Events
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2/11 – Pre-Launch Show! – 10th Street Live
24 January 2012 2:45 PM | No Comments -
12/17 – Winter Wives – Loop Lounge
13 December 2011 6:48 PM | No Comments -
11/19 – Charity Art Show @Gallery U
16 November 2011 8:00 AM | No Comments
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Lamplighter Archives
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Boy Things Releases New Music for the New Year
Posted on January 4, 2012 | No CommentsBoy Things starts 2012 off by releasing their latest EP "Growing Up" on New Years Day. The EP is streaming and available for free download on Bandcamp. -
A New Nightlife Collective
Posted on December 9, 2011 | 2 CommentsFour DJs from around New Jersey team up to energize the underground EDM community. Just launching in early December, the company brings experience, a DIY ethic, and relentless endurance to massively boost an exponentially growing scene. -
Navigating the New Jersey Poetry Scene
Posted on October 26, 2011 | 2 CommentsPoetry in NJ can be hard to find, and if you're truly seeking to become involved, it takes some creative investigating. -
Jersey City Filmmaker Tickled Cerise
Posted on October 14, 2011 | 1 CommentJohn Trigonis, a poet, writer, professor and filmmaker from Jersey City answers questions about his latest movie Cerise, and his upcoming project Mating Dome. -
Collaborative Art Hidden Behind Bloomfield Ave
Posted on October 4, 2011 | 1 CommentMontclair's Gallery U, tucked away behind Bloomfield Ave is home to a collaborative and therapeutic art space. -
Trunk Rock Records Takes Over Webster Hall
Posted on May 14, 2012 | No CommentsTrunk Rock Records takes over Webster Hall to showcase their bands Big Wilson River and Don't Upset the Bear. -
Fossil Fuel for Vinyl’s Comeback at Dinosaur Records
Posted on April 19, 2012 | No CommentsVinyl isn't extinct yet at Dinosaur Records -
A Message From Megan Dermody
Posted on March 27, 2012 | No CommentsMegan Dermody gets straight to the point-- Thank you, everyone! -
A Message From Dhruvin Dave
Posted on March 14, 2012 | No CommentsDhruvin talks about Lamplighter, his return to the arts, and his new found love for NJ culture. -
A Word from the Elephant in the Room
Posted on March 13, 2012 | No CommentsTyler Peckio of Trunk Rock Records shares his thoughts on Lamplighter and NJ culture. -
A Message from Nadia Nieves
Posted on March 9, 2012 | No CommentsNadia Nieves talks about writing songs, loving the NJ scene, and telling stories. -
Update: On The Campaign Trail
Posted on March 8, 2012 | No CommentsAn update from the Lamplighter Magazine staff about the IndieGoGo campaign. -
A Message from Patrick Boyle
Posted on March 5, 2012 | 2 CommentsPatrick discusses himself, his relationship with Lamplighter Magazine, and why poetry and coffee are absolutely vital. -
On The Campaign Trail!
