Fake Dad, a Brooklyn alt. pop duo just released their new single “Painkiller,” about struggles with mental health and addiction, and how hard it is to support someone as they struggle with both.
Fake Dad is made up of Andrea de Varona and Josh Ford. They make music out of their tiny Brooklyn apartment, and since the beginning of 2018 have been inseparable with a love of music at the center of their relationship long before they started writing together.
Their music has a signature production sound with distinct voice styles and is there to give you a friendly pat on the back after a long day, and they want you to know everything is going to be okay.
We hope listeners feel understood and not alone in their respective battles with anxiety, depression, substance abuse, self-harm or really any kind of mental health struggle. Sometimes our connections with others, and a sense of belonging alone are reasons to stay on this earth and try to get better.
Fake Dad
Their new single “Painkillers” is a nod to the 80s synth-pop era, with uplifting lyrics about trying to break free from inner demons, and an ode to a relationship between two extremely anxious individuals desperately looking inward for ways to love each other better.
The lyrics that get repeated a lot throughout the song are “Someone tell me I’ll survive this/please just tell me I’ll survive.” These set of lyrics are very emotional and fans have actually thanked the band for writing it, as it helps those going through a mental health crisis tell themselves they will get through it.
Overall, the song is very well produced, and Varona’s vocals are very haunting and make you feel like you will make it through anything. “Painkillers” by Fake Dad is out now on all streaming platforms.
Swiss instrumental quintet L’Eclair, Memphis rockers Spaceface, and Rochester’s own Drippers took the Bug Jar audience on a made-for-Saturday journey this past Tuesday.
Mike Turzanski’s Drippers set the night in motion. A mid-set multi-movement piece proved to be a highlight. Dual synths laid down eerie sounds matched with a haunting bass and drums backdrop. The electronics went into hyperdrive as the guitar took over. It spilled into a new wave segment and then ramped back up to something resembling prog-rock. As the groove got thicker, so did the smoke. A smoke machine sat on stage throughout the night and was used liberally but timely by all bands. Later in the set, a dual guitar ripper featured some hang-on-if-you-can bass work while a punk rave up gave the drummer’s star time to shine bright. The smoke had cleared but the journey was just getting started. Takeoff was imminent.
Spaceface, led by Jake Ingalls, formerly of the Flaming Lips, brought their own style of party-ready psychedelic rock. After a quick band huddle, they launched into “Happens All the Time,” it’s crunchy guitar disco rock got limbs moving throughout the room. “Rain Passing Through” amped up the dance grooves and it wasn’t long until bodies were fully in motion.
With a full-body workout underway, it was only appropriate to throw in some 3rd grade gym class references. Ingalls reminisced at the awkwardness of climbing ropes and changing in front of your classmates. It all began to make sense when he busted out a rainbow-colored parachute and tossed it out in the crowd. We all grabbed a hold and started to wave it up and down, following along to Coach Ingalls’ instructions. As the band ripped through a funky jam the crowd ran under the parachute according to their color or other various experiences. When it was asked for those who were at the Bug Jar for the first time, no one moved. A crowd of regulars!
The smoke machine was igniting throughout the set, and so were the tunes. Guitarist Eric Martin occasionally busted out a snow machine, filling the room with fake snow, which as it lingered, mixing with the smoke and lights, resembled the upside-down from Stranger Things, appropriately enough with the Bug Jar’s upside-down apartment. A tripped-out cover of The Verve’s “Bittersweet Melody” was truly unique. Katie Pierce laid down a fat bass line under Daniel Quinlan’s intricate beats on “Cowboy Lightning,” everything pinging back and forth off the walls for an immersive sound. The energy was also pinging around the room, a full-on dance party had exploded. We had ignition.
L’Eclair closed the night, guiding the ship through the cosmos with their Francophonic funk. As the music was instrumental, the French was implied, though those who witnessed soundcheck got a good dose as they called out instructions to their sound engineer. L’Eclair translates to “flash of lightning,” brilliant sparks appropriately emanated off the stage.
The Swiss quintet immediately set the crowd on course for more body moving. Fat intergalactic grooves were accompanied by keyboard laser beams and spacey guitar moans. Wild polyrhythms went in and out of step with jaunty synths.
Shorter flights gave way to extended jams. One built and built, a fiery engine, then dropped out all at once, floating in a zero-gravity groove. The drummer sparked the engine for another burn with oontz-oontz raving rhythms and cosmic beams shooting out from the synthesizers. A magnificent cacophony burst forth before melting down to a spectacular drum solo, complete, of course, with more sci-fi-infused synths.
