Meet The Bands of the We Care Music Festival

The We Care Music Festival is a free, one-day Music Festival featuring known and emerging talent, benefiting the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention, at Lucky Strike in Hollywood on Saturday, February 24, 2024. It’s hosted by HVNTED and many of the bands from their community will be playing. The Festival is the product of HVNTED’s mission to help create awareness around mental health and suicide prevention.  The event is sponsored by Lucky Strike, Thriller Records, and the L.A. Rock Collective.

Highwire Daze caught up with Hvnted, Alibis, The Bluebell Smile, and Evelyn Grove to find out what to expect from this very amazing day of music, memories, and networking.  Read on…

We Care Music Festival on Instagram

HVNTED

Introduce yourself, tell me what band or solo project you are in, and how long the band or solo project has been together. Give a little background on your band as well…
We’re a LA-based Rock band called Hvnted (pronounced “hunted”). Our music has been aired on local and national radio stations including KROQ, 91X, KOMP and the nationally syndicated program, “Out of Order” hosted by Ted Stryker. We’ve also been featured on television (CBS and Spectrum News). We’ve just finished our first self-produced EP, “Shapeshifter.” It’s a cathartic exploration of our experiences and emotional ups and downs over the last few years. We released the first single, “Fiend,” in November and we’re excited to share the second song off the EP, “Shapeshifter,” at the We Care Music Festival.

What are you looking forward to the most about the We Care Music Festival to benefit the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention?
We organized this Festival because mental health is an issue we’re incredibly passionate about. A few members in the band struggle with anxiety and sadness. And one of us had close friend attempt to end her life. Some of HVNTED’s songs (including Washington and Shapeshifter) were born out of the serious emotional impact these attempts have had on Will (Lead Singer, Songwriter). We’re so excited for this Festival because it gives all of us a chance to use our talent, as a community, and make a positive impact on this important issue.

What could one expect from your live show at We Care Music Festival?
We’ll be closing out the Festival with a 45-minute live set at 9 PM. We plan on leaving it all on the stage. We always bring an energetic show, and the audience sings along. We plan on throwing in a few covers. And, in order to make the night extra special, we’ll be releasing the second song of our unreleased, EP, “Shapeshifter.” We’re pretty passionate about this song, and we couldn’t think of a better night to share it with our audience.

Select two songs you might be playing, and what inspired the lyrics.
“Shapeshifter” focuses on the insecurity we endure when we feel like we need to change who we are for the sake of love or acceptance. It’s a powerful song that takes a stand and securely asserts to all that “we are enough.”

“Fiend” is a frustrated rant about the hypocrisy we face on a daily basis. If you’re tired of being told you’re not enough, you’ll love taking a stand with this powerful song.

What’s up next for you and the band after We Care? Any new music or shows on the horizon?
The We Care Music Festival falls on the same day as the release date of our new single “Shapeshifter.” In the months ahead, we’ll be playing up and down the West Coast as well as at the Mesa Music Festival. Our LA fans can catch our next local show at The Viper Room with Pretty Ugly and Dusk on Friday, April 26th.

Any final words of wisdom?
Come out and be a part of this amazing event for a great cause. You’ll hear some of the best emerging Rock bands in LA and you can catch guest speakers Ricky Armellino of Ice Nine Kills and the legend, Grammy Award-winning music executive Vicky Hamilton (Guns n’ Roses, Motley Crüe and others). It’s all about love and support. Come hang out! We’d love to get to know you guys. We’re really looking forward to having a great night with everyone at the We Care Music Festival.

Hvnted on Instagram

ALIBIS

Introduce yourself, tell me what band or solo project you are in, and how long the band or solo project has been together. Give a little background on your band as well…
We are Alibis. A Rock band based out of Los Angeles. We are a relatively new band only being together a little over a year. Rainy is a classically trained musician who found Kris, our metal inspired guitar player. They had a great writing connection, and the project was started. Later adding Cameron our powerhouse drummer, and then Sebastian our minister of thump bassist, it was full steam ahead for the group.
Are members include:
Rainy – Vocals
Kris – Guitar
Cameron – Drums
Sebastian – Bass

What are you looking forward to the most about the We Care Music Festival to benefit the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention?
We love that we can be a part of such a a great cause. A couple of our band members have lost family to suicide, and we know how truly important this event is.  Being able to talk about solutions and prevention is so important.

