This year’s SubZERO Festival boasts a lineup of top local and national talent.  From veteran punk rockers, Talky Tina, to acoustic warrior and hometown hero Brother Grand. The festival’s organizers even snagged the avant-punk duo and Sub Pop Records artist No Age. Here is our list of can’t-miss music at this year’s festival.

Eyes On The Shore: 7:15pm | Anno Domini Stage (Fri)
Just before their performance at Live 105’s sold-out BFD, Eyes On The Shore will be playing the Anno Domini stage on friday night. This four-piece indie rock outfit is local to San Francisco, formed from members of the band Ambiance Antrom Kury and Kayhan Golkar, who have been writing together for more than a decade. Joined by vocalist Cory Tauber and drummer Kyle Albery last year, the band put out their debut album A Golden Blue, which features dramatic drum and bass lines accompanied by melodic surf guitar rhythms to create a sound that reflects the band’s variety of influences, from ‘60s surf rock to blues to post-modern bands like Radiohead and Sigur Ros.

Rin Tin Tiger: 8:30pm | Anno Domini Stage (Fri)
Rin Tin Tiger, an alternative folk rock trio from San Francisco (with some members originally hailing from San Jose). This group carries the high-energy, lyric-heavy, acoustic guitar-lead sounds of modern folk music, while still aiming to retain a contemporary feel. Rin Tin Tiger pulls influences from a plethora of genres—anything from Bob Dylan to Morrisey to Tupac. Their new single, “Small Cuts That Bleed A Lot,” is full of introspective lyrics and a killer harmonica hook.

Picture Atlantic: 10:30pm | The People’s Park Stage (Fri)
Another pre-BFD performance by San Jose based Picture Atlantic will be headlining the People’s Park Stage Friday. Hailed by The Owl Mag as “an exquisite mix of thrilling, boppy synth highs, and dark, heavy bass lows,” the band’s 2012 album strives to push musical boundaries and create sounds that have both ingenuity and longevity. They have developed a bit of a cult following in the South Bay and have played alongside the likes of Coldplay, The English Beat, STYX, Say Anything, Eisley, and Dan Black.

Brother Grand: 9:30pm | The Secret Garden Stage
Psychedelic-folk rock duo Brother Grand will grab audiences with an engaging live performance Friday at the Secret Garden Stage. Each song, be it stripped down to a banjo and upright bass or screaming into a wall of electric sound, highlights the band’s passion and dynamic stage presence. Combining live loopings, chaotic string melodies, thunderous drums, and yes, even a rhodes piano, Brother Grand is mixing the best of folk, psychedelic, and “film-score soul,” proving they can push boundaries without completely breaking ties with their musical roots.

Scissors for Lefty: 7:15pm | Anno Domini Stage
Heading off Saturday’s set at the Anno Domini stage is SF-based Scissors for Lefty. Brothers James and Peter Krimmel started the band with Bryan Garza while attending college in San Luis Obispo. Garza’s energetic vocals lend an air of Brit-pop pretension to the band’s dance-punk vibe, standing tall among contemporaries like Arctic Monkeys and Panic! at the Disco. With their debut album Bruno turning 10 this year, Scissors for Lefty is an indie art pop band that still retains a high-energy dance pop feel and a sense of humor.

No Age: 9:45pm | Anno Domini Stage
Performing at 9:45pm Saturday at the Anno Domini stage is the LA-based punk duo No Age. No Age has the experimental qualities of more avant-garde noise pop while still remaining fundamentally punk rock. On their 2013 album An Object, produced by Sub Pop records, guitarist Randy Randall and drummer Dean Spunt turn their carefully cultivated dream-punk sound on its head with melodies that are more emotional than they are technically perfect and drums that combine traditional lumber and steel with experimental sounds of contact mics and electric bass. Cut, packaged, and labeled by Spunt and Randall themselves, An Object is protest music to the core.

Talky Tina: 8:15pm | The Secret Garden Stage
Coming to the Secret Garden Stage on saturday is Talky Tina, a local band that boasts a Metro alum as one of its own. Started by former members of another San Jose band Odd Numbers in 2009, Talky Tina modernizes classic elements of punk and power pop. Talky Tina’s sophomore album Just a Little Broken has made them a staple of the reemerging San Jose punk scene.

There will also be a multitude of great art and crafts on display at SubZERO. Here are just a few that we’re excited about:

Black & Brown
SubZERO wouldn’t be complete without fashion. Come to the Black & Brown booth—one of the best vintage clothing shops in the South Bay—and check out their expertly cultivated collection of vintage wear.

