FOR FANS OF: Bad Waitress, VENUS GRRRLS, L7 Grungey, feminist rock is alive and well with bands like Seattle's own Kitty Junk. Kitty Junk are a duo consisting of members of Angie Dane and Ryan Lee, who also belong to the all-female hard rock trio Atrocity Girl, with guitarist Johnny Angel. Atrocity Girl formed as an "independent, creative entity after many sexist encounters within the music industry," and they aim to make the rock world a more gender-inclusive, and POC-friendly space - which Kitty Junk stands by as well. They work to achieve the same goal through heavy tracks and activism. "Head Rush" is the duo's second single, following their debut single, "Converse Theory," which dropped earlier this year. It's a melodic, classically grunge track, reminisce of bands like Alice In Chains. It's slow and harsh, a track that makes you want to headbang and let yourself feel all of your heavy emotions. I love this track so much, it's an instant-classic. It's got killer guitar riffs, deep lyrics, vibrant drums and vocals that are addicting and unique. I love this track, and I love everything Kitty Junk is about and stands for. On the day "Head Rush" was released, May 27th, 2021, they entered Earwig Studio to record their debut album, which I'm so ready to hear right now. "Head Rush" is brilliant, as so is their previous single, "Converse Theory." Just off of their first two tracks I can tell that they're a strong, solid band who knows what they're doing and what they're about, and I'm so excited for their future. Follow Kitty Junk on Facebook and Instagram.

Pushing 23 is a real big bummer, but this record isn't one. I picked up a book from a Little Free Library down the street from me last week – if you don't know what that is, it's what the title says. It's typically a wooden box with a door with windows attached to it on a post, and inside are used books. Their motto is "Take a book, leave a book." I brought a book back, and the one I took out was a book on finding joy, written by Charlotte Davis Kasl. A few pages in, the author compared joy to poetry. She said "Joy is like genuine poetry. It communicates to us in the whole of our being and seems beyond words. Have you ever had a wonderful experience and felt it go clunk inside when you tried to explain it to someone? That's because the words could not capture the essence of the experience…" That's how I feel about cleopatrick's BUMMER. BUMMER is the chain-link fence between cleopatrick's older music and their music & themselves as they are now. It's like the sad, nostalgic feelings that I & the kids I went to school with felt when we heard last year that the old, big wooden playground in our town was being torn down because it "wasn't safe anymore." Glad for the memories, but we're grown up now, and so it's on to the next chapter. Life goes on and we all change, much like the playground had to change, and much like cleopatrick's music has evolved from their previous releases. BUMMER is the next chapter for cleopatrick and all of their listeners. It's such a good record. Just how joy is like poetry, so is BUMMER, and it's good poetry. Poetry demands itself to be felt, rather than over-explained, as with any other art form....so I can't explain to the fullest how this record makes me feel, but know that I love it with my entire heart. To break down how each of the tracks make me feel (beyond the singles I've already written about across this cyberspace), would be like cracking open my journal and uploading pages from it directly onto the internet with no censoring, no editing. It would be embarrassing & would leave my heart utterly exposed. Breaking down lyrics is what I can do the best, but to do that with BUMMER it doesn't entirely feel right to me, so I won't do it. A track-by-track review wouldn't work for BUMMER anyway – I believe that you need to sit by yourself and give the record a few spins, really soak it in by yourself, then share it with a close friend or two. Take it as the whole piece of work which it is and not bit by bit. It's not an instant-gratification record, not formulaic, not expectant, it's a record with real depth & passion. BUMMER is brilliant. My favorite tracks are "2008," "Why July," and "No Sweat." There's a couple lines from "No Sweat" that make me want to lay down my pen forever – "i died on cross and never saw my god / i said 'i'm tryna stay gold but it's getting hard." And there's so many more lines & bits I really love throughout the record such as "my kubrick stare in the backseat," "scored in wilhelm scream," "if you ever really cared at all / say so / cuz i'm sick of being on my own / if you need me won't you let me know," and more. BUMMER isn't like anything else out there on the charts and that's the beauty of it. It's unique and original. Some of the tracks are heavy, not easily swallowed, not a typical Top 40 Rock radio hit, but that's what makes it so good & special. BUMMER is the record we're going to go back to over and over again, it both defining an era in our young lives & shaping us as people. It's a must-listen. It's honest, vulnerable, and just genuinely really great rock music. cleopatrick will be on tour this fall with Ready the Prince & ZIG MENTALITY on the American & Canadian dates, and in the UK with Sick Joy & ZIG MENTALITY. You can find tickets here. You can purchase a copy of BUMMER on cd & vinyl, and buy other BUMMER related merch here. Follow cleopatrick on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

FOR FANS OF: Coldplay, The Backseat Lovers, U2 Glass House Point is an alternative rock band based out of Florida. After extensive US touring, the band's third latest EP Verglas was recently released on May 14th, produced by Aaron Marsh (of Copeland). Glass House Point’s genre-bending production creates a sound that is so unique and entirely themselves. Since 2013, they have been exploring the Florida music scene and wowing audiences with their enthusiastic live shows. I personally love Glass House Point’s alternative range from soft and vibey to fiery and upbeat. They are authentically their own sound and that is something so awesome to see in my eyes. They’re music is something that you could totally enjoy while going for a sunset drive or sprinting through a field. Read on to get to know more about Glass House Point and their latest EP Verglas. Questions are answered by Dylan Graham (Vocals / Guitar) of Glass House Point 1) Introduce us to the band. Who is Glass House Point? Hey! We’re Glass House Point -- Dylan Graham (Guitar / Vocals), Ian Campbell (Bass / Synth). Dylan Methot (Guitar / Synth), and Jansen Valk (Drums) 2) What’s the craziest thing that has happened in your music career so far? As far as career milestones go, working with Aaron Marsh (Copeland) on Verglas was a big deal for us. Aaron is a hometown hero where we come from, and it was the first time that a bigger artist has really gone out of their way to invest in us and help us develop. All of Verglas was recorded and produced by Aaron at his studio, The Vanguard Room. Our experience working with him brought our music and our process to another level. 