Líon Goodwin

For a sum likely less than the production budget for one art installation at Coachella, BROKE LA staged its eighth annual festival in and around the Regent Theater over the weekend, expanding to two days for the first time.

Breaking out of the gritty warehouses that hosted previous incarnations, this year organizers of the DIY affair (founded as Brokechella) partnered with Spaceland Presents, the promoters behind the Regent. Spread across four properties, the 1,100-capacity Regent, Prufrock Pizza, the Love Song Bar and a parking lot across the street, the festival was designed in a way that one could easily move among the four venues. The Prufrock was the scene of comedy sets while the parking lot across the street served as a hipster flea market of sorts. Food trucks, retail vendors and a beer garden cornered a small outdoor stage, which hosted singer-songwriters and DJs later in the evening. The tiny Love Song was often filled to capacity while simultaneously the main room of the Regent was found wanting a bigger crowd.

And the overall fare was typically all over the map. Of course, there was your usual indie-rock acts, and a couple of interesting outliers. It was refreshing to see L.A.’s spectrum of race, gender, sexuality and culture represented on stage. There was quite a bit of electronica, and sadly most of it was underwhelming, often veering into lazy bedroom DJ territory or even worse, Soundcloud rap. But 24 arduous hours of festival across two days brought some artists to the forefront.

A dozen highlights:

Holy Wars: Here’s an act that could have been at Coachella. Stadium-ready and fierce, this monster of Kat Leon and Nicholas Perez’s checks every box on a big label A&R rep’s list. Leon is a consummate performer, serpentine and sultry. She has that certain fearlessness that all great frontwomen share.
The Guidance: They’ve been called future grunge and darkwave pajama pop, but what Arizona transplant Stefan Pruitt really is is a shaman. This electro trio proved that you don’t need guitars or convention to convey the true spirit of great rock ’n’ roll.
Drac & the Swamp Rats: Every now and then a joke gets out of hand. Every now and then that out-of-hand joke becomes a hilarious horror-punk band with actual songs. The bass player is a mummy who wears a fez, nuff said.
Jen Awad: This Peruvian/Egyptian soul goddess will tell you all about how love is dead. Her eight-piece R&B outfit does well to keep up with this fashionista, who also designs her own line of women’s wear, to be worn as she kills that aforementioned love dead.
Vōx: Oh, how one fights the urge to call Sarah Winters goth. This irreverent songbird performs her vulnerable torch songs whilst under a shroud. Unsettlingly precious and ethereal, yet one fears that any moment someone will dump a bucket of blood on her and she’ll turn into “Carrie.”
The Top Shelf Brass Band: Imagine a marching band who ran away from school and became a pack of strays and you’d get the Top Shelf Brass Band. Yes, the Riverside group played spirited pop covers on shrieking horns, whispering carelessly (“Careless Whisper”) how it wasn’t me (“It Wasn’t Me”) to gangsters in their paradises (“Gangsters Paradise”). Post Jen Awad’s set there was a ruckus on the dance floor as the aforementioned stray marching band had grabbed their instruments, crossed Main Street, and invaded the dance floor for another set of sublime covers while the next act was setting up.
Low Hum: Collin Desha’s dreamy ballads sneak up on you. Wistful and airy, they build slowly until you’re in the midst of a psychedelic guitar freakout.
SAÍGO: Fresh off his residency at the Bootleg, SAÍGO’s smooth neo-soul gets better every time you see him.
Clara-Nova: Sydney Wayser’s alter ego is that icy French girl you can’t work up enough nerve to speak to. Worse yet, her songs are cool and carefree and she doesn’t know you exist.
Axel Mansoor: Mansoor’s electro-pop project is bound to disappoint his parents, who are likely insisting that he finish medical school first and forget about this music nonsense. Seeing as he’s got a couple YouTube videos well into the six figures, mom and dad have reason to be worried.
MetronOhm: You cannot help but smile whilst watching multi instrumentalist Annabelle Maginnis weave her way through her blissful, intricate pop songs.
Tillie: Too polished for her own good, Tillie could use a little dirt in her act. She’s put the work in and she’s clearly talented, but she’s not letting go.
There were myriad other reasons to stop, rest the legs and enjoy the panoply that was BROKE LA. Among them: Blushh, who plays Breeders type songs better than the actual Breeders; One High Five, a Long Beach outfit perfect for that five keg rager you’re throwing this summer; Lion Goodwin, a northern Virginia rapper who approaches hip-hop as a storyteller, which was a refreshing turn; Dana & the Wolf, the hipster-hop duo who are tailor-made for a yet-to-be-named HBO series about an au pair who sells weed; and Indigo Kid, a coffeehouse singer-songwriter from Portland who has a beautifully vulnerable voice that sings beautifully vulnerable songs, the kind that collects a lot of girl’s phone numbers. - Buzz Bands

