TAYLOR SWIFT / 'THE ERAS TOUR' : REVIEW

May 21, 2023

by betsy brody

GAYLE got the crowd started with her energetic self-written songs, including her latest single “don’t call me pretty.” She also did a beautiful cover of Elton John's classic “Benny and The Jets.” She ended her set with her breakout hit “abcdefu.”

Next, Phoebe Bridgers took the stage and mesmerized the crowd with her sweet melodic vocals. She was joined with the rest of her super talented band. Her songs are very emotional story type songs, and her setlist included her hits like “Kyoto,” “Scott Street,” and boygenius’ “Me & My Dog.”

Let's go back to arriving at the stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, for the second of three sold out concerts in Philadelphia, Taylor Swift's hometown shows. The first thing you notice is all the amazing outfits the fans are wearing from cowboy hats, cowboy boots, homemade t-shirts, and sparkly outfits each reflecting their personalities. Fans were also exchanging friendship bracelets, referring to the line from “You’re On Your Own, Kid” from Taylor’s latest album, Midnights: “Everything you lose is a step you take / so make the friendship bracelets / take the moment and taste it / you've got no reason to be afraid”

Taylor truly appreciates her fans, and it feels like 70,000 friends in a room singing songs with her for three and a half hours, not to mention the 10,000+ fans in the street outside the stadium who were listening and singing along all night. This being her first tour since 2018, Taylor has since released four brand new albums along with two rerecorded albums. The Eras Tour celebrates each era she has had since the start of her career, almost all of her albums getting their own batch of songs sung each night. Each song was an amazing production from the outfits Taylor wore to the props, to the musicians and dancers, and to the acting and emotions. Some of the outfits were the sparkly red outfits from the Red era (singing “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “I Knew You Were Trouble,” and “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” and the beautiful flowing gown from the Speak Now era (singing “Enchanted”). Another highlight was Phoebe Bridgers returning to the stage to sing “Nothing New,” a vault track from the rerecorded version of the Red album. Taylor is a master singer-songwriter and storyteller and truly involves the audience in every song. The light up bracelets each fan was given added to the amazing production — from creating hearts during “Lover,” falling snow and leaves during “All Too Well (10 Minute Version),” and lighting up with the Pride flag during “You Need To Calm Down.” This is a tour no one should miss if you are lucky enough to score tickets.

'SAME LOVER' / SEMLER: REVIEW

May 19, 2023

by sara welden

Los-Angeles based musician Semler has returned with a strikingly bold new single, “Same Lover.” The track serves as our first glimpse into the artist’s new project and tells the story of two people who connect over a shared trauma. “I wrote this song about meeting up with someone while I was on tour who had experienced the same heartbreak I went through with the same person who dumped me after being born again,” Semler explains. The track warms up with gentle instrumentals and delicate vocals before quickly gaining traction with a swelling tempo and a beat that comes crashing through. Opening with the lines “I think you met me on a whim, right? / But I’ve thought about you for my whole life,” Semler sets the scene. We get a deeper glimpse into the artist’s emotional inner workings when they add, “She loved you too before she went cold / So now we’re sitting in the same boat.” “Same Lover” is a dreamy-pop fusion that is full of sentiment.

Capturing the attention (and ear) of thousands of individuals worldwide, Semler has made history as the first openly queer artist to hit Number 1 on the iTunes Christian music charts. Semler describes the track as “Just some straight up queer poppy fun and maybe a dash of hair metal in the bridge,” they beam. “It works, I swear!”

Semler’s sincere storytelling abilities shine through in “Same Lover” and the track is a true testament to the exemplary artist that they are. Give “Same Lover” a listen and be sure to keep your eye out for Semler, an artist whose music is full of transparency and is beautifully earnest.

OVERCOATS: INTERVIEW

May 15, 2023

by abby crabill

Overcoats is an indie pop duo consisting of friends Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell. They met in college and instantly connected through their love of music and the arts. Since the COVID pandemic brought live entertainment to a halt, they have recently been making their return to performing live for audiences again. Overcoats’ new album, Winner, is an organic collection of songs surrounding heartbreak, rejection, and how to come back from them. Overcoats are working hard to share their music and positively affect as many listeners as possible.

