MY FIRST FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE

Two weeks ago I experienced my very first music festival. I impulsively bought the tickets the day they went on sale. I didn't think twice when clicking the checkout button and I ignored all the alerts from my bank account letting me know that there was a withdrawal over my $20 limit (waaaay over) all that mattered was that I was going to watch Tame Impala and Kendrick Lamar perform live #priorities.

I was ready to experience walking until my hips hurt, paying for over priced food and being surrounded by a bunch of drunk (fun) strangers. These all sound like bad things. They aren't. It's a legitimate experience I wanted to have because I knew it's what is included in a music festival in all it's glory.

I'd felt so overwhelmed by all the artists I wanted to watch, I felt like I needed to watch all of them in order to get the ultimate festival experience. I wanted it to be perfect but ultimately I realized that that wasn't the point. These last few months filled with local music really influenced a new perspective on my concept of music. I started to realize that I don't need to be a complete music snob to enjoy music. I don't need to look a certain way or even be the bands #1 fan. I just need to enjoy it and I think that was a great mentality for me to have during FYF because it was such a big and diverse line up.

On Saturday the first act we saw was Grimes. I haven't listened to Grimes since she released Genesis back in 2012 and even then I'm pretty sure that's the only song I was familiar with. Since then she's evolved so much and, honestly, I'd never seen such a cute, dainty person scream into a mic like that, it was awesome.

I was looking forward to Tame Impala the most. We were a little late and ended up at the edge of the crowd, we tried to push ourselves in but I mean, everyone else was trying to do that too, so it was pretty useless. I was pretty bummed about my spot because I couldn't even see the screen on the stage. There was a girl that was shoving and climbing over people to get to the front. A dude, that quite honestly looked like a complete asshole, was watching her do that and started calling her out. I think getting mad over people pushing to get the front is completely useless but, there he was. He then realized that she made it to the front so he decided to push his way to the front as well. Another dude called him out and that's when a fight almost broke out. They started shoving each other and saying  "bro" a lot. It was all so pointless, ridiculous and it killed my vibe. The only good thing about this was that they started moving closer together so Stephanie and I were able to move past them and get better spots.

 After that dumb situation everything was fine. Honestly, I think Tame Impala was my favorite performance. There was a moment while watching Tame Impala perform 'Eventually' where it seemed like the entire audience was singing along and I felt chills. It was an incredible feeling to be surrounded by complete strangers that all share the love for this one band. It was a really nice feeling.

On Sunday, we were tired. We genuinely didn't think FYF would physically wear us out because we're used to walking so much around LA. I mean, we took a trip to San Francisco where we literally walked all of it (including hills) and not even that killed us as much as FYF did. My hips were on fire and Stephanie's calves hurt. That's not something two 20-year-old girls should say.

So, needless to say Sunday was supposed to be a more chill day. We started the day by watching Black Lips perform. They are such a cool band and it was amazing to get to see them live but it was the opposite of chill. The complete opposite. People created a huge mosh pit and since they were playing at the Trees Stage , which had a dirt floor, they created a huge dust storm that had us coughing for a week. Stephanie experienced bruises on weird parts of her body and I got hit on the head and it hurt for a week. I was worried I had a concussion but I think I'm fine. During the Ty Segall I stayed near the back while Stephanie moshed and got hit in the face #goodtimes.

Stephanie left to go watch Young Thug while I sat and watched from a distance. I was so utterly exhausted but watching her run off with her friend Lily into a jumping crowd made me so happy. I don't even know why, I can't explain it.

To end our day at FYF we watched LCD Sound System. I have to go ahead and admit that I'd never actually listened to an LCD Sound System song before that moment.

Oops.

I don't think I would've liked them if I'd heard them online first. I think I benefited from hearing them for the first time ever live because I appreciate them a lot more. Their performance was so much fun. It felt like we were at a huge party because everyone was dancing and singing their heart outs. They were a pretty perfect ending to the festival. I was exhausted and a little irritated because I'd lost Stephanie in the crowd but I couldn't help but feel the good vibes, especially when they brought out that huge disco ball. I'm a sucker for disco balls.

