SLUG Magazine

Herban Empire’s Andrew Cole discusses the band’s growth as artists as they prepare for their set at this year’s Reggae Rise Up Music Festival, which goes Aug. 24–26.

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Sarah DeGraw chats about the musical journey that led to the long-awaited recording of Sarah DeGraw & the Odd Jobs’ self-titled debut album.

DeGraw discusses her beginnings of finding a love for the acoustic guitar and using it to influence her songwriting. Most of the songs for the upcoming album were originally written on the acoustic guitar and then transferred to electric. On some of the songs on the album, she feels her classical training on both the cello and the piano shines through—a call back to her roots within the rock-heavy stylings she has moved toward. The new album is set to represent a culmination of a long journey for DeGraw, displaying her sonic evolution as a solo-acoustic act to fronting a full-fledged rock band.

A major part of DeGraw’s journey has been meeting musicians and gaining band members. She discusses the Odd Jobs coming together in a natural way over a longer period of time, including meeting the group’s eventual lead guitarist and producer, Michael Sasich, outside a bar mid-morning—and, through Sasich, the group found their bassist, Greg Shaw.

The Odd Jobs’ sound came together naturally through performance opportunities—starting out with smaller gigs and moving up, even playing at SXSW. They’re excited to finally have a studio recording to show for their years of only performing live. DeGraw feels like the recording does a good job of representing the group’s sound. A couple reasons for that are the band’s decision to record the album to analog tape and to do the initial tracking for the album live.

The band will have an album-release show at Clubhouse SLC on June 23. Their debut self-titled album will be available everywhere digitally June 24. You can keep up with Sarah DeGraw & the Odd Jobs at sarahannedegraw.com.

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On this episode of Soundwaves, Joshua Strauther discusses his transition from Joshy Soul to David Moon, his plethora of contemporary and ’80s influences and his love for tea.

After a strong two-year run performing and recording as Joshy Soul—also spending time producing and writing with other groups—Strauther felt a drop in creativity, feeling as though he was only working in art to “make it as an artist.” David Moon began with Strauther writing “funny ’80s songs.” Initially just a practice in playing with synths, Strauther found he enjoyed the sonic layers and the simplistic compositions. Moving away from the theory-heavy soul music that Joshy Soul was producing, Strauther had found a project in David Moon for “just creating art.”

Embarking on this new project, Strauther found influences in older artists such as Prince and Tears for Fears as well as some contemporaries like Gavin Turek and swedish band Niki & The Dove. He also cites David Bowie, M83, Daft Punk and Homeshake as artists who have helped shape the sound of David Moon. He also discusses the differences in the collaborative processes of Joshy Soul and David Moon—allowing himself to be more open to collaborative creativity with his new project.

Strauther is currently working on a full-length for David Moon, a project he says might be released as two albums to best display the duality of the project. Strauther discusses the two sides of the writing process for the upcoming David Moon album(s): the half inspired by dark dreams and the half inspired by his experiences in Miami.

Strauther’s creativity has been renewed by working on a purely “art project.” He hopes to release David Moon’s album(s) by August or September to keep the summer alive as long as possible.

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Nick Johnson details his journey as a guitarist, from metalhead to finger-style expert—and how to grow in this acoustic genre.

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On this episode of Soundwaves, Night Marcher musician and rock prodigy Rob Reinfurt discusses finding his path by playing music, writing lyrics on trains and their new album Us & Them.

The name of the group, Night Marcher, came to Reinfurt somewhat by fate. After a friend told him to inspect Hawaiian folklore, he found the story about the Night Marchers on a random page in a book from the library. Feeling inspired by the story of the ghosts of Hawaiian warriors, Reinfurt decided it was the right title for his project—all the while feeling as if the name was familiar to him. Later, he realized the name was also used as the title of a song by Medeski Martin & Wood, a group that Reinfurt fell in love with after seeing them perform live, eventually inspiring him to buy a drum kit and move him on the path towards music.

In 2009, Reinfurt found his life “turned upside-down” after some trouble with the law. This led Reinfurt to begin seriously writing songs and lyrics for the first time in his life. As he moved his life away from his poor decisions, Reinfurt began writing lyrics while he was traveling, mostly on planes and trains.

The inspiration for Night Marcher’s Us & Them came to Reinfurt after purchasing a piano from a blind, one-legged man named Stumpy online. To learn to better play the instrument, Reinfurt turned to the playing of Bill Evans on the Miles Davis album Kind of Blue.

Reinfurt feels that much of the music he writes is dark, but he set out to write more upbeat songs for Night Marcher’s new album. He says that he allows for the music to come to him in his songwriting, and he’s excited to share Us & Them soon. In the meantime, listeners can enjoy a newly premiered track, titled “No More Yes Men.”

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Blake Foard discusses his band, Crow Killer, as a platform for activism, a team promoting a drug-free lifestyle, and as an outlet to cope with depression and fight suicide.

Crow Killer started over a tragic event that happened a couple years ago. After the loss of their close friend, Brad Hancock, it was difficult for anyone to play music, let alone go out to shows. When everything calmed down, Foard and guitarist, Josh Nemcek, decided to start playing music to honor Brad. With a complete lineup, Crow Killer started writing songs. “Everything we do as Crow Killer, we try to honor Brad in some way,” says Foard.

