heavy on the heart. “Mr. Know It All”
Heavy on the heart. may be new to the scene, but they are not to be overlooked. Like a rolling fireball, they fill up every venue and acoustic space with fierce energy and infectious melodies. “Mr. Know It All,” inspired by a real-life jerk bags, who was dating multiple girls with the same name at the same time, sends a message to everyone who’s in the dating scene—know your worth and pay attention to red flags. With flaming guitars shooting fire into the sky and lead singer Nikki’s powerhouse vocal that rocks those highly relatable lyrics, “Mr. Know It All” is a heavy hitter, easy to love.
As a debut single from heavy on the heart., “Mr. Know It All” takes something from pop and punk and rubs it with emo. Catchy, loud, unapologetic and full of angst, the song is definitely sending all the jerk bags out there in flame. There’s so much passion in heavy on the heart.’s music. Their sound comes from a place of empowerment and liberation, and even though the track falls into the heavier side, the listening experience is fun-filled and cathartic.
Read our interview with the masterminds—Nikki and Costas and learn more about their separate and collective journeys as musicians.
Punk Head: I love how cinematic and infectiously powerful "Mr. Know It All" is. Is the song inspired by a real-life event/person?
Nikki: Yes, Mr. Know it All was actually inspired by a real person. I was dating a guy that was dating multiple girls with the same name, at the same time so he wouldn’t confuse us when he talked to us or took us out. He acted like the knight and shining armor all women would dream about. He said everything right and did everything right, until he didn’t. One day Costas and I were sitting around talking about how we could write this song from a female perspective and I told him about this guy and he obviously laughed but said it could be super relatable and this incredible song was born!
PH: Is there a particular message or theme you hope listeners take away from this single?
Nikki: The message I hope that is taken away from this song is know your worth! Not another soul on the planet will give it to you. You deserve the best no matter who you are but do NOT put up with red flags from a person that is scum and not worth your time!
PH: How did your band members initially come together?
Costas: Nikki and I began writing music in December 2020. We initially started writing pop songs and were just going to create a little studio project. I was playing in a band known as PRSNA at the time. PRSNA broke up unexpectedly and abruptly in the summer of 2021 and Nikki and I decided to form a band. Initially it was going to be be a duo.
We hit the studio in September 2021 and recorded 6 songs. Nikki got pregnant and we decided to use the time formulate a band and continue writing new material. Our drummer, Nick Kolokathis came along in November 2021 and we instantly clicked. While Nikki was on maternity leave, Nick and I used that time to try out bass players. It wasn’t until October 2022 where Andrew Nicolae came along and really rounded out the lineup.
We spent the next few months working out kinks, writing and rehearsing. We formally introduced heavy on the heart. on January 27, 2023 opening for The Color Fred and Alex Melton.
PH: How is the music scene in Long Island?
Costas: The music scene on Long Island has always been an up and down slope. It is a very “clicky” place. Almost a bunch of smaller scenes running parallel to each other. I personally feel these smaller scenes are alive but they are not thriving the way they should be. I truly believe in strength and numbers and at the end of the day, music is not a competition. We don’t compete for championships. It would be nice to see the gaps bridged between all these sub scenes and I think it would be beneficial to all involved.
If scene 1 is drawing 50 people, scene 2 is drawing 20 people, scene 3 is drawing 100 people, then combining those scenes would bring roughly 170 people. I think we get so comfortable that we forget there are other ways to expand our reach. Only so many times you can rotate the same 10 bands on a bill before the numbers start dwindling. Before it gets “old.”
There are certainly promoters trying to bridge the gap and I truly respect the hell out of all of them for doing it. Long Island breeds so many talented, amazing and unique bands and they all deserve to be seen and heard. We should be making it easier for them instead of being a hindrance.
Another thing that has been plaguing our scene lately is tribute and cover bands. Truthfully, there is nothing wrong with people paying homage to the bands and artists who inspired them to play. Bars, venues and event halls should be splitting the time between tribute acts and original bands. We all play a role in this emergence and while cover bands serve their purpose and have their place, we need to focus on original and emerging artists as well. I think within the near future, we will see a little shift in this momentum though. There is only so many times a venue can book the same tribute band or multiple tribute bands who are paying homage to the same artist. With original music, the sky is the limit to how far it could go. When it comes to tribute acts, there is a finish line with where it could go before they have even played their first show. This is not a knock to anybody. Just my thoughts on the matter. I respect anybody who can get on a stage and do their thing.
PH: What is the one thing that you’d like your fans to know about you?
Costas: Playing music is something I do to feel complete. To feel whole. To feel normal. To feel like me. It’s one of the few things nobody can ever take away from me. If you are passionate about something, do it. Don’t stop doing it. Keep on doing it. We only have one life and we need to live it to its fullest.
Nikki: Singing is something I am so passionate about. I was a classically trained singer when I was younger when I was 18 I got into a car accident that crushed my larynx and I thought I would never be able to sing again. I went through the next few years still singing in the shower and performing hit concerts in my car to myself however something was still missing. In December of 2020 I decided that I was going to gift my husband an original song and I reached out to Costas for his help. We wrote and recorded the song in just under three weeks. Thanks to Costas guidance and knowledge in the field, a huge flame was relit and I knew that I needed to get back into singing. I finally told Costas this is something I would absolutely love to continue and asked if he would continue working with me. The rest is history. Singing is part of my soul and makes me feel so alive. Especially after having my beautiful son I want him to see that you should never give up on your dreams.
