music festival – The Deli

Thank You, Full Moon Festival [GALLERY]

Thank you Full Moon Festival for providing a platform to give a glimpse into Arizona’s prolific music scene.

Thank you Jon, Colter, and AJ for supporting our vision.

Thank you WEB Art and Mark for building a massive fucking television.

Thank you Andrew’s Art Project for creating gorgeous, custom visuals to project on the massive fucking television.

Thank you Tom and Mike for being absolute studs, and running sound all night.

Thank you Like Diamonds for kicking off the psychedelic, moon-lit dance party.

Thank you Mute Swan for traveling from Tucson, blasting us with noise, and hanging around after the show.

Thank you T.O.S.O. for curing our lupophobia.

Thank you Slator Blacc for entrancing us with your superb flow.

Thank you M2FG for turnin’ the heat up a notch, and starting a mosh pit.

Thank you Lil Prada, D Rock and Lord Ra for the impromptu guest cyphers.

Thank you to The Color 8 for throwing down a cornucopia of groovy tunes.

Thank you Herbert Walker for your impeccable LP, which we can’t stop bumping.

Thank you Andrew and your drum circle team for connecting us through rhythmic symbiosis.

Thank you Katie for limbering us up with yoga before the festivities.

Thank you Omar and Michael for bringing droves of friends to the party.

Thank you Matt, Konnor, Christian and Wulf for the killer promotional designs.

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.

Cheers,
The Deli

Like Diamonds on The Deli Stage at Full Moon Festival Phoenix — Like Diamonds

The Color 8 on The Deli Stage at Full Moon Festival — The Color 8

M2FG at The Deli Stage at Full Moon Festival — M2FG

M2FG at Full Moon Festival Phoenix — M2FG

Lil Prada & M2FG at Full Moon Festival Phoenix — Lil Prada (right) & M2FG (left)

Slator Blacc on The Deli Stage at Full Moon Festival Phoenix — Slator Blacc

Slator Blacc at Full Moon Festival Phoenix — Slator Blacc

Lord Ra at Full Moon Festival Phoenix — Lord Ra

Slator Blacc and Lord Ra at Full Moon Festival Phoenix — Slator Blacc (Left) & Lord Ra (Right)

Drum Circle at Full Moon Festival Phoenix — Drum Circle

Mute Swan at Full Moon Festival Phoenix — Mute Swan

JOCK CLUB vs. DIVERSION PROGRAM – ‘Desert Storm’

*All Photos by Noah Gracia*

Perk-up ravers – we’ve got some new tunes for ya from Arizona producers, Jock Club and Diversion Program. The two teamed up for a joint album, Desert Storm dropped on Jock Club’s MANIC! label.

The formula was simple:

10 tracks
4 Diversion Program
4 Jock Club
2 together – one in Diversion Program’s preferred software (Ableton), and one in Jock Club’s (Renoise)

Download ‘Desert Storm’ Here

The pair weave crisp percussion and resonant basslines with expert precision. Each track brings a refreshing beat switch, set to the tune of glitchy blips, darting stabs, and quirky samples.

It invokes a certain nostalgia.

Of UK dub.

And Waka Flocka Beats.

And nabbing coins in a retro video game.

Which is funny, because this record makes you feel like bopping in a club with a pocket full of coin.

While their unique, respective influences and processes are laced within the record, every track is undeniably synergistic with any of its siblings. And the camaraderie these two share becomes more obvious seeing them live. We were lucky enough to catch them two days after ‘Desert Storm’ dropped, as a literal desert storm passed overhead.

On a day with plenty of sunshine, an eerie drizzle of rain and wall of dust set the landscape for their HOCO Fest sets at Hotel McCoy on the South side of Tucson. It felt like a resort out of Fallout New Vegas. Sweaty pool people, caked in a desert haze, nodding agreeably to the dirtiest of dubplates.

Both artists carry an air of mystery and intrigue in their music and their personalities. The tracks can lead you down a musky, stone corridor towards a dungeon lair. But their music is accessible, as well. It urges you to fist-bump with your sunnies on next to the sub. It feels natural. The beats could be repurposed seamlessly to the tempo of a grime rapper’s pengest flows. Yet they’re a glimpse into an industrial, dystopian future. It’s two-step, break-beat, bass-infused bliss.

One track that caught our attention early is Jock Club’s “Mohawk”. It urges you to step-up in someone’s face. Probably because it’s, aggressively, up in yours. A true standout is a collab between the two “Shadow Boxing”.

The intros and breakdowns are ominous and reserved. Like a ghost DJ’ing in a graveyard. Then you’re smacked upside the head with bass and 808’s. Clean claps round out the track, adding sonic tingles that encourage movement. Or as one might say “Going ape.” The album’s closer, “Nutmeg”, doesn’t quit. It caps the record and the party. A sweaty night of moshing and nodding with your peers. Desert Storm. Through-and-through bangers.

You can catch Jock Club at select Phoenix shows, such as this month’s “Futurists” showcase at Valley Bar. Diversion Program is heading to London join the Master’s Program of Sonic Arts at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Follow them here:

Diversion Program
Bandcamp
Twitter
SoundCloud

Jock Club
Bandcamp
Twitter
SoundCloud

Noah Gracia
Instagram
www.noahgracia.com

Open House Festival Photo Gallery

Electricity shook us the first time we entered The Sunroom.

Was it the motley crew of fervent devotees, cast across the backyard?

The Sunroom shot by noah glynn — Photo by Noah Glynn

Or the attention to detail which goes into their events – from the painstaking lineup curation to tailored visual accompaniments.

Maybe it’s because there are four incredibly-imaginative dudes who live there. And going on their third year in the Tempe house, they decide week-after-week, “Fuck it – let’s do some cool shit!”

We fed off that get-it-done mantra. So much, we came to them with the idea for an article. And in true Sunroom fashion…they asked if we’d be down to throw an event. Our first event. The Open House Festival.

Open House Lineup Poster by Erica Dallman — Flyer by Erica Dallman

Open House Flyer by Christa MacDonald — Flyer by Chirsta McDonald

Open House Flyer by Adam Zanzucchi — Flyer by Adam Zanzucchi

So we sat down. We sat down some more (every Saturday for about 6-weeks, actually). And we hashed it out. Side note – there was a whole lotta drama surrounding the need for a sun shade, which we purchased from Home Depot and never ended up using. Shoutout to the Depot’s satisfying return policy.

Open House Festival by Athena Burton — Photo by Athena Burton

We wanted to accomplish a few things:

Mesh music and art in a gorgeous, organic space.
Provide a platform for lesser-known Arizona acts to play amongst bonafide talent.
Bring friends and strangers together, to start conversations. Conversations which, we hope, make Arizona more badass than it already is.