what it takes

So What?! Music Festival has been promoting alternative-to-mainstream genres coming up on 10 years in Dallas. The name, originally South by So What, is a cheeky pun on Austin’s South by Southwest artist showcase. Mike Ziemer is the man responsible for the continual onslaught of impressive lineups, celebrating a decade of madness this year. Head ...

Casey McPerry has a dream job. When we caught up with him, he was fresh off a trip to Mexico, where a hotel brought him out to Instagram his stay at their opening... Yeah. How does one get paid to Instagram? We were immediately determined to find out ...

Some kids grow up without a doubt in their minds as to what they are going to be when they get older: firefighters, teachers, dinosaurs, you name it. Other kids grow up just wanting to be heard. Equipped with an outgoing personality and an unmistakable fiery passion for music, Mike “Gunz” Gunzelman has made a name in the music industry just by being himself. As a broad ...

Singer-songwriter Curtis Peoples, 34, has known Pierce The Veil frontman Vic Fuentes since kindergarten, and the best friend songwriting duo are responsible for the band’s gold single, “King For A Day.” The track set off Peoples’ career in songwriting, which also includes credits on records by Third Eye Blind, a pre-OneRepublic Ryan Tedder and pop-rock solo artist Tyler Hilton of One Tree Hill fam

Jen Abeyta is a lot of things: a wife, a mom, a teacher, a personal assistant, an accountant, a graphic designer—the list goes on and on. Oh, and she started her own record label. Abeyta (along with her husband Aaron Abeyta, better known as legendary California punk band NOFX’s El Hefe) founded the Los Angeles-based record label, Cyber Tracks in hopes of creating a label that allows artists like U

Often compared to Woodstock, Montebello’s Amnesia Rockfest experience is a drug that is all too easy to get addicted to. Once a year, the sleepy Quebecois town is infiltrated with the gnarliest group of freaks, and the result is pure bohemian euphoria. Yet, ...

Simply put, Jamie Coletta loves music. She grew up listening to New Found Glory and Brand New, and her grade school notebooks are probably covered in fantastically emo lyrics. But Coletta didn’t want to just listen and enjoy, she wanted to be a part of the process. Afte... Read More ...

Kurt Cuffy, 24, calls Toronto home— that is, when he's actually there. These days the photographer spends most of his time on the road, photographing bands, making friends and hunting down the dankest of memes. You might have seen him quickly jumping from one side of the stage to the other in Sometown, Middle America, on last year's Common Vision Tour with Every Time I Die and Real Friends. But no

Jake Carruthers is a 22-year-old illustrator from Toronto who has created album art and T-shirt designs for many of the scene’s hottest acts—August Burns Red, Real Friends and Neck Deep are all in his repertoire. AP sat down to talk with him about his inspirations, what it’s like working with musicians and advice for starting a career in the scene beyond just playing in bands. How did you g... Re