Howard Bragman spent his career as a respected publicist who used his platform to aid those in need of navigating the spotlight. From handling turbulent moments to announcing life’s biggest milestones, he actually became most known for his advocacy to the LGBTQ community. His activism helped support his clients as they openly shared their sexual orientation to the public. His death earlier this year was heavily felt in the community, and by his husband, Mike Maimone, who wishes to continue sharing Bragman’s legacy.

Maimone, who has had a music career as a band member and as a solo artist, has released two albums this year, Mookie’s Big Gay Mixtape and Borrowed Tunes, Vol. 2: Songs for You. The latter are covers of songs dedicated to Bragman as they were integral to their love story.

“Part of my therapy was to learn those songs and play those songs for him in our house,” he said. “Then I realized that recording them was the next process of that grief journey.”

These were mostly songs that Bragman introduced him to, and through the recording process he learned to let the songs speak for themselves. He said that he had never cried that much during the recording process, and there were many times where he had to take a step back, but he knew that this was the best way to face his grief.

“I’d rather confront those emotions than bury them, so that’s been my message as I discover that there are so many people that you never even realize are dealing with grief and loss and just navigating life and doing it elegantly and putting positivity into the world,” he said.

Bragman loved being a muse, and Maimone remembers a touching moment in the hospital while listening to K.D. Lang’s cover of “Hallelujah”. It was the last time that Bragman was able to summon the strength to give Maimone a hug and said to him, “If you can’t write a song now, babe, it ain’t my fault.”

“There are no words for Howard Bragman, and it gives me joy to talk about him and to sing about him,” Maimone said. “I really do think that’s just my purpose now, that my love doesn’t end just because he’s gone, so that’s where I’m putting it; telling his story.”

Maimone decided to bring these cover songs to places that were important to both of them, such as New York and Chicago, and play these songs to family and friends in the places that they called home. The song that has become his favorite to play is “Something So Right” by Paul Simon. Bragman sent it to him last summer, telling him how beautiful it was and how great of a cover it would be for him. He knew it was difficult to sing and never got a chance to try it before Bragman’s passing, but it feels like he’s singing it to him every night now.

Before releasing the covers album, he shared Mookie’s Big Gay Mixtape, which is just that - a mixtape. Maimone, whose nickname in high school was Mookie, purchased a $30 tape deck with a microphone and ran a bunch of newly recorded material through it to “make it sound all gnarly” and added spoken word transitions.

“I wanted it to be a mixtape, I didn’t want to just call it a mixtape,” he said. “I wanted it to actually have some of those elements from the 90s when my friends and I used to make these little tapes for each other or if you were crushing on someone you would put together a tape with a track list that was very carefully thought out.”

Once the nickname Mookie stuck, variations of it were tossed around, including Mook the Bear. It came full circle when Maimone was commissioned to write and record the theme song for queer Western romance graphic novel, Tommy Dakota and the Shootout at the Burgundy Ten. As a thank you, artist Vinnie Rico drew a depiction of him that gave him the idea to commission another for the album. He asked Rico, “Can you draw me riding a bear and can the bear be shooting lasers out of its eyes and possibly we’re flying?” and Rico delivered.

The idea for the album cover was inspired by Bragman and his influence on the LGBTQ community. He encouraged people to be authentic in a time when it was judged, and that left an impression on Maimone.

“The idea for my solo project had always been to harness that era of my life where music was strictly fun and I didn’t think about doing it for a living,” he said. “This felt like the group of songs to really lean into that further and channel that era of my life and just make it fun, positive and to encourage people to be authentic.”

The impact of Howard Bragman will not be lost to time, thanks to Mike Maimone and his dedication to preserving Bragman’s legacy. He has found a way to make music that is both authentic to himself and a way to spread the same positivity that his husband did. With moments of grief come moments of joy, and through it all the never-ending love of two people shines on.

View full photo gallery here.

It has been nearly 50 years since the release of independent musical comedy horror film Rocky Horror Picture Show, and despite initial negative reviews, the film has since become a cult classic.

One of the stars of the film, Barry Bostwick, brings his experience on the film to comic and entertainment conventions year-round, including an appearance at this year’s FAN EXPO Chicago. Displayed at his table is one of his character’s more memorable outfits from the film, a pair of white men’s briefs. The pair is signed by Bostwick and available for purchase.

“I’m a bit like a traveling salesman,” he said.

He has also been making Rocky Horror-themed clocks. Bostwick said that one of his hobbies is pottery, and has expanded into jewelry making and warping records for some of his clocks. These items are not only available at conventions, but can be purchased on his official website.

Interacting with fans is a major aspect of conventions, and he loves discussing this film with them.

“Whenever I talk about it to some people who know more about it than me, they always remind me of something that I had forgotten,” he said. “What I carried away from the experience mostly are the people that I worked with and the pride of the message of the movie. We never thought of that when we were making it, that it was going to have some social impact. We just thought we were making a fairy tale.”

One of his most memorable fan interactions involved a mother and small daughter who was dressed as Nell Campbell’s character, Columbia. The mother encouraged the daughter to show Bostwick how she danced for “The Time Warp”, and he decided to join her in front of the table to dance with her. When it got to the part of the song that says, “But it's the pelvic thrust” that was when Bostwick realized he did not think that through. He immediately went back behind his table and has had a good laugh about it ever since.

On the last day of FAN EXPO Chicago, Bostwick joined Rocky Horror Picture Show co-star Susan Sarandon on stage for a panel that marked her first convention experience. They spoke about meeting 50 years ago and how that small film they made sent a message about authenticity.

“48 years later, this little film we did still not [only] preaches that but brings that to the fore I think for the audiences,” Bostwick said during the panel.

“I think that’s why it has been around that long and says that it’s ok to be who you are, whatever that is,” Sarandon added. “I think that also gave people a community where you can go… and dress up however you want and be with people who say it's ok to have fun and to throw popcorn and to be whoever you want. I like it better than church.”

“And I think it is church and I think we’ve been preachers for this church for 48 years,” Bostwick said.

