Alex Maryol Band
alexmaryol.com
Animal: Llama
Influences: Chuck Berry, SRV, John Mayer, Flickerstick
Guilty listening pleasure: Kelly Clarkson, Averil Lavigne, John Mayer, No Doubt … you know, the usual.
Band snack: Coffee
Advice for new bands: Don’t be in music for the “lifestyle.” Be in it because you love music.
Anesthesia
stickysthesia.com
Genre: Rock ’n’ roll
Animal: Any roadkill
Influences: Pantera, Keystone Light, Rocky II , porn and Blake’s Lotaburger
Guilty listening pleasure: Genesis … Phil Collins rocks, sucka!!
Advice for new bands: Do jumping jacks at least three times a week. Eat pizza and don’t take advice from Anesthesia.
Aphotic Blitz
Genre: Metal
Motto: Rush the pits
Animal: Python
Guilty listening pleasure: NWA
Little-known fact: We all grew up together.
Band snack: Doritos, Salsa Verde and Cool Ranch
Advice for new bands: Write what you wanna write. Don’t take advice from outside sources that are not “in†the band.
At Fault
Sounds like: The Runaways meets Smashing Pumpkins (I’m told)
Little-known fact: No one wears underwear.
Band snack: Bud Light
Advice for new bands : Make friends with someone who works at Grandma’s Music.
Below the Sound
belowthesound.com
Genre: Noise-rock
Motto: We don’t have a fucking motto.
Your fans are: Intelligent, good-looking and well-respected
Advice for new bands: Get a job, punk.
Big Lips and the Skinny
biglipsandtheskinny.com
Genre: Country, grunge, rock
Sounds like: Ween, Cake, Johnny Cash on pills
Little-known fact: One of us has a fake lens in his eye.
Band snack: Cheez-its
The Big Spank
thebigspank.com
Genre: Punkish ska pop
Motto: It’s music, not porn!
Animal: “Spank†the monkey
Your live show is: Naked, out-of-control, spanktacular
Band snack: Peanut butter crackers
Advice for new bands: Nobody really cares what you are wearing.
Black Maria
Practice space: The Rock Lab
Genre: Mid-tempo, aggressive sports-rock
Motto: Are we getting paid for this show?
Animal: Giant five-toed sloth
Influences: Testosterone, pride and a “can do†attitude
Little-known fact: We’re all actually really smart.
Band snack: Grey Goose with microwaved Junior Mints
Burntown
Sounds like: We got it going on
Motto: Drink till she’s pretty.
Band snack: M&Ms
Advice for new bands : Get the girls to love you
Caustic Lye
thelye.com, causticfuckinlye.com
Genre: Heavy, heavy, heavy
Your live show is : Rabid, abrasive, on point
Guilty listening pleasure : Aesop Rock
Advise for new bands: Don’t listen to your mom, because she will tell you that you are good no matter how bad you suck.
ColdSnap
coldsnapmusic.com
Genre: Alternative rock
Animal: The phoenix, for how many times we’ve risen from the ashes
Little-known fact : We have more arguments and discussions about the band than we have practices.
Band snack: Hooter’s hot wings or beer
Advice for new bands : Don’t expect it to be easy or fun 100 percent of the time. Take the good with the bad and keep striving to improve and reinvent yourself. Be tolerant of each other.
Cole Raison
Sounds like: Peter Gabriel meets Creedance, Bob Mould and Jeff Buckley
Animal: Howler monkey
Little-known fact: We exist!
Concepto Tambor
Genre: Hardcore drumming, Latin percussion
Motto: Never play the same show twice.
Animal that best represents your band: Black panther
Your guilty listening pleasure : Irish music
Band snack: We have a tradition. At the beginning of the year, everybody cooks, and everybody comes over for dinner. We like to explore different kinds of food, mainly Peruvian food.
Advice for new bands : Work really hard and don’t let it get to your head. It’s not about what you look like and how many people want to be friends. It’s about the community and your audience.
CrazyFool
crazyfoolvibes.com
Genre: Funky rocksteady reggae, ska
Sounds like: Four gringos and an Ecuadorian playing reggae music
Motto: CrazyFool, the other white meat. Also, CrazyFool? More like GravyStool.
