2016 Hells Half Mile MUSIC FESTIVAL

The 11^th incarnation of Bay City’s Hell’s Half Mile Film and Music Festival once again is scheduled to bring many of the region’s best original music to town as part of its celebration of independently produced arts.

Spread over six locations throughout Downtown, this year’s festival brings a unique mix of modern music styles, from fresh electronic pop to pounding hard rock.

Following are profiles of some of the acts that you will see during the Festival’s September 22 – 25 run.  You can find more information at www.HHMfest.com.

Band Name: QUEEN KWONG

Website: www.QueenKwong.com or Facebook.com/QueenKwong

Hometown: Detroit by way of Los Angeles

Genre: Rock

Band Members:  Carré Callaway - Guitar & Vocals, Wes Borland – Guitar,  Elise Poirier – Bass*,  Cody Marecek – Drums*  (*guests for Bay City show)

What can people expect from your live show? Chaos.

From HHMfest.com: “Primeval. Feral. Cathartic. Just a few words to describe Queen Kwong, fronted by Carré Callaway.  Squalling guitars, throbbing basslines, and pummeling percussion serve as the bedrock on which Callaway caterwauls and writhes. Their shows are incendiary and fueled by a volcanic eruption of demons, like a tent show revival doubling as a communal exorcism. Think the Stooges fronted by early era PJ Harvey. Originally from L.A. and discovered in her teens by Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor, Callaway recently relocated to Detroit, bringing her ferocious brand of anarchistic rock with her.”

Band Name: Siamese

Website: https://siamesedetroit.bandcamp.com/

Hometown: Detroit

Genre: A blend of New Wave and Post Punk with Industrial elements

Band Members (instruments): Jo Champagne - Vocals /Synths, Steve Thoel  - Guitar/ Synths, Angie Kaiser -Drums, Joe Sausser - Bass

What can people expect from your live show?  Catharsis.

From HHMFest.com: “Siamese hail from a world of perpetual twilight.  They conjure an atmosphere pregnant with a paranoid dread, then build it cinematically with basslines and percussion that emanate from an abyss and sprawl out. Their evocative sound is pure dark wave, a seductive mélange of synth pop and post-punk’s serrated edge. By turns sinister and vulnerable, this quartet’s slithering movements are intoxicating.”

Band Name: Boudoir Noir

Website: www.boudoirmusic.com

Hometown: Flint

Genre: Dark, Cabaret Pop

Band Members: Maria Rose - Vocals/Guitar, Ben Schlatter – Drums, Graham Rockwood - Bass

What can people expect from your live show?  Our live shows are an elegant, electronic, urban cabaret. We create sultry, beat based music that entices you to relax, open up and create your own inner boudoir noir; an intimate space where you dance with your dreams and fantasies can be realized.

From HHMFest.com: “With an aesthetic steeped in the seedy sultriness of Prohibition-era speakeasies, Boudoir Noir are as theatrical as they are mesmerizing.  Self-styled as “dark cabaret pop,” their anachronistic motifs are sensual and simmering, with lead singer Maria Rose serving as a chanteuse-like guide beckoning you into their burlesque domain.”

Band Name:  RareWolf

Website: www.soundcloud.com/rarewolfmusic & www.facebook.com/rarewolfmusic

Hometown: Pontiac, Sterling Heights, Ferndale

Genre: Synth Pop

Band Members: Lauren Long - vocals. Brian Loch - Maschine Pad, electronic drums.  Joe Garofalo - Synth Keyboard

What can people expect from your show?  A high energy, in your face party with with ooey gooey, sticky Synth beats and powerhouse pop vocals that will make you want to kiss the person standing next to you.

From HHMfest.com:  The trio crafts layers of evocative textures, gloopy beats, and infectious melodies. Centering it all, and setting it apart from their electro pop peers, are Lauren M. Long’s vocals. Not the twee voice typically associated with the genre, hers is a vibrating contralto with a jazzy, R&B flavor reminiscent of Amy Winehouse or Paloma Faith, which beautifully contrasts with the sugary strains.”

Band Name:  The Satin Peaches

Website:  http://thesatinpeaches.bandcamp.com/

Hometown:  Flint

Genre: Rock and Roll and Rock

Band Members:  George Morris – Vocals /Guitar, Jesse Shepherd-Bates – Vocals /Guitar,  Ryan Wiese – Vocals /Guitar,  Aaron Nelson- Vocals / Bass Guitar, Jeremy Smith- Drums

What can people expect from your live show?  Rock.  And roll.  And more rock.

From HHMfest.com: “Playing only their second show since reuniting in 2016 after a long hiatus, The Satin Peaches are Michigan indie rock royalty. They channel the heaviness of Soundgarden when it’s called for, then sideswipe it with instantly catchy Beatlesque melodies and a songwriter’s subtlety. Featuring the alternating and harmonizing vocals of George Morris (now of his namesake’s Gypsy Chorus) and Jesse Shepherd-Bates (now in the HandGrenades), their arsenal for varied songcraft is nearly unmatched. (Sidenote: The band formed around the members’ affinity for Saginaw Bay marlin hunting.)”

The Schedule • HHM Musical Performance Schedule

Artist                Day                              Location

RareWolf          Thursday, Sept. 22        Old City Hall • Starts at 9 PM

Boudoir Noir     Thursday, Sept. 22        Old City Hall

The Sunburns    Friday, Sept. 23                        Empire Room Banquet Hall • Starts at 8 PM

Siamese           Friday, Sept. 23                        Empire Room Banquet Hall

Norty                Friday, Sept. 23                        Empire Room Banquet Hall

The Erers          Friday, Sept. 23                        Empire Room Banquet Hall

________________________________________

Satin Peaches   Saturday, Sept. 24        Masonic Temple Blue Room • Starts at 8 PM

Queen Kwong   Saturday, Sept. 24        Masonic Temple Blue Room

Electric  Six      Saturday, Sept. 24        Masonic Temple Blue Room

LXL                 Saturday, Sept. 24        Intermission Deli  (Call for Start Time)

DAYTIME SLOTS                

Barbarossa Brothers      3:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 23        Electric Kitsch

Phil Roth                       5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23              Electric Kitsch

In the Whale                  3:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 24    Electric Kitsch / Masonic outside

Martin McNeil Trinity      5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24          Jake's Corner Lounge