Santa Cruz’s Dark Ride Keeps Local Punk Frightful
On the day before Halloween, local horror-punk group Dark Ride released their debut single and video “Anti-hero” with almost no warning. The video features the group on a rooftop set similar to the...
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Bandcamp Wants to Make Streaming Pay for Musicians
Last July, as the local economy scrambled to survive the third month of the coronavirus pandemic, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek took to Twitter with some economic figures of his own. “Excited to announce our...
View ArticleNew Owners Take Over Iconic Live Music Club Moe’s Alley
Live music has been hit hard during the pandemic. Here in Santa Cruz, several venues have stayed open by operating as restaurants and throwing socially distant outdoor shows. But that hasn’t been an...
View ArticleSanta Cruz Hip-Hop Trio The Ugly Boys Gets Big on TikTok
Quarantine has been tough on everyone, but it became a little less tough for local hip-hop trio the Ugly Boys when, a few weeks after the stay-at-home orders were announced last year, they almost...
View ArticleAptos’ Kelsey Ferrell—aka Feral—Gets Brutally Honest on New Songs
While attending UC Berkeley, Aptos native Kelsey Ferrell—who releases music under the name Feral—wrote a song about a guy she was casually dating. He heard about it and immediately assumed she was...
View ArticleLocal Father-Daughter Music Duo Release First Album
April Bennett was only about 2 years old when she went up on a stage with her father, Steve Bennett, for the first time. Steve was in the house band at Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton for many years,...
View ArticleKite Hands Glowing’s Latest Songs Consider Nostalgia and Identity
Santa Cruz’s Nadia Peralta remembers visiting her parents in Southern California, where she grew up, and walked along the same hills she played on as a child. She was struck by how everything had...
View ArticleThe Crepe Place’s Chuck Platt Makes Plans for the Return of Live Music
Last July, Crepe Place owner Chuck Platt—known to many locals as the longtime bassist for Good Riddance—wanted to throw a socially distanced concert at his venue. He asked local musician Joe Kaplow,...
View ArticleQuentin Shaeffer and Zuzu West Release Collaborative Single
In 2019, local musician and Cabrillo art student Zuzu West wrote a song called “You” that was so personal, she almost didn’t release it. It was a response to her boyfriend, who was certain he was more...
View ArticleFelton Music Hall and Roaring Camp Team Up for Summer Concert Series
With many Santa Cruz County venues trying to crack the code for live music’s Covid-era return, Felton Music Hall has announced it will be trying something radical this summer: pods. “Sometimes when...
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Musician Kaethe Hostetter Navigates a Year of Uncertainty
Kaethe Hostetter has been on a lot of planes in her life, but on a March 26 flight last year, she had a knot in her stomach. Everything was stressful, including the simple act of buying plane tickets...
View ArticleSanta Cruz’s Varro Vivyds Embraces Her Inner Pop Diva
Last year, when Santa Cruz’s Varro Vivyds was in the studio working on a bunch of new material, she had a technique for getting the kinds of performances she wanted: Pretend she was in front of a huge...
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New Book Looks at the Rise and Fall of Ska Bands
In this excerpt from the new book ‘In Defense of Ska,’ the author explains why ska needs defending, and how Santa Cruz’s most popular ’90s ska band, Slow Gherkin, lost its way. Believe it or not,...
View ArticleIndie Rock Group Pardoner Lands Big Buzz for New Record
Locals River van den Berghe and Colin Burris met at the Teen Center behind the former site of Saturn Cafe years ago. Van den Berghe was 12 and played in the band DogBone. Burris was 13, had a mohawk,...
View ArticleBig Audio Dynamite’s Don Letts on Race, Culture and Belonging
Don Letts first came into my consciousness at the old Santa Cruz High School swimming pool. It was the late 1980s, and I was there working as a lifeguard, proceeding over a Saturday lap swim session....
View ArticleLocal Metalhead Diversifies with Dylan Rose Band
Dylan Rose hasn’t played a lot of acoustic shows. The couple he does recall happened when he toured with James Durbin years back and would do the occasional unplugged radio station promotional event....
View ArticleLille Aeske’s May Day Festival Goes Live and In Person
When the pandemic began, many musicians began livestreaming performances online. But for venues, it wasn’t an easy transition. The new owner of Lille Aeske, Anil Prajapati, was unsure what to do. He’d...
View ArticleSanta Cruz Singer-Songwriter Maia Rowan Releases Debut Album
You might not notice it, but Santa Cruz’s Maia Rowan had a cold when she recorded her new album Fantasy. It’s not that she planned to sing with a cold—she didn’t plan the recording at all. It was a...
View ArticleSanta Cruz Native Marcel Sletten Draws on Nature and Americana Music for...
Marcel Sletten likes to visit the rugged and gorgeous Cosumnes River out in the Central Valley. He has spent many hours just sitting there and taking in the sounds of the birds. This experience...
View ArticleMichael Gaither’s Pandemic Gig Helped Local Music Fans Through Lockdown
Michael Gaither wanted to communicate something universal about the pandemic, but he didn’t want it to be too on the nose. He thought the best approach was to be somewhat vague in his wording so that...
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