It was a fun experience. I'm ready to go to more festivals and have my hips burn some more.

words by diana 

HEARTCORE FEST 2016

Saturday night was full of pure local talent. Heartcore Productions put on their first(?) festival featuring 20 local bands in Whittier, CA. We watched Gold Vine for the first time ever and they didn’t disappoint! We also saw The Biscuits for the first time, they did a solid cover of The Red Hot Chili Peppers “Give It Away”. The singer for Devas Mantra gave an energetic, and might we say very rock'n'roll, performance that we’ll never forget with their guitarist dressed in a very nice dress. They definitely stole the show for us. All in all it was a memorable night. This D.I.Y festival was so good it even included a taco man and an ice cream truck. We love the whole D.I.Y scene and this is the perfect example as to why. The fact that this relatively small production company was able to throw together such an event with detailed things, like having 2 stages for bands to perform, is amazing. We don’t know the people behind Heartcore Productions but we gotta hand it to them, they threw a pretty impressive fest.   

PICTURED IN ORDER ARE GOLD VINE, KIKI DIAGO, AND THE RED PEARS.

SEE YA LATER SUMMER

We can easily say that this summer was filled with a lot of cool music. We went to a lot of backyard shows , did some sweet interviews and overall really appreciated the local scene.
     We like ending our summers with a bang so this year we went to FYF where Kendrick Lamar + Tame Impala + LCD Soundsystem + Grace Jones were headlining. It was epic.
      A couple day's before FYF, Robyn from Mother Mareand I realized we were both going to be there and saw it as the perfect opportunity to finally meet. 
     Stephanie warned me that at FYF you can't just meet up with people, it doesn't happen. What does happen is you casually, unexpectedly bump into them. I didn't believe her because the concept of meeting up at a music festival doesn't seem that complex but she was right. It was Stephanie that casually bumped into them when she lost me in the crowd while watching LCD Soundsystem. The point is that I didn't get to meet up with the duo despite my rigorous (excessively rigorous) efforts to do so. It just wasn't meant to be that weekend.

Mother Mare has since released their debut single "UNWORTHY" on Soundcloud and honestly, we are obsessed. 



We were in my car when we heard it for the first time. The moment it ended we both agreed to play it again. And again. And again (And again. And again. And again.).  They are a terrific duo and we are excited to hear more music from them in the near future.

Keep up with them on Instagram!

MOMENTS IN EUROPE

This video is about my trip to Europe, It's a collection of clips edited together in black and white to give it a nostalgic feel, it's very long, I was there for 11 days after all. Enjoy and shout out to the lovely girls I met during this trip, Love you guys!

-Stephanie

THE RED LESLIES | THE UNIVERSE IS ON THEIR SIDE

I own a very old, unreliable Honda that has a dashboard full of lights that should not be lit up but I drive it around anyway because I like to live life on the edge. A couple weeks ago we were far from home, in an unfamiliar city for a show when my car battery decided to give out as we were trying to get home. As a AAA gold card member you’d think I wouldn't panic but I did. After pointlessly calling my father, he told me what I already new; I needed a jump start. During the show we’d briefly talked to the guys in The Red Leslies and as I panicked I saw them drive past us. I shouted after them like a crazy person and they nicely agreed to help us out. It’s funny how things work out because a week later we found ourselves meeting them over coffee.

We arrived a little late, I know, how typical of us, and we found them already waiting for us at a table. Although, we’ve held interviews with a couple bands already, each one of them has been a distinct experience. It can be awkward meeting up with them without really even knowing the individuals in the band so we imagined it’d be just as awkward meeting these guys for coffee. Each time we do this it kind of feels like we’re going on a blind date, a blind interview if you will. But after moving the interview to a table outside conversation rolled out naturally and so we talked for a couple hours without any real awkwardness. Read on to learn about their start as a band, their passion for music and their second debut EP, yeah, second.

The Red Leslies are a rock n’ roll duo from Anaheim, California that consists of Lui Buenrostro on vocals and guitar and Adrian Martinez on bass.