Musically, Foard’s roots are in hardcore, “the perfect mix of punk rock and metal.” He grew up loving the work of Minor Threat, Gorilla Biscuits, and Judge, whose messages were ones of sobriety and living positive lifestyles. While they aren’t a straightedge band, they still consider themselves a drug free one and they try to promote their clean lifestyle.

Originally on Glory Kid Records, Crow Killer has made the switch to release their full-length album on New Age Records. Foard discusses how the founder of New Age, Mike Hartsfield, is not only one of his best friends but is also one of his biggest musical influences. Once Hartsfield decided to put bands out on his label again about two years ago, Crow Killer jumped on the opportunity as soon as they wrote enough songs.

Crow Killer will be in the studio all throughout May, and their full-length album will be hitting the streets by early fall.

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On this episode of Soundwaves, Andrew Goldring discusses his ascent from guitar-based blues music to indie-powerhouse musician and producer at Soundcave.

After high school, Goldring moved on to work in Golden Sun and Great Interstate, the bands in which he would practice writing and recording albums all on his own. Once Great Interstate called it quits, Goldring focused on his solo work by writing and recording his own songs, which would lead to the opening of his studio, Soundcave.

Songwriting has become a new experience for Goldring. Instead of trying to channel as much inspiration that he could at once for a perfect song, he’s been working on writing songs that come from a stream-of-consciousness way of writing. By finding new ways to piece different things together and experimenting with his lyric-writing techniques, songs that didn’t come out as expected the first time have a chance to become something unexpected.

Goldring has a lot he’s bringing to the table this year. Not only is he working on producing new songs, music videos and organizing different tours and gigs, but he’s also working on an EP.

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Nick Passey, more commonly known as ‘NP,’ is a local, acoustic act with a background comprising many different experiences and genres. In this episode of Soundwaves, Passey discusses how he became a solo artist, his experiences on tour, the recording process of his debut album and his love for Salt Lake City.

It all started when his friend, Jeff Dillon, asked him to go on tour. To Passey’s surprise, Dylan didn’t mean just as good company—he wanted him to play. Passey quickly realized that he needed to throw some material together and started writing songs, working on a website, and assembling his album, one week before he was supposed to leave.

“The call to release the album on vinyl was an obvious one after so many people came up to the merch table and asked for it,” Passey said. He discusses his love for vinyl as an intimate medium. He mentions that his favorite places in Salt Lake to hunt for a good record are Randy’s Records and Diabolical Records. Even then, he still loves to dig around a thrift store to find those diamonds-in-the-rough.

Passey recorded his album with Steve Phillips from Full Fidelity Records in Murray, where he found fulfillment in the recording process. Since they worked by project instead of by hour, it allowed for the duo to take their time and focus on the little details to create something unique.

Nick Passey is playing a show on April 21 to debut his album on vinyl at The Patio in Salt Lake City. You can find a digital copy and learn more about him on his website: nickpassey.com.

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In this episode of Soundwaves, WEY founder Spock talks about his origins, the band’s formation and the quick evolution of their sound.

Spock recalls growing up in the North Bay area of California and spending summer vacations in Ecuador with his older brother. He’s always known some Spanish and grew up surrounded with Spanish speakers. This background influenced his musical career, and more specifically, his quest for a killer band name.

Since he wanted the name to be something unique and interesting, Spock sought out inspiration in any place he could. He wanted to avoid having the same name as someone else’s band, and he really wanted to land on something original. What finally caught his attention was the word “Wey” from a line from the Robert Rodriguez movie, El Mariachi. “Wey,” is used to refer to any person without using their name, which can be derogatory or endearing depending on context and that is what intrigued him.

When he’s not playing music Spock spends his winters working at Brighton Ski Resort and his summers coaching kids in skateboarding. He even runs his own skate camp, and more information can be found at www.spocksskatecamp.com.

WEY will have three upcoming record release shows throughout march March: The first, is on the 10th at Urban Lounge, then, March 16 a live show at Brewskis with Magda-Vega, and another March 30 at Molly Green’s in Brighton Resort. The featured track was “Castanets for Bayonets,” you can find more of their music at weymusic.bandcamp.com.

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Tishmal is the moniker of local singer-songwriter Rachel Brockbank, whose debut project dropped in early 2018. She disscusses her path toward music, explains the origins and meanings of her new songs, and her participation in the Les Femmes De Velour festival on this episode of Soundwaves.

The name “Tishmal” was originally given to her at a younger age by her father.  Meaning “hummingbird” in the language of the Luiseño tribe, Brockbank uses this name as a tool to connect her music to her heritage. According to Brockbank, earning a native name is a rite of passage in her culture, and she continues the connection she has to the name through her recorded music.

Though she was originally studying to be a doctor, she decided to change her path. While she has always found (and continues to find) a draw toward healing people, she felt a dissonance with the rigid structures of medical school. Only after finding a piano in the basement of a campus building did Brockbank realize her true calling—catharsis through music. She would eventually turn to playing piano and singing as a respite. “Music can be something that can really help people. It’s been cathartic for me, so having that click in my head made it less terrifying.”

Tishmal will be playing the Les Femme De Velour music festival on Friday, Feb. 23, at Club Velour in Provo alongside many other talented women. “It’s so important to have those visible role models that you can look to as an example and for inspiration,” she says. “There’s just so much talent here in Utah, and it’s cool to highlight it.”

Tishmal’s music is available on her website, tishmal.com, and it’s easy to keep up with her on her Instagram: @Tishmal.Music.

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