Magna Zero ‘The Great Nothing’
The void is a gift, and through it, nothing becomes everything. There’s much power in the nothingness. For some, it’s a mirror to gaze into one’s soul, and for the other, is where the answers surface after the painful rebirth through long, dry tunnel. The Great Nothing is just like its name suggests—magnificent, inside nothing there’s everything. Through these seemingly random yet noise-coiled odyssey into the wormhole of our existence, transcendence and celebration is the result.
The essence of The Great Nothing lies between psych and desert, space and evocation. A sprawling, mind-bending quest into nothingness, but instead of dropping you into a deep hole of frozenness and isolation, Magna Zero discover the meaning of it all. There’s celebration in the void of music, flamboyant firework in the abyss that gazes back to you. They chew and spit the same turbulence of existential crisis, but turning under rocks, the raw, magnificent beauty of nature touched them. And they bring it into their music.
Behind nothingness, there’s everything, all the marvelous, gorgeous scenes that music is capable of creating, all the unspoken questions, emotions that are woven together are there. And they see it too. There’s deep appreciation runs through The Great Nothing like veins..
Magna Zero brings a whole world into your ears. Sensory awakening, gritty, introspective and translucent. Sonically, they remind you of Guns N Roses meets Elton John, a sort of hysteria and exhilaration wrapped up in retro aesthetic. “Under The Dirt” takes you to a dirt-fueled groove-infused on-the-road rock concert. Their glitchy sonic collage is simply so pleasurable to listen to, and the deeper you go with The Great Nothing, the more sensory evocative their sonics are.
With vocals that have the charm and power like a cult leader yet remains out of touch, Magna Zero is unstoppable. “Oblivion” has the flattering soundscapes as if the inside of a red hot iron, but instead of finding it burning, it’s freezingly cold. “Step Into The Light” turns on Magna Zero’s spacious intimacy with a clean sound. The Great Nothing showcases their versatility to stimulate a range of experiences.
Punk Head: The Great Nothing showcases Magna Zero's versatility and range as a band. I love the unique blends of sonic palettes in this album and how it constantly inspires listeners to expand. Can you discuss any specific elements or themes that contribute to the album's ethos/aesthetic?
Chris (Guitar): Letting go and being free was a mantra for me. No ego. Just expressing yourself through your instrument in any way you seem fit. Most of the tracks that made it on the album came out of free jams where this mantra got to flourish.
Dave (Drums): Specific themes/aesthetics would be “lose yourself to find yourself,” “darkness = light”—you can't have one without the other, and “the scientific truth of the universe that we somehow tap into.” It’s incredible to experience what comes out of three of us in a such a natural way when we play music together. We definitely seem to connect with a wormhole to “creation.”
Jason (Vocals/Bass/Keys): For me, the ethos of this album is about journeying to a state of inner peace and oneness with the cosmos, through embracing nothingness from within and transcending the self to experience unity with everything. To be unconditionally free; one must first allow themselves to become nothing. A black hole’s transformative power of creation through destruction illustrates this well, which is why we chose it as the cover image for the album.
PH: Which song(s) from the album do you think best represent your artistic vision?
Jason: The messages of peace, love, and unity in songs like “Step Into The Light,” “Endure,” and “We Are All” are what I hope most strongly resonate with our audience. And yet, every song from the album illuminates some aspect or another of the collective and individual quests to better know unconditional love and compassion.
Dave: Every song to me represents the artistic vision—the vision is really out of our control...it just happens from the love we have for each other and the love for music.
Chris: I could pick any song, but I feel “All Must Go” really showcases our collaborative efforts and what can come out of our free jams. I’m glad it opens the album.
PH: Can you tell us more about you as a band?
Chris: We’ve been fortunate to be close friends most of our lives. Our music is second to that.
Jason: Much like friends finishing each other’s sentences, we sense where each of us is going musically in our improvisational work together. It’s very much a creative conversation, a language of rhythm, vibe, and melody that we co-create.
Dave: Our band is really us as musicians that love creating and jamming to whatever music seems to come out. We literally don't have any control or vision or pre-concieved definition/notion as to how the music will be. It just seems to take its own form from free jamming with each other.
PH: Are there any specific musical or lyrical influences that play a role in the creation of this album?
Dave: All these songs were born from improvisational free jamming that we eventually carved and molded into the tracks/songs that you hear/experience now. It's pretty damn cool.
Jason: I was listening to a lot of Pink Floyd, The Cure, Black Sabbath, Rage Against The Machine, and Bob Marley at the time we were creating The Great Nothing. I’d like to think the spirit of those artists and many others seeped into the DNA of the album in some way.
Chris: A lot of the album was conceived and written during the pandemic. I think it was inevitable it would have an influence on the vibe of the music and lyrical content.
PH: What is the one thing you'd like your fans to know about you?
Jason: Our band creates music for everyone, regardless of color, creed, politics, gender identity, who one loves, or infinite other differences that some would have divide and weaken us. Music is a powerful reminder of our shared humanity, through which we can unite for a better world.
Chris: Being fans of live music ourselves, we’re excited to showcase the album and more live!
Dave: Met one of music/drumming heroes, Matt Cameron (drums for Soundgarden/Pearl Jam) literally a couple weeks ago at the L.A. Airport. We shared a few words and a handshake. Something I'll never forget.