What do you know about August Eve, Omenihu, Dana and the Wolf, Axel Mansoor, Jen Awad, Vox, Vokes, Alexander Vincent , Twinkids, Madnap, Robokid, Whereisalex, Drewsthatdude, Tek.lun, Sugar Rum Tantrum, Salt Petal, G. Smith, Lion Goodwin, Soul Bandit, King, Princess Cyberspace, Pennywild, Theguidance, Nkriot, Alexia Riner?… and I could go on. All these bands were part of Broke L.A., Los Angeles’ discovery fest, whose mission is to present you new talents before they blow up.

For its 8th year, the little fest, which is thinking bigger each year, had moved its location to The Regent Theatre, with Spaceland for new partner, and the event took over downtown LA for two days instead of one, while presenting 50 musical acts and comedians over three stages and 4 venues.

Of course it is not a coincidence if Broke L.A. is happening during a Coachella weekend, it used to be known as Brokechella until the big festival noticed and didn’t really appreciate. But Broke L.A. doesn’t want to be your local Coachella, looking at all these band names, there were certainly no superstars on Saturday, and the idea for the entire event was still pretty much homegrown and independent while the goal was to make you discover new artists and new music.

At the end, the first day at Broke L.A. was probably not too different from the titan festival, I mean by that there was a lot of diversity, and rock was completely under represented (signs of the times) as there was a large dominance of electronic, hip hop and acts combining a bit of the two, at a few exceptions of course. I managed to see about 21 musical acts on Saturday, and since I didn’t stick around past midnight for DJs, I probably left when the most intense dance party was about to kick off… what can I say, shooting DJs behind their tables is not the most exhilarating part of the show and standing up for 10 hours was exhausting enough.

There was certainly a lot to see, and electronica had a large place in the festival with G.Smith and their cathartic emotional electro-pop bouncing around a sweetness of Kate-Bush-ethereal vocals, or Dana and the Wolf, a stormy duo mixing hip hop, electronic and drama pop led by their fierce frontgirl’s strong vocals, a cinematic noir ambiance and a new take on sexual violence and predation. Vox, with a wedding dress and trapped inside her spider-virgin veil, was producing visuals evoking all kinds of metaphors, from vulnerability to rebirth and escape, around minimalist and harsh beats; she was an eerie vision and her dark electronica ended into the classic ‘Cry me a River’. Ex-drummer Alexander Vincent had his own brand of moody electro-pop filled with beats and pathos, Axel Mansoor was more on the pop side, with delicate low-key slow songs, that he sang with a soft falsetto and an occasional Mac DeMarco vibe, while Twinkids, a self-proclaimed queer pop duo, had dreamy electro-soul, with a quietude interrupted by a brief storm and a song in Japanese. Later on, Robokid brought a similar vibe, blending genre like many artists of the fest, navigating between electronic, R&B, pop, emo and hip hop with the help of a sexy partner.