The grounded dance-party of Spaceface took flight with L’Eclair, the band and crowd bouncing in lockstep, the ground pulling downward less and less as the night grew shorter, until the music felt like it had suspended the crowd in mid-air. The jams grew more electrified, more extended, stretching into the outer reaches. With no vocal mic on stage, banter was kept to an absolute minimum. Non-stop instrumental goodness filled the void between and within. Bursts of smoke provided a physical presence to the ethereal aura emerging along the waves of sound.
An encore is never a sure thing at the Bug Jar, and when one is granted is generally pretty quick. L’Eclair was coaxed out for two encores, each one a lengthy electronic funk out. One last burn to get us back home. Re-entry was a bit rough, Wednesday already underway as we departed the ship.
Brooklyn Comes Alive, the one-day festival well-known for presenting a potent mix of unique new projects, rare collaborations, and nationally touring heavy-hitters, returns to The Brooklyn Mirage on Saturday, September 17th, complete with lounge areas, a food court, and sunset views.
This year, Brooklyn Comes Alive will feature livetronica heroes STS9, avant-groove explorers Medeski Martin & Wood, future-funk sextet Lettuce, and the debut of Cool Cool Cool, a new project from former members of Turkuaz that is funky, fresh, and ready to throw a party.
Built from the vibrant live music community of Brooklyn, NY, and inspired by New Orleans, LA and its famed Jazz & Heritage Festival, Brooklyn Comes Alive has been breaking the mold of traditional festivals with unprecedented music experiences since 2015.
Much like past “Comes Alive” events, the 2022 Brooklyn Comes Alive lineup presents a number of exciting firsts and notable milestones. The event will serve as STS9’s first show in NYC since its last Brooklyn Mirage takeover in 2019, and the band plans to celebrate its return to Brooklyn with a two-hour late-night set. Similarly, Medeski Martin & Wood, who have not played together on their home turf in NYC since 2019 and have not performed live since before the pandemic, will use the special appearance to celebrate their 30th anniversary as a band, which took place last year.
If the lineup hasn’t sold you, perhaps the huge visual oddysey that’s in store will get you to Brooklyn on Saturday. One of the world’s largest outdoor video walls is found right at Brooklyn Mirage. Over 1000 LED panels form 6000 square feet of wall, and with 15k ultra wide resolution, the visual effects are film grade, and as state of the art as it comes.
Add in a custom built media server and processing technology that allows leading visual content creators from around the world to create truly immersive show visuals, one the makes the potential for a hyperrealistic environment to be created at Brooklyn Mirage.
Harlem Stage announced its coming season will be devoted to the intersection of the Black Art and the Black Power movement in America today. Five programs and seven events of film, poetry, music theater and dance will make up this seasons’ theme, Black Arts Movement: Examined.
A cultural movement that took place largely in Harlem, The Black Arts Movement of the 60s and 70s shaped Black identity through critical discourse in many mediums. Harlem Stage’s CEO, Patricia Cruz, and Curator-in Residence, Carl Hancock Rux, hope this season’s events will challenge and clarify topics of The Black Arts Movement. As Harlem Stage approaches its 40th anniversary, its programming board hopes this year’s schedule will encourage visitors to step back and ask, “what is the relationship between art and politics and what is the role of the politically conscious artist?”
On Friday, September 16, the programming begins with the “Uptown Nights” series, led by Joel Ross’s Being A Young Black Man. Joel Ross is an award-winning vibraphonist and composer whose project explores his own experiences, contextualized into two themes: faith and family. Ross will perform with saxophonists Patrick Bartley and Tivon Pennicott, pianist Jeremy Corren, bassist Junius Paul, and drummer Marcus Gilmore on September 16 and 17 to set off the programming. The concert will be at Harlem Stage Gatehouse and tickets to all events are available on Harlem Stage’s site.
Grammy nominated Pedrito Martinez will take the stage (virtually) on September 24 for the next “Uptown Nights” performance. The world-renowned Cuban percussionist’s Rumba Con Fundamento will be available to stream on Vimeo for $5 until October 3.
Closing the “Uptown Nights” series on October 7 and 8 is Leyla McCalla with her show celebrating the release of her album, Breaking the Thermometer. McCalla’s newest body of work combines elements of memoir and historical scholarship to express freely her experiences as a Haitian-American living through years of social and political unrest.
The program continues with remote and in-person conversations, interviews and performances in song, dance and poetry. To see the full season schedule visit Harlem Stage’s site.
The internationally-acclaimed hit theater show The Simon & Garfunkel Story will stop by Kings Theatre on March 3, 2023 at 8PM during the coast-to-coast U.S. tour. The immersive concert-style theater show chronicles the amazing journey shared by the folk-rock duo, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. It tells the story from their humble beginnings as Tom & Jerry to their incredible success as one of the best-selling music groups of the ‘60s to their dramatic split in 1970. It culminates with the famous “The Concert in Central Park” reunion in 1981 with more than half a million fans in attendance.
