March for Depth Mag seemed to orbit around the music event we’d been waiting for with baited breath: Download Festival. Coming to Australia for the very first time, we had the opportunity to explore the event held in Melbourne; sampling the bands, the food, the drinks, and the festival vibe.
Depth Magazine’s photographer Rowan Donohue and I were onsite at Flemington racecourse for the entire duration of the festival. We pushed our Converse’d feet to the limit by moving from stage to stage, to catch as much as we could while there. The finished result includes reviews of 15 bands and photos of 18 of them. I really could not be prouder of this team behind Depth that is building from the ground up and knows how to work hard as well as remain authentic.
Speaking of our team, we announced the great news this month that photographer Liam Davidson would join Depth Magazine, and shoot for us at Melbourne shows, with his first being the Foxblood “Never Rome” launch. Looking forward to future shows with Liam behind the lens, with the Counterparts and Stray From The Path show already planned for April.
In March we also covered the curious dynamic of the Turnover & Turnstile show in Melbourne, as well as the K.Flay show in Charlotte, NC. Go deeper into each here:
– http://www.depthmag.com/turnover-turnstile-melbourne/
– http://www.depthmag.com/k-flay-underground/
New Music
There is honestly a never ending steady stream of great new music, and March delivered, inspiring many jaw-dropping ‘How good is this song!?’ moments. Some of the ‘I need to hear more from this band’ songs were:
Toothless – “Bridges”: “A combination of blunt hits, and aggressive rawness; seeming like a chaotic tumble down a rabbit hole of confusion, accompanied by grinding riffs.”
Greyhaven – “Ten Dogs – Red Heaven”: “The track is sonically potent, with strong declarations of disturbing fact while death hovers like a stench in the background.”
Weeping Wound – “Withdrawal Symptoms”: “From a dark and self-contained cavern of pain, the veils of intoxicants sweep in and out, like a battle that’s being fought from within.”
Slowly Slowly – “Alchemy”: “Fantastical and huge choruses of “Alchemy” that burst out from humble verses reflect a future life starring ‘us’, and all the scenes of connection and tenderness that go into that.”
Bugs – “Glue”: ““Glue” is an incredible track, with gorgeous harmonies and what must surely be one of the catchiest riffs ever? “Glue” has relatable lyrics, including self-talk (“Connor it’s not worth crying. You’ll cheer up, dude”), uttered with a voice that morphs from defeat to anguish.”
There have been so many more that we’ve loved, shared about, and added to our Spotify playlist: The Depth List: 2018. Our ‘New Music’ section of the website is updated frequently with juicy finds. Catch it here: depthmag.com/category/new-music/
New Videos
Some gorgeous videos were released in March, which invited us to take a closer listen to some previously released tracks.
Stick To Your Guns‘ Jesse Barnett came face-to-face with the consequences of not forgiving himself in the video for “The Reach For Me: “Forgiveness Of Self””.
Make Them Suffer‘s Sean Harmanis emotionally broke us with the music video for “Save Yourself”, with a heart-wrenchingly open spoken word section being an incredibly powerful way to ask for forgiveness and find his own acceptance.
The Alzheimer’s specific track by Movements, “Deadly Dull”, gained an impactful music video to share its message of the uncertainty and disturbing nature of the disease.
Reviews
Reviews are the taking of a thread of curiosity and following it through the full creative offering of a band and sharing our impressions. In March we explored:
Tapestry‘s Ghost of Me EP – “With “Dark Shade” as our introduction, Tapestry are showcasing an emotion-centric sound that is versatile enough to skillfully go from gentle and intimate, through to aggressive intensity. Gorgeous soundscapes and layered vocals add depth and weight to the emotion being shared, with satisfying shifts along the way that keep curiosity and interest high.” [Read more]
Maverick‘s State of Mind EP – “It’s clear to me now after spending the day with State Of Mind that the guys live and breathe this band, and the brash force that is felt is 100% genuine.” [Read more]
Cove‘s A Conscious Motion EP: “In fact I fucking love all of this. Five tracks that are impressively strong, unique, creative, and refreshingly different. Five tracks of genuine emotion, where the sound brilliantly reflects the shifting sense of what is thought and felt.” [Read More]
The Amsterdam Red Light District‘s Sapere Aude EP: “It seemed that the band were playing it safe by way of their sound through the rest of the album, even though that sound was indeed relentless, strong, and impactful. I’d love to hear music from TARLD that takes their undeniably skilled musicianship and courageously focuses it in directions that feel barrier-breaking and truly alive, and am keen to watch the band as they continue to evolve.” [Read more]
Parkwood‘s Close To Home EP: “The five tracks of the EP are a good showcase of emotive snapshots that show the band in action from a number of angles. Parkwood’s sound is clearly flexible enough to make a blistering mark from their raw intensity, or a reverberating pang from gorgeous melodic storytelling.” [Read more]
Going behind the scenes of Thornhill’s Butterfly
Released in February, we were still intrigued by Thornhill‘s Butterfly EP and reached out to the band to learn a little more about the tracks. We love this interview with Thornhill’s vocalist Jacob Charlton, where we learned that mental health, horror, facades, and relationships all found their way into Butterfly.
“Every song on the EP draws back to this song [“Joy”] because after every experience you must feel to grow. After misery, we must move forward but suffer through the healing process, in other words, it’s the road to Joy.”
Full interview: http://www.depthmag.com/thornhill-butterfly-interview/
Mild Manic & Blue Velvet Tour
Finally, we’re super stoked to be co-presenting the Mild Manic and Blue Velvet tour of the east coast of Australia. Mild Manic dropped their new track “Global Threat” this month, and they’re taking their new music with their friends in Blue Velvet and hitting the road. With a bunch of these shows having free entry, it’s a great chance to back local music.
April: The Month of Shows
Looking ahead to April, this month already looks stacked with live shows for Depth Magazine. We aim to catch Counterparts & Stray From The Path, Polaris & The Plot In You, the Thornhill EP launch, Endless Heights, and more. Catch you in April, friends!
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Spotify – The Depth List: 2018
