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New Album Release: The Dune Flowers

November 22, 2019– Nashville natives, The Dune Flowers released their highly anticipated sophomore album today, and we couldn’t be more excited. We first met The Dune Flowers when they played our music festival, Hyp-Fest, in September. We had the chance to interview Oscar Lars and Tyler Drager of The Dune Flowers, and discuss everything about their newest self-titled album, The Dune Flowers.

How is this album different from anything else that you have released?

Oscar: We could focus on it as an album, a collection. It also sounds more alive, which I think is cool.

Tyler: In the studio, it was really fun. We were able to record to just play drums and bass at the same time. We were able to feel it out more, which was way different from what we did before.

Oscar: The old songs were written just for the album, with these we kind of just came up with them, because we liked them, not just for an album.

Tyler: We also sound more ourselves in this. In the one before, we were trying to sound like something we didn’t really know what it was. We honed in a little bit more and we sound like how we would play like in a living room.

What was the process of making this album?

Oscar: Over the last year, we started piecing together, starting with the demos, putting those together and then slowly layering them until the last two months, when we got a lot of the final tracks finished.

Tyler: I definitely feel like all the songs grew over the past year and a half. The song “She’s Wild” was written two years ago and we didn’t have time to put it on the first album, so know it’s on the second one and it’s grown over time. We start writing songs and they coincidentally fit together, rather than the first one [album]. We had them [songs] and we started to record them how we play them live.

Oscar: It gave us time to practice them. We would play the first album, play the songs for a little bit, kept putting in the new ones, we just got the chance to play them a bunch.

Tyler: We went into it as “Alright, we have these cords, let’s try to figure out how to make the rest of the song.” but with these we went in and recorded the entire song in one day. The process was a little weird because we recorded the drums, guitar, bass, and vocals in the studio and then we would come back to my house and record stuff there, and then we would go back to the studio and mix it. It was a lot of back and forth between the studio and our house.

Oscar: It felt like there was always a different spot.

Where did you find inspiration when writing these songs?

Tyler: Everyone always says that it [inspiration] comes from your daily life and I feel that that is true but also there’s love, there’s hate, there’s feelings like that in songs. Oscar would write a really crazy song and I would be like “Oh man, I got to write a really crazy song too, because Oscar’s song rips! I’ve got to write one just as good as that!” I feel like there was a lot of balancing off each other too to write songs.

Tyler: With a couple of them [songs] too, we would just be jamming and practicing for a show and warming up and we would come up with songs. It just came out of nowhere. We weren’t setting out to write a bunch of songs for an album, it was like they came over time and I feel that that helped a lot because we got to pick and choose what songs we wanted and didn’t want on the album.

Oscar: I feel like we beat around the bush with that, but I feel that”s the best way to do it.

Tyler: My musical inspirations for the first couple of songs that we wrote, were the Southern California rock bands like, The Growlers, Allah-Las, and Mystic Braves. I was really into Twin Peaks and the “garage sound”. That influenced me a lot as far as how everything sounds. Oscar has been playing a lot of piano, there are two new tracks where he plays the piano.

Oscar: Playing the piano has definitely been a big inspiration of mine. Writing on the piano is a whole different story.

How would you describe your music/this album to someone who has never listened to you before?

Oscar: Well there’s fourteen [songs] to pick from so if you don’t like one, you’ve got thirteen others to choose from.

Tyler: I feel like all the songs are different from each other, they’re a little Western, they’re a little psychedelic, they’re a little rock and roll, and they’re a little garage-y. We wanted to make a rock and roll album, but there are influences from all the other music we listen to. It’s a new rock and roll.

What message do you want to convey to our readers about this new album?

Oscar: I’m not trying to say that there’s this big sound change or anything like that, but take the album for the songs, not the genre.

Tyler: I feel like there’s so much clutter in the music world, like people wanting to be on the radio. There’s nothing wrong with that, but on this [the album], we set out to make something we hope to be listened to in 10, 15 years. I don’t know if that sounds pretentious, but I want it to stick around. We just want to do our own thing and we hope the people really like it.

Oscar: I want them to know that we appreciate the beauty in simplicity.

