This is the third in a series of No Place Like Home articles in association with the record label Audio Antihero. This time around we have a tour round Salt Lake City with artist Josaleigh Pollett.
Salt Lake City is probably best known for Mormons being as it’s the global headquarters of the religion, but weather fans should note it gets 20 inches of rain per year versus 54 inches of snow. It sits in a mountain valley with the Wasatch Mountains to the east and north, and the Oquirrh (pronounced “oaker”) Mountains to the west. It’s part of the state of Utah which has spawned a diverse range of groups from the clean cut friend of dentists, The Osmonds, to Imagine Dragons. It’s also the birth place of Tony Anselmo who is the voice of Donald Duck.
Josaleigh Pollett is an artist who crafts “tender and thoughtful” songs, and through fusing digital and analogue sounds they use their emotive voice to break your heart at the same time as putting it back together with hope and empathy. Josaleigh takes us on a personal and musical tour of the place they call home.
What makes Salt Lake City a special place for music?
When a scrappy city gets nestled in the middle of a red state, with beautiful but pollution-catching mountains to the east and a drying-up lake bed filled with arsenic to the west, something magical happens with music. Maybe it’s the heavy metals in our air, but every genre has a special scene. It turns out that the angst that comes with living in a place where elected officials are at best ambivalent about your ability to live and at worst actively trying to kill your friends and your neighbors to make a quick buck is a key ingredient to building a base for a thriving musical community. It is the only scene I’ve ever been an active participant in, but it’s because it’s always felt like home to me.
I grew up in a town called Ogden, about 45 minutes north of Salt Lake City, and as soon as I could drive, I was in SLC every weekend and more for shows and friends. It felt welcoming to me as a confused queer kid with a guitar and feels even more welcoming to me now as a confused queer adult reaching for community in every direction. I think right now is the most special it has ever felt to me, and it has everything to do with the people here who refuse to give up on it – it feels celebratory and connected, especially in the DIY spaces. There is so much talent and heart here. I love Salt Lake City.
And who should we be looking out for right now & why?
A few local favorites right now I just can’t quit:
- Hoofless– heavy, moody, chamber post-rock that has yet to fail in bringing me to my knees when I see them live.
- Lollzing – Lauren’s solo project put out this album, Sacred Geometry, last year that I really can’t get enough of. The things she does with textures and negative space with synths and her incredible voice – ugh, I could scream about this album from the rooftop. I feel so lucky to be in a scene with this project. Her other band Strog is also going to take over the world.
- Every time I think about moving away from Salt Lake, I think about the young musicians who are just getting started and already releasing the most unreal shit and I feel a desperate need to stay and experience what they sound like as they continue to release music. Nicole Canaan is one of those – their voice and lyricism feel like archaeologists brought it up from an undiscovered shipwreck on another planet.
Aside from the bands, who are some of the local heroes working to keep music thriving in Salt Lake City?
I love this question because we currently have a holy trinity of show promoters / bookers that are focusing on making our scene accessible, safe, diverse, and sonically INCREDIBLE. All three of them bring incredible touring acts through and focus on building up our local scene of youngsters and old heads alike:
- Hypha Productions: Halee Jean (also of Hoofless) runs this small production organization that puts on grassroots DIY shows in memorable spaces with incredible sound, lighting, and vibes. They just put on a local fest that I was absolutely privileged to be able to play that was two days of pure local band bliss. I’m still buzzing. We’re so lucky that Hypha is around.
- Yardwork Presents is similar to Hypha in that they put together intimate shows in a variety of spaces – run by local and international ambient guitar genius Chaz Prymek with a focus on more ambient, orchestral, acoustic, and folky acts.
- For our thriving hardcore scene, Joz Presents is run by local hardcore sweetie pie angel Joz Pust. She focuses on all-ages events, and I’ve never met anyone that cares more about the well-being of the people around her while being brought on stage to sing along.
Please pick around 10 songs from/about the city for a playlist, along with a few words about each choice.
Hoofless – Get In – This song is for painful yet beautiful memory montages. Everyone in this band is so fucking good I want to SCREAM.
Lollzing – Warm Dark – “everybody writes the same song – it’s the same one” is what this song’s lyrics croon in Lauren’s haunting and warm annunciation, but the thing is, is that this song is not the same song, it is better than any other song ever.
Nicole Canaan – Deer – Nicole Canaan’s voice could melt the rest of the ice caps, please keep them away from there.
Strog – Burnished – I recently caught Strog playing a show and the guy next to me leaned over and said “I could listen to them sing the phone book,” and they were 100% correct. This band is a huge two-piece that I need more music from ASAP. WATCH THIS SPACE!
it foot, it ears – jump rope – it’s wild that this band isn’t worshipped by college kids all over the world – their use of space and personality plus their technical chops makes for the most incredible listening experience. Absolute LEGENDS in this city.
Tomper – Magnet – THESE SWEETIE PIES. I don’t know how you can’t be happy while listening to Tomper.
Baby Ghosts – Hey You – Baby Ghosts are one of my most favorite bands to see live. They bring so much energy to everything they touch. You can tell they are friends, and when people in a band are so obviously friends, it makes me WEEP WITH JOY and love the music even more.
Nadezhda – Parasite – A relatively new band on the scene that has staying power and face-melting riffs. Brighton Ballard is a beast on vocals.
Molotov Dress – White Tile (Live) – This band is a goddamn delight. Noisy and silly and SO SO GOOD. Seeing them live a few times in the last month has been one of the highlights of my season.
Love, Audrey – Spiders – This band is doing it all themselves – recording at home, making friends, crafting the perfect homemade CD case. Some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I love this song.
Thanks to the amazing Jamie Halliday at the Audio Antihero label for arranging this series of No Place Home.
See also The Noisy and Philadelphia and Tiberius in Boston.
Header image credit: PJ Guinto
Introduction by Paul F Cook
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