UNDER THE RUG and BASIC PRINTER kicked off their Fall 2024 tour on August 29th at Valley Bar in Phoenix, AZ with an intimate, but energetic night of pushing against the grain of normalcy. Coming together from Austin, TX and Nashville, TN respectively, UNDER THE RUG and BASIC PRINTER are a touring match from heaven with their musical quirks complimenting each other incredibly while both being distinctly unique in their own ways.
Starting out the evening, BASIC PRINTER opened up with JESSE GILLENWALTERS on guitar\vocals, MICK KHOURY on keys, and AARON WALTERS on drums. Usually a one man show in the studio, GILLENWALTERS has his longtime friends tag along for his live performances creating a familiar but enjoyably unique version of tracks that I’ve become familiar with from his releases.
Self-described as “The world’s only ‘Gloitchpop’ artist,” one unfamiliar with GILLENWALTERS’ music might ask their friends going into the show “what the heck is ‘Gloitchpop’, even?” But, by the time the trio was wrapping up, it just “seemed to make sense” according to a crowd member sharing with their friend before, and then in between sets.
In an attempt to put it into words, it sounds like running pieces from Andy Warhol through a pixel shifter to create a recognizable, but heavily distorted version of traditional and recognizable pop art. It truly is a vibe all its own, and while some instances of self-coined genres can feel questionable on if it was truly needed to be defined as separate from an existing genre, “Gloitchpop” really does just seem to describe BASIC PRINTER’s sound in a way that no other descriptor does.
GILLENWALTERS played through his setlist jam-packed with tons of favorites for his fans in the room, as well as the live premiere of his newest release, “I Don't Know What I Want,” a song that was written while on a break from his last relationship. Priding himself on authenticity, all of his songs are highly personal and unfiltered–in fact the name BASIC PRINTER itself comes from the idea of “merely producing what’s always been inside my head. Press print, get what you’re looking for.”
It also absolutely has to be taken note that while most bands somehow miss the most obvious pun opportunities for their merch and tour branding, BASIC PRINTER did NOT misunderstand the assignment, and passed with flying Skibidi Rizz by opting to brand this as their “Basic PrinTOUR.” Perfection. Good Soup. He also sells plushies of himself that doubles as safety padding for their drum kit while it’s all loaded into his car. Anyway, moving on.
Taking stage next was headliner UNDER THE RUG made up of CASEY DAYAN and SEAN CAMPBELL both on guitars and vocals, BRAD WILLIAMSON on bass and vocals, Brendan McQueeney on drums and, you guessed it, vocals! With COLIN MOSER taking reign on keys, but no vocals–in a shocking turn of events.
Opening the night, DAYAN stated that the first night of a tour is always a little extra special becuase it’s her opportunity to experiment a little bit more to see what the band would like to do for the rest of the tour, making an already intimate performance in Valley Bar’s 250 capacity venue feel that much more exciting.
Much like BASIC PRINTER, UNDER THE RUG doesn’t seem to take kindly to being told there are rules to follow when being creative. With songs abruptly stopping to fill the room with a deafening silence for extended stretches before exploding back in without missing a beat, it was truly a night of encouraging everybody in the room to make their own rules and just have fun with it.
That is not to say that it was all extremely lighthearted, though, with things getting somber as DAYAN spoke of her mother, who she wished had an opportunity to see her perform. Then, not much later into the set, verified that the venue was 21+ before briefly recounting an extremely personal story of sexual assault to lead in the next song. This was not received poorly by the audience, but the mood certainly changed. As quickly as it shifted once, though, things were quickly back to a feel-good vibe. After all, this isn’t an Emo Show, it is Indie Folk. So it can only be a little sad, just not cut my wrist and black my eyes sad.
When asked for their official touring lineup for this article, UNDER THE RUG was specific to mention RYAN COLLINS and JILL LECLAIR, their Roadie and Roadie\Driver. In a world where a lot of people in the background of productions are not properly represented, it was very refreshing to see that not only do they value these two on the same level as instrumental band members, COLLINS and LECLAIR were actually notated first on the list, showing that they truly are not just an afterthought.
Admittedly, I had no clue who UNDER THE RUG was prior to this show, I have just been following BASIC PRINTER for a few years now due to his extremely effective marketing campaign that consists of actual human interaction combined with using targeted ads in a way that actually hits the correct market. While writing this, however, I saw that their latest release “happiness is easy =)” is actually just one part of a two-part double album that will span 30 tracks with “happiness” containing the first 15. As exciting as it is to find new artists, it is doubly exciting to find ones that are consistently putting out new material to discover, and with KING GIZZARD slowing their release schedule down from the insanity that was 2022, I’ll gladly welcome a new band into my playlist rotation that already has an impressive backlog up and more on the way!
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