Animal: Wookie
Little-known fact: Our drum set once belonged to legendary ska outfit The Specials. It’s a vintage ’60s Burchwood Ludwig set that we picked up from Aitch Bembridge, original Specials member and Albuquerque native. It’s the same set they recorded “A Message to Rudy†and all their other hits on. They also used it on several world tours. It’s awesome to have that spirit and energy on stage with us when we perform.
Advice for new bands: Get a real job! The bums always lose. The bums always lose.
Danny Winn and the Earthlings
dannywinnandtheearthlings.com
Genre: Ska
Motto: Corporations don’t make rock stars, fans do!
Animal: The zebra (black and white like checkerboard)
Little-known fact: We’re already famous. We just haven’t told anyone yet.
Band snack: Candy necklaces
Advice for new bands: Think more about your audience than yourself.
The Dirty Novels
thedirtynovels.com
Sounds like: Hip-shaking, love-making rhythms
Motto: Vintage and modern by design
Animal: Goldfish
Little-known fact: One of us doesn’t know how to drive.
Band snack: Jack in the Box Sourdough Jacks (minus bacon for Pablo)
Advice for new bands: Network with touring bands.
Edge Ultimate Band Contestant: Blind Dryve
Genre: Good ol’ fashioned American rock ‘n’ roll
Animal: Ducks. Nobody hates ducks.
Guilty listening pleasure: Patrick Swayze and David Hasselhoff
Your fans are: We really don’t have any … yet … but we’re hopeful
Advice for new bands : Quit school. That way you can practice way more.
Edge Ultimate Band Contestant: Possess and Conceal
Genre: Heavy metal
Motto: All we possess and conceal will be released!!!
Guilty listening pleasure: Kevin Federline
Advice for new bands : Get a good soundman.
Ethereal Glow
Sounds like: Old Modest Mouse being lead by Aimee Mann and Dustin Kensrue of Thrice on acoustic guitar, with some Spanish guitar thrown in there
Motto: Cheers!
Animal: Lisa’s dog Roxy. It eats everything and craps on the rug.
Little-known fact: 66 percent of the band is from Santa Fe, so Santa Feans can be cool, too.
Advice for new bands: We’re still pretty new, so we’re not going around telling anyone else what to do.
Face Across the Floor
Genre: Progressive punk
Sounds like: The laughter of Dionysus and the bawling of Dio
Animal: Do single-celled organisms count?
Guilty listening pleasure: Prince
Your live show is : Debaucherous, orgiastic, volatile
Fairshot
Genre: Rock, emo, pop
Little-known fact: Ex-Time4Change
Feels Like Sunday
feelslikesunday.net
Genre: Rock, indie, alternative
Motto: Dorks rock harder
Animal: Anteater
Guilty listening pleasure: Kenny Rogers, Stevie Nicks, Madonna, Iron Maiden, Ki
Little-known fact : We’ve played Seattle but not Santa Fe. Silly, isn’t it?
Band snack: Bean dip, processed meat snacks, red licorice, Dark Eyes vodka
Felonious Groove Foundation
fgfband.com
Sounds like: Southwestern funk for yo’ mama
Animal: Paper tigers
Little-known fact: None of the band members are actually felons.
Band snack: Pemmican beef jerky
Advice for new bands: Make friends with the media any way you can. Local papers, radio stations and television stations can become some of your finest allies.
The Foxx
the-foxx.com
Genre: Rock and roll
Animal: I’ll give you one guess …
Guilty listening pleasure : Juliet–That would without question be ABBA. I can’t speak for everyone, but I would love to reveal their guilty listening secrets! Zac–I think my entire record collection is probably considered guilty listening by most people. How about some Bay City Rollers?
Band snack: Clearly Corn-Nuts, Dark chocolate M&M’s for Ryan and Juliet, Sparks for Zac.
The Giranimals
giranimals.com
Sounds like: Mid-’60s pop mixed with indie rock
Motto: Bands that (insert verb) together stay together.
Your fans are: Friends, Romans, countrymen
Band snack: Bread sticks with marinara sauce
The Gracchi
Genre: Your father’s punk rock
Animal: A donkey — with pants!
