Fruit LoOops, Stander, Trash Dot Com, Dusty Turrets
Fruit LoOops is the current flagship art-punk/no-wave/demented dance pop band of the Midwest. Combining manic live and digital percussion, frazzled keyboards, unhinged vocals, and theatrical performance art, they have made a name for themselves by creating a live show experience you must see to believe. Winding together compositions that are fluid, dynamic and new, the Chicago-based trio STANDER forges their eclectic inspirations with a deep emotional core. Collapsing, their 2nd LP on The Garrote, finds Stander pushing deep into vocal/lyrical territory this time, with lead vocals by Mike Boyd (guitar) and Stephen Waller (drums) as well as guest vocals by Erin Dawson (Genital Shame), Dylan Walker (Full of Hell) and John Kerr (Pyrithe). Additional instrumentation by Mathieu Ball (BIG|BRAVE) and Patrick Shiroishi. Trash Dot Com play wacky trashy noise rock from Chicago! Dusty Turrets hails from the depths of Chicago’s DIY scene. They have cultivated their own original sound and songs stemming from a mutual interest in metal. Emboldened and with much versatility, Dusty Turrets is tapped into their wild side, charged with grit and ferocity. Their music communicates moments of angst, desire, feminine rage, social withdrawal, self-preservation, and reflections of nature. Their recent work features collaborations with Marvin Tate.
Burned or Buried, Burndy, Mark Solotroff
Burned or Buried melds styles of Detroit garage rock and angular Chicago Rock. Heavy noise rock. Members of Chapstik, The Meatmen, Quatre Tête, Landos 45 and Tight Night. BURNDY is an all-female Chicago-based trio that fuses industrial, noise, and post-punk into their own indescribable genre. MARK SOLOTROFF‘s artwork and music focus on the development of cities, the human body’s navigation through urban environments, and interpersonal interactions, particularly in an age of digital fragmentation. As the vocalist of the doom band Anatomy Of Habit and the heavy electronic band BLOODYMINDED, and the founder of the early post-industrial band Intrinsic Action, SOLOTROFF has a longstanding presence in the underground music world. With over forty years of experience playing analog synthesizer, his synth work has been central to BLOODYMINDED and Intrinsic Action. Under the name Super Eight Loop, he recorded and released one-hundred hours of lo-fi analog synth music. His synth is also an element of the dark-ambient group Nightmares and the Milan-based post-industrial trio Ensemble Sacrés Garçons. In 2024, SOLOTROFF cofounded the synth-driven duo The Mercury Impulse with JR Robinson of Wrekmeister Harmonies, releasing their debut album, Records Of Human Behavior, that August.SOLOTROFF has collaborated with numerous bands, contributing synth and/or vocals. His relationships range from a four-year role in Wrekmeister Harmonies to live appearances and studio recordings with artists and bands including The Atlas Moth, Azar Swan, Brutal Truth, Consumer Electronics, Indian, Locrian, Plague Bringer, Sigillum S, The Sodality, Sshe Retina Stimulants, and Wilt. His synth work is also featured in remixes for The Body, Statiqbloom, and Snow Burial.As a solo artist, SOLOTROFF continues to focus on tenebrous analog synth music. His bass-heavy soundscapes have been described as unsettling to some and calming to others, serving as soundtracks for navigating metropolitan terrains. Starting in 2017, he released a series of recordings as limited-edition cassettes, later compiled into three 2xCD sets titled Strategic Planning. SOLOTROFF has since released the solo album You May Be Holding Back (2020), followed by Not Everybody Makes It (2021). These albums reflect on themes of isolation and loss, accompanied by self-published books featuring urban and architectural photographs that expand upon the albums’ imagery. In late 2022, he released a 2xCD set, Return To Oneself, compiling a series of digital singles and a previously unreleased long-form synth piece. SOLOTROFF released Today The Infinite, Tomorrow Zero in 2023, which he considered his most developed recording to date. His new album, In Search of Total Placelessness, will be released in April 2025.
Strength By Conviction, Barren Heir, Wrath Hammer, Through N Through
SBC is a hardcore band that was active in the early 2000’s. This will be our first show back in 14 years. Barren Heir are 3-piece atmosludge. Recommend being under the influence for maximum satisfaction. Wrath Hammer is a Cross Over Thrash Metal band from Portage, IN. They carry their own flag under the Cross Over banner while bringing inspirations from Heavy Metal, Hardcore, Thrash & Death Metal into their sound. Through N Through is a metal and hardcore band hailing from Chicago’s South Side neighborhood of Little Village. Formed in 2014, their music reflects the culture, social unrest, and street politics of their community. Through N Through’s sound is a fusion of hardcore punk and heavy metal, characterized by thick guitar tones, crushing palm-muted riffs, and intense drumming. While they identify primarily as a hardcore band, they acknowledge significant metal influences in their style. This blend of genres reflects their diverse musical backgrounds and the cultural richness of their Little Village neighborhood.
