If you drove around Miami in the 1990s, you probably remember the name DJ Ballistic Billy. At 7 and 9 on the dot every night on Power 96, he would play his mixes, mashing up rock with hip-hop and house. Though he found himself broadcasting on a major radio station…
Though the quirky name hasn’t changed, local soul outfit Ketchy Shuby’s appearance Thursday at Bardot will be the debut of an almost entirely new lineup. “Me and the bass player [Matt Pyatt] are the only original members,” Ketchy Shuby’s outspoken singer/guitarist Jason Hernandez-Rodriguez says. The band has added a new…
When he was seven-years-old, Michael Barksdale’s father gifted him a guitar. Ever since, he’s been tinkering with sounds. Now known as Culture Prophet, the electronic producer who grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia, decided when he made the move to South Beach last September that he wanted to change…
On Monday afternoon, a makeshift stage was set up between the volleyball courts on the sand off of Ocean Drive on South Beach, between 8th and 9th. Complimentary Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee shots were handed out to those lucky souls who weren’t wedged into a cubicle, and at 2:45 p.m. and at…
The Smashing Pumpkins and Marilyn Manson Bayfront Park Amphitheatre Wednesday, July 22, 2015 Better Than: If you went to a Kiss/Cheap Trick co-headlining tour in 1995. In their peak years The Smashing Pumpkins and Marilyn Manson would have never toured together. Though they are both of the same genre, the…
After having to reschedule an interview with local jazz singer Nicole Henry I texted her, “Thanks for being understanding.” She texted back, “I’m a singer that’s my job.” When we were able to talk she elaborated, explaining how empathy is a key component to what she does. “I tell stories…
Bands get together. Bands break up. From national arena acts to tiny garage bands, no musician is immune. Even when things are going well, you never know when a cymbal might fly across the recording studio, striking a lead singer in the forehead and forever ending your favorite group’s career…
Brit Floyd Fillmore Miami Beach Thursday, July 16 Better Than: Waiting around praying that the surviving members of Pink Floyd tour again. In case you haven’t noticed all your favorite classic rock stars are dead or old as dirt. Of the surviving Beatles Paul McCartney is 73 and Ringo Starr…
The five bearded men that make up the sludgy prog rock quintet of Form & Design were hard at work in a recording studio in the town of Medley, chipping away at the band’s debut album Gradients. The band — consisting of singer Adrian Cossio, guitarists Pachi Rasco and Manny…
“To have done a rock album without my crew would be treason,” the troubadour who is currently calling himself Rodrigo Solo told us. “I love the label of rock and roll but I wanted to do a more diverse project. I wanted to try to generate feelings without using a…
With coheadliners the Smashing Pumpkins and Marilyn Manson, the End Times Tour is a traveling history museum of ’90s rock. In fact, no two bands could represent the rock world’s issues of the 20th Century’s final decade quite like they do. As the ’90s began, the main musical debate involved…
Damian Darlington’s first exposure to Pink Floyd was hearing “Another Brick in the Wall” in 1979. “That was an unlikely song to be number one during Christmas in the U.K. Hearing the chorus of ‘We don’t need no education’ really interested me.” A couple years later when he was thirteen…
To an audience, the pedal steel guitar appears to have more in common with a keyboard than a guitar. Positioned horizontally, it produces a strong, twangy sound from its strings, which are plucked by finger or pick. The vibrations then ooze through a magnetic converter and out an amp. Don’t…
New Times readers have spoken. During our Best Of 2015 Readers’ Choice poll, with a resounding click of the mouse, they chose the garage/surf rock four-piece SunGhosts as Miami’s best band. The honor had SunGhosts’ singer/guitarist Nik Balseiro — who discovered the achievement one morning in Chattanooga, Tennessee — humbled and…
They might be fans of Baywatch, but the three members of local rock group Bleeth did not name their band after one of that show’s stars, Yasmine Bleeth. “We wanted something that when you heard it, you didn’t have anything to relate it to or have some preconceived idea of,”…
If you are a literalist and head to Trade tonight expecting to hear Pachanga music, you will be sorely disappointed. If, however, you wish to dance the extended night away to a medley of electronic waves and beats, The Pachanga Boys will not let you down. Made up of native…
Advertising a performance as a burlesque show will surely draw some people looking to ogle scantily clad women, but Diana Lozano, director of Circ X, is quick to explain that the root of the word “burlesque” is derived from a Latin phrase that means “to make fun of.” “Burlesque is…
Even Lori Garrote’s day job involves rock ‘n’ roll. On a recent afternoon, she juggles questions not only from New Times but also from her co-workers at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood. The onetime singer of the New and AKA is now concentrating on a solo…
Fans of 1980s Captain America comic books might remember the Bar With No Name. In the superhero realm, it was a dive establishment where colorfully costumed villains could shoot pool, drink beer, plan evil schemes, and talk about that one time they almost kicked Iron Man’s metal-plated keister. Sadly, the…
The War on Drugs with The Everymen Fillmore Miami Beach Tuesday, June 16, 2015 Better Than: Staying home and hate-watching LeBron James lose another NBA Finals. It’s safe to assume the Philadelphia-based rock band that played the Fillmore last night came up with the name The War on Drugs ironically…
As he walks his newborn daughter to sleep John Hancock III is excited that he’s finally going to attend one of these Third Thursday Poplife Social events at the Perez Art Museum Miami he’s been hearing so much about, even if it’s only because he’s headlining it. The monthly concerts —…
Cold War Kids Lou La Vie, Miami Thursday, June 12, 2015 Better Than: Anything else you can get for free. Only Miami’s most punctual freeloaders were able to witness fourteen songs of high-energy rock and roll last night. At 8:15 p.m., on the corner of 14th and Biscayne, hundreds of…
