Blending dreamy synthscapes with cerebral wit and a sharp edge, Salt Lake City phenom Die Shiny is rapidly becoming one of the underground’s most vital acts. With a prolific social media presence, a default setting of solidarity, and a knack for cranking out catchy bangers, the electropop outfit has built a cult following of neurodivergent misfits and truth-seekers drawn to their fearlessly authentic brand of conscious pop.
Songwriter/bassist Callie Crofts and drummer/producer Zac Bryant are not only inseparable besties and life partners but also a deeply symbiotic creative team. The nonbinary pair has forged a catalog bursting with candor and purpose, paired with electrifying live shows that cement Die Shiny as both local queer icons and uncompromising activists.
Their bold vision recently landed them on the cover of Q Salt Lake Magazine, which hailed them as “fierce, unapologetic, and rooted in activism… redefining what it means to be queer and loud.”
J. Graves
J. Graves is passionate dance-punk. Tense relationship rock, sanguine lyricism, guitar music, chord changes that sound like secret longing, a rhythm section that thuds, skitters, and melts over the determined voice of Jessa Graves. The heat of the cataclysm gives off a vapor known to galvanize meatspace into writhing, dancing heaps, creating rabid, loyal fans. Against all odds, J. Graves is back in 2022, with a crushing new LP Fortress of Fun, a choose your own adventure record due out this fall.
Nothing can substitute the experience of a live J. Graves show. With comparisons to Sleater-Kinney, Karen O, and, Siouxsie And The Banshees, catching a J. Graves show became a goal for music denizens of the Northwest. Along her trajectory Graves annealed other talent with her drive and ideals. Kelly Cifton, perhaps the best bassist (and certainly the most exciting to watch), and the unassuming Aaron McDonald, who would be a watchmaker –for his distinct timing and style, were he not a drummer.
You must be in front of the liquid rhythm section and pounding chords of the band to feel the blast. In performance Graves eyes roll furiously and her jawline sets as she contacts the emotion that produced her songs. She contorts herself around a fender slimline telecaster, and, in fits and starts, springs forth with contagious, inspiring performances.