What could one expect from your live show at We Care Music Festival?
Watching Alibis live one could expect a high intensity performance from beginning to end. We are a very energetic on stage with a touch of the theatrics. Never a dull moment onstage.

Select two songs you might be playing, and what inspired the lyrics.
2 of the songs we are going to play are Darkside and Mother. Two of our latest singles. The lyrics were inspired by firsthand experiences. Darkside being about the self-sabotaging aspect of oneself, and trying to overcome it. Mother is a firsthand experience of being sent to a Behavioral Modification Program and the experiences that came with it.

What’s up next for you and the band after We Care? Any new music or shows on the horizon?
We have a new video being released in March and a UK tour in May.

Any final words of wisdom?
Follow your heart and always trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.

Alibis on Instagram

THE BLUEBELL SMILE

Introduce yourself, tell me what band or solo project you are in, and how long the band or solo project has been together. Give a little background on your band as well…
The Bluebell Smile is Olórin (bass, vocals), Mateo Maz (guitar), Nathan Tsunoda (keyboards), and Charlie Ziman (drums).

Hailing from Venice Beach, CA., and with all the indie rock sensibilities that a band from the westside can offer, we bring an alchemical mix of music that we have been cooking since grade school.

What are you looking forward to the most about the We Care Music Festival to benefit the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention?
Playing along side so many talented artists would be an honor on its own but given the opportunity to collaborate for such a great cause is even more exciting.

What could one expect from your live show at We Care Music Festival?
A breed of digital and analog sound with danceable grooves, evocative lyrics and at times bewitching beauty.

Select two songs you might be playing, and what inspired the lyrics.
‘Rose’ was written about an extraordinarily gifted painter, her humanity, her process and the creative spark.

I’m Alright is our newest single.  Starting out as a tune about finding a place to party on the weekend, “I’m Alright” has morphed into a realistic anthem for today’s dystopian world. An authentic sound with vivid guitar leads, cinematic builds and clever lyrics, this resonant track brings together an insane cocktail of musical influences.

What’s up next for you and the band after We Care? Any new music or shows on the horizon?
We are playing The Mint on February 28th and in April after will embark on an east coast tour.

Any final words of wisdom?
“If you can’t keep up with yourself, keep up with the music, the music will keep up with you.”
–Olórin

The Bluebell Smile on Instagram

EVELYN GROVE

Introduce yourself, tell me what band or solo project you are in, and how long the band or solo project has been together. Give a little background on your band as well…
We’re Evelyn Grove, an original four-piece rock band based here in LA. The band formed originally in 2021 but, after a couple of iterations, current singer joined in November 2022. We’ve got Hunter Bolton on vocals, Rafa Braga on guitar, Jester Buena on bass, and Doug Rey on drums. We’re definitely shaped by a lot of influences, but some common ground is a love for grunge and prog.

What are you looking forward to the most about the We Care Music Festival to benefit the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention?
We are all musicians because of love and connection. Love of the music, love of others and the music is how we best connect to others. It’s a celebration and an escape. I think we’ve all been through some tough places mentally the past few years, so we’re looking forward to using our music to try and help others going through that battle now, and just the visibility that they’re not alone.

What could one expect from your live show at We Care Music Festival?
We’ll be bringing our signature live show; high-energy, hard-hitting rock and roll, with some songs we hope you’ll find yourself singing along with afterward.

Select two songs you might be playing, and what inspired the lyrics.
Definitely Burn Bright, which was the first we really wrote together. It’s kind of our ethos, about following your dreams and not losing sight of what you love to do.

Another is Traveler, a song that uses Robert Frost as a jumping off point to a story about escaping the noise and hustle of the humdrum to really connect with yourself. It’s so easy to feel adrift and alone, in a way, surrounded by all of the facets of “modern society” but there’s something about getting away from it that gives us a nice little mental reset.

What’s up next for you and the band after We Care? Any new music or shows on the horizon?
Our next show won’t be until April. We’ve been at a pretty good clip since we started, but got some members traveling during March; so we’ll be using that time to start recording more songs (we put out our six-song debut EP last summer), to get ready for our full album release. Got one music video shot and a few more on the horizon as well.

Any final words of wisdom?
We’re all here for such a brief time. Do the things you love, with the people you love, and be kind; we’re all going through something. And, you know, try to leave the place better than you found it.

Evelyn Grove on Instagram

(Interviews by Ken Morton)

American Foundation For Suicide Prevention Home Page