Photos by Megan Hirao
As I entered the Voodoo room on February 8th, a particularly cold and moody Saturday night, a distinct disquiet hung in the air. Despite the weather and despite a sold out show only holding about 150 guests, at that moment it felt as if every voice in the room was alight with the timbre of excitement.
This excitement is only to be expected, however, seeing as how the show marked the end of Alison’s Halo’s first headlining tour since their return to the spotlight last year. Originally formed in 1992 by Catherine and Adam Cooper in Tempe, Arizona, the band had remained largely inactive since their dissolution in the late 90s, aside from a 2017 expanded reissue of their debut album Eyedazzler and a few smaller releases.
Brought back from obscurity by the proverbial Gen-Z “Shoegaze Revival” and an offer for a supporting spot on Panchiko’s summer tour last year, fans both old and new have been eagerly awaiting what the band has to offer over 20 years after their original run, and its clear that Alison’s Halo is ready and eager to deliver, taking these new opportunities with gratitude and conviction.
At 8:00 PM, Blossom, a new-age shoegaze band straight out of San Diego’s DIY scene, took the stage. As its four members shuffled on and the multicolored venue lights faded away, you could feel the whole room freeze over. A room which just moments before held warmth and laughter in excess had almost instantaneously grown frigid in anticipation. Streaks of white light ignited the stage as the first song, a new unreleased track, began, drowning out the samples of feedback and electronic drones which preceded their set with oceans of smothering overdrive and reverb. And while one may not expect a band with such a deafening and melancholic sound to properly set the tone for the more dreampop, slowdive-esque Alison’s Halo, the crowd seemed to be alive for Blossom all throughout their set, showcasing their deep roots in the San Diego scene and the community which they’ve seemed to foster since coming together a few years ago.
The band continued with the song “Drown” off their 2022 EP Reflections, transitioning into another unreleased track called “Garden of Words,” which oscillated between contrasting heavy and mellow sections all against visuals of a swirling sun. During the fourth song in their set, “Soothe”, the band switched gears, pulling back into a waltz-like rhythm as the satisfying melodrama of lyrics like “Soft blankets of you” and “I won’t leave you this time” reverberated through the small venue.
Despite minimal crowd interactions, the band carried an undeniable presence, not from bravado or overt showmanship, but rather as a result of their chemistry and ease of performance despite their young age. The most memorable moment of the set for me was definitely their closing song “Warm Stay,” which is easily their most popular track with over 1,000,000 streams on Spotify. Right before the climax of the song, which throughout consisted primarily of fuzzy rhythm guitar, verbed out lead lines, and hard hitting drums, the band took a step back, letting a gentle lead guitar take center stage for just a moment as the whole world seemed to stop around them, yet just as quickly as the short respite came, the band erupted back into the song’s finale with a loud screech of feedback and guttural yell from their bassist.
After their set, I had a chance to speak to Blossom.
A Conversation with Blossom:
KSDT: When I last interviewed Blossom I was only able to speak to Mateo (lead singer and rhythm guitarist), so to start things off, can I get each of your names and the instrument you play?
Joseph: My name is Joseph and I play bass.
Emma: I’m Emma, and I play lead guitar.
Justice: I’m Justice, and I play the drums.
KSDT: From what Mateo told me when I last interviewed Blossom in October, he is sort of the primary songwriter for the band. Despite this, I’m curious to know what type of inspirations do you guys have as other members, and how do these influences impact your additions to the music of Blossom?
Justice: I’ll go first! I grew up with a lot of heavy music, like rock, nu-metal, but I also have a big hip-hop and reggae kind of background. I’ve definitely had a wide variety of musical influences that I’ve kind of grown up with. For me, just kind of watching people that influenced me, learning how to adapt to their drum styles, and learning that shoegaze existed, which I would talk to Mateo about when I didn’t even really know much about it. Learning and adapting is a struggle at first, but I feel like I’m starting to adapt. But, yeah, I definitely come from a different background for sure.
Emma: I grew up with a lot of old R&B, so I feel like that plays a big part in the stuff I write.
Joseph: I mean I kind of grew up with the same shit they’ve been listening to, nu-metal, a lot of Warped Tour-type Metalcore and later I got into shoegaze. I mean honestly just a lot of the same shit they listen to, so me joining just worked out I guess.
KSDT: Something that really stood out to me with your guys’ set tonight was the very striking chemistry between you all. When I last spoke to Mateo, he mentioned that friendship was something very important to him that drove a lot of his creativity and the way he writes music. So I guess my question is, how long have you guys all known each other? When did y’all join the band?
Joseph: I’ve known this motherfucker (Mateo) since the first Blossom show before I was even in the band!
Mateo: Oh, you were at the first Blossom show, huh?
Joseph: Yeah, yeah! The two of us just ended up getting close over the years. I started as a fill-in because we were just homies, and then I just ended up joining permanently.
Emma: I knew of Blossom and Mateo for a while. I kept up with the music for a while, and then I got asked last summer if I wanted to join, and then ever since I’ve been here!
Justice: I joined Blossom about a year ago, sometime last November. I met Mateo at a Blossom show, just watching them play because my homie was homies with them. After that, I hit him up on Instagram because he needed a drummer and I was like, “Yo, I’m down,” so I ended up meeting all of them through Blossom and playing shows.
KSDT: How would you guys say that your relationship with each other, the familiarity and rapport that you guys share as bandmates, has affected the way that you guys create and write together?
Mateo: I think a lot of it is knowing that we’re all from different backgrounds, and definitely not trying to, hone in on where you come from, and I guess kind of just being more open, because I know all of them come from different backgrounds, so I would say that there is a lot of open mindedness when it comes to writing with them
Justice: I’ve got something to add too—shoutout to Molitas—that’s where we go after practice all the time. That’s good bonding right there: getting food after practice!
