Locked In The Closet: Ep 17 with Levels

Explicit content warning

06/09/20 • 28 min

So, it has been a minute since the last L.I.C. episode. Partly because Ryan has gone back to work full time as Texas has moved into another phase of reopening their economies. During the down time, the guys at the podcast kept the ball rolling with reviewing new music via their “Google Drive” and “Does It Stank” segments. Fortunately, they found Levels buried deep in the mix.

Jacob handles the heavy stings (bass) for Levels by night and is a software engineer by day. So as Jacob said, he wasn’t as affected work-wise, like others were. But the band stuff did take a hard pause like most as well. The band had a rather nice tour setup for the spring that was going to venture into Canada and link up with a band that Dalton (drummer) had set up but due to COVID-19, they had to put that to the side.

The guys talk about how the band is trying to stay busy and connect to their fans. The latest single “Encapsulate” really gets you out of your seat and moving and they have also been writing more new music so that when things are ready to return to normal, they want to return with an even bigger and better show for their fans.

With the circumstances and the rules changing almost weekly, the guys talk about how local support is going to be vital to the reopening success for local venues and local bands. Buy a shirt, a cd, a hat is you can because that goes right back into the bands pocket.

The music featured in today’s episode is Levels latest single “Encapsulate”. Head over to their social media accounts and show them some love.

The music featured in today’s episode is Levels latest single “Encapsulate”. Head over to their social media accounts and show them some love.

Previous Episode

Locked In The Closet: Ep 16 with HateWaker

HateWaker is new to the podcast, and that's OK. Ryan was on the hunt for new music to fill out a show before the COVID-19 lock-down wasn't even talked about at the time. He stumbled across HateWaker by asking around to the other locals. They have only been together for a couple years but have put out some really good tracks. They have found that during the shit down that they are improving on their brand and music as a whole.

DOC was written in a night due to Black Craft Cult Wrestling. Ricky gives us the run down. He also goes into detail about his zip code and vision for the metal scene in San Marcos due to its location and off the beaten path vibe. Ricky talks about his time in college and how he saw an opportunity for metal to thrive in San Marcos. The band has had to go out and purchase some gear to keep creating better material during the pandemic. Their communication has improved as well between the band. The guys also toss around the idea of "Can Texas Shred" and Duncan, the string section, signs on to lay it down. If you can shred, shoot your video over to [email protected]

The song featured on this episode is "Atmosphere" of their album Blasphemy

Next Episode

Locked In The Closet: Ep 18 with Zealand The North

Another week has past here in America and things are not what they used to be. Protests over the death of George Floyd have sent Americans into the streets. All the meanwhile, COVID-19 cases are back on the rise since a number of states are in Phase Two of re-opening their economies. In some parts of the nation, life is relatively normal looking and if it was't for the mask's, you wouldn't know there was any real threat of a virus.

Ryan calls up Adam, one of the guitarist of the 4 piece Instrumental post-rock band (unsure if that's a thing but we went with it). He goes into detail about how COVID really put a halt for what they had planned during SXSW, to include a show that they were personally were trying to setup. So, to counter that, they slowly released single after single to keep their fans in the loop and to ensure they stayed connected through these tough times. Ryan pretends to know what hes talking about on climate change.

The band has an interesting twist on how they came to be. Adam was from Dallas and the other three were from El Paso. Through the power of social media (not craigslist this time), they linked up via Instagram and slowly winded up in Austin. They really feel like now that they are together that they can really show there fans 110%.

With the release of their up coming album "Brightness of an Endless Light" June 19th, the guys are pumped to be able to release their latest work during this turbulent time. Adam talks about what the album is all about, who they worked with and how it all came together. Adam throws in his personal rig run down and how it flows for him and why. He also talks about who they went with for producing/mix/mastering and the recording process.

Ryan claims you can buy tin foil hats and drugs on the internet (but also this podcast. Disclaimer, Ryan has never bought tin foil hats)

The music featured in this episode in a single from Zealand The North titled "Never Perfect"