Photo courtesy of Phobia the Greatest.
Phobia the Greatest walks into the studio and listens to a beat. In 10 seconds, she knows if she can record to it. “I get in the booth, I get on the mic, I sing how I feel,” she says. Her craft, once manifested as poetry in composition books, has now erupted into an art form that leaves behind writing and comes up with songs on the spot. The contagious confidence of her high-spirited sound reflects the energy of this musical process.
Years ago, you would have found the independent musician around Salt Lake City, mainly in the West Valley area. Now you can find her playing pool party shows near the ocean in L.A. or filming a music video with
Photo: Kevin Edwards
youngassNICO grew up near Baisley Park in South Jamaica, Queens, the home of the artist’s love for music. He started listening to music in ’98 thanks to $5 bootlegged CDs from the Rite Aid parking lot. Nico grew up in the era of
Angie Martinez, DJ Kay Slay,
Jay Electronica and more. He would walk around the block and immerse himself in the music pouring out of apartments and cars, spreading the word that
50 Cent was making it big. “As much as I like the new shit, I am so knitted in that gritty New York rap where your bars have to mean something,” he says. “I remember freestyling in circles back in the day where if your bars were not correct, you couldn’t hang.”
Quarantine gave people time to do things they normally wouldn’t have time to do. Some took up new hobbies, while some worked on fitness or caught up on TV shows. Others, like newly formed group No Shooting Friends, Joseph, started a band. Not only did they form a band, but they wrote and produced an entire album,
Flicker. No Shooting Friends, Joseph started when guitarist/vocalist
Dallin Cerva was messing around on his guitar. “I didn’t intend to start a band,” he says. “I was just trying to see if I could make some songs out of guitar riffs I had made up over the years.” Soon after, Dallin’s wife,
Derek Harman and
Jason Bohman became friends when they were in separate groups. Bohman plays drums and ended up filling in one evening for Harman’s band around 2010. During rehearsal, they came up with something that they loved the sound of, and thus began The Anchorage. “We really dug the style that came out and recruited some friends that were awesome musicians. Eleven years later we still love doing it,” says Bohman.
The Anchorage has a unique sound that incorporates several genres in their music. For example, on “Weird Night Sleepy Day,” listeners are greeted with crunchy, high-energy guitar that sounds like it’s from an emo or punk album before an exciting horn section enters. The two are blended together seamlessly and create an alluring and lively sound you can headbang to. The Anchorage enjoys having a unique sound that can appeal to different listeners. “We have a pretty diverse taste in music among our band members,” says Bohman. “I’ve always been a
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