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Hey, friends!
Welcome to the first edition of Weekly Musings, a place for me (Chris, Get Sad Y'all founder) to dump my thoughts and recommendations for the week. The structure of these may change, but for now, you can count on...
- News on the Get Sad Y'all brand
- Thoughts on music & non-music items
- A product recommendation
- An album recommendation
- A playlist of 15 songs to check out
Let's hop to it.
State of Get Sad Y'all
- We updated our webstore the other day with the merch items seen at our summer shows. Additionally, we started using Printful to dropship most of our items. This allows us to bring back some old favorites, including the Coffin and Raleigh Sad tees, provide more size options (XS-3XL on a lot), launch new items immediately (what up, I Got Sad, Y'all tee?), and get your orders to you much quicker.
- Currently working on locking in the date for our birthday Get Sad Y'all this fall. We'll be changing a few things up that we think y'all will be in favor of. Trying to get back to what made these great to begin with, lost our way a bit over the last six months IMO.
- Along the same lines, we're working on going back to monthly, smaller Get Sad Y'all events with bigger shows happening occasionally. Lots to be figured out here, but stay tuned and look out for the first one in August.
- Hanging out in Nashville for the next couple days working on something that could be huge for us. Very excited and hoping it pans out.
- The Second After is in Chicago recording with Seth Henderson (Real Friends, Knuckle Puck). Look out for that later this year.
- Some Antics are ripping a gig at Cat's Cradle Back Room this Saturday (7/20) with Blue Frequency & Mellow Swells. Tix and more details here.
Upcoming Events
- July 21: Get Sad, Sing Bad: Emo Karaoke at Imurj
- July 28: Summer Wars / Overgrow at Imurj
- July 31: Adventureland at Alamo Drafthouse
- Aug 15: Bad Luck. at Imurj
- Aug 25: Stickup Kid / Sundressed / Intervention at Imurj
Random Music Thoughts
- That Grayscale headliner is staaaaaaacked. Don't miss it.
- As both a scene and EDM fan, absolutely loving all the crossover we're getting lately: Craig Owens with Adventure Club/QUIX, Aaron Gillespie with Rezz, ADTR with Marshmello, and so on. Have heard rumblings about some other future collabs that I'm stoked for as well.
- Lights dropped the acoustic version of "Skin & Earth" this past Friday and from what I've heard so far, it's as fantastic as every other acoustic project she's done. She even recorded a majority of the album in various locations, e.g. "Savage" in the rain, "Skydiving" on a cliff, to both tie them to the S&E story/comic and make the recordings more interesting. There's a couple visualizers up on her Youtube showcasing this (directed by her husband Beau Bokan of blessthefall fame) that y'all should check out. IMO she's been one of the most all-around creative artists out there for some time now and I hope other artists will step up to match her.
- Started spinning Silverstein's Redux: The First 10 Years again and man, I always forget how consistently good this band has been over their career. The re-recordings are very well done and it's helped me remember tracks like "Vices" and "If You Could See Into My Soul" as well as pushed me to dive back into their discography.
Random Non-Music Thoughts
- Euphoria is a fantastic show that I think everyone should check out. The writing and production are top-notch and Zendaya and Hunter Schafer (Raleigh, represent!) both slay in their respective roles. My only fear is that whenever the show comes to an end, it will be ruined in the way that HBO ruins literally every good show they've ever produced (still bitter about GOT, don't @ me).
- Congrats to the US Women on their World Cup victory last week. Now please pay them as much as (or tbh, maybe more than) the men.
- Picked up a subscription to the Athletic last week. Worth every penny if you need your sports journalism fix.
- Still can't believe the Blues won the Stanley Cup. Drunk Brett Hull forever.
Product Recommendation: Eargasm High-Fidelity Earplugs
Sure, we sell earplugs with our logo on the case at shows and they work well in a pinch.
But if you're going to a ton of shows, I highly recommend making an investment on these Eargasm plugs. I've been using mine for a couple years now and they're fantastic. Clear sound quality, very comfortable, and no ringing in your ears even after an all-day festival. Plus, they come with a nice metal case that attaches to your keys, so you'll never forget them.
Album/EP Recommendation: "Bigger Than Me" - Meet Me @ The Altar
Ah, pop punk and female vocals. Truly one of my favorite combinations in this world.
MMATA - consisting of singer Edith Johnson, guitarist Téa Campbell, and drummer Ada Juarez - dropped their sophomore EP "Bigger Than Me" earlier this month and I've had it on repeat ever since. It's just so damn good. Johnson's vocals channel those of pop punk's heyday - I hear hints of Tay Jardine (We Are The In Crowd), Sierra Kay (VersaEmerge)... dare I say a young Hayley Williams as well - and she really stands out in the crowd. Combine that with the heavier stylings of Campbell's guitar work and Juarez's drumming and I'm in love.
Check this EP out and be sure to keep an eye on their career. They're going places.
Listen/Buy: Spotify | Apple Music | Amazon
Socials: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Weekly Playlist
These are songs - new and old - that I've either (a) been heavily spinning, (b) got stuck in my head randomly, or (c) hold a special meaning over the past week.
1. Beyond My Control - Meet Me @ The Altar
2. Rocket Man - Elton John
3. Wish We Still Talked - Bad Luck.
4. In Violet - Grayscale
5. Burn It Down - Silverstein
6. A Thousand Words (Acoustic) - Phoebe Ryan
7. All Day and Night - Jax Jones / Martin Solveig / Madison Beer
8. Crazy 8s - Mae
9. Life Long After Death - Adventure Club / QUIX / badXchannels
10. Cry - Alison Wonderland
11. Sister Rosetta - Frank Turner
12. Death of Me - PVRIS
13. Kiss of Death - Rezz / Deathpact
14. How Do You Feel? - The Maine
15. Talk Me Down - Cherry
This playlist can be found on Spotify.
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Would love to hear your thoughts on my thoughts as well as anything I've missed that I should check out! Drop a comment below. Previous week's musings can be found here.
Thanks for reading and have a great week, everyone!