Week 7 - April 12, 2024
The Invisible Squirrel Appears for Episode 7!
Z-GR! Radio overview right from your Host:
- My name is Scot Apathy – I’m the lead singer for Zero-G Racetrack, and I curate the ‘Floating Around the Racetrack’ Spotify/YouTube playlist. It’s not a pay for play list; I personally choose what’s on it based on what I hear. True story.
- For Z-GR! Radio, I pull from tracks/artists on the playlist (current and archived) and include newer finds that might not be on the list yet.
- The artists included come from myriad genres, geographical locations and stage of growth. I stay away from mainstream established artists, but I will play artists that I’ve followed as they grow. I love it when emerging artists gain traction, and I like to celebrate it.
- I include a cover song each week, and highly recommend checking out MetroVeteran’s (Ruel Smith) ‘Synthwave Covers’ Spotify playlist. There are 900 great tracks on that list.
- I post a page like this each week to help you find out more about the artists you heard on this week’s show and to make it easy to do so.
Have fun with the list below, enjoy the artists and and…
PLEASE share the page out on your Socials!
Invisible Squirrel
This week, I tracked down the Invisible Squirrel, who I’ve had on the playlist multiple times. Fortunately for everyone, he was good to go for a show appearance, and it turned out great! The Squirrel is a producer and remixer, so if you like what you hear, reach out!
Spotify | Twitter | Instagram | Bandcamp
Good to see you, Squirrel!
Episode Seven- On Demand
Z-GR! Radio Episode Seven Lineup
Billy Mick - A Little Bit More
Billy Mick’s voice is so remarkably cool and unique that it is absolutely unmistakable, and he uses it to create catchy, fun songs that’ll get you moving and keep you there. A Little More’ has a catchy vocal that’s helped along by slick disco-era guitar riff that really sets the hook. This is a great track accented by Mick’s distinctively guttural howls. Aw, Yeah, indeed.
Zero-G Racetrack - My BabyDone Left Me
When we formed Zero-G Racetrack, Bill Williams and I made a bit of a pact around the lyrical content – we didn’t want to be a bummer. The songs can be introspective and thoughtful, but we vowed not to wallow in sadness or remorse. When ‘My Baby Done Left Me’ came along, I came up with a set of lyrics that broke the rule…BUT…the music itself is upbeat and fun. Ultimately, we challenged ourselves to turn an upbeat dance-rock track into a breakup song without bumming everyone out, and judging on the reactions I get when I sing it live, I think we hit the mark. We did throw a nod to the emotive by playing the song out with a SRV blues-style guitar solo, so there is that.
Estella Dawn - Vixen
Estella Dawn is awesome on so many levels – she has a truly fantastic voice, wonderful presence and a way with words that makes her songs a ton of fun to listen to. Seriously…her lyrical storytelling skills are amongst the best I’ve heard, and that’s saying something. Add to that an undercurrent of sass and a comfortability with herself and you get one of my favorite artists ever.
Estella is a New Zealander in San Diego by way of Colorado, comes from a musical background and has a great social media presence. The lineup for this show perfectly suits Estella, and ‘Vixen’ is the perfect track for it. Also…Estella has one of the best approaches to Social Media I’ve seen…follow her to see what I mean.
Spotify | Linktree | Bandcamp | Instagram | TwitterX | Facebook
VVerevvolf - Nope
I’m hoping that VVerevvolf, a SF Bay Area trio, hasn’t completely disbanded. I know that members have gone off to do ‘live your life’ stuff, but they put out some great tracks, including ‘Nope’. I absolutely love everything about that track, including the Eggplant murder artwork they used for the release. The lyrics are clever, the sounds they used are great…I know that it’s been a long minute since they’ve dropped new material, but I’ve got my fingers crossed. Regardless, they have a ton of great songs available, so be sure to check them out.
House of Asha, Dust Breaks - One Less Lonely Night
Silicon Valley’s House of Asha is absolutely fantastic. I met Asha in downtown San Jose at a performance shortly after her album release, and was so immediately impressed that I was already listening to her tracks as she walked offstage. She has a wonderfully smooth, sultry voice that is immediately recognizable in all the best ways. She’s done a few joints with Bay Area Producer Dust Breaks including ‘One Less Lonely Night’, and I’ve got it on good word that she’ll be appearing on a Zero-G Racetrack song later in the year. True story.