They shared stories about the wet, cold filming days that eventually gave Sarandon pneumonia and how the original film was meant to be in black and white until the introduction of Dr. Frank-N-Furter and the signature red lipstick would have been revealed. Sarandon also told the audience that Bostwick maneuvered walking in high heels better than she did.

“Those high heels were so high and you could manage them,” she said.

“Did you step on my toe?” he asked.

“Probably,” she replied.

“Somebody said during that part of the movie you stepped on my toe,” he said.

“I guess believe them, I’m not going to argue,” she said.

Bostwick also discussed how his favorite part of meeting fans is learning more about them.

“I always find out so many interesting things about the fans,” he said. “The first day here I had an ER doctor and a brain surgeon in front of me, and they were huge collectors of all of this fan art stuff. I thought that’s really fascinating to me so now I’ve taken it to I always ask people ‘what do you do for a living’ and I’ll question them about [that] because I know what I do for a living, and I don’t even know how I do it for a living, but I’m fortunate enough to still do it.”

Playing Brad Majors turned out to be a defining moment for Bostwick’s career, and he is more than willing to share his experience with anyone who asks. Rocky Horror Picture Show has charmed audiences for decades and given people a place to be whoever they want.



Please note: This article is being published at the time of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. Rocky Horror Picture Show was independently filmed and is not covered by the strike, which was confirmed by our SAG-AFTRA contact. Black is the New AP Style strongly supports the SAG-AFTRA and WGA unions.

Photo courtesy of Green Yang

It was a major step for Danny Janvier to turn his solo project, Output 1:1:1, into a trio.

Alongside Gene Converse and Victor O, they played their first show together at the end of 2019. More shows were lined up for the beginning of 2020, which ended up never happening as Canada and much of the world faced a global pandemic. For a few weeks, it was an occasional phone call or text message, checking in that everyone was safe and healthy. Fear changed Janvier’s perspective, and he couldn’t begin to consider writing new music because what about the music he was previously working on? Was it never going to be completed?

It became clear that this virus was not calming down any time soon, and he needed to find a form of escapism. Writing was his chance to free himself from the constant state of worry he seemed to have found himself in.

“It was a chance to not be in the mind of isolation, where you’re worried about where you’re going and what you’re doing,” he said. “I remember having [that worry] throughout that period and being able to write music was a way to express that fear differently and in a bit more of a healthy way.”

The lengthy lockdown periods in Canada gave the trio a lot of time to not only create complete pieces but also deconstruct them. It ultimately became the premise of their podcast, Cold Waves Of Comfort, where they build songs and discuss them with guests. It was unlike anything they had done before, and the end result, their album Rolling Corpse Pathetique, was unlike any other pandemic record.

“Each song was, for lack of a better term, created in its own isolation over a series of months to a year and a half,” Janvier said. “I spoke to my bandmates about digging each song off that album and building music around it; whether it’s deconstructed bits of that song, pieces of other songs that we’re currently working on, or we had tried and did not think we could take it any further like rejected ideas.”

The podcast stems from his love for demo records that he collected when he was younger. Recontextualizing music ideas was something that fascinated him from an early age and was something he easily incorporated into the podcast. What he found out that he also loved was having conversations with others and getting their reactions to the same piece of music.

“Hearing how folks describe what I’ve done puts into words what I cannot figure out myself,” Janvier said. “I could just say it’s depressing punk and leave it in a joking tone that’s diminishing to the work, but somebody else could have a sense of a more expressive way of describing the music.”

How his process worked for this batch of songs was if a song was initially written on a certain instrument, that is the one he would predominantly use. If he started on a synth, he would focus less on melody. If he started on bass, he would focus more on rhythm. At times he admitted that he focused on one sound in particular or edited something well beyond needing to be edited, but with the help of his bandmates he found a way that worked best for all of them.

The most rewarding part of this album was the song “Howl”, which was the first song he wrote on his Behringer Neutron synthesizer. He confessed that it may not have been his wisest purchase, but he wanted to learn how to use it and what better time than the present.

The song was inspired after a recent Thom Yorke live performance he saw, but every time he tried to replicate that feeling he had during the performance it felt forced. Instead he went for a beat that was more expansive, which gave way to the band improvising a few guitar lines. A multi-track guitar solo was the finishing touch that made it the final version.

“I couldn’t stop listening to it,” Janvier said. “It’s among the proudest I’ve been out of something I had written at that time.”

The album title was influenced by their song “Man Godiva and the Rolling Corpse”, where Janvier said the accusatory and depressing lyrics gave him this idea of French singer and lyricist Charles Aznavour not becoming the success that he was. What if he kept trying and failing? What if he lost everything?

With that perspective in mind, the rolling corpse became this cynical image of an Aznavour-like figure repeatedly rolling down a hill, lifeless and ceasing to exist. To add to this image, they stylized the word ‘pathetic’ to ‘pathetique’ to complete the album title.

Lily Mae Harrington feels most comfortable when she is near the beach.

Growing up in a rural beach town on Cape Cod, she watched tourists come and go while she got to explore the ocean year-round. She also explored music as everyone in her family played an instrument in some capacity. She went the classical voice route in middle and high school, performing in choir before eventually getting a scholarship to Westminster Choir College.

She said she learned the hard way that a major part of music was the creation process. Classical training and performing in musical theater did not give her the opportunity to hone in on any songwriting skills, and after a year in college she left to pursue acting.

“There’s something about specifically classical [music] that it’s all about really aligning the voice and getting a very pure sound,” she said. “There was something about that that I really liked and I think there was a discipline in that too that I really liked and needed. I think there was a comfort in that at a certain point too that this is the note you have to hit. There was something further for me like the exploration of sound past that that I eventually found.”

Despite finding a new path in acting that she was enjoying, she still felt a pull towards music. She began writing, just for her own musical fulfillment, and spent a few years concentrating on the craft before getting a co-writing credit on Sabrina Carpenter’s first album.

That accomplishment seemed to have been the moment she realized she wanted to make music. She realized she wanted to share her personal stories and emotions, and with that came her five-track EP, The Sun is My Lover.

The first song she wrote was “Maui”, inspired by her first solo vacation.

“I had a really spiritual, personal experience there after being by myself,” she said. “I felt very empowered as a woman alone traveling, specifically there. I think there’s always been a fear for me that that’s something I shouldn’t do.”