Final Thoughts

We highly recommend turning this album on full blast and dancing around to it in your kitchen. The Dune Flowers’ rock-and-roll tunes will have you jumping out of your seat and dancing all night long. We’re so glad that we had the chance to get some insight on the process of this ‘new age’ rock album.

You can now stream the album on all music platforms, and follow their Instagram account (@theduneflowers) to stay up to date on all their releases and upcoming shows.

A Hypnotic Hangout: Shane T

A warm welcome to: holy nights, bad advice

First and foremost we would like to congratulate Shane T on the release of his highly anticipated EP, and all of its success thus far. Holy Nights, Bad Advice is certainly a game changer for the “Simple Man” artist. You get a sense of his true emotions, and the music behind it contibutes to a dream-like sensation that you feel upon listening.

After a small house show that he threw in his welcoming home in Nashville, TN we had the opportunity to interview him about his music and song writing process.

‘Wasting Time’

It is evident that the “Afterhours” artist knows how to write a good song, but just how it happens makes it all the more meaningful. His process varies, from coming up with a riff and playing it over and over to the lyrics coming to him after the core riffs of the song. Sometimes, his songs happen by accident and he went on to say, “Sometimes I’ll make a mistake and I’ll actually end up liking the way it sounds, so I build off of that”.

When it comes to the message of his songs, he never goes into it with an idea it typically just comes to him naturally. When he is finished writing, the meaning presents itself.

The inspiration behind Toriscelli’s latest EP came from a lot of different things. “A lot of it was inspired by relationship stuff, graduating and moving to a new city, and a huge portion came from films” he laughed and went on to say, “I mean I’m still inspired by movies I just don’t have access to MoviePass anymore”.

When asked about his most meaningful song that he has ever written, he smiled and answered, “It’s honestly always changing. I’ll release a song and then it doesn’t feel like it’s mine anymore. For the EP it’s probably the title track, “Holy Nights, Bad Advice”, because of the lyrics and the feel about it. It is a really serendipitous sound, and those are the ones I typically cling to the most”.

“These sins ain’t Sins They’re Friends Of Mine”

Torescelli eludes to religion in the majority of his songs. This is a topic many artists feel is taboo, but for the “Decline” artist, it is something he feels strongly about. Growing up, he was raised as a Christian, but his parents were always open and honest about their beliefs and doubts.

Torescelli opened up and spoke on this matter, saying, “When I went to college, I was still heavily involved in the church for a year and a half, and then I took a religion course and realized how small these bubbles were and how closed off the thinking was about what people had taught me growing up”.

So when it comes to his music he said, “A lot of what comes out in my songs is realizing that two-sided nature of growing up Christian and not knowing the other side of things. I was always taught what we [Christians] think is right, and everyone who disagrees is wrong and I just never listened to the other perspective”.

He is accepting of his upbringing, and uses it as inspiration for his songs and he went on to say, “I’m not in a separationist mindset, where I want to push all that [religion] away, it’s just framing it in a very different way than what I grew up thinking it should be framed like”.

Desert Island Bands

It didn’t take much time for the “Apartment Dream” singer to pick his ‘desert island’ bands/artist, but he meticulously chose the following;

David Bowie
Blink-182
Tyler, The Creator

Final Thoughts

This Nashville native is bringing something new to the music scene; Shane T is a musician who isn’t afraid to take risks when it comes to his powerful lyrics and melodic tones. His newest release represents his ability to shift between sounds.

He wants his listeners to be able to take away different meanings from his lyrics and relate to them in a way that fits for them, he went on to explain, “I want them [listeners] to use their own unique experiences and take away what they will from that”.

You can find Shane T on all streaming services and keep up with him on Instagram: @shanetonline.

Best Friends Forever

Hey guys! This blog post is going to be all about our friendship, how we met, and the fresh matching tattoos we got last night!