3) What was the inspiration and meaning behind your latest EP Verglas? A lot of the inspiration for Verglas just comes from personal experience and the growing pains that I experienced while a lot of things were rapidly changing in my life. The record explores fragility and impermanence through an introspective lens. Each song wrestles with some type of internal conflict — leaving the past behind, wanting more, killing your ego and becoming something new. 4) What is your go to gas station order? Tropical Trail Mix, Mike & Ikes, Red Bull, and a BOGO set of 1 liter waters 5) What is the meaning behind your band name? There is really no specific meaning behind “Glass House Point.” Although, we like to think that it symbolizes a sort of world or destination that we pull our listeners into. The name has kind of found its meaning over time, but the reality is that we found the name by clicking the “random article” button on Wikipedia for several hours while we were desperately trying to come up with a name for our first live show. 6) Where do you pull inspiration from the most when writing music? Sonically, we all pull from really diverse music tastes, and then we use the elements that we each bring to the table as inspiration to drive each arrangement forward. Lyrically and conceptually, a lot of it is just simple human emotion and feeling. Most of the lyrics that I’m most proud of have just flowed right off the cusp, and then I apply meaning from there and use that to take the song where it needs to go. Visuals and films also play a big role with the lyrics. A lot of the time, I picture some sort of scene unfolding as I write. The work of David Lynch was a particularly strong influence for the direction we took with Verglas. 7) If you could only listen to three artists for the rest of your lives, who would they be? Dylan G -- Radiohead, Kanye, and Bon Iver Ian -- Nine Inch Nails, Mike Dean, The Killers, and Radiohead Dylan M -- Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ben Howard, and Local Natives Jansen -- Green Day, Lil Uzi Vert, and Arctic Monkeys 8) What is your dream venue and dream lineup to play with? Red Rocks is definitely on the top of the list. A dream lineup is really hard because we all have such diverse tastes. The Killers, The Neighbourhood, Tame Impala, Foals, Local Natives, Warpaint, Phoenix, Radiohead, The National, Beach House -- there are so many artists that we’d love to play with; the list is pretty endless. 9) Any exciting plans for the rest of the year? We’re already geared up to start dropping some new singles. We wrapped up recording Verglas well over a year ago -- so we’ve been chipping away at what will come next. We recently started working with a new producer who has really helped us push our sound beyond our expectations, and what’s to come is our best work. Plus, we are starting to play live again, slowly but surely. 10) What is one piece of advice you wish someone had told you? This strays from the question a little bit, but the best piece of advice I could give is something that was said to us on our first tour back in 2017. “Just never break up, no matter what.” We’ve been a band since 2013, and there have certainly been times when it's felt like the band wasn’t going to make it through. But we’ve pushed past every plateau and every obstacle for nearly 8 years now, and we’ve learned that the more time we’ve put into working together, the better our work has gotten. It is so essential to give things time -- it's impossible to accomplish anything worthwhile without a tremendous investment of time. If you never stop, it’s certain that one day you’ll be a part of something truly important. That’s what we are continuing to work towards. Follow Glass House Point on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

FOR FANS OF: Jeff Buckley, Hozier, James Bay George O'Hanlon, the 21-year old singer/songwriter who debuted with the beautiful track "The Storm" back in April is back with a new single, "The Weight." It's a breathtaking song, so stunning in every way. There's no doubt in my mind that George is bound to go far. I love "The Weight" so much, I could listen to George sing for hours. Singer/songwriters like George come around once in a while, those who sing and write with such raw, honest emotion and depth. Their music really invokes strong, powerful feelings inside of you, serious feelings of love, reflection, yearning, and sadness, but in a deeply healing way. What I'm trying to say is this: George is an artist that you're going to want to stick around and hear what they continue to create because it's real and genuine. "The Weight" is a track about a lot of different things, as George says "'The Weight' is a song about trying to be there for someone even if you’re not around and haven’t been for a while. Or it’s about falling out of love with someone but wanting to stay with them because of the good parts of the relationship. Or it’s about falling in love with someone but you’re not sure they feel the same way back. Or it’s about none of those things or maybe all of them." Whatever meaning resonates the most with you is the best choice, and to me, "The Weight" is a song about being in a long distance relationship and not being able to be there with them physically to help and support them. It's frustrating, painful, and heavy, so heavy it hurts in your body. You feel so much and it shows up as pain in your body, you're aching. You miss them and you want to help them feel better, but words can only do so much as compared to a hug or a hand to hold. I really adore George's music, whatever he releases next I'm sure I'll enjoy as well. In the meantime, you can watch his Mahogany session below, where he performed "The Weight" and following it, "The Storm." Follow George O'Hanlon on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

FOR FANS OF: Alabama Shakes, Greta Van Fleet, Kate Bush Get to know Lizzie & The Makers, a bluesy-rock band from Brooklyn, NYC. Lizzie & The Makers are singer/songwriter Lizzie Edwards, guitarist Greg McMullen, bassist Brett Bass (Gregg Allman, Bernie Worrell); drummer Steve Williams (Sadé, Digable Planets); and keyboard player Rob Clores (Black Crowes, John Popper Band). All questions were answered by Lizzie. "Mermaid" is the band's latest release, the leading single off of their sophomore album which will be released this summer. Be sure to check out the music video for it below! 