Using state of the art video projection, photos and original film footage, the show also features a full live band performing all of their hits, including ‘Mrs. Robinson’ (featured in the 1967 film The Graduate), ‘Cecilia’, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, ‘Homeward Bound’ and many more.
With more than 100 million album sales since 1965, Simon & Garfunkel’s perfect harmonies and songs that poignantly captured the times made them one of the most successful folk-rock duos of all time. Over the years, they won 10 Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1977, their Bridge Over Troubled Water album was nominated at the 1977 Brit Awards for Best International Album. In 2003, Simon and Garfunkel were awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the following year saw their “The Sound of Silence” awarded a Grammy Hall of Fame Award.
Tickets for The Simon and Garfunkel Story are on sale now here.
Earlier this summer, Albany-based band Coupons released their 3rd full-length record, Wasted Intimacy, via Counter Intuitive Records.
The indie-rock band consists of Dan LaFave, Collin J Reynolds, Shannon Straney, Dylan Depice, and Dan Maddalone. The 11-track album is upbeat, unique, and a great listen with different styles intertwined throughout the project. Wasted Intimacy also showcases the band’s creativity and talent, with various members contributing to vocals, lyrics, and instrumentation.
The album includes songs for everyone to enjoy, with the first single released, “Waiting,” giving listeners an intense rock track with powerful vocals whereas other singles, such as “Milk,” slow things down. Produced by Scoops Dardaris, Wasted Intimacy highlights Coupons’ range of melodies, rhythms, and beats on this release.
Throughout the duration of Wasted Intimacy, listeners are met with catchy lyrics, and songs seemingly perfect for the stage. In the song “Break a Leg,” written by band member Collin Reynolds, the lyrics “do you wanna celebrate, do you even know my name, are you getting home okay, it’s not too late” are relatable and work perfectly to hook listeners in.
With the snappy guitar on “Mardi Gras,” beautiful vocals from Straney on “Milk,” and the building piano track “Anyone Else,” this album from Coupons shines. Every track holds your attention and leaves you captivated.
In support of the album release, the band recently played a show at Empire Live Underground in Albany. Joining the group included music from the likes of Oso Oso, Another Michael, and Laveda. Be sure to take a listen to Coupons’ full discography, and stay tuned for their next live show.
Fans of Coupons music can keep up with them on Instagram and Twitter. The new record is also available to purchase on vinyl as well as to stream across platforms.
Mike Doughty announced his first solo tour in two years, as well as an exclusive Brooklyn residency with his band, Ghost of Vroom at Union Pool in Nov.
Photo Credit: Jamie Harmon
Mike Doughty hasn’t had a solo show in over two years because of the pandemic. He is known for his over two-decade career full of solo work, and his band Ghost of Vroom, which he created with his longtime musical collaborator, bassist Andrew “Scrap” Livingston. They have two albums, praised by American Songwriter for their “urgency and relevance…a beyond-perfect union, centered around a solid rhythm section, that elaborates on the hip-hop influences Doughty picked up as a young kid when he had just moved to New York in the late eighties.”
They change their sound up a lot, mashing up weird jazz, psychedelic trances, and Doughty’s blend of his signature art pop. The band will be having a residency in Brooklyn at Union Pool, every Sunday in Nov., starting the 6, with Doughty doing a set of his solo music. Surprise guests will be announced soon, some including Billy Martin (Medeski Martin & Wood), Michael Wilbur (Moon Hooch), and Jamie Saft (John Zorn, Wadada Leo Smith).
For more information and to buy tickets to Mike Doughty’s tour and Brooklyn residency, go here.
The inaugural Ramble Festival at Camp Ramblewood in Darlington, MD has announced its lineup, featuring the best in jam, grass, and brass performing on three stages from Oct. 7-9.
The community-centric music festival is located about an hour from Baltimore and Philadelphia, about two hours from Washington DC, and about 3 hours from New York. Camp Ramblewood is nestled on more than 200 acres in Harford County, MD.
The Ramble Festival is born out of the idea that sharing the unique experience of live music with others is a powerful and unifying force that brings people from all walks of life together and builds community. We believe that live music is one of the most compelling catalysts to building meaningful connections with others, and that’s exactly what we are doing at The Ramble. Oh, and the lineup is killer too.
festival co-founders Brandon “Brick” Lohr and Jason “J” Hubert.
