Disaster Kid, Light Blue Lines, Midamerican Elevator
Chicago Nostalgia rock trio Disaster Kid finds reflection at the core of their music. Packed together by vivid detail and passionate melodies, their cathartic indie rock sound is lined with lyrical storytelling which puts an emphasis to the mysticism in the mundane. Light Blue Lines is a rock band from Chicago, IL. Nostalgia-driven and introspective, their songs draw influence from indie folk, Midwest emo, and slacker rock. Indie-rock outfit Midamerican Elevator lifts vocal harmonies over busy rhythms with guitars that span between sparkly counterpoint and regenerative drive. They released their latest project, an EP titled “TELL IT TO ME NOW!”, in January.
MaryMary!, Cherryburn, Medical Miracle
MaryMary! makes dreamy and kinetic electronic pop music. Her most recent release is an EP by the name of MY STUPID HEART LIKE A SNOWGLOBE FULL OF BLOOD, available on all streaming platforms. She’s remarkably kind and puts on a fantastic show. Cherryburn is an indie rock band from Chicago, playing music to listen to with the windows rolled down. Medical Miracle is a two piece melancholy bedroom/pop rock band from Chicago powered by twinkly guitars and sad hearts.
whoTF, Winnie Wanders, Proxoxie, V1R1S
whoTF are a duo consisting of Folie and AAAYYYAAA. Winnie Wanders began learning Ableton in 2019 through YouTube videos and trial and error, and went on to release three albums which were independently recorded, mixed and mastered. Being heavily involved in the underground music scene in San Francisco at the time, she frequently played raves and DIY shows around The Bay. In hopes to broaden her audience, she moved out to New York in 2022. Since then, she’s performed for Subculture Festival, the Culture Shock Festival in Purchase NY, and is a resident performer at the Bubblegum Ba$$ party in Brooklyn which has had multiple great shows at Knitting Factory, Schimanski and TV Eye. Year 0001 (Yung Lean’s label) features her track “All Summer” on their Spotify playlist. With some exciting releases planned for 2024, she’s hoping to get her in-your-face pop songs stuck in everybody’s head. Before finding God in Chicago, Proxoxie hit the Detroit scene with 2021 EP “Dream Sequence,” in which a serial killer archetype yearns for deliverance in pop melodies over alternative trap styled beats. Drawn to the sonic genre-blending of scenecore, yet repelled by its subculture, Proxoxie eclipsed her identity with uncanny personas inspired by the true crime, internet horror, and fanfiction she blogs about, finding not just escape from a toxic community, but agency in the vengeful victim to cold-case criminal narrative. After Proxoxie’s second concept, “Fanfiction EP,” her first brush with burnout left her longing to push the boundaries of alternative music further than individualized reactions to disturbing grotesquerie. “Live, Laugh, Lobotomy,” in a series of singles, charted the path for Proxoxie to depart from angst and dig deeper beside trusted collaborators. Her debut, “Darling, It Wouldn’t Be A Party Without You,” packs Proxoxie’s authentic voice into a hardstyle EDM punch. That record gave us realism—forthcoming “Hotel Proxoxie” stages surreal journeys to self-acceptance in seven sinful acts, over twinkling elevator muzak. (By Olivia J. Loftis) Birthed online in the digital realm, V1R1S is a high-tech musician, visual artist, and experience.Programmed around early internet culture and life online, V1R1S augments and morphs together mutual chaos of anxiety inducing atmospheres, nightcore bubblegum melodies, and computerized vocals, to create her own new world of ‘cyberpop’.
The Knee-Hi’s, The Jett Girls, Greg Wheeler and the Poly Mall Cops
The Knee Hi’s look to romance the world with their love letter to rock & roll and to knock your socks off with their raw energy. The Jett Girls are a rag tag group here to wreak havoc, cause chaos, and marry their love for the absurd with high powered rock music. Straight out of Des Moines, IA, aka the ninth best place to live in the entire world, Greg Wheeler and the Poly Mall Cops deliver manic garage punk slime at its finest — whatever that means.
