Febuary in February

Recently I started diving into the new generations of hardcore, indie, emo and the like, but one specific band that caught my attention was this band Febuary. They’ve existed for quite some time and have already done one hiatus (pretty legendary). All their records have sold out at the time of this article written and are receiving lots of love fans and bands alike. I’ve yet to get in contact with these folks one day to do a “7” interview, but as of right now it’s hard to reach them if you’re a nobody like me. I’m going to try again in the next few weeks.

Other than that this bands first and current release has reeled me back into for this sound in this new generation which had me discover bands like “beforeyouleave_” and “Catalyst…” and even “Knumears”. But Febuary has something a bit special for some reason.

Before Febuary it was Beau Navire’s first record, demo cassette tape and the splits prior to the first record. The production was so different as it made it feel like I was at home hearing the band play in my living room. Normally I seek out bands who make records independently because the sound is so unique and most of the time the rooms that they write in are not sound proofed lol. I can definitely say my room is not proofed at all, but I could really give a shit about the aesthetics of my setup. I just want to record.

Beau Navire, Loma Prieta, iwrotehaikusaboutcannibalisminyouryearbook & Comadre were a huge staple to my ever growing youth of understanding punk/hardcore through melodicism and intricacies of being simple, straight forward, with a bit of arpeggiation sprinkled on top of what is already chaotically moving in their music. With these bands most of the time my mind gears towards that sort of process of using simple phrases, but figuring out ways to make them move and impactful.

I know that I’m saying a lot right now talking about a band that just started, but believe you me projects that start this way seem to age well. You’ll end up finding this band in peaple’s skramz/screamo lists because of the nature of the recording, the concept, the intent, the rawness that isn’t found in most records these days.

Febuary, I would say, is a screamo / skramz / emo-violence band that right out of the gate of the first track has them screaming their lungs out before entering their first official song “I’d Rather Burn Than Fall”. From there you hear songs such as “Brand New Shoes” that throws it back from that waltz-esque type of rhythm with clean guitars and vocals that are just belted away from the mic. It transits to “No Way…” that showcase their singing talent of lines “How I could I reach for you when you’re already on your way” or “So why should I be for you when I only ever needed me.” What makes this record so intriguing is the fact that the band sounds like the record live. And you don’t get that a lot these days and it just sucks to know that these types of projects or sounds don’t get appreciated as much. This project sort of brings me back to my youth and has me understand that the sounds that I remembered back then have never left and will continue to move on with this new generation of kids bringing it to the scene. It's so cool and I hope they get their flowers they so deserve.

Give this band a shot. I think you’ll appreciate it for sure.

Links:
Bandcamp
Instagram

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Social Media Platform Apartment Shopping

Already at the start of the year and things have been changing drastically. Tik Tok banned and unbanned in the span of days due to Trump (lol this dude was so against this platform), X (formerly known as twitter) users started to flee to Bluesky and Substack accounts are becoming popular as a blogging platform. Meanwhile I'm here in my little space with little to no traffic hahaha.

But you have to admit times are changing and especially with the social media space people are yearning for a platform that doesn't taint their feeds with political nonsense and trash can takes. It's almost as if you see a reboot of refreshed ideas until the platform becomes tainted again with political nonsense and trash can takes. I have you know I'm all for a platform that can help provide a safe and positive space, but the same stories seem to be written and read everytime there's some sort incentive that gains more wealth and control.

Bueno Power!! has been in operation close to 14 years and I can't imagine the fact that I was going to just lose this Blog in replacement of another one just because this space is no longer used to blog anymore. I have you know that this place is going nowhere until the platform "Blogger" decides it's going nuke all users. That'd be a sad day for sure, but for now lets keep it where it is and what it is. It's all that matters.

At the 3rd view its heart breaking seeing some of my favs having to just move on to other platforms. Its exhausting seeing the oppresion and prevention of what these viewers should see, but isn't because of coded themes in the algorhythm not allowing users to see some real shit. Sad all around, but the reality of it is that companies that provide these spaces have the right to control this stuff. Its unfortunate, but what can you do?

There have been a number of users who have their takes on TikTok and how it's helped them discover bands or had helped them thrive in the business they're currently working on. How "influencers" are not real careers and that having to depend on TikTok to generate revenue is the worst idea ever. The thing is this is how money and fame is now generated and the reality of it is that these platforms exist to help these folks promote and idea or a company that they can sell. Regardless this is the new and has been the new career for this generation

All in all I give props to those people who can advertise themselves in such a way that have found a niche or a collective of fans that buy their products and thoughts whenever they post. They're active 24/7 and makes them the most money. I'm unfortunately the worst at that lol, but why do I want to grind out something like this? These things are a pleasure and not a job and I'd hate to resent what I love just so I can make a buck. I realize that what I do isn't something that makes ends meet, but would hope that it could make a difference in someone's life

This year I have eliminated all assignments that are asked of me (this being I'm not taking pictures of sweet 16's and family gatherings). I've decided to go full "artist" mode this year and continue concentrating on the art of writing and the art of photographing. Being able to have the 9-5 job with having only an hour or so a day to write or photograph pictures is a practice that I've gotten used to. My aim is to collect and write as much work as I can before I turn 50. And during that time if there are opportunities to showcase work like photo galleries or performances I'm down to execute that.

So yeah.. that's pretty much it lol. You'll be seeing me here and there in the coming weeks. I'm still manifesting what to do this year so stay tuned.


- Art aRt arT ART

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