Tag: bands

Beyond Words: A Love Letter to “True Blue” by boygenius

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In late January, grammy-nominated band Boygenius (officially spelled as boygenius) announced their debut album, which was recorded four years after the band formed and released their self-titled EP. Band members Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker announced the new music together with three singles: “$20,” “Emily I’m Sorry” and “True Blue.” 

During this same time, I was submitting my final college applications and deciding that I was going to move to Chicago to study comedy. 

These two events mixed with Lucy Dacus’ incredible songwriting, my obsessive attachment to female musicians and a singular line about moving to Chicago, the song “True Blue” by Boygenius quickly became one of my favorite songs in the whole world. Thus, I would like to publicly document my all consuming affection for this 4 minute and 56 second track. 

There are two main elements of this song that I think make it so good; specificity and a focus on platonic love. 

Specificity

Something I love in songwriting is telling the exact truth. I think songs are made so much more meaningful when they are specific, rather than being purposefully vague in the name of relatability. I personally find it much more impactful to hear raw personal experience and find emotion within it to relate to, than just hearing a feeling described. It’s like in elementary school when you learn narrative writing; I want to be shown, not told, how you’re feeling.

“Now you’re moving in, breaking a sweat on your upper lip / And getting pissed about humanity and the leaky faucet / You already hurt my feelings three times / In the way only you could.” This is specific to Lucy’s lived experience, but that doesn’t make it any less universal. Moving in is something that’s understood to be laborious and stressful, found to be a situation where tensions get high. That’s a widely understood truth, just look at the “PIVOT” scene in Friends; Ross yelling at Rachel and Chandler, his best friends, to find a way to make the couch fit up the stairs, is the epitome of escalating stress and anxiety over something little. So, when she goes on to talk about this person hurting her feelings we understand the emotion. We understand that it wasn’t a terrible offense but rather, it was probably some off handed comments that came up in the heat of the moment. 

As a listener, hearing the situation and putting ourselves within the scene she’s describing we are able to feel the emotion, and relate it to ourselves in a much deeper way than if she just said “Tensions were high and you said things that hurt my feelings.”

One of the main reasons this song is so special to me is the fact that she name-drops Chicago. While she could have just said “moved to the city” and in theory made the same point, the specificity makes it feel more honest. More vulnerable. I know for myself — and I assume many others — vulnerability is going to draw more people in than if you keep yourself distant from your work. I think that’s true of any art form.

Platonic Love

This is something that Lucy Dacus specifically, in both her work with boygenius and her solo discography, communicates better than any artist I’ve heard. Maybe it has some sort of link to growing up queer, or in a body that is not seen as “conventionally attractive” (two things Dacus also writes about in a way that melts my heart) that makes me more drawn to platonic devotion than romantic, but regardless it is something I value above everything else. 

The chorus: “But it feels good to be known so well / I can’t hide from you like I hide from myself / I remember who I am when I’m with you / Your love is tough, your love is tried and true blue.” This line specifically conveys such a strong connection and emotion. When I hear this I think of my best friend, and I think of my little sister. I think of sitting in comfortable silence with them, not having to worry about keeping them entertained with conversation. I think about not being afraid to gush about how much I love a Taylor Swift song, or asking them to dress up in costumes when we see our favorite artist in concert. There is a certain longevity in the connection of friendship that isn’t present in romance. Even if I’m in Chicago and they are back home, or we have a blowout fight and don’t speak for weeks, they are always there. They know you so deeply that no matter how much time or distance divides you, they are gonna see through any act or fib you try to pull on them. Their love is tried. Their love is true. It’s TRUE BLUE. 

When this song came out, I listened to it only hoping my life would be exactly like it. I’d be living in Chicago, happily discovering myself without losing the connections with the people I hold near and dear. Now that I’m here, I listen to it when I am feeling down, or homesick, or questioning why I went so far away from home. I use it to remind myself I have to “spin out” in order to get to the “calling from the train water freezing in my eyes.” Despite the fact that I am overly dramatic, obsessed with sountracking my life, and the fact that I’ve only been here 10 weeks, I feel pretty confident that I was right to take this song as a sign, and am excited to grow into the truest, bluest version of myself. 