Omenihu, a hip hop artist from Texas who has recently moved to LA, could become your next new favorite rapper in a few years, as his music had a Chance the Rapper-Kendrick Lamar consciousness, while Lion Goodwin brought good vibes of peace and love with an upbeat hip hop and a retro Afro hairdo.

The outdoor stage brought a more ethnic ambiance with Sugar Rum Tantrum, an accordion and an early Gogol Bordello affair with soft female vocals, but Top Shelf Brass Band brought everyone on their knees with a mix of Cuban rhythms and Blues Brothers old soul…they made an unexpected apparition inside the theater between two acts for everyone’s greatest joy.

Vokes may have been the closest thing to rock the festival had to offer, with a classic lineup of guitars, keyboard, drums and cowbells but their indie dance floors were too funky to be only qualified of rock. And since every festival must have its soul queen, I have to nominate Jenn Awad for this award, she was an amazing surprise with songs that sounded like instant classics, mixing Etta James’ soul, Elvis’ love for gospel and a powerhouse for voice with a badass heel-tapping attitude. She was the whole package in glittery tight skirt surrounded by 8 musicians and 2 back-up women on vocals, an old school act vibrating with nostalgia but done with a gut wrenching stomp and a chill on the spine.

There was also a great diversity of bands inside the small Love Song bar, adjacent to the Regent, and if I couldn’t decide whether Princess cyberspace was a singer, a DJ or a multi media hip hop/pop act, she certainly had style, while Pennywild was an inspired hip hop DJ with dancers and choreography. TheGuidance managed to surf crowd inside the small bar after a curious blend of dance pop with an existentialist conscience, and Nk-Riot was an electronic madness played by a man under a cyborg mask, as if Dark Vader was composing with Daft Punk…the day ended with DJs such as Madnap and his EDM remixes transforming the place into a nightclub, and if there were a few more DJs later on, my head was already full of sounds and images, and I left Broke L.A., the festival with one of the longest lists of performers I have ever seen and no headliners. - http://rocknycliveandrecorded.com

Representing a variety of hip-hop styles from the Northern Virginia area, SUPERNOVA SUPREMACY have been described as “The Avengers of hip hop.” Though their fellowship does not include the Hulk or Captain America, the lyricism and power of MC Blank, Donnell Taurus, and Lion Goodwin packs a serious punch.


In order to help build more buzz for the Northern Virginia hip-hop scene, the group has joined forces with other local performers to host the first NOVAFEST on Saturday, August 15, 2015. We talked with the trio about the importance of this event and their hopes for building more buy-in from the local community to support the cause.

What inspired NOVAFEST?

MC Blank: One day, we were all playing basketball at this park, and we thought about having a barbecue and performing as well, maybe doing a basketball tournament. That was the initial idea a few months ago. Now we are able to actually do it. We have really thought about the location and inviting everybody to have a good time. It’s kind of like a block party for everybody. Then we decided to have other artists come out too and turned it into an all-day festival.

One of the things that really stands out about your festival, compared to other music festivals, is how much you are stressing “no drugs, no alcohol, and no drama.” Why was that so important for this event?

Donnell Taurus: We wanted this event to be all ages. We wanted to make sure that families could come out, as well as children. Another thing is it will be held at a public park, and we don’t want to attract negative attention from certain people who like to get drunk or high. We want the festival to be a positive event and to celebrate the music with us.

novafest 3How did you come to choose Signal Hill Park in Manassas, Va. for this event?

Donnell: I actually found out the park a few years ago. I also thought about doing an event there a long time ago, but it was just an idea at first. When this idea came around again, we thought about have a stage area or buying a stage, but then it came to me that this place already has a stage built there and a pretty big one as well.

We also considered the location because a lot of our fan base is in Manassas, including friends, family, etc. It was easier for everyone to find and an easy location to use. We also filmed a music video there as well.

Has your group played any shows at other outdoor venues before?

Donnell Taurus: We performed at an event called Grottoesfest in Grottoes, Va. about two months ago. We did other mini festivals, and we have done a few house parties as well. So performing for an outdoor event will not be new to us, but it is new due to the fact we are doing it ourselves.