She not only conquered her fear, but that trip influenced her to really pursue music. Not writing for other people, not just acting; having something that is her own creation.

“Maui” sat on a shelf for a while as she continued to educate herself on songwriting. She went through a lot of self-exploration during that time, saying that the push for needing a brand or marketing tactic to add to an identity really had her thinking about her hometown and sense of peace being near water. It gave her the idea to write with a summertime, beach vacation theme, and while staying alone at her childhood home she found herself creating the lyrics and melody to “Lifeguard”.

She had walked down to the beach that she grew up at and spent some time sitting at the lifeguard stand watching the sunset. While that moment inspired the song, it was also a moment where she reflected on a six-year, on-and-off relationship that had just ended. She had never written a song about it, but felt right about it at that moment. It ended up being “Good at Lovin You” and gives a summer love vibe that helps create a narrative she didn’t realize she was establishing.

That same day she came up with the phrase, “the sun is my lover”. She sang it to herself that entire day, not really taking it seriously. Her initial reaction was that she had no intention of doing anything with it, but quickly noticed the joy in singing it. It brought out a part of her that she wanted to embrace more of, and in the end it became the title of the EP.

By tying in “Maui” and the final song, “Salty”, The Sun is My Lover goes from falling in love to falling out of love to loving who and where you are in life. Even when the song is unhappy or bitter, the bright soundscape still shines through.

“I felt like it really encompassed the summer and sun vibe,” she said. “I’m in all these different places in the world, but at the end of the day, the sun is always going down on me and this journey of independence through all of that.”

By sharing her love of the sand and the sea, Lily Mae Harrington brings a glittering approach to relationships. In each of these five songs, the sun shines a little brighter and the waves crash a little louder.

View the full photo gallery here

Hilly Hindi is a confetti cannon.

When an idea comes to mind for the next parody for the YouTube channel The Hillywood Show®, it explodes from her in hundreds of colorful pieces. Her sister, Hannah, waits (or as she says, disassociates) for all the pieces to land before color coordinating them into several piles. Blue with the blue, yellow with the yellow… until every piece has been accounted for.

Photo courtesy of Dan Holodak Teal

By starting their band in the subways of New York, Bandits on the Run were able to bring certain aspects of busking in their live shows. This is especially true during performances at music festivals.

There is always an opportunity to attract new fans, sometimes even before a set time. The band will try to find an ideal location, perhaps near a food vendor or crowded rest area, and play a few songs acoustic. It gives those listening a taste of what’s to come later in the day and gives the band the chance to promote their upcoming performance.

“I just think there’s almost no better place to meet people than a festival,” Adrian Enscoe said. “We’re lucky, because of our performance experience busking we’re very used to interfacing with strangers in public and we actually get a little high from it.”

They believe that there are two important factors that help a festival crowd remember a performance: staying in the exact same outfits worn on stage, and handing out a piece of memorabilia. Both were put to great use this summer when performing at Summerfest.

Dubbed ‘the largest music festival in the world’, the 10-stage festival grounds span all music genres over the course of three weekends. Bandits on the Run didn’t get the opportunity to put their true busking skills to the test, but did hand out stickers and walk around the grounds in their stage attire. Regina Strayhorn compares it to becoming a real life cartoon character, and shared a story about how a woman wearing a similar outfit that night kept getting complimented on her performance. She reached out to the band and let them know that not only was she getting their praise but gave the band a listen herself and became a fan that night.

Interacting with fans is something they make sure to incorporate on and off stage. It becomes a two-way street of creating a lasting impression.

“What I hope is that people make friends or find someone new,” Sydney Shepherd said. “It’s one of my favorite things about talking to fans after the show. I think it’s a possibility of warmth and connection that can lead to things outside of gaining new fans who like our music.”

Their Summerfest performance was memorable for several reasons. Their set was on the BMO Pavilion stage, which holds 10,000 people and would later that night welcome The Avett Brothers as the headliner. It was a dream come true to open for them, especially for Enscoe, who will be performing later this year in the brother’s musical, Swept Away.

What they loved about that stage was that it was the biggest stage they’ve played to date. It gave them the opportunity to enhance the audience participation that is a staple in Bandits on the Run shows. Whether it’s supplying them with confetti poppers, getting down in the crowd with them, or asking them to make sounds of bells ringing, it is as much the audience making art as it is them.

“To be able to hear the effect of a bunch of people singing in this big space all together and the resonance of all the voices against the roof was really fun,” Enscoe said.

During their last song, however, Enscoe broke a guitar string and was left to play with only five strings. It was a little messier than they had wanted and left them feeling unsatisfied with the end of their set. The mood changed when they bumped into Scott Avett, who had caught part of their set and told them that it is a good thing when moments like that occur because the audience sees you for who you are and understands when something doesn’t go according to plan.

“It was extremely meaningful for all of us,” Enscoe said. “We’re an indie band that’s just coming up, and to hear Scott with Seth and the rest of the Avetts who have just had this incredible career… it’s just really important to hear that from a storied musician and really, really encouraging.”

A live performance from Bandits on the Run is one that shouldn’t be missed. Sure, their presence can be heard in their music and seen in their music videos, but witnessing them in their element is an entirely different experience. Find a list of upcoming performances here.

Photo courtesy of Dani Cyr

Picking up a guitar seemed like the best option for then- 9-year-old Jaimey Hamilton, especially since some of her other passions were put on hold.

At the ages of 5, 9 and 12, Hamilton was diagnosed with leukemia. She could not go to school full time, had to give up playing sports and was not always able to see her friends. What she found herself fixated on was wanting to learn how to play an instrument, and after seeing someone like Taylor Swift dominate the music industry with her guitar, she knew she wanted to harness that same energy.

She received a successful bone marrow transplant when she was 12 years old and fully immersed herself in songwriting soon after. Music was her comfort and her ability to heal.

“I think whenever I’m writing I always like to try to be relatable in a sense,” she said. “I don’t want to be inauthentic and try to stretch the truth just to get people to relate, but I also feel like I write things I need to hear at that time. I try to write something that I really believe; something that I really want people to relate to and find that feeling.”