1) Where did the inspiration for your latest single, "Mermaid" come from? The original inspiration came from my friend and singer who is a self-described Mermaid. She loves the ocean and would take the train one hour in each direction every single day to commute with it. 2) How did you all meet, and why did you form a band together? And, what's the story behind your band name? We all met at Pete’s Candy Store, a venue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I needed to form a band last minute for a show that my former band was supposed to play but it broke up. Different musicians and employees from the venue heard about it and approached me to join. It worked out so well, we kept it going! Greg and I looked to the bar for inspiration in naming the band. We went down the line of whisky bottles - “Lizzie & the Dewars? Lizzie & the Bulleits? Lizzie & the Makers! That’s it! 3) Who - or what - are your influences? David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti of Twin Peaks fame, Kate Bush, Pink Floyd, Billie Holiday and ZZ Top to name a few! 4) Top 3 favorite records? Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd The Dreaming - Kate Bush Straight From The Heart - Ann Peebles 5) What do you miss the most about live music? Connecting with the fans and the energy that is exchanged between us on stage! 6) If you could collab with any artist, living or dead, who would it be and why? David Gilmour - I love his guitar playing and he had a big hand in shaping Kate Bush’s career. 7) How did each of you get into music? What made you fall in love with it, and what inspired you to create music of your own? I think we all feel like we had no choice! It was the only thing we could get out of bed for in the morning. My grandparents and father were musicians, so it’s definitely in my blood. As far as creating my own music, I feel it’s important to develop a unique voice as a musician and your own sound. I didn’t feel like a complete musician until I started expressing myself through writing. 8) Do you have any advice for budding musicians? Don’t give up! Keep trying and working hard! It takes a lot and there will always be critics, don’t let them discourage you. 9) What's the rest of the year looking like for Lizzie & The Makers? Any show plans, music releases, anything? We are releasing our second single, “Lover By Proxy” on 6/25! Our full album is due out this summer and we will definitely have a big blowout show to celebrate. We hope to tour in the fall! 10) What do you love about music? I love that music is a universal language. The notes are the same no matter where you came from, where you are going and despite your differences. It connects us all! Follow Lizzie & The Makers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

FOR FANS OF: Black Honey, Flyleaf, Pale Waves Every so often a band comes along where you are confronted with the anxiety of “How could they possibly top this?” with each album release. Being born in the late 1990s, it is rare that I have been alive to personally experience this, which is why I feel extremely privileged to have existed in the same time as London-based indie darlings Wolf Alice. Now, with the release of their third and arguably most fully realized and cohesive album Blue Weekend, I have found myself in this very position. Blue Weekend takes the listener on a journey, “The Beach’s” gentle guitars and soft vocals build to soaring harmonies, setting up the equilibrium which ultimately, 40 mins later is concluded in “The Beach II”, a shoegaze inspired gem; an emotive instrumental with introspective and hopeful lyrics such as “the sun goes down, as it must come up,” and ending, quite literally with a “happy ever after.” It is a stark contrast between the anxiety and uncertainty of the opening track, which begins with the opening lines of one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, Macbeth. Between these songs however, before we are provided with our happy ending, we are privileged enough to be taken through some of the band’s most mature and masterful work to date. Stand-out tracks include; rage-fueled, Britpop-esque anthem “Smile” where Ellie (vocals/guitar) declares “I am what I am and I’m good at it / And if you don’t like me well that isn’t fucking relevant” over a thundering, catchy riff, bass and harmony heavy “Delicious Things,” and fuzzy, punk inspired bop “Play The Greatest Hits.” Ellie’s haunting vocals and vivid storytelling teamed with an impressive rhythm section and masterful guitars have made for an genius album with no skips. Over the course of their ten year career, Wolf Alice have proved themselves again and again, with each album topping the last. Their material spans across genres, but always manages to sound like themselves, which is to me, the most impressive part about them. Follow Wolf Alice on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

FOR FANS OF: Fall Out Boy, cleopatrick, deepsix Get to know Azi Richman of Scarlet Magnum, a rock band from New Jersey. He tells us about his band, influences, and their upcoming EP - ghost stories and supernatural occurrences, which is set to be released on June 16th. 1) How did Scarlet Magnum come to be? What made you fall in love with music, and what drove you to create music of your own? To start off, I first got exposed to real music by watching a Beatles DVD that my parents put on for me when I was a toddler. Let's just say I was hooked from then on. Soon after, my family exposed me to alternative acts like The Pixies and The Smithereens. In fifth grade, I started reengineering poems to fit my developing playing style. That developed into me composing my own riffs and lyrics. Scarlet Magnum started life as a grunge project that never really got off the ground back in 2017. It wasn't until 2020 when I was chilling in my backyard when it occurred to me that I wanted to start the project again as a thoroughbred rock duo. I met our first drummer Nick Mohring online and he was the founding drummer of the band. He was a cool dude. 2) Who or what are your influences? Easily our influences include early Royal Blood, cleopatrick, Cut Glass Kings, The Messenger Birds, QOTSA, Strange Bones, deepsix, etc. 3) How would you describe your sound? If I had to dive deeper into what makes our sound unique to us, it would be a mixture of the melody and structure of Revolver Era Beatles with the instrumental aggression and lyrical angst of In Utero Era Nirvana. 4) What's the story behind your band name? Scarlet Magnum was our way of mocking that Stone Temple Pilots and Guns-N-Roses amalgamation that critics like to call Velvet Revolver. It’s just that simple. 5) Top 3 favorite records. A: My top three records in no particular order would be Typhoons - Royal Blood BUMMER - cleopatrick Everything Has To Fall Apart Eventually - The Messenger Birds 6) If you could collaborate with any artist, living or dead, who would it be and why? I would definitely collaborate with ZIG MENTALITY. Jig Dube is a musical genius. He was an integral influence behind the sound of our upcoming EP. 7) What's your favorite cover you've done so far? A: One of our favorite covers that we did, when Nick was still in the band, was a song called “Antagonist” by a NJ punk band called Gravity Centered. It was Nick’s suggestion from the beginning and I think we supercharged it by tuning it down to Drop-C and adding many pitch shifters and harmonizers. We had the humbling opportunity of playing it in front of the band and they were nothing but supportive. We’d like to personally thank Dano, Trevor, Henry for giving us that opportunity. 