The three-day festival features a lineup of high-energy jam bands. On Oct. 7, the lineup features Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass featuring The Hillbenders. Williams’ band is inspired by the Grateful Dead, and his impact on the Upstate New York groove scene is large, often cited as the “one-man-jam-band.” Other bands on the lineup that day include Big Something, Abby Bryant & The Echoes, and Annie Sellick & Pat Bergeson.
The second-day features Dogs in a Pile, Fishing for Hippies, Naptown Brass Band, and more. The third day features The Travelin’ McCourys and Pink Talking Fish along with more bands. The Travelin’ McCourys became the only group to have each member recognized with an International Bluegrass Music Association Award for their instrument at least once. Pink Talking Fish is a fusion tribute band that plays Pink Floyd, The Talking Heads, and Phish.
The Ramble Festival is happening from Oct. 7-9 at Camp Ramblewood, and weekend and single-day tickets are on sale now.
The Long Island music scene has a star with a trajectory rising like a Phoenix out of the music halls around town. Meet Kelli Baker, a transplant from Arizona, who has momentum unlike anyone. This soulful singer is a cross between Amy Winehouse and Susan Tedeschi. Her original music erupts in an emotional whirlwind as she draws you in.
I had the chance to interview Kelli Baker on The Long Island Sound podcastback in June and her rise to prominence has been something to behold. After the passing of her dad several years ago, Kelli packed her bags and headed for Huntington Village, on the Northshore of Long Island. Her energetic live performance is insync with her go-for-it attitude and work ethic. Continuing with skills in hospitality, Kelli worked several jobs while gigging around the village with her bag of cover songs and an occasional original song snuck into the mix.
With a chuckle in her voice, this starling belts out emotional verses with the ease of a carnival barker. She connects with her audience as she calls us into the curiosity of her sideshow. The circus of sideshow gigs as a result has landed Kelli on the main stage. She was recently signed to the parade of Sony Music artists this past January under the Bad Jeu Jeu CDX Record label.
The hard work and song writing has seemed to have payed off, as she landed Monster Cables as a sponsor and just a few days ago She also landed a spot on Spotify’s Editorial Playlist, Blues Roots among some of the top names in the business, Jon Baptist, Tedeschi Trucks, and The Black Keys.
Blood on the Nile
Her recent single release, Blood on the Nile hit the airwaves on September 9th. Recorded in Cove City Sound Studios in Glen Cove, It features another guest on the podcast, Brother Dave (Solomon) . Dave is an excellent slide and lap steel guitar player also featured as a guest on the podcast.
Kelli BakerKelli Baker – Blood On the Nile
The song, Blood on the Nile invites you in with the call of a pedal steel guitar, and slowly builds to a crescendo of emotion as Kelli exudes a passion that only a heart with scars can comprehend. Her catalog of songs are deep and insightful. The track, Cathedral released early in 2020 sets a scene as the bells toll for thee and me. The exploration of Kelli’s music has just begun for me. She tailored her sound both as a solo performer in the music halls, wineries, bars and pubs, from North Shore to the South Shore and to points East on the Island.
Gathering excellent band members around her, Ms. Baker embarked on a Summer tour along the East Coast to excellent reviews. This past month the Kelli Baker duo opened for the all female Swedish band, Thundermother at the Paramount in Huntington.
This exploration into Kelli Baker’s music has just begun. I could wax poetic with flowery prose, but after seeing her performance at the Blue Point Brewery, this past August, I left the venue having gone through a memorable experience, weary with emotion and thirsting for more.
NY-based solo artist ALYXX released her newest single, titled “Serenity.” The emotional track reminds listeners it is okay to put mental health first and take time for yourself amidst the chaos of life.
Based out of Rockland County, ALYXX wrote the track in March of 2022 and recorded “Serenity” at her home studio and at Cinderella Man Studios with Zaki Ali. The song is haunting, starting slowly with piano and backing vocals before building with an impressive vocal style and rock instrumentals.
Drums from Ali and guitar from Brandon Hawkes contribute to the single’s intense sound. The accompanying music video showcases all three musicians performing the song alongside moody lighting and visuals.
“Serenity” is powerful not only in sound but also message, with ALYXX singing, “Let the weight of the world / Fall on someone else’s shoulders / Cause I’m tired of taking on the responses of others” as part of the track’s bridge. The melodic metal single is catchy, and the artist’s talent as a singer and songwriter shines.
It’s about putting yourself and your mental health first. Wanting to do something and being able to do something are two different things. Sometimes you have to say no, for your own well being. Life will always be hectic, but one must find the calmness within the chaos.
– ALYXX
Take a listen to ALYXX’s latest musical release and video below. “Serenity” is out now on all streaming platforms. To keep up with ALYXX, find her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