Thank you “True Blue.” I love you. 

Lamorn live at the Aragon Ballroom: How the EDM protegé became the master

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EDM prodigy Lamorn takes center stage at the Aragon Ballroom, opening for Deadmau5 with an electrifying hybrid-live performance. With a head-bumping, hair-in-the-face swag, Lamorn transitions from mixing to shredding on the guitar in the middle of his set. The 19-year-old DJ already has the crowd in the palm of his hands, but he’s just getting started. As the official protegé of his idol, Deadmau5, Lamorn is living his dream—and all it took was the confidence to take a risk and a live stream. 

 

At the peak of the 2020 pandemic, EDM pioneer Deadmau5 took to live stream and invited fans to submit their demos for feedback. As an avid fan of Deadmau5, the then 17-year-old Lamorn had already submitted several demos to previous live streams, receiving a small amount of attention from his idol. Then Lamorn’s demo finally got through.

Photo: Theo Sanders

“…[Deadmau5] called his manager on his stream, then the next day [his manager] called me asking if I could sign,” Lamorn recounts, seated in his dressing room at the Aragon Ballroom, “It was life-changing.” And life-changing it was; that simple phone call would soon uproot Lamorn’s entire adolescent life. 

Before his discovery, Lamorn was just an average 17-year-old, college-bound and planning to major in software engineering. However, he had an alter-ego, “Lamorn.” Lamorn had been producing and publishing his own music, under this pseudonym, since the age of 13. Initially, it was nothing serious, just an outlet for expressing his musical creativity. The budding artist had no unique sound, just a collection of demos that paid homage to his favorite DJs—especially one DJ in particular:

“I’ve had phases of just ripping off Deadmau5,” Lamorn admits, recounting experimentation with electronic music. Lamorn had idolized Deadmau5 ever since the release of “Faxing Berlin” in 2006. The release of this track, and the accompanying album, had been incredibly risky; it was Deadmau5’s first independent release, produced entirely on his own. But it had paid off, and unwittingly, Deadmau5 had kickstarted the origin story of his future protegé. 

When the world went into lockdown in 2020, Lamorn took a similar plunge. He began producing music that combined all of his experimental phases and even incorporated his gift for shredding on the guitar. Lamorn had successfully defined a unique sound, and so he took a risk: he sent his demo to his idol. 

Now, just two years later, Lamorn comes off of an incredible set at the Aragon Ballroom: complete with live singing, guitar shredding, and simultaneous mixing. Through the door of his dressing room, a crowd of formerly emo millennials—turned marketing consultants—buzz around the stage, awaiting the arrival of their techno mouse god, Deadmau5.

Photo: Theo Sanders

Despite opening for his idol and successfully hyping up the crowd, Lamorn is neither braggadocious nor vain. The pinnacle of relaxation, he graciously recounts his story and discusses his plans for the future.“I figure I can always go back to school,” Lamorn shrugs, “but I felt like this experience was a little more rare to come across.” As the official protegé of Deadmau5, it seems Lamorn may not need a degree after all. If all goes to plan, and the artist continues to deliver remarkable hybrid-live performances, it will not be long before Lamorn has to find a protegé of his own. 

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard at Radius Chicago: My Experience and Review

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Nearly a year has passed since a friend of mine first introduced me to King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Despite having heard of them before, I have never been driven to explore them because I hadn’t previously been a fan of psychedelic music. But nonetheless, I decided that I’d give them a shot as I was browsing for new bands to play. I was told to listen to I’m In Your Mind Fuzz (2014) first, and I was instantly hooked. I could visualize the songs in my mind, with the combination of guitar riffs, incredible basslines, and distorted vocals. I knew from there on out I needed more, and my love for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard began.

The Australian psychedelic rock band has been making music for a little over a decade, with over twenty albums to date. They just recently played at Radius Chicago, a show that was supposed to happen back in April 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After about three months of listening to King Gizzard, I bought a ticket back in March. While the ticket itself was way too much than what I should have paid for, it was honestly worth every penny.

If you know anything about this band, you know that it is difficult to fit them into one genre. They are mainly known as a “psychedelic rock” band, but over the years, the band has experimented with garage rock, acid rock, metal, and jazz fusion, just to name a few. Each city they have toured has had a different setlist with different songs. So it is safe to say that I was unprepared for this concert, as I had absolutely no idea what they would play.