SLG Publishing + APE-POP
This locally based comic books shop is about much more than super heroes. At SLG, you can find plenty of gritty, punchy and humorous 2D characters as well. Since 1986, Slave Labor Graphics Publishing has been at the cutting edge of independent comic book and graphic novel publishing. It is perhaps most notable for its dark and strange sense of humor. SLG will bring back the Alternative Press Expo, a showcase of non-mainstream artworks. Come and pick up some original comics from the Bay underground artists.

Spectrum Glass Art & Works/San Jose
The Glass Art Society’s 44th annual International Glass Conference is overlapping with this year’s SubZERO Festival. Check out SPECTRUM at Anno Domini and Enlightened Glass at Works/San Jose. Both exhibits aim to change the way you think about glass artwork. Much more than just decor, the pieces in these exhibits tell stories, express emotions and contemplate philosophy.

Current Tattooing
Current Tattooing will be displaying some of the best work they’ve done on that most precious of all canvases—the human body. Whether you’re completely inked, are considering taking the plunge, or just appreciate the artwork, stop by the Current Tattooing booth.

For more information on SubZERO, click here.

LIVE 105 has been on the forefront of the EDM movement for years, promoting it even back when it was still a niche genre. In recent years at the BDF festival, the Subsonic Tent—an extension of Aaron Axelsen’s electronic music show—has become a bigger part of the festival, encompassing a bulk of the festival’s more interesting bookings.

In fact, even on the other stages this year, the strongest bands were the ones who stylistically could just as easily fit on the Subsonic Tent. Below are some of the highlights from this year:

Capital Cities
By far the strongest act to play the Festival Stage this year. Capital Cities, a new duo from LA, brought disco-infused synth-pop beats to BFD with a live guitarist, bassist and a trumpet player. Two vocalists, one tall with a mustache and the other short with a bushy beard, both equally shared vocal duties with a fun, somewhat goofy stage presence.

Midway through their set they taught the audience the “Capital Cities Shuffle,” which was simple enough for anyone to execute. They played a bizarre, slow-downed rendition of the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” and an upbeat dance-version of Sinead O’Conner’s Prince-penned “Nothing Compares 2 U.” They closed with their buzz single, “Safe and Sound,” a catchy dance-pop song.

PHOTOS: Check out the Metroactive photo gallery.

Wallpaper
It’s incredible the attention Wallpaper have been getting the past year considering that it’s basically an ironic pop act with elements of R&B, hip-hop, all done through a weird performance-art lens. But now it seems the ridiculous character known as Ricky Reed is becoming an actual pop star. What has been their biggest selling point is how strong of a performer Reed is and his ability to engage the audience and get them moving, but the entire band has become a theatrical spectacle.

At the Subsonic Tent, where they played this year, their three drummers pulled out some amazing synchronized moves, including the final breakdown of “Fucking Best Song Everrr” when the drummers stood up, shook the audience’s hands and returned to their kits at the same moment and jumped back in on the beat. They are one of the best live acts going right now.

Passion Pit
LIVE 105 couldn’t have booked a better main stage headliner this year. Passion Pit have really blown up this past year with the success of their brilliant sophomore release, Gossamer, which infuses synth-pop with elements of indie rock. At BFD, they played cuts from their debut, but the highlights were the tracks from Gossamer, including “Carried Away,” “It’s not my fault, I’m Happy,” “Cry Like a Ghost” and the breakout single “Take a Walk.” The evening was particularly special for Passion Pit as lead singer Michael Angelakos celebrated his 26th birthday.

DJ Shadow
DJ Shadow’s set at BFD featured obscure and often brand new tracks that he continued to assure the audience they’d probably never heard before. It was a strange, mind-melting juxtaposation of songs, mixed and blended by the iconic Bay Area producer. Every once and a while he’d lower the music and make a comment, like, “Just to let you know, there’s no laptop on stage with me” or “If you’re confused about what’s going on, look at your neighbor and do what they’re doing.” Some of the beats we danceable, others were just weird, slow trance beats, while others were loud, bass-filled outer space soundscapes. He cut songs together so fast, and with so much skill, it was hard to do anything but stare, amazed.

San Jose
This was the year for San Jose at BFD. There were more bands from the South Bay to play BFD than probably any year before with four bands on the Soundcheck Stage and the Limousines on the Subsonic Stage. Over on the Soundcheck stage, the Trims, Anya and the Getdown and Picture Atlantic all played excellent sets, but it was a particular pleasure watching Curious Quail’s set. Their music probably least resembles LIVE 105’s format of all the local bands, but they fought hard to get there with an online vote.

