5 NEW ARTISTS TO SEE AT NORTH COAST THIS YEAR

June 24, 2024

by emma zanger

North Coast Music Festival is on its way back to the Chicagoland area for its 14th year, and we’re so excited to see some of our favorites! Taking place August 30th through September 1st at Seatgeek Stadium in Bridgeview, IL, the festival is set to have its largest year yet. Complete with an immense seven stages, hosting a broad lineup of artists, as well as an extensive collection of art installations, the festival’s attendees are in for a phenomenal experience.

The dazzling three-day festival includes powerhouse headliners such as Illenium, Above & Beyond, and Alan Walker. We’re excited to see popular artists like Seven Lions, Slander, Diesel, and Sullivan King, but let’s take a look at some of the newer artists on the NCMF scene. Make sure to take a break from the heat this Labor Day weekend to go see their sets!

TOMBZ

Bringing a bit of dark house to the festival scene, this Milwaukee artist is one we don’t want to miss. Known for an immersive mood that creates entire experiences for their listeners, Tombz is set to play day two of the festival. Be sure to head over to the Club Coast stage to hear their latest single “That’s What’s Up.”

PATRICK COLES

This Florida artist, who’s been releasing quite a handful of singles in 2024, brings a fresh and fast paced sound. Patrick Coles has an uplifting and euphoric sound, perfectly matched to the exhilarating festival experience. 2024 singles “Hypnotize,” “Falling 4 U,” and “Break A Sweat” are ones we can’t wait to add to our festival memories list! See you at the silent disco.

MAX WAGNER

New to North Coast but definitely not to Chicago, local house artist Max Wagner is set to bring a punchy, fast, and uplifted summertime vibe into the festival this year. Grab some friends and catch Max at the Shipyard on day two. His enthusiastic and popular presence around the Chicago scene is sure to bring your Labor Day weekend to the next level.

CAPOZZI

The Shipyard stage is due for an amazing performance by electronic artist Capozzi. Known for her collaboration with artists like Tchami, this girl is no stranger to the electronic scene. Her rounded dark electro mix between techno and spacey samples, sets up her own sound. Be sure to catch her on day two.

RAVENSCOON

Electronic force of nature Paul Conversano is set to play the Vega stage at North Coast this year, and there are several hits of his we can’t wait to catch. Having a reputation for combining many different genres (dubstep, trance, rap, DnB, etc.) in a seamless blend that reaches vast audiences, North Coast is blessed to have the sounds of Ravenscoon on day two. Ravenscoon sets are known for being enticingly experimental, and we can’t wait to experience it with you.

Tickets are selling fast, so make sure to grab your tickets to this incredible festival now. See you there!

NIGHT TAPES: INTERVIEW

June 21, 2024

by martina rexrode

Based in London, dream-pop trio Night Tapes recently released their latest EP assisted memories, a seven-track project featuring an impressive range of styles. Their rising career picks up in an exciting way this fall when they embark on their debut US tour including stops in NYC and LA. We talked with Night Tapes about the EP, the erratic process put into creating the EP, and their goals for the end of the year and beyond.

Congratulations on your assisted memories EP! What made you choose this specific track as the title of the EP?

Night Tapes: “Thanks! It really felt like it encapsulated the theme of changing from one version of yourself to another and the meaning nicely encapsulates this group of songs. It felt right.”

How does this EP bring listeners closer into the space you currently hold as a trio? Does it introduce any new sides of you that fans might not have seen before?

Night Tapes: “It’s definitely the most direct sounding piece of music we’ve ever made. Richie is singing in ‘drifting’ which is something we haven’t featured before (unless you know a secret track from ages ago). Lyrically with this EP I’m trying to honor and be kind to different past versions of myself. Especially to the young girl who moved to London from Tallinn, Estonia to pursue music.”

What is your writing/production process typically like? Did you try any new methods or styles within this process recently?

Night Tapes: “Our writing process is pretty erratic. We all make tracks individually and we can write together. The annoying, correct answer to this question is ‘every time is different’ ([laughs] I used to absolutely loathe these kinds of answers, but it’s so true). I think it’s good to keep on exploring, there is a saying that applies to art quite well: ‘if you think you know what you’re doing, you’ve killed it.’ Throughout the years we have learned to just make songs happen faster, but switching up approaches like writing with a new instrument or writing to visuals seems to work for us.”

If you each had to choose a favorite track from this EP, which would it be and why?