Woes (pop-up set)
send off Woes to SXSW with a pop-up performance FREE
Cocojoey, Insula Iscariot, Embrasa, Bliss Cemetery
Cocojoey is a Chicago-based producer and performer who operates within a unique blend of digital hardcore and digital fusion genres. Their 2022 album “COCOJOEY’S WORLD” features kaleidoscopic harmony, virtuosic keyboard shredding, and densely orchestrated electronic layers wielded in the pursuit of finding joy and self-acceptance.Known for highly energetic performances, Cocojoey has quickly become a local mainstay. In addition to 50 shows across the US in 2024, they have recently performed alongside artists such as HEALTH, Author&Punisher, Bubblegum Octopus, Lauren Bousfield, Bejalvin, and Fraxiom. Insula Iscariot is an audiovisual artist and producer based in Madison, WI who draws inspiration from the worlds of industrial, dance, and noise. Their work consists of dissonant synths and infested basslines, broken up by demolishing drums. All of this being a catalyst for their anxious whispers and screams to deliver a stark feeling of dread and desperation.Insula’s ever-mutating performances have included painting, destruction, and audience collaboration. They have previously only played in Madison and the west coast, but are now on tour in parts of the Midwest in the wake of their debut album. Embrasa is an art project situated in the space between Industrial, Noise, Pop, Metal, Contemporary Classical Music, and Dance. It’s ever-evolving group of core collaborators help bring to life large multi-disciplinary projects – ranging from simple and confrontational live solo performances and albums, to experimental theatre, books, sculptures, candles, perfumes, and whatever else might be called for. Bliss Cemetery lies somewhere between the sounds of teen suicide and machine girl. Heavily inspired by incorporating electronic music with instruments and cassette warping. The bliss cemetery concept is that, its a state of mind or a place in which the human experience is looked back on for all its serenity and lack there of.
Winter Lantern, Mortlach, Amon Lanc
Winter Lantern is freezing old school vampire black metal from north carolina, Evil and melancholy sounds from the USBM underground Mortlach is dark dungeon synth from an old count who wanders the ruins of an old castle. Evoking feelings of adventure, suspense and horror, Mortlach’s music takes you deep into the castle dungeons where who knows what you’ll find… Amon Lanc play dark dungeon synth hailing from Indianapolis, Indiana
Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, Yoko Homo, Goose Harrington
Aesthetically, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat hates to tread water. At the same time, the Baltimore-based two-piece of vocalist Ed Schrader and bassist Devlin Rice won’t force their songs to fit a preconceived style. “The next album’s always gotta be different from the last one. We’re different people from record to record. So, writing authentically to ourselves will always bring our work to a place that we haven’t been to yet,” Rice said. Schrader added, “We’re terrified of turning into AC/DC. We never want to be married to one scene or time or sound. We want to be the Boba Fett of bands! Constantly altering the way in which we make records has been pretty key in that process.”For Orchestra Hits, the band’s latest, that alteration was welcoming longtime musical comrade Dylan Going into the fold as a co-writer and co-producer. A songwriter in his own right, a guitar sideman for ESMB on their last two tours, and a collaborate with Rice in the noise riffage band Mandate, Going had both a unique vision and an intimate familiarity with the ESMB vibe.Goose Harrington is experimental electronic party music summoned from the sky to terrorize your local park. Honk. Yoko Homo is Cathartic Dancefloor Angst
Model Living, Home Entertainment, Torch the Hive
Model Living are a Chicago-based post-punk quartet formed in spring 2023. Their angular songwriting & urgent-yet-poetic lyricism seek to capture life in Your City (USA) & the ever-encroaching doom surrounding them. Guitarist Jay Martinez, drummer Nico Ciani, & bassist Matt Ciani create a hazy backdrop of repetition & tension for vocalist Geoff Daniels’ frantic depictions of a city ravaged by displacement, restaurant groups, & Exponential Growth. Torch the Hive is a spawn of antifacist pro mental riffy punk that punches you in the throat Also featuring Home Entertainment
96 Cougar, Jim the Kid, Beach Trash
96 Cougar plays a deep-fried blend of punk rock with heavy alt-country and psych influences, kind of like if Ween grew up covering the Minutemen. Their new album “Forklift Rodeo” comes out on cassette on March 7, 2025, via Already Dead Tapes and Records. Jim The Kid is a recording artist based in Chicago, whose unique brand of synthesizer and guitar fueled rock-‘n’-roll sounds familiar yet hard to place. With a large catalog of songs both loud and quiet, hard-hitting and sensitive, dancey yet contemplative, Jim The Kid thrives in experimentation and self-exploration. Joined on stage by The Painkillers, his live show is one that’s filled with dancing and high-energy performances played from the heart to give the audience a night they won’t forget. Jim The Kid & The Painkillers are Jimmy Clarke on guitar and vocals, Victor Kamhazi on guitar, synthesizers and backup vocals, Tommy Nelson on bass, and Ranan Vales on drums. From deep within the Okefenokee swamp arrives Jacksonville Florida’s most sinister crime syndicate: Beach Trash is a progressive metal wrecking crew, armed and dangerous packing riffs, cheap beer, and just a little bit of LSD. Loud, sweaty, and unapologetically wild, they’re here to melt faces and crash on the couch.
Creature Fight, Quinine, Blous3, Universal Automation
Creature Fight is a Chicago post rock band who describes themselves as good music for moody people Quinine is a rock band from Sacramento formed in 2023. Taking an influence from early diy 90s alternative, the band has created a nostalgic sound that has a chaotic twistThey’re debut LP is being released in conjuction with the tour on Julias War and Cherub Dream records Blous3 is a Sacramento noise rock art-punk whatever band. Formed in 2021, Blous3 is chaotic and jagged in the best way. UNIVERSAL AUTOMATION is a DIY supergroup made up of the best songwriters in Chicago. Unofficially backed by the Teamsters, they only accept gigs at premier events where the drinks are flowing and the vibes are immaculate. Dependent on said vibes, they seamlessly drift between genres to deliver a once in a lifetime performance.