René (left) and Manny (right) of Citrus City Records. Photo by Erik Phillips It began with a compliment. Outside of a cafeteria at NoVA Community College in Woodbridge, Virginia, Manny Lemus approached René Franco who was sporting a WAVVES shirt at the time. “Hey, cool shirt,” Manny said to René. This opened a dialogue between the two and they soon found out that they were both at the same WAVVES show only days prior to meeting. As the conversation continued, Manny and René s

Ally Engelbrecht recently chatted with aol.ghost. The two of them discuss the meaning behind adapting a variety of names to release music under, as well as aol.ghost’s PARK TO SHOP. We've already met, but for article purposes, why don't you introduce yourself! I'm a queer nonbinary individual who uses xe/xer pronouns, I've been playing and recording music for about three years. I'm from Mentor, which is just outside of Cleveland. I read on your bandcamp that you first release

I had the opportunity to speak to Jordan Weinstock and Mickey Yacyshyn of It Takes Time Records, a small DIY label based out of St. Louis, Missouri. In their time as a label, they’ve put out tapes for bedroom pop and lo-fi indie bands from across the globe, releasing the likes of Boosegumps, Generifus, and Sobs. Get to know these two folks as we spoke about their roots, creating a family label via an internet community and the best astrological signs for running a label (bonu

Drew Cowen recently had the opportunity to chat with Gavin McIsaac of Arpeggi about everything from collaborating with pals to the creative process to the Senioritis tape release via Community Radio Tapes. Drew Cowen of GrizzlyGround: Is this your main project right now, or is it more of a side project? Gavin McIsaac: This is my main project. It kind of severes the line between a solo-thing and a band-thing. I’m primarily writing the songs, but it was set up to be this kind o

Every year for 21 years, DIY musicians and music fans from around the country (and world) convene in the small town of Harrisonburg, Virginia to experience MACROCK. From noise to hip hop, and metal to dream pop, MACROCK has got it all. Here are just a few photos of some of the wonderful, powerful, and simple joys that MACROCK provides. Members of DIN and McKinley Dixon and Friends discussing sets and logistics. A handshake between two old friends. CGI Jesus performing at Rest

I had the opportunity to sit in a home recording studio in the basement of Ben Ryan and Kyle Grim of Dogwood Tales, while sipping on some piping hot echinacea tea to talk about their new album Too Hard to Tell. Their single “Too Hard To Tell” is available today. Get ready to fall into a nostalgia that you may not have lived yourself. Chez Goodspeed of GrizzlyGround: Introduce yourselves. Ben: My name is Ben Ryan, I play in Dogwood Tales. I write some music with Kyle, I write

"A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts," Dominic Sena, known as Mr. Hymn, claims on "Wake," the opening song on his newest EP, El Río. On El Río, though, these thoughts are hardly empty or banal. In a stirring four-song package, the Orlando artist manages to navigate tricky waters, exploring what it means to be human in the twenty-first century. The album's title is purposeful and symbolic; El Río, which means "the river" in Spanish, was

In Virginia, doe deer is capturing the essence of lo-fi bedroom pop and scattering these dreamy songs about for all to hear. “tennis” is off of doe deer’s most recent album sports, which is one of three albums doe deer released in 2016. There is a still calmness about “tennis” that is oddly comforting. A soothing mildness seems to engulf the entire track. A mild psychedelia, mild mood, mild contentment, mild solace that coalesces into a hallucinogenic daze. A warm and invitin

Bradford Krieger’s recording project, Big Nice, along with fellow artist Pat Reynolds have paired to deliver swift spacey experimental tunes directly to your eardrums. These avant-garde tracks artfully coalesce themselves into the form of 50 cassette tapes and a digital album available via Bandcamp. The eight song split is short. In fact, the entire tape can be consumed in just under five minutes with two of the shortest tracks clocking in at eleven seconds in length. It’s a

Onomatopoeia is an experimental sound artist from Richmond, VA performing a unique blend of dreamy sun-kissed nature pop with experimental electronics. Onomatopoeia recently released his debut EP Mountain Air. Much of Mountain Air takes from Onomatopoeia’s usage of field recordings from the Blue Ridge Mountain mixed in with folk guitar and electronic sounds. If I were to chalk up Onomatopoeia’s sound I would say it’s a mix between Animal Collective and Radical Face. Mountain