Thanks to Children’s Wish BC, she was able to record in a studio for the first time in 2017. The single, “Survive”, was just the beginning of her love for storytelling.

Her latest batch of singles, including “Stompin’ Ground”, move away from her pop-leaning songs and fully immerse themselves in the country scene. Despite her love for pop music, she found herself craving those country roots. Working alongside producer Chris Eriksen gave her the chance to embody those sounds and bring her music to the next level.

“Stompin’ Ground” is a song Hamilton has held onto for years, waiting for the right moment to release it. Co-written with Juno-nominated Scotty Hills, the song tells a story of her family’s favorite tradition - their summer cabin near Cowichan Lake.

“I just wanted to write a song about my happy place,” she said. “All the other songs I’ve released have been about either a story or a feeling but I’ve never written a song about a place.”

Not only did she try something new when writing “Stompin’ Ground”, but she also tried something new while recording it. Over the course of two days, she recorded the song with live musicians all in the same room. She definitely felt the pressure, but truly relished in the feeling of one big jam session.

The song came full circle when she got to film the music video at her family’s cabin. Thanks to local videographer Sean Lyons, her vision of showing how important this second home is to her came to life. Showcased are her family and friends, basking in all the cabin has to offer.

“One of the things I want people to take away is that while this is my stomping ground I’m describing, I hope it takes them back to their stomping ground,” she said. “Maybe other people can relate to that nostalgic feeling of when they were young and having a happy place.”

This year, Jaimey Hamilton celebrates 11 years cancer-free. She is doing what she loves, surrounded by those that love her, and all is well.

For Montreal-based band GreyGold, they have dedicated this year to releasing powerful singles one by one with accompanying music videos. The songs are a lead up to an EP, titled Sad Hope, but are focused on giving each single the attention it deserves.

According to bassist Stephane Roy, they always start with a riff. That is how their first single, “Waterfall” came to fruition - a specific guitar pattern heard at the beginning of the song. Lead guitarist Alexandre Blais came up with the idea, and the band tried tweaking it for nearly three months before drummer and vocalist Michael Trudel found the vocal melody.

With her latest EP, Hey Anna, Anna Shoemaker crafted a love letter to her inner child with five dazzling tracks.

She said that the EP is about learning to be intuitive and dealing with heartbreak and anxiety despite being too young to fully grasp the meaning.

“It’s interesting,” she said. “I think when you’re writing about personal experiences you learn a lot and it feels cathartic but you don’t exactly know what you’re learning in the moment. I know that sounds weird but for me it usually hits me at a later date. I’ll be like, “omg I am still so mad about that” or “wow I’m finally over that” but in the moment it just feels good to be writing.”

She describes the EP as a self-analysis, saying that it is easier to blame others instead of taking responsibility. The three singles released prior to the EP - “Holly”, “I Think I” and “666” - gave listeners a glimpse into the story she wanted to tell with Hey Anna. By rounding out the EP with the title track and “ADHD”, she knew that this final track listing was a no-brainer.

Shoemaker credits her debut album, Everything is Fine (I’m Only on Fire), for pushing her to step outside of her comfort zone for this batch of songs.

“I think I learned so much making my debut album that it was exciting for me to sort of step into some of that and take on more roles in the creation of a lot of this music,” she said. “Also getting to work with [indie rock project] Blonder was so great, I’m such a fan of him as a producer and artist and we had so much fun writing together.”

She not only challenged herself during the creation of this EP, but she challenged herself as an individual. By writing what was important to her in that moment, she was able to make something that can resonate with listeners in an extremely raw way.

“I hope they know it’s okay to feel all your feelings all the time if that’s what you need,” she said. “I honestly pride myself in how dramatic I can be - I think it can be a good thing to explore your emotions and let everything out! Better out than in!”

When Jay Van Raalte released their live acoustic EP, Record Stop Sessions, the song “The Road Ahead” was a sneak peek into the completed-but-not-yet-released album, Something More and Kind of Less. Now, the album is finally available.

Although “The Road Ahead” has already become a fan favorite, between hearing it on the EP and seeing it live at shows for the last year, it is their second single that has gotten an unexpected response.

“Achtung” was a different song from the start. It is the only song to date that Van Raalte used a drum loop as the primary percussion instrument instead of a live drummer. While they normally use a loop during the production of the song and remove it to record a live sound, this specific loop was too good to pass up. The rest of the production snowballed from there.

“It just felt fresh compared to everything else we had been working on,” they said.

The lyrics were also approached differently. Although Van Raalte always tries to be honest in their writing, they admit that sometimes they get caught up in the craft of fitting words together or making sure they float seamlessly. This time around, the lyrics are direct and as honest as they can be.

The music video for “Achtung” also ended up just as different. The process was something they had never really tackled before, and came with a lot of restraints. That didn’t stop them from coming up with a concept that they really loved: a pseudo-lyric video written on a bathroom mirror.

At first, they thought their two-sink bathroom was going to pose a problem. Is it something that should be addressed? The more they thought about it, however, the more they realized that it could be part of the story. It becomes an ironic turn as the song was originally written about a specific, non-romantic partner, but the music video turns it into a more recent breakup and how the two sinks went from daily use to dormant.

“I was really touched that this thing that was just an accident working around a constraint ended up being the thing that people connected with the most,” they said. “It was a way to bring this song into my present moment, because so much has changed in my life since the time that I was writing it and the time that I was recording it, and having that music video be rooted in things that have happened more recently definitely gave a new angle to this song that didn’t exist before.”

So much of this album was new experiences for Van Raalte, from investing in a home studio to encouraging collaboration during the creation process. It taught them the importance of having other perspectives and trusting that someone else can not only envision their final project but keep them on the right track. They adopted an attitude of letting each song be what it wants to be and doing whatever it takes to accomplish that.

“The biggest is that I need to trust my own instinct,” they said. “Whether that’s redoing something because I know it’s not right, even if nobody else can hear the thing that’s upsetting me, or whether it’s knowing that I need help in finding the right people that I trust that enhance the process.”

Something More and Kind of Less was meant to be an orphan’s album - songs that never made it onto a previous album but were too good to keep to themselves. However, the longer they worked on producing the older songs, the more new songs were written along the way.