Posted on March 5, 2012 | No CommentsThe first issue of Lamplighter Magazine is absolutely ready to be printed! It's literally bursting at it's digital seams. In order to send this ready-and-waiting beast off to be printed and stapled, we need the support of our community. We've started a campaign on IndieGoGo where you, our valued group of readers and supports, can give us a hand. -
The Nico Blues are Dying Happy
Posted on February 13, 2012 | No CommentsIf I were ever to start a band with my brother, I’d find a creative way to murder him with his drumsticks within a week. Luckily, others with more patience... -
The Freshest Band in NJ: Freak Out Dude
Posted on February 2, 2012 | No CommentsJason Soroka, formerly of The Exotic Aquatic, and Sam Frisch of Cash Cash team up for a new project: Freak Out Dude -
Alex Plus Unleashed on Beatport
Posted on January 31, 2012 | No Comments44 Caliber Recordings DJ, Alex Plus, releases new single Smot on Beatport.com -
2/11 – Pre-Launch Show! – 10th Street Live
Posted on January 24, 2012 | No CommentsLamplighter Magazine is so excited for the March release that we're partying early! Come join us at 10th Street Live on February 11th! -
Village Basement Sessions
Posted on January 19, 2012 | No CommentsPatrick Boyle and Nadia Nieves from Lamplighter Magazine were invited to Village Basement Sessions. Unfortunately for John Komar, the man behind the camera, Patrick and Nadia are not the band he expected! -
The Fresh Clothing: Pit Crew Volume 1
Posted on December 16, 2011 | 3 CommentsThe Fresh Clothing and 96 guitarist, Pat DeFrancisci, release Pit Crew: Volume 1, a hardcore punk mixtape. -
The End of an Era: Thursday’s Final Show
Posted on December 14, 2011 | No CommentsNJ's Thursday says goodbye with a final show at Starland Ballroom. -
12/17 – Winter Wives – Loop Lounge
Posted on December 13, 2011 | No CommentsThe Sun The Moon The Stars and WInter Wives take the stage Saturday night at the Loop Lounge in Passaic. -
My Favorite Citizen: Reunion Show at Maxwell’s
Posted on November 30, 2011 | No CommentsI don’t know about everyone else, but I couldn’t be happier with all of these band reunions that have been going on the past few years. Our generation, for the... -
Seas of Wake’s Virology: Population Control
Posted on November 25, 2011 | 2 CommentsNJ metal band Seas of Wake's newest album, Virology, tells a deadly story with an infectious, progressive sound. -
11/19 – Charity Art Show @Gallery U
Posted on November 16, 2011 | No CommentsThe Fresh Clothing, always looking to support the community, will be hosting a charity art show at Gallery U in Montclair. Regulars of the Montclair underground scene will be displaying and... -
11/19 – Indian Princess / Nico Blues / Boy Things @Bar 46
Posted on November 16, 2011 | No CommentsIf you’re willing to make the drive out (which you definitely should be) or are already in the area, and are 21 or older, Indian Princess is playing at Bar... -
11/18 – Art Show @The Red Door Gallery
Posted on November 16, 2011 | No CommentsThe Red Door Gallery – home of Passaic’s underground art scene – will be holding an evening of art similar to their event on Halloween weekend. Fifteen artists will be... -
11/19 – GSBMS Volunteer Day @Jersey Animal Coalition
Posted on November 16, 2011 | No CommentsFor those interested in playing with puppies on a Saturday afternoon, The Garden State Beard and Mustache Society will be holding a volunteer day at the Jersey Animal Coalition in South Orange, NJ. The shelter runs on volunteers and donations so please encourage your friends and family to come lend a hand or donate sheets, paper towels, toys, treats, food, garbage bags. Help is also needed to feed and play with the animals, and to help clean bowls, cages, and generally tidy up the shelter. -
Keeping It Local: A Sustainable Way to Eat in NJ
Posted on November 10, 2011 | 1 CommentNorth Jersey Locavores is an organization that has given New Jerseyans a way to share the experience of improving the quality of their diet as well as the quality of their health while supporting local farmers. -
Crucial Dudes
Posted on November 7, 2011 | No CommentsOh Last.fm, how I love you. If you’re not already aware of the website I’m referring to, Last.fm is one of the many social networking websites on the internet, centering... -
The Fresh Clothing Mixtape: Kings of Pop Punk
Posted on November 7, 2011 | 3 CommentsThe Fresh Clothing has released a new mixtape, and Lamplighter is overjoyed to be its host! Rather than carry on about one of NJ's finest music scene citizens, Jason Soroka, and his company's newest release, we'll give him the stage: "Pop punk was a big part of my music upbringing in New Jersey. I spent my teenage youth working at Bloomfield Ave Cafe, a punk venue in Montclair, NJ that doesn't exist anymore. I was lucky enough to experience the death of "Midtown pop punk," the "slow period," and the birth of todays Run For Cover/No Sleep/etc pop-punk. While there are some obvious kings, in my opinion, like Blink 182, Green Day, and Fall Out Boy, this mixtape focuses on the underground. I started this off with a really old Saves The Day song. Why? Because Saves the Day has influenced countless bands and represents the pop punk culture that spawned from New Brunswick basements, tiny punk rock venues, and VFW halls into an undeniable world wide appreciation. Every band on this mixtape is doing something really amazing right now. I urge you to listen and support them, however you decide." - Jason Soroka -
NaNoWriMo is Upon Us!