Their excursion together as an early incarnation of The Red Leslies started about two years ago with three other friends when they performed Lui’s original material at an open mic. It was Adrian’s first time picking up an instrument, in this case it was the keyboard. Yes, that’s right. At the time he’d never played an instrument live, while Lui was more familiar with the situation. They knew how to compose music before playing instruments for the band but after that live show together they were both left wanting more.

“[After] the open mic we thought, this is sick, we should do this. We should start writing more songs and maybe get a band together,” Adrian says.

One thing lead to another and they ended up as a duo. Which was fine because even before meeting each other they’d already planned on pursuing a career in music whether it be in a band, individually, or simply in the production of it. After playing together they fell in love with the idea of performing as a band and decided to continue doing so as a duo.

Their passion for music was, quite frankly, the best thing we’ve ever witnessed. I don’t know how to describe to you the way they both talked about music with such reverence without making them sound like the cheesiest guys in the world because there’s really nothing cheesy about them, if anything, it’s contagious.

“There’s never a shortage in wanting art,” Adrian says.

Their logic is that art, including music, is always high in demand regardless of where you are in the world. Lui then went on to say,

“It’s impossible to fail at something you love doing –it's not failing.”
 Although I agree, what amazes me the most from this duo is that they are fearlessly and unapologetically following their bona fide passion.

“It's my life,” Lui says without hesitating.
Any art-related career is not easy to pursue. They are unquestionably aware of that but regardless of that they’re going after it. From personal experience, it’s sometimes a bit of a struggle to admit what you want to do with your life, whether it’s to other people or even yourself, when it’s something as trivialized as a career in art or specifically in this case: music. 

 From their songwriting, to their performances and even their album cover art, it all truly shows how very detail-oriented they are about their work.

“When playing live we want to engage the audience, at least personally I don’t want it to be something where the audience just watches you play,” Adrian says.

“We want to be more sharp and piercing live, we want to break through people’s attention barriers and then when they go home hopefully have them think of us and throw on one of our records and then they put on one of our songs, and it’d be like our b-sides [to their performance] the songs we really want to play,” adds Lui.

“We want a few songs where you can hear the classical influences,” Adrian says, “we have some songs where you can hear weird orchestrations, and some songs are just going to be bass, guitar, and drums like a rock'n'roll band should be. I think both are valid. We have room for both of them. We don't want to have a specific style. We think that from song to song we should just be a new band.”

“Every song calls for a different ...,” Adrian starts.

 “Universe to be pulled into,” Lui finishes.
They know what they want to create and they have high standards of what they produce because, obviously, they are passionate about their craft.

While we met up to film their video teaser, I asked Adrian what was his favorite thing about playing live and he said, “Playing live is one of the most fun things I’ve ever done in my life, It’s beautiful, It’s spiritually rewarding as it is fun. I think playing live is a form of sorcery, we’re using these machines to make magic.”

And then immediately asked to do another take. We all laughed about his oh-so-melodramatic answer but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. That’s how it feels to him when he’s playing music because he’s aware of it’s powerful influence on people and the world. As Stephanie and I discussed this she brought up a good point: there’s probably no one out there in the world that can say “this painting saved me” but as for music, there is. Music is definitely magic.

I’m going to go ahead and dare to say that from the beginning Adrian and Lui’s destiny was to create The Red Leslies, or at least we think so. If you don’t believe in destiny here’s something to test you.

 Lui and Adrian basically decided to go to college in order to meet other people to start a band. It so happened that this duo went to the same college and met in a recording class that neither of them were keen on taking from the beginning. The fact that they were able to bump into each other in a campus with over a thousand students is remarkable.

