Brenton Blanchet

If there’s one thing Lily Lizotte loves more than making fantastic pop music, it’s a good double meaning.  Planted in nearly every song by THE BLSSM — the 24-year-old’s self-described blissful pop project — is a feeling of both happiness and sadness, competing with each other through lyrics that mean one thing and a chorus that sounds like it means something else entirely. It’s hard to tell what y

THERE COMES A CERTAIN POINT IN AN ARTIST’S CAREER where the creative anxiety settles. Album-release schedules might start feeling more routine than anything, and the only thing that truly matters is the art. Not the outside noise, not the theatrics, but rather what that piece of themselves and insight into their lives — however they choose to package it — is going to say about the legacy they leav

It’s the middle of my after-school Zoom call with teenage hyperpop prodigy glaive, and he pauses what we’re talking about — and puts aside his half-eaten Cheesy Gordita Crunch — to show me his “most prized possession.”  When he raises both his...

There are layers to Ash Gutierrez. To an unsuspecting listener, just casually shuffling through all of the material the 16-year-old hyperpop prodigy released in the last year about slamming his head against a wall and putting his phone on “do not disturb,” it would be close to impossible to look at him as a happy dude.  Yet ev...

Oklahoma's Christian Leave may have earned fame making six-second clips on an app, but it’s what lies in his family lineage that’s going to make him go down in history for far longer than that. The 21-year-old indie songwriter, like his musically inclined great-grandparents before him, has an attraction to the big and the bold. His sound ...

push baby were born out of a desire for freedom, the same sonic escape they now offer listeners. Shedding themselves from their mainstream past as Rixton, the now self-described “chaotic pop” duo—composed of vocalist Jake Roche and guitarist Charley Bagnall—have found their new home in Roche’s mom’s garage. With the launch of their indie ...

Like most who’ve walked this planet, 17-year-old music prodigy Evann McIntosh loves Jennifer Aniston, but most people don’t write entire songs with Jen serving as a reference point. It’s tough being a teenager. It’s also tough having to wait for your parents to go to sleep so you can record music in the family room. And hell, it’s even to...

Rina Sawayama walks into studio sessions with an already established vision of the finished product. If she wants her next single to emulate N.E.R.D., she’ll leave that same session with the strum-filled, capitalism-mocking anthem “XS.” If she’s ...

There’s a remarkable difference between taking two weeks to complete a project and taking two years. With two years, there’s more time to learn, grow and excel at your craft. There’s also more time to experience life. That’s the process that nothing,nowhere. (Joe Mulherin) landed ...

There are plenty of adjectives that Ashnikko admittedly avoids when describing her music. It’s not quiet. It’s not soft. And it’s never really been sweet, but she’s working on the vulnerability stuff.  On a personal level, too, it’s almost easier to understand 24-year-old Ashton Nicole Casey by examining how she doesn’t describe herself. She’s not a rising artist with an expir...

Jordan Benjamin is at a point in his career where he can be honest about his influences. Yes, his debut full-length and conceptual introduction as grandson, Death Of An Optimist, gave the music industry a shake upon its arrival on Dec. 4. And...

When Travis Mills and Nick Gross were putting the final touches on their pop-punk project girlfriends’ debut this year, they realized it was missing something. It needed one more uptempo track. And they needed a girl’s name in the title, almost like Forever The Sickest Kids or other bands Mills’ grew up on. That conversa...

As we enter the 2020 holiday season, we’re all eagerly searching for that perfect gift for the music lover in our lives. Concert tickets are obviously out of the question unless you want to plan far in advance. And merch can be hit or miss, especially if you aren’t too sure of your loved one’s personal style. Luckily, with th...

KennyHoopla hasn’t had a headlining tour yet. But honestly, he doesn’t really need one. Some nights he still finds himself on the road—at least when he’s asleep. When the creative spoke with Alternative Press last week, he was staying at his friend’s place in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He spent his day recording a...

Snow on the ground and colder weather may signify the end of the year for many, but for music fans, nothing highlights the closing of each year better than the Spotify Wrapped feature. And while we all love seeing how much we listened to our favorite artists, those artists might just love it even more. ...

Heather Baron-Gracie of Pale Waves is slowly becoming everything she looked up to as a child.  Looking back, her musical hero wasn’t ever a typical “girly pop star.” Avril Lavigne made Baron-Gracie feel like she could openly be a tomboy, put down the Barbies and ride a skateboard with messy hair and a runny nose.  Read more: QUIZ: Wh... Read More ...

Lynn Gunn’s process of making a PVRIS track usually follows the same steps. The rocker starts on production software Logic Pro, creates a “vibe” off a simple production and then enlists her collaborators later on. And for the most part, she’s creating something brand new.  But when it comes ...

The All-American Rejects have found themselves in a similar spot to where they were 15 years ago, minus the “camera phones” and hotel bed bugs.  As guitarist Nickolas Wheeler reflects on the group’s monumental Move Along era, he says it came during a “dark time” after the 2004 election. And as the group prep a return wi...

Jake Luhrs had a life-changing realization 11 years ago. The August Burns Red singer visited a community center, where locals were working out in a gym, when he noticed a few classrooms for children nearby. That’s when it hit him: Gym environments needed more honesty, more openness and more opportunity for growth. “I was...

Billie Eilish, Jeff Tweedy, Taking Back Sunday, Trey Anastasio of Phish and over 600 other artists will take part in the largest single-night digital concert ever this Election Day, the #iVoted Festival 2020. The event, which runs from noon to 2 a...