Posted on November 2, 2011 | No CommentsReady, get-set, start writing! As you may or may not know, November is the National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo for short. November 1st marks the date when many writers take upon the challenge of writing a minimum of 50,000 words (approximately 175 pages) of original work in just one month. -
A Gallery with True Grit
Posted on November 1, 2011 | No CommentsIt isn't difficult to find great art in New Jersey. Galleries are popping up all over the place, and even the common coffee shop has started promoting local artists. This, however, is only scratching the surface of the art scene. With a little digging — not too much since it's fairly well promoted — you'll hit an art space with true grit. Tucked away in a warehouse cache on Brighton Ave. in Passaic is The Red Door Gallery. -
The Return of Adam Streicher
Posted on October 31, 2011 | 3 CommentsAfter a hiatus of over two years, Adam Streicher, former Molotov Cocktails leader, is back, with a whole new band! And they started things up right with a Thursday night show at Maxwell's. Nothing less than a triumphant return, Streicher brought a crowd who carried as much drive and enthusiasm as him. -
The Band with the Magic Touch
Posted on October 31, 2011 | No CommentsEveryone knows that the New Jersey music scene is filled with awesome musicians from Hoboken to Asbury Park, and every city and town in between. However, there seems to be a concentration of bands and artists rocking around the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick. Rutgers students are always looking for a good ear massage and Sara is one of the many artists that has the magic touch and some really good lavender-scented body oils to get the job done. -
How I Joined the Zombie Insistence
Posted on October 28, 2011 | 1 CommentI didn’t grow up with zombies on my brain (pun totally intended) or a massive collection of George Romero films situated below my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trade paperbacks. For as long as I can remember, vampires have been my choice of undead entity. In fact, I’ve only ever watched one classic zombie movie, and this was back when my Dad brought home a VHS copy of the original Night of the Living Dead from our local PathMark since it only cost $2. I’ve never seen Evil Dead in its entirety. I only watched Zombieland and Resident Evil (gulp!) because they seemed entertaining and had neat special effects. I saw Shaun of the Dead in theaters and found it humorous, but in retrospect I think that was due mainly to the British accents (life is just funnier in cockney!) However, I have since gained a much deeper appreciation of zombie fiction in many of its forms, from the grotesquely horrific to the absurdly ridiculous, and this is all because of a little independently produced feature-length film which goes by the name of Blaming George Romero, written and produced by, and starring friend and fellow filmmaker Sam Platizky and directed by Robert Lise, who stars in the film as well. This tremendously funny zombie comedy about a group of college kids convinced that the “zombacalypse” has finally arrived thoroughly disemboweled me the first time I watched it - That’s how dang hard I laughed. -
DJ Collective Keeping New Jersey Filthy
Posted on October 27, 2011 | 1 CommentDubstep and drum'n'bass fans, we introduce to you Filth Requisite. What, you ask, is Filth Requisite? A company created to bring the NJ Underground community the music - and parties - they've been asking for. But the real question: who is Filth Requisite? Filth Requisite is Jaymon, No Request, Jumpshot, Hardline, Dekim, Ciphe, and Kilometriko. Together, they produce, remix, and deliver some of the most original and unique dubstep in New Jersey. Filth Requisite (Filth Req for short) has been involved in warehouse parties, raves, and dubstep nights at local spots for over the past ten years, whether individually or collectively. -
Old Town, New Attitude: Boonton Satisfies Art Lovers
Posted on October 25, 2011 | 1 CommentUsually, when I get the familiar itch to satisfy my artistic cravings on any given day, my habit has been to turn toward New York City to find galleries and new artists to check out. I might get lucky somewhere in Morristown or Montclair, but in general, North Jersey hasn't had a history or offering much in the way of fine art (while we haven't been devoid of places like this, it does takes some digging). Recently, however, I've noticed a bit of a resurgence in the arts and culture scene in Morris County. -