8) NRM is obviously a big influence on you - what does NRM mean to you? What do you love about it? The New Rock Mafia represents an inclusive community. Period. I can simply be myself in NRM and not have anyone judge or ridicule me for expressing my individuality. It has also given me the opportunity to expand my creative horizons and push the Scarlet Magnum sound forward. 9) Tell us about your upcoming EP, which is out later this month. I'll give a synopsis of each song on the EP, which is entitled ghost stories and supernatural occurrences. Track 1 is called “genuine fake”. It was written in May of 2020 in the early days of Scarlet Magnum. Back then, Nick and I were thinking of putting it on a record, but it never materialized. It was only until late March of 2021 that former drummer Tyler Melendez and I started the recording process for “ghost stories” and “genuine fake” was destined to be on the track list. The lyrical nature of the song is supposed to show that people can be faking genuinity and it can sting more than a murder hornet. Another theme present in the song is the lack of a generational anthem for Gen-Z, like “Teen Spirit” was for Gen-X and Gen-Y, “I have a generation in my hand, no songs to be sung.” The guitars clearly deliver the imagery of a chaotic and torn mind and the vocals are screaming for a change of pace. In my opinion, it is a very chilling way to open up the EP and it leaves you wanting more. Track 2, “human divided”, was written just for fun in mid-2019. The riff and the “na na na’s” alone are an earworm. But behind the catchiness of the song is a character who is literally a human divided; divided between believing in his hopes for the future and the darkness of the present. The line, “I can’t stand on my own,” was inspired by President Abraham Lincoln’s Inaugural Address in which he stated “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. That quote resonated with me and I needed to write this song. It is truly a ripper that will get stuck in your head. I wrote Track 3, “sinking stone”, in April of 2020, days before “genuine fake” was written. Lyrically, the song is split up into two main parts that coalesce into one main idea. The first part is how everything is connected. You’re skipping stones across the river, the river is “medicated” with oil, the oil being controlled by corporations; which leads to global warming. The world is a “sinking stone in the river”. The second part is existential in nature, and questions your creative aspirations. You’re skipping songs in your playlist because you’ve been listening to the same damn thing for ages. You realize that those songs made you numb to the outside world, like medication. You come to the conclusion that picking up music was a questionable decision, and then you think that there must be another thing to obsess about. However, your life is a “sinking stone in the river”. It’s a rather dark premise. Track 4 is called “bought and souled” and is easily the most aggressive and angriest sounding song on the EP. It’s basically a song that says “screw you” to people who think you need to change to fit their vision. You were “bought” into this culture of cookie-cutter conformity and then it ripped your soul out because you weren’t able to think for yourself and express your individuality. After you escape this conformity, you are “set astray” and lost in the void. So you return to being a conformist and the cycle begins again. At this point in time, there needs to be a culture in which no one is shunned because of their ideology. Conformity is “getting old” and you must pursue your own unique path to shine. Track 5, “the moments before” is a precursor to track 6, “a song for the mourning”. Both songs are a huge stylistic shift for us. We’ve embraced a more somber and atmospheric vibe that is very different from the stuff we’ve been putting out prior to this EP. You will need a box of tissues before listening to “a song for the mourning”. It is about a character’s final moments before he dies in a hospital with his family around him. He admits that he couldn’t drown out the feelings that have landed him in his deathbed and his last words are a message of hope and optimism in the face of bitter tragedy: “You are loved. You are cared for. Do not cry. I will be waving down from my home in the sky.” It’s a great way to cap off the EP. 10) What do you love about music? Music is the greatest gift I have ever been given. It gives me an outlet to be vulnerable and share my struggles and victories with others who may be going through a tough time in their lives or need a release from the unnecessary brutality of the outside world. Music is a way for me to look at the world around me with a different set of lenses. I’m super grateful for this gift and I don’t know what I’d do without it. New Rock Mafia Forever. Follow Scarlet Magnum on Instagram and Twitter.

FOR FANS OF: Linkin Park, State Champs, Motionless In White So many of the new bands I’ve come across recently are based on the east coast. I'm about to pack my bags and move cross country so I can be in the middle of it. Dead Eyes, a five-piece rock group hailing from Baltimore, Maryland is the newest addition to the list of reasons I’m second guessing the whole “west is best” idiom. The band released their latest single “Break In The Current” alongside a kick ass, high energy music video on May 21, and it’s chock full of the glitchy hardcore sound I’ve come to love recently. The track and the video both give the feeling of an early 2000’s action movie, one that pulses adrenaline through your veins while you’re left on the edge of your seat anticipating what’s coming around the next corner, or the next verse. Upon first listen, I wasn’t sure if I was in love with the vocal style of the verses in this track. But after diving a little deeper and giving it another chance I realized that this choppy, abrupt style perfectly mimics that aqueous movement of the current they reference in the chorus. I am continually enamored by all the ways lyricists come up with to reference water in music, and by the way I’m drawn subconsciously to them. You can be transported to a calm, crystalline body of water, one that reflects an image almost seamlessly on its surface. Or you can be pulled under, struggling to keep your head above water that moves faster than you can conquer it. This song is special because it uses current in a way not only to reference a rapidly moving source of water, one that drags you under the surface and tosses you recklessly from point to point, but also a period of time. The current state of events we’re facing not only as a society, but the current state of your own mine. Vocalist Zach Williams says “This song is about getting knocked down and refusing to stay down; knowing you have what it takes to get back up no matter how far, hard or often you fall.” It seems that no matter how hard the current