Love Ghost “Jealousy”
From the very first note, the deep moody guitar riff portals you to Love Ghost’s darkest confession. “Jealousy,” like the town that holds his love and dreams, pain and demons, drops into a world with heaviness in the air. His mind and heart flow through the guitar strings, bleeding out the notes.
With lyrics that read like diaries, confessional and real, we see Jealousy, the red-eyed monster that calls on the demons, luring you into a thorny path of hurt and pain. Old insecurities and PTSD become the lost river of the abandoned town, forming a transparent, almost innocent yet unbreakable barrier. The melodic guitar backdrop that always floats behind shapes the looming yet suffocating feeling everyone who’s been in the same mental space could easily relate to.
But relatebility isn’t the only thing to take home with from “Jealousy.” Though setting its scene in a mental ghost town where everything seems to be lost, it offers a way out. Love Ghost throws noise-infused punches in clashing percussions. He seeks to break the walls that keep him a prisoner. He fights and bleeds, and he will not stop until all the demons are gone. The chorus offers such catharsis that it almost feels therapeutic. He’s fighting back, and it gives you hope.
Inspired by real-life struggles, “Jealousy” is a rather personal song from Love Ghost. Known for wearing his hearts on his sleeves, songwriter Finnegan Bell pours himself into his music. “Jealousy” has his heart beating all along. Though darkness lurks in the background, there’s not a time you’re alone.
Read our interview with Love Ghost and learn more about the stories behind “Jealousy.”
Punk Head: I love how vulnerable and cathartic "Jealousy" is. I can hear that it's a rather personal song and writing a song like that and putting one out can be nerve-wracking for some. How has the process been for you?
Love Ghost: Thank you, I’m honored that you listened to the song and that you enjoyed it. And yeah, I always get really anxious before I release a song especially one that is on the more personal side. But no matter how anxious I get before exposing myself in a more vulnerable way, I always have to remind myself that shedding light on these issues gives a voice to a lot of people that are suffering from similar mental health issues that I have. Or have gone through similar situations… I mean music always functioned as a diary for me, and if my expressing my emotions can help some people along the way, then it’s all worth it.
PH: What was your favorite moment in making the music video?
Love Ghost: Shooting in the rain room was really fun, creative wave is awesome to work with, they’re super creative. But yeah the rain room scenes felt super epic and the flashing lights made it feel like I was fighting a battle of sorts. A battle with my demons.
PH: What motivates you as an artist?
Love Ghost: Honestly, it’s less of a motivation at this point as it is an urge, I have the urge to write music daily, I’m an imagination fiend. If I don’t write a new song every couple of days I start to feel really dull. But I’m also motivated by the sense of identity from being a music artist and the adoration I could potentially receive.
PH: Who are your biggest influences?
Love Ghost: Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Lil Peep and Juice Wrld to name some. But honestly, I listen to a wide range of music, I also find inspiration from artists such as Bob Marley and the Sex Pistols. I was also get influenced a lot by various poets like Charles Bukowski and Edgar Allen Poe. That might sound cliche but I’m just trying to push myself out of my comfort zone and find new influences.
PH: What is the one thing that you’d like your fans to know about you?
Love Ghost: I feel like what I’d want my supporters to know about me is that I’m honestly just hella relatable.
Drew Davies “Codename: Softboi”
Drew Davies shares genre-bending, stadium-filling single “Codename: Softboi” vocalizing the toxicity that exists in today’s online dating. With lyrical sentiments that echos the work of contemporary artists such as Alex Cameron, John Grant and The Horrors, “Codename: Softboi” explores a glamorous retro soundscape with a 90s alternative rock edge, fusing nostalgic flair into the sensual modern vocabulary. As classic as it is disobedient. As timeless as it’s relevant, “Codename: Softboi” sees the beautiful collage of contrasts.
Davies calls out gaslighting, a form of manipulation, often used by modern-day playboys within the scope of online dating. Speaking about the song, Davies revealed that the song Softboi serves as a “satirical examination” of sexual predators who’d appear as “prince charming” only to reveal their true “lascivious desire” when they become impatience. “Toxic Masculinity is a theme examined often in the world of alternative pop by artists such as Kirin Calinan and Alex Cameron,” said Davies. “I wanted to take a close look through an alternative rock lens.”
As an artist, Davies engages in discussions of art and pop culture through his music-making. Drawing vast influences from the past while absorbing and adapting to changes, Davies’s work is constantly evolving. Unpredictable but always grounded, he brings back the pieces that are missing in today’s world. He gazes into the brokenness and ugliness but never fails to hope and dream. His songs are hard-hitting and thought-provoking.
Tedworth “Going Under”
Tedworth is a humble and authentic artist, but he’s definitely not one that should be overlooked. With an intuitively industrial edge and indie emo aesthetic, “Going Under” is unmistakable and massive. From the instruments to the vocals to the lyrics, every aspect of the song feels very special. There are a lot of feelings wrapped up in the sonics, and they scream out to you in a brutally direct manner.
You can’t help but feel deeply while you listen—the frustration, anger, loss, and confusion that’s weighing down one’s spirit. But from the moment the track starts its pulse, persistence casts away the clouds that have been blocking your vision.
“Going Under” tells the story of losing hope and the will to live. Like many creative minds out there, Tedworth has once lost his way to the things he loves. He hit rock bottom. But working on “Going Under,” music again reminded him that there’s still so much to fight for. Unraveling in a heavy undertone, “Going Under” is about resilience.
