EVERETT — Everett’s biggest music event is back this May and celebrating its 10th anniversary.
With more than 40 artists spanning a dozen genres, this year’s Fisherman’s Village Music Festival line up is stacked. Here’s a select few acts worth checking out:
Telehealth – pop, post-punk, synth and new wave
Telehealth by Mikayla Neves (photo provided)
DEVO, Stereolab, Talking Heads and Mort Garson fans may have just found their new favorite artist. Telehealth is a fresh addition to the Pacific Northwest’s music scene. The Seattle-based band crafts synth-heavy pop with nods to post-punk, Krautrock and new wave.
Before the band’s conception, lead singer and songwriter Alexander Attitude stopped making music to pursue architecture.
“I realized that the architectural practice has a strange proclivity to ‘save the world’ through the lens of design, but so often make things worse,” Attitude told The Herald. “All of these tech-driven, Utopian visions of a sustainable built environment were just a form of selling another product while knocking down our neighborhoods. Meanwhile developers and ‘decision makers’ continue to comfortably profit from this and further gain a political and financial stronghold over the rest of us.”
Attitude said the band’s debut album “Content Oscillator” is “an angular collection of songs that alleviate the modern challenge of ‘just trying to not suck’ in the green-washed, trash fire of a world we have built for ourselves.” Rather than being angry, Telehealth aims to embrace the absurd and contradictory nature of the world.
Telehealth will play at Black Lab Gallery at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, May 18.
King Youngblood – alt-pop and alt-rock
King Youngblood by Jen Vesp (photo provided)
Sonically, King Youngblood is an alternative rock band with heavy drums and guitar. But the band’s lead singer, Cameron Lavi-Jones, told The Herald their main goal is to connect with people in moments where they could use a reminder they’re not alone.
Lavi-Jones, 23, said the band was first conceptualized when he met cellist Chet Peterson and bassist Samy Garcia in middle school orchestra. Leaning on Seattle grunge and pulling from Foo Fighters, Soundgarden and System of a Down, King Youngblood has evolved into an alt-rock power house fronted by Lavi-Jones’ rich vocals and punchy hooks.
During live performances, Lavi-Jones said he loves channeling his energy into something unexpected.
“Be it something as simple as seeing what new solos we’ll improvise that night, what songs the crowd will resonate and sing back to us loudest,” Lavi-Jones said. “To something as big as seeing how far we can leap off of things around the stage or how much my guitar will light up in flames at the end of the set.”
King Youngblood wants to give people an opportunity to let loose and express themselves.
The band will be at the Night Market stage at 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 19.
Oblé Reed – alternative rap
Oblé Reed (photo provided)
Seattle based conscious pop rap artist and lyrical storyteller Oblé Reed wants to leave listeners with more than a catchy hook that follows them throughout the day.
Although reminiscent of Vince Staples, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Chance the Rapper, Reed didn’t grow-up listing to mainstream hip hop.
Growing up on contemporary Christian music and smooth jazz, he said his first interaction with hip hop was Christian rap artist Lecrae.
“My lyrics are born from my own experiences, but empowered by these artists that I grew up listening to speaking their truths,” he said.
His current project is heavily influenced by the Chicago hip hop scene and neo soul, listing Saba, Femdot, Smino and Reggie as inspirations. He even pulls from indie pop, which can be heard in the glittery guitar throughout his latest single “SK[I]NCARE,” an homage to self care, self love and healing.
Reed loves performing “BLACKKIDS” and “WHERETHEMONEYGROWS” live, but said he has a few unreleased songs on his set list that he cannot wait to bring to the festival.
Head to Lucky Dime at 8:15 p.m. Friday, May 19 to hear Reed’s set.
Sarah Shook & The Disarmers – alt-country and americana
Sarah Shook & The Disarmers by Rob-Schanz (photo provided)
Le d by the twangy vocals of singer-songwriter Sarah Shook, the North Carolina group gives good old traditional country and honky-tonk a modern alternative charge.
Shook brings an uncommon perspective to the genre as a non-binary, single parent, who grew up home schooled by Christian fundamentalists. Their music explores punk values, queer identity, sobriety and self destruction.
The band’s third album “Nightroamer” preserves their original sound but with a more liberating and hopeful lens. Shook told Rolling Stone the album is “very grounded” and “poised and self-aware and looking to the future.”
Shook’s favorite track from the record to play live is “If It’s Poison.” They told Rolling Stone the song “really gives [guitarist] Eric a chance to play with his fuzz pedal.”
Sarah Shook & The Disarmers will perform at APEX Art and Culture Center in King’s Hall at 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 19.
Cytrus – psychedelic funk, disco and electronic
King Youngblood by Jen Vesp (photo provided)
When Everett bands Bunk Foss and HopSol found themselves mixing in a shared rehearsal space, their chemistry was undeniable, Cytrus said on their website. The two groups fused and Cytrus, an eight-piece funk driven psychedelic powerhouse, was born.
Cytrus describes their sound as psychedelic powerfunk, which blends “infectious grooves with catchy melodies and soaring solo sections,” one of the band members, Jared Squires, told The Herald.