Where It All Began

Jenna and I (Britt) met in the later half of eighth grade. I had just moved to South Carolina from Florida and I had a hard time making friends with people who had similar interests as me. In February, Ed Sheeran played a super low-grade concert. We both went to the same concert but had no idea that the other was there. The next day at school we both wore our new concert merch. I was at my locker when Jenna came up behind me. “You went to the Ed Sheeran show last night?” “Yeah! I love him!” “Me too! What’s your favorite song by him?” “Oh definitely ‘You Need Me I Don’t Need You’.” “Oh my god, that’s my favorite song by him! I’m Jenna by the way!” “No way, that’s so cool! I’m Brittany!” And a friendship was born.
Jenna invited me to sit with her and some of her friends at lunch, and we have been inseparable ever since. When high school started, Jenna moved to a different part of the state and we were separated for a year and a half. During that time, we both became closer to other friends and lived our lives apart. During sophomore year, we all heard the news that Jenna was moving back. I’m not going to lie, I felt nervous because I didn’t know how much had changed between us while we were apart. But it felt like we picked up right where we had left off.

Twitches

As the years carried on, we grew closer and realized that we were similar in so many ways. During junior and senior year, people referred to us as twins and we went everywhere with each other. Around this time we started noticing wild stuff, like we would show up to school wearing the same exact outfit without planning it, we would say the same thing at the same time, we would guess what the other was thinking, etc. So naturally we became mesmerized with learning about all things new age (astrology, dreams, fortune telling). We came up with this weird handshake-type thing for whenever we would have one of these revelations. We would touch our fingers together and make a “Zzz” sound, which signified electricity or a bolt of lightning passing between us. We did this often enough that people at school were used to this strange habit.
Jenna moved 14 hours away for college and it was a miserable time for the both of us. It sounds crazy but I felt like I was missing a part of myself. We would facetime everyday but it wasn’t the same. Jenna realized that she missed home too much and moved back down to South Carolina permanently.

New Year, New Tattoos

A couple days ago, we were at a New Year’s Eve party. We were drunk, sitting on a couch in the basement, when we started reflecting on the past years of our friendship. We both agreed that we have had friends throughout our life but no one that we really considered a best friend, until we found each other. We started laughing and crying, thinking about how lucky and grateful we are to have each other. I know that this may sound cheesy but I wholeheartedly believe that the universe tied us together. I moved up to South Carolina for a reason, and Jenna was that reason. There has been multiple times when we have been separated, but we keep getting pulled back to each other.
Now since high school we have been planning on getting matching tattoos. I don’t really know what was holding us back from getting them for so long but last night, we went to dinner and called up every tattoo shop in the area to see if they could squeeze us in. It wouldn’t be a Jenna and Britt adventure if it wasn’t completely spontaneous now would it? We found a shop that would take us and got these bad boys!

Gemini Rising- Twins for Life

These tattoos symbolize our everlasting friendship, our synchronicity, and this blog. Our friendship was created because of music and it’s crazy to think that 7 years later, we would create our own music blog and go to the wildest concerts. There is no one else that I would rather experience those things with. Here’s to more concerts, more adventures, and many more years of friendship!

All the love, Britt and Jen

Not an ‘Ordinary Day’

Cheeto Dust

The Districts are a strong opener for Hippo Campus, and they make quite the impression. They’re sound makes you want to get in your car and drive to the mountains. We were introduced to them on October 15, at the Orange Peel in Asheville, NC.
Before the concert, we weren’t sure who was opening for Hippo Campus. Most people don’t really care about the opener, but we take it as an opportunity to listen to new music. We never expected to love the band this much, though.
When they first started their set, there was a couple in front of us that were solely there for The Districts. So, we thought they must be good enough to have a fan base all the way in North Carolina. We were surprised when everyone in the venue was dancing and jumping up and down during their set. They truly put their heart and soul into their performance, and shows when everyone next to you is in awe of their music.
After the show, we walked over to the merch table to get some HC memorabilia. We saw a small table for The Districts and headed over there to check them out. A tall guy was standing behind the table. I (Jen) saw a small orange vinyl signed with silver sharpie. I contemplated before looking up at the guy and asking how much it was.
He laughed and stated, “Ten dollars! But I won’t sell you that one because I was eating Cheetos earlier, and got the Cheeto dust on it.”
For some reason that was all the more reason to purchase one. So, I left happily with a t-shirt and the vinyl.

