Stay Present

Last July I worked my first Lollapalooza in 3 years. The Lolla lineup from 2016-2019 was my favorite of the year, but in 2021 that changed. I felt like I only knew a handful of artists. I went from knowing acts all over the lineup to only knowing the headliners and a couple of the other big names. The undercards were unrecognizable. Fortunately, thanks to a couple of friends I got to know a few of those up and coming artists. One of them was Lauren Sanderson, who my friend Megan is obsessed with.

Lauren Sanderson, who hails from Los Angeles but, originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, began her music career on Youtube and SoundCloud. She originally started her channel as a motivational speaker, but then grew into music with rapping and poetry on her channel. After posting her cover of Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved,” she started gaining attention. She released her first EP Center of Expression in 2016 and her second EP Spaces in 2017. Spaces garnered her Billboard attention which lead to her record deal with Epic Records. In 2018, she debuted her first major label EP DON’T PANIC!.

In 2019 she left Epic Records and signed a one album deal with Young Forever. Her debut album Midwest Kids Can Make It Big was released in January 2020. She had a tour planned for that year, but like everything else, it was then rescheduled for 2021. Since live music made its return last year, Lauren has been touring and releasing music independently with a new album on the way.

Lauren Sanderson’s music is primarily pop with a mix of hip hop and alternative styles. Her music has a seductive edge to it at times as well, especially with songs like “But I Like It” and most recently with the release “Gay 4 Me.” Lauren Sanderson also has a huge presence in the LGBTQ+ community as a queer artist and has many gay themes in her music too.

Back at Lollapalooza, I was introduced to Lauren Sanderson because Megan had tickets to her aftershow and was stoked to see her perform. Lauren ended up cancelling all of her Lolla performances due to getting the covo. It wasn’t until a few months later that I realized I should listen to Lauren and so Megan began recommending some of her favorite songs like “17” and “Bathroom Stall in Seattle”, which are now some of my favorites as well.

I’ve been digging her music since I started listening. I even committed to seeing her live when she announced tour dates this past winter. After getting tickets a few months ago, I went with Megan last Monday to see her show and loved it. It was cool to see her perform in a small venue. She attracts a passionate and largely LGBTQ+ audience who went hard the entire time. I honestly felt like an outlier cause I didn’t know every word to every song. It was still fun though and it’s always a blast to witness my friends enjoy their favorite bands or artists. As I mentioned, Lauren has a new album on the way and likely more touring plans in the works. You should really start listening to her now, because there’s a good chance she might not be playing small venues for long. She’s got so many bops and I’m glad my pal was obsessed enough to share them and her with me.

Coachella Band Preview: girl in red

Now that it’s February, we’re closing in on the two month mark until Weekend 1! It feels so weird writing this anticipating Coachella like it’s any other year. It’s not though. We haven’t been thriving on the polo fields since 2019. So much has happened and changed since then, but at the same time, having Coachella back will feel like another part of normal life has returned. I keep writing these blogs like I have for years, but god knows I’m so much more excited and emotional about getting back to Coachella this year than I ever was. That being said, this week I’m stoked to preview an artist I didn’t know much about when the 2020 lineup came out. She was on it but I had no idea at the time. Thankfully over the last two years I got to know and love girl in red.

When girl in red was booked for Coachella 2020, she was up and coming. She was an undercard. But thanks to tik tok and lesbians everywhere, girl in red has since exploded. Last spring girl in red, aka Marie Ulven Ringheim, released her debut album, if i could make it go quiet. The album reached top 10 spots on music charts worldwide. I was able to catch a few songs of her ACL set during Weekend 2. She played the main stage early in the day. She wasn’t drawing a huge crowd at the time, but I guarantee she will at Coachella. This time her name has moved up on the lineup poster and I suspect she’ll be playing a late afternoon or early evening set on the main stage or at Outdoor.

Since I first wrote about girl in red, as I already mentioned, she has gotten a lot bigger. Over the last year, she’s stuck to the festival circuit, in support of her debut album. Her name has been rising higher on every festival lineup though. She has a completely sold out spring North American tour lined up that includes her stops in Indio, before she heads back overseas for the European leg of the tour. The European leg is completely sold out too.

girl in red is an act that you won’t want to miss in April. She fills the indie rock card that now seems a lot more rare at Coachella. However, she’s part of that new wave of Gen Z indie rock, so you’d expect a lot more younger fans at her set. She’s definitely going to crush her first Coachella appearance though. Here’s a few tracks that you’ll need to know before you catch her:

1. we fell in love in october
2. Serotonin
3. i wanna be your girlfriend
4. bad idea!
5. midnight love
6. girls
7. I’ll Call You Mine
8. summer depression
9. Rue
10. You Stupid Bitch

Hey I’m Just Like You: Album Review

A few weeks ago Tegan and Sara released their ninth studio album. The Canadian duo has been making music since the early 2000’s, but this album is a bit more special than the others they released prior. The album coincides with the debut of their memoir High School. The book is about their musical beginnings, growing up, and attending high school in the 90’s. While working on the book, the twins found a bunch of cassettes with early recordings of songs they wrote during that time and decided to re-work and re-record the songs. From there, Hey I’m Just Like You was born.

The new album pays homage to their rock and punk rock roots while still incorporating the pop sound they’ve grown into over the years. The best example of this is the track “I’ll Be Back Someday”, which was one of the first songs from the album that Tegan and Sara released. The song has a very clear and distinct punk influence. The lyrics reference themes of their adolescence like drug use, relationships, friendship, love, and self-reflection. Hey I’m Just Like You is also the first Tegan and Sara album recorded by an all female team.

