Tag: pixel grip
HEALTH at The Grammy Museum- Making It In The New Music Industry
Danny Baraz
October 18, 2024
So here I am for the first time at the Grammy Museum in Downtown Los Angeles to see HEALTH perform a half set in a small 200 person theater with seats, and to live premier their latest song collaboration- “Ashamed” featuring Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES. Prior to the performance was a less awkward than I imagined Q and A with Nic Harcourt and the band that focused heavily on the creation of the 2023 full length release of Rat Wars. Singer/Songwriter and HEALTH guitarist, Jake Dusik was much more chatty than I expected for someone with such a catalog of sad bastard, isolationist song credits. Dusik spoke in great detail about that despair, which peaked during the pandemic lock down. The birth of his child during this bleak time and the death of society conceived their most critically acclaimed HEALTH album, to date. HEALTH co-founder and ambassador John Famiglietti, always bringing levity to the band described a completely different lock down experience that didn’t always shelter in place and was echoed by HEALTH drummer BJ Miller. HEALTH were asked their thoughts on who was the quintessential Los Angeles band and the answer given was The Doors. I found that to
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Pixel Grip, Spike Hellis and Black Light Odyssey find refuge at Das Bunker
Danny Baraz
April 2, 2022
Two words: Das Bunker. Yes, it was that time again for your most militant music mixer. Catch One was the vessel- the living, breathing historic Los Angeles structure acting like a Viet Cong tunnel bunker, hiding nooks and crannies of DJ’s and bands dropping bombs from behind velvet ropes on the various multitudes of creatures of the night. It has been awhile since my last Das Bunker and as a result, my mental health has suffered but the combination of Pixel Grip and Spike Hellis on the line up had me fucked up. Adorning myself in the blackest of the black, I traveled toward the lights. A Yang looking for it’s Yin and all the stunning mutants littered through this character filled venue were beautiful, aloof and might’ve been searching for connection, sex and/or cocaine and other substances to fuel whatever was going to happen on this night. Das Bunker archives at Janky Smooth And what happened was significant. First off, I was here to see Pixel Grip. Their early evening performance at Substance in December was understated in the line-up but revelatory and I dove into them head first after that show. Unwillingly born into the defunct but never
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Creatures of the Night: Substance LA 2021
Rob Shepyer
December 15, 2021
Substance has always been Los Angeles’ premiere post-punk festival. Celebrating all things goth and clad in black, the scene wouldn’t be quite the same without it. No festival embodies the true spirit of “LA” more than Substance. There’s something urban and dreamy about the whole episode. You get such a range of feels, some bands appeal to your heart then others purely to the body. Spanning all night, the fest goes late into the evening to make you feel like the real nightcrawler that LA is supposed to make you feel like. I came to see Nitzer Ebb but my greatest takeaways were the smaller bands who’s performances left a mark. Here are my five favorites from each day. Day 1 Pixel Grip Chicago-based industrial dance music is a beast of its own breed. Pixel Grip began the festival for my gang and might’ve left the biggest impression of any band for the entire three nights. They commanded their audience with so much attitude, mystique and power, they could’ve headlined the day purely based on the merits of their charismatic performing. Listening to them on records, many of the songs expanded my idea of what an industrial band ought to
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