Interview: 8123 Fest Preview

8123

8123 Fest, the music festival curated by Arizona rock band The Maine, is making its highly anticipated return in January 2025. For the first time ever, the festival will span two full days, packed with incredible performances, exclusive events, and more. Taking place at the Mesa Amphitheater on January 17–18 2025, the festival offers a celebration of music, nostalgia, and community that fans won’t want to miss.

To highlight everything that is taking place during this two-day festival, I thought it would be cool to connect with some of the bands who would be performing. In this article, I have interviews with members of The Maine, Real Friends, and Bad Suns. Each of the bands I interviewed shared what the 8123 Fest means to them, the new music they are working on, as well as what fans can look forward to from their bands in the new year. 8123 Fest tickets are on sale here.

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Review: Lauren Mayberry – Vicious Creature

Lauren Mayberry - Vicious Creature

Albert Einstein once said, “A ship is always safe at the shore, but that is not what it is built for.” Lauren Mayberry takes a brave step forward on Vicious Creature, the debut solo project from the front-woman of CHVRCHES that features a fun mix of pop anthems filled with thoughtful lyrics and great beats. Mayberry mentioned in a Rolling Stone interview leading up to their release of this record that, “So much of this process has been an exercise in empowering myself to listen to my own intuition — something I really trained myself out of. That’s ultimately why you start making things — because you felt a feeling, and you wanted to articulate that somehow. I think it was important for me to relearn that kind of independence, and recognize what I bring to any table I choose to sit at.” By crafting an album different than what she has grown accustomed to creating with her bandmates, Mayberry solidifies herself as someone willing to take creative risks to grow as an artist.

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Review: Bush – Sixteen Stone

The 6x Platinum debut by English rock band, Bush, is getting a comprehensive vinyl reissue today in honor of Sixteen Stone’s 30th anniversary. You probably know the hits by heart. “Everything Zen,” “Little Things,” “Comedown,” “Machinehead” and “Glycerine” were the five massive singles released from this album that still stand the test of time today. The album was recorded at Westside Studios, London with producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, and marked the breakthrough of legendary Alt Rock frontman, Gavin Rossdale. Through his gritty vocal performance throughout Sixteen Stone, Rossdale captivated audiences far and wide on this record that if you didn’t own it yourself, you likely knew someone nearby who did. Bush had recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of Sixteen Stone with a comprehensive Greatest Hits tour that coincided with a singles compilation and put their decades-long career back into focus.

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Interview: Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy

Fall Out Boy

On Thursday, May 4th I was able to sit down with Pete Wentz before Fall Out Boy’s sold out show at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD. I was able to ask some follow-up questions to Part One1 of our ABSOLUTExclusive interview with him as well as address some things that we and you felt were missing from that series of questions. Once again, I’d like to thank Pete for taking an hour out of his hectic schedule to do this. I’d also like to thank Fall Out Boy’s tour manager, Dan Suh, for making sure everything ran smoothly. Hope you enjoy…

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Conor Oberst and Waxahatchee Talk Songwriting Tips

Bright Eyes

Conor Oberst and Waxahatchee trade songwriting tips in a new interview over at Consequence:

Crutchfield: That’s pretty much exactly how I do it. It takes me so long to write lyrics, so I collect all of these vocal melodies and just sort of have them in my back pocket. When I finally sit down to write words, it’s like the most painful and torturous process, and it takes so long.

Oberst: Not to butter your bread, but your melodies are always so incredible. And then to have that with the amazing lyrics and your voice is insane. Total package over there. I feel like the lyric writing is the easiest thing for me. Do you ever write something that you’re stoked about, and then you realize that it’s already a song?