Brown Paper Bag Set Lists

Fast forward two weeks, and we were on our way to the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina. We had spent the majority of those two weeks learning more and more about The Districts, and falling in love with their music.
We knew Long Distance and Ordinary Day by heart, and we were determined to shout the lyrics out while they were performing.
When we arrived in Carrboro, we were looking for parking when we saw Rob, Pat, and Braden casually walking down the street. We waved to them, Rob looked confused that we knew who he was. Which, obviously made us feel connected to them. I (Jen) waved to Rob again, when were sitting down to with the rest of the VIP people.
Again, they played an incredible show. Us and the people around us were rocking out to their set. The guy next to us leaned over and told us that he loved their sound, and how cool he thought their performance was. After, their performance, their lead guitarist handed me (Jen) a set list that was written on a torn up piece of a brown paper bag. The keyboard player hopped off the stage to hand Britt a set list too. We then proceeded to tell him how much we loved his black and white checkered pants. We knew that after the show we wanted to meet them in and get to know them. So, we did just that.
We walked passed the Hippo Campus merch and made our way over to the same guy we met in Asheville. He greeted us, and Britt asked for the same vinyl I had purchased last time. We then asked if he remembered telling us that he got Cheeto dust on the vinyl.
His eyes widened and laughed, “I was just thinking about the other day! That was such a funny joke, well not joke but story”. We laughed with him, and then they asked where we were from. We explained that we had driven four hours to see them this time, but only an hour to see them in Asheville.
He was shocked that we had traveled so far to see them again, and then introduced him self by shaking my (Jen’s) hand. “I’m Keondre, by the way,” he said with a smile.
We introduced ourselves, and then Keondre gestured to some people next to us, “We have two show comers, guys”. We look next to us, and their lead guitarist and bass player are standing in the corner. They turn to us in shock, and we explain again where we’re from and how far we had traveled to see them both times. They seemed like they were in awe of how dedicated we were. They introduced themselves as Pat and Connor.
They were more than happy to take pictures with us, and hold a long conversation about the small 15 person van they travel in. We explained to them how much we enjoyed their set, and how awesome their music is. Pat, Connor, and Keondre tried to persuade us to go to their show that they were playing again at the same venue.
We walked outside with a feeling of fulfillment. We had just had full on conversations with both bands that day, and we could not have been happier. I think the realization of them just being human beings hit us as we were holding these long conversations with them.
We headed around the the front of Cat’s Cradle where a crowd waited for Hippo Campus to come outside. But, we weren’t waiting for them, mainly because we had already gotten the chance to meet them. We were waiting for the rest of The Districts to come outside so that we could meet the rest of the band members. This was probably the best decision we have ever made, because sure enough we waved to Keondre and motioned for him to bring the rest of them to us.
A big shout out to Keondre, for being the sweetest soul and rounding them all up to introduce us. They all made their way over to where we were standing. They were quick to tell us that Keondre had told them how far we had traveled and that we saw them in Asheville too. We shook Rob and Braden’s hands and introduced ourselves to them. We got a picture and then talked with them about their January tour in the Northeast.
We said our goodbyes and turned away to walk back to the parking garage where we had parked. As we past the crowd of people, they stared at us as if we had just done something insane.
What’s so crazy to us is that, people see these bands as props or untouchable. But, the truth is most of them just want to be treated like people. And if you allow yourself to break from that stigma, you end up meeting really cool people, who just so happen to make cool ass music.

Late Night Korean BBQ

We spent Halloween listening to their music and crying because we weren’t able to go to the second show. We obviously wanted to see Hippo Campus again but we really wanted to hangout with The Districts and see them live again.
The next night we were both at our houses, separated for the first time in a week. I (Jen) was on Instagram when I saw on their band’s food account (@thefinediningdistricts), that they were looking for places to eat… in our freaking town. Out of all the places they could have stopped, they stopped in our town to eat. I slid over to the next story and saw that they were at the Korean Barbecue place next to where we had gotten out tattoos.
I (Jen) immediately called Britt to tell her the news. We were both in shock, and I tried convincing her for an hour to get up and go meet up with them, but at this point we were both in bed. I had my acne cream on my face with wet pig tail braids, soaking the top of my sleep shirt, and Britt had her retainer in. Both of us agreed we were in no shape to get in a car and drive to this place to meet them. What would we even say? How weird would that seem if we just showed up?
We still kind of regret not getting up and going, but if we did we wouldn’t have gotten the idea to start this blog.

As always, stay groovy! Catch ya later!