rages, there is always a glimmer of hope on the surface. The breakdown of this song is electrifying. The guitar work is a stunning exhibit of talent the members of this band possess. Expertly crafted riffs that seem both disjointed and cohesive simultaneously are melded with small drum fills and a lot of symbol work. You’re left with one more chorus, and then the instrumental falls away and you’re left face to face with a beautiful vocal flow. The reprieve you needed after fighting rushing water that took all your strength to best, but you made it across and can revel in your accomplishment. If heavy sounds mixed with thought provoking lyricism is your style, I’d definitely recommend giving Dead Eyes a listen. I know I’m going to be on the lookout for their next release. Follow Dead Eyes on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Summer's coming. Hey! It felt like May would never end. But it finally did, and it's June now! Happy pride month! I made a playlist of LGBT+ artists and themed songs in honor of it, which you can check out here. It's also, unrelatedly, our 1-year anniversary later this month, on the 28th. I'm very proud of how far along this publication has come, and how far along I've personally come in growth & maturity. Wild Honey is an extension of myself, and with all of the changes you've seen aesthetically and in our actual content, I've changed too, maybe even more than this magazine has. When I started writing for Buzzkill magazine in February 2020, I did it solely because I was so excited about the music that I loved and wanted to express those feelings, and for no other reason. It was a very personal and naïve thing that I was doing. I believe I lost that a little bit along the way, I believe I've lost the excitement & magic I once felt for all of this. Maybe it's just the pandemic and no shows getting to me. I'm trying hard to get it back, though. About Wild Honey...I don't care about follower counts or post views, I made this magazine because I wanted a place of my own to write about all the music I loved with no limits, and for anyone who wanted to do the same to join me. I urge my team members to write honestly and personally, I tell them that the focus is on you, on how you feel about a particular song, album, or whatever else. It's not - "You are speaking on behalf of Wild Honey's entire team or anyone's fanbase," it's "You are speaking on behalf of you. You come first, this is about you." It's probably breaking some rules of journalism that I'm not aware of, but I don't care. I care about people having a place to say what they truly feel, about them thinking for themselves and nobody else, about forming your own opinions and not simply going with everyone else's thoughts. Wild Honey's stitched together with the ethos of DIY, doing-it-yourself, and thinking for yourself. I believe that if anything has stayed the same since the launch of this magazine, that those ethos have stayed true. Going back to my personal growth, I once was this very angry, assertive person, someone who thought she was empathetic and open-minded, but found herself to be the opposite. I wasn't good at not building up a wall between me and everyone else, even between me and the people that I love. I do things myself, I think for myself, but sometimes, I need help from my friends, and that help I rarely reach out for, and if I do get help, I don't easily accept it. I only listened to myself, and thought I was always right. This has all shown in my writing here, and in the past months, I've worked hard on changing all of that. I listen to others, I admit that I know nothing, I ask for help and accept it. I try to move with love, peace, and forgiveness. Let trivial matters roll off my shoulders, put myself first, and not dwell on negativity. I definitely still have a long way to go, but one hard fact about the music industry is that it runs on friendship & trust. It runs on networking: on knowing other people and letting them know you. I'm not easy with either, but I'm learning how to be. I definitely won't get further in this industry like I want to without letting myself open up to people, without trusting others. It's really no way to live, anyway, as no person is an island. Every musician, every band that you like has a team of people behind them (a team of which can sometimes simply be supportive friends & family). Music is about creating community, it is about opening up how you feel for others' enjoyment, to send a message that you're not alone, an expression of the self, and more. Regardless of how you define music, it's meant to be shared and experienced together. Much like this magazine, we all have our own opinions, but the fact that we're sharing them all together makes it a magazine, makes it special. I didn't want to open a music blog for a reason, it didn't feel right being the only one writing about music I liked. I don't enjoy being alone at all. As I said in my last letter, Wild Honey's still about the "ruminative, not reactive" content. Of moving with only love and not contempt, to not create division unintentionally. I've got some exciting things planned, one that will kick off possibly mid-summer, and another that you'll see at the very end of summer. Both are different from anything we've done before, and I'm quite thrilled about both. I didn't expect anyone to care about this publication, it's like what I said before, I get so in my head and I think I'm an island, that nothing I do could ever be of any importance to anyone else, but that's not how the world works, and it's a lesson I've definitely learned with creating this magazine. This magazine, all I've been through with it, good & bad, has taught me so many lessons on not only music journalism, but about life itself. I've learned and experienced so much, and this is just the start for me. I can't wait to learn and experience so much more...especially touring, touring with a band & interviewing Greta Van Fleet are my two goals with all of this. Wild Honey has grown so much over the past year, it's hard for me to properly wrap my head around it. I spend so much time thinking about Wild Honey and working on it every single day. I thank everyone who's supported me with Wild Honey. I thank all of the people who let me run with this idea and have stayed to see it become what it is now, have stayed with me as I became the person that I am now, with Wild Honey & me compared to ourselves one year ago. Everyone who helped me, offered me advice, let me interview them or feature them, liked or shared a post, bought merch, sent me their music, every person who has interacted with me and this magazine in some way has all had an affect on me, and so thank you, thank you, thank you. I wouldn't recognize the person I am now one year ago, nor would I think that this magazine was actually mine. But it is, and like myself, it has a long way to go. The journey with Wild Honey is just beginning, and it's all happening. Stay loud and stay groovy. with love, Cherri Cheetah.

