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A Chat With The Bright Light Social Hour Before Heading To Hangout Music Festival

The Tragedy Behind Tragedies

We want the entire world to be both universally accessible and comfortable and it's just not possible; everyone wants peace on Earth and a world-wide middle class and an extended life expectancy for all. It's time to be a little realistic for a minute. There's only a certain amount of resources the world can produce, both of the renewable variety and the nonrenewable. I'm not a scientist or anything, but I'm pretty sure the human population passed the point of being able to live on the amounts of said resources sustainably a long-ass time ago. Both the best and worst things about humans is our ability to put reality aside and think outside the box sitting in front of us. A dog sees a dead dog in the street and it's like oh, a dead dog.... squirrel!!! But for us (and often for the animals we like to project our feelings onto) there's the who did it? why'd they do it? did they deserve it? and myriad of other pointless questions to be dealt with.

Yo Mission Statement

I get asked all the time, "What is it that Yo Miami does exactly?" and until recently I never really had a satisfactory answer. I was forced to resort to long, vague explanations involving aspects of promotion, management, advertising and a few other fields. What made it all the more frustrating was that I knew if there's one thing a company needs in order to move forward and evolve organically, it's an identity. Finally as I was reading a magazine article (on a train in France of all places), a word jumped out and things almost audibly clicked into place:  Ecosystem.

An Ode to Arboles (Libres), Review of their recent “Father” album release party

What makes a musician or band stand the test of time? What gets people crazy and girls fainting like the Beatles or Elvis? Why am I asking myself these questions? After seeing the guys of Arboles Libres put on the best show I've seen from them to date at their "Father" album release party I couldn't help but compare them to the greats and wonder why that was the case. It's one thing to see a band put on a good show (as is generally the case with Arboles anyways), and another entirely when the whole audience is riveted and you can feel something palpable in the air drawing them to the stage.

5 Reasons You Should Be At Lights Out Festival

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Hangin’ Out at Hangout

Ever since my first trip to Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2011, I've been intrigued by the strange and colorful animal known as the music festival. Being a generally cynical introvert though, you can imagine that being stuck in the midst of tens of thousands of mind-altered, free-loving folks might not be my ideal surroundings. Bonnaroo turned out to be an interesting introduction to the world of music festivals to say the least, but without it I don't know if I would have made it to the ones I've gone to since then. After attending my third festival (Hangout Music Festival) I can definitely see that each one truly is unique, and everything, from the access you have to the setting of the festival itself can have a substantial impact on how you experience it.

Interview with Eric Garcia aka “Uncle Scotchy” of Juke

Are you from Miami originally? If not when did you move here and what made you want to stay? "I actually thought that I was 3^rd generation Miami (or “Miamuh”) until I recently found out that my grandmother was from Key West, and not Miami. So I suppose I’m kind of a “Conch” too. The scientific term for what I am is “Jewban” I think. My Ma came from a nice Jewish family and went to Miami High. Then one day she buys a brand new ’66 Mustang Fastback from a handsome Cuban car salesman and here I am. I guess growing up here was something like if “I Love Lucy” was shot on the set of “Cocaine Cowboys,” if that makes any sense. I actually have always despised Miami; even as a child I couldn't wait to leave, and I have several times. But one thing or another keeps dragging my ass back here... If I die in Miami I’ll be so disappointed in myself.

Interview and Farewell (For Now) with Nabedi Osorio, Drummer Extraordinaire

What twisted path of fate took you from being a little girl growing up in Miami, the booty capital of the world, to the synth-rock drummer extraordinaire we all know and love today? “Even as a baby, my mom tells me I used to bounce exactly in time to the beat of music playing and stop once the song was over. I ended up playing percussion in the bands at both my middle and high schools.” It was around this time, while she was still playing with all-girl punk bands, that she met Steph Taylor, the key-tickling second half of the State Of. They didn’t form a band quite yet though, and she continued playing open mic nights and various gigs. “Then in ’99, Suenalo contacted me to play a show with them and I guess they liked what I did because they had me come back for their next one.” Over the past 15 years she’s continued playing with a plethora of bands, and at this point has played with over 35 different ones (while also playing steady State Of gigs for the last 5 years).

The wisdom behind visiting Solomon’s Castle

Here goes, the final segment for this round of YoFlo write-ups: After an extended stay in St. Pete it was time to head reluctantly home, with one final stop planned for the trip back: Solomon's Castle. Even though this was one of the few itinerary items that we had planned before we left, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this place. I can tell you though, that as you make your way down the long country roads that lead you there, you definitely feel like you're entering a world that shouldn't exist in the same state as a city like Miami.

St. Pete, Dali, and why you should make the trip

I had to take a hiatus due to the multitude of events going on around town that I had to cover (see: Virginia Key GrassRoots Music Fest), but I'm back with the next segment of the YoFlo series.