JULIA STRELLER
copywriter
SAVE YOUR WORK.
I learned this lesson the hard way, as music publications I wrote for were taken offline.
A music and culture blog with nearly 300k readers nationwide. I co-founded, wrote, and edited for the University of Texas chapter, eventually managing a team of 20 writers and photographers. I had a playlist series called Velvet Venture.
An Austin-based music and culture blog and event production company. I wrote articles and planned live events (ask me about our cancelled SXSW 2020 showcase if you want to see me get emotional).
THE INTERNET ISN'T FOREVER.
PUBLISHED ARTICLES + MUSIC MARKETING.
ARTIST BIO
FOR ELECTRONIC PRESS KIT
INTERVIEW + SONG REVIEW | PUBLISHED ON CULTURE CAPITAL
The first release from Animals On TV “Bad Feeling” rings like a mantra. They’re a circus punk band with a penchant for theatrics and the unexpected. So naturally the first single tells you exactly what they won’t do as a band. It’s an anti-mantra.
A couple weeks ago, I popped in on band practice to discuss the new single. “I’m not going to beg my friends to come out and see me if we’re not gonna dress fuckin' weird and be crazy,” lead singer Rob Hogan explained. Friend or frenemy, you won’t be bored. Rob's feral grace paired with Gabe Posada's guitar playing adds an inegmatic energy that feels equally chaotic and ritualistic.
"Bad Feeling" rips open with a driving, gritty instrumental, setting the foundation for Rob's poetic story. Over rumbling guitar from Gabe, Rob dives in, “muddied up clothes and concert photos, your best friend’s stoned asking for your Rohtos.” It’s a scene familiar as your bedroom ceiling: a concert ends and everyone’s stumbling around trying to figure out what the future, or at least the next few hours, hold. “The show’s all over but I won't go home/ because I’m still waiting to get my mind blown,” Rob sings. “I went to your show and I had a bad feeling.” Remember those boring bands whose throats they’re coming for? This one’s for them.
“Now they’re asking me if I know the band/ sure I do but I wont play that hand,” Rob sings over an energetic beat from bassist Ben Baron and Haden Hunt, who impressively sings a majority of the backup from the drums. “I'm no Judas but I might be a peter, the secret is the bass player asked me to see her.” Say it with me now: Anti. Mantra.
Their first show at Scratch House was a circus—chaos in costumes. The band cites The Strokes and David Bowie’s first band The Supermen (who wore superhero costumes on stage) as important influences. “I really love Mick Jagger,” Rob said. “I love people who move a lot on stage and even things that aren’t rock n roll. Like Bobby Banas just exudes style. It’s a fun energy to play with”.
“Bad Feeling” takes a strong stance against shows lacking performance or evocative elements to get the crowd rowdy. “It’s a little fun to be mean too,” Rob said. “We’re not mean to people in person but it’s taking a stance. ‘Bad Feeling’ is probably our most negative song but it’s really just like shitting on going to a show and not getting anything out of it. Not feeling moved or excited. And then Gabe has a crazy shreddy solo that fuckin' lights the whole thing up.”
On joining the galaxy of Austin bands, “it’s hard to stand out,” Andrew says. “But it’s harder for Rob not to stand out.”
A RUDE SINGLE BY THE POLITE ANIMALS ON TV
FESTIVAL COVERAGE | PUBLISHED ON CULTURE CAPITAL
A$AP Rocky and Mercedes Benz Chief Design Officer, Gorden Wagener talked cars, culture, music, art and luxury this morning at SXSW featured session called “Using Design ‘Differently’ to Make a Difference”. In the rapidly changing world of design, this unexpected pair stands together at the intersection of cars, culture, music, art and luxury.
“I’m in a place to dictate what’s cool right now,” says Rocky. “This collaboration is natural. Mercedes has been at the pentacle of luxury especially in hip hop world.” With so much change happening in the auto industry (i.e. car sharing, driverless cars, etc.), Wagener says “designing automobiles is just as much about designing experience.” Together A$AP Rocky and Wagener, who is in charge of Mercedes’ vehicle design and brand identity, will permanently impact hip hop culture’s influence on the world of luxury design. “The future is not written,” says Wagener, “We can design it. And it’s much easier to design it when you actually live in the future.”
Both shared their perspectives on the challenges of innovation. Rocky, who has experience in apparel, accessory and brand design in addition to his music and music videos, spoke about unveiling his SRLo sneaker during his live performance art piece Lab Rat. “Lab Rat was a play on the experimental sound in my last album,” Rocky said, “[I’m exploring] feeling like a fish in a bowl, with so many bystanders and onlookers watching and peering in while you create.” The SRLo sneaker, a skate shoe redesigned for raves, was yet another way to continue experimenting and mixing cultures, “just like hip hop is transcending into pop culture.”
