being offered to me.” Flash forward to today and we find Lane an empowered artist, each of her songs telling a story, with lots of talk of misbehaving and moving on.
Similar Artists: Hurray For The Riff Raff, Robert Ellis, Lydia Loveless
Sunday: Quantic (Live)
Quantic is the moniker for British musician, DJ and producer William Holland. Holland is truly a Jack of all trades, beginning his career as a teenager playing guitar in various rock bands, he switched to house and broken beat which helped launch his musical career. Around the same time, Holland was exploring home recording and engineering. To date, Holland has recorded fifteen studio albums. His most recent self-titled record features influences ranging from Ethiopian Jazz to Haitian Compas. Holland records and mixes from his own Sonido del Valle studio, which features vintage studio equipment that he uses to procure a rich and original sound.
Similar Artists: Bonobo, DJ Shadow, Kid Koala