FOR FANS OF: cleopatrick, ZIG MENTALITY, Dead Poet Society Hailing from Toronto, Canada, DIY rock band The Effens have released a new single - "Venom Denim," and it's fantastic. It's a punk-ish, bright and catchy track, about what's left after you've ended a relationship that wasn't so good for you. It's a perfect track for the end of Spring, one that feels like freedom, albeit anxious, but freedom nonetheless. The Effens are made up of Austin Nops on vocals and guitar, Paul Theo on guitar and synth/samples, Hannah Weber on bass and vocals, and Fabian Oblivion on drums. About "Venom Denim," Austin Nops says "You know that sinking feeling? Climbing out and wanting to save the person you fell in with, but knowing your attempts will only make them sink further? You can never truly take away the parts of your life that an ex has helped shape - “Venom Denim” is about all the marks and residue left, even after you’ve broken free of a relationship. There are a lot of things that appear to be ‘love’ on the surface. ‘Love’ can fade and be replaced by the fear of being alone, comfort, codependency, lust, or even hate. You may not notice that what you're feeling isn’t ‘love’ anymore." I really love this track. I've been a causal listener of them for a few months after first discovering their music through their track, "Pavement Age," a track that reminds me of early 2000's rock, and "Venom Denim" doesn't disappoint one bit. It's got everything I love in rock songs - prominent guitar sound, lyrics that are real & with passion, and an upbeat, energetic sound overall, making it a song you can play over and over again. "Venom Demin" will be on the band's upcoming EP Eventually, which is also the name of their previous single and that track is also featured on the EP. It's due to be released on July 30th, 2021, via Hidden Pony and their own label, Lootbag Records. If you're a fan of Canada's DIY rock scene, featuring my favorites such as cleopatrick and ZIG MENTALITY, then you'll love The Effens. They record and produce their own tracks, as well as make their own music videos, design and manufacture their own merch, their friends create on-stage visuals for their live shows, which are helped by tchotchkes found by the band in thrift stores. In short, they're DIY and they make brilliant music, what more could you need in a band? I love them and I'm so ready tp hear their new EP. July can't get here sooner. Follow The Effens on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

He is best known for his work in several post punk bands including Nine Inch Nails, Public Image Ltd, and Ministry. Martin Atkins is an English drummer, session musician, and author most well known for his work in several post punk bands including Public Image Ltd, Nine Inch Nails, and Ministry. Currently residing in the Chicago area, Martin is now teaching music production classes at Millikin University. Keep reading to learn more about the eventful and enthusiastic life of Martin Atkins! 1) What can you tell us about the classes you teach at Millikin University? I’ve been teaching for almost 20 years, so within the music business program now it’s a new BA/BS. I try and keep the classes real because you can study how the record industry used to be and it’s important to do that, but I like to let the class know like, “Look what I was doing this morning, look what happened last week, and look what I think is gonna happen two months from now,” and I involve them in those things. I find that in the classroom I’m pretty nice, but outside of the classroom if somebody messes up, I usually know exactly where something is leading to so you might see me fire somebody for a small thing. I think students need to learn in a safe environment, but I think it’s also important that they know that the things that they ask for latitude for within the classroom, they won't even be able to say the words out loud before they’ve shut the door in the very intense, cut throat, frightening, dangerous, entrepreneurial music business we are in now. So I keep my classes real. We have a real record label and we just produced something called a lathe cut record which is very expensive to do but they create these kind of collector editions. Each one of the 20 has its own unique artwork and we’re doing that as an “NFT” which is just a brand new thing in the art and music world right now, Non-fungible tokens with cryptocurrency. I’ve taken students on the road with my band in a tour bus. We are opening a museum with students helping. We are just trying to keep it real for everyone and create opportunities. 2) I have to ask, what was it like working with Johnny Rotten? It’s difficult to understand now what things were like in 1978. I mean It’s difficult for me to go back, and I was there. But Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols absolutely set fire to the music business, to all kinds of institutions, upset people talking about the queen, “God save the queen she ain’t no human being.” Not the best lyric ever but certainly inflammatory and confrontational. So to find myself in a band with him was pretty crazy. I mean here's this guy that was on the front pages of newspapers, and not just music press but regular newspapers, on the news, sent to jail, police raiding his apartment, and there I am. It was electrifying, it certainly kept me on my toes every inch of the way, and I think made it easier for me to be in a band with Jaz Coleman, the singer from Killing Joke, or Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails, or Al Jourgenson from Ministry. All notorious lunatics! None of it seemed frightening or unnerving or stressful to me after being in a band with Johnny Rotten. It’s one thing to be on stage with him, but walking through an airport with him, people would just walk into walls and freak out. He was a very notorious and famous individual back then. He’s lost a lot of his ferocity now but he certainly was a mover and a disrupter back in the day. 3) What is one of your most vivid memories you have from touring? Well there’s a few. Just getting to go to Australia, Japan, and all over Europe. Actually how I ended up being in the United States was a tour with Johnny Rotten and Public Image Ltd. in 1980. That tour was crazy. We had Warner Bros. money which turned out to be our money and they were just letting us spend it. So instead of playing every night we would only play every three nights and instead of everybody in the band being crammed into one room we each had our own suites. It was just ridiculous. Then we did Dick Clark’s American Bandstand in Hollywood which was a crazily iconic show from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. So that first tour was crazy but honestly every tour that I’ve been on like Killing Joke in Europe, Ministry in 1990 where there was a cage between the band and the audience which you would think was there to protect the band from the audience, I think it was there to protect the audience from the band, I mean that was just crazy. So there's been a lot of moments, a lot of good moments. 