Flannel Fest Pre Party: Paper Idol/Moonglow/Blood

COME OUT AND PARTY WITH US FOR NIGHT ONE OF FLANNEL FEST ONLY AT THE COOPERAGE!!

Paper Idol is the genre-bending pop project of LA-based artist and auteur Matan KG. The music weaves dance music and alternative into “something unique and utterly disarming” (Beats per Minute), with storytelling that blurs the line between reality and fantasy, optimism and delusion.

After graduating university with a Neuroscience degree, Matan left medical-school ambitions behind to pursue music in LA. In just under three years, he has released a long string of singles and 2 EP’s, which have amassed over 35 million streams across platforms and secured coveted placements on Spotify editorial playlists such as Indie Pop, Alternative Beats, OFF POP, and metropolis.

Paper Idol has been lauded by BBC Radio 1, Billboard, EDM.com, Under the Radar, and Dancing Astronaut. The music has also been featured in placements such as CW’s Nancy Drew, NBC’s The Equalizer, and Disney’s SPIN. His upcoming EP The Playground chronicles eight phases of childhood in eight tracks.

Paper Idol’s live set combines electronic samplers and real instrumentation and has graced both ballrooms and dancefloors. Featuring former classmate Adam Rochelle (keys), Paper Idol has performed at legendary venues such as Fonda Theater, The Echo, and The Teragram Ballroom, along with an official showcase at 2022’s South By Southwest music festival.

With another EP and debut album on the way, Paper Idol continues to rally a generation bombarded by reality and desperate for an escape.

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​Moonglow is a pop-soul band fueled by the cosmic love-vibrations emanated from moonlit drives down ethereal boulevards. The band features the dynamic vocals and keyboard playing of leader Joe, driving funky riffs from guitarist Isaac, a J Dilla-esque backbeat provided by rhythm section Brent and Sterling on bass and drums, and the unmatched sultry saxophone playing provided by Tyler. Their live shows aim to get you groovin’ and tug on your nostalgic heart strings.

​Their debut self-titled album released in October 2021. Find it on Bandcamp​ and wherever you stream music.

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As a member of GGOOLLDD, Nicholas Schubert has helped craft some of the catchiest and most upbeat synth-pop earworms Milwaukee has heard in quite some time. Even though the keyboardist has a knack for building fun, infectious, and poppy songs with his longtime friends and band mates in that accomplished project, Schubert—who says he grew up listening to bands like HIM and New Order—also has a darker artistic side that was fighting to get out. Now that goth rock identity has a landing point in a side project called BLOOD, which will release its debut album Friday, October 30.

That album, Testamental, features 10 songs that find the multi-instrumentalist bounding into divergent and decidedly darker territory than fans of his primary project might expect. An instrumental title track sets the tone, with swelling synths and bleary production. That mood-establishing opening track is followed by “BLOODBATH” and “PINK LIGHTS”—each of which offer grandiose instrumentation reminiscent of a Goblin score and reverb-drenched utilitarian vocals from Schubert. Over the course of the self-produced (except for two songs produced by Casey Soyk) and self-recorded record, Testamental dips into “dark wave” expanses, with compositions like the driving and aptly-named “GO,” as well as the guitar-laden “CAN’T SEE IT,” and the flourishing frenzy employed in the ultra-infectious “DESTROY.”