Category: FEATURES

Love Letter to The Lodge Room Highland Park

Rob Shepyer March 1, 2020

There’s something very special about The Lodge Room Highland Park. It’s probably the best venue, of all the places in Los Angeles where people congregate to experience live music, to meet your soul mate. When you try to put your finger on what makes a place special, it’s often hard to pinpoint the the contributing details but in the Lodge Room’s case, one only needs to spend some time there, meeting the staff, seeing the shows, and soaking in the ambiance, to be sure of who and what makes it worth writing a love letter to. Built in 1923, The Lodge Room was operated as Highland Park’s Masonic Lodge 382. In keeping the spirit of mystery, the 500 person capacity still retains trap doors, cherry wood paneling, hand painted murals and more. Inside, the building’s layout and design fit perfectly with easy-on-the-eyes, grid-like quality of Highland Park. When you go to shows as often as I do, you get to know the staff. From the people working security, to the owners, to the booking and marketing people, the warmness of the Lodge Room staff follows you into the venue for your viewing experience. The Lodge Room’s owner, Dalton Gerlach, puts

Music Video Premiere: Kira McSpice’s “Fates”

Janky Smooth Central Command February 7, 2020

Kira McSpice is an artist in rare-form. Her transcendent singing conjures up emotions and ideas both ancient and modern to simultaneously soothe and discomfort the listener. With “Fates”, a single off her latest album, Prodrome, we feel the unstable anxiety that resides at the core of her soothing, raw, and transparent nightingale tone. The lady bugs in her music video for “Fates” crawl up and down her body and face, as if almost under her skin, to make us feel like something is deeply wrong, whether we can put our finger on it or not. With the minimalist aesthetics of the Dorchester Art Project as the setting and 5,000 lady bugs put to work, the video, directed by Ruben Radlauer and filmed and edited by Kit Castagne, captures a pivotal memory from Kira’s childhood that she utilizes as a metaphor for her present. Kira would receive a box of lady bugs from her grandparents for her birthday every year as a child. She claims she learned about sex and the cycle of life from watching the lady bugs copulate and hatch eggs. This is how she began obsessing over cycles of all kinds. Her Bi-Polar disorder diagnosis has made mental health an

Music Video Premiere: Plasmic’s “100Rx”

Janky Smooth Central Command January 31, 2020

Plasmic has returned with another banger to get stuck in your head. “100Rx” is about the horror show that is the medical industry and her personal experiences with a shitty doctor. In an age where we’re told so much can be cured just by taking a pill, Plasmic challenges the status quo with a song that ironically could force an entire club onto the dance floor with a more pop and electronic evolution in the production than Plasmic’s previous recordings. This sounds like deconstructed club music and a bubblegum nightmare all wrapped in one. The song was written and produced by Plasmic (like all her work) and mixed and mastered by Ed Donelly. With a mind melting music video directing by Bobby Jauregui, Plasmic takes us on a journey of the highs and lows of prescription drug use from dependency to withdrawal with desaturated downs and overly saturated ups. The filmmaking captures such personal woes as anxiety, depression, and a disjointed self perception.

Janky Smooth Top 25 Artists to Watch in 2020

Janky Smooth Central Command December 28, 2019

We have reached the end of the decade and to usher in this new epoch, we have chosen 25 artists that can be your guiding light through the darkness and confusion. We might reach catastrophe but with this soundtrack, we can at least ease your nerves to make the trip a little more enjoyable. We’ve picked something for everyone, from the dark to the light, from the heavy to the soft, the happy to the sad, and every sound and emotion in between. Some artists are based in LA, some are international, but all 25 artists should be watched closely because they will make a mark on 2020. related content: Janky Smooth Top 25 Artists To Watch In 2019 Acrylics Ever since we first covered their set at Home Sick, we’ve had high hopes for Nor-Cal hardcore outfit, Acrylics. They might have the most vigor of any young band out there. The music exhibits much more nuance than typical hardcore though, with a garage sensibility beneath the steamrolling core. This is made clear on their 2019 release Sinking In. The music is just as off-balance, thrilling, and a roller coaster on record as it is live. Acrylics is underground and

Janky Smooth Top 10 ALBUMS of 2019 Rated by Contributors

Janky Smooth Central Command December 24, 2019

2019 was a year full of fresh faces releasing undeniable breakout albums and veterans making their returns to grace. Even though it may seem like singles are the logical way to release music in 2019, it would turn out that people want full and cohesive artistic statements with emotional twists and turns. Don’t believe the hype, all the devices we’ve surrounded ourselves with and all the information flooding our minds, we’re still human, the nature of our hearts has not changed much. Artists like Lingua Ignota with Caligula and FKA Twigs with Magdelene bore their souls onto record and the reception reciprocated their love and passion because this was their year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2j4vJWLz2E As much as our current culture emphasizes the importance of youth and the irrelevance of the old, a few veterans showed they had so much more fuel left in the tank. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds came back with a vengeance with Ghosteen, a return to the mournfulness that made him a goth God in the first place. Leonard Cohen released Thanks For The Dance posthumously, haunting us from the grave as if he can’t rest until we’ve really, truly learned everything we can form the old poet.

