Infectious Magazine

Features News The Most Important Thing I've Learned

The Most Important Thing I’ve Learned: Creativity Is A Habit

September 12, 2018September 12, 2018 Louise Warren Lavender Sound, Louise Warren0 comment

I often think of my creativity as a relationship. There are ups and downs. There are seasons of my life where we spend every waking moment together, completely infatuated. Then there are times where seeing each other is like trying to plan a trip to Key West in the winter time. If you’re not familiar with this particular experience, the island has a tendency to book out months in advance. Though difficult to sort out the timing, it is still very worthwhile, so I hear! The same is true of…

Features Mental Health Matters News

Mental Health Matters: My Eyes are Up Here

September 12, 2018 Brandon Phillips (The Architects, Other Americans) Brandon Phillips and The Condition, Latenight Callers, mental health, mental health matters, of The Architects, other americans, Radar State0 comment

Here is something every artist with mental illness needs to hear: “You are not your disease.” Here are some things every artist with mental illness actually hears: “ Your disease is a value-multiplier and a central part of your personal brand.” – The Industry “Your disease is what makes you relatable and what makes your art beautiful/inspiring/authentic.” – The Marketplace Four years ago, while in the midst of a rather savage run of drug and alcohol abuse, I was witness to a “car vs. person” hit and run that involved…

Alternative Features New Discovery News Pop Punk Singer/Songwriter Unsigned Spotlight

Unsigned Spotlight: Latenightsinmycar (Pop-Punk/Acoustic)

September 7, 2018 Joe Ballard acoustic, chicago, infectious magazine, Latenightsinmycar, Michaela Kramer, pop punk, real friends, Taylor Merrick, unsigned spotlight0 comment

For many artists and fans alike, music isn’t just a source of pleasure – it’s also an essential release, a temporary escape from the world, an unfailingly loyal friend that’s always there to help you through life’s tougher moments. Like it’s personally reaching out to connect with the listener. Relatability and passion personified – that’s what you get from every last moment spent with Wheaton, IL pop-punk/acoustic act Latenightsinmycar. The band’s 2018 EP, titled Daydreams, deals in such intricacies as past relationships and dealing with loss but also the hope and…

Mental Health Matters News

Mental Health Matters: Before It’s Too Late

September 2, 2018September 4, 2018 Andrey Borzykin (Major Moment) chester bennington, linkin park, major moment, mental health, mental health awareness0 comment

I have to admit: I’ve been on the opposite side of the barricade. For many years, I mistakenly thought that depression and anxiety are not the real issues, that they’re made up by people who constantly whine and complain to attract some twisted form of attention, until I realized I was the one dealing with such issues on a daily basis. I would always get weird mood changes for as long as I can remember, it’s something I couldn’t explain, and something I got used to. Other people who are…

Alternative New Discovery News Pop Rock Unsigned Spotlight

Unsigned Spotlight: We Were Once (Alt Rock – North Carolina)

August 27, 2018 Joe Ballard alt-rock, battle of the bands, emery, Fireflight, flyleaf, Indie Vision Music, infectious magazine, norma jean, north carolina, paramore, phoenix, pop, punk, PVRIS, red, rock, unsigned spotlight, We Were Once0 comment

There are so many beauties in music. It transcends time. It transcends age. It transcends genre. It transcends language. It also transcends religion. Fayetteville, North Carolina’s We Were Once may be a Christian rock band at heart, but this is a band and sound I would highly recommend to any alt-rock fan regardless of your religious beliefs. We Were Once released their debut EP Piece By Piece in September 2014 and have made big waves throughout both their local rock scene and the Christian music scene, winning Rockshop’s Battle of…

Indie Live Reviews News Reviews Rock

REVIEW: The Gaslight Anthem Take Us Home One Last Time (Asbury Park, NJ)

August 23, 2018August 23, 2018 Lauren Kyle chuck ragan, jared hart, review, the '59 sound, the gaslight anthem, tour0 comment

Days into my Freshman year at a now defunct arts school thousands of miles away from home, I got dumped. Hard. Not only dumped, but replaced. Which, for an overly dramatic, heartbroken, homesick college co-ed, was just the worst thing ever. I wandered the mean streets of Chester, New Hampshire desperately searching for a place that felt like home to sit and lick my wounds. On one particularly cliche and dramatic night, I found myself wandering the graveyard alone. Laid flat on my back atop a quintessentially New England stone…

Alternative New Discovery News Rock Unsigned Spotlight

UNSIGNED SPOTLIGHT: Dreamhouse (Milwaukee Alt-Rock)

August 20, 2018August 20, 2018 Joe Ballard alessia cara, alt-rock, alternative, bloom, Dreamhouse, infectious magazine, milwaukee, pop, punk, the little mermaid, unsigned spotlight, zedd0 comment

You know that extremely rare but amazing feeling that comes when you hit play on a new band’s song and you realize about five seconds in that it’s love at first listen? In this edition of Unsigned Spotlight, we’re sharing the gold we struck upon finding Milwaukee alt-rock powerhouses Dreamhouse. With their own brand of soaring alternative rock with punk and pop undertones, Dreamhouse leave you in no doubt they’re here to stay with a sound that’s both highly refined and clearly defined. 2017 saw the band follow up their…

Album Reviews Alternative News Rock

Album Review: Blue October – ‘I Hope You’re Happy’

August 17, 2018August 17, 2018 Sarah Spohn 80s, blue october, Justin Furtenfeld, new album, new music, rock, synth, texas0 comment

“I hope you’re happy” is usually a snarky, slap-in-the-face retort, but for Texas band Blue October, it’s a genuine well wishing, and a genuinely fresh outlook. An outlook that for many years, has been dark, dismal, and yes — pure rock. The 2018 release of I Hope You’re Happy, via Up/Down Records, and leadsinger Justin Furstenfeld’s label, Brando Records, is out Aug.17. Sobriety sounds good on the often tumultuous Blue October soundscapes, although — it is a stark contrast to what many fans may be used to. Furstenfeld doesn’t label…

Alternative Folk New Discovery News Pop Punk Singer/Songwriter Unsigned Spotlight

UNSIGNED SPOTLIGHT: Secret Tree Fort

August 16, 2018 Joe Ballard acoustic, emo, pop punk, Secret Tree Fort, singer songwriter, Skyler Truth, Social Repose, willow0 comment

Standing out as an acoustic artist can be tricky. Some folks hear the term “acoustic” and immediately think slow guitar plucks, soft vocals, earnest lyrics, and that’s about it. Skyler Truth, aka Secret Tree Fort, blows that perception away with his special hybrid of raw acoustic emo and undeniable pop-punk catchiness that chills and thrills in equal measure. Secret Tree Fort’s 2018 EP, titled Willow, sees Truth pouring his deepest, often darkest emotions on the line for everyone to see and feel. These five songs are built on deeply introspective…

Interviews News

Warped Tour Interview 2018: Ice Nine Kills

August 12, 2018August 13, 2018 Angela Mastrogiacomo Chelsea Grin, enjoy your slay, every time i die, ice nine kills, interview, warped tour0 comment

(Photo credit: Fearless Records) (Interview answered by Justin deBlieck) You wrote “Enjoy Your Slay” after polling fans to ask if they’d prefer a song based off of The Shining or Psycho. I love that kind of fan inclusion! Not only that, but the song features vocals from the grandson of Stanley Kubrick, Sam Kubrick. Which again is just so above and beyond what most bands are doing. Did you have any inspiration for that kind of creativity and ambition or has that always been part of your vision? We’ve always felt…