Yet they met, they vibed, they jammed together a couple of times and things seemed to be working out for them. Adrian happened to a go to a show at Programme, a music store in Fullerton, but wasn’t feeling the vibe so he casually walked into the Goodwill next door. At this Goodwill he purchased a book about cats that paint that would later inspire their band name. That same day he found out about the open mic and pitched the idea to Lui. If a single one of these things did not occur it’s possible that they wouldn’t be where they are today. Imagine if one of them hadn’t taken the Friday class, imagine if Adrian liked the show and didn’t walk into Goodwill or imagine if they didn’t do an open mic for fun. I mean, I can’t actually confirm the whole they’re-meant-to-be thing and I don't know what's in store for them in the future but you have to admit that things have played out very nicely for them so far. 

The thing is, even before briefly talking to them at the show and them helping us out with my car issues, we already knew who they were and frankly, we were already fans of their music.

I remember the day that Stephanie sent me a link to their music after she’d somehow stumbled upon their Instagram. I sat by my window as I watched the sun disappear behind my neighbor's house with their music playing in the background. It’s the perfect soundtrack for a chill, summer afternoon.

Actually, if you’ve already listened to them before you know that they once had music up. An EP known as Sounds of the Sun was up for awhile but they wanted a clean slate and took it down. If you didn’t get to hear that EP, then you truly lucked out. (I'll sell you a copy on eBay in 10 years when it's worth a lot of $$) 
    But, honestly I lack musical knowledge and therefore can't do them any justice. I can not continue. We are not a music blog. I'm not qualified to tell you why their music is good based on official music standards or whatever, so I'm saying this as their friend and their fan; All I know is that they know how to play their instruments well and that together, along with the help of many other talented individuals at Melodious Din Records, they have and will continue to produce incredible music. 

 Today their debut EP, The Listening Room, has been released. This is, in a sense, their official beginning as The Red Leslies. I don’t know what to expect, except I know that it’ll be magical. I guess there’s only one way to find out.

***

I was going to finish this post like that but before I posted this, at exactly 5am, Spotify sent me a notification saying their EP was out. I can officially confirm that it is indeed magical. Listen here.

---
They're throwing an EP release party and you're invited.

Show presented by @melodiousdinrecords & @pastyourcurfew
Live visuals by @ocularprojections
Hosted by @space_cadet_isles
More info here.

words  by diana martinez / graphics by stephanie mejia 

*I edited this post on 9/1 because I was disappointed w/ myself for posting such a trash post about ppl i truly admire so i'm sorry i'm trying to be a better writer i swear

MY LONG PROCESS OF GETTING ON A FLIGHT TO EUROPE | STEPH RANTS

“Why should you travel? Because you literally can. The world was yours the moment you entered it, you have the right to see every part of it.”  - ME

“I don't have money” is the most overused excuse ever. You don’t need to be rich to travel, you’re probably reading this because you would like to in the first place. So it shouldn't be hard to be believe when I tell you that if you want it, it will happen, as long as you make your contributions of course.

For as long as I could remember I've wanted to travel. Growing up, my grandpa and I had the dream of visit Spain together. Every summer I'd fly to Mexico to visit my grandparents and we would joke about whether either of us were saving up money for our trip.  I would tell my grandpa that I was and that within a year we should be ready to go. However, rough times came and we lost a loved one. Suddenly our travel plans became redundant and did not revisit the idea.

During high school I was discovering music, media, art, tumblr and Netflix. Ah, Netflix, I was constantly diving into all kinds of films, especially the artsy whimsical Sofia Cappola films and the "more like this" selection. I had an urge to have the same experience these characters had and I decided I wasn't going to live my life never knowing.

When I started my senior year of high school, my first real attempt at leaving the country suddenly became tangible. There was an english teacher that held a trip to some part of the world every year and "this year was my chance" I thought. In a way it could have been, if the universe was truly on my side. I signed up, given the $95 non refundable fee and all. But again, rough times came. My dad lost his primary job, which is what brought in most of the income and once again put my attempts on halt. I wasn't upset, – not totally at least– I completely understood, I mean I was starting University the following year and god knows how expensive that is.