Black Sandwich, Half-Scratches, Camp Collar
Black Sandwich are an ovo-vegetarian prog grunge pop gloomcore group from maywood, forest park, iowa, and chicago Half-Scratches are postnatal people playing low-power educational/contrapuntal rock music which spans the entire emotional gamut (and then some). People should be excited to see us because we are accident prone, and mistakes are the spice of life! Also our songs are damn good (objectively speaking). Camp Collar is a Chicago based indie pop project inspired by the likes of Dayglow, Monsune, Beabadoobea, and Phum Viphurit.
Sleepy Gaucho, Kneafsey, No Lonesome
Sleepy Gaucho follows in the great American artistic tradition that is the rambler’s drawl. His Panamerican influenced music offers up a cocktail of wry existentialism and mellow introspection that floats somewhat aimlessly in a realm of its own. Born in Wisconsin while also growing up some time in Argentina, the young multi-instrumentalist’s music can at times be melancholic, at others ethereal, but always agreeable. Kneafsey (pronounced “neef-see”) is the solo project of Jimmy Drenovsky. Jimmy has been writing music for most of his life, with his output up until now coming exclusively from the band he co-founded in 2016, Motel Breakfast. While his work in Motel Breakfast focuses on full band compositions, Kneafsey songs draw more influence from the softer, lyric-forward singer-songwriter world, inspired by artists such as John Moreland, Sufjan Stevens, and Adrianne Lenker. Kneafsey’s debut album, due out sometime in 2024, compiles a group of songs about love, loss, and friendships written over the past 7 years. No Lonesome is a Chicago DIY project. Their folk pop leanings are both raw and polished.
Bled Tape, Mr. Softheart, Gerfety
Bled Tape is the solo recording project and occasional live band of Francis Shannon since 2015. Manic and unpredictable indie rock with noise elements and experimental flourishes in abundance. Named an “Artist to Watch in 2024” by Iowa Public Radio, Mr. Softheart has drawn comparisons to Suicide, Viagra Boys, Nick Cave, LCD Soundsystem, and The Cramps. Their sound blends post-punk, new wave, dance, and experimental elements, culminating in a setlist of “moody meditations” centered around lead singer Nick Fisher’s wry poetics and arch stage persona. Gerfety describes themselves as Chicago 3-piece Shadow Rock.
SADNESS, VAELASTRASZ, ARDENTE
Ardente (Lila Starless) is epic black metal in the vein of classic french bands and this will be an exclusive North American Black Metal performance NOT TO BE MISSED! Sadness play blackgaze, emo, shoegaze inspired songs Vaelastrasz is Dungeon Synth project from Azeroth-by-way-of-Virginia that performs loop-based dark ambient music and drone.
Stander, Genital Shame, NÜDE
Stander is a Chicago trio testing the boundaries of heavy music, infusing their penchants for improvising and dynamic, narrative songwriting into music both tense and cathartic. Genital Shame, experimental black metal from Pittsburgh, PA is the one-person project of Erin Dawson. NÜDE is an experimental duo composed of Chicago-bred musicians Ruby Lucinda and Luke Clohisy. Both multi-instrumentalists, Lucinda and Clohisy write music that pulls from indie rock, drone, no wave, and grunge. The duo seeks to write honest music, about what feels like to be home— comforts and complications alike.
Dildox, More Ephemerol, Clubdrugs, Ghost Days
Dildox is a dynamic dance punk duo from Los Angeles that ignites stages with their electrifying energy and boundary-pushing music. They fearlessly explore new sonic territories, pushing the boundaries of what dance music can be. Get ready to dance, rebel, and embrace the chaos with Dildox.More Ephemerol is a dark synth pop duo from L.A. riding a fine line between new wave, minimal wave, and body music.Clubdrugs is a 2 piece goth-pop band from Chicago.Ghost Days is the solo project of Chicago based musician, Alessia Kato. Blending elements of dream pop, post-punk, goth and shoegaze, Ghost Days is a sonic exploration through the dreamscape, leaving behind fragments of nostalgia, bittersweet memories, and the unknown.