MC Blank: We actually performed in Ashland, Va., a few weeks ago, which is right outside of Richmond at an outdoor event. We also performed at an event called Juanapalooza in Sterling a couple years back. That was an event that was started as a fundraiser for a guy who had some heart problems. We’ve done it all throughout Central and Northern Virginia over the past few years

Who are some of the local performers you are really looking forward to be working with?novafest 2

Lion Goodwin: We have several openers for the event. There is KALMAN, FRANK STAXX, BRUCESTEP, ROESHAMBEAUX, SHIFTSPINKZ, ALEXANDER MACK, LIL ZAY, GAMEBR8KER, and KENO! I’m looking forward to every single artist because everybody brings their own tastes and their own type of sound to the table. As far as hip hop, we are trying to be as versatile as possible. The main goal is to have everybody come out there for a fun, family event and have a good time.

What do you hope this event accomplishes for the local hip-hop scene?

Lion Goodwin: We hope to make this an annual event, bring out as many people as we can, and put Manassas, or even Northern Virginia, on the map. Not many artists make it out of Northern Virginia, but also we just want to perform and have fun together as one and support each other’s music. Hopefully next year we can do the same thing with a bigger crowd and better equipment.

MC Blank: I hope this can be a stepping stone for Northern Virginia artists to come together. When it comes to hip hop, artists in NoVa really isolate themselves from each other. They don’t like working with each other, and they feel like if they help the next guy, somehow that next guy is going to go farther than them, which is a really close minded way to think. But that is how a lot of hip-hop artists around here think, and that is not how they think in every major city, like Atlanta or New York, for example.

I also hope it gets the people out here too, including the music lovers in general, to really start supporting the local acts. We really bust our ass doing this. We really don’t have a big hip hop scene here in Nova. Everybody likes it, but not many people are really invested into loving it yet. I feel if people took more time and effort to support people and share their music on social media, artists out here would really go farther and build more excitement for hip hop in NoVa.

I love the “Pass the Torch” Cypher you guys did with KALMAN and FRANK STAXX. Can your audience expect to see anything like that at NOVAFEST?

MC Blank: Maybe not fire, but probably water as the main element. But that’s a surprise, and you will have to see what we are talking about at the event.

Donnell Taurus: All the artists from the cypher are performing, but unfortunately, we probably won’t perform the song itself. However, all the artists will be out there. It’s definitely going to be an interesting situation with all these creative artists sharing the same stage.



Will you be incorporating any other “elements” into NOVAFEST?

MC Blank: We will have all the hip-hop elements, like rapping, DJing, and we are hoping to have some break dancers out there as well. We are also looking at how we can incorporate graffiti into it as well to make it even more interesting. We are hoping to have a few different surprises there.

In addition to performing as SUPERNOVA SUPREMACY, you guys also create your own tracks. Can you tell me about your latest projects individually and as a group?

Lion Goodwin: Basically, we haven’t been making any albums, EPs, or mixtapes. We have each been making singles for the summer, including a solid two or three songs, to help build the buzz for ourselves and raise awareness about hip hop in the Northern Virginia area as well. There isn’t a future project going on right now either, but we do plan to promote heavily our hit singles and keep it going.

MC Blank: We’ve been focusing on the singles and putting out something that can catch fire, whether it be on the streets, online, or even on the radio. We always keep our music pretty clean so that if we were given the opportunity to be played on a national platform where they don’t want cuss words or suggestive themes. I’ve put out two singles so far, “The Cool Kids” and “Viva Nova”, both of which I will be performing at NOVAFEST. They are both very energetic tracks.



Donnell Taurus: I’ve been working on some tracks as well. I dropped a new track recently on my Soundcloud. We are really trying to build our buzz up before we drop any new projects. We are hoping NOVAFEST can change some things for us and start something legendary. - The Dominion Collective