Joyer w/ The Pond & (latent)
Monday, December 9 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 Advance // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Joyer formed in New Jersey in 2017, and after releasing two self-recorded demo collections, they released their first studio album, Sun Into Flies, in 2020, followed by Perfect Gray in 2021. Night Songs marks a departure from their hushed slowcore beginnings and displays a more expansive sound—from blowtorched shoegaze guitars and poppier vocals to melancholy synths and pastoral lap steel. Fittingly, their detour into twistier, heavier territory coincides with the depraved nature of nighttime activities, and their foray into a more hi-fi, pop-forward direction aligns with the stark clarity that pitch-black skies provide. Their devilish distortion also functions as a cathartic foil to their quiet, real-life demeanors, and was informed by their live shows, which increasingly featured gnarlier versions of past Joyer songs. The more Joyer traveled to new places, the more they connected with like-minded artists, and consequently, Night Songs became their most collaborative record to date—also featuring appearances from Teethe’s Boone Patrello (guitar and piano on “777”) and Kitchen’s James Keegan (synth on “Night Song”). Another friend recorded and mastered the album, Big Nice Studio’s Bradford Krieger (Horse Jumper of Love, Squirrel Flower), who they describe as a magician and worked on their two previous full-lengths, while Drop of Sun Studios’ Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Indigo De Souza) mixed the LP and was a new addition to Joyer’s sonic universe, bringing a newfound polish. The writing and recording process for Night Songs was by far the longest period they’ve spent working on a Joyer record, and its dynamic songwriting and dense textures—beaming, blinking and evaporating like the headlights of distant traffic—bear this out. The Pond is Tender slowcore melancholy. They’ve got a new album coming out sometime with the band fka Bombshell Nightlight. (latent) is a Missoula based band composed of Zack Buchholo, Nick Togliatti, and Jake Swank. These three fellers have been playing music together for nearly a decade and this band is a culmination of their endeavors to incorporate absurdity, sincerity, and high energy music into a single intense project.
WHUT? (Chicago) w/ Try Again & Pay No Mind
Sunday, November 17 // Doors at 7:30 PM // Show at 8 PM // $15 Hailing from Chicago, IL, WHUT? delivers a straightforward sonic assault! Fast, heavy, direct, & to the point, this 5 piece DIY Hardcore/Thrash/Crossover outfit pull no punches! WHUT? Is Gregory Charles – Guitar, Philly D – Drums, J. Keen – Vocals, Jerome Marshall – Guitar, and Boe Jangles – Bass. Try Again is a hardcore band that emphasizes PMA. Positive Mental Attitude permeates the lyrics and intention of their songs. Taking pages from many books, they are insistent on being heavy, innovative and invigorating. Weaving a fascinating presence and captivating sound, their acumen is refined through years of experience both of the life and stage variety. Seeing a Try Again set has been known to induce feelings of euphoria, well-founded confidence and breakneck headbanging. Pay No Mind is a skate punk band with hardcore and thrash influences consisting of former members of Stoned to Death and Super Sport (Great Falls). They have taken Missoula by storm opening for touring bands and supporting the local music scene. Two of their members are students at the U of M and have played shows on campus and supported headliner acts throughout town. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Donkey Fest ‘24: Donkey Island + Donkey Okay + (Mystery Guest)
Friday, November 22 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter More than an isolated land mass, Donkey Island is a state of mind. Founded by former members of Blessiddoom, Juveniles and the Bowie tribute band Glass Spiders, this trio of Missoula dads needed a space to unwind. Saxophone player Nathan Hoyme birthed this trio when he was finally ready to share a trove of songs for guitar which he had been secretly writing for decades. He called on power groovster Al Gooday to lay down some bass in order to electrify Nathan’s secret angsty ballads. Paul Rosen plugged in some heavy beats and brought his own secret songs which had been trying to escape his head since he was a teenager. With hints of sounds from classic Minnesota 80s Rock to alt-country and even grooves that’ll get you shaking that ass, a visit to Donkey Island is sure to quench anyone’s thirst for electric noise. Donkey Okay – With a silver moon just so, hanging low above the languid canyon walls, cacti shadow dancers stretch out across a scrub brush sea. A cricket stirs in anticipation. In the distance a desert hare thrums across the sandstone mesa: a bass note, burrowing owls chirp low: a tuning orchestra. Then comes the wind’s rising chorus, shifting sands through arroyo halls. A kind of peace, a subtle song, broken at once by the Donkey’s bray. The only thing we can say about the Mystery Guest is that they too are fueled by pure donkey power. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Sunshine Deity w/ Heavyweight & Verne
