MX Lonely formed in November 2021 out of the ashes of other projects. Helmed by Rae Haas and Jake Harms as principal songwriters it was initially conceived as a home recording project, within the format of which they released “Dog,” under the name V0id B0ys. In November 2020 Haas x Harms began collaborating with fellow Brooklyn multi-instrumentalists Gabe Garman and Chris Curtin to learn older songs, and quickly began writing new ones. What grew out of this chemistry was “Cadonia,” a seven track LP self engineered and mixed in an abandoned schoolhouse in upstate NY over a period of 6 days in July 2021. With a focus on capturing the live feeling of the band, the sound finds ice-cold keys combining with barn-burning guitars + anguished vocals cutting like glass over a massive rhythm section. The album released Sept. 12 2022 via Candlepin Records, and the band gigged steadily in Brooklyn & the surrounding areas, culminating in a full east coast tour from Maine to Florida over 2 weeks in May 2023. They also played the 2nd Annual Julias War Fest in April 2023. With drummer/engineer Jun Yang Ng added into the mix post album release to complete the live lineup, they have been lighting up stages large and small. The “SPIT” EP was written and recorded in a furious month of songwriting between the Nov 2022 and Dec 2022. The band ventured into a studio for the first time ever, at Virtue & Vice in Brooklyn, under the guidance of then drummer/engineer Jun Yang Ng. The “SPIT” instrumentals were laid down in 2 days and the vocals were tracked at the band’s studio in the Pfizer building over the next few months. “SPIT” finds the band baring teeth and starting to fully open up their sound. Where Cadonia was a cerebral journey, SPIT is a visceral antithesis, melding 90s grunge riffs with heavy shoegaze ice. Vocalist/synthmaster Rae Haas sings lead on a majority of the tracks on this outing, another departure from the heavily Harms-led Cadonia. Drummer Andy Rapp (Plight, My America Is Watching TIgers Die) joined the group in early 2024. MX has been on two semi-national tours in 2024, covering the eastern half of the US, with plans for a full national run in the fall.
Bluegill is a shoegaze band from Greenville, North Carolina, blending fuzz, reverb, and energetic drums to fill any space with sound. , Not Flailing is a group of four sweet and dirty muffins who play socially conscious rifts centered around disruption
Subvertigo first formed in 2022 at a local show after each member expressed wanting to play music that could cover a wide variety of sounds. They quickly gained a local following from playing various house shows and small venues across the state, particularly in Charlotte where their flavor of heavy shoegaze was sparse. The past two years saw their debut EP release, “Find Yourself”, and their recent release “Split with Bluegill” off Candlepin records.
“This band can’t be summed up in one sentence, and that’s what I love about them. I have to assume this is a band with diverse influences.” -Dan Russell Pinson, Fuel The Scene.