The New Kids Make Varsity with Cluster Cascade EP
Posted on October 24, 2011 | 2 CommentsMeet/Pause is a band that has just celebrated its first birthday as a band since its inception in the Summer of 2010. In hypothetical grade-school terms, they are still the new kids on the playground getting beat up for lunch money. However, these new kids have already scored some pretty high marks. With a mass of critical and fan praise, making feet move at Brick City Sound Riot last September, induction into the Tiny Giant Artist Collective (the scene's answer to the high school football team), and an excellent EP release with their “Cluster Cascade” EP, these guys are proving that rookies know how to shred just as well as varsity. -
Washington Square Park Uplifts the Underground
Posted on October 24, 2011 | No CommentsAs much as it pains me to admit it, this article marks my reintroduction to the underground Jersey scene. I have been completely out of touch with what’s been going on locally, and I’m really kicking myself for that fact right now. Last Wednesday was my first time visiting The Meatlocker in Montclair, as well as my first time seeing what is possibly one of New Jersey’s best-kept secrets, Washington Square Park, play live. -
A Classic Zine for the Punk Scene
Posted on October 21, 2011 | 1 CommentIf you're looking for some serious, biased political literature, Horse Feast is not for you. First printed in June 2011 by Max Rauch and Keith Williams of Washington Square Park, with their partner-in-crime Justin Morvan, Horse Feast is a, "collaborative effort of artists, writers and idiot savants." -
There Is No Freak Show
Posted on October 20, 2011 | 1 CommentScene King Jason Soroka's The Fresh Clothing and Listen3D slated this weekend, Saturday Oct. 22nd, to be the catastrophic end of everything once considered a party. This weekend was set to be Freak Show 3.0 - but not anymore. There is no Freak Show. At least, that's what they want us to think. -
Carrying the Voices of N.J. Poetry
Posted on October 19, 2011 | 1 CommentPoetry has become somewhat lost as a commonly practiced art. A poet is just a musician without a tune these days, and most well-known poets are locked up in the ivory towers of higher education. But like Norman Rosen, who put aside his lawyer hat to pick up a paintbrush, Annmarie Lockhart, editor-in-chief of Vox Poetica, has put aside her medical writer hat to pick up her pen. The website she manages has become a showcase for poetic practice both in and out of N.J., and acts as a wellspring to both whet the palate, and wet the feet. -
Right-Brained Lawyer Brings Art to Starbucks
Posted on October 18, 2011 | 2 CommentsMost people visit Starbucks to order their customized form of caffeine, then proceed to engage in conversation, complete a novel or homework assignment, and simply relax. Norman Rosen has given the Englewood Starbucks on East Palisade Ave yet another form of attraction for the whole month of October. The Englewood Starbucks features a fifteen piece art collection by Rosen, called Right Brained Art by a Left Brained Lawyer that will last until October 31st, 2011. -
Forget Genre: It Has No Place For Boy Things
Posted on October 17, 2011 | 1 CommentPresque vu is French for “almost seen,” a phrase that describes the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon where a person is unable to recall some … what's the word? Exactly. After listening to the newly released self-titled EP from Boy Things, a band barely ten shows into their career, most can reasonably be left feeling they aren't sure how to describe the band. Even the band's drummer, Eric Dryburgh, considers the band to be “some sort of indie pop punk.” -
Dubstep: No Fist Pumping Here
Posted on October 13, 2011 | 3 CommentsIt is all too easy to find DJs spinning Top 40s and hip-hop. New Jersey is over-saturated with mainstream EDM -- and this isn't to say it's bad stuff. But there are other genres of electronic music worthy of exploration and serious rug-cutting: electro, house, industrial, and dubstep. There are many people who say, "What ... is dubstep?” The EDM community considers this question "so two years ago." Yet the real fact remains that some people still have never heard of the genre, or some knowingly deny its existence, and this quite heartbreaking. -