Wednesday, November 20 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Sunshine Deity is based out of Missoula, MT. The band has Connor Racicot on keys, Llwyn Clark-Gaynor on drums, Evan Nesbitt on bass, Cameron Kinney on guitar, Cade Chastain on alto sax, Sean Stineford on trombone and Jolene Green on vocals/tenor sax. The band was started by its frontwoman, Jolene, and plays her original music which is a blend of jazz, low-fi, soul, hip hop, and metal. The band members are all former or current top music students at the University of Montana and use their formal training to create a sound that is new, unique, and informed. We are Heavyweight. We are from Missoula and all students at the U. Owen Meador on Sax, Evan Nesbitt on Bass, Simon Hickey on Keys, and Danger Gersh on Drums. Our sound blends hip-hop, jazz, pop, and soul into a fun, backbeat oriented jazz. We were inspired by artists such as Nate Smith, Jamiroquai, PJ Morton, D’Angelo, Louis Cole, George Duke and so many others! Verne is a Missoula born and raised musician who loves playing saxophone, and writing original music. Their current music involves songwriting with a looper. Layering guitar, vocals, saxophone, and piano, the resulting songs are inspired by modern jazz, alternative rock, and folk music. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Missoula Collective Music Ensemble, Conducted by Naomi Moon Siegel
Monday, November 18 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $5-$25 Sliding Scale Admission Featuring the entire ensemble under conduction/direction by Siegel, these collective improvisations and compositions feature “conduction”, a jazz technique utilized to organize, expand and inspire improvisation in a large group setting. “Conduction” was created by the late Lawrence “Butch” Morris and is now used throughout the world. Siegel learned Conduction from playing in Wayne Horvitz’s ensemble for many years. The first set will be an open rehearsal, and then second set will be a performance utilizing the Conduction techniques practiced in the open rehearsal. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
INTICE Album Release Party
Wednesday, November 13 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter INTICE is a progressive metal/rock band based out of Missoula Montana. They play the original music of their front man, Cameron Kinney, who plays guitar and vocals. Cameron started the band with guitarist Justin Brantley in Great Falls and met the rest of the band members while studying with them at the UM School of Music a couple years later. Along with Cameron and Justin the band features Josh Smith on drums, Lane Ulberg on bass and Jolene Green and Cade Chastain on saxophone. The band has two albums on Spotify and just finished recording their third album. Formed in 2022, and based out of Missoula MT, wearing their influences and hearts on their sleeves, strides Turtle Tuesday. Your new favorite local band. Meeting and forged in the blazing hot fires of heartbreak, raising reptiles, and playing 20+ year old video games. This electric and exciting DIY basement/garage punk/emo/folk/whatever group is hard focused on delivering you the best possible sounding method of receiving tinnitus. They’ll have you fumbling over your words when asked by your friends as to what genre they play, before you inevitably retire the effort and answer “uhh, rock”. Featuring frontman Kage, drummer Griffin, guitarist Collin and John on bass, expect electrifying performances with tracks whose lyrics detail a splendid range of topics. From whaling about death, to finding happiness, to the woes of public transportation infrastructure. Keep an eye out for their upcoming performances and debut project on the horizon. And in the meantime, they’d love for you to swing by the Hellgate Elk’s Club on Tuesdays to play Super Smash Bros Melee for the Nintendo Gamecube. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Intice, Tephra & Wormwood Nowa
