Ripe

Ripe’s new album Bright Blues is a collection of 12 songs full of sleek grooves and bold melodies n the middle of getting hit in the stomach,” says singer Robbie Wulfsohn, who came together with guitarist Jon Becker, drummer Sampson Hellerman and trombonist Calvin Barthel while they were all studying at Berklee College of Music.

The band drew acclaim from the likes of the Boston Globe, Huffington Post and WXPN with their first full-length, Joy in the Wild Unknown. Their streams on Spotify surged past 56 million as they conquered stages at festivals including Bonnaroo, Firefly, SweetWater and Bottlerock, and sold tens of thousands of tickets across the US, including selling out the iconic House of Blues Boston and Brooklyn Steel.

Bright Blues is their first release after signing to indie powerhouse Glassnote Records and their first release working with outside co-writers. Teaming up on production with Noah Conrad (BTS, Niall Horan) and Ryan Linvill (Olivia Rodrigo, Dermot Kennedy) helped bring the high-energy, freewheeling stage show to the recording studio, with the result being an album that shows the full scope of the band’s abilities as writers and performers. The live show has always been at the core of who Ripe is, and now the recorded music can stand alongside it as an all-encompassing representation of who the band is and where they are going.

HOKO

Like a wild flickering image projected in widescreen, HOKO stretch alternative into 360-degree experimental pop. The New York duo—Nathaniel Hoho [vocals] and Jesse Kotansky [guitar]—invite immersion into layers of rich soundscape architecture and hypnotically hummable hooks. Painting in broad strokes of psychedelia and rock, they unearth an uncategorizable and undeniable sound equally malleable and magnificent in its execution. Making a choice to pursue his passion full-:me, Central Pennsylvania native Nathaniel honed his chops on the streets, traveling from one college and beach to another, busking to survive, and sleeping in the car. Eventually, he settled in Brooklyn where he first crossed paths with Jesse at a barbecue. A world-class musician, Jesse shined as a Balkan violinist throughout his childhood, traveling to Turkey at six-years-old to perform. Collectively the two have worked with artists including Pond, Nick Allbrook, GUM, Fab Moree of the Strokes, Mikey Shoes of Queens of the Stone Age, Ma` Shultz of Cage the Elephant, J Mascis, Uffie, Charli XCX, Elliphant, Peter Cotontale, Willie J Healy, Royal Blood, and Adam Green.

Inspired by David Bowie, Queen, The Smashing Pumpkins, Tame Impala, The Strokes, The Beatles, and The Beach Boys, the pair hit it off and “started experimen1ng with new sounds in a pop space.” The guys caught the attention of EQT and signed in 2020 as “OK OK” impacted radio and reeled in over 4.9 million Spotify streams, paving the way for their independent EP Heathen. Highlighted by fan favorites “Candy Eyes” and “Hellogoodbye” (which fellow alterna1ve maverick PVRIS officially remixed), the band continued to gain traction in between performing at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo and supporting artists Milky Chance, Young The Giant, and X Ambassadors. Generating streams in the tens of millions, this vision comes into focus like never before on a series of 2023 singles for EQT Recordings/Republic Records introduced by “Hazy.”