KSDT: When we last spoke, you mentioned feeling as though there wasn’t too much community surrounding Blossom as a band. From what I’ve seen tonight, people, especially in San Diego, really have so much love for you guys! How does it feel to really see that adoration firsthand, and are there any fan interactions in the past that have really stood out to y’all?
Mateo: It was cool seeing a lot of people show interest in us. And I think one of the most important and impactful fan interactions for me was when someone told me that we inspired them to pick up the guitar. That was pretty cool!
KSDT: So you guys just finished playing your set, and you opened with some really striking visuals and samples. Can you give us some insight into what the inspiration for that was?
Mateo: I mean, I mainly pick the samples for what we’re playing in between songs and before the set, and I guess it’s just trying to create an atmosphere of what you’re getting into in those next 30 to 45 minutes, wherever we have you for. And visuals! That was Bill. He is part of Alison’s Halo team. We got asked if we wanted visuals, and we jumped on that opportunity.
KSDT: Moving on, I wanted to ask what if any, are some influences in the way you guys go about crafting your live performances, in terms of set lists, and the way you perform things?
Mateo: Marvin Gaye! Nah I’m just kidding. A lot of it is inspired by so many 90s bands and a lot of newer shoegaze bands, like Whirr, they definitely inspired a lot, and even Michael Jackson, honestly. I always like the theatrics of a live setting and creating a bubble with you and the band or artist. And yeah, I would say that’s what it is for me—that I try to make a whole environment for it.
KSDT: This next question is for Joseph specifically. Something that I really appreciated was your general carefree demeanor on stage! You were moving around all throughout the set, even holding and using your bass like a gun in the middle of a song. Do you want to talk about the thought processes behind the way you perform?
Joseph: Shoutout Andrew Miller! That’s all I got to say
KSDT: Tonight you guys played two unreleased tracks. Give us some insight into any inspirations behind them and the process of writing them
Mateo: A lot of the inspiration came from just playing with one another, because we started being a lot more collaborative in the band. And yeah, a lot of those songs, I mean, we all kind of worked on them, added our own flair to them, and there are things you can pinpoint back to each individual person.
KSDT: With the new year just recently behind us, what does the future of Blossom look like?
Mateo: An album, that’s definitely the goal. Don’t expect it this year, but an album—hashtag big things coming, devil emoji.
KSDT: Are there any recent releases by other bands that you guys have been enjoying?
Mateo, Joseph, and Emma, in unison: 3… 2… 1… Raw Blue by Whirr.
Mateo: That is THE album of 2024 and 2025. I don’t want to hear anything else!
Emma: I’ve been listening to a lot of Chameleon by Trauma Ray.
Justice: For me, I feel like I’ve been trying to get more into shoegaze now that I’ve been playing it. When the band showed me that new Whirr album, it was pretty fire. I like the trumpets in it.
Joseph: I haven’t really been listening to anything new, just a lot of older shit. A lot of 2000s hard rock; just that super loud ,super heavy like “YEAH” type of music. Shoutout Crossfade! Listen to “Cold” if you haven’t. Its a really good song.
KSDT: Before we wrap things up, is there any message you guys wanna leave for fans? Hints on what’s coming next?
Mateo: Thanks for listening to us, it means the world.
Joseph: Hundred emoji.
After my conversation with Blossom, I found myself a bit taken aback as I walked back into the Voodoo Room from its outdoor patio. Though I had unfortunately missed the opening portion of their set, it was interesting to see the stark contrast between the mood of the room during Blossom and that of untitled (halo), who had just taken the stage. Where Blossom was drama, melancholy, and heavy-hitting raw emotion, untitled (halo) was vibrancy, dancey, and strangely hypnotic at times. Being an LA native myself, it was a joy getting to see a band from my hometown even while away from home.
Formed in 2023, untitled (halo), though considered by many to be a shoegaze band, transcends more than such a simple label, blending shoegaze with various elements of dance, dream-pop, electronic, post-punk, and indie. The band had seemingly put the audience under their spell with songs like 2024’s “That’s Honey” and “Oblique Butterfly” as its members danced across the stage with a joy so genuine it was infectious. And while I can’t pinpoint any specific moment, something that particularly stood out to me about their set was their use of electronic drums and samplers in place of a live kit.
Where most modern shoegazers opt for the sheer noise and pressure of live drums, untitled (halo)’s decision to subvert genre norms was one perfect for their unique sounds, allowing lead singer Ariana Mamnoon’s soft breathy vocals to float aimlessly over the band’s soft instrumentation. Closing out the set with their debut single “El Prado Freestyle,” untitled (halo) struck an emotional chord with the audience as they sang along to lyrics “Im Holding onto you cause you want me to,” leaving them ready and eager for the final set of the night.
A Conversation with Ariana, Jay, Davis, and Jack of untitled (halo):
KSDT: When you guys first came together in 2023 there was a great deal of uncertainty regarding the fate of the band and whether or not you guys would even still like each other after your first tour opening for DIIV. Fast forward just two years later, and you guys have gone from playing smaller shows with UCLA DAW to opening for shoegaze giants Glare and touring with genre veterans, Alison’s Halo. What has the experience been like, hitting so many huge milestones so quickly?
Jay: I’m scared. No, I’m grateful! It’s kind of just surreal. I don’t know, I feel like we’ve all been doing music stuff for so long and it’s just kind of serendipitous that it’s impacted people the way it did. Especially since nowadays, just being able to go on tour as a musician is such a luxury. Even though life on the road is obviously not the easiest, I’m really grateful for being able