Their excitement of being on stage at Shoreline was palatable, understandably so. Over at Subsonic, the Limousines put on an intense, mostly serious set that, with the exception of two songs, were all tracks off their new album, Hush.

It’s official. South Bay locals Curious Quail have won the last remaining spot on Live 105’s Soundcheck local band stage at BFD 2013. They will share the stage with nine other bay area bands, three of which are also from the South Bay—Picture Atlantic, Anya and the Getdown, and the Trims. Not only did Curious Quail win, but they did so by a sizable margin, earning a whopping 39% of the vote, with twenty bands total in the running.

“We’ve been working really hard as a band to get our name out there; the community support we got was tremendous. Being in a local band working your way up, you have this series of milestones of people taking you seriously. For a while it was the iTunes factor, then it was Spotify, or Pandora. Well, you namedrop Shoreline Amphitheatre as someplace you played and then that person you’ve known for ten years that knows you’re in a band might actually go and listen to your music and enjoy what you’re doing,” says Mike Shirley-Donnelly, lead singer and guitarist for Curious Quail.

Even though every member of Curious Quail worked hard to encourage people to vote for them, their friends and fans it seemed, were excited to help out. Even Dogcatcher, who were also in the running, told their fans to vote for Curious Quail.

“We threw up a few posts on twitter, Facebook and instagram and like everyone shared them. Everyone! It just kept going. One of the pictures had over 60 shares on Facebook and the Facebook “insights” said “11,000 people saw this post”. That’s insanity,” Says Shirley-Donnelly.

The fact that nearly half of the bands playing BFD’s local band stage this year are from the South Bay reflects well on the scene here, especially considering the degree that the rest of the bay area has long since written off any band that hails from San Jose.

“The South Bay has always felt like the bastard child of the bay area when it comes to the music scene, and rightfully so: our 2000’s era metal/hardcore scene that thrived was not something to be proud of. I should know, I was a part of it. Having so many south bay bands not only on the bill already for the local stage, but also in the contest was encouraging. It’s showing that we as a community down here are actually doing something of note,” says Shirley Donnelly

Another South Bay band could be joining locals, Picture Atlantic, Anya and the Getdown and the Trims on the Soundcheck Local Band Stage at BFD this May.

Live 105 has opened up one additional slot, and the San Francisco radio station is letting its listeners vote on who it should fill it. There are 19 bands in the running and six are from the South Bay: 1989 (from Gilroy), Dogcatcher (from Mountain View) and San Jose bands All City Elite, Conversions, Curious Quail and Sweet HayaH.

Voting continues until 3pm on May 3. The winning band will be announced on air at 7pm on May 5th. Visit the voting page for more info.

More info on BFD 2013.

PHOTOS: Images from BFD 2012

Local’s Picture Atlantic’s latest music video “Twist,” released earlier this week is one of the band’s most aggressive, dissonant songs today.  While the rest of the band’s latest album Digital Tension isn’t nearly as abrasive, it shows some changes in songwriting, not to mention, it showcases the group with one less guitar. We spoke with lead singer Nikolaus Bartunek about the video, the new album and their upcoming tour.

Your newest album “Digital Tension” sounds different than you prior releases, in that the vocal hooks are a little more subtle and the tone of the music is darker. Can you tell me a little about what factors influenced this change of songwriting?

I really can’t speak to that, simply for the reason that I think a lot of the changes happened without intention for a specific sound or vibe. Sometimes thinking too hard on what our sound will be frightens me too much. Sometimes thinking too hard takes the magic out of things. Sort of like closing your eyes on a roller coaster and just letting it happen. Every time we get into the studio, things seem to always come out at the end in a much different manner than the music before it.

Your new single “Twist” is the most aggressive, dissonant song I’ve heard of yours, including the remaining songs from Digital Tension. I’m curious to learn more about what motivated this song and why you chose this song to be your single?

I guess I must have had some inclinations for an angrier, crazier sound when I was writing those songs. The sound fit the lyrics, and the lyrics fit the sound. The motivation almost didn’t exist. I really liked the music a lot, and I wrote it in under 15 minutes on my couch one day.

If anything could be said specifically about the song though, I am certain it developed out of my love for the band Ceremony. I wanted to write something that had the same dissonance and angry aesthetic. But again, it took me barely any real focus to write it—sort of a “zen” song in that regard. As for it being our single, I don’t think we’ve really focused on it so much as a single, but it just happened to be a really easy song to film a music video for. It’s so short; just pure coincidence really. And besides, when do you normally see four guys in suits playing a song like that?

The cover for Digital Tension has a lot going on, particularly some political commentary on the state of America’s consumerist culture. Would you say this is a more political album compared to what has tended to be more personal songwriting in the past?

