After six years, countless tours, and five albums with Dr. Dog the time had come for drummer Juston Stens to part ways and realize his own musical journeys and visions. "After a long break, I needed to return to myself, my guitar, my piano, my pencil and paper, and my voice." A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, Juston put down the drumsticks and returned to guitar to write new and finish old songs of life, love, loss, heartache, and heartbreak.

"I had a head full of songs that had been stored up there for way to long and needed to empty some out to make room for all the new ones sprouting up," Juston said. "I had been writing songs throughout my 20s and while a member of Dr. Dog. I didn't have my own band so I never had a proper outlet for them."

In January of 2010 Juston left Philadelphia for Tucson, AZ to record his first solo work with his old friends The Golden Boots. From there he traveled to Black Mountain, NC to record with the mountain wizard Seth Kauffman of Floating Action. To round it all off he returned to Philadelphia to mix with long-time Dr. Dog collaborator/engineer Bill Moriarty. A few of these songs were originally released as his debut EP, Heavy Metal Heart, in August 2010 on Park The Van Records. Now Juston is set to self-release the full collection as it was meant to be heard via his debut full-length, Trash or Treasure, on March 6, 2012.

Secret Photos is comprised of 4 musicians: Shaun Weeden, Mark Weinberg, Ernest Intorrella, and Trish Francisco. Led by the honest tenor of Shaun Weeden, Secret Photos perform electronic beats mixed with live drums/percussion, driving guitars, warm bass grooves, and electronic keyboards to produce live sets that are refreshing and unpredictable.

Forming in 2006, New York City’s own LETTERIST have had a twist of fate…. literally.

A chance meeting on a night that can only be referred to as “a drunken underwear Twister-themed party,” Rammy Yogendra (Guitar, Synth, Piano), met Pamela Bell (Vocals), and Alex McCown (Drums) and the three hit it off immediately. Coming together from Minnesota, Missouri and Florida respectively, the trio found a common ground in New York City, which they have been calling home for several years. Playing at countless area venues and late-night rooftop gatherings, LETTERIST gained notoriety from their performances at the now-infamous BangOn!NYC Parties.

LETTERIST is the perfect blend of electro-synthpop and dance rock. Influenced by classic artists such as Royksopp, Daft Punk, New Order, Fleetwood Mac, and Kylie Minogue, while evoking the sounds of modern luminaries like Metric and Lykke Li, the group will make you un-expect the expected. “I want to be able to reinvent based on my musical growth, and my gut and my ability,” says Pam. For LETTERIST this means an endless quest to write the perfect soundtrack to the best 80’s John Hughes film never made. From a young age the members of the band predicted music in their future. Spoiler Alert: they predicted right.

This spring sees the release of LETTERIST’s sophomore album, Solace and Gold, which was recorded with Tim Monkiewicz (Golden Pony), mixed by Abe Seiferth (DFA Records) and mastered by Jamal Ruhe at West West Side Music. Each song is a collaboration of the group – Rammy makes noises that sound good in succession, Pam adds layers of lyrics (revenge fantasies) and harmonies, and Alex hits things, hard. Each piece takes you on a musical journey: art and history, ex-boyfriends, mental Polaroids of real life situations… Anything and everything is fair game when it comes to LETTERIST. Are you ready to play?

Real Good is Josh Hoey, John Terry, and Eric Truchan. Together, they write a lot of songs and would like to play some of them for you. Embracing an indie rock aesthetic associated with prior decades, and a DIY spirit characteristic of their own time and subculture, Real Good brings a series of hook-laden, youthful bursts of punk and pop. Josh, John, and Eric used to or still play in bands such as Lock and Key (Deep Elm), Brick Mower (Stumparumper), and Rapid Cities (i love to hate records), among others.

“I love Rapid Cities, Brick Mower, and Lock And Key, modern punk/indie/post-hardcore bands with amazingly fresh sounds that all still managed to sound like all my favorite records. So here I am in 2011, and I find out some of their members have founded a band called Real Good? I don’t know where the line is for the hugs, beers, and high fives is, but I wanna get in it.” – Fistfight at the Arthouse