Sunstroke House Music

Calvin Johnson

Do you ever look around at all your favourite DIY indie bands, your fist raised and shaking at the sky, and ask yourself, “Who is responsible for this madness? Who showed all these people with weird, droll voices and rudimentary instrumental skills that they could form a band and it could be good?” Well, unclench that fist, move your finger into a point, and direct it straight at Calvin Johnson AKA the founder of K Records AKA the co-founder of Beat Happening and a bunch of other bands, and the undisputed prince of twee, lo-fi indie in its modern carnationyou ever look around at all your favourite DIY indie bands, your fist raised and shaking at the sky, and ask yourself, “Who is responsible for this madness? Who showed all these people with weird, droll voices and rudimentary instrumental skills that they could form a band and it could be good?” Well, unclench that fist, move your finger into a point, and direct it straight at Calvin Johnson AKA the founder of K Records AKA the co-founder of Beat Happening and a bunch of other bands, and the undisputed prince of twee, lo-fi indie in its modern carnation. 

Annalise Emerick

“I’ve reconciled the fact that I’ll never live a simple life,” she says plainly, “and that’s alright with me. This is the life I chose for myself.” For Annalise Emerick, it isn’t just a brush-off. The self-starting, twenty-something, singer-songwriter has been on the road virtually non-stop for three years solid. This summer alone, she plays to sold-out crowds at over 150 shows in 90 different cities with the aid of nothing but a guitar. Choosing to leave behind any semblance of a normal life for the day-to-day of a traveling independent musician, however, was always a no-brainer for the Nashville spitfire. “It’s all about building on something and getting out there in front of people,” she explains. “If you’re going to do it, then you have to really go for it.”