Music
▼ Interview
Outer Blues: Akron/Family Discuss Travel and Location
Sub Verses, Akron/Family’s seventh studio album, is best viewed through a wide lens. It is busy, incorporating their signature three-part harmonies, buzzing electronics and complex guitar lines. It is also really, really heavy. Sub Verses takes in travel, aging and a sense of place shot with an IMAX-level widescreen. Its reference points are the locations filmmakers use as alien planets. I had a chance to email vocalist/bassist Miles Seaton from my place in Swaziland about their latest album and how traveling and location have impacted this album. … read more
OMD @ The Depot 04.10 with Diamond Rings
After seeing Diamond Rings, aka John O’Regan play an acoustic set at SXSW, I anticipated a good show with all the bells and whistles at The Depot on April 10, where he was opening for Orchestral Manoeveures In The Dark (OMD). … read more
This Momentary Bliss – Soilwork Interview
Snap back to the late ’90s, and Soilwork was bursting on the scene as a band part of the second wave of Swedish melodic death metal. While their debut full-length, Steelbath Suicide, felt more like a thrash record than melodic death metal, Soilwork took everyone’s breathe away with Chainheart Machine with its technical prowess and its new take on what melodic death metal could be. Before their SLC show on April 11, I had the opportunity to talk to the band’s singer, Bjorn “Speed” Strid, about things current, past and the in-between. … read more
Going Ape Shit: Bonobo Takes Charge of 2013
With such an impressive repertoire under his belt, it isn’t surprising that the release of Bonobo’s most recent album, The North Borders, has already become a success. SLUG spoke with Bonobo about his new album, tour and recent projects. … read more
Kvelertak: Meir Og Meir
After missing their scheduled set earlier that night on Converge’s headlining tour due to van problems, Kvelertak rolled into SLCto play a last-minute show on 10/22/12 and delivered their potent mix of black metal, punk, hardcore and classic rock n’ roll to a rapturous crowd. Kvelertak riled up the crowd so much at midnight on a Monday that multiple fights broke out, but, as vocalist Erlend Hjelvik potently put it when the band stopped in the middle of a song to calm the audience down, “We are here to party, not to fight!” … read more
Insight: Still Standing Strong
Along with singer Mark Olsen and bassist Doug Wright—who live in California and New York, respectively, and were not present for the interview—guitarists Jeremy Chatelain and James Holder and drummer Chad “Chubba” Smith make up Salt Lake’s first straight edge band, Insight. They were only together for a brief period, from 1988 to 1990, but were instrumental in shaping the hardcore scene in Salt Lake City. They’re reuniting for two shows this month—the band’s first reunion in nearly 25 years. … read more
Rob Zombie: Zombie Complex
The conflict between the devil and all that is considered good is never-ending. Musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie has become a modern media icon by writing and performing music and films exploiting that conflict—horror is his muse. Zombie is planning a spring invasion that will feature a new studio album, a feature film and an accompanying novel. … read more
A Night at a Swingin’ Utters Show
When a band like Swingin’ Utters comes to town, it’s interesting to see how it turns out for a group that has been around for 20 plus years and has played numerous shows in our fair city. The Utters have had great momentum lately, releasing two full-length records in less than three years, touring regularly and generally putting themselves back on the map after an extended period of rest. I had a chance to speak with guitarist Darius Koski briefly before the show. … read more
Interview with Harrison Mills of Odesza
Odesza will be playing at Urban Lounge on March 22 as a part of their current tour with Emancipator and Little People. SLUG had the chance to sit down and have a chat with Harrison Mills, one half of the production duo, to learn a little bit more about their music, how they approach making it and what their plans are for the future. … read more
The Soft Moon Interview
Raised under the blistering sun of California’s Mojave Desert, Luis Vasquez creates shape-like sounds under a design of minimal darkwave. Vasquez began The Soft Moon as a process of expelling memories of a rotten upbringing. After a decade of working as a graphic designer and playing in various punk inspired bands, snarling post-punk and industrial synthpop felt like the perfect mode of expression. … read more