NFV Song Spotlight: Kills Birds' Glisten

I was introduced to Kills Birds via Buzzbands. Back in 2019, Kevin Bronson sent out a monthly list of bands that he wanted his various photographers to cover. He had Kills Birds highlighted as a band he really wanted a photographer to cover. At the time, I'd never heard of them, which is amusing as just a month earlier I had covered Echo Park Day 2 for the site and in the compilation post for the day (that included photos from various photographers) Kills Birds was the highlighted band in both the title and lead photo. I also noticed that the band was playing at the Bootleg Theater, which was one of my favorite venues (since shut down due during the COVID shutdown). That convinced me to do a little research on the band by checking out their music on Youtube. My memory isn't perfect about things that happened five years ago, but I'm pretty sure that their video for "Ow" was the song that got me to put my hat in the ring to shoot the band. 

Kills Birds at Gold-Diggers

NFV Song Spotlight: Sarah Once Was' Thumbnail Moon

About every other Monday, The Witching Hours and Safe Travels Presents presents their Alphabet Soup music series. As can be derived from the name, each night is dedicated to an alphabet and the bands / musicians names start with that alphabet. Recently, they got to the letter S. That leaves 7 more letters to go, which will take them into early 2025. Will they re-start the whole series again come 2025? One can only hope. The series used to take place at the Resident, but as the Resident has shifted away from live bands they had to move on to Non Plus Ultra. They mentioned on Instagram that this resulted in their funding getting cut. I'm sure that will play a role in how things go in 2025. Hopefully, the music community comes out to support this labor of love music series. 

Sarah Once Was at Non Plus Ultra

NFV Song Spotlight: Halo Kitsch's i was a virgin (on drugs)

I first came across Halo Kitsch at a WFNM in November 2021. I was blown away by the set. Since that time, I've tried to catch a set as often as possible. I've learned that she loves to use parentheses in her song titles such as "i was a virgin (on drugs)" or her current biggest hit on Spotify "All (Your) Fault" and many others. I also learned that she got fascinated with the word daisy cutter and finally was able to include it in her song "i was a virgin (on drugs)."  

Halo Kitsch at Broadway Night Lights

NFV Song Spotlight: Kat French's Casket

You never know what hidden gems you'll discover when you go to a WFNM night at Hotel Ziggy or Bar Lubitsch. Some of my favorite bands and singers were discovered at a WFNM night such as coming across King Mala and Halo Kitsch on the same night at Bar Lubitsch. 

Kat French at Hotel Ziggy

NFV Song Spotlight: Jesika Von Rabbit's Psychic Spice

I don't get to catch Jesika Von Rabbit all that often. I first came across her in the band Gram Rabbit in 2011. One has to jump to 2019 before I caught her again, now performing under the name Jesika Von Rabbit. That is very infrequent, but throughout my years in the Los Angeles music scene, I've often wondered when I'd get to catch another set. Jump to 2024 and I happened to notice that she was doing a Saturday night residency at  Harvard & Stone for the month of October. I knew I had to make it to at least one night of that residency.

Jessica Von Rabbit at Harvard & Stone

NFV Song Spotlight: Essenger's After Dark

Jesika Von Rabbit has a Saturday night residency for the month of October 2024 at Harvard & Stone. I was aiming to go to the October 12th residency, but I happened to notice that Halo Kitsch was playing an outdoor street festival and I decided to catch that set instead and switch to seeing Jesika Von Rabbit on the 19th. That was a good trade off, because I got to catch Essenger. I'm doing a round about way to get to Essenger, but when I first saw the night's line-up, I thought Jesika Von Rabbit was playing with the Los Angeles band Essencer. I took a closer look at the name and realized there was a "g" versus a "c."

Essenger at Harvard & Stone

NFV Song Spotlight: Boy Deluxe's Bait

I've followed Boy Deluxe since 2017. At the time, the band was called Ever So Android and they'd just relocated from Seattle. I was perhaps the first Los Angeles based photographer to catch one of their sets. I was an immediate fan of Hope S and True Murra and have seen them numerous times over the years. This year, I've seen them 3 times. And, hey, those who have a somewhat deep history of the Los Angeles music scene remember the jokes that Hope S and Kimi Recor (Black Flamingo, Draemings, Kevin, etc) were sisters.

Boy Deluxe at the Regent Theater