On the night of June 25th, 2021 at The Bowery Electric brought the talents of Va Va Voom and Wild Planes! The night was cool calm and collective. Oh, wait that wasn’t the weather that was the talent!

July 1st, 2021 the heavy metal band Motionless In White released their music video for their single “Thoughts & Prayers” off their 2019 album ‘Disguise’.

After a year of isolation, alt-pop singer BANKS has returned with a blaze of hellfire with her newest single, “The Devil,” along with a music video that is straight-up satanic genius.

On June 11th, 22-year-old singer-songwriter Clairo released her first single from her upcoming album: a vulnerable, raw track titled Blouse. Her second album Sling, co-produced with Jack Antonoff, will be released on July 16th. The album was announced after her performance of Blouse on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and is an eagerly anticipated project following the success of her debut album Immunity.

On Thursday, June 17th, AVOID unleashed their wildly fun and sick music video for their single “HostAge At A BeAch House PArty” off their EP, “The Burner” which was released back in November 2020. They are the first band ambassadors signed to the new label Thriller Records from Fearless Records founder and mastermind Bob Becker, who is set out on this new venture to give an artist-friendly deal and long-term development in order to create the rising stars a place in the music industry.

After 1 year, 3 months, and 11 days I finally got to go to a show again. Before the pandemic hit I was easily going to at least 1 show a week and after so long it was like I had almost forgotten the rush of serotonin when that artist steps on stage and the music starts playing.

On Wednesday, June 16th, The L.I.F.E. Project released their third single and lyric music video for “A World On Fire” off their five-track self-titled EP set to be released on July 9th. This musical collaboration came together with the genius minds of the Grammy-nominated rock band Stone Sour’s guitarist Josh Rand and co-songwriter/vocalist Cassandra Carson. The EP is available for pre-order for CD, exclusive gold vinyl, and cassette tape editions. Each physical copy is hand signed and numbered in the Nuclear Blast store.

Illusions of Grandeur hail from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but no doubt they would feel just at home in the ancient pagan lands of legend. The band mixes Greek and Norse mythology to write heavy songs featuring such fantastic elements such as Viking warriors, sirens, archangels, and Kharon, “the Ferryman” who carries souls over the River Styx and into the afterlife.

On June 16, 2021, metalcore-rock band Bad Omens released a live recorded version of “Never Know” with Sumerian Records. This version of the song appears in a bundle with the original studio recording of the track, as well as filmed on the Sumerian Records Youtube channel. From the strength of the band to the stage presence, Bad Omens has created an unforgettable live performance.

Alright, now let’s go back in time to the first show I ever shot, it’s February 21, 2019.

Just three months after releasing their third album Beauty In Death, the Chase Atlantic boys are back at it again with the instant hit single “OHMAMI”. After only 48 hours the single had over 2 million streams and the lyrics video had over a million views on Youtube. “OHMAMI” has also risen to the number 1 slot on the iTunes alternative charts.

American Trio band from Houston Texas, Khruangbin, released their latest record LateNightTales in December of 2020. This album is their first compilation album in their discography, released by label Night Time Stories. The mixtape includes blends of varying genres across the globe, from Korean Rock and Spiritual Jazz, to Latin and R&B. Khruangbin includes their cover of Kool and the Gang's “Summer Madness” to the mix.

In 2011, thirteen-year-old Rebecca Black was thrown into the music scene when her track Friday achieved infamous virality on the internet. Ten years later, she’s still present in music: now 23, openly queer, and with a fairly large audience on TikTok. Her social media journey has been interesting, but her musical journey even more so. Her latest project Rebecca Black Is Here, a 6 track EP, was released on June 16th.

London/Manchester-based queer punk band, The Oozes, recently released a high-energy single titled “Bitchboy”. After an acoustic snippet of the song being performed by lead vocalist Tom Gilbert was released on TikTok on March 8th, check that video out here. The band quickly gained more and more attention; the video now sits at 1.8 million views.

Cut Like This is a New York-based band that combines metallic riffs with gothic melodies and a twisted punk attitude. The founders of the band are vocalist Rose Blood and guitarist Thorne Black, two circus acrobats. As circus performers, they performed on stage with DJs such as Diplo, Excision, and Steve Aoki. They have since left the big top to perform without a net in front of crowds of black-clad moshers and stompers. They've already released a couple of singles out digitally, an ode to lycanthropy, “Bite” and the supernatural-themed “Lights Out.” We spoke about keeping creative during quarantine, taking inspiration from horror films, and the need for diversity and representation in rock music. 

As 2021 had begun, we became more hopeful than ever until the day came that shows were indeed back. On April 25th, I got word of a show happening in Brooklyn, NY at Arrogant Swine and without hesitation grabbed my camera bag to run to the show. At first, I was more cautious than ever before. Hardcore shows hadn’t happened in what felt to be 13 years and I was amazed by the turnout of the audience to get right into it once again. The band Madball did two-day back-to-back shows to celebrate the revival of being able to come together.