I arrived at the venue around 3:45 p.m. because I wanted to be in the front row and didn’t want to get into a mosh pit of people. As soon as I got in the line, there were about 25 people in front of me, so I was good to go. However, I felt extremely out of place as I arrived because King Gizzard’s demographic is not young teen females. I was surrounded by out-of-college thirty-somethings, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. It was so strange to me as I usually go to concerts where the band/artist appeals to people my age, so it definitely had a new vibe for sure.

Photo: Line around 4 P.M. (Source: @psychslowdownnn on Instagram/Ariele Palmer)

Doors were opening at 7:00 P.M., so I had a bunch of time to spare. I did end up talking to people in line to pass the time, as well as watching some Netflix, ordering Doordash, and face-timing my best friend. I also posted a bit to my show’s Instagram account @psychslowdownnn to vlog during my time at Radius.

At around 5:45 P.M., we moved to the doors in four rows, and I happened to be at the front of the fourth row. At this time, I am getting more anxious to be let in as the minutes pass. When 7:00 P.M. hit, the doors were opened, and I walked to the stage. The goal had been accomplished: front row.

After I had arrived, I talked with this nice woman who recently saw the band at their Red Rocks show in Colorado. The Red Rocks show consisted of a three-hour marathon set compared to their normal lineup. She also told me that she had been to multiple King Gizzard shows in the past and that they were always amazing. I told her that this one was my first Gizz concert, and she was very excited for me, and rightfully so.

Photo: Standing in front of the door (Source: @psychslowdownnn on Instagram/Ariele Palmer)

Opening for King Gizzard was Leah Senior and her band, and they were so lovely. Her music is an entirely different style compared to King Gizzard, but it was such an excellent way to start the show. Playing folk-alternative songs such as “Time Traveller” from The Passing Scene (2020) and “Black Limousine” from Pretty Faces (2017), she was able to warm up the crowd in a calming manner. 

Photo: Leah Senior and her band opening (Source: Ariele Palmer)

After she finished her set, it was time to get crazy.

The six-piece entered the stage, and the crowd went wild. The band opened their set with “Venusian 1” and “Venusian 2”, both from their metal-themed album Infest The Rats’ Nest (2019). From those two songs alone, I knew this would be the craziest concert I have ever attended. Since I was at the front, it felt like every note from each instrument was flowing into my bloodstream. At this point, a mosh pit had formed behind me, and I was getting smushed into the barricade. Not to mention, I was one of the shorter (and younger) attendees at the very front, so that was not ideal, but still fun regardless. 

After these two songs, they decided to slow things down a bit with “Slow Jam 1” from their psychedelic/garage rock album I’m In Your Mind Fuzz (2014). One of the very first songs I listened to when starting my adventure into King Gizzard and a phenomenal way to see it played in person. 

The band then started to pick up with more upbeat/moshable songs, that included “The Grim Reaper,” a rap-based song coming from Omnium Gatherum (2022), their first album of this year, “Doom City” from Flying Microtonal Banana (2017), and their live debut of “Lava” (Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, And Lava, 2022), coming from their first of three released albums of October. 

Photo: King Gizzard opening their set (Source: Ariele Palmer)

Each song that was played had a completely different vibe. At the very beginning, all I wanted to do was head bang, and during their slower, more chill songs, I felt like I needed to sail off to an island. That is what I love about King Gizzard: you can feel every emotion with their discography. Whether it is rage, love, or confusion, they have a song for everything. 

Towards the end of their set, they brought Leah Senior on stage for her narration of “The Reticent Raconteur,” “The Lord of Lightning,” and “The Balrog,” all from Murder of the Universe (2017). Her calming voice over insane instruments was something that I had never thought I would ever experience in life, and, in all honesty, it was magical to see those songs come to life.

After a nearly two-hour set, the band closed the night with “Float Along-Fill Your Lungs” (Float Along-FIll Your Lungs, 2013). I played this song at the end of my very first “Psychedelic Slowdown” episode, my show on Radio DePaul, as it remains at the top of my list as my favorite King Gizzard song. You can only imagine my reaction when I heard the first guitar riff; I was so incredibly happy. I felt like I needed to float along, no pun intended, on a boat in the middle of the ocean. This was such an amazing way to end such an amazing concert. 