BLAKTAI - Behind The Wheel
This week’s cover song is perfect for the show – Depeche Mode is a legendary SynthPop band and ‘Behind the Wheel’ is a late-80’s fan favorite. Covering the song are NYC natives Whitney Tai and Kelsey Warren, aka Blak Emoji have been collaborating under the name Blaktai since 2018; along the way, Kelsey’s made a name for himself in the Big Apple, and has accolades throughout the industry.
Whitney made the jump to L.A. and has been leaving marks everywhere she goes. She’s won multiple awards including ICMA’s best vocalist in 2021, she’s headlined NAMM which is super cool, and BLAKTAI is the NEWHD Radio Spotlight artist this month, so make sure you check out their feature article on newhdradio.com.
BLAKTAI
Spotify | Linktree | Web | Twitter | NEWHD Feature
Whitney Tai
Spotify | Linktree | Bandcamp | Instagram | TwitterX | Facebook
Blak Emoji
Bisou Noir - Devil Child
Kamino Royale - Live For the Rise, Die for the Fall
That was Kamino Royale out of Belfast. The band was born out of the ashes of legendary four piece Saint Sapphire and is the brainchild of Saint Sapphire guitarist and front man Sam Morgan. Sam’s been focused on soundtrack work lately, but I’ve heard that they’re headed in a more retro direction and have new material coming out soon, and I’m looking forward to it.
Icarus- Ghouls
‘Ghouls’ by Icarus has a great sound (awesome vocal, no lie) that leans into what Icarus describes as a nu-disco/retro electro hybrid. Whatever you call it, it’s really cool – The track is off of 2021’s Dancing in the Darkness album – Icarus, who is out of Stockholm, Sweden has done really well with YouTube and is anticipating a new album release this year.
Unify Separate - Embrace the Fear
Unify Separate is a duo of Scottish singer Andrew Montgomery and luminary of Sweden’s legendary synth culture, Leo Josefsson. Montgomery relocated to Sweden, met Josefsson and a bunch of awesome songs are the result. They’ve got a bunch of great tracks, including ‘Embrace the Fear’, so be sure to check them out.
Also – I fear that I mispronounced the name of their band on the show – if so, it was due to time pressure and a TON of things going on (brain overload). If I blew it – sincerest apologies to Andrew and Leo.
Paper Pilots - The Weather (Sneakout Remix)
Paper Pilots, out of Los Angeles, has been slowly infiltrating LA Radio – they’ve been featured on WXPN and KROQ’s locals only. And their video for ‘The Weather’ was directed by Emmy Winner Joel Knoernschild. Their radio reach has just extended to Z-GR! Radio; this is the Sneakout Remix of ‘The Weather’ right here on NEWHD Rock Evolution.
Özlem - One Night
I came across Özlem via the Spotify algo, believe it or not, and really liked the vibe of ‘One Night’. The video for the song is much darker than the song itself – in reality, ‘One Night’ is an outstanding Pop song, and after hearing it multiple times as I do when I’m putting the show together, I’ve found that I like it more each time I hear it. Özlem’s got some other cool tracks, so be sure to check her stuff out.
Liz Lawrence - Heart Of Gold
I stumbled across Liz Lawrence about a year ago, and really liked her 2021 album ‘The Avalanche’. Since then, Liz has blown up (really blown up, no lie), and is currently prepping her next record for release on Chrysalis this June. This deep cut off of Avalanche is called ‘Heart of Gold’.
Invisible Squirrel - 303 Reasons To Rock
I’ve had a multitude of Squirrel’s tracks on the playlist over the past few years, and I’ve enjoyed them all. The Squirrel is outstanding in both production and remixing, so it only made sense to approach him for bed music, and it turned out great. ‘303 Reasons to Like Rock’ was the first of the Squirrel’s tracks to hit my playlist, and it really does rock, so it seemed appropriate to close the show with it.
Spotify | Bandcamp | Twitter | Instagram
Thanks again, Squirrel!
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