4) What can you tell us about the books you have written? What Inspired you to start writing? I’ve written since I was young. I wrote a poem in class when I was around nine and the teacher made me stand up and said, “Everybody should be writing like this!” which just made everybody in the class hate me. I wrote for Boston Rock Magazine in the early 80’s and I was always writing lyrics for songs, co-writing lyrics or writing my own lyrics. I started to write my memoir almost 20 years ago from now and then I started to teach which I was teaching about touring and I was like, “Ok well where is the textbook?” and there wasn’t one so I created my own classes, wrote material each week and then expanded on it and made the book for touring called Tour Smart. At first I thought teaching was the opportunity and then I thought, “Wait, writing this book is kind of an opportunity.” But then I started on a 10 year path of public speaking where I would keynote Melbourne, Australia’s music week and I went to Norway five times, I went all over the world like South America; Medellín and Bogotá, Colombia; Santiago, Chile just speaking about the music business and talking to ambassadors and representatives of trade delegations. I just started to write because I needed a book for my classes and then I put the book out myself. Then it seemed like I should write another book and then a third one and currently I'm working on my fourth book. It actually seems like I’m writing as a service to give ideas, material, and examples to other people. I’ve found I learn the best when something like writing a book causes me to stop, think for a bit, lay out my materials, join the dots together, and then present it for somebody else but I’m actually also learning the lesson as I do that. 5) What is your favorite breakfast food? Well that kind of cycles. Sometimes it’s just granola and sometimes if I’m somewhere speaking and breakfast is included at some crazy rooftop restaurant, it’ll be the entire left side of the menu. It just depends. 6) What is one of the most rewarding things to come out of your music career? There’s a few things really. This last year I’ve done probably around 90 zoom seminar events. Some of them have been instructional workshops on how to screen print, touring and things like that but some of them have been what I call memory events where it’s the 30th anniversary of this album or the 40th anniversary of a tour or whatever and we are coming up on the 40th anniversary of Public Image Ltd. on American Bandstand. Just presenting on these subjects and giving people a chance to press talk on their mics and say hi and sometimes we will get some drunk lunatic from Scotland screaming but it’s been great to connect with people. It’s been good just sharing things with fans and sharing lessons with people. That has been really rewarding. But also my band Pigface is 30 years old so now when we do a show, couples will come to the show with their children that were conceived on or around the Pigface show 20ish years ago. So I get to meet people's children and it’s great to be able to do that. We had an event a couple weeks ago, it was the 40th anniversary of the first single put out under the name Brian Brain and we had a zoom call and four people from England who were involved with the band were on the call. There was this girl called Anne-Marie and we slept on her floor as did members of the band U2, just everybody slept on Anne-Marie’s floor. All of these people from all over the country and all over the world were in on this call. It was really great to connect with everybody. There’s so many rewarding things at the moment and it’s difficult to just pick out one thing. 7) If you could only listen to 3 songs for the rest of your life, what would they be? One of them, if I could listen and watch, would be Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” but the Thomas the Tank Engine version. It’s amazing if you like Michael Jackson and Thomas the Tank Engine. It’s Thomas the Tank Engine clips chopped up by somebody to the song “Thriller.” It’s really fantastic. Next I might say “No More Tears” by Ozzy Osbourne. We actually listened to that 28 times in a row on a tour bus and I think also three bottles of Jägermeister were involved. And the third song would be maybe something by Tool because Danny from Tool plays in my band Pigface. Maybe a song from Killing Joke. Yeah a song from Killing Joke called “Love Like Blood” for very personal reasons. I used to do backing vocals on that along with the bass player who's no longer with us. We sang that song all over Europe. Music isn’t just music, it’s music in the context so I just think about 8,000 people in an open air stadium in Portugal, just a triumphant show singing that song, everybody in the audience singing as well. So yes, those three songs. That would of course change tomorrow, but those are the three songs today. 8) Do you have any exciting plans for the rest of 2021? Yes. I was a fan of Johnny Rotten and a fan of Public Image Ltd. and a fan of Killing Joke and Nine Inch Nails so I’ve always kept things kind of to an extreme. I’ll have posters, I’ll have cassette tape recordings from the front of house, newspaper ads, pages from the itinerary, hand typed notes from an old typewriter saying “Meet at Johnny Rotten’s house at 9:45 for flight to Paris.” I managed some of these bands as well so we have all the photographs, all the itineraries, all of the receipts, and all of this crazy stuff. So I just announced a few days ago that I’m opening a museum. It’s called The Museum of Post Punk and Industrial Music but it could honestly just be called “Things that Martin has been involved with.” Sandy Powell made my first three suits and now she did the costumes for The Wolf of Wall Street and Hugo, I mean she wins Oscars for her costumes. But in 1980 nobody knew that, least of all me and least of all her. I have those suits, I have the receipt for the fabric from the store on the Portobello road in London signed by her. Like why do I still have all this stuff? I have 6,000 square feet in Chicago. It’s in the middle of this really exploding area and people are freaking out. People are offering to donate their collections and to lend me elements from their collections. It’s the wildest, craziest thing I’ve done. Because we were talking about my classes before, what a great way for students to become an intern, learn how to promote events in a museum, archive material, archive audio and video, create presentations, look at contracts and paperwork. That’s the most exciting thing. I’ve done some shit but this is by far the most exciting thing I’ve done. 9) How did you go from being a drummer to working in education? Ok there might be people in this position who would be like, “Well intellectually it seemed like the move,” but actually for me it was a complete accident. You know I’ve had my own record label since 1988 and my own band, Pigface and I would put these big tours together where we would take two or three other bands with us so there would be two busses. We would create all of the promotional material like a sampler CD with all of the bands with two tracks each and information and posters and postcards and it was a lot of work. My office was two miles down the street from Columbia College Chicago which is where I started teaching by accident. I went to Columbia College to get some interns to get some free help so I put together a presentation for their faculty saying, “You should give me some students for free and here’s why, this is what I’ve done, this is what we do.” Somebody from the faculty said, “When can you start?” and I said, “Four students can fit in my car right now, lets go!” and they said, “No, no, no, when can you start teaching?” and I actually said, “Teaching what?!” and they said, “Teach this! Touring!” Honestly I left school when I was 16 and I didn’t have any qualifications other than having done this all my life. I have my masters degree now. This is where my training of being in a band with Johnny Rotten and all of these lunatics come into play. So I thought what’s the craziest thing I could do next? Say yes! So I said yes and I thought surely I would have six months to prepare so I asked, “When is the first class?” and they said, “Saturday,” and so I said, “Ok well how long is it, like an hour?” and they said, “It’s a seven hour master class every Saturday,” and I just said, “Yeah great.” I’ll tell anybody that will listen, always say yes to everything because I wasn’t saying yes to teaching, I mean like I was, but I didn’t know at the time that I was also saying yes to an education for myself, writing my first, second, and third book, I was saying yes to traveling all over the world to speak because of my books and because of my teaching. I was saying yes to a masters degree eventually, putting together curriculum, putting crazy classes together that really pushed students to the limit. I was saying yes to all that I just didn’t know it. So it was just a complete accident. "My advice to people in bands would be that this is gonna be a long journey. There are no quick fixes. I’d say that it takes seven years to become an overnight sensation." 