Thursday, February 13 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter INTICE is a progressive metal/rock band based out of Missoula Montana. They play the original music of their front man, Cameron Kinney, who plays guitar and vocals. Cameron started the band with guitarist Justin Brantley in Great Falls and met the rest of the band members while studying with them at the UM School of Music a couple years later. Along with Cameron and Justin the band features Josh Smith on drums, Lane Ulberg on bass and Jolene Green and Cade Chastain on saxophone. The band has two albums on Spotify and just finished recording their third album. Tephra plays slow-burning doom with a focus on atmosphere and melody. Thick guitars and brooding synths drag everything down into a heavy, hypnotic haze, with haunting female vocals floating somewhere above the wreckage. Like everything you’ve ever known, it builds, it crushes, it fades. Featuring members of Shramana, Nightwitch, and other Missoula heavy acts, Tephra makes music for an impending long, slow collapse. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Perfect Blue + Skadget + Pilots We’ve Known + Deathcare Industries
Thursday, November 14 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10-$25 Donation for Entry Perfect Blue is a genre-bending, instrumental post-rock quartet from Missoula, Montana. Their music blends elements of post-punk, psych, shoegaze, folk and black metal for an eclectic spectrum of sounds moving between somber, intricate passages to dark, heavy soundscapes. The band’s debut album, “Empress,” is now available everywhere. Skadget is a psychedelic dive into the subconscious waters of this hallucination called life. Born in the monster mindscape of Dead Ed, Skadget sat in a stew of bubbling muck for years, unable to find life. But when that seed of a thought finally made contact with Dead’s friends D.L. Johnson and Carson Smith (and Juxtabunny in the psyrealms) it was jolted to life as the hydra you see before you! Pilots We’ve Known is a post-punk/post-hardcore band from Missoula, Mt. purpose-built in early 2017 as an emotional outlet against the noises of our time. They use elaborate arrangements, angular chords and riffs and dynamic vocals to produce an emotional cacophony as the backdrop to attention-grabbing lyrics. After a three year hiatus Pilots We’ve Known are back at it with a crushing-loud vengeance. Deathcare Industries is a Missoula-based band that mixes the energy of metal with the rhymic and lyrical style of Hip Hop. They’ve been described as “New Nü metal”. They are loud, just how you like it. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Jazzoula Presents: Guitar Night
Saturday, November 16 // Door at 6 PM // Show at 6:30 PM // $25 General Admission Jazzoula Presents: Guitar Night – a very special evening featuring some of Montana’s finest guitarists including Louie Bond, Craig Hall, DR Halsell, David Horgan, Owen Thayer, & The University of Montana Guitar Trio. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Blessiddoom w/ Ceres & The New Nightmare
Friday, October 18 // Door at 7:30 PM // Show at 8 PM // $10 Advance // $15 Day of Show Blessiddoom began in the fall of 2005 on a mission to shine a light on social norms that often label people, places, and things as being unwanted or ugly in some way but hold their own inner beauty. Showcasing an oxymoron even in the name, that our doom would indeed be blessid. Having come from modest means Blessiddoom aims to be a voice for the shunned, the societal outcasts or the metal head that was always told they would grow out of it. With lyrics that can be seen as quite serious, Blessiddoom does not take themselves too seriously, ultimately just wanting to have the best parties we can while we are still here. “We don’t have a lot of time on this earth, we weren’t meant to spend it this way.” Ceres is a 5-piece metal band, based out of Missoula. Formed in 2019, Ceres has had the opportunity to play Flathead Metal Fest several times, as well as travel around the Pacific Northwest playing shows. Ceres has released 2 albums and a few singles on all streaming services, and are currently working on the third album. They bring a high energy and engaging show to the stage, with original metal and occasional covers like Eskimo Callboy’s ‘Hypa Hypa.’ The New Nightmare is a hard rock band out of Missoula sharing tales of living through the new nightmare. Thrash metal / grunge / and psychedelic influences with haunting vocals and driving riffs. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
