"Brooklyn's most whimsical chamber pop outfit"- L Magazine

"Their songs are eclectically and musical in the purest sense of the word, the way Van Dyke Parks's music is real musician's stuff." - The Austinist SXSW review

"Friend Roulette never gives away the plot, but the distinct pleasure of discovering their dreamy Cabaret texture is enough to keep your ears duly occupied during the journey. - THE DELI

Friend Roulette has been adding members to their ding dang of musical friends since John got back from summer camp. Sounding like a concoction of Van Dyke Parks, Robert Wyatt and Aaliyah, Friend Roulette creates somewhat of an whimsical psychedelic chamber pop con cojones. With 2 drummers, violin, bass clarinet, ewi (electronic wind instrument) & the occasional string quartet, its a ding dang of a live show.

Taking cues from the hypnotic sparsity of krautrock to the more funky sensibilities of acid house and Manchester indie dance, Zula makes forward-thinking psychedelic pop music. It started in the summer of 2010 as a collaboration between principal songwriters Henry and Nate Terepka (cousins). During the early basement sessions, playing to drum loops and sequencers, they began crafting their sound, obsessed with repetitive, interlocking figures and melodies in accessible, direct pop forms. In the fall of 2010, Mike Lawless and Zach Nicita joined on, forming a taught, propulsive rhythm section. The group has since toured California, played countless shows around New York City, and released the Crescent Intake Session EP.

Zula is currently working on a debut LP, set to be released this summer.

Bi-lingual rock based out of Kansas City originally from Santiago, Panama. The band blends indie-rock influences with salsa and merengue rhythms and textures.

rice cultivation society is a one person collective, much like yourself.

rice cultivation society is also a live band:
joe sanders on bass
nick lee on guitar
john carbone on drums
derek smith on guitar/vocals

rice cultivation society has been writing, recording, and performing since 2005.

Joshua McCormack’s live performances encourage you to appreciate chaos along with beauty. “There’s a time for precision,’ he states, “and there’s a time for madness.” A technically-skilled musician and vocalist, McCormack’s songs and live performances feature strategic moments of unpredictability.

Joshua McCormack started playing with his parents’ keyboard around the age of 10. His keyboard experiments were also his earliest recording sessions, and he’d sit and listen to his own creations for hours, splicing bits and pieces of melodies together. He started playing guitar at age 11, practicing from the time he got home from school until he went to bed at night. The riffs of the axe gods of hair metal eventually led him to join his first metal band as a teenager.

He says his real music education began when he was about 25. He spent countless nights at Chicago-area open mics mingling with a cast of characters who played sets that read like a music history lesson, ranging from Sam Cooke to Joao Gilberto to traditional gospel songs. McCormack would cover Bjork songs on an acoustic, mimic Helen Merrill on Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes,” and test out his original songs on a live crowd. During this time, he studied the teachings of Seth Riggs, vocal coach to Michael Jackson and Prince. He bought a Riggs course online, and practiced vocal exercises every day as he drove in his car.

In 2005, he recorded his first album inside his friend’s basement studio, entitled Joshua McCormack Presents Holiday Girl. After that album, he started to take things seriously, recruiting local musicians to form a backing band to play live shows. Describing that time period, McCormack says, “I was attempting to be a character in an early Tom Waits song, all cigarette haze and whiskey breath. I wasn’t very healthy, and didn’t sleep much. I’d stay out all night playing and go to work in the morning. Lather, rinse, repeat.”

Then, he met his wife, who he credits greatly for strengthening him as a musician. She exposed him to her own diverse musical influences and helped him to focus on refining his craft and expanding his audience. With a new wife and the birth of his son, McCormack’s songs began to shift in tone, becoming less moody and more reverent. His 2008 release, The Funeral of the Siren, showcases this evolution.

Joshua McCormack’s new album,The Phantom King, is mainly influenced by getting married and having a child. Stylistically, The Phantom King ranges a broad spectrum with seamless precision. McCormack is joined on certain songs by the highly-skilled trio of Edd Merkel (drums), Paul Cullen (bass) and Johnny Prestipino (guitar). Together, they shred boundaries between Smashing Pumpkins-inspired thunder, Funkadelic grooves, Queen-esque melodrama, and drum and bass rhythms. Joshua McCormack’s voice is equal parts John Lennon, Jeff Buckley and Tom Waits, and his new album, The Phantom King, is a tour de force of songwriting versatility, with some whimsical accordion waltzes tossed in for good measure.

We were both leaving the worst behind, mistakes we had made that followed us into the dusty corners of our old rooms. Leaving behind those we spoke of love to, but felt none for anymore. We were leaving behind days of feeling like aliens in our own homes. He moved in the basement, I lived upstairs. We felt fresh, wide eyed, and ready for the world we had been scared to embrace. But the day was too bright, and the faces were too mean, and the city felt no different. We felt no different. So, we hid in the basement where the light barely cracked through the grates like a prison. But we had chosen this prison and we needed it. Our legs wouldn't let us crawl upstairs or out the door. We didn't give a fuck what anyone would think, but with that our eyes were no longer wide. They had adjusted to the dim light of a flickering light bulb and the red lights of guitar pedals. I was lonely and still had my demons, he was lonelier and just waiting for something bad to happen. Survival mode. He had to move back home to Minnesota to take care of his dying father. He was almost too late. I moved to nature and felt wide eyed again. Our friend burned down the old place while he slept. He barely walked out alive. I went back with him to gather stringless guitars covered in fire extinguisher fluid, tapes that had blackened, and ash covered drums. Nothing worked, but I didn't care anymore. We finished what we had to. Here it is.

Some kind words said about us:
"...beautifully atmospheric..." - My Old Kentucky Blog

"... (Howth) is a raw and emotional album that is as real as they come." - We All Want Someone

" You don't normally hear too much fuzz in folk songs (Blitzen Trapper do it well), but Howth put it to great use in this one." - You Ain't No Picasso

"It can take you on a drive through the country, it can take you to a peaceful city street at night, it can make you remember feeling in love." - The Deli NYC

Sean was born in Brooklyn, NY
and grew up in NJ.
He's writing and recording new music
adjacent to a Superfund site.