Rocky Votolato is a guy on the shore skipping stones across the water. Part craft, part amusement, the circumspect Seattle songwriter’s success and happiness has ebbed and flowed like the tide, something he’s gradually grown more accustomed to, though it’s not always been a smooth ride. Finally firmly at peace,…
Where would Minibosses be without Samus Aran and Jimmy Page? On the day of its release in 1987, pre-teen Aaron Burke picked up Metroid, an action game for the Nintendo Entertainment System that debuted Aran, a daring bounty hunter in space. A longtime science fiction/space fan, Burke fell hard for…
Watchu know about Liquid Stranger? In reality, probably not as much as you think. Sure, you’ve probably heard a tale or two about the reclusive, enigmatic producer/DJ over the years, but most of it likely is untrue. For instance, despite the sinister dubstep-influenced sounds and ultra-mysterious aura he cultivates, the…
Lonesome Shack may be based in Seattle, but you’d be forgiven for mistaking the band’s Alive Records debut, More Primitive, for a mid-’70s recording from Mississippi’s fertile Hill Country blues scene, owing much of its elegant boogie to the droning styles of R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, and Fred McDowell. But…
Tech N9ne’s record label is called Strange Music, a name that fits like a glove. From his beats to his lyrical style to his appearance, the Kansas City-based hip-hopper is simply an unusual guy. Last time Tech came through Phoenix, local photographer Ben Garcia caught a shot of Tech that…
Frederick Huang and his group Of the Painted Choir have been reinterpreting the sad, sad subgenre of “desert rock” for years now, dismantling every last vestige that distinguishes the craven likes of Gin Blossoms and the Refreshments (yikes!) by losing both the desert and the rock. That leaves this Phoenix…
Jack White was still upholstering furniture in southwest Detroit when the Detroit Cobras formed nearly two decades ago. Inspired by classic rhythm and blues, the band was known for giving obscure tunes a garage rock varnish, with former exotic dancer Rachel Nagy’s sassy vocals hitting you below the waistline. As…
From house to rap, one of the coolest things about Phoenix’s music scene is there’s an abundance of variety constantly being released. Check out five songs from local artists released in May that should make you proud of the diverse Phoenix music scene…
A memorial service for Phoenix-born Tomas Tovar Rascon, a famous banda singer known as Tito Torbellino, will take place today at 5 p.m. at Celebrity Theatre. The service is open to the public, and the theater reports that 1,700 tickets sold out in four-and-a-half hours yesterday…
Now more than ever, there is lot of metal — from comedy to thrash to black to grindcore — getting slung in and around Metro Phoenix, thanks to concerts and gigs by locals and touring acts alike. As such, Up on the Sun’s resident metal scribe, Lauren Wise, is on…
You won’t believe some of the things we saw while out at the clubs this past month. Besides gawking at all the usual nightlife shenanigans, we happened to spy such weird and wild things as life-sized anthropomorphic animals costumes, dudes firing up laser beams, and a few religious types leading…
The beautiful excited girls dancing on the TV screen were the ones who caused Lewis Ray Cammarata to go into music. That was when he was watching the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. Cammarata remembers it likes it happened yesterday because his dad was wincing with disgust, but his…
We’ve been reporting on the “Linkin Nark” fiasco, and the latest salvo has come from Sublime With Rome’s manager, who named Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson as the man responsible for getting Sublime’s weed seized by police. Sublime With Rome manager Mike “Cheeze” Brown — yes, that’s his preferred moniker…
Editor’s note: Check out a Q-and-A with the band here. “Stoner rock” has yet to gain entry in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, so for the definition of the phrase, look no further than Fu Manchu. Yet, like so many genres, the name hardly fits the sound. Pink Floyd is stoner rock,…
Perfect Pussy has just left Boise, Idaho, and is a few hours into the seven-hour trek to its next show when New Times reaches the band’s singer, Meredith Graves. She sounds tired. Not standard-issue, stayed-out-until-3 a.m. tired. You get the feeling that maybe the whole experience of being thrown into…
Ahead of the forthcoming LP Stay Gold, Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit is bringing its shimmering Americana-tinged folk pop back to the States. There’s no trace of international influence with the Söderberg sisters, however — their writing is firmly in the dream pop vein, with all the steel guitar…
Though nowadays they sport hairdos much shorter and significantly less teased than when they rose to fame in their respective bands back in the ’80s, the members of this rock ‘n’ roll supergroup obviously remain committed to delivering big, guitar-driven, drum solo-y arena rock tunes that pay as much tribute…
The Yawpers, born in Boulder and residing in Denver, are the country’s greatest acoustic guitar rock band this side of Tenacious D. Aided by a carefully thought-out selection of pedals and amps, singer-guitarist Nate Cook and lead guitarist Jesse Parmet (in front of drummer Noah Shomberg) manage to coax a…
John Dixon is an absolute guru of vintage and obscure vinyl, a wizened historian of Arizona music, and one helluva esteemed disc jockey. The 60-something record hound, who goes by DJ Johnny D. when he’s spinning, boasts a meticulously compiled and catalogued platter collection (which numbers into the tens of…
With Phoenix Comicon right around the corner, it’s a good time to highlight nerdcore, and with Nerdzerker’s album release party less than a week away, the nerdy punk three-piece is one that should be mentioned. Their music is punk enough to stand up next to just about any punk act…
“Stoner rock” has yet to gain entry in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, but few bands define the genre better than Fu Manchu. Yet, like so many genres, the name hardly fits the sound. Pink Floyd is stoner rock, while Fu Manchu storms in all heavy, sludgy, psychedelic and fuzzy with plenty…
By now you may have heard about the story of how Sublime With Rome singer Rome Ramirez alleged on his Twitter account that Linkin Park had snitched on the band for smoking weed, prompting “cops” (Rome’s words) to seize the band’s drugs. Read a detailed play-by-play of the “Linkin Nark”…