All the love, Britt and Jen

Sometimes I Call It a Tuesday

The concert that sparked tattoos?

We think that our first official post should be the night that inspired us to create this blog, and that would be the night that we met and saw Hippo Campus live. The whole week that these events took place was guided completely by the universe.
This story begins on October 15th… We had GA tickets to see Hippo Campus at the Orange Peel in Asheville. We left school and work and made the drive up to North Carolina. On the way, we listened to our mix of Hippo Campus and true crime podcasts. Keep in mind that we weren’t avid listeners of HC.
When we reached the venue, we got in line and managed to get a spot right near the left part of the stage. The openers (The Districts) performed (more to come on them in later posts) and shortly after, Hippo Campus made their way to the stage.
They opened with Bambi and the entire crowd went wild. This show was pure magic. They played through their setlist and after the concert, we left with a feeling of absolute excitement and happiness.
Fast forward to a couple days later. We had become OBSESSED with Hippo Campus and were experiencing post-concert blues. We had concluded that that was the best concert we had been to and were seriously missing it. We had a sleepover later that night and as we were scrolling through Instagram, Jenna looked up and said: “Yo, what if we got tattoos for Hippo Campus?” I just looked up at her and laughed “That would be really funny!” But then, we got that look in our eyes that said that we weren’t joking. The next day we made tattoo appointments…
We had already figured out what tattoos we wanted but I (Britt) was deciding what font I wanted to get it in. I searched on Google for any of the members handwriting and I found myself looking through their Twitter account. As I was scrolling, I clicked on a picture of their tour dates, just curious as to see what other places they were traveling to. As I was scanning the dates, my eyes fell upon another North Carolina show! What are the odds that they would be coming back to play in North Carolina?! I immediately screenshotted it and sent it to Jenna. There was no doubt in our minds, we were going to this concert. As we went to buy the tickets, we realized that GA was sold out- the only option was to buy VIP. We bought the tickets and had a week to prepare for the best day of our lives.
We finally managed to make a tattoo appointment, the day right before the concert. After school, we met up at the tattoo shop and got these bad boys.

Meet and Greet and Yoga

Monday night (the day before the concert), we posted these pictures on Twitter and wished each other sweet dreams.
We woke up on Tuesday morning around 9am to discover that Zach @espocampus and Decarlo @decarlojackson from Hippo Campus had liked our tweet! We showered and got ready for the day. The concert was in Carborro which is about a four- hour drive from us, so we got snacks from the gas station and hit the road around 12. The drive there was scenic and beautiful, we listened to a mix of The Districts, Hippo Campus (obviously) and the Lemonade Mouth soundtrack.
Fast forward to when we arrived at the venue. As we pulled in to Cat’s Cradle, we spotted Zach and Jake from Hippo Campus chilling outside on the sidewalk. As we drove down the street to find parking, we also saw some members of The Districts, Rob, Braden, and Pat walking along the sidewalk. We were PUMPED. We found parking and made our way to the venue.
After waiting outside for about 45 minutes, the doors opened for VIP and we were instructed to get a carpet square to prepare for the pre-show acoustic performance. We obviously got in the front row, and the boys came out. The very beautiful boys. They played three songs acoustically, the first one being Sula. Honestly, we were in such shock over their angelic voices, and the experience we were having that we didn’t even think to take out our phones until the second song. They played Tuesday next and Boyish last.
After the intimate set, we began to line up for the meet and greet. Jenna and I were in the middle of the line and noticed that everyone before us were just smiling and taking pictures with them, not really talking or having a conversation with them. I leaned over and told Jenna that we should stand at the back of the line, that way we can spend more time talking with them. We quietly crept around to the back and waited our turn.
When our time came, we hugged each of them and let me tell you, they give the greatest hugs!!! When we hugged Zach and Decarlo, we thanked them for liking our picture on Twitter. Zach said and I quote, “Oh yeah, those are f***ing dope!”
After we got our hugs in, they asked us what kind of pose we wanted to do and we looked at them and said: “We think we want to do like yoga poses?”. Keep in mind that EVERYONE before us was just smiling and posing normally. The responses we received were priceless; “Oh because we’re SO great at yoga!” and “I’m not flexible!”. I turned to Zach and said, “You can just stretch or bend or whatever, it’ll be fine!” And then he contorted his body in a way that I will never understand. Here are some pictures of the results:

I had laid my purse down to take the pictures, and as we were finishing up, Jake asked whose purse it was, and kind of guarding it. I raised my hand and Jenna and I walked over to him.
Somehow we got on the topic of height, specifically Nathan’s height. Jenna asked Jake how tall Nathan was and Jake said: “You can ask him if you want, he’s around here somewhere!” Before we turned to Nathan, I asked Jake how tall he was and for some reason, we spent at least 5 minutes discussing everyone’s height?
We turned to talk to Nathan as he was trotting away to go backstage and talked to him for a couple of minutes before he got bombarded by other people. We left the conversation feeling that we had made an impact on them. Mainly because we were the only ones there that treated them like regular people. Because you have to remember, that’s exactly what they are.
After the meet and greet, we had to wait outside for about 45 minutes before we could go back inside for the early entry. We made some friends outside and chatted about our favorite bands and who we had seen live.

Showtime

Let me just start off by saying that we have NEVER sweat or danced as much as we had at this concert. Hippo Campus has a way of making us want to shake our asses and jump up and down like maniacs! We were front and center with Nathan and Jake standing DIRECTLY in front of us! While we were at the concert, we realized that we weren’t really taking pictures or recording the songs. We were solely listening and dancing to the music. I think we were more preoccupied with living in the moment. We were truly experiencing the concert as it was happening, and not watching it through an iPhone screen. They put on a beautiful show (as always) and there were many times when we got teary-eyed because we realized the immense love that we have for this band.
At the end of every concert, Whistler throws his drumsticks into the crowd and we made it our mission to get one of those damn drumsticks. He had thrown one to the right side of the crowd and he was walking towards the side that we were standing on. I (Britt) looked that man dead in the eye, made eye contact with him and yelled: “YO WHISTLER OVER HERE!”. And that man tossed that drumstick right at us! (Whistler, if you’re reading this, we love you and thanks for the souvenir),

So needless to say, this day was full of surprises and excitement. Hippo Campus, thanks for putting on a bomb ass show(s) and creating an atmosphere that was so welcoming and energetic. We hope that we can see you again sometime in the near future. Thank you for allowing two best friends from a small town the opportunity to grow closer and rock the hell out!

“Sometimes they call it a Tuesday, sometimes I call it the best day of my life.”

As always, stay groovy!

All the love,

Britt and Jen

Howdy: An Introduction

Hey everyone! This post is our way of shaking your hand and inviting you into our lives. We look forward to sharing our experiences with you, and we hope you’ll stick around. So, here’s a little back story/about us.

Britt

Hey guys! I’m Brittany, but you can call me Britt. Here are some cool facts about me:

I’ve been a vegetarian for seven years. Which means I love animals, a lot.
My favorite song of all time is “Change” Blind Melon
The record that I listen to the most is David Bowie’s self-titled album.
My favorite animals are cows and rabbits.

Jen

What’s up guys! My name is Jenna, but most people call me Jen! Here are a couple of things about me:

I taught myself how to play ukulele, and I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember.
My all time favorite song is “Cathedrals” by Jump Little Children
The record that is always on heavy rotation for me is “Everything All the Time” by Band of Horses
I really and truly love orcas so much.

Our Friendship

We met in the eight grade, and the story is kind of funny. So, there had been an Ed Sheeran concert in the town over from us one night. This was back when Sheeran wasn’t a household name. Britt had just moved into our town, and didn’t have very many friends yet. So, the Friday after the concert Britt wore her concert merch to school. I (Jen), saw her and I introduced myself, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. We have the same taste in pretty much everything, and sometimes you can’t tell the two of us apart- we’re “brothers”.
The meaning behind our site’s name is simple, yet very complex. Hypnotic is from our psychedelic beliefs and practices. There’s a lot of truth to be said in a tarot card, and we live by that. Bolt is for the connection/bond in our friendship. We have always been in sync, from wearing the same outfit on accident, or thinking the same things, and sometimes having similar dreams.
We hope you’ll find friendship in us, and the bands that we’ll discuss in later posts. Catch ya later, stay groovy.