Janky Smooth Top 10 SHOWS of 2019 Rated by Contributors

Janky Smooth Central Command December 23, 2019

This decade saw numerous paradigm shifts that laid the groundwork for a future where people basically become some form of android. That’s nothing to fear, though…we’re still safe….Many predict we’re seeing the fall of the American empire or some kind of apocalypse…hopefully they only mean in the sense that we’re entering a new chapter in humanity’s being….Still, no sweat, right?…We can handle this….In 2019 Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” become the most successful song of all time….Code red! Abandon ship! Get your kicks in before the whole shit house goes down in flames! related content: Janky Smooth Top 10 Shows of 2018 Rated by Contributors Every genre of music saw scene defining moments but I guess that ought to happen every year. What was special about 2019 though, was all the reunions that went down. It’s as if when a band decides to get back together, Los Angeles is the first place they think to play just so all their artist friends can attend the show. A few examples of such reunions were: Bauhaus at the Hollywood Palladium, Heart to Heart at Sound and Fury, Stereolab at Desert Daze, The Locust at Desert Daze, Limp Bizkit at the Troubadour

For $20,000 Haley Dahl of Sloppy Jane Will Eat Her Favorite Suit: An Interview

Rob Shepyer August 22, 2019

Haley Dahl of Sloppy Jane has launched a Go Fund Me campaign in an attempt to raise $20,000 to eat her own suit. You can donate to the campaign here. Every contribution of $30 will earn you a custom shirt. It’s almost like she’s goading us, seeing if we have the balls to contribute to this “madness”. Is it really mad though? As wild as Haley’s music is, is her mind just as out of this world? The intimate and potent answers she provided herein paint a different picture than what I assumed going in. Her realness and openness to speak about her experiences and emotions made this interview something any artist could be inspired by. Read for yourself and you’ll see, she walks the walk and talks the talk. With a new album in the works, Haley also discussed her ambitions of recording inside a cave with 30 musicians. As far as making dreams like these come true, Haley has a good track record, so be expecting something very special coming soon. related content: Haley Dahl, Queen Of Rock In 2019: Sloppy Jane At The Bootleg Theater RS: Tell me about your favorite suit. How did you acquire it?

Preview: Austin Music Video Festival Presents “Video Swim Night” at the W Hollywood

Janky Smooth Central Command August 19, 2019

Austin Music Video Festival is throwing a party at the W Hotel on August 22nd and you’re all invited. Party with some of the coolest and most talented artists in both music and film while enjoying world premieres of music videos, Q + A’s with directors and artists, cocktails by Jagermeister, a CAPYAC DJ set and vintage videos curated by the one and only Dana Boulos. This event is free with RSVP so sign up here before it’s too late. This is the ultimate event for networking if you’re interested in making music videos. You might even find your way to Austin for the actual festival December 10th-14th. In fact, you can submit your music videos to the festival here. Also, make sure to check out highlights from last year’s festival.

Concert Film Premiere: Ember & His Orchestra’s “The Disappointment Cowboy”

Janky Smooth Central Command August 14, 2019

Ember Knight is a visionary Los Angeles artist and her band, Ember & His Orchestra have released a live concert film entitled “The Disappointment Cowboy”. This is one of the most imaginative, magical, and adventurous live sets ever captured by a young artist. The world created by her avant-garde and original sound takes the watcher to many places emotionally. It’s almost a sonic representation of Ray Bradbury’s The Veldt, in which the many worlds imagined by children are realized for them to play in, lions and all. Taking place at the The Lyric Hyperion Theatre and directed by Bobby McCoy, this concert is like nothing else you’ve ever seen. You can watch it below: In Ember’s own words: “When I first started staging the ‘The Disappointment Cowboy’ for live performance, the concept was to create a possessed wind-up toy that would mechanically deliver a perfect bedtime story. Lo and behold, barely a year after our first gig you get this insanely composed show, with every human emotion articulated in fast succession and 3-part harmony. The set itself is a true story I think many of us can relate to – feeling like a feral animal, alone and out of place

Deb Demure’s Modern Mirror: Drab Majesty Interview

Audrey Kemp July 26, 2019

David Hume once said, “Beauty is no quality in things themselves: it exists merely in the mind which contemplates them.” For Deb Demure, founder of the impeccably designed duo Drab Majesty, beauty exists primarily in the complicated, nuanced and precious relationships between individuals. On the first night of their North American tour, Deb took some time to muse about the individuals whose beauty he and Mona D. channeled into their third full-length album, Modern Mirror, which was released on Dais records on July 12, and some will surely come as a surprise, whether it be the unrequited love between Echo and Narcissus, their community of unfaltering friends and fans, or even Deb’s influentially bodacious grandmother. Audrey: It’s July 24th. You’re kick-starting your North American tour tonight in San Diego and you’ve just found out your third full-length album, Modern Mirror, is currently ranking number 6 on Billboard. How does it feel? Deb: In theory, it’s cool. Has my life been drastically changed? Probably not. I’ve never really been one to look at the Billboards or anything like that. I know, I kind of live under a rock, but I understand historically what that means. For me, reception is important on an emotional level but as