That was purely the work of our friend and partner in crime Mikey Montoya. He is an artist/tattoo artist who is an insanely good friend of ours, and he helped us out immensely with the album. When we were sitting around doing the art, he made this goofy collage image of Obama dressed as a cop giving the middle finger. The image was so outrageous that I told him he had to use it. It would be a crime not to. The rest of the cover fell into place around that.

Digital Tension, is less political and more social in its commentary, as a lot of the cover portrays. My politics aren’t blue or red. It isn’t any color for that matter. But my thoughts on our social culture in this country is definitely well defined. For the months where we wrote and recorded the album, I had all these ideas and concepts clashing and melding into each other in my mind. A lot of how I felt personally translated well into my thoughts about our society and culture. Not the most original or striking concept for a music album at this point in the history of rock, but it was an honest one.

Picture Atlantic, for the longest time, was a five-piece band. How has becoming a four-piece band altered your sound and songwriting dynamic? The biggest different I notice is the obvious lack of lush guitar-interplay, which was always one of your signature traits.

Being a four piece is the best thing that has ever happened to us musically. Having two guitars was nice to create a tapestry of sound, but at many times it just got tired, and expected to me. It was also damn hard to reign in two guitars. Someone had to play second fiddle to the other guitarist in many cases, or risk the “wank” factor. Some practices were living hell—like being in Guitar Center on a Saturday afternoon. Having the band downsize was really a huge hidden blessing. We had to learn that less is more; it took us years to see that. With four people, everyone does what they want and we rarely step on each other’s toes.

You are embarking on a West Coast tour with Dogcatcher. How successful have you been at building an audience outside of the bay area, and how have you done it? Also I’m curious to know why you are touring with Dogcatcher, who are a noticeably different band stylistically.

Building our name outside the Bay Area hasn’t been easy. Yet, I am still surprised at the places we find our fans popping up. It’s not that hard to do in this digital age, but it still astounds me sometimes that someone far away cares about what we do. The main thing we have followed in that approach to spreading our name is simply to stay out and about if we can, and as best we can.

Touring with Dogcatcher may seem like a really odd choice from the outside, and I don’t blame people for thinking that. It all comes down to two things: They are an amazing band in all regards. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t want to tour with them. The second reason is they are very good friends of ours and we love them a lot. Working with people you are close with is more valuable than gold.

Tour Dates w/ Dogcatcher:
02.07 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill w/ Cash Pony
02.08 Fresno, CA @ Kuppajoe w/ Sea of Sound and Indian School Rock
02.09 Davis, CA @ The Turtle House
02.15 Newark, CA @ Love at First Slice w/ Girl Named T
02.23 Hollywood, CA @ AMYPLYFi w/ Summer Leagues and Cat Who Will Eat Planets

Red Rock Studios in Mountain View may have not been known to most people in the South Bay music scene, yet it was an important part of it. It was the practice place and frequent recording spot for Picture Atlantic and Dogcatcher before it closed this month. Several other Bay Area bands also recorded there, including Rin Tin Tiger, East of Western and Coast Jumper.

Michael Toy started the studio in his basement 14 years ago as a place he could practice playing bass and for his Sunday morning church band to rehearse and eventually record their sessions. Through the years he accommodated other artists and bands simply for the love of music, not to make money.

He moved to the current location in Mountain View in 2008, where he paid the bills by sometimes doing voice-over work for corporate videos, but he donated studio time to bands, churches and nonprofits whenever possible. During the last few years, his church Highway Community helped pay the bills to keep the vision alive. In the end, the landlord sold the property to Intuit, who will be using it as office space.

“We just wanted to publicly thank Michael Toy for his vision and generosity with his gear, as well as the great people of the Highway Community who caught the vision and paid the rent for the last few years,” Dogcatcher posted on their Facebook page. “The history of our band would be vastly poorer without this wonderful resource available to us, and we will miss it greatly.”

On Thursday, November 1, Dogcatcher, Picture Atlantic, members of Highway Community church and friends of the studio gathered one last time to bid the studio farewell. It was an emotional experience for everyone. Toy even wrote a farewell poem on the wall at the tail end of the party. Ryan Blair from Picture Atlantic tweeted about it that night.

“We recorded an EP here, tracked tons of demos and rehearsed our choreographed stage moves for countless hours in this place. Sad to see it go. Our hearts go out to you, Red Rock,” Blair wrote.

Picture Atlantic’s second full-length album, Digital Tension, marks a huge stylistic shift for the San Jose-based band.