Wagener operates in a different space of innovation with Mercedes’ rich heritage and reputation as one of the most desired cars of its time behind him. He said “the car will change in the next 10-15 years more than it has in the last 100.” That said, they face “significant staging challenges trying to keep complexity under control.”
Rocky views himself as part of a group of artists who are the crash test dummies, putting themselves in radical environments and taking risks for those who’ll come up next. Of entering the realm of luxury cars, Rocky says, “I wouldn't step into anything just to conquer it; it’s all about execution.” Good execution is the absolute design goal for both Wagener and Rocky, who share a key element: the crash test dummy.
To Rocky, the crash test dummy aesthetic “symbolizes a person who pioneers.” It's heavily present throughout his latest album Testing, which included a collab with Mercedes for the “Gunz N Butter” music video. Rocky chose to redesign a 30-year-old Mercedes rally car—30 years vintage because he’s 30, too. “I’m in the metamorphosis of my life and of my career so I didn't want to go with anything ordinary.”
“There’s no future without heritage,” Wagener says, “[and the vintage rally car] is a cool example of taking something from Mercedes’ heritage and interpreting it in a new way.”
“There’s nothing new under the sun” is a beautifully simple piece of wisdom Rocky and Wagener both reference as a driver of their creativity. They’re not fueled by a desire to create something no one has before, rather to experiment and explore new paths so they can execute better than anyone before them.
The last audience question requested advice for young designers. Rocky, who initially felt a lot of resistance when the Mercedes partnership was in its beginning stages, says, “stick to your guns. Don't compromise. I won’t compromise my integrity when it comes to design or just beliefs in general. Sometimes people won’t see your vision until the world says it’s the shit.” Wagener, who became Mercedes’ Chief Design Officer when he was 30, says “have fun! In car design we are still the little boys in the sandbox playing with cars—just on a bigger scale and with better pay. Enjoy yourself and stay foolish.”
A$AP ROCKY AT SXSW 2019
INTERVIEW | PUBLISHED ON GOODMUSICALLDAY
If music is the sonic output of our souls, then Wilderado is in the business reflecting the collective human spirit, inviting you to walk in someone else’s shoes. Their first ever ACL performance Sunday morning of Weekend 1 lit up Zilker’s hills, getting the crowd dancing, even through the thick post-rain humidity. Rumbling bass and fast, heavy guitar riffs give way to folky banjo and anthemic sing-alongs, evidence of the band’s evolution since the release of their debut EP Misty Shrub in January of 2016.
The four piece includes Max Rainer (lead vocals, guitar) and Justin Kila (drummer) of Oklahoma and Tyler Wimpee (guitar, vocals) and Colton Dearing (bass, vocals) of Texas. These southern boys and former Baylor Bears have now fully settled into life on California’s coast. They don't miss the south as much as I hoped they would—Max says, “we love Austin. Maybe one day, we’ll vacation here more often.”
They've been on tour since the release of their first EP Misty Shrub in early 2016. “Touring is the only way to grasp the reality of the fact that real people are listening to your music, and real people are making everything possible,” Max says. “I think everything ends up being relational, so it’s always cool to see faces and hear voices and see eyes of the people that are allowing you to do what you do.”
The deep audience connection Wilderado has extended their tour over and over again, joining artists like Ryan Bingham and Rainbow Kitten Surprise.
Of touring with Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Max says he “admires how many people are coming out and supporting and listening to them earnestly—their incredible fan base mirrors their music and their character.” Like RKS, Wilderado’s introspective, honest lyrics convey wisdom and understanding of the human struggle.
Max’s lyrics tap into the part of us that longs to feel deeply what others feel, to understand life from someone else’s heart space. “I’m always seeking some idea of truth in joy, and I think throughout that you have to come to terms with that the opposite of those things is what defines them,” Max explains. “So in songwriting I always like to try and contact sorrowful, sad things and allow myself to write that way because I want my songwriting to be the sad part and my life to be the happy part. I feel like there’s a balance there—it's almost therapeutic to write that way.”
After studying the lyrics to Wilderado’s new EP Favors, Max’s radiating happiness and easy going demeanor surprised me, as the four tracks on the EP nearly break your heart. “You Don’t Love Me” is a driving rock anthem exploring the plight of a devastated heart. “All I wanted was a beating heart/but you don't love me;” I was worried to ask whose heart had been broken. “Someone actually printed that I got divorced, which isn’t true,” Max explains of the bleak lyrics. “I’m sad a lot, which I think is ok, and it’s something I want people to understand—being sad is totally fine, just don't stay there. See it, appreciate it when it’s there and then move on to the happy parts.”
Drawing inspirations from the road shaped the new EP, as they learned from idol Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac during the 27 shows they opened for him.“By the end of it, they wanted to take us under their wing—it was such a sweet moment, Tyler says. “It will not get any better than that… actually hopefully it will."
Wilderado returns to Austin on Tuesday October 16 at Barracuda for their tour with Sure Sure.