Little-known fact: Sometimes American Idol takes precedence over practice.
Your live show is: Cheap, horrifying (yes, horrifying), delicious
Advice for new bands : Dropping your demo at clubs rarely yields good gigs. Instead, ask bands you like to share a bill with you.
The Ground Beneath
thegroundbeneath.com
Genre: Rock/metal
Animal: Miniature Dachshund
Little known fact : We’re always out of toilet paper.
Advice for new bands: Just say no to emo.
Guttermouth
xxx-guttermouth-xxx.com
Genre: Punk rock
Motto: Eat your face
Hometown: Huntington Beach, Calif.
Press release says: Front man Mark Adkins has been racking up violations of the PC code for well over a decade.
The Hollis Wake
theholliswake.com
Genre: Indie rock
Animal: Skunk (smelly, misunderstood, strangely cute)
Guilty listening pleasure: Neil Diamond, Slayer, Big Country
Little-known fact: The band’s name derives from a wake held for a friend in Hollis, N.H. He committed suicide.
Your fans are: Drunk, discerning, devoted
Advice for new bands: Practice
Jenny Gamble/The Jenny Gamble Trio
Genre: Folk-rock, Americana
Motto: Support local music!
Animal: Silvery minnow
Little-known fact: We don’t believe in evolution.
Favorite band snack : Emergen-C
Advice for new bands : Be as involved and as close to your musical community as possible. If you love music, learn and do everything in your power to educate yourself about it and be as involved as possible. Most importantly, support local music!
Ki
Sounds like: Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise’s love child screamin’ in the night
Animal : Penguin
Little-known fact : Brandon from Minus Seven auditioned as our singer once.
Your live show is: Wet, jumping, nudity
Band snack: Full Throttles
Advice for new bands : Face Across the Floor will get you drunk if you make out with Freddie.
Kimo
socyermom.com/kimo
Genre: Indie-folk-acoustic
Animal: Chameleon
Your live show is: Humorous, true, inspiring
Advice for new artists : Play, play, play! Just getting your name, face and music out to all the possible venues is key! Play the open mic nights. Play the new band nights. Play anything. People will start to notice!
Left Brain
Genre: Progressive, metal
Animal: Rabid dog
Influences: Complex circumstances, life and embarrassing moments
Little-known fact: We are all nerds and dorks.
Your live show is : Commanding, aggressive, witty
Advice for new bands : Don’t be disinclined to think outside the box. Work hard and practice, practice, practice! Oh, did we mention practice?
La Junta
worldrecordmusic.com
Genre: Latin rock hip-hop
Sounds like: Dave Matthews meets Sublime
Your guilty listening pleasure: Etta James, Alicia Keys
Band snack: Enchiladas and Tecate
Last to Know
Motto: Mountain punk, bluegrass funk.
Little-known fact: Eric, Dan and Jamie have known each other since high school in Austin, Texas. We’re a seven-piece. And we make people dance their tails off.
Band Snack: Whiskey
Advice for new bands: Spread the love. Spread the fun, and it’ll all come back.
Liquid Cheese
liquidcheese.com
Genre: Rock, reggae, Latin, ska, world beat
Sounds like: Ozomatli and P-Funk’s love child
Motto: To be early is to be on time.
Animal: Blue heeler/Australian Shepherd cross
Band snack: Chico’s tacos
Advice for new bands: Stick with it. Always devote 100 percent and never forget why you started doing this.
The Long Gone Trio
longgonetrio.com
Genre: Rockabilly swing
The Lowlights
Genre: Experimental psyche folk country
Sound like: Captain Merle Haggard piloting the mothership ELO to planet Caravan.
Animal: A wild pony.
Little-known fact : We’ve played only four shows in Albuquerque.
Your fans are: Uh, patient, patient, patient!
Advice for new bands : Stick with it. You’ll get better!
Matt Jones
Genre: Pop, rock, acoustic
Sounds like: John Mayer, Gavin DeGraw, Jason Mraz, Marc Broussard
The Memphis P. Tails
memphisptails.blogspot.com
Motto: Blues is blood.