“It is a pretty diverse album which was somewhat intentional,” they said. “I feel very strongly, especially with these songs that came from such a different time period, that I wanted to let each one be what it wanted to be and not try to force them all into the same sonic palette.”

While some of these songs might be older than others, playing them back feels like stepping into a time machine. The lyrics might not resonate as much as they did in that exact moment, but there are new memories to attach to them. Maybe it’s a guitar solo that is their guitarist’s favorite. Maybe a fan gave their interpretation of the lyrics and it has taken on a whole new meaning.

“It’s become like a little scrapbook of all of the people that I get to work with and the moments that I have making it,” they said.

Creating this album was such a learning experience for Van Raalte, and they are so thrilled that this “orphan’s album” became much more than that. Now these orphan songs belong to the world, and have made their own home.

During the summer of 2020, Nashville-based pairing Homes At Night spent their days outdoors. Between floating in the river and bonfires with friends, it was the perfect way to spend their summer during a time of major uncertainty. It also became the inspiration for their single, “Midwest Summer”.

“The idea for this song is kind of a reflection of the experiences we were having around the time we wrote the song,” they said. “It felt like we were having somewhat of a summer break like you used to have in grade school. [We] think the nostalgia for that part of all of our lives and the weird experience of reliving those feelings in adulthood really set the stage for that song.”

Although it didn’t feel like it in the moment, the summer of 2020 became very prolific with the amount of music they were creating. Focusing on their music and making memories with their core friend group became the inspiration for their next batch of songs.

The duo, consisting of songwriters Hank Compton and Askel Coe, said that “Midwest Summer” feels like two songs fused together. It tells the story of two former lovers visiting their hometown at the same time, and their journey of discovering if the nostalgia of it all is worth falling in love again.

The song is meant to be played in the car, windows down, feeling the humidity of a summer night. They both love a summer anthem, citing “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry, “Friday I’m In Love” by The Cure and “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by Tears for Fears as some of their favorites.

“[We] think there’s definitely a formula for summer anthems, but it’s probably a little different in each genre… There definitely has to be some anthemic sing-along quality to it. Something that makes you feel nostalgic.”

They brought that nostalgic, sing-along quality to their tour this summer with acts such as Saint Motel and Arts Fishing Club. They enjoyed witnessing the audience’s reactions to their new songs, especially when they had the opportunity to perform “Midwest Summer” in the actual Midwest. The ability to watch in real time as someone hears and relishes in a new song is incredibly validating.

When asked about the message they hope listeners take away from “Midwest Summer”, they said that an individualized interpretation is what makes music so unique.

“A fun part about making art is that you can’t control what people take away from what you make,” they said. “If anything, [we] hope that this song is a warm hug to people and reminds them of good memories they have.”

Inspired by her love of The Divine Feminine, tarot cards, divination, hidden secrets and listening to one’s own intuition, Crystal Joilena’s single “The High Priestess” explores spiritual awakenings, shadow work, connecting with one’s higher self, and the truths and secrets behind the false representations of all things.

“When you think of a high priestess, you think of the Queen of secrets and a powerful femme who is in control of her own identity,” Joilena said. “That is what I consider my higher self, and I am a balance of my higher self and shadow self… Everyone has a shadow. The key is being able to have a balance between dark and light.”

She continues, “The High Priestess speaks about struggling with so many things in life, many ten of swords moments, many tower moments, but still coming out of each debilitating moment with learning experiences and ready to get up and try again anyway with a hopeful mindset that someday, if you work hard enough and stay positive, things will have a different outcome. She is a beacon of hope for all women and femmes who identify with her. Sometimes the shadow self can get in the way of that. We are susceptible to so much overthinking, anxiety and intrusive thoughts. It can get harder to see which way to go, harder to trust our intuition and the way feels like it’s closing in on us; that’s where the higher self comes in to pull out all of those swords and show us the way to go.”

The creation process of “The High Priestess” took a few years as it originally started out with completely different lyrics. With the help of producers Farhan Tanvir and Randy Pasquarella, it eventually made its way to the final version.

Joilena admits to being a perfectionist in the studio. She recognizes that it can be frustrating to others in the studio with her, but she finds the vocal recordings to be the most challenging aspect for her. Once the song is finally completed, numerous takes later, and is exactly how she envisioned it, that is when she feels the most accomplished.

Not only does the song explore spiritual elements, but it became Joilena’s own personal diss track against the music industry. The distrust, hidden agendas and ability to steal work without providing credit is all something she has experienced and struggled with. It can cause distraction, inability to stay grounded or find the power to change the narrative.

“There were many times when I felt like giving up, but knew that music is my calling in life and I could never,” she said.

All of those feelings and emotions are valid, and is why she hopes listeners take away some inspiration to chase their goals no matter what setbacks may arise.

“Bad times are temporary and life always gets better, even if it feels like it’s taking a while and the trials and tribulations are extreme,” she said. “I hope that femmes never forget their worth or let anyone try to change or define them. They are The Divine Feminine and hold so much power, more than they could ever realize, and their potential is limitless.”

Singer and songwriter Laila Kharouba remembers attending a show in Toronto when a familiar face appeared in the crowd. This familiar face was also a performer, and the two spent the night catching up. At one point the conversation brought up this familiar face liking girls and asking Kharouba if she could take her on a date. This moment in time ultimately became the origin story of Laila’s single, “I Like Girls”.

“It caught me super off guard in that moment,” Kharouba said. “I ultimately said yes, but not without 1,000 different versions of my life flashing before my eyes first. This was the moment where I really started to think about my sexuality and how I’ve never really been entirely straight, but just had never put a label on it.”

She shared the moments of that night with her friend, Monica Spiering, and they thought it was an exciting idea for a song.

“The story itself just held such a magical, exciting energy, so we got together to start writing it,” she said. “When I first proposed ‘I Like Girls’ as the hook, we both laughed. It sounded too on-the-nose and too simple to work. But within seconds we realized that it did in fact work. It was pretty cool.”

