If you know even the slightest amount of Spanish, it is impossible for Cinco de Mayo to sneak up on you. Unlike Thanksgiving, Easter, and St. Patrick’s Day, the holiday’s date is right in the name, and that date is drawing ever so closer. Cinco de Mayo, which commemorates an…
With a focus on the positive and political in the early ’90s, Arrested Development was often brought up in defense of hip-hop whenever the mainstream media demonized rap as the soundtrack of so-called gangsters. With hits like “Tennessee,” “People Everyday,” and “Mr. Wendell,” Arrested Development delivered Afrocentric messages over Sly…
The lively new animated video for the Spam Allstars song “Around the Track” had a long and winding origin. “Years ago the Spam Allstars management reached out to me to do some artwork for them,” explains the video’s director, a man who goes by the name MarcPaperScissor. The artist, who…
Eric Hernandez spends his days packing auto parts in a Miami warehouse, but since the summer of 2014, his nights and weekends have been spent singing and playing guitar for noise-rock quartet Wrong. “I was in another band, Capsule, with [guitarist] Ryan Haft. That fell apart, but we still felt…
Before the internet, if you had some sort of wild wish you wanted to make a reality, it helped to be terminally ill. But now anyone with wifi and a dream can give it a shot. Example: the Facebook event page “Lets Get Smashmouth 2 Perform at City Inn Hotel,”…
Shana Cleveland was listening to ’60s garage rock when it hit her. “They all had interesting vocal harmonies with cutting, twangy guitar sounds. I didn’t see any current American bands doing that.” Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan to a pair of musician parents, Cleveland says music was her whole world growing…
After listening to the Dose’s self-titled EP — a sound heavily reminiscent of Alice in Chains and Nirvana — it was surprising to learn that both singer/guitarist Indio Downey and drummer Ralph Alexander weren’t even born during the heyday of grunge. “We look up to those bands. We’ve been listening…
Drummer Nic Collins is 14 going on 15, and his rock band, What You Know, has already played on national television in Switzerland, jammed at the Fillmore Miami Beach, and performed at the American Airlines Arena during a Miami Heat game. But despite all of that experience under his belt,…
Though Otto Von Schirach has called Wynwood home for nine years, the musical provocateur’s connection with the once-downtrodden but now-booming neighborhood goes back further. “Twenty years ago, I used to come here for Hoodstock. It was a ’90s festival held in this hard-core neighborhood, but somehow the festivals were always…
The Cult couldn’t have a more fitting name. If a Druid or Dionysian from centuries ago time traveled to the Fillmore this past Saturday night, they could be forgiven for thinking that the concertgoers were actually religious followers gathering at a temple to witness some sort of holy ceremony. In a…
The reemergence of the record was as unlikely a revival as the world has ever seen. And Record Store Day has played a big part in the resurrection. Held this year on April 16, RSD is the celebration vinyl deserves. There’s live music (Shabazz Palaces headlines this year’s festivities at…
For this year’s TransAtlantic Festival, The Rhythm Foundation scored what was possibly its biggest coup in the event’s 14 year history in bringing Beirut to the North Beach Bandshell for the group’s first ever Florida performance. Beirut, a six-piece based out of New York, blends influences as varied as mariachi…
For a vocal chorus that sings classical music, Seraphic Fire has a name that is downright heavy metal. The group’s conductor and founder Patrick Quigley tells us that was intentional. “Growing up I was a part of choruses and noticed they were always named after the city they were based…
This week, when folks learned that some western parts of South Beach were considering moving last call from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m., the response in the comment section was often something along the lines of: Bro, if you can’t handle the craziness of South Beach, you should get the…
For a man obsessed enough with geography to not only name his band Beirut, but to write songs with titles like “Gibraltar,” “Perth,” and “Santa Fe,” it’s surprising that Zach Condon has never before played Miami. “I have visited many times,” the Beirut founder tells us over the phone. “I…
Even though the Jacuzzi Boys have been together since 2007, lead singer Gabriel Alcala refuses to believe that the trio can really already be the Miami rock scene’s elder statesmen. “I like to think we’re still fresh and new, but yeah I guess other bands do ask for advice. I…
Record Store Day, the annual celebration of all things vinyl, will be broken into two parts this year at Sweat Records. The day portion on April 16 will give music junkies the chance to purchase rare and reissued collectible albums beginning with an 8 a.m. opening. Owner Lauren Reskin, as usual,…
In what might be the strangest origin story for a nightlife venue, owner and chef Thomas Slater found inspiration for his new restaurant and lounge, the Bunker at 1826, while doing classified work for the government. “I built missiles and explosives,” he reveals. But because of confidentiality agreements, Slater is…
After spending two and a half months designing and building the bar 28 Newsstand, it seems a shame that the speakeasy is closing its doors after only five months in business, but Yoyi, one of the two brothers behind the establishment says impermanence was always part of the plan. “We’re…
It wasn’t a love for old Robin Williams movies that inspired Calvin Cyrus to perform as MC Jumanji, the Miami rapper explains to New Times. “When I was in high school I was a smart-ass who tried to curse without cursing. Jumanji became my curse word. I’d tell people ‘Jumanji…
I saw there was a niche missing in Miami nightlife for a true VIP experience in an elegant setting among a refined crowd,” Ryan Van Milligan explains. He and his partners plan to open South Beach nightclub Ora later this spring. Van Milligan worked with Opium Group at clubs such…
It was a long journey from Kendall to Iceland, Morocco, and Turkey before Miami native Juan Pablo Reyes could get his first producer credit for the movie Headlock. Starring Glee’s Dianna Agron and another Miami native, Andy Garcia, the film follows the story of a wife who tries to uncover…