The stadium-filling single is a hard-hitter that easily resonates with everyone who has ever experienced depression, anxiety, and hardship in life. It’s cathartic and atmospheric, metallic and confrontational, but above all, it’s a love letter to music written by someone who has been saved by music.
Read our interview with Tedworth where we talk about all things music related.
Punk Head: Thanks for sharing this touching anthem! I personally resonate with the song a lot. I know that many musicians too have experienced disappointment and disconnection in their career. Could you tell us more about the story behind "Going Under?"
Tedworth: Hey! “Going Under” is a song I wrote at a time when I couldn't figure out why I wasn't inspired to make music and what my purpose really is here. I got into music making when I turned 18 and really from the first moment of me making songs, I like instantly felt this huge sense of identity that I never felt before. So flashback to late 2022 I was feeling super down and I just couldn't get myself to make music anymore. It just got to be too much and I couldn't stop thinking about music so it began to get really toxic for my mental health. So “Going Under” really sparked the drive again and it really changed everything for the better; and I'm happy to make music again.
PH: Were there any challenges that you encountered while making the track?
Tedworth: Yea, right when I make my songs, I do all the instruments by myself whether that's playing guitar/bass or programming in drums. Doing everything myself right now gets to be a lot when I really wanna make something special, but luckily I had a vision for what I wanted and the pieces just fell perfectly into place. So I’m thankful for that.
PH: What do you aim to accomplish in the near future?
Tedworth: My main goal right now is to find people to collaborate with. Whether that's a producer or just some cool people who I could meet. For me, music is a very collaborative thing since there are so many parts to it. I know different artists that always do everything alone but I can't work like that all the time. I need more balance.
PH: Who are you listening to at the moment?
Tedworth: Right now I'm listening to Beck, midwest emo bands, and chill music like Mac Demarco. So it really ranges for me lol.
PH: What is the one thing that you’d like your fans to know about you?
Tedworth: Idk. Even the idea of a fan is crazy to me because it's like "Why would you put me on a pedestal like that," but that's just my own head telling me that lol. But to answer your question lol I think I would want them to know that I always try to aim for authenticity, especially on social media. Because it's so easy to fake who you are on those platforms. But it just wouldn't feel right to me if I wasn't being honest with myself and showing off who I am instead trying to be something that I'm not. If people like my music though that's a giant W for me haha.
Mystik Fool “Gone with the Wind”
“Gone With the Wind” elevates you in every splash of sounds and twangs. The track opens you up and pushes you through the leaves into the clouds, where your view is wider. Curious and open-hearted, Mystik Fool leads you journeying through different grounds, where pop disappears into rock blurring between alternative and independent, spiritual and medicine. In the end, it doesn’t matter where it goes because everything is connected and the sonics in the track have a life of their own.
“Gone With the Wind” sees everything linked together, coexisting in harmony, inspiring and bouncing between one and another, and together, they are a stronger thread. A deep bound among genres that are perceived as different or even in conflicts share the same root and harmony, which in truth, reflects nature and the world as they are, and humans are part of them.
Mystik Fool is the music project of multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Galen Deery. Like Mystik Fool’s past releases, “Gone With the Wind” is liberating and refreshing, spirited but rooted in peace and truth. One needs to be grounded to fly high. While “Gone With the Wind” sparks electrifying energy like an eagle, its strength, stillness and transparency feels like a thousand-year old tree. From the scenic mountains of Alaska to a stadium-filling, transforming sonic experience, the track sees a massive growth in Mystik Fool’s songwriting. Breathy vocals vibrate with floral sonics and booming grooves. It sets its scene in sounds that exist organically in nature, and its sonic palettes absorb that life and vibrancy.
Check out our interview with Galen Deery, where we chat about spirituality and spreading love through music.
Punk Head: I love how expansive “Gone with the Wind” is. Can you talk us through your creative process?
Mystik Fool: The process behind this song was very organic. Alaska was where the song started back in 2020, and throughout the years, it evolved. Drums and guitar were added, lyrics changed, and more elements started to take shape. In the studio while recording, the process was very smooth and easy because the song was written already. We just had to record it. The creative process changes for every song.
PH: To us, Mystik Fool's music sparks a strong connection with nature and spirituality. Is that true? Can you tell us more about it?
Mystik Fool: Spirituality is a big part of my life, I just remember being inspired deeply by sounds and teachings of eastern mysticism from a young age. And the common thread of each path always leads back to nature. So this music carries that message to attempt to reharmonizes us with the natural world.
PH: What motivates you as an artist?
Mystik Fool: Motivation for an artist comes in different ways. musically, visually, spiritually. For me, when it comes to music, I am motivated by experiences that take place in my life. I’m motivated by the people I surround myself with. A deep place in my heart longs to live a beautiful life, so I try to create that for others first using music.
PH: Who are your biggest influences?
Mystik Fool: I would say that growing up with a household filled with music from the 60s and 70s. Led Zeppelin, The Who, Santana, and Crosby, Still, & Nash. Then hearing the raw sounds from the 90s alternative scene like Janes Addiction, The Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, Rage Against the Machine. And then leaping forward to a scene of music that brought spirituality back to the forefront like Nahko, Trevor Hall, Tash Sultana, John Butler.
But I'm also heavily influenced by visual artists like Andrew Goldsworthy, Claud Monet, and Mitch Gobel.
Other influences include Maharaji, Ram Dass, Hazrat Inayat Khan, Johnny Depp, Ananda Maim.
