Contact News Staff Writer Noelle Coultrip at Noelle.Coultrip@colorado.edu.
Music that will take you to a different dimension: STRFKR and Com Truise
STRFKR, an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon, makes its mark in the music world by supplementing live performances with homemade laser light shows. STRFKR originally began as an outlet for band member Josh Hodges to release his creative energy and write songs. From there, Shawn Glassford and Keil Corcoran joined, forming a full band.
The inspiration behind STRFKR came from a place of discontent with the idea of creating music to be cool or popular — STRFKR makes music because it’s what they enjoy, not because of any ulterior motive. Its members believe that it is their job to foster an environment that helps fans let loose, have fun and go a little crazy.
Since the band’s debut album release in 2008, STRFKR has toured across the globe and released three albums, and has another album set to release this year. From STRFKR’s humble beginnings as a solo artist playing house shows, the band attributes its success to “touring their asses off” and putting in a lot of hard work.
Producer Seth Haley, also known as Com Truise, produces electronic beats with a sort of intergalactic, ethereal and otherworldly element. Com Truise describes his current sound as “a culmination of weird music interests over the years” apparent in the unorthodox beats he creates. First dabbling in drum and bass, and then moving on to ambient and eighties music, the intermingling of distinct genres allowed Com Truise to cultivate his sound and make it his own. Songs like “Cathode Girls” and “Ether Drift” perfectly exemplify Haley’s cosmic, psychedelic sound.
STRFKR and Com Truise perform at the Boulder Theater on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 8:30 p.m. with opener Fake Drugs.
Energizing dance music: Oliver Heldens
Oliver Heldens’ dance music dreams came true at the blossoming age of 17, when he signed to Spinnin’ Records and shortly after released “Gecko,” a track that spiraled young Helden into the limelight.
With solo productions like “Melody” and “Bunnydance” that have garnered over 1 million plays on YouTube and Soundcloud, Heldens’s success certainly was not short-lived. His achievements include being named an Artist to Watch by Rolling Stone and kicking off his very own record label, Heldeep Records.
Heldens’s musical ideas usually come to him while doing normal, everyday tasks, not relying on a specialized environment to produce the ideas that naturally come to him. Most of his inspirations come from house music from the 2006-2009 era, which fuels him to create the house music he does today.
He believes being original and having fun is the most important thing when producing music. Oliver Heldens performs at the Ogden Theatre on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 9 p.m. with opener Throttle.
Surrender to the intensity of thrash metal: Megadeth
The highly praised and worshiped band Megadeth orginated in Los Angeles in 1983, and continues to pave the way for other bands within the thrash metal scene.
Megadeth’s name is one that is reputable within the metal genre, a name that is attached to the selling of over 50 million records worldwide. The band has earned a platinum certification for five of their fourteen studio albums, as well as eleven Grammy nominations.
Megadeth’s latest album, Dystopia, features Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler and guitarist Kiko Loureiro from Angra. Dystopia leads with “The Threat Is Real,” a fist-clenching steel-edged song that exhibits the essence of Megadeth and the thrash meal genre. The album’s sound is barbed and heavy, filled with songs that any Megadeth or thrash metal advocate could appreciate.
Megadeth performs at the Fillmore Auditorium on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. with openers Suicidal Tendencies, Children of Bodom and Havoc.