Night Tapes: “At the moment my fave is ‘easy time to be alive.’ It’s built on this one spontaneous dictaphone recording we did one morning with Max. We found the recording randomly at a session and built everything around it as we couldn’t change anything about it. It turned out everything was there, we just needed to trust the first recording and the first feeling it had.”

This fall, you’ll be on your debut US tour including shows in NYC and LA! Which part of this tour are you most excited for?

Night Tapes: “We are so excited to see all the new cities we’ve never been to before (Chicago and San Francisco). We are also very excited to see the people who have been championing us online.”

What are some of your bucket list venues?

Night Tapes: “Glastonbury Pyramid Stage, thanks [laughs]. Alexandra Palace would be cool. Electric Brixton would be cool (as we are from South London, represent).”

How does it feel to have your music reach such a wide audience outside of where you started?

Night Tapes: “It’s quite surreal.”

What do you want to tell your future, end-of-this-year self? What do you hope you’ve accomplished individually and as a group by December 31st?

Night Tapes: “I would like to tell my future end-of-this-year self that creativity needs order and chaos and I hope she will go to a sunny place this winter to rest, regroup and adventure. I would like to accomplish inner freedom, thank you.”

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COSMO'S MIDNIGHT: INTERVIEW

June 17, 2024

by joann snavely

Australian electric duo Cosmo’s Midnight consisting of twins Cosmo and Patrick Liney, is hot off the release of their third full-length album Stop Thinking Start Feeling — an album that reminds listeners to ignore the stresses of the present and explore the magic of music — specifically their music. With their biggest world tour yet kicking off last week, Unclear got the chance to take some time and discuss their new album, tour, and the past, present, and future of the twin-duos music.

How did your journey with music begin — where did it all start?

Cosmo’s Midnight: “It started around high school when our older brother downloaded some music software to make mixes. We became obsessed with it looking over his shoulder and started making terrible little songs completely sucked into this new craft we'd never done before.”

With your new album, are there any new approaches you made sound?

Cosmo’s Midnight: “We really wanted to look back at everything we’d released until now and look for a common thread that we could really hone in on for this record. However, as the album title suggests, we really wanted to rediscover the naive exciting feeling of discovery that we had when we started writing our first songs. So, we really spent a lot of time jamming and only really completing and finessing songs that felt like they captured a moment or a spark of creativity.”

What musicians were the biggest inspirations behind the making of the album?

Cosmo’s Midnight: “There are almost too many to mention, but Fleetwood Mac, Prince, Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers, The Stone Roses, Soulwax, Fatboy Slim, and Nile Rodgers just to name a few of the artists we were listening to as we wrote this record.”

On the note of your sound, what is one word you'd use to describe your sound on the new album?

Cosmo’s Midnight: “It's so hard to wrap it all up in one word, but I’d hope the music sounds like we had fun writing it, because we really did enjoy writing this record. So, I hope the album sounds like excitement, or at least that it’s felt out rather than curated.”

Which song on the album was the most challenging to create?

Cosmo’s Midnight: “I’d say ‘Eating Heartache’ was one of the harder ones to write, we had so many different interpretations of the bass and drum interaction, and we really just wanted to have something felt super locked in. It’s not that it was super hard to get to that point, just that it took a little more experimentation, which is also one of the most fun things about writing. Seeing all the different ways you can realize the potential of a song.”

What are you hoping for fans to take out of the album?

Cosmo’s Midnight: “I hope that from start to finish people get lost in the music, lose themselves to dance. This record is about putting all your critical or cerebral traits on the shelf and being absorbed in the groove, the experiential side of music. I think as writers it can be difficult to listen to music with no thoughts, purely as a fan and no pre-conceptions. We tried to listen to as much music that just sounds so original, timeless, or exciting, and we hope our fans feel any of those things after putting our record away.”

As a twin, I must ask, what is the best part of performing as a twin duo?

Cosmo’s Midnight: “I think it's just really nice to have someone you’re comfortable with on stage and also in the studio. You never feel like the burden rests solely on you to write or perform, being with our friends in our live band makes it even better, touring with our drummer Hassett and our guitarist Timi Temple is so effortless, we have the best time on the road.”

If you could each only listen to one album ever again what would it be?

Cosmo’s Midnight: “Right now, I’m obsessed with the new Mk.gee record Two Star & The Dream Police, as I’m sure many people are. His new album has such great musical choices, direction, and conviction. I love listening to records where it sounds like the artist is so sure of themselves and their decisions, the music just sounds so thought out and realized to completion.”

With the release of your single “Telephone,” who inspired the single the most?

Cosmo’s Midnight: “I'd say this record was inspired by turn of the millennium acid house, through the lens of crunchy instrumental records like Soulwax.”