Can you tell me a little bit about how you two met?

Hana: “Yeah, we met in college on our very first day. And we quickly started singing together, just kind of in a casual way, you know just like churches and little bathrooms and anywhere that we could find on campus that had nice acoustics. Then four years into school, so our last year, we wrote our first song together, and kind of went from there.”

Do you think that your friendship would have been different without the musical connection?

JJ: “That's a good question. I think our friendship would have looked really similar, but I think our music would have looked really different/wouldn't exist without the friendship. So I feel like basically we started writing together because we were kind of like going through stuff and we would share those experiences with one another and then try to channel it into music. So I think without the friendship there was no band and I feel like that's something that is interesting to think about.”

How did you decide on the name, Overcoats, for your band?

Hana: “We were trying to find a name that was going to be like, sort of mysterious, a bit androgynous, something that you know if you saw the name you wouldn't necessarily know what you were going to listen to when you pressed play. So that was kind of a piece of it when we were thinking about stuff. And both JJ and I were really into visual art in college as well, and so there was this artist we both loved and still love, Egon Schiele, and he has a print that is like two people under a coat and we always loved that print, and would talk about it. And it kind of inspired the name as two people sort of finding protection and connection under this big overcoat.”

What was your experience like performing at the SXSW festival?

JJ: “That festival is always really chaotic. I don't know if you've experienced it, but it's just like a million shows all happening at once all over Austin, Texas. We really had one of those crazy schedules. So we played like five shows in two days or something like that and it was very fun. It was a crazy way to get back into playing live. It was like really throwing ourselves into the deep end, but also kind of like get the training wheels off quickly because we just had to play five shows in such quick succession. But it was really fun because, I mean, we haven't really gotten to play live together for a couple of years. So mainly it was just exciting to be back up there singing together and connecting with audiences. The last couple of years has been just a lot of me and Hana singing to each other and no one else. So it was fun in that sense.”

Can you tell me a little bit about your new album, Winner?

JJ: “Yeah, so we started writing it in 2021. We recorded it in Nashville in 2022. It's basically a group of songs about coming back from rejection and what one does in the face of rejection and falling off the horse. And we tried in this album to like really lean into a more organic sound, kind of going back to our singer-songwriter folky roots a little bit. We recorded in Nashville so there's a bunch of Americana elements, country elements that made their way in. But yeah, it's our third full length record. And I would say the only other thing that's exciting to add about the project as a whole is that we released it ourselves independently with distribution through Thirty Tigers. So this was a new experience for us because previously we put our first two records out with different labels and this is us striking out on our own. And hopefully winning!”

How does Winner differ from your previous albums?

Hana: “You know, we've always been really interested in production and electronic music and programming and all of that stuff, and that features heavily in the sonics on our first two records. Our first one’s quite electronic, our second one's still got a fair amount of electronic but it's more kind of rock and roll, and I think for this one we wanted to do something that didn't have any like bells and whistles. We used primarily organic instrumentation, we didn't do a whole lot of programming, we wanted something that felt like, you know, kind of pure in terms of the writing process, really starting from just like the song on a guitar and adding to it but not including anything that was really programmed. So yeah, I think we tried to go sort of back to our roots, as JJ said, in that sense and make something that anyone could make with just a guitar and a drum kit and a bass.”

What are some of your favorite themes that you tend to write about? Why?

JJ: “I think one of the themes in all three of our albums is like how we relate to other people that we're in partnership with, or working with. I think it's like a big theme for us is to kind of unpack experiences, interpersonal experiences and like almost create as much of a cathartic moment from the music as possible as we process those things. And I think some of them, specifically on Winner, those themes I think were heavily to do with kind of the music industry and how we felt like our place in it. How we felt rejected by it. And then of course, those kinds of songs can be mapped onto a lot of different experiences that we were having and that other people might listen have had. So I think, yeah, just heartbreak in many forms, I would say is the biggest theme.”

Why do you think that you two work so well together, musically?

