Check out this live performance from The White Rabbit Cabaret in Indianapolis. Awesome.
Singer/frontman Oliver Hopkins and guitarist Duncan Kissinger from Hotfox took a minute to answer a few questions so we could all get to know this talented group of guys from Bloomington, Indiana a little better.
Another big congrats to the guys for winning this year’s Battle of the Bands. We can’t wait to see them in Austin!
Q: So, you’re our winners. You made it. Did you guys think you had a good chance when you entered this crazy thing?
A: We had no expectations at first but as time went on, we saw our chances get better from 1 in 50 to 1 in 10.
Q: Where does the name Hotfox come from?
A: An outlaw in an old spaghetti western film.
Q: How do you describe your music to someone that hasn’t heard you before?
A: It’s melodic, dynamic, and noisy. It’s what you get when you mix sugar, spice, everything nice, and chemical Y.
Q: What’s in store for Hotfox this year? Do you guys have some short term goals? How about long term?
A: Right now we’re working on our second record with Tyler Watkins (of Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s) so that’s our immediate focus. We’re looking to get on the road this summer and tour behind it.
We’re proud to announce that Bloomington, Indiana based rockers Hotfox are the winners of our 4th annual Battle of the Bands competition!
The guys were picked out of over 800 artists to enter the second round of the contest in which they competed against 50 other acts in a public voting period. At the end of the public voting period, Hotfox moved on to the final round by being voted into the top 10 artists. From the top 10, a panel of judges from JanSport and Sonicbids hand selected Hotfox as their favorite.
The guys will be heading down to SXSW to play the Official Sonicbids Showcase presented by JanSport on Friday, March 16th. In the meantime, check out “Mountain Tiger” from the band’s debut LP, You, Me, and the Monster, released last summer on Roaring Colonel Records (which happens to be the record label arm of My Old Kentucky Blog.) The disc was produced by Tyler Watkins of Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s and the band is currently working with Watkins on a follow up.
mountain tiger by hotfoxtheband
Check back tomorrow for an exclusive Q&A with Hotfox frontman Oliver Hopkins!
Is tomorrow! Check back because we’ll be announcing the winner of our 4th annual JanSport Battle of the Bands! The winner will get a free trip down to Austin, TX for this year’s SXSW music festival where they’ll perform at the official Sonicbids Showcase, presented by JanSport.
Get your weekend party started with this track from Alabama Shakes. These guys (and gal) are the real deal: authentic southern blues and soul straight from small town Alabama. Alabama Shakes are making pretty big waves in the industry with sold out high-energy club shows around the country and a debut LP that’s slated for release this April.
Take a listen and have a great weekend!
Alabama Shakes – Hold On by ATO Records (@atorecords)
That’s right, after staying away from music videos for the first 15 or so years of the bands career, Wilco has kicked out their second video to support last year’s The Whole Love. The new video for “Dawned On Me” (one of our favorite’s from The Whole Love) delivers in true Wilco fashion: it’s as far from expected as possible.
Check it out.
If you’re like us, you’re bombarded with so much music throughout the week that alot of really great stuff slips by unnoticed. That’s why we’re happy one of the lads on our development team got us hip to what was probably one of the best pieces of music of 2011: M83’s epic double LP Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.
Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming was released last October and covers an expansive 22 tracks and the two discs cover everything from 80’s pop hooks to epic movie score orchestration. M83 is mainly the project of French musician Anthony Gonzales and features a cast of supporting musicians, including his brother Yann Gonzales, singer/keyboardist Morgan Kibby and Drummer Loic Maurin. Gonzales’ style touches on My Bloody Valentine shoegaze while embodying dramatic and often times orchestral instrumentation that includes classic synthesizer and drum machine sounds.
You can check out some of the tracks here on Soundcloud
The top 10 artists from our Unzipped Battle of the Bands are now listed at our BOTB site. You can still click through and listen to tracks from the top 10, so head over and let us know who you want to win!
We’ll be announcing our winner February 1st right here and via Facebook.
You’re running out of time to vote for your favorite band in our 4th Annual Unzipped Battle of the Bands! Just click here or on the banner above to check out 50 great up and coming artists from all over the country. When you find your favorite, place your vote.
In addition to loads of JanSport gear, the winning act will receive and all expenses paid trip for the group down to this year’s SXSW in Austin, Texas and will perform at the official Sonicbids showcase, presented by JanSport.
We’ll be announcing our top ten by the end of the week and the winner will be announced February first.
You only have until the end of the day tomorrow to vote, so get to it!
Tickets are on sale now through Coachella’s site and if the past years are any indication, they’ll go quick.
If you don’t manage to get one, don’t worry, there’s always other options…