After writing the first iteration of the song, they took it to producers and collaborators Jon Pike and Brandon Pero. Parts were rewritten and the instrumentals were created before much of it was recorded at Pero’s home studio.

The most challenging aspect of creating “I Like Girls” was that it sort of forced Kharouba to explore untapped territory.

“I had never written about being interested in girls, so in a way this song was a semi-coming out for me,” she said. “For a while I was really nervous that the song didn’t have a clear enough take on my sexuality, and that its exploratory narrative would be laughed at or deemed illegitimate. But then I realized that we had written my truth, and I decided that’s what people want to hear and will resonate with.”

With its cheerful and vibrant production, “I Like Girls” seamlessly blends shimmering pop elements with an undeniable groove, creating an irresistible sonic landscape that invites listeners to dance and embrace their true selves.

“I hope listeners take away the idea that you can explore your sexuality and identity while having fun doing so, and not feeling like you need to fit into any specific box or camp,” Kharouba said.

That night in Toronto had a major impact on Laila Kharouba’s life, and also inspired music that she can be proud of. “I Like Girls” was her opportunity to be honest with herself and those around her, as well as encourage anyone else to take that same opportunity.

When Bristol three-piece Superlove released their debut album in 2022, they were able to demonstrate their talents not only as musicians but as songwriters and producers.

By gaining a better understanding of what they wanted as studio musicians, they could then focus on what a live performance means to them. They recognized that a feeling a song has during its performance is instrumental to their identity and that the next album should prove that.

“It was off the back of playing some shows shortly after the [debut] album release and seeing the initial reaction to how certain songs would make us feel when we performed them,” lead vocalist and bassist Jacob Rice said. “A lot of what came most naturally to us we realized is what audiences want, the big riffs and big choruses. We also thought it was time to start defining ourselves as more of a rock outfit as a lot of our songs fall on the edge. We just had a realization of that being the world we belong in.”

For this recording process they wanted to creatively push themselves in a way they hadn’t the first time around. Consistency was key for them, yet they weren’t afraid to be adventurous.

“We wanted a really sharp and focused sounding album that still flashed elements of our band's creative sound,” Rice said. “The dynamics were really important for us when compiling the track list. Making sure the softer moments hit at the right time to lift the heavier elements of the album.”

They also pushed themselves to write many of the songs that ended up on the final track listing of follow:noise in the studio. They found the process of taking time away specifically to write in a studio to be extremely challenging yet gratifying.

“It was rewarding as we found ourselves every day working on a brand new song,” Rice said. “It was exciting as it all was coming together in front of us. Before, we had every detail within the songs written when making Colours before going to record, so this challenge for us gave us new life with the whole process.”

On their last day in the studio, “Gut Feeling” was written within a few hours. It was the type of song that none of them saw coming, but knew it was a strong addition to the album. While it didn’t make the contenders of songs to release before the album, the three singles they did choose felt the most representative of the tone of follow:noise.

“GO!”, “Something Good” and “Easier” showcase the challenges they rose to in the studio and the way they wanted their live performances to be represented in their recordings.

“These three songs instantly made sense to become singles,” Rice said. “We didn’t have a single doubt about that. I think one thing that drew us to these three specifically was the explosiveness of the tracks; how instantly recognizable and the identity of the songs.”

Photo courtesy of Jon Del Real

While the world was spending most of 2020 indoors, Molly Kirschenbaum was planning their first solo album set to be released under the moniker Goblynne, titled Hot! :( . From this planning came a character: a Western American beauty, blonde, blue-eyed, a little tortured, a little haunted… and as this character was progressing, so were Kirschenbaum’s ideas.

A one-person show of the same title was performed in 2021 as a test-run for the songs that had been written. While a lot of that material did not end up on the final album, it was their first step back into performing and getting the album to the finish line.

“I used that show to play with a lot of the material I wanted to explore on the album: the performance of femininity, desire, pretending to be someone you're not, discovering that both the people you desire and the people you wish you could be, are, to some extent, part of you,” Kirschenbaum said. “Some stuff in that show, in my opinion, worked, and some totally didn't, but that solo show process became the foundation for the final album.”

Despite all the progress they had made with the album and this character, a major setback happened in 2021. One day, their hard drive fell off their desk and the entire project was lost. In retrospect, Kirschenbaum sees it as a blessing in disguise. Yes, they had to rebuild the entire album from scratch. This time around, however, they had a more clear picture of what they wanted it to be. This time around they created something more refined.

Anothering challenging aspect of creating Hot! :( was diving into the themes of gender and vanity.

“It can be really exhausting to think this much about those themes without driving yourself to a really...fascinating....place, mentally,” they said. “But it's also been really rewarding to find the humor in that and learn to take some of it less seriously. I've learned I don't have to force myself to know exactly what or who I am at every moment.”

Kirschenbaum jokes that they hope the album heals every listener completely, but truly wants these songs to translate as an uplifting message.

“I honestly just hope it maybe encourages people to dress up and, like, wear something they wouldn't normally wear, or something they're afraid to wear, and chase whatever makes them feel beautiful, desirable and at home in their body. And hot,” they said. “It's that simple. And if you are a rando homophobe or something with problems and you stumbled upon this album, like, by accident, or something, maybe it will encourage you to not fucking hate trans and queer people for no reason.”

While a live show as Goblynne involves wigs, scaly gloves and a fake meditation app, their debut album channels everything they love about performance. They created a pop landscape for themselves that allows a safe space to be truly unique.

Brooklyn-based duo Free Whenever says that their music sits somewhere in between form (saguna) and formlessness (nirguna).

In a chance meeting thanks to a mutual friend that helped put together cover bands, Neil Guleria and Trevor LaVecchia played together at a wedding in Vermont in the summer of 2018. The four-hour gig didn’t exactly give any of the band members a chance to do anything other than a quick practice beforehand, so it wasn’t until two years later that the two truly connected.

That same mutual friend sent LaVecchia a track they had made with Guleria and it was the first time that LaVecchia had heard anyone in his circle create a professional-quality song. It wasn’t long after that they met up and quickly found out they were on the same page musically.

“I always felt very lonely making beats in my own world,” Guleria said. “I’m definitely the type of musician that I feel like I need other people to vibe off of.”