Hana: “I think we've never really known the answer to that. It’s just sort of been like something we've realized as we started getting to know each other and each other's tastes. We just loved a lot of the same stuff and kind of had this common vision for what we wanted to make, so it's always kind of just been like an innate thing that's been there. I mean certainly, you know, we've had similar yet different upbringings, we went to college together, so in a lot of ways, we're being influenced by the same things. But I think that's always been something that we haven't questioned too much and we've kind of just let it take us where it takes us.”

What are you most excited for on your tour?

JJ: “Personally, I think playing the new songs. I feel like that's always the most beautiful part of going out and playing music live once you've released something new. It's just like how people react to hearing them as you're singing them to the audience and, I don't know, it just feels very exciting to play new songs both for other people and just for ourselves, I think. Then I feel like the other main thing that I'm really excited about is just having experiences and connections with people who listen to our music. I think the pandemic has been so isolating in many ways, that being able to go to cities that we haven't been to for four years and be able to meet people at the merch table and just like see who our listeners are feels very exciting for me and kind of grounding. I think all of this music stuff exists like up here, you know, in a very intangible way and to play music live on tour is a real way of understanding how music affects people and what people like and stuff like that.”

What do you hope people will take away from listening to your music?

JJ: “I hope that people feel like everybody lost something in the pandemic and that that's not a reason to give up. I think it's really easy to feel alone in general and also in your suffering, and obviously there are different forms of loss and rejection and everything, but I hope that this album is comfort to people because there have been a lot of times in the last few years where it's been really hard to keep going. And I think people can relate to that and hopefully listen to the music and feel inspired to keep fighting for whatever it is that they're trying to achieve.”

Where do you hope your music takes you in the future?

Hana: “I think we just want to have it, you know, affect as many people as possible. I think that's really the goal. The main goal. You know, there's certainly like kind of bucket list things that we think about, but we just try to keep making music that we think can positively affect people and just try to get it out there.”

Are there any future projects that we can look forward to?

JJ: “Yeah, so we've really been excited on this album to create an interesting visual world that accompanies the music. So we've had few different videos come out already and we're going to be releasing more visualizers and stuff as the summer comes. So you can keep a look out for those.”

FIND OVERCOATS ONLINE

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THE HAILS: INTERVIEW

May 9, 2023

by alex grainger

The Hails’ “Breathless” is more than a classic love song. It’s a story of who The Hails are at their core. They are a band of perseverance. “Breathless” could have easily been dropped in 2019 after the first recording, but instead they took their time reworking each beat and verse until it became the groovy single we hear today. The track serves as a time capsule as it gives a glimpse into how lead singer Robbie Kingsley’s voice has evolved over the years through the flow from each verse to the chorus.

“Breathless” is a staple on their set list, and only existed for years within their exhilarating live shows. And now, while we can stream the song at a moment’s notice, we can all be left breathless after hearing this track and their latest single “Fiona” in the electric atmosphere of their recent tour supporting The Happy Fits. It doesn’t stop there, as the band will be supporting The Beaches, The Moss, and headline their own shows over the coming months. Be sure to catch them live and read more about “Breathless” and The Hails below!

What story are you sharing through “Breathless?”

Robbie: “At its root, it’s a basic love song. But the backstory comes from my observations on relationships that didn’t work out despite being filled with love. The way people grow through life is very strange to me. I guess I’m just trying to look back on relationships in a more positive light rather than a negative one.”

“Breathless” fittingly ends on an exhale. Why did you choose this note to sonically end the story you are telling through the single?

Robbie: “There’s no true reason. We just needed that sound of a breath. We like including fun sounds in our music and when Dylan recorded it on the demo it sounded cool enough to keep.”

“Breathless” made its debut in 2019 and you’ve been working on the track ever since. Can you take us through the dynamic and intricate creative process over the past few years?