PH: What would you like to say to your fans out there?
Mystik Fool: There’s a seemingly lost idea of love. Loving each other and encouraging each other to pursue our passion and purpose. So many people feeling depressed, anxious, alone, discouraged. The earth being torn apart and over populated, the political climate, the social infiltration of technology. All these issues must be tended to with careful attention. We must come together. We must find common ground to speak with each other. We must attempt to raise our consciousness so we can make better choices with the next generation in mind. Music is a huge way we can spread this message. I hope to see you at our concerts soon! I love you
Spearside “Not Up to Much”
“Not Up to Much” finds 90s garage rock mixed with the disobedient, upbeat but cynical, disillusioned punk attitude. Spearside’s lushly noise-coiled soundscape easily evokes a sense of belonging. “Not Up to Much” touches on nostalgia though the song itself doesn’t dwell in the past. Old and new feelings exist in conflict with one another, engaging in an end-of-the-world carnival-style dance party— the vibe is quite unusual in “Not Up to Much.” Nothing like what you’ve heard in a while.
The track talks about a person who revels in their descent into nihilism with a sensuous, scenic undertone in the soundscape, throwing a atmospheric, drastic draw of complex feelings in mixture. Sharp-edged and raw, however, like an expressionist painting, it’s these unsorted, raw, exposed nerves and emotions one has to savor. Spearside’s music is definitely something you can put on repeat, just to disappear in, or to ponder upon, or to feel. The Irish three-piece rock outfit manages to evoke a very interesting combination of experiences through one single song.
Lead by brothers Oisín (vocals/guitar) and Cian Walsh (vocals/bass), along with their friend Dylan Zovich (drums), Spearside is fiercely on the rising. Their dynamically fuzzy sound draws comparisons to The Stains and Magazine. From March through July, the band will be playing live around Dublin and London. If you’re in the area, don’t forget to check out their shows! Mark the dates:
Sat 11 March-DUBLIN, Whelan’s (Upstairs)
Fri 17 March-DUBLIN, Whelan’s (Main Room) St Patrick’s Day Festival
Wed 12 April-LONDON, Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes with Bag Of Cans
Sun 23 July LONDON, The Finsbury, Pump It Up Power Pop Weekender 22-23 July
Check out our interview with frontman Oisin Walsh where we chat about their influences and the time they built a home studio in rural Ireland.
Punk Head: I love how authentic “Not Up To Much” is. What inspired the song?
Oisín Walsh: The musical inspiration for “Not Up to Much” was a blend of The Byrds, Badfinger, and The Saints. I'm also a big Brendan Benson fan, who definitely had a big influence on this song. He has a lot of songs that are quite up beat musically but have darker lyrics in contrast, I've always loved that.
When the musical backdrop is major key and up-beat, it can offer some extra license to explore darker lyrics without the song feeling too laborious. “Not Up to Much” is about someone revelling in their descent into nihilism.
The character in the lyrics takes the tragedy of their life, their apathy, their social isolation, and uses it as an excuse to give up, blame others, and crack a wry smile while they do it.
PH: I read that you guys built a home studio in rural Ireland and this song is recorded entirely in your home studio. Can you tell us a bit more about that experience?
Walsh: We've only ever recorded our own music, we've never been in a proper studio. I've always been somewhat of a wannabe DIY producer. During the covid lockdowns I just started hoarding recording gear, got a reel to reel tape machine and tried to take producing seriously. In my experience the best way to learn is to schedule a release of music you've self-produced and just force yourself to figure it out. I record a lot of my friends' bands too like Unstuck, I track and mix all their stuff in our studio.
PH: What is your creative vision as a band?
Walsh: We would love to be a band that sounds like everything and nothing you've heard before. The challenge is to make music that is rooted in the rock n roll tradition without sounding pastiche or retro, our favourite bands have always managed this. I think true creativity comes from walking the line between utility and novelty, familiarity and freshness.
PH: What’s your goal this year?
Walsh: Our main goal this year is to keep recording and releasing new music. We also hope to play more shows, particularly outside Ireland. We've got some dates in London coming up which will be the first time we've played abroad so we're really exited for those.
PH: What is the one thing that you’d like your fans to know about you?
Walsh: When we're not playing music we're probably playing golf.
HIGHWAYVES “FRAME IT”
HIGHWAYVES is a collective that has the potential to be one of the most known name in the scene. There are so many great things that are going on in their debut track “Frame It” that has you loving it and hating yourself for loving it too much. Opening in a star-drenched, mood-filled dreamscape, the first sound of guitars pull your in, transporting you directly to that tender, personal space of love, happiness, and memory. Reverberant and immersive, the experience is as close as two naked hearts, but there’s also the obscurity of which details are blurred along the river of memory.
What’s truly mind blowing is how HIGHWAYES shifts their energy collectively and crafts a beautifully explosive buildup. From that precious state, they drives off the bridge with catharsis and angst. They are as vulnerable and honest as anyone could be, and they connect to listeners directly through music and emotions without the distraction of being overly explicit. HIGHWAYES is a band that remind you the reason you love music—its ability to articulate and convey feelings and emotions that exist in non-linear spaces.
Mesmerizing melodies lock into your mind. Their storytelling draws you in even deeper, having you invested into the story that the song holds, like it is a sacred place, an universe where it exists, which is almost exclusively heard in songs from mainstream artists. Though it centers on the singer’s own feelings, it tells a story from every aspect: with full sensory experiences woven into the sonics. The piercing pain and suffocation. The heart-wrenching fragility. The smoky, aggressive intoxication. Then the soaring, scream, torn vocal that breaks, heartbroken but free.
