A new rebirth of ska has begun. “Ska is on its 76th wave, and people are starting to connect with it again,” says Mick Rude, guitarist and vocalist for Spred the Dub. “Look at all the new Corona ads using Desmond Dekker to sell beer, the Specials on a Fidelity Investment commercial. It’s coming back around, and with every show there’s a few more people skankin’ than the last one.”
This past December, shortly before Christmas, longtime musician Alex Diaz suffered a stroke. Diaz, better known to locals and fans of indie pop and avant noise as Xela Zaid, has been on the slow road to recovery with medical and therapy bills mounting.
They say a lot of things about Texas: Everything is bigger there, all your exes live there, and you certainly shouldn’t mess with it. But you won’t often hear about its quality weird-rock scene. Nestled in south-central Texas, San Antonio has given the music world luminaries such as punk/Tejano royalty…
When Olivier Libaux and Marc Collin formed Nouvelle Vague, they inadvertently created the perfect amalgam of new and old. Though they had both been punk and New Wave aficionados, “in 2003, Marc dreamt one night of a Bossa Nova version of ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart,’ sung by a Brazilian…
Florida’s status as a metal-music mecca relies on a perfect storm of time and location — those being the late ’80s and Tampa. Broward County has had some acts, but Miami’s scene has been overshadowed by more popular forms of danceable stuff.
Urban Dictionary, the old bastion of the English language and Her Spellings and Grammars that it is, defines “inferion” as: “A person with low intellect and amazingly poor moral judgement. Often times [sic] ignores that which discomforts them and clutches to useless ideals for no reason. They have low…
Miami Dade College has long been overshadowed by the University of Miami and Florida International University when it comes to the arts. But in recent years, MDC has mounted a concerted effort to emerge as a cultural competitor. Also, showing a scrappy, fighting spirit is Dimensions Variable, the exhibition space and artistic breeding ground founded by Frances Trombly and Leyden Rodriguez-Casanova in 2009.
Cavity was a wrecking ball during the ’90s. While not originators of the genre, they pioneered a new approach to the Black Sabbath-inspired, down-tuned, droning excesses of the sludge metal genre with magnificent aplomb and gusto. They left in their wake a wretched pile of carcasses beaten and abused by…
It’s difficult to tell in which direction the mainstream appeal of noise music is pointing, but in South Florida, at least, it’s a vibrant scene. Some will say Rat Bastard singlehandedly built it, and that wouldn’t be off the mark. Others would dispute that. In any case, it’s here to stay and growing.
In Miami, you hear a lot about art, but not so much about craft. James Herring’s work in ceramics fuses the two. Herring eschews the title of “artist” and sees the resurgence of crafts and craftsmanship as a necessity for human growth in modern times. An outspoken supporter and practitioner of the maker movement, Herring has maintained a presence locally by doing demonstrations and leading classes and workshops on the ancient craft.
How easily we forget Miami’s literary scene. Given the homegrown talent, area colleges/universities boasting some of the best writing faculties in the nation, and the Miami Book Fair bringing the best of the best to the 305, it truly is amazing how the Magic City’s writers gets overshadowed by other creatives.
“It’s hard for me to define my identity. Because I have been to Cuba — over a decade ago, before this craze — I can say that I am Cuban,” explains Belaxis Buil. “Stepping out of the plane, I felt relieved. I actually cried. After spending time on the island and becoming acquainted with the people, I realized how Cuban I was…”
There’s hardly a worthwhile production hitting a local stage that doesn’t have the talents of Ann Marie Olson at hand. A music theater graduate from New World School of the Arts, Olson is a Carbonell Award winner and two-time nominee. Miami New Times’ sister paper New Times Broward/Palm Beach named her Best Actress of 2015, she was a recipient of a Silver Palm Award for Outstanding Contribution to South Florida Theater, and she has a voice described as “golden” by numerous critics of the stage.
Miami-based Venezuelan painter Aramis Gutierrez is known for his large canvases depicting quiet ballets, esoteric delusions of magic realism, and smoky stoicism. He cofounded the many iterations of the local art agitator Noguchi Breton, formerly known as Guccivuitton and Versace Versace Versace.
“He was a beloved friend.” That’s what Marcos Cherlo, proprietor of MAC’s Frame Shop and a well-known handler and preparer in the art community, remembers about Raymond Brown. “He was always excited to help people with their art and was open to playing music in new ways. He was always…
South Florida’s cultural season is getting underway. Galleries are opening exhibits, theaters are revealing their 2016-17 performances, and Miami’s major museums have already announced their Art Basel shows. But in the midst of all the buzz, the Ceramic League of Miami is keeping it old-school. “The Ceramic League of Miami…
“It’s interesting that when we’re young, we do everything in our power to avoid becoming like our parents,” says John Sevigny. “It’s a natural part of becoming independent, and I’m a little suspicious of young people who aren’t rebellious in that respect.” A photographer and Miami native, Sevigny has always been…
Monday morning, August 1. Hot and sunny, it’s 10:15 a.m. and 2000 Ponce de Leon Blvd. hardly seems like the address for an art happening. There’s a bit of bliss to be found in the determined faces of business people scurrying in and out of the building, telling of what…
Come next year, lead guitarist Ryan Primack and drummer Chris Hornbrook will celebrate 20 years of Poison the Well. From the early days as a hardcore punk band through a trend-setting evolution to metalcore before, finally, settling and pioneering a melodic and more rock-oriented post-hardcore sound, PTW boasts a five-record…
Yesterday was the world premiere of Otto Von Schirach’s newest video for “Biscayne Block Boyz.”At first glance, the four-minute long video seems like an acid trip of bass, but even that fails to capture the gestalt of the work and its pure Miami-ness. “All love, zero budget,” is how artist…
South Florida’s punk rock scene, from the beginning, has suffered a number of circumstances that have forced it to grow independently from the rest of the American subconscious. This can been a good thing. It has led to the formation of a discernible “Floridian” sound, and this little scene of…
Chef Frank Imbarlina feels that people should eat for locality and their environment. “It’s my feeling that when people go to a destination like Key West they are going there for a total experience, which should include the cuisine,” says Chef Frank Imbarlina. “When I saw menus that included heavy…