I decided it wasn't my time and I would have to continue making happy memories and one day all the stars will align perfectly and the doors will open once again. I finished high school and started my freshman year of college. Boy, was I overwhelmed. I started off the bat in my major classes and I was working ALL the time – remember when we didn't post a lot?– I began getting the hang of school and I got a job in my design department. I was making money, but honestly everything went towards my school supplies and food. I wasn't really saving anything. I ended my first semester and towards the end of my second I learned that my favorite professor was planning a trip to EUROPE! I was so stoked! I attended the meetings and I discovered he actually had an agenda for this. Turns out he has friends in the business (designers) and was hoping to introduce those of us who went. EUROPE AND FUTURE CONNECTIONS HECK YEAH! I was sold and I really wanted to go but part of me was being realistic and realized I didn't have a REAL job – by real I mean not a work study job that is provided by financial aid – I was ready to mention it to my parents but realistically I would have to do this myself. My mom encouraged me to try my best and save up and  she'd help out where she could. My dad agreed to lend me money when his tax return came in and I was so excited to try. I let time pass by and I was slowly realizing this was hard and I somehow talked myself out of it. I was not going to go, it was too expensive and my parents were still struggling. It was always in the back of my head and I thought about it constantly... what if.

I made really good friends with a classmate and we bonded over our design woes. We would joke about how much we needed a vacation and that this was it. I agreed and for a while even made myself believe it was happening but then again it was all talk, I wasn't saving. I didn't have a job and my parents were not an option. By this point I was really frustrated and a little jealous I would miss out on this opportunity. It was December and my professor’s travel group was small, 6 including him. My friend who had gotten a job, was slowing paying the trip and kept pressuring me to join. That it would be great she said. I told her I didn't have the money but I promised her I would try my best to get a job.  I was filing applications left and right but no one would hire a teenager without experience.

I was now in the beginning of my sophomore year and in three months I get a call during class for an interview. I answered it and agreed to meet the following day. I was SO HAPPY I got a job! I was now officially employed and it was at my local movie theater! This was October btw, I was working like crazy. I had 32 hour weeks! I was getting paid every Friday and for myself I had a pretty ok income. My friend kept insisting I sign up for the trip and my mom made sure to tell me that at the rate I was going I could finish making the payments in no time. I was at the dentist office, I still remember, my mom pulled out the calculator app on her phone and proved to me it was totally possible. In fact, I would finish making payments and have money left over for myself along the way. This was around December and I was so excited to tell my friend, the moment she found out she couldn't wait to tell Ed, my professor, she wrote a note and slid it under his door! LOL So there it was. There was no backing out now. I went home that weekend; during a long homework sesh opened up the page and ... I did it. I signed up, paid the $295, I was now on the list and within 50 days I was to make a 500 dollar payment. Guess what... I gave a $2,000 payment and within 4 months I was done paying my trip and still had 3 months left to save.

The trip was to Barcelona, Southern France, Monaco, and parts of Italy. It was a trip set up by EF tours, which is a semi educational travel agency that basically sets up the whole trip and all you have to do is make the payments and all your museum and touristy things are paid including meals and transportation. Everything is booked! Honestly, this is probably the best option to get your feet wet. You don't have to struggle! It was fantastic.

June came and I quit my job and left to Europe. I night swam in Barcelona, drank wine during meals, had my first club experience, hauled a taxi, saw the moon rise out of the water, ate homemade pasta, visited a nude beach, re-enacted the cheetah girls at park guell, danced in the middle of a restaurant, dropped my jaw at the tower of pisa, got scammed at Pisa, chugged shots of espresso, ate macarons in FRANCE, pizza in ITALY, and paella in SPAIN. I would never trade this experience for anything. It was my first experience and I completely fell head over heels in love with stepping out of my comfort zone in places I’ve never been to before.

I’m not telling you that it was easy for me because it wasn’t, I had to struggle for half a year and save a lot of money. I made sacrifices and living with my parents was probably the reason I was able to do this. I’m not a full blown adult. I don’t have to pay bills but, that doesn’t mean that you can’t save a little every month. Trust me it goes a long way, every dollar counts.

THIS IS A TEASER

The Red Leslie's have an EP coming out on Saturday and we have an interview with them coming very soon...

@TheRedLeslies