By Peyton K. and Marlena S. Cutting Up The Elephant's Final Show 'Twas the night of Cutting Up the Elephant's last show, and we (DJ baroque and DJ Valhalla) pulled up early to San Francisco in order to secure our…
Images Courtesy of Linear Labs By Annelise Schouten On July 30th 2026, KZSC’s Jazz and Blues Director sat down with artist, composer, producer, and record label founder Adrian Younge for a phone interview. Speaking on his label Jazz Is…
By Peyton K. In an age where trending tracks come and go like the Bcycles on campus, it's nice to look back and admire the music that didn't get algorithmically pushed into our lives. Now that we're about halfway into…
By Annelise Schouten, Serafina Holzer, and Fawn Zech On May 11th 2026, KZSC’s Jazz and Blues (Annelise Schouten), Rock (Serafina Holzer), and Folk (Fawn Zech) directors sat down for an interview with Robert Lester Folsom on the 16th stop…
By DJ Ratz Taut skin and muscles flex as lengthy ribbon-adorned hair whips in the air. Sleek silver poles rotate dancers high above heavy beats coming from a DJ booth perched on stage scaffolding. Below an afterglow, British singer-performer, FKA…
By Amahli Vivian and Zane Bird Smith In January 2026, MyVeronica visited KZSC while on their California tour. MyVeronica is based in Los Angeles and first formed in 2021. Initially a solo project, the band has formed a full lineup…
By Amahli Vivian 2nd wave emo is a special thing. Perhaps it's a combination of twinkling guitar tones, wistfulness and introspective lyricism, nostalgia for the 1990s music scene, and the unabashed heart-on-sleeve-ness that has allowed this particular subgenre to skyrocket…
By Annelise Schouten and Dhalia Krishnan On March 21st 2026, Dhalia (KZSC’s Hip-Hop Director) and I (Annelise, KZSC’s Jazz Director) sat down for an interview in the garage of Aft’s (Afterthought’s) childhood home in the Fillmore District, gathering around…
By Peyton K. Have you ever wondered what it might sound like if Mario ditched his efforts to save Princess Peach and instead picked up a 7-string guitar? Or if br00tal 'core bands seldom straying from 0-0-0-0 breakdowns became stuck…
by Ryan McLean Davis / DJ Bugs A Paloma-induced account of Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage at Felton Music Hall: February 20, 2026. 7:45 p.m. Jeffrey Lewis stands silently over there, behind the merch table. Boyfriend buys me…
Written by Claudia Aguilera On the first night of tour, and the eve of their debut album’s 19-year anniversary, LSD and the Search for God reflect on how a nearly-missed beginning became a lasting body of work. Since the release…
By DJ Ratz There are moments of bliss, brief flashes when I am consumed by the sound of music. My sense of my body dissolves and the pain in my heels dissipates and nothing is on my mind; it is…
By Mariela Fritz I love post-hardcore. Bands like At The Drive-In, Title Fight, and The Mars Volta rule every single one of my Spotify playlists. The genre itself originated in the mid-1980s after hardcore punk’s explosion in popularity a decade…
By Maddox Conrady The nineties gave birth to a whole lot of things, from aggressive and angsty nu metal to big beat electronic music sweeping through the UK. As time has passed, we have seen certain influences, sounds, and aesthetics…
By Peyton K. When people describe their musical project as "the worst thing [they've] ever done in [their] life", it doesn't allow much hope that their music will be worthwhile to listen to. The Hellp, however, is a special case,…
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…