The Margaret Hooligans “Hey Love”
With spacious guitar riff and hypnotic, marching rhythm, “Hey Love” floats between The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the rawest authentic garage rock. Simple, but unbending. Rich in its aesthetic. As a two-piece band, The Margaret Hooligans surprises you. Their captivating melodic storytelling is as hypnotic as it is addictive. With one foot in the pentatonic modal wheel of fortune while the other steps into a sultry, space-out psychedelic visualization, “Hey Love” is inventive and uniquely delicious.
“Hey Love” follows “Doggie Pizza Crust” to be the latest release from The Margaret Hooligans’ upcoming third album Saturday Night at Bartertown. If anything that we have learned about the extraordinary two-piece band is the amount of love and fierce sonic instinct that they shared. Mr. Strontium’s earthy, intuitive percussion lays the groundwork. Meg’s unbiased vocal is more than ever refreshing on this release, stormy guitar and electric ukulele work taps into the mystery zoned for Twilight. With vision and artistic instinct unlike Miles Davis’, The Margaret Hooligans is meant to take the world through their unapologetic bend of reality and sonics.
Check out our interview below where we talk about how “Hey Love” comes together. The Margaret Hooligans also tease their upcoming album, so stay tuned!
Punk Head: I love how hypnotic and atmospheric “Hey Love" is. Where do you find your inspirations?
The Margaret Hooligans: We usually start out with rhythm - a good beat or riff and build from there. In this case, “Hey Love” was built from that initial drum beat that drives the song, and I was experimenting with different settings on my Fender Mustang amp and found this setting I liked, called Spoonful—it had a nice big room feel to it, something I love about old Phil Spector and Motown recordings, and that kinda drove the whole song. I think the fact that it sounded spacey and ethereal ultimately influenced the lyrics, because it felt a bit like I was calling into the void as I initially sang the words “hey love” in the original jam.
I was thinking of one of the early scenes in the movie, Contact, how they demonstrate how radio waves travel into space, seemingly going on forever. That idea always seemed weird to me, like a message in a bottle, except in this case, it’s a missive to space and whatever life might exist out there. It felt lonely and sad, which gave me the idea to sing about the slow death of a relationship, using the analogy of an astronaut going into space to talk about the growing distance between two lovers.
PH: What do you like the best about this track?
The Margaret Hooligans: I love the soundscape in particular, it sets itself apart from our other songs because I used some pedals that I don’t typically use. I also recorded it with an electric ukulele that I don’t play as often because the tremolo bar knocks it out of tune when I get too exuberant, but this ukulele has it’s own unique sound, possibly because it is made from a koa tone wood, and I think that is part of the reason why I like it. There is also a solo at the end of the song that I think is one of my best. I am more of a rhythm player, but since we are a two-piece, I have to come up with leads as well and that doesn’t come as naturally to me, so I am really proud of this particular solo—it’s not scale based, it’s not riffing off the existing vocal melody, it’s telling its own story and fits in perfectly with the imagery of blasting off into oblivion.
PH: Can you tell us a little about your upcoming album?
The Margaret Hooligans: Saturday Night at Bartertown is our third album and marks the end of a huge batch of music we recorded during the Covid lockdowns. We made so much music during that period that it has taken us about 2 1/2 years to release it all. It’s a little different from the other two albums in that there’s a little less of our typical tongue-in-cheek attitude, although there’s still a bit of that. We have some more serious fare on it, with ‘Hey Love,’ a bluesy song called ‘I Won’t Speed Up, You Won’t Slow Down,’ and ‘Say What You Want (Trousers of the Holy).’ But then we also have lighter hearted songs like ‘Doggie Pizza Crust’ which came out last month, “My Dog Ringo,” and “What Kind of Donut Are You?,” the last of which was written out of my frustration at being gluten-free and unable to find any decent gluten-free donuts. (Side note: since we recorded the song I have found an amazing gluten-free donut shop in my city called Okie Dokie Donuts.) We also are including a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “New Speedway Boogie,” which is a first for us. All of our previous releases have only been original work.
PH: What motivates you as an artist?
The Margaret Hooligans: I think we ultimately are reacting to everything that happens in the world around us, both global events as well as personal ones. Generally, I like to laugh at things that scare me, which is why we have a lot of humor in our work, but there’s a lot of anger beneath it all too, which I think comes through in the vocals and the energetic drive that Strontium always provides through his drumming.
PH: What is the one thing that you’d like your fans to know about you?
The Margaret Hooligans: As Bruce Dickinson says from the legendary SNL More Cowbell sketch, “I put my pants on, just like the rest of ya, one leg at a time, but once my pants are on, I make gold records.” And you can never have enough cowbell.
Love Ghost ‘Venganza Del Fantasma’
Inside one’s mind is a maze and a great mystery. A town of ghosts and demons holding all your secrets. The living don’t like to go there. They live in the sun. They smile and act, not so different from one another, but behind each face and body, they casted a long shadow, where the world’s greatest love and sharpest loss lives—and that’s where Love Ghost begin their storytelling. On their latest EP, venganza del fantasia (Ghost’s Vengeance), the four-piece alternative rock band delve deep into the realm of consciousness.