Robbie: “Dylan wrote most of the initial melodies and chorus lyrics, but the song was much longer than the version you hear now. There was even a completely different section that sounded like a bridge that we cut out very early on. Once we decided on a structure, we started playing it at every live show because the ending was so hard-hitting. The lyrics took about a year for me to finalize, so I was singing random words during early performances. We tried recording it in 2019 but didn’t love a lot of the sounds until Franco re-did a lot of the drums and guitars in 2022. I re-recorded vocals that I felt didn’t sound good, but I left the original chorus takes because those stood up strong.”

Why after so many years did you collectively decide now was the time to release the track? What did you get just right sonically where you thought this is what we’ve been looking for?

Robbie: “The pandemic played a big part in our release strategy, but honestly I think we just got tired of it after the first recordings didn't work out. We just needed time to come back around to it.”

It’s an interesting single where the listener can hear how Robbie’s vocals have developed. Your original 2019 recordings are heard in each chorus and your recent recordings are heard in each verse. Why did you decide to retake the verses and leave the chorus?

Robbie: “The verses just sounded bad. I knew I could sing those parts way better once we dug back into the song. It kept me awake at night because I didn’t want those original takes to be part of the final form. I think it would’ve made me despise the song which is never a fun thing when you’re trying to make something that you’ll constantly promote. The chorus was bang-on from the start. I practiced that with Franco for a full day because the song sits in a weird register so we just kept singing it before going into the studio.”

How do you think this song shows your growth as an artist and as a band since the first recording in 2019?

Robbie: “Maybe not growth, but more so perseverance. We don’t just let things die. The song is almost an allegory for our band. There’s plenty of times where we could just throw away everything, but we continue to press on.”

How do you feel the final recording of “Breathless” represents your sound as a band?

Robbie: “A mix of the old with the new. Not sure how much it relates to the other songs since I think we draw from all over the place, but it has a nice pocket within our discography next to stuff like ‘Sugar’ or ‘Situations.’”

“Breathless” has been a live show favorite since 2019. What is the experience like playing this song live?

Robbie: “It’s going to be a lot better now that the song is actually out. I used to put a disclaimer about how it’s a ‘new song’ before we’d go into it, but I’m excited to not have to lie to people any more.”

How, if at all, has the experience changed over the years?

Robbie: “Once I got the final lyrics down, it feels the same every time. We’re seasoned veterans when it comes to that tune. Playing ‘Exonerate’ has been more of a challenge only because it’s actually new. We’re confident about ‘Breathless’ every time we play, so maybe that’s why it’s always been a staple of our live set.”

You note how your early projects of He Seems Upset and singles “Younger” and “Stay” were influenced by your Miami upbringings. How, if at all, do your Miami influences weave their way into “Breathless?”

Robbie: “Gainesville, for me, has shaped way more of our sound. Growing up in Tampa during my middle and high school years also has shaped the lyrics and melodies I contribute to those songs. Plus, ‘Stay’ has the line about Carolina which I wrote because I was born in North Carolina, so I’m not exactly sure where Miami plays in for me, if at all. With Gainesville being the birthplace of our band, that’s always going to be the home roots. Many of the lyrics and concepts on He Seems Upset derive from experiences in college and learning how to navigate life on your own which I will always associate with Gainesville. Then with Tampa, it’s the place I grew up and dreamt about my future life so my aspirational tendencies and contributions come from good memories associated with those formative years.”

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HANGOUT MUSIC FESTIVAL PERFECTS ANOTHER LINEUP FOR 2023

May 4, 2023

by valentina ramirez

Last year's line up was no joke, but this year's line up is less of a joke. There is no day with a better lineup, so here are the top acts you have to see each day at Hangout Music Festival.

Kicking the festival off on Friday, we’re super excited to see these following artists:

After a long festival day, make sure to hype yourself up for these Saturday line up artists:

PARAMORE

SZA

COIN

FLIPTURN

Make sure to end the festival off with these incredible artist that will be playing on Sunday:

THE BACKSEAT LOVERS

CALVIN HARRIS

MAYDAY PARADE

YUNG GRAVY

Don’t miss out on this killer line up and book your trip to the Gulf Shores of Alabama. Tickets can be found at hangoutfesttickets.com, and to get you even more hyped, here's a curated playlist for this year's festival!