10) Do you have any advice for upcoming and newer bands? Well yeah I’ve got three books of advice. Remember I said earlier how crazy it was to stand with a couple and their now 22 year old daughter? It took me until quite recently to realize that this isn’t a smash and grab four year thing. I think my dad told me who was a managing director of a textile company that he thought music was crazy and it was a crazy thing for me to do. He said, “Make the most of it because you’re gonna have two years!” Less than the career span of a modern day soccer player, I think you get to the age of 32 or 35 and that's really it and you’ve gotta look at doing something else other than playing. But here I am, 61. I’ve been doing this since I was nine. I don’t think I was ever a complete asshole but when I was younger I was very shy which caused me to drink to try and overcome my shyness and to have a certain kind of false swagger and bravado. But really I’m sure people said, “Martin Atkins, what an asshole!” So it’s true of a lot of things, I wish I knew then what I know now. My advice to people in bands would be that this is gonna be a long journey. There are no quick fixes. I’d say that it takes seven years to become an overnight sensation. I saw the band U2, who I don’t know if they're playing anymore but if they did they’d be playing stadiums, play to 17 people and when you see them interviewing it’s like, “Oh it was crazy!” But no it wasn’t crazy. It was five years of sleeping on Anne-Marie’s floor and playing to 17 people and to keep going and keep going and keep going. So that’s what I would say. It’s a long journey. learn how to do as much of this as you can yourself. Because I think that makes you a more interesting person and more of an artist that I would want to see. I think Taylor Swift is a great example. Yeah she writes great songs and does good stuff but she did her own social media from the age of like 12 I think. It’s those additional skills that elevated her to a career where she became more “signable”. So add a bunch of skills to the skills you think you do need. And I would also say some artists think or believe or are told to think that if they are just a little bit better on their instrument then that will open doors for them and it won’t. You can’t be shit on your instrument but you also don’t have to be amazing. Don’t spend an extra two hours each day trying to be amazing thinking that will open doors because there’s already somebody more amazing than you. If you start to add skills like social media, video, graphics, screen printing, all of these things to your skillset, that’s what will carry you forward. That would be my advice. Follow Martin Atkins on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

NOTES FROM FANS: a category which fans can write in about loving their favorite musical artists. Greta Van Fleet. Where and how do I even begin? It all started in late 2017/early 2018 when my boyfriend showed me a song called "Highway Tune" by a band called Greta Van Fleet. I loved it. A few months later, my sister and I decided to watch the music video for "Highway Tune" and we were in shock to know that the members were actually around our ages. I of course listen to all kinds of music where members are all kinds of ages and whatnot, but there’s something special about when members of your favorite band, or a band you really like, are close to your age. You see them doing something, creating something for not only themselves, but also other people. And for me, it’s kind of inspiring to see artists that are my age (and specifically with Greta Van Fleet, they’re from the Midwest and I am as well) watching them grow, seeing them do what they love and knowing that I’m that age and I can do what I love as well. Back on track, my sister and I started watching more of their acoustic performances, live performances, interviews, etc. together, started listening to them on our own more. Then we found out they were actually playing our favorite venue which is The Pageant in St. Louis, MO, a venue that holds about two thousand. I was trying not to go to many concerts (lol) and by the time I was interested in getting tickets since I started to like them more, it of course was sold out. I then decided to check StubHub just to see if any tickets were available and they were. I grabbed them as quickly as I could (and I didn’t even have a job at this point) and texted my sister she owed me however much her ticket was because we were going to see them, just a few weeks prior. That show was my first front-row show ever at twenty-two years old, seeing Greta Van Fleet in all of their glory, having Jake Kiszka look down at me and try to throw me a guitar pick, the crowd’s energy level was high. That show changed my entire life. Fast forward to May 2019, Fox Theater, Atlanta, Georgia. Hearing "Age Of Man" live. Hearing "Black Flag Exposition" (now known as "The Weight Of Dreams") in a theater. Drinking wine in what was called “Official Platinum Seating” in the fifth row with my sister, who I’ve gotten closer with bonding over Greta Van Fleet. The sounds were amazing. The energy was turned up. And maybe, just maybe, although I was five rows back, Jake Kiszka attempted to throw me a pick again, this time caught on camera. Fast forward again to 2020. The world in quarantine. Infected with something called “COVID-19”. People out of work. Travel bans. Social distancing. Masks. Hand sanitizer. No concerts. Life as we know it had changed. It wasn’t the same. With taking a leave from a job and then to return with only working a few hours a week, I needed something to fill the void. And I suppose that was watching Greta Van Fleet performances and interviews on YoutTube was what did it. Exploring. In September, the band released a four-part series of their performance at Red Rocks Ampitheater in Colorado on YouTube (that is free of charge by the way) to set up what was next for them. The day The Battle At Garden’s Gate was released was one I will remember forever. My mom, sister and I made plans to go get coffee, go to our favorite park which was surrounded by beautiful flowers and revel in the glory that the new album brought us. Then, my mother got a call. That call was that my great-grandma, who was ninety-nine and someone I was very close with, had passed. Not totally unexpected, but still hurt. It was as if it was meant to happen that way though. Surrounded by beautiful flowers, listening to beautiful music, having a great day, as she would have wanted. We decided to go to our favorite record store, Vintage Vinyl, just for fun to see if they had the album there. We ended up finding signed CDs. Maybe that was a gift from above. I had waited two years to get a GVF tattoo (which I realize isn’t that long, but as we all know 2020 felt like ten) and I was so torn on what I wanted. “The more you love the more you know” from “Age Of Man,” “Star shines in her eyes” from “Flower Power,” “Love doesn’t fade away” from “The New Day.” But when “Heat Above” was released, I knew it would be those lyrics. “Rising with the heat above” would be good, but that wasn’t really me. So I went along with “Ascending to the stars as one” with stars surrounding the quote felt more like me. "The experiences I’ve had, the people I’ve met, the music I’ve listened to, the artists I’ve discovered, the even greater bond I’ve developed with my sister, is all because of them." The past year has been hard is such an understatement, but Greta Van Fleet has really been one of my lights pulling me through the darkness and I’ve never felt that way about any other band or music before. The experiences I’ve had, the people I’ve met, the music I’ve listened to, the artists I’ve discovered, the even greater bond I’ve developed with my sister, is all because of them. And for that, I am eternally grateful. Photos shot and edited by the author. Catch Greta Van Fleet on tour this summer here.