Up & Coming 17 year-old indie artist Em Rossi released her latest song and video ‘Earthquake‘.  The video has clocked a million+ YouTube views and is still climbing to new heights. I wanted to know more of this California songstress and I her asked her questions, exploring the world of creativity and inspiration.

Did you grow up in show business?
Em Rossi: I was always surrounded by music growing up. My father played guitar, sang, and wrote. Music was played in my house all day and I naturally found a great love for the art. I began taking vocal lessons when I was eight years old training in Classical and Musical Theatre. My passion grew from there as I began singing at recitals and performing for family and friends. CONTINUE READING

It’ been a good start of the year for Cub Sport, the 4 piece indie act from Brisbane. The band broke out on the scene in 2012 & grabbed Channel V’s Australian video of the year.

Two years later the band returned with the album “This Is Our Vice” via Nettwerk Music which dropped in March and heated up the Australian Independent Charts.  The kick off track ‘Only Friend ’ hit many year-end playlists including BBC1 tastemaker Huw Stephens.  All the album tracks stand alone, but my personal favorite is the upbeat alternative rocker “I’m on Fire“. College radio is on board and has pushed the album to #53 on the CMJ top 200.  

Frontman Tim Nelson notes meeting Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig backstage at Falls was a defining moment in his career.
stephen@sgcmedia.com, briese@umbrellamusics.com

Singer-songwriter Ben Hobbs, a Kings favorite and who I’ve continue to cover just dropped another track ‘Cold Sweat‘ with an exclusive Billboard premiere. Hobbs notes, “It’s a song about realization, about a moment when you can admit to yourself that something has been ruling you. You can see all your strengths and finally start using them.”

Since the last time I featured his brilliant track ‘Wishful Thinking‘, he performed the BBC Introducing Night in Reading and the prestigious Gold Dust night in London which have presented the greats  Lana Del Rey, Jessie J, & Ellie Goulding in their formative years.

His song “Sweet Enough” has just clocked  500k+ Spotify streams.  Check out my last feature of this Bradley Cooper look-alike.
jeremy@laissezfaireclub.com, cduncan@theorchard.com

Luna Shadows arises out of the ashes of Los Angeles with her unique sound of dark indie pop separating herself from the sun-soaked ‘Katy Perry’ type pop singers. The latest track ‘Hallelujah California‘ which comes off her debut is brilliant, and mesmerizes with a couple listens.

The singer-songwriter tells us the backstory behind the love letter to Los Angeles: “My father used to say that “Hallelujah” (Wainwright/Buckley rendition) was the saddest song ever written, mostly because it’s darkness was disguised in a major key; conversely, the sole uplifting praise word “Hallelujah” was paired with the most melancholy of melodies. Playing on this juxtaposition, “Hallelujah California” is my eye-roll love letter to Los Angeles. The song explores how disorienting it can feel at times to live in a paradise, to have an endless summer, but still experience such sadness and doubt.”

Luna Shadows brings forth a lil’ Lana del Rey with endless summers and sadness but she is establishing her own voice. The blog love is mounting too. The track was featured on Spotify’s New Music Friday Playlist, blurbed by gossip blogger Just Jared, and clocked 30k+ SoundCloud streams in one month.

*Luna just released the new track “Cherry” exclusively on Beats 1 via Noisey. 
brittanysabra@gmail.com, lovealwayslxs@gmail.com

Who the heck is Gypsy & The Cat? I had no idea until I had lil’ run-in with the Melbourne duo and my favorite music blogs. The opening guitar chords of their latest ‘Inside Your Mind‘ grabbed me, and I kept listening — an anomaly these days!

The indie-dream pop duo has a story behind them.  These two DJ’s stepped on the scene in 2010 quickly made a name for themselves, became an Unearthed J Award nominee and has three hit songs under their belt. They’ve toured the UK and Europe and sold hundreds of thousands copies of their debut release.

Now, Gypsy & The Cat marks the return with the release of ‘Inside Your Mind‘.  The track has become a blog favorite having been featured on Spotify’s New Music Friday, and reaching #2 on the Hype Machine charts.

Their forthcoming album which was mixed by Dave Fridmann (MGMT, The Flaming Lips) will have a June release date. Oh! And… check out the amazingly cool video which features a cat, a really big Cat Head!
mike@cutabovepr.com