By DJ Ratz An icy blue laser hits center stage as smoke machines cloud the air. Lorde, in all her holiness, appears as “Hammer”, the first track off her latest album, Virgin, blasts through the speakers. The reverbed vocal…
By Serafina Holzer and Amelia Foster PRE SHOW On October 28th, DJ Foz and DJ Key were killed by the power of rock. The up and coming Brooklyn-based band Geese performed to a sold-out crowd at The Fillmore this past…
By: Ashley Watrin On Wednesday, October 1, at Acrisure Arena in Thousand Palms, California, iconic English band, The Who, bid a final farewell to their North American audience on the last stop of “The…
Since their debut album in June 2025, First Day Back has shot into emo stardom. Pulling from 1990s second-wave emo influences (think of Braid, Algernon Caldawalder, Jejune, and Cap’n Jazz) reveals First Day Back’s revival of—and listeners’ interest in—this specific…
Written by Claudia Aguilera Santa Cruz band First Day Back released their debut album Forward on June 1, 2025, earning support from listeners drawn to their distinct sound, which nods to the 90s emo bands that shape their influences. With raw,…
By Peyton K. Every so often, a subgenre will seem to be revived out of nowhere, with new bands creating music that brings you right back to tunes from the genre’s conception. Over the past few years, I’ve seen…
By Amahli Vivian Back in June this year, I interviewed Abbeys Garden, an alternative emo band based in Las Vegas. As they prepare for an upcoming record release, we talked about preparing for live shows, skateboarding, music influences and more! Abbeys…
By Kyler Salameda With the release of Molly Tuttle's lastest album on August 15, 2025, she begins an exciting new musical journey. The genre of the songs in "So Long Little Miss Sunshine" is labeled as Singer-Songwriter, and when listening…
By Amahli Vivian and Peyton K. On June 5th, Caught in a Flood played at Subrosa in Santa Cruz during their mini-West Coast tour with Dahlia Cross. During their brief time in town Peyton K. and Amahli Vivian were lucky…
By: Alex Lund On Sunday, July 20th, I attended the magical opening show of Tacoma/Seattle's newest outdoor music venue, Dune Peninsula at Point Defiance Park. Headlining was the always whimsical Sierra Ferrell with the support of alt-country singer-songwriter Kaitlin Butts…
by Bugs On Friday, July 18, 2025 we the people earned a reprise in the form of Alex G's new record release, Headlights. As I'm sure his other longtime fans can agree, this album perfectly balances his iconic sound that…
By Josie Katz The first time I heard Wet Leg’s “Wet Dream”, I couldn’t help but think I had just heard the perfect intro to a song with a drum fill. When Rhain Teasdale’s vocals came in, I realized it…
Earlier this year on April 5th, hours before the last show of their west coast tour, Destroy Boys singer Alexia Roditis sat down with KZSC behind The Catalyst. They talked about the power of a platform and various song tidbits…
By Amahli Vivian About a week before their show at SubRosa Community Space on June 5, I interviewed Sex Ed, an electroskramz band based in the North Bay Area. Sex Ed creates a sound entirely their own, pulling influences from…
KZSC's Lady Deed interviews psychedelic-cumbia-punk band Tropa Magica about their new album and ongoing tour for Para Bailar y Tripiar, what they like about Santa Cruz, and more ♫
By Amahli Vivian Last week, I interviewed the San Francisco based emocore band Junipero. We chatted about music influences, band name origins, upcoming music plans, the live music scene in the Bay Area + San Francisco, and what defines emo…
By Peyton K. 2025 Alternative Music Releases 5 months into 2025, I want to reflect on all the exceptional music released this year. From the first day of this year, new and old bands have dropped singles, EPs, splits, albums,…
Written by Claudia Aguilera Claudia Aguilera, with the assistance of Nina Carrillo, interview Vetch at Streetlight Records - Santa Cruz. From stalking a drummer at the climbing gym to crafting intricate riffs, the trio reflects on their evolution and…
On the evening of April 17th, Nubya Garcia performed at The Chapel in San Francisco. After making tour stops in Japan, Australia, and the UK, she was bubbly while sharing her excitement for her first show in San Francisco…
By: Alex Lund Alex Lund interviews "Country's Wild Rose" Noeline Hofmann in this KZSC Exclusive Interview. On Saturday, May 3rd, I had the opportunity to interview Noeline Hofmann after her show at The Felton Music Hall. Just one weekend…
5 Playlists for 5 Philosophy Reads By Charissa Zeigler The Tractatus - Wittgenstein After writing the Tractatus Wittgenstein proclaimed that he had solved all of philosophy. This is because the Tractatus was an attempt to dissolve the premises through which…