Starting with the band’s debut EP Change is Welcome in 2006, a six-song collection of alternative pop songs, Picture Atlantic has grown and matured through lineup changes. Today, the band features Nikolaus Bartunek on vocals, Ryan Blair on bass, Brian Graves on keys and new drummer Daniel Hernandez Martinez.

Digital Tension is playfully self-described as “witpop,” but many of the songs on the album feature a darker sound than the band’s previous releases. You can feel the weight of the digital age with the band as it moves forward in an uncertain future . “Halogen Nights,” the fourth track, sets the tone of this weight as people today “fall for the panic as the news heads shout and blare of an old Iron Curtain and a terrorism scare”.

The overall album sound is completely unique in comparison to Picture Atlantic’s past work. It’s covered with synths—present before but with less dominance—and heavy-laden bass solos followed abruptly by bursts of noise rock. This is most apparent on tracks like “Twist” and “Oathbreaker.”

“White Knight” features a haunting but memorable bass line while Bartunek tries to find balance between the admiration of the “white knight” but also not disregarding one’s “black night deeds.”

Bartunek, especially in the middle of tracks “Don’t Be Cheap” and “5:50 Hurts,” hits the high notes with control, a signature to each of Picture Atlantic’s releases.

Digital Tension is out now on Bandcamp . The CD Release Party is at Bottom of the Hill July 14, with Cold Eskimo, Dogcatcher, and Please Do Not Fight.

Please Do Not Fight is currently based in San Francisco, but the South Bay has always been their second home. The band was created in Redwood City and it has strong ties to the South Bay with allies Picture Atlantic and Dogcatcher, who join PDNF for their final show on July 14.

Last year, they teamed up with Picture Atlantic to co-hosting the bi-monthly Rock Hop series at the Art Boutiki, which has proven to be quite successful as far as independent shows in San Jose go. Now, after several years and countless lineup changes, Zen Zenith, has decided to put Please Do Not Fight to bed. We asked him about his decision and what plans he had for the future.

Last year when I interviewed you, it seemed like things were really moving forward with Please do not fight. I’m surprised that you are now calling it quits. What happened?

Well, it was my decision to move on. Things had sort of started to become routine. Kyle, Chris and Geoff all had other bands and I saw them all get very excited for those projects. At the same time, it felt like we weren’t feeling that energy for Please Do Not Fight anymore. I’m certainly not in this business to make any money so if things aren’t fun and they’re not scratching that creative itch any more then maybe it’s time to move on. It had been brewing for a while and it just reached a point where I was finally able to make the jump.

What are your plans with music now?

We have our big final show on July 14 at Bottom Of The Hill and then I’m jumping right into a new musical project. We’re trying to take it slow though and not plaster it all over the Internet until it’s ready. That was one mistake we always made with Please Do Not Fight—putting the gander before the goose, so to speak. I was spending way too much time in front of a computer making flyers, designing websites, running our Facebook and not making music. That’s something I hope to break away from with this next project. I can say this—the new project is very ambitious and will feature a lot of familiar faces from the history of PDNF.

How does PDNF breaking up affect the Rock Hop music series you guys were doing with Picture Atlantic?

That is a great question. Right now, it seems like it will definitely continue. I’m as passionate about throwing events and supporting bands I believe in as ever. The Rock Hop will be taking a short hiatus but it will definitely continue, without a doubt. I love working with the Art Boutiki and Bottom Of The Hill and couldn’t be happier with how the events have been turning out.

Aren’t you the only original member of PDNF? Doesn’t that really mean that you are the band? I wonder why you didn’t just keep the name, if it’s already mutated so much since the beginning anyway?

Well, Erin recently rejoined the band and she was an original founding member but that’s a valid point. Honestly, the fact is I want to go in a new direction creatively and want the new musical project internally to work differently as well. I debated keeping the name and simply throwing the whole thing in a new direction but it felt like time for a clean slate.

Whether everyone else thinks this way or not, to me PDNF has a certain sound I associate it with and whether I mean to or not when I write for Please Do Not Fight I’m very much writing for the band. I wanted to break free of that and allow everyone involved in the new project to be as creative as possible and not feel constrained by the typical guitar/bass/drums/keys format.

Any special plans for your final show?

We’re basically going to be playing a combo of fan favorites mixed in with some tracks from our first LP for old times sake! This isn’t related to the show, per say, but we also just released our final song on BandCamp for free – it was recorded at PopSmear records and we’re really proud of how it turned out. I feel like it’s a great send-off!

Please Do Not Fight will play their final show July 14 at the Bottom of the Hill at 9pm with South Bay groups Picture Atlantic and Dogcatcher. Tickets are $10.