You've toured in some pretty iconic venues. If you could play a show at any venue, what would it be?

Cosmo’s Midnight: “We've been really lucky to play some pretty amazing venues through our career, but I would love to play at Printworks in London, it's such a beautiful space and some of my favorite artists have played there.”

Since making music, what has been the most gratifying experience so far?

Cosmo’s Midnight: “Even though we've done things I’d never had dreamed of honestly, I'd say there is nothing more gratifying than being able to have done it this long and put all of my energy and time into music as a career. There is nothing I’d rather do and we're so lucky to be able to call this a job!”

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MAYFIRE: INTERVIEW

June 15, 2024

by emma schoors

Bailey Furman, Hamish Hunter, David Porter, and Joe Hildreth make up the York-based band Mayfire, and though their beginnings only stretch back to 2023, airplay from Radio X, Radio 1 and the emergence of an ever-growing online fanbase prove it’s been a whirlwind first year for the English rockers.

The name Mayfire — not to be confused with Memphis May Fire — derived from a song Furman wrote about relationships dissolving around summertime, when the comfort and warmth of a winter romance turn to restlessness and a desire to break free. So became the band, who met organically through the local York music scene and began writing original material together.

Their first releases, “Skylines” and “Faker,” garnered modest support, but it was “Telephone” that piqued the interests of 200k+ users on social media. With observational lyricism, thrashing choruses, and the injection of progressive and older rock elements, their sound has provided them with ample opportunity to form an attentive following.

Mayfire’s single “Without You” continues their slow, steady climb of the indie rock ladder, doubling down on their no-nonsense approach to the genre. We had the chance to sit down with lead singer Furman to discuss how the band formed, their typical writing process, the immense success of “Telephone,” and what comes next for the four-piece.

Thank you so much for taking the time! Before we get to your single “Without You,” I’d love to start with how Mayfire came to be. Can you take me through how you all know each other, and the beginnings of the band?

Bailey: “Hamish and I have been writing songs together for a few years and really enjoyed that, so when we felt like it was time to move things to the stage and try our hand at live performance we thought, ‘You know what? We need more musicians.’ We asked Joe, who we knew from the local York music scene and met in a bar, if we would want to drum and I told my mate David that he was playing bass for us. After a couple of gigs, we were having so much fun that we decided to officially be a ‘band’ and we haven’t stopped since then!”

Is there a shared goal/dream that drove you all to want to form the group?

Bailey: “A love of music was definitely the starting point and once we realized we could really connect with people that was what we started striving for.”

Who are some artists you all look to for influence lyrically and sonically? Any bands you’d be starstruck touring or collaborating with?

Bailey: “The four of us all enjoy different flavors of the indie rock genre. I know Hamish loves some older rock, whereas Joe is more into his prog rock and me and David enjoy more of the indie folk/alternative artists. Think The Backseat Lovers, Father John Misty, things like that.”

As for your own material, how does the typical Mayfire track come to life? Do you start with lyrics and build a melody from there, or vice versa?

Bailey: “Historically, our set has been made up of songs that either me or me and Hamish have written. It almost always starts with some sort of guitar melody or riff that gets built around to become a whole track. Going forward, we’re trying to make the writing process more collaborative between us and figure out writing songs as a band.”

“Telephone” has garnered an insane amount of support so far. How does it feel to know so many people are resonating with the band, and this song specifically?

Bailey: “It’s kind of mad. It’s crazy to think that so many people enjoy what we’re putting out. You see the numbers we’re pulling online and it’s hard to visualize that many people actually interacting with something we’ve written. To think that someone walking around a supermarket in America might be listening to ‘Telephone’ on their headphones while doing their shopping is mad.”

What drives you to make music?

Bailey: “For us, it’s just something we do. Some people get in the habit of writing a diary, we do the same but with writing music. Like I could work a 9-5 for ten years and get rich but still feel like I’ve not got anything done because I haven’t written a good song. It’s gotta be done.”

Congratulations on your newest release, “Without You!” What inspired this track, and were there any specific experiences you were pulling from lyrically?

Bailey: “Thank you! Nobody ever believes me when I say this, but honestly, one night me and the band all sat down to watch Pixar’s Cars 2 and that film just changed me. I had to write about it. But we tell people that and they never believe us.”

You’re currently gaining massive traction on social media — on Instagram alone you’re averaging hundreds of new followers a day, which will surely add up in the long run. What’s your strategy like in terms of building a fanbase?