Tegan and Sara are currently on tour in support of the album and book. Many of the tour dates are sold out. Fortunately, I’ll be attending one of their shows next week. I already picked up a copy of the book before I left to work Austin City Limits. Then I bought the album while visiting Waterloo Records on one of my off days in Austin. It’s safe to say I’ve been prepping for the last 2 1/2 weeks, but I love a good Tegan and Sara show. I highly recommend the album if you’re a Tegan and Sara fan. This one is definitely unique and yet at the same time I think you’ll be satisfied because you’re still getting what we all know and love from Tegan and Sara.

I Won’t Treat You Like You’re Typical

I’ve always liked alternative styles of music. I’ve listened to alternative rock, indie rock, indie pop, emo, screamo, pop punk, punk rock, ska, hardcore, and lately even some of that mainstream EDM stuff. After I graduated from college, my music interests started to shift a bit towards the indie music genre. I wrote about it once and refer to it as my second musical enlightenment. Since then, I’ve been into the indie rock/indie pop scene. However, there were times during high school and college where I’ve been interested in indie artists. I think my first interest in indie bands came from watching The OC. Bands like Death Cab For Cute, Band of Horses, Spoon, Rooney, and Nada Surf had musical influence on the show. Indie music was a huge part of the series due to Seth Cohen’s (one of the main characters) interest in the indie scene. After the OC went off the air in 2007, I had interests in indie bands here and there before my main indie phase took over in 2011. One of those bands was the indie pop/rock duo, Tegan and Sara.

Identical twin sisters, Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin formed their band in the late 90’s while still in high school. The Canadian duo, who hail from Calgary, Alberta, recorded their first demos in high school and began touring shortly after graduation. They released their first album, Under Feet Like Ours, in 1999. Since then, the band has released 7 other records. Their latest and eighth album, Love You to Death, was released June 3, 2016. They’ve also toured numerous times worldwide on both headlining tours and in support of many well-known acts and have played countless music festivals. Their seventh album, Heartthrob, released in 2013 is their highest charting album to date (number 3 on Billboard’s Top 200) and sold 49,000 copies in its first week. The album earned them more attention in the music world as well as a growth in their dedicated fan base.

Tegan and Sara’s sound has progressed since their debut in 1999. They went from folk/alternative rock to indie rock to indie pop and now to more of a straight pop sound. Their ability to grow musically along with having a devout following has allowed them to continue to make music for 20 years, even though the sisters are only in their mid-30’s.

Tegan and Sara have used their platform beyond the music world too. As out lesbians, both are huge advocates for LGBT equality, thus gaining a large following from the LGBT community. They’ve also advocated in support of other causes but their strong involvement in LGBT rights is well known and has made them a favorite act of community members.

I first heard of Tegan and Sara through a friend who had lyrics from their song “Take Me Anywhere” on her MySpace profile. At the time, I always confused Tegan and Sara and fellow girl duo Meg & Dia. Eventually Tegan and Sara won my heart over once I became interested in their music during my sophomore and junior year of college. I don’t remember how, why, or exactly when my interest started, but I do remember listening to their music while driving to class during the winter. I can honestly say they’ve never been my favorite band. I’ve only been a casual listener since around 2009 while in college. In fact, I purchased my first Tegan and Sara album in 2014 on a Black Friday deal. A few months prior I got into the song “Closer”, a year after it was all over mainstream radio, so a $7 copy of Heartthrob was a great deal in my mind. I had the album on repeat during my Christmas trip to visit family and Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Christmas Town. It was one of my favorite Black Friday CD purchases and was my go to album of the time.

A few weeks ago, my friend told me she had tickets for a Tegan and Sara show in the beginning of November. She planned on attending with her roommate and her roommate’s girlfriend. When she told me, I expressed interest in going and she said I should join them. I decided to go for it, purchasing my tickets a solid three weeks before the show. Last Thursday night was the night. I saw Tegan and Sara live for the first time (along with Hayley Kiyoko and ARIZONA, but that’s another show and another story). As a casual fan, I wasn’t as stoked for the show as I’ve been for others, but it surely exceeded my expectations. I had the best time. Tegan and Sara played a variety of songs from older albums along with ones from their newer releases. They also took the time to tell stories in between songs and advocate for the upcoming Presidential election. Even as Canadians they let us know they had our backs no matter the results. It was evident that the crowd was made up of plenty of longtime fans who knew the words to every song and created an energy difficult to replicate by singing a-long and dancing for the entirety of their set. There was something special about the atmosphere at the show that made it unlike other shows I’ve been to. Not to mention, I also attended with a great group of people who appreciate the twins’ music and music in general.

I feel like Tegan and Sara’s music can appeal to so many people because of how their music has grown and changed through the years. If you’ve never heard of them, please check them out soon. They’re good. If you have, you can totally vouch for me and if you ever have a chance to see them live in a smaller venue, go for it. It’s better than you know. Here’s some of my favorite Tegan and Sara songs, but there’s plenty to pick from with 8 albums so feel free to scan through all their tunes:

1. Nineteen
2. Walking With the Ghost
3. The Con
4. Closer
5. Hell
6. I Couldn’t Be Your Friend
7. I Was A Fool
8. Boyfriend
9. Goodbye, Goodbye
10. Stop Desire