Week 2 - march 8,2024
Here We Go Again!! The Second Episode of the Show is Out!!
My name is Scot Apathy, and I’ve spent a few years curating an emerging artists playlist on Spotify and YouTube. It’s called ‘Floating Around the Racetrack’ and I’ve been given the opportunity to expand the reach of that playlist to a Radio Show on NEWHD Rock Evolution. Pretty cool, right? For Z-GR! Radio, I pull from the playlist archive of nearly 500 tracks for the show, but I also include newer finds that I’m excited to share but may not have put on the playlist yet.
I do a post like this each week to help you find out more about the artists you heard on this week’s show and to make it easy to do so.
Why the effort? Well, I’m part of the group of emerging artists that I represent (I’m the lead singer for Zero-G Racetrack), and aside from getting our songs heard, I’m interested in expanding my group of artist friendships and I can’t think of a better way to do that than to put them on a radio show so that they can develop new fans. The fact that the station is part of Sophia’s Mission and all the positive energy that it represents is a huge bonus to boot. Awesome.
Also – I’ll share news bits every now and again for the artist community, and here’s the first – Ruel Smith, who runs the Synthwave Covers playlist, has left TwitterX due to excessive activity from bad actors, and can be found on Threads under the name ruelwsmith. He dropped a ton of followers on the exit, so head to threads to keep up to date on the best collection of covers out there.
Have fun with the list below, enjoy theartists and and PLEASE share the page out on your Socials! Thanks, and see you next week!
Episode 2 On-Demand
Z-GR! Radio Week TWO Lineup
Catherine Moan - Soda Pop
This week’s opener is one of those tracks that went up on the playlist 10 minutes after I heard it for the first time. I love the pacing of this track, and Philadelphia’s Catherine Moan (Angel Jefferson) brings a fantastic wink and a nod to the innuendo-laden vocal. I can’t get enough of this track, no lie. Catherine Moan is a gamer, can be found on Twitch under the username CATHMOAN, and has several videos for her tracks on YouTube, so check them out.
Fulvio Colasanto / Iyes Keen - Follow You
I came across Fulvio through a remix he did for Bunny X’s ‘Head Rush’ and I found it fantastic. Months later, I swapped in another collab track of his after it showed up in my Release Radar Spotify playlist and I enjoyed it even more – the guitar solo mid track kicks everything up a notch to my ears. He’s signed with Aztec Records, which means that he remixes and collaborates with a who’s who list of the SynthPop / Synthwave community, including many artists that will be showing up on this show.
Ralphy Grey / B.O.N. - I'm a Rebel
Last week’s show opener got a ton of positive feedback, and both Ralphy and B.O.N. have been super supportive as we’ve been getting the show started. Most importantly, I love this track and want to get some more listeners on it.
Ralph Grey is a fantastic German producer who creates amazing Synth/Retro/Pop and who collaborates regularly with singers from all over the world. In this case, it’s Zurich’s B.O.N.; the duo create a decidedly modern take on 80’s synth pop – a galloping bass groove under sparkling keys gives B.O.N. a nice vocal playground to sing over, resulting in a favorite track of mine. B.O.N. (pronounced ‘Bahn’ – Yes, I asked) has relocated from Switzerland to L.A. to get herself into the Music Biz action, and I’m hoping we’ll see some live shows pop up throughout the states.
Ralphy Grey Links:
Spotify | Instagram | Facebook
B.O.N. Links:
Sweet Tempest - Giving It Up
The question wasn’t IF Sweet Tempest would be on the show; the question was ‘which track?’. After some brief hand-wringing, I opted for ‘Giving It Up’, mostly because I like the way the song enters big but lays back during Julian Winding’s verse vocal only to tighten up for Luna Kira’s chorus. ‘Going Down Dancing’, their debut album is fantastic and worth spending some time with.
Parralox - Lucretia, My Reflection
When I first found Ruel Smith’s Synthwave Covers playlist, I tripped right over Parralox’ cover of the Sisters of Mercy’s ‘Lucretia My Reflection’. Hiding in the shadow of the Sisters’ ‘This Corrosion’, ‘Lucretia’ is the gem of the ‘Floodland’ record for its infectiously droning bass line supporting Eldrich’s baritone vocal. Parralox nails the vibe in the transition to synthwave; the vocal brightens Eldrich’s darkness, but it’s an interesting change, and matches the tone of the re-imagined track. Parralox, out of Australia has an interesting history detailed on Wiki, and it’s worth checking out.
Wiki (Don’t sleep on this!) | Spotify | TwitterX | Instagram | Web
Zero-G Racetrack - Slave to My Ego
Apathy here: I’ll share some insight on this track – I wrote the vocal as I was transitioning out of a long-term relationship, and realized that I had boxed up several things that I liked most about myself to accommodate the relationship. The track is about self-realization within the context of a personal reboot, and making sure that you don’t go sideways during the process. Among the most personally insightful lyrics of the Zero-G Racetrack songs, I get great response to this track when I sing it live.
V-Transmission - No More Lights
V-Transmission’s ‘No More Lights’ was a day one add to the playlist when I kicked it off in 2021; they are a Z-GR! label-mate on Royale Music, and I really like their music a lot. Over time, I’ve had several of their songs on the list, but I felt that ‘No More Lights’ was the perfect track to kick into the second half of the show, where I dropped in some guitar heavy post-punk goodness.
Dan Sindel - Stepping Stone
A friend turned me on to Dan, and I’m glad he did – Dan’s got a great punk vibe to his track ‘Stepping Stone’, and the track gets better and better the more I hear it. His history speaks to his ability – he’s been featured in Guitar Player and Electronic Musician magazines, and he was a fixture in the L.A. metal scene of the ‘80’s. Head over to his Spotify profile to hear some really interesting symphonic guitar work.
Colin Christian - Storms Of Ice
I really didn’t think that this would happen so soon, but Colin Christian’s ‘Storm of Ice’ is so awesome that I put it on the show before he hit the playlist. The track grabs immediately, stacking interesting tones one after another in quick succession, building a killer groove. It’s short, sweet and really, really cool.
Disco In Sochi - CherrySevenUp
Disco in Sochi’s ‘Cherry7Up’ is just….freaking great. It’s one of those tracks that sneaks up on you, slaps you across the face, and then says….’You’re Welcome”. When the beat kicks in, you know you’re in for it, and the uniquely cool vocal tone really helps set the earworm. This is easily one of my favorite tracks, so check it out (loudly) and follow the links to dig in to the rest of their stuff.
Menek - Real Life
2DCAT - Magic
2DCAT, out of Washington D.C., caught my ear over the Summer 2023. They landed on the playlist in October with ‘I’m On My Own’, but I’ve chosen a different track for the Z-GR! Radio appearance; ‘Magic’ opens with so much sonic torque that I really felt that it works well at the tail end of the show. I also notice that 2DCAT has some shows scheduled for April 2024 in the D.C. area, so if you can, go check them out.
Imperative Reaction - Glass
It’s been a while since ‘Glass’ was on the playlist, but I’ve never really ‘forgotten’ about it…every once in a while it pops up in my favorite songs list and I’m reminded just how great a song it is. I originally found Imperative Reaction (Ted Phelps) through another band on the playlist and was immediately taken with the tone of his voice, the quality of the production, and that awesome two step drop that is the real earworm that’ll stick with you long after the track is over.
Edictum - Just Ask
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