Author: Robert Dean

Luke Trimmer
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Fundraiser: White Horse employee Luke Trimmer needs our help, benefit concert this Sunday

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One of Austin’s best and brightest this past week, Luke Trimmer from White Horse, was hit by someone who had too many sodas and turned a wrong turn – down I-35. And now Luke is in a bad way. Just a guy like many of us, after a long shift on his feet, looking forward to a plate of tacos and the warmth of his bed. That’s pretty much everyone reading this; every time we get ready to head home after a late night, no one expects to be pulled from the twisted metal of a car wreck.

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Roi Hernaandez cover photo
Live MusicPreviewRobert Dean

Fashion Feature: Roi Hernandez of Elysium has vision for large sized men’s styles with House of 1912

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Because art moves with the flow of the thoughts of outsiders looking inward, it’s no surprise that Austin-based designer Roi Hernandez’s House of 1912 is getting acclaim around Texas fashion circles. It will also not be a shocker when he gets his due credit in bigger fashion circles. Roi doesn’t come from a fashion background; he came from the music industry. Hernandez is key leadership staff at Red River club, Elysium. He decided to make clothes for more prominent men because he wanted to see them dressed better than boxy nightmares with Hawaiian print or corny t-shirts splashed with faded X-Men comic book covers or a Mountain Dew logo. Instead, he’s reclaiming what goth is, which is something that’s not whatever Hot Topic is peddling – a reflection that even though clothing may be considered “goth,” everything doesn’t have to always be black and spooky.

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The Lost Well
Music NewsOpinionRobert Dean

This Party Sucks: Long Live The Lost Well

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When you come up in the DIY rock and roll underground, the community that goes with the music is everything. Unlike most sub-genres of humanity, two punk rockers and a guy in a Slayer shirt will typically find something to talk about over a cheap PBR. The places that house those shared interests are important. These spots are somewhere for the weirdos to hang out, to hear their weird bands, and champion their outsider passions, are crucial for people to feel like they belong somewhere. To hoist drinks in their air in both celebration and sadness. There is often more than people drinking together in a bar. Instead, it’s the social glue that keeps people’s hearts and minds together, too. People like us, we bond over a Crass tape, or get excited about those annual Motorhead parties. Our culture of rock and roll is a brick of our identity and when you’re the kid with the Black Flag sticker on your skateboard who becomes the adult with the son in a Stooges shirt, you take shit personally when it comes to the things that helped craft your identity.

That’s why losing The Lost Well sucks so hard. 

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Buzz Electro PR photo
AlbumReviewRobert Dean

Album review: Spare Parts by Austin act Buzz Electro features loud guitars and nasty riffs

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Guitars should be loud, and riffs should be nasty. The drums should sound like they hold the keys to the entryway to hell. Luckily, Buzz Electro got the memo. On their newest record, “Spare Parts,” the band gives it their all as one of the acts in Austin doing their best to be the loudest, horns up, drinks spilled version of rock and roll out there.

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Tied Up band Ausitn
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Song Review – Anyway You Like: Tied Up is one of Austin’s Newest to Check Out

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Taking the hip-hop approach by dropping singles one at a time, Tied Up recently gave us their newest, “Anyway You Like,” on the heels of their prior single, “Gun.” Both are wicked glimpses into what the band will give us moving forward, which says a metric fuck ton, considering they only have two tracks out for public consumption. And those two tracks do not play. This is the rock and roll you want;

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Steve Albini
Music NewsOpinionRobert Dean

In memoriam: Steve Albini was a punk rock icon who walked and talked the truth

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When we were kids playing in rock and roll bands, we always dreamed of coming up with the cash to record at Electrical Audio. There were tiers of cost – one to get into the door, one to book either day or night sessions, some with junior engineers, and then, if you could swing it, to record with Steve Albini. For us, just the idea of being in the same room with those who’d recorded the Pixies, PJ Harvey, and Nirvana? Insane. We were in hardcore and punk bands; we weren’t trying to be the noise he was so aligned with; we just wanted to be able to say the guy who made “Scentless Apprentice” sound so raw did it on our heavy chugged nonsense. 

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Two Step Inn 2024
Live MusicReviewRobert Dean

Live music review: Ludacris Came to Party and Hank Jr Wants You to Know He’s Not Gay at Two Step Inn

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The Two-Step Inn people are getting this thing right. Last year, being the first kick-off event, there were a few holes in the ship regarding accessibility and general needs being met, but this year, they’ve kicked up everything from just a few notches to feet, including lockers to water stations and tents for drug testing. Last year, I was lucky enough to catch both days. This year, I managed to sneak into the fest only on Sunday, April 21 but what I saw was worth the risk of getting towed.

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Dr. Cornel West
Music NewsRobert Dean

Music News: When Dr. Cornel West Talks Music, You Listen

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Local nonprofit Austin Texas Musicians threw the event, entitled, “The State of the Music Industry”: A Roundtable with Dr. Cornel West which was moderated by the org’s Advocacy & Education Manager Sarah Hall; this roundtable included folks from the scene, including Ray Price, who is on the board of directors and heads the free Notes for Notes recording studio which gives kids interested in music a chance to explore their interests. Also involved were Pedro Carvalho, owner of the Far Out Lounge, Courtney Santana, singer and CEO of domestic violence resource Survive2Thrive, along with Sharon Mays, chief of staff for Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison

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Live MusicReviewRobert Dean

SXSW Ramble: From Ben Nichols to The Spits to a neighborhood block party to Tear Dungeon and Fugitive

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Some people hate SXSW. But just the same, another contingency finds magic within the chaos. The festival is draining; it takes a lot out of the festival goer, the musicians, and the service industry staff slinging the tacos, cleaning up the puke, and loading up the plastic cups full of whatever poison gets the job done. Standing late Sunday night at Empire Control Room at the crossroads of that perfect place of drunk and happy, I consistently remain in the latter regarding where SXSW lives within my heart. 

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Texas Table a Fesat for a Cause 2024
PreviewRobert Dean

Event preview: Joi Chevalier runs Cook’s Nook chef designed food security program with same love she has for music

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Culture is huge in Austin. It’s the backbone of what we do as a community at large. As the city grows and changes, some things that make the city uniquely “Austin” shouldn’t ever be taken for granted – which is why supporting local events like “Texas Table: A Feast for A Cause” on February 27 is essential.  

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InterviewsRobert Dean

Austin artist profile: Filmmaker Issac French Embraces his Dark Half

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while the city’s musical history is alive and well due to the musicians holding down the kitchens or wrenching on your car. But when you hit Red River Street for a night of service industry mayhem, one of the best bartenders in town has a pedigree that few others have in the Capital City: award-winning filmmaker, Issac French. 

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