Photo:  King Gizzard in the middle of a jam (Source: Ariele Palmer)

As for a review: I may be biased, but I would easily give this concert a ten out of ten. It was everything I needed in a concert and more; The visuals, the setlist, the crowd, literally everything. The one complaint I have is my body getting smashed into the barricade, but I was expecting that to begin with. I can say I have no regrets about overpaying for a single ticket back in March. This band is the reason why “The Psychedelic Slowdown” even exists. If you ever get the chance to see King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard in a city near you, please go. You’ll be a completely different person coming out of that concert, just like I was. 

Radio DePaul talks to Mickey Darling about their creative autonomy

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Mickey Darling, a Texan-born indie-pop duo, known to fans as the “World’s Sexiest Boyband,” is made up of both Skyler Molina and Austin Medrano. Molina created the band and its name after discussing with a friend through texts of names that had popped up from previous encounters he had. 

“Basically, the first text he sent back was, ‘What about Mickey Darling?’ I was like, ‘That’s so weird that you came up with that. What about just Taylor Darling? What about just Mickey?’ He took two different names, and it was crazy. Brilliant. The rest is history, I guess,” Molina said.

After coining this band name, Molina went on a deep dive for someone to produce his music. Though the duo attended the same high school, they actually didn’t start out as friends. Medrano and Molina had met through a mutual friend from high school. They were never close, but their different circles intersected. 

“I mean, I don’t remember why we hung out for the first time. Maybe ‘cause we both knew we played music or something like that. We just said, ‘Let’s jam.’ It was always just jamming like we were not really friends at that point. It was so random. A couple years later he asked me to help him produce music. I guess I was the only producer who was good enough at the time, and here we are,” Medrano said. 

The band’s duo holds a strong position against corporate America. This position fuels their creative, self-driven mindsets and prolific creation of songs.

“Obviously, we’re in an industry that’s already made up its mind and is set in its own ways. Like record labels and all these other factors. We are trying to do something unique and difficult. We’re trying to do it without the big labels behind us. Without the big marketing budgets and backing tours. But we knew all along that it was possible. Anybody can do anything. So that is definitely the hardest part,” Molina said.

The band’s music uses an upbeat, bedroom-pop-oriented sound that complements their exuberant, humorous personalities.

“There was one show we played in San Antonio. It’s the only show we’ve ever taken our shirts off at. I don’t do that, like ever. I could have the sickest body ever, but I’m not that dude. Like I feel so vulnerable on stage as it is. Someone yelled for us to take the shirts off, and we did. Austin also crowd-surfed at that show. It was awesome,” Molina said. 

The duo recently played at Schubas Tavern in Chicago and shared their perspective on the music industry and playing on the stage.

“Being on stage…it’s euphoria, really. It’s crazy cause it almost feels like time travel, you know? Everything goes so fast it’s scary. Life already moves fast enough, right? It’s like, ‘How am I an adult already?’ We all go through that. But on stage, time warps. We’re up there, and we go, ‘OMG, how are we playing ‘Reverse Cowgirl’ already? How are we already at the end?’ It’s very wild up there,” Molina said. 

“It’s so rewarding to be able to do this full-time. I always put it on the back burner for a long time. I never really believed in myself until Skyler helped me do just that. We built something together that I never thought would be possible. I’m very grateful to be making music. Just the freedom of that is so rewarding,” Medrano said.

The two work together to make their shows as exciting for them as it is for their fans. But they also know that they are two regular people just playing their songs. 

“We always try to take a step back and go, ‘I know this is normal now, to sell out shows and shit, but this is not normal.’ I used to think, ‘Only the 1975 does this! We don’t. We’re just two boys from Texas.’ We gotta keep that mentality all the time to stay grounded. I’m doing something that 99% of people wish they could do. We used to be in that 99% too. It’s amazing to show that anyone can do this,” Molina said. 

Mickey Darling will be playing their next show in Houston-

Header Photo: Anjolie Towle