Animal: Black cat in the corner
Little-known fact : The P. Tails evolved from a ’90s rock band called Shovelhead.
Band snack: Whiskey of one kind or another, except Joe, who prefers insulin.
Mike Garcia
michaeljgarcia.com
Genre: Acoustic Spanglish
Sounds like: A broken heart
Your fans are: Easygoing
Snack before or after a set: Tuna
Advice for new bands : Don’t be scared.
The Mindy Set
themindyset.com
Motto: We’re in it for the money.
Animal: Josh Williams
Influences: New wave, Manchester, punk, Art Garfunkel
Little-known fact: Josh really is the missing Beatle.
Your fans are: Sweet, sensible drunks
Your live show is a: Holy hand grenade
Advice for new bands: Keep on rocking ’cause you’re gonna get signed any day now.
Minus Seven
Genre: Hardcore metal
Sounds like: Ass rock!
Guilty listening pleasure: Eminem, Depeche Mode, Fiona Apple
Advice for new bands: Don’t give up right away just because big things do not happen for you immediately. Take your time and just keep playing the music you like to play. Don’t change genres just because of what’s popular, either. It will eventually fade away.
Morningwood XXX
Genre: Reggae, punk, ska
Mystic Vision
Genre: Reggae, hip-hop, R&B
No Regrets
noregretstunes.com
Genre: Punk, ska, techno
Motto: Getting fatter by the minute.
The Oktober People
oktoberpeople.com
Genre: Space rock, shoegaze
Animal: Owl
Guilty listening pleasure: Dio
Your fans are: Awesome, bitchin’, deaf
Your live show is: Crashing, tranquil, frenetic
Advice for new bands : Be true to your ideals and integrity. Don’t compromise your musical creativity. Musical growth happens when it happens.
Old Man Shattered
oldmanshattered.com
Genre: Modern rock
Sounds like: Three Doors Down, Nickelback, Crossfade, etc.
Animal: Lion (king of the jungle)
Little-known fact: We once opened for Jessica Simpson. We are a rock band, lol.
Advice for new bands: True success is to make champions of others.
Pan!c
Genre: Punk, Rock ’n’ roll
Sounds like: The Muffs meets The Platters meets The Ramones meets Yngwie Malmsteen
Animal: A caffeinated, flaming, tricycling, circus bear
Guilty listening pleasure: The Muppets Movie Soundtrack
Band snack: Fat Tire and kisses
Advice for new bands: Just get out and do it. Play live and play often. We booked our first show before we could play a set. If you wait till you’re ready, you never will be!
Paul Salazar
paulsalazarmusic.com
Genre: Pop, rock
Sounds like: Music
Animal that best represents your work: Tortoise
Guilty listening pleasure : Kelly Clarkson
Snack before or after a set: Ginger
Poor Man’s Ferrari
Genre: Rock, blues, funk
Motto: There is no try, there is do or do not.
Radio La Chusma
elcaminomusic.com
Sounds like: Bob Marley and Celia Cruz had a baby and then raised him in Mexico. Or like Lenny Kravitz joined Sublime and toured Africa.
Band snack: Beef jerky
Advice for new bands : Just keep playing and ask questions. There are enough music brothers out there that will help guide you on your path.
Rage Against Martin Sheen
“Just use the same crap you have used for the past five years.”
Romeo Goes to Hell
romeogoestohell.com
Genre: Two-car garage rock
Motto: Truth, freedom, beauty, bullshit
Animal: Chupacabra
Little-known fact: Josh is actually two little people. One stands on the other’s shoulders.
Band snack: The blood of young virgins, Hot Pockets
The Rumfits
therumfits.com
Genre: Rock, punk, metal
Sounds like: 1 cup of Green Jelly, 3 teaspoons of The Stooges, 1 quart of Black Flag, 1 12-ounce bottle of FEAR, 2 gallons of Motorhead and a dash of Motley Crue to taste. Cook till tender with some AC/DC.
The Ryan McGarvey Band
Genre: Blues rock
Motto: Play with 110 percent from the heart. All or nothing.
Band Snack: Taos Cow ice cream
Advice for new bands : Never give up.