Their jam sessions turned into producing full tracks, from electronic-style beats to what they call their “space desert rock foundation”. Their first gig, which they refer to in quotation marks, was technically a birthday party on the rooftop of Guleria’s apartment. Their performance was inspired by French multi-instrumentalist FKJ, who uses live loopings during performances. It turned out that the style wasn’t for them, as they had more of an interest in live instrumentation and original songs.

“Neil and I just go straight to original music, always, which is something that I think speaks to our relationship and how it was meant to be,” LaVecchia said.

“The second we started playing together it was always a mindset of combining our individual musical interests,” Guleria added. “I feel like what allowed the thing to take root was the fact that it was just always the goal since our first jam…Trevor and I have always come out of the tradition of music that is just driven by feeling and emotion and trying to get closer and closer to that. That’s why it became a perfect fit for the psychedelic genre because that is all about feeling.”

They took that feeling and dove into the Brooklyn DIY music scene. Since they began during a time where live shows were not an option, they immersed themselves in rooftop shows and drum circles anywhere they could find one. They had ideas of riffs and chord progressions but didn’t work too hard on structure. The beginning was all about the feeling.

It came to a point where those feelings deserved to have a beginning, middle and end. They started with a very broad sense of their different influences before delving into the recording process. This time around, they ended up with four tracks for their EP, The Movement.

The inspiration originated from a trip LaVecchia took to Camino de Santiago. As the songs came together, it felt like a new era for Free Whenever.

“We had written these songs in such a way that we wanted them to feel complete on their own and not necessarily feel like an instrumental to something,” Guleria said. We wanted something that’s holistic and complete in itself.”

The creation process of The Movement taught them so much that they already have their next project lined up, saying that it feels like a culmination of everything they learned from this EP and everything they want Free Whenever to be.

“We’re a very grassroots-type band,” Guleria said. “We love playing for the people, love playing in the streets, and that’s all we really care about.”

In a Black is the New AP Style exclusive, get the first look at their live performance of “Desert Wanderer”:

Modern Chemistry has been going strong since Joe Zorzi and Brendan Hourican created the band while in college, and the last few years have given them the opportunity to create music in a new capacity.

“We’ve gotten to this natural progression of where we wanted to make music separately but we still work so well together that it didn’t really seem right to just stop working together,” Hourican said.

It was during the height of the pandemic that they were creating music that didn’t completely fit the typical Modern Chemistry vibe. Instead of scrapping it, they encouraged one another to release them as their own.

Their solo monikers, thepaintingcompany and Brendan the Navigator, just released singles as a split. “a little bit off!” and “Animal” are their chance to ignore the particulars of Modern Chemistry and abide by a “fuck it I just finished this song and I’m going to put it out next week” approach.

“I think we’ve both gotten a lot better as songwriters and artists,” Zorzi said. “We’ve been doing it for a while; I think we’re way more confident in what we’re putting out, so I think we’re just at a point where we both love so much music and want to do so much that it just makes more sense. It allows us to put out as much as possible.”

Zorzi said that when he recognized how personal the lyrics were for Hourican, it just made sense. However, their support goes beyond encouraging each other to release their own music. With the luxury of Little Hollywood Studios, the recording space that Zorzi opened with fellow musician Matteo DeBenedetti of Charlie & Margot, they were able to support one another from beginning to end of the recording process.

Having the opportunity to learn the production side of music really motivated them to try this on their own. It has also made the recording process a lot more exciting.

“With the speed in which we’re able to release stuff, we had this newfound ability to release a lot more so we had to create new avenues,” Hourican said. “We didn’t have to, but we saw that as the best way to do it. We can now do this all on our own; we can do as much of it as we want to, so we might as well have all these different projects as outlets.”

An important lesson they learned while in the studio is a major contributing factor to how they record today. Zorzi remembers a moment where a producer took what they considered a demo and kept some of it as the final track. It was something they had never done before, and inspired them to stop thinking about making music “the right way’.

“It’s really freeing,” he said. “It allows us to not put up walls for ourselves which I think is a thing that can easily happen. The biggest challenge in this is to believe in your decisions.”

For Modern Chemistry, there are no real limitations for what they plan to release. If Hourican wants to release five songs tomorrow, he can. If Zorzi wants to wait until next year to release anything else, he can. They have learned to stop holding back and let the music take them on the necessary journey.

With an upbringing that involved being immersed in the musical culture of Baton Rouge, La., Aries Marquis was destined to be a performer.

He comes from gospel roots, performing in his mother’s choir at just 5 years old. Singing was always an encouraged activity and even made its way onto his recorded voicemail. It got to the point where wrong numbers would call back, admitting that they were so impressed with what they heard that they needed to hear it again or share it with someone else.

Believe it or not, it was his first real taste of feedback. He had been performing in some capacity for nearly 15 years at that point, and after his father heard the voicemail, he encouraged him to pursue music.

“What he told me was that in order to make it as a professional music artist independently, learn how to write and definitely learn how to perform,” Marquis said. “The first thing that I worked on was my writing, so before I even got on stage with anybody I was writing different songs.”

He turned to legendary songwriters - Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Elton John - to better understand why they are considered among the greatest songwriters of all time. He focused on the delivery of the lyrics and discovered that it is the timelessness that makes them great. They didn’t write songs based on current trends or what would make the most money. They took their passions and life experiences and gave their audience something to relate to.

“I’m taking this approach to say ‘I get it - we should have fun, we should live life, but I want you to listen, I want you to learn, I want you to feel,’” he said. “I want [songs] that stand the test of time; that 20 years from now people still listen to it.”

His first performances were alongside a band he formed called J2, with successful appearances on local television stations and at clubs and malls. During one of these shows, he received an important piece of feedback that still resonates with him today: stage performance is equally important as vocal performance.

Marquis remembers their next showcase involving a lot of sweat, but it was exactly the push they needed. As he transitioned from a band member to a solo act, he knew that he would need to hold onto that piece of advice and work twice as hard.

This year, he set a goal to write about things he loved. He was hearing too many songs doubting love and he wanted to take the time to fight for it instead. A writing session got onto the topic of encouragement, ultimately forming his latest single, “Motivation”.