The four-song EP explores the duality of Spanish and English, alternative rock and hip hop. Emo peaks angsty vulnerability throughout. Grunge gives it a pulsing undertone of extremism and misery, like the spirit and blood running through the vein. In the illusive, fainting distortion of a backdrop, frontman Finnegan Bell’s haunting, intimate vocal details the angst, the craze, the emo, and the loss of all control.
Lyrically, the entire album gives out a Jack Kerouac aesthetic. The prose exposes a sense of spontaneity in storytelling, tackling topics like spirituality, love, loneliness, depression, anxiety and different topics of mental health in one sitting. Sometimes it feels like Love Ghost have articulated all the feelings that you didn’t know how to address previously, and the answer is both lyrically and musically. It’s that mixture of feeling, somewhere between deterioration and hopelessness, anguish and sensibility. It’s non-linear and complex with everything all intertwined together like a thread of chaos exploded in a grand mass. Love Ghost is really good at capturing an experience through the perspective of what’s going on inside one’s mind.
Time moves differently in “Ghost Town.” Western Cowboy meets Futuristic Cyber Punk bridges bleakness and sci-fi. At the verge of slow burn and great intensity, Love Ghost and Santa RM gets you on the edge of your seat at all time. While the extremely well-crafted soundscapes and painfully captivating melodies makes you want to savor every single second of it.
“Inferno” tells its story from the perspective of a psychopath. The thick, mesmerizing guitar riffs instantly drops you into an alternative gangster reality of Los Angeles. The aesthetic of the song is somewhere between Joker and Godfather. Violence and love are intricately intertwined together, and so does warmth and coolness, extreme and vulnerability. It makes your heart ache at the same time giving out the best allure of emo and hip hop.
“ALI3N” and “Pick Myself Apart” reminds you of Machine Gun Kelly, but mainly because both songs have a very specific yet universal sound. “Pick Myself Apart” depicts a hopeless romantic, who is extreme, melancholy, deadly and self-blaming.
Hardly any characters from Love Ghost’s EP is black-and-white. They are all deeply flawed. In the wrong hands, they could very well be labeled as monsters, but Love Ghost see the human side of them. There’s compassion and warmth in their songwriting that connects people together. Through depicting the inner world of these characters, they reflect the different sides of humanity, the different aspect of ourselves.
Mendry ‘Follin With a Heart’
Even with their debut release, Mendry is here to leave an impression in your heart, one that gets under your skin, one you can’t shake off for days. From picturesque slow burners to stadium-filling rock n roll, Follin With a Heart is a well crafted drive full of contrast and surprises. With influences drawn from the diversely vast genre of rock, the album sparks nuanced nostalgia while each song is a micro odyssey enriched with rare sceneries.
The title track “Follin With a Heart” introduces us to a washed-out post-punk landscape as the Polish band unravels a lonesome tale about love and constraint. A dash of reverberant coastal feelings and drifting harmonious vocals evokes a mood-filled melancholia that seems to be nowhere and everywhere, spreading out to the edge of the sky. The guitaresque paints a mood that is bigger than peculiar feelings yet rich with emotions. The chorus, on the other hand, shifts to a grayish bleakness with an indie rock’s radio-esque feel. “Follin With a Heart” sees poetry and edginess stirring the boundary and fences while still remaining a soft and sensitive heart.
“Learning” breathing out a darker edge, where the turbulence of psychedelic meets rock n roll with a southern blues twang. Adheres to the aesthetic of being filmic and atmospheric, the gorgeous track sees an expansion of soft rock, spreading in your ears, filling up the entire world. With road-worn vocal and weary heart yet still remain hopeful. An authentic southern rock twang in the solo is quite a surprise and marks a change in the sound. It’s clearly from that point that Mendry has more to tell in what they had yet to show. Mesmerizing and delicious, “Learning” is very impressive.
“Jane’s Moon” dives into the heat of rock n roll with its touch of dizziness mixing with 80s’ floral back vocals. Faster and more chaotic. Ambitious, cruder and dimmer: The harder track makes both a sensuous and moody experience. “Rainbow,” on the other hand, immediately draws a Radiohead vibe. Like a sweeter “Creep” in three-time waltz, the classic, nostalgic sounding track is beautiful with a dark twist.
“Symphony” is glorious in its metallic buzz. Grassy and immersive, the anthem carries a slight western impression that feels very intriguing. The eclectic “Command” heads out to the progressive side. The ever-evolving track is hard to pinpoint, storming into the disobedient, experimentation of “Need” rich of strangeness and dissonance. “Go Into Love” concludes the album with a mainstream love appeal, though it doesn’t abandon its indie aesthetic. It feels good having the classic rock sounding single hits home with golden melodies and fuzz-jangling guitar.
5th PROJEKT “Vagabond”
Oftentimes, we like to believe that more would result in abundance yet the reality is the opposite. More feeds a bottomless hole of greed and desire, dragging you into the never ending cycle of lacking and emptiness you cannot fulfill. Stripping materialism off is the painful journey of purification until one has reached nirvana—this is where “Vagsbond” was born. Inspired by weeks-long pilgrimage across the mystic Camino Santiago de Compostela across Europe, 5th PROJEKT shares their ritualistic first single from their upcoming album, The Wolf.
