Musician Holly Pyle has been on a reconnaissance mission for several weeks. The vocalist for the quartet House of Stairs has been asking some of her fellow musicians what she can expect as one of 25 local participants in this year’s Phoenix Rock Lottery. The lineup to the event, now…

Minnesota-based rapper Andrew Sims, emcee name SIMS, was filled with anxiety during the second week in November, and it had nothing to do with the presidential election results. While staying with friend and producer Paper Tiger on their tour, nearly $19,000 worth of equipment was stolen from the van he…

And he’s not throwing away his shot.

We all had an imaginary friend growing up. Singer-songwriter Erin Fein imagined a recording partner. In 2012, Psychic Twin, led by Fein, released several rapt, evocative singles. These starry-eyed exercises in the shoe-gaze genre, filled with wistful counter-melodies and dark rhythms, were meant to be solitary affairs, a way to capture the…

When the lights went up inside the historic Orpheum Theatre in downtown Phoenix after an emotional performance by Icelandic dream rockers Sigur Rós, my eyes were, for lack of a better word, moist. I was moved and I did not know why. As the crowd emptied, I attempted to keep…

Wes Miles, the leader of the indie rock band Ra Ra Riot, remembers how much fun he had staying home from school because it afforded him the opportunity to watch science-fiction movies. He would watch the original Star Wars trilogy, only to go back and have a repeat viewing of…

Indie folk star Ryley Walker didn’t really take to Phoenix the last time he played here. Google does not offer any clues of the exact date when the Rockford, Illinois, native previously performed in the Valley. It’s difficult to confirm if the sordid events he described even took place. Yet…

Anthony Raneri, lead singer and guitarist of the emo rock band Bayside, doesn’t care what other people think of him or his band. He is proud of what the group has accomplished throughout their 16 years together and the seven albums they have released. “I learned that you can’t make…

Julien Baker dreaded telling her parents she’s not going back to school this semester. The singer-songwriter, who released her debut album, Sprained Ankle, last year to great acclaim, encountered the same reaction from her parents as she has throughout her 20 years of life: unconditional support. Baker says, “I think…

Jasmyn Burke didn’t really like boy bands growing up, but if there is one track that captures the essence of her buzz-worthy Toronto-based quartet Weaves, it would be their cover of “Drag Me Down” by boy band One Direction. The song was originally intended for a session on the music…

Duran Duran was in danger of being upstaged by their opening act. Chic featuring Nile Rodgers is no ordinary warm-up band. Rodgers is behind some of the funkiest guitar riffs of all time, like the oft-sampled disco hit “Good Times,” and has worked with everyone from Lady Gaga to Keith…

The shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando on June 12 affected many people in different ways. For Stacy Louis, owner of the gay club Stacy’s At Melrose, it hit close to home. “I heard about the event as I was going to sleep that night,” Louis recalls. “The way…

Before Doug Hopkins tragically committed suicide in 1993, he would often tell his friends that the Gin Blossoms were ripping him off. He was fired from the band at their label’s request after recording for what would be the band’s 1992 breakthrough album, New Miserable Experience, completed in Memphis. He…

Brad Shultz of Cage The Elephant doesn’t have the Southern accent you would expect from someone native to Kentucky. He’s eager for the tour to reach Louisville, which is two hours north of Bowling Green, Kentucky, where Shultz grew up. His feelings toward his hometown seem to have mellowed in…