The Deli swings by Grand Avenue Records to visit Cocoe for the first iteration of our ‘PRIME CUTS’ series. He lays it down about growing up in Southern California, moving to Phoenix, and opening the record shop on historic Grand Ave.
The ‘PRIME CUTS’ series is our dive into Arizona’s gems — small businesses, mom & pop shops, galleries, eateries, and the people who make them special.
Here’s some of the best Arizona music we heard in 2018. We included a variety of genres and tastes. It only scratches the surface, but we hope you find something you like.
If you want to know more about any of these artists, message us on Instagram @swingbythedeli – enjoy!
Thank you Lee for making Mute Swan’s trip to Phoenix a more-than hospitable one.
Thank you Lucas for capturing the magic of Full Moon through film.
Thank you Alex for lending a helping hand, an extra pair of eyes, and kind words all night.
Thank you Sushi for help building the stage
Thank you Dak for loaning us a projector screen.
Thank you Kiah for assisting with artist communication.
Thank you to the security, bartenders, and Pressroom staff for staying up late to put on a successful event.
Thank you to the DJ’s, ravers, fire-spinners, breakers, and glowstick shakers.
Thank you, Arizona. Thank you for taking risks. Thank you for letting us take risks and thank you for believing in one another’s risks. Thank you for your art and your music. Thank you for your tasty grub, refreshing beers, potent cannabis, stylish clothes, relentless heat, attractive inhabitants, grid-based street system, hangout spots, refuges, and all the hidden nooks waiting to be unveiled.
We never thought we’d be where we are in year – but 7 months? Any attempt to express the overwhelming gratitude we have for you all wouldn’t scratch the surface.
The Deli started as a way to cure our boredom. To eat new food, hangout at new places, and meet new people. The brilliance blossoming within our young community is undeniable. You are all doing so much cool shit – without inhibitions, pushing boundaries, supporting one another – every day. And we thank you for that.
Arizona is amazing, and we’re excited to continue learning why.
Lace up your rug-cutters and pause your ad-blockers – we’re dancing deep into the Dark Net until the sun peeks through the blinds. Or the Mountain Dew Code Red wears off. Right… 😉
Stoneypie and Repose both graciously wired lil teaser mixes to The Deli.
They’ll get your mind right for this sexy night. Listen now:
“We honestly wanted to showcase two specific genres, and provide a space for everyone to have a good time until sunrise. No other motives, just a little fun and proper music for everyone” – Stoneypie <3
And don’t forget to stay hydrated, loves. Just don’t spill on the hardware.
On their sophomore album, “On Flat Earth”, Phoenix band Herbert Walker encapsulates the claustrophobia of a torrid Arizona summer.
Peep their brand new music video for ‘Eat Forever’, premiering exclusively – right here at The Deli.
“Summer’s here,” perks lead singer Francis Bartolomeo on ‘Digging Up Worms’. The optimism in his voice is palpable. Visions of cold ones enjoyed in lawn chairs out back, and courting cuties at the community pool.
“…and this house is a balloon!” His intonation quickly backpedals, seeming to crumple his latest list of shining ideas, tossing it to the overflowing waste bin in the corner.
Anyone who’s from suffered from June to September in Arizona knows temperature and ambition share an inverse relationship.
So it’s refreshing that Francis, the band’s sole lyricist, is able to rival the desert’s dry heat with his parched perspectives.
Francis admits he dug deeper, emotionally, on this record compared to their first.
His anecdotes are teeming with very personal details – about change, complacency, and navigating the stormy torrents which flow between an innocent lust and a deep love.
Luckily, his musings are abstract enough to safeguard their true intrinsic code. Each line is hieroglyphic. But if we crudely trace the edges of his painstaking etchings, we decipher a story that’s oddly reflective. Uniquely our own.
The record invades our neural hard drive, digging through our most sensitive folders, and extracting melancholies we filed away long ago.
Where Francis’ words ground us, facing the humility of our realities, the brilliant instrumentation of this record sends our imagination soaring towards the cosmos.
The sounds of “On Flat Earth” are immaculate. Every member of the band flourishes on this album.
Greg Lloyd lays the trumpet down with silky precision. He also mastered the record. Francis says he’s the “most adult of the bunch”.
Vance Nowe’s hefty bass lines assert a serious tone on the tracks, while heading groove duties. He jumps in on keys in a couple songs, cementing his presence in the deepest layers of the tunes.
Sam Lekander, the second founding member of Herbert Walker, shoulders tempos with thoughtful precision. His percussion isn’t bombastic. It doesn’t need to be. He conducts the drums with care, weaving in and out of tracks with expert touch. Sam’s influence blossoms on ‘Balcony’, ‘Doggo’, and especially on ‘Long Arms’ – the album’s lengthiest track.
JJ Hernandez (guitar and keys) contorts vibrations, ensnaring you in sonic bliss. His sounds are sandy feet dangling off a creaky boardwalk. Time spent scouring the flowers for friendly critters. And snuggling with your pup in the grass. All packaged into a gorgeous, psychedelic parcel.
Herbert Walker’s “On Flat Earth” sprouted from incessant jam sessions, contagious camaraderie, and an apt towards trying new things.
This album is the score to our vivid daydreams, projected in technicolor behind our eyelids.
Enough droning. Give the record a listen. We highly suggest it.
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