Lights poxleitner and alex gaskarth biography

The local music scene in New Jersey has been becoming a melting pot for all kinds of genres. It is safe to say the scene has never thrived more than it has now, especially since the world has gotten back on its feet since Bands that were beginning to make names for themselves in the scene back in , are now coming back hungry to make something of themselves and are better than ever. One of those bands would be Asbury Park natives of the pop rock band called, Highwind. As of Friday, March 11, Highwind announced their debut album, Something Right in Between, will be hitting all music streaming platforms on Friday, May 6, Along with their major debut album announcement, they dropped a brand new single off of the album called, &#;Sugar,&#; and released a music video along with it. I was really excited to able to ask Chris Russo (frontman, singer-songwriter) and Dan Smith (drummer) all about &#;Sugar&#; and their debut album, Something Right in Between.

1. First, thank you guys so much for taking the time to chat with me about your BRAND NEW single and music video, “Sugar.” Tell me and the Myze Readers a little bit about yourselves.

Dan: Chris will probably have way more eloquent answers for most of these but we are a little pop rock duo from Asbury Park. Officially, I am the most recent addition to Highwind, but Chris and I have been working together since fall and have been friends even longer.

Chris: Highwind is a pop-rock duo based out of Asbury Park, New Jersey! Highwind started as my solo project back in I started working with Dan in Fall of , and he officially joined the band somewhere in the middle of  

1.  I have been really, really vibing “Sugar.” I’m loving this new sound for you guys compared to your older music. It’s catchy, it’s rocky and poppy, but it also has that neon pop punk edge to it too. It’s modernized pop rock music in a way. What has inspired this newer sound for you guys?

Dan: Chris can speak more specifically ab

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founders penelope martinez mariana patino editor-in-chief + design penelope martinez managing + copy editor lori gutman writers lindsy carr, kelly fadden, vivien bui, abbey dufoe photographers bethan miller, craig taylor-broad, erlinda sanchez, grayson hary, jason cox, kelli coyne, leah dickerman, lori gutman, mimi hong, penelope martinez, priten vora

THANK YOU lights payton wang // warner brothers pvris mike cubillos // earshot music moose blood austin griswold // secret service pr ajr ceri roberts // warner brothers ‘68 bill meis // entone group anakin austin griswold // secret service pr

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seth kean, sara legel, heidi robinson-fitzgerald, michele stephens, joshua hammond, katie leggett, herfitz pr, epitaph records, reybee productions, press here publicity + everyone who made this issue possible.

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CONTENTS 6 artist of the month 14 behind the band 18 local spotlight 22 24 28 32 36 42

anakin ‘68 ajr moose blood pvris lights

58 album reviews 60 show reviews 74 gallery

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t s i t r A he t f o th n o M

PHOTO: IZZY COMMERS

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WHO: Sara Legel WHAT: Design + Illustration WHERE:

SARA LEGEL TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF AND HOW YOU GOT INTO ART. I’ll be turning twenty this year. I grew up in Farmington, Minnesota, and I moved to Minneapolis this past August. I can't exactly remember a time where I "got into" art or suddenly found an interest in it or anything like that. When I was a kid, my dad was always drawing silly faces on paper tablecloths, and we played drawing games on napkins with the pen from his wallet. My mom has photos of me when I was super little passed out with my face stuck to the pages of a notebook that I was doodling in. I guess I can't really tell you how I got into art— it's just always been involv

You have to remember that we were fifteen-year-old punks–we wanted to piss people off. Anything that might make parents, teachers, and people with authority bristle was up for discussion. We also wanted a name that would suggest a great logo for stickers and T-shirts. Many of the names were compelling but too repulsive. Smegma, Vaginal Discharge, and Head Cheese might make for great logos but were quickly rejected as not representative of our songs. We played around with a lot of names involving the word "bad"–Bad Family Planning, Bad Politics. When we hot [sic] on Bad Religion, it seemed perfect. That year, , was a time of rising prominence for televangelists like Jimmy Swaggart, Pat Robertson, and Jim Bakker. The year before, Jerry Falwell had founded the Moral Majority, which was having a powerful influence on the presidential election between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. Religion was a hot topic, and those TV preachers seemed like a good target to us, though we didn't think they could possibly last for more than a few years. We knew that most people were so defensive about their religious ideas that they would be highly offended by our name–a major plus! And then Brett came up with a logo that represented our philosophical stance. We felt complete.