Compositions stick with you. You’ll catch yourself singing at your desk or in your kitchen for days. But, don’t confuse Kingsfoil with just another alt-pop-rock band.  Their sound is clearly their own, and unfailing melodies and the visceral intonations of Davis’ voice find a pleasant niche between mainstream and indie. If you troll the inter webs, you’ll find an overwhelming fan response to the sincere and fearless lyrics, which feel found rather than created, and impossibly introspective. In a digital age when literally anyone who owns a Mac can call themselves a producer, the flawless work of Dustin Burnett on 2010’s release, On Our Own Together, proves that a talented, skilled producer is as valuable as the band itself.

Like so many artists, most members of Kingsfoil still hold day jobs, but this doesn’t deter them from the dedication, hard work and passion that fuel their creative process. You can hear five free tracks on their website, and all of their albums are available on Itunes. Check them out! But first…

Jordan Davis and Frankie Muniz were kind enough to answer some questions for me, about touring and the band’s success.

ONE:  What is the tour dynamic like between the four of you?

FRANKIE MUNIZ:  The tour was amazing. I honestly couldn’t ask to be with a better group of guys. Everyone is super hard working and wants to be out on the road playing music.  It’s hard to be put in a van for a month, driving all over the country with crazy schedules and we literally did not have even one issue or argument with each other.  We are counting down the days to get back on the road!

 TWO: Since the 2004 album Blueprints, other than the addition of new members, what evolution have you seen in your music?

JORDAN DAVIS: I know personally, those early albums were almost more ideas than songs and a lot of it was Tristan & I learning how to write songs in general.- which was fine because we were both just starting to write. So, I would say musically we have all grown quite a bit. Every part of every song is important to all of us. We push each other. As somebody who writes a lot of the lyrics for the band I can say that I’ve worked very hard to evolve and push myself. Definitely feel like I did on our new record.

THREE: All of us that work at the WATR, as well as a lot of our listeners and guests, are artists still working day jobs. It seems you guys are in the same boat.  Do you find frustration or character value in this? How does it help/hinder your music careers?

J.D.: Great question! I think it obviously depends on your day job. I’ve always put my music first. Any jobs I’ve worked were there to help me keep making music. That being said – 10 hours of hard work on a roof can ground somebody pretty quick. I think the danger to a day job while trying to make a band work is the creative side. A lot of times Tristan and I would get together to write, but be so tired from working all day that the writing wouldn’t happen. We would just eat Chinese and call it a night. I’ve made the best of it though. You learn to write no matter what’s going on in your life or how tired you are.

FOUR: Your fans seem to appreciate the honest, straight forward and personal nature of your lyrics. Do you ever worry about the response you will get from the real-life people in the situations you are writing about, or how it will affect your relationship with them?

 J.D.: Another great question! I am so thankful for our fans ‘cause they get it. They get the lyrics and that’s huge for me. I think maybe I have hurt people close to me with my lyrics. Never on purpose obviously. I generally don’t think about it as I’m writing. Then later I wonder how I’m going to play the song for that person or whatever. Lately this has only gotten harder because there is stuff I talk about in my music that I don’t talk about in “real life”. So yes, at times I do worry about it affecting people. However, not all my songs are true biographical stories – but have been mistaken as such. This has made things even more interesting.

FIVE: With growing popularity, has there been a specific moment for each of you where you felt like you found your success?

J.D. : I’ve gotten messages from people who have really connected to our music enough to really open up and tell me about it. This is amazing. It’s a similar feeling that you get when people are singing your song back at you at a live show. This seems small but it’s the most important thing. I feel very lucky that our band has been able to reach people that well. I also feel so lucky to have opened for some bands that I’ve always looked up to. I remind myself often of how fortunate we are to have gotten this far playing our own music. It’s also motivation to work even harder.

F.M. :  In a short time with the band, we have already experienced some amazing things as a band. Opening for Third Eye Blind at Lock Haven University was pretty amazing.  The fans reaction and acceptance is always an amazing feeling when you are on stage.  Success to us is literally just being able to be on the road playing music. It’s what we love and hope to do for a long time. Anything that comes from that is just an added bonus! Seeing fans singing the lyrics at shows is pretty awesome as well… knowing that the band has impacted those people enough for them to learn the music is an awesome feeling.

MiZ pairs a folk, rock, bluegrass, & blues fusion sound with honest lyrics and a lot of heart [insert intense desire to dance here...and then feel sad...and then dance again]. Tickets are only $10 online or at the door.

Front man Mike Mizwinksi will sit down with us before to show to talk about being awesome and playing guitar like his fingers are on fire. Check back for the podcast!

If you don’t live in Philly, MiZ is on tour now, and may be coming to your city. Check out tour dates, buy their records and score some merch on their website . Hope to see you there!

Check out http://stevenalvarezphotography.com for more information about Steven!

(full show notes coming soon!)

Still, there is something about the chaos of the unknown that makes the idea of developing film a romantic choice if nothing else. And in Steven Alvarez’s case, it’s almost impossible to believe that he’s not 100% sure what he’s getting until the developing stages.

Alvarez takes an honest and fearless approach to all of his subjects, including himself. The images are subtle, even simplistic at first look. They invite you in with a warm sense of home and familiarity. This comfort keeps your attention long enough to elicit true feelings of sadness, longing, regret and even complacency that force you to reflect on your own relation to the idea first and then back to the image. But it’s not all disparage and despair. Alvarez catches brief moments of undeniable love and affection. He paints landscapes filled with seclusion that could swallow you whole – until you find your mind wandering there, embracing the sweet silence, quickly transported into a memory. He brings you down the hallway you ran through as a child. To your grandmother’s kitchen. To those moments you first realized the world was bigger than you.

Steven Alvarez doesn’t shy away from secrets. He lets what is real, be real, as it is, without frills and special effects and blatant markers guiding you to his point or theme. Even his Philadelphia series – a collection of drug bags he happened to find on the street in his day-to-day travels – says a lot, with nothing but an acknowledgement of their existence. Check out Steven’s work on his website. Some alternative pieces are now on display at The Lightroom Gallery as part of the show, Local Alternatives. The gallery is at 2024 Wallace Street in Philadelphia and is open on Saturdays from 2-6 or by appointment. There will be an artists’ talk on August 4^th from 2-4, and a closing reception on the 18^th from 2-6.

We were lucky enough to have Steven as a guest on our podcast to talk about his work. Look for it soon here on www.thewatr.net or on Itunes.

The good news: Director Mark Webb, and his trio of writers are very aware that they’re re-telling a tale that has just been told. While the story shares several key plot points with the first – first film, those recaps are brief (no one wants to sit through twenty minutes of web discovery again) and careful not to push the limits of melodrama.  There’s not a lot of ‘heart pounding action’. Most of the focus is drawn to redefining Peter Parker.  Instead of the wide-eyed, bullied, stereo-typical nerd, Andrew Garfield’s Parker is more of a smart, loner type. A modern outcast, toting a skateboard and too distracted by the mystery of his parents’ disappearance to worry about the social pressures of high school.  The Gwen Stacy story line helps to divert your attention from the familiarity, and is a nice departure from Mary Jane’s repetitive ‘lose the girl, save the world’ – ‘damsel in distress’ act. And honestly, it’s really, really hard to hate Emma Stone. Across the board the acting is fine.  The writing is fine. The direction is fine. The movie is fine.

Don’t expect too much from The Amazing Spiderman. It did what it had to do under the circumstances. It knows that the world isn’t ready for a reboot yet.  It knows that the story has to start at the beginning, and the weight of that burden is clear. That being said, expectations will be high for The Amazing Spiderman 2. With no more excuses, the series will need to quickly claim its identity or risk being a greater disappointment than the first time around.