Bailey: “Early on we sat down and we thought we can either try and be professional and marketable and do social media properly or we could just have some fun with it. We post a mix of stuff to promote gigs and songs but also just whatever we think is funny or our followers might enjoy. It’s quite literally been throwing stuff into the void and seeing what sticks — and it seems some of our stuff has stuck quite well! Don’t ask us for any tips though — we don’t know what we’re doing.”

How do you envision Mayfire in a year's time?

Bailey: “In a year's time we hope to be releasing more music on a higher budget and getting out there and touring. All the music is made for us to play gigs with, so the more shows we can be doing to more people the better!”

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GEORGIA WEBSTER: INTERVIEW

June 10, 2024

by kendall nicole yakshe

Blending genres and painting vivid sonic masterpieces with her dainty yet punchy lyricism, rising pop sensation Georgia Webster gets candid about her creative upbringing, her brand new EP SIGNS, and her journey thus far in the music world. Having moved to Nashville straight out of high school, Webster has spent the last few years honing her skills and putting them to work alongside various collaborator s— such as opening for Kelsea Ballerini on tour and working alongside decorated producer King Henry. She has an open mind, an open heart, and a whole lot to say with SIGNS — a project that will appeal dearly to her veteran fans, as well as something that will draw in new listeners and get them completely hooked for what’s next.

Congratulations on the release of your EP SIGNS! How are you feeling about it, and what are you wanting to say to the world with it?

Georgia: “Thank you! I’m so, so excited about it this EP — I truly feel like I have found my sound with it and have made songs that I’m so proud of sharing. It’s sort of what I’ve been calling an anti-breakup-breakup album (or EP) and I just want anyone going through a situationship breakup or something similar to feel seen and hopefully find comfort like I did while making the project.”

Which song on the EP did you begin writing first, and how did it inspire the rest?

Georgia: “I actually wrote a lot of songs for this EP... there are around 30 in my notes app that were geared towards this project but it wasn’t initially intended to be towards anything specific, I was just writing a ton because of how much emotion I was feeling at the time. So I honestly forget which one was first because there were a bunch that I wrote by myself before I wrote any of these!!”

What kind of music did you grow up listening to? Did you live in a music-oriented household?

Georgia: “My dad is a huge dead-head and loved jamming on acoustic around the house when we were growing up. He taught me how to play some cowboy chords and bought me my first guitar, a Taylor GS mini. I immediately became obsessed with learning my favorite pop songs — this was at like age 11 or so — and I started by learning One Direction, Taylor Swift, Coldplay and other similar artists. My mom loved Eva Cassidy and Keane, and my grandma is a huge music lover and got me on Kacey Musgraves and some country-er/ folk stuff early on. So there was definitely a variety!”

You take influence from a variety of genres and artists. If you could collaborate with any one of them, who would that be?

Georgia: “Hmmm that’s so hard. I’ve been loving this artist Medium Build who lives in Nashville — I would love to write with him someday or do some sort of collab. Also Post Malone because people say we have similar tremors in our voices [laughs]!”

Do you have a favorite lyric or two from the EP?

Georgia: “‘I would have killed my every dream if it meant some of yours would of happened’ — (Wedding Song)

‘Nashville will hurt you more than I will’ — (Town Talks)”

You’ve opened for Kelsea Ballerini in the past and have been on the Town Talks Tour this year so far. How have you managed stage nerves from being an opener to a headliner?

Georgia: “Honestly I’ve been a lot less nervous being a headliner! I’ve only done a couple shows of my own, but so far they’ve been great and I think my brain just puts a lot of pressure on myself when it’s on me to make the vibes good at someone else’s show; like I know that’s not how Kelsea was thinking of it, but I am just sooo much more comfortable when people are there for me and there’s no risk of ruining the show or me being anxious that something is going to go wrong for the headliner.”

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received that you’d pass on to a smaller artist who’s just starting out?

Georgia: “‘It’s just music.’ Literally, it’s supposed to be fun. So don’t stress. Best advice I’ve ever received!”

How would you describe your musical evolution from your first EP, First Goodbye, to SIGNS? What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned about your creative process?

Georgia: “Moving to Nashville and pursuing music professionally allowed me to grow so much as a musician and writer and just opened my mind so much to collaboration and how amazing it can be. Almost all the songs on this project are co-written, compared to First Goodbye where everything is literally just me. I want my fans to know that I still write on my own quite often and there will be some stuff coming out soon that’s just me, but I truly have just been loving making music with friends and writers that I trust and I think it’s helped me evolve exponentially as an artist.”

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