“I want to let women know that in the midst of this battle of the sexes that’s going on right now, some of us really do love and care about you,” he said. “This song is saying that throughout the years women have motivated me. They’re the ones who definitely helped me with my music career that I’ve poured myself out to and then they come back and pour themselves out to me. I love women and this song is an appreciation of all the women that have helped me out throughout the years.”

He cites his strong relationships with his grandmother, mother and four daughters as another influence for the song. He recognizes the importance of a powerful female presence and wants the women in his life to understand just how much they mean to him.

He might not have always recognized his potential, but Aries Marquis has embraced music as his journey. This year is all about love, and he plans to share his love with anyone willing to receive it.

From the moment he had a conscious thought of where he wanted to be, Kyle Walters dreamed of New York City.

The New Jersey-born artist grew up on a constant rotation of radio stations, from top 40 to alternative rock. Music resonated with him, and he found himself wanting to learn more. He has a vivid memory of watching Green Day perform at Woodstock ‘94, televised on MTV, and witnessing the infamous mud fight started by lead vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong.

“That was the one visual that put a whole ribbon on the package, so to speak,” he said.

When an opportunity arose to play in a band - and move to New York City - he jumped at it. He calls his time in bands as “rock ‘n’ roll boot camp” and recognizes how much it shaped him as a musician.

“[Being in a] band helped me get out of my shell and become a performer,” he said. “I think writing wise it gave me confidence. But it also taught me that I would rather deal with figuring it out and having complete faith in the unknown of what my brain is able to do on its own than put my eggs in a basket and fingers crossed hope a band works out.”

Walters knew it was time to try creating music on his own. He went from self-taught to taking guitar and voice lessons. He taught himself piano and bass. With help from his brother and some programming, drum parts were covered. It was a leap of faith, and took a few years to find his footing, but it soon became the birth of Future Someone.

He doesn’t remember exactly what he was reading when the name Future Someone came to mind, but the more he sat with it the more he liked it.

“The more I think about it, it just makes sense as far as the evolution of finding out who you are,” he said. “Just digging deeper and discovering who you are and where you want to be. The older I get, I still like it. It was a good call.”

The beginning of his solo journey left him wondering why he hadn’t tried it sooner. Were there opportunities missed? With hindsight, he’s able to realize that the beginning of his music career involved little to no life experience.

“I definitely wouldn’t have been able to summon the strength or the words back then like I can now,” he said. “There’s just more life to pull from, good and bad. If you have a solid foundation that you built for yourself, then it’s harder for anyone to take it away or destroy it.”

Setting the groundwork of releasing a few singles led to his debut EP, Phases. Although he didn’t write these songs back to back, the three songs made too much sense to not package together.

“Regret Someone” was the first song that was written, starting out as a simple idea and was reworked what felt like hundreds of times. The theme of the song - thinking of all of the ‘what if’s’ in a relationship - sparked an idea of the opposite feeling and inspired “Never Find Another You”. Instead of wondering what might have been, “Never Find Another You” is about what if that dream person in a dream world stayed, even just for a day. The last song on the EP, “I Hope You Find Whatever You Are Looking For”, is based on a text he received and inspired lyrics alluding to a relationship that isn’t what either person is in search of.

“I would have regretted not putting these three songs out together because there’s just its own natural arch that I did not intend,” he said. “The harder I work, the more satisfied and relieved I’ve become. I was able to do it; I put my mind to it and then I did it rather than say ‘I don’t know if I can do this’ or ‘I don’t know if I have the confidence level to accomplish this task’. If there is a gap in skill set or self esteem or confidence, I would like to think that passion and perseverance and showing up every day can bridge that gap in a major way because I’m living through it. Not every song comes once a month or once a week, but it’s just a muscle that you’re reflexively working on and strengthening so that it gets easier.”

Photo courtesy of Kara Nikol

For over a decade, Abby Nissenbaum’s entire life and personality revolved around being an academic. She found herself having a bit of an identity crisis after leaving her Social Psychology PhD program, and reminiscing about her years spent as a performer.

Her youth and teenage years involved performing in regional musical theater and classically training as a soprano. Songwriting felt like the right path in this crucial moment of her life, so she picked up her cheap, amp-less electric guitar and taught herself a few chords.

From there, a few songs were written and ultimately became the starting point of her EP, Unreliable Narrator.

“I… started reflecting on the ways that external negative situations and others’ hurtful messages had been impacting my own internal messaging and mental health,” she said. “I had read a research paper where depression and anxiety were characterized as ‘unreliable narration’ of one’s own life, and thought it perfectly expressed how I was feeling. It's easy to take negative input at face value and start internalizing it, but if we start to think of all those mean words as ‘unreliable narrators’, it takes away their power.”

The EP was recorded half in Los Angeles with producer Riley Geare and half in Nashville with Matt Qualls. Within four days, Nissenbaum’s time with Geare was jam-packed.

“He's a one-man show,” she said. “A true virtuoso on any instrument you put in his hands, awesome producer and engineer, and resident vibe guy.”

In Nashville, recording sessions felt like get-togethers. Friends from Memphis came up to serve as session instrumentalists, auxiliary engineers and production assistants. Despite both experiences being vastly different, they were once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that truly benefited her.

“As an indie artist, there's not much time to sit and vibe in a space or really hang out with collaborators, so the sessions were all very intense and work-focused to make use of precious time,” she said. “With that said, the sessions were a ton of fun! I leaned into each experience and came out of my shell a bit more every recording session, which was helpful both professionally and personally.”

Her greatest challenge during the creation process was honing in on her guitar skills. Working alongside Geare and Qualls was exceptionally helpful, and Nissenbaum was able to not only convey her sound to others but track her own guitar parts.

She learned so much during the creation of Unreliable Narrator that really helped her work through the topics discussed in her songs, such as depression, isolation, heartbreak and addiction.

“Songwriting can be a cathartic process, but it can also help you meta-analyze situations or look at different components from a bird's eye view,” she said. “I've learned that sometimes it's helpful to write about your own experiences almost as if you're an independent third party. Through songwriting, I've actually found it easier to give grace to others and view things through a more rational lens.”