Poetry Gets Brutal at Hardcore Spoken Word
Posted on October 12, 2011 | No CommentsCobblestone Village at Mountain Creek was revamped at the beginning of this summer to offer an assortment of cool new events, the most recent being a Hardcore Spoken Word show on Oct. 7th put together by Jason Vochal, a writer and performer from Vernon, N.J. This is the second show that Jason has planned at this venue featuring 'spoken word,' and both have been pretty successful, considering that this place is pretty far out of the way for a really specific scene and limited space. -
Through the Eye of a Hand
Posted on October 11, 2011 | 2 CommentsMatt Hand is the eye behind Right Hand Photography, a hobbyist business that he approaches with an organic, earth-friendly mindset. Do not be fooled into thinking he’s only photographing his adorable children! Matt is very aware of his art and takes composition into consideration. His images exude an intense representation of life through strongly contrasting textures, vivid color, and a lot of shadow-play. Whether it’s his wife Jessica holding their infant son or a thick length of vine creeping across the floor of an abandoned greenhouse, his photographs are beautifully uncanny. -
To Deconstruct a Mockingbird
Posted on October 10, 2011 | No Comments“I'm not a jerk,” says Adam, “I think people get the impression that I'm hard to talk to. I don't really get that.” Walking into Adam Bird's house, complete with scattered instruments, a fluffy white dog, and the new Mastodon album competing with a randomly flicked-to TV show for precedence as background noise, the scene set here is normal in the nicest of homes, and Adam's is no exception. If anything puts this public assumption of difficulty to rest, it's the free-wheeling two-hour interview that followed stepping inside. -
College Radio Day Calls to Occupy the Airwaves
Posted on October 7, 2011 | 2 CommentsWilliam Paterson University’s WPSC-FM has done a lot of work in the last few years, relaunching themselves as Brave New Radio and hosting the annual Brave-athon, an on-air showcase for... -
Peace, Love, and BINGO
Posted on October 6, 2011 | No CommentsAh, Rebel Bingo, how do we love thee? Rebel Bingo is said to have begun in the same way as other bingo games in the church hall. However, when these bingo participants stumbled upon the bingo kit they found in the basement, they were drunk. Drunk enough to modify the game into a drunkard-friendly version that would be the beginning of what we all enjoy today. -
Poetry, Beer, and the Duality of Man
Posted on October 5, 2011 | 1 CommentOpen the door and walk into The Shepherd and the Knucklehead in Haledon, N.J., and you'll usually find a cramped, dimly lit collection of people chatting and nursing one of the several craft beers available on tap. You'll have a little difficulty navigating your way to the bar, despite its proximity to the door – it's a pretty small space – and it might be hard to read the white board that lists the night's microbrews, especially when you're being jostled by all the other bar-goers due to the limited room available (which should soon change with the bar's anticipated expansion). On this particular Sunday evening, however, walking in is unusually easy, since everyone has taken a seat and turned their attention to the one microphone and speaker set up by the bookcase full of board games and cards. -
Letter from the Editor
Posted on October 3, 2011 | 1 CommentI picked up my guitar for the first time in two years today. Why? I’m not sure. I didn’t work hard to re-learn any one song, but feeling the strings... -
Any Time Today! Nostalgic Sound for the New Scene
Posted on October 3, 2011 | No CommentsAny Time Today! is a female-fronted pop-punk band from Lodi, Bergen County. This past February, the band released their first full-length self-titled album featuring Kasey Viso on vocals, Pat Viso and Anthony Allegretta on guitar, Chris Viso on drums, and Jay Kshatriya on bass. Anthony gave Lamplighter some insight into the band, their release, and the recording process. -
Booster Pack: New Noise
Posted on October 3, 2011 | 1 CommentThere seems to typically be a dry spell of music in the fall, with bands putting out their new tracks before the summer to hype themselves for tour. However, a lot of free local music is circulating online right now, with more being released every week.