The band’s self-produced freshman album “Concentrate” released last October and was recorded in their Lynnwood studio. The record’s title track is their favorite to perform live. “It best encapsulates the genre0-bending characteristics that make us Cytrus. All while maintaining the through line of what’s important to us; groove,” Squires told The Herald.
Chris Butcher from Earshot Jazz called the album, “an amalgamation of funk, disco, hip-hop, hard rock, psychedelic and progressive music, all tied together under the bow of high-energy jazz.”
Jazz fans can check out the band’s set at the Night Market stage at 9:00 p.m. Friday, May 19.
Art Feynman – psychedelic pop and folktronica
Art Feynman by Aubrey Trinnaman (photo provided)
Art Feynman (AKA Luke Temple’s eccentric, animist, bucket hat wearing alter ego) blends psychedelic pop, folktronica and Afrobeat to create a sound he described to The Herald as “metallic island”.
Feynman’s latest album, “Half Price at 3:30,” released June 2020.
The record is full of moody auto-tuned ballads like “The Physical Life of Marilyn”— which happens to be one of Temple’s favorite songs to perform live — as well as high-tempo tracks, like “I’m Gonna Miss Your World”.
Pitchfork called “Not My Guy”— one of the album’s more bubbly tracks —” a prime example of Temple’s range as Art Feynman: a catchy, compact track that’s as fun and approachable as it is musically dexterous.”
Fans of Arthur Russell will appreciate the Temple’s bouncy composition and lovers of experimental indie music will have fun picking out his wide range of influences.
If you want to check out his set, head to Black Lab Gallery at 10:45 p.m. Friday, May 19.
Automatic – post-punk, minimal synth and indie rock
Automatic by Mike Daly (photo provided)
The post-punk trio Automatic met in Los Angeles’s DIY scene and formed in 2017.
With nods to Krautrock and trance, the members of Automatic described their sound to The Herald as “a bit sexy and a bit scary/floating through a dark tunnel.”
Automatic’s sophomore album “Excess” dropped last June and plays retro-futurism while preserving their post-punk roots. On their website, the band said they wanted the album to toe the line between the undone sound of ‘70s underground and the more manicured vibe of 80s corporate music. “Excess” was created out of necessity as a way to keep the band distracted and creative during the pandemic, the members of Automatic told The Herald.
“That fleeting moment when what was once cool quickly turned and became mainstream,” Automatic said. “All for the sake of consumerism.”
Automatic will be at Black Lab Gallery at 12:15 a.m. on Friday, May 19.
Flesh Produce – digital hardcore/indie electronic
Flesh Produce (photo provided)
Inspired by retro video games, noise rock and contemporary electronic music, Flesh Produce began as a way for Seattle-based producer and drummer Karl Fagerstom to make music without feeling bound by genre or a traditional sense of taste, he told The Herald.
After the addition of Myla Profitt’s melodic vocals and harsh screaming, the band morphed into the glitchy amalgamation of punk, hardcore, break-core and synthy electronic it is today.
Equal parts glitter and grime, Flesh Produce offers a raw, visceral musical experience fans of Death Grips, Machine Girl and experimental 2010s indie won’t want to miss.
Flesh Produce will be at Lucky Dime at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 20.
Spooky Mansion – surf rock, hip-hop, jazz and indie rock
Spooky Mansion by Ari Dixon (photo provided)
Melding surf rock, soul and jazz, Spooky Mansion’s laid back, yet danceable sound is led by Grayson Converse’s soulful vocals. The band members all live in the same Los Angeles house making music amongst the orange trees in their homemade backyard studio.
Spooky Mansion was initially inspired by the guitar-heavy lyrical melodies and complex arrangements of Modest Mouse and the Pixies, Converse told The Herald. From hip-hop to country rock, the band has played with a wide range of genres, but with their recent single releases, Converse wants to worry less about genre specifications.
“I think now I’m mostly just focused on making music that makes me smile and gets stuck in my head,” Converse said. “Each single is geared toward a slightly different attitude of the band—upbeat indie pop, darker rock, dance tropical vibes, old school Motown love—we’ll keep releasing them every couple of months to celebrate and represent all the different styles we love.”
Performing live is Converse’s favorite part about making music.
“I get to smile and joyfully express my musical thoughts with all my best friends while watching the people in the audience dance and move with excitement,” Converse said.
Spooky Mansion will be at Black Lab Gallery at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 20.
Dougie Poole – country and psychedelic pop
Dougie Poole by Bug Carrasco (photo provided)
Brooklyn-based Dougie Poole likes steal guitars, vocal harmonies and sounds that twang.
Outside of casually listening to The Chicks, Shania Twain and Willie Nelson, Poole told The Herald he didn’t explore country music until later in life.
“I studied short story writing for a bit, and I think that’s what ultimately inspired me to make country music of my own,” Poole said. “In many ways, it a type of music that is designed to carry and make space for words.”
The juxtaposition of classic country twang, modern subject matter and smooth synth makes Poole stand out in the genre.
His latest project, “The Rainbow Wheel of Death,” tackles loss, love and works to navigate an existence that will eventually come to an end. The record’s title is a reference to the colorful little pinwheel that appears when an application on a Mac computer stalls—which Poole saw a lot when he worked as a freelance computer programmer.
Poole will be at Black Lab Gallery at 12:30 a.m. Saturday, May 20.
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