Tag: Brian Reilly

Looking Inward — Night Sky Alumni Finds Gratitude and Growth on “Down the Rabbit Hole” EP

Night Sky Alumni’s Steve Lupinski, Al Ledford, Jason Longuski, and Joe Daksiewicz. Photo courtesy of the band.

Jason Longuski prefers to get personal with his songwriting.

The Night Sky Alumni frontman pulled from reflections, experiences, and relationships while penning tracks for the Metro Detroit band’s latest EP, Down the Rabbit Hole.

“It is a lot of personal experiences that led to those lyrics, the songs themselves, and the feeling behind them all,” said Longuski, Night Sky Alumni’s vocalist-guitarist. “There’s a story for every one of them and how they came to be.”

The EP’s six tracks serve as an introspective examination of gratitude, growth, and love for the indie-rock band. Longuski’s heartfelt lyrics document everything from valuable lessons to aspirational moments to newfound love.

“For a lot of my writing and lyrics, it could be something I flubbed on or a failure, or it could be something very happy that I started out with,” he said. “Even in the darkest of times or experiences, I’ve always had good people around me—my family, my friends, support groups—that have helped me get through some of the hardest moments of my life.”

On Down the Rabbit Hole, those moments not only soar lyrically but sonically as well. Night Sky Alumni bandmates Joe Daksiewicz (guitar, backing vocals), Steve Lupinski (bass), and Al Ledford (drums) bring fiery and upbeat instrumentation to their sophomore release.

“His lyrical content just complements the music I can write,” Daksiewicz said. “On ‘Let It Rip,’ there’s also an airplane noise, … and to me, it’s part of a story. I’m lucky these guys are willing to allow me to experiment. I feel like a mad scientist sometimes.”

To learn more, I spoke with Longuski and Daksiewicz about the band’s EP ahead of a June 20 release show at Parts and Labor Bar in Melvindale, Michigan.

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‘Better’ Days – Olivia Dear Releases New TIDAL Single, Headlines March 20 Farmington Civic Theater Show

Olivia Dear is releasing new music through the inaugural TIDAL Unplugged program.

Olivia Dear has never been better.

The Rochester indie pop singer-songwriter has released an inspirational new single, “Better,” introduced a new artist name (from Olivia Millerschin to Olivia Dear) and received a grant from the TIDAL music streaming service.

“This has really given me a shot to do that. I know that what I’m gonna do is gonna always be me. ‘Olivia Dear’ is great because it separates me-the-artist from me-the-person because ‘Olivia Millerschin’ felt like I couldn’t release anything that ‘Olivia Millerschin’ wouldn’t think of or make,” Dear said.

“‘Olivia Dear’ has allowed me to take a step back personally from it. I think in general the music is gonna be the singer-songwriter, pop and indie side of things, but just a little bit more produced than my previous work.”

Dear will share a wealth of new and old favorites from her three-album catalog during her March 20 “LIVE!” headlining set at the Farmington Civic Theater in Farmington. She’ll be joined by longtime bandmates James Pyne (trombone, vocals), Brian Reilly (guitar) and Bob Mervak (keys, vocals) while West Bloomfield singer-songwriter Adam Liebman will open the show.

“For a show with a quartet in a nice, intimate room, we’ll do mostly like broken-down versions of the new music and my last record. The band and I have been working on some new cover stuff, so we might throw one or two of those in there just for fun,” said Dear, who also plays ukulele, piano and guitar.

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