Soul Punk Band Lightmare Talk 7DrumCity + The Pocket’s Support for Them

From hardcore punk to go-go, the District’s independent music scene has always been lush. A myriad of identities, ideologies and sentiments, artists in the DMV are informed by their proximity to the nation’s capital. With the help of independent venues giving a voice to up-and-coming and under-the-radar talent, artists like April + VISTA, BRNDA and Lightmare are making waves in D.C.’s unparalleled DIY scene. Concert photographer Mike Kim goes backstage with these artists and the venues most meaningful to them. 

Favorite venue
All: That we’ve played: Black Cat. To attend shows: 9:30 Club. Headlining the 9:30 Club has always been a big goal of ours.

First concert
Mike Beckage: Backstreet Boys
Matty Kirkland: The Beach Boys
Vitamin Dee: They Might Be Giants
Shady Rose: Muse
Frankie Hellfire: No Doubt
Yousef Karim: Karnivool

Band motto
All: Music from that one dream.

Album you’d bring to a desert island
MB: Stevie Wonder: “Songs in the Key of Life”
MK: Jimmy Buffet: “Boats, Beaches, Bars and Ballads”
VD: Blonde Redhead: “Fake Can Be Just as Good”
SR: Dirty Projectors: “Lamp Lit Prose”
FH: Talking Heads: “Stop Making Sense”
YK: Vangelis: “Blade Runner (Music from the Original Soundtrack)”

Go-to fall activity
All: A few of us are campers and we are planning a band camping trip/cabin retreat sometime this fall. We also enjoy apple picking and frolicking in the odd pumpkin patch.

Why The Pocket?
All: The Pocket and 7DrumCity are both such great community spaces for the D.C. music scene. Lightmare has spent countless hours at 7DrumCity writing and rehearsing, and it’s a space where we really got to know each other as musicians. Things like Flashband and the potluck jams they host at The Pocket are fun and tangible opportunities for local musicians to network and create with each other. We are so excited to be having our album release party there.

Check out Lightmare at their upcoming show on November 27 at DC9, and listen to their sophomore album “DIRT,” released October 29 on This Could Go Boom! Learn more at lightmaredc.com //
@lightmare.dc.

The Pocket: thepocketdc.com // @thepocket_dc

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