Scenester
socyermom.com/scenester
Genre: Rock
Sounds like: Rock mixed with some rock and add a dash of, um, rock.
Animal: Rhinoceros or the Sperm Whale
Little-known fact: Roger’s curls are all natural. Luke rides a scooter and, yes, Leonard is that sexy in real life.
Your live show is: Sweaty rock circus
Band snack: Carne seca or pork skins
Advice for new bands: Stay in school. Get yo’ degree first and then rock out. Buy the more experienced bands a drink.
SilverTongue
Genre: Rock ‘n’ roll
Skinny Fat
Sounds like: Funk and jazz infused hip-hop with turntablistic tendencies and a punk-rock demeanor
Animal: Gorilla (Java Man)
Little-known fact: The band was created to support the album ( Great, Great, Great Gran’Pa 2004), which was already produced and released prior to the group’s forming in spring 2005.
Band snack: Rival sucka MC rappers
Advice for new bands: Svengalian tactics work best in the context of beer. Build a name for the band before trying to talk cash.
Slik 50
Genre: Rockabilly
Soular
soular.us
Genre: Rock and roll for the masses
Motto: Everybody loves a good chocolate cake
Animal: The beetle with an ‘A’
Little-known fact: We are all quite fond of Chaucer and Spike Lee joints.
Your fans are: Tall, melancholy, literate
Your live show is: Veni, Vedi, Vinci
Band snack: Hostess Sno-Balls and Yoo-Hoo
Advice for new bands : Listen here Lawdawgs, law don’t run around here, you see?
Stan Hirsh
stanhirsch.com
Genre: Depends on mine and the audience’s mood
Animal: Human
Sterotyperider
Genre: Awesome rock
Sounds like: Pure awesomeness
Animal: Elephant
Influences: We did a covers EP, and these are the bands we covered: The Pixies, Fugazi, Seaweed, Archers of Loaf, The Cure, Quicksand and The Descendants
Band snack: Fritos and mayo
Thoughts on Albuquerque: Great place to party, awesome people and rockin’ bands
Thoughts on touring: It keeps us alive.
SuperGiant
myspace.com/supergiant
Sounds like: Psychedelia-laced, groove-oriented power rock
Motto: We’ll try anything twice.
Little-known fact: We all met through Rocksquawk.com. The lead guitarist and singer just found out they have the same birthday.
The Surf Lords
surflords.com
Sounds like: The beginning of the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.
Animal: Dolphins, because they actually surf.
Little-known fact: Only one member actually surfs.
Your fans are: Good dancers
Advice for new bands : Play some instrumental tunes. Don’t sing every song.
Tabularasa
Genre: Rock, hip-hop, punk
Motto: Kicking a dead horse only gets your foot tired.
Animal: Stray dog
Little-known fact: Started in 1999 in Taos
Advice for new bands : Longevity is the key to success.
Unit 7 Drain
unit7drain.com
Sounds like: Sonic Youth, The Pixies, The Cure, Longwave, A Cricket in Times Square, The Killers
Motto: Give us liberty and also death
Animal: Bat
Little known-fact: We are the only band in the last decade or more to release a record on 8-track tape.
Band snack: Veggie nuggets from Kai’s
Your live show is: Explosive, destructive and beautiful
Winterlock
Genre: Metal
Motto: Fuck work, make music. Release the scream.
Guilty listening pleasure: Mariah Carey
Little-known fact: We are all in the Air Force.
The Ya Ya Boom Project!
Genre: Rockomahol
Motto: Rock with wings
Animal: A porcupine, because it’s kind of bomb-shaped.
Band snack: Vegan stuff that’s around the practice house
Advice for new bands: Keep playing. Don’t let anything people say affect you negatively. Be sturdy.
Zack Freeman
ialonemusic.net
Practice space: At my shows. I work 40 hours a week, go to school and have two small kids … children, that is, not goats.
Genre: Beatbox-based hip-hop folk
Sounds like: A capella on steroids
Motto: Save the world. Be a great parent.
Little-known fact: My daughter is the star in the center of my heart, and my son is the papaya of my eye.
Advice for new artists : Less talk, more music.