“Vagabond” evokes soundscapes of solitude and wild fire. As if Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana and Thom Yorke had a brain child all together, the single sparks poetic otherworldliness with a sense of grunge. The sounds in the ears remotely resemble the familiar instruments we know, electric guitar, bass, drum, and vocal, which in reality they are, but they too have gone through the alchemy of rebirth, shivering in rarest palettes and textures. The sounds in there sound like metal and stone, baked in sun and beaten in water and wind. It’s something that feels ancient and authentic. The experience of listening to them feels like remembering what we’ve forgotten.
“Vagabond” is the keenest cry of sovereignty. Edgy and primal vocals wrapped in ambient psychedelic guitarscapes that remain conscious and intuitive, resulting in a nuanced high fresco. “Vagabond” has an early PJ Harvey picturesque rawness to it, an edge, an exposed vulnerability, an attitude that’s hard to ignore. The track hits very differently, even compare to 5th PROJEKT’s previous releases.
Spirituality, mysticism and anti-materialism have been recurring themes in the band’s catalogue. 5th PROJEKT are certainly delving deeper to the core of things. “Vagabond” gives you the same unexplained feelings when you look into the flame of fire for long. The dance of the flickering light takes you somewhere yet you’re more than ever present in the moment. Experience like this makes us question our deep-rooted believes and presumptions, and it would be truly amazing to see what has yet to come for 5th PROJEKT.
MONSTERS DUE “Real”
The debut release of MONSTERS DUE feels like love at first sight. The sonics, the poetic intertwine of synthwave and electric guitar riff, instantly stir your heart and soul. “Real” is irresistibly appealing. MONSTERS DUE’s sensitivity bleeds through the song, bringing a fresh dose of youth with naked vulnerability into your ears. Drawing from post-punk aesthetics, the track bond to the code of not anger or energy but mood and expression.
Cryptic lyricism seems both like a self expression or addressing the disaffected desires. The track takes a dive, exploring mentality, self, isolation, loneliness and longing for genuine connection. The obscurity of MONSTERS DUE’s lyrics mends romanticism and wit. It doesn’t give in to explicitness, but highly relatable. Like a mirror that reflects your most vulnerable self and thoughts. It’s an experiment on its own.
There’s a lot of stop and motion in the rhythm section, while the opening riff and synth mend themselves into a recurring melodic impression of the song, a haunting undertone almost. MONSTERS DUE’s treatment of percussion, on the other hand, induces vivid imageries, though most of them hard to describe.
As if on the move, in a car, there’s that escape and urgency of a rumbling bone that the drums add into the music. An old-fashioned swinging rhythm snaps its fingers and sneaks in during the verses, then there’s the double-time spiral, a speed-up that intensifies the mood in an instant. There’s a lot of different stages of feelings that “Real” tackles.
One thing that’s really surprising to see is how MONSTERS DUE manages to cross into a very refreshing pop sensation with an almost exclusive rock vocabulary. A touch of destiny — It seems to be a natural chemistry that has occurred between the sonics, voices, and melodies. The catchiness, the energy, and the youthful appeal work so well together bringing a multi-faceted sonic experience.
MAUGER ‘SHINY’
In a warmer tone, alternative rock band MAUGER brings an immersive, picturesque album SHINY. The scenic album takes a deep dive into the brilliance of full-band sonics. With just one or two songs in, MAUGER is easily on the top of a list of bands and artists that deserve some heavy replay.
Breathtaking and thought-dissolving; “Minute to Rest” has a warm, campfire vibe to it. The drums are keen and spirited. Imaginative guitar solo hits the right spot. The track places listeners atop of a mountain at dawn. The air is cooling down and the sky is dissolving in nuanced, beautiful colors. There’s playfulness in the dance of dissonance. The first hint of experimentation in the album has the spark of Radiohead in it. Undoubtedly, the first track sets quite a unique tone for the album.
Front man Mauger Mortier’s vocal is aesthetically pleasing and atmospheric. Melancholia at times, but like a mood-filled impressionistic painting, his voice is more of an impression that doesn’t seem to dissolve or become forgettable in time. His light falsetto has quite some Thom Yorke in it. At times, he shows you a side of childlike wonder, and at times, he’s off a 20 year old, still raw and passionate; then the other times, the maturity and deeply haunting emotions make you doubt if this is coming from the same person.
“Own Me” and “A Mindless Move” are on the more edgy side of the album, where the bands stirs up the arrangement a little, exploring different tones and sounds. “Own Me” features a characteristic bass that runs parallel with the vocal before blossoming into a full band sound. “A Mindless Move,” has a deep melancholia in the soundcapes while exploring gentle conflicts. The ode gives you a feeling as if standing on the edge of the world. Light marimba, deep bass, soft guitar and sensuous piano. The celestial backing voice adds something so different to the imagery.
“Ma Ja” gives out a guitar riff on the move. Like a flock of birds leaving or heading somewhere else, it provokes the feelings of on the road. The fast paced track is uplifting. “So Shiny” explores a softer folk side of the band with a sense of nostalgia. Many tracks in the album also evoke certain familiarity, like the sounds and melodies have existed in space for long and MAUGER captured them so perfectly and put it in songs. Mesmerizing and evocative. There’s mystery around SHINY.
If “So Shiny” is one person’s journey, “I Waited Up” is a carnival. The track opens with a stadium-filling warmth. In a change of sceneries, featuring a playful piano and jangling guitar, the track puts you in a road trip mood. “Don’t Carry Too Much Weight,” then feels like sitting at a bus stop where all the thoughts and feelings coming at you while your eyes are lost in the scenery. “Minute To Rest (part II)” concludes the album with a dynamic, clickety-clack rock phenomenon.