KZSC on the Phone With Tropa Magica
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 ♫
The Sound of San Francisco Emocore: An Interview with Junipero
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…
2025 Alternative Music Releases: What’s Stood Out So Far
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,…
Odd Time Signatures Between the Vinyl Bins: Vetch @ Streetlight Records 5/18
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…
The Sound of Nubya Garcia: Live at The Chapel
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…
KZSC Interviews Noeline Hofmann at Felton Music Hall
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
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…
SPY record release show 2/21 @ Neck of the Woods, SF
By Amahli Vivian SPY has become one of my favorite hardcore punk bands since seeing them support Gel nearly two years ago. I was lucky to see SPY as the headliner at their SF show at Neck of the Woods…
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, But It Will Be Soundtracked
By DJ Amygdala A crowd packed into a sweaty basement, bodies moshing together, screaming every word to a song that means everything. Or maybe it’s a guitar circle on the beach, strangers-turned-friends passing rhythms back and forth like a secret…
I Saw New Colors at Excision
Date: Friday, January 31, 2025 Venue: Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco | Show: 7:00 PM Excision deleveried an exciting Friday night’s performance in San Francisco. As someone who has never seen him live and isn’t the biggest fan, I still…
Mei-Rok: Discovered at 1,000 Spotify Streams
By Charissa Zeigler I’ve been scrolling for an hour through half-American half-Chinese music blogs searching for clues about A-Mei, the artist behind the album Mei-Rok. I’ve been playing her eight tracks on repeat for the last few months and it’s…
The Garden’s “Nine Desperate Dates” @ sold out Catalyst
By Amahli Vivian March 7, 2025, was not the first time The Garden had come to Santa Cruz. They had played at the Catalyst back in 2022, although I was unable to attend. Their most recent “Nine Desperate Dates” tour…
Defunding Public Media Through Project 2025: Implications for Rural/College Radio Funding and Media Diversity
Defunding Public Media Through Project 2025: Implications for Rural/College Radio Funding and Media Diversity by Faith Ellis In the United States, public media stations similar to PBS and NPR, have long served as critical platforms for local journalism, non-commercial programming,…
Sasscore & The Emergence of Counter Counterculture: Description, History, and Recommendations
Sasscore and the Emergence of Counter Counterculture By Peyton K. It may seem impossible to envision a genre of music that somehow rebels against both mainstream culture and counterculture. However, the genre of sasscore manages to exist in a unique…
Berlin’s IT girl and DBBD at 1015 Folsom
By Cindy Becerra Berlin’s IT girl finally made her way to the States for her grand US tour with DBBD. Miss Bashful was born in Mexico City and is proud of her Mexican and German roots. Living in Berlin, Mexico…
Positive Hardcore in Socal: A Night at the Moroccan Lounge with Fall Through, Silenced, Stand Tall, Start Today, and Kiowa
By Peyton K. A Youth Crew revival is on the horizon, and it's coming to a town near you. After hearing raving reviews of Start Today after they opened for Knumears' 2 Year Anniversary show on the 22nd, I knew…
A Rainy Evening at the Rio with Haley Heynderickx and The Westerlies
By: DJ Alla The sound of folk music is alive and well today in Haley Heynderickx. This past Friday the 31st I was lucky enough to see Haley at the Rio Theatre here in Santa Cruz. Haley is a Portland-based…
Songs That Itch My Brain: “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” by Wilco
By Roktima Godhuli I Am Trying to Break Your Heart by Wilco is the perfect opener to their 10/10 rock album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot(2001). Don’t play this at the function, though; it might be a bit of a party pooper…
Juggling a Beat: An Interview with PSUE DONIM
By Roktima Godhuli PSUE DONIM, aka Ben Phipps, and I met in August. We immediately bonded through music, hanging out in the car on those hot summer nights and listening to the good stuff. We talked about our favorite songs…
Eruptive Noise: An Interview with Twine
By Amahli Vivian On December 4th, I was lucky enough to interview Tom Katsaras, the frontman and vocalist of Twine. Initially a solo project formed in 2021 by Katsaras, Twine later solidified into a full band. The South Australian band’s…
Spiraling Out, Not Down: An Interview With Machine Girl
Photo by Colleen Barrett By Cadence Baker On Saturday, November 23rd, KZSC Santa Cruz journeyed to San Francisco to attend Brooklyn-based digital hardcore band Machine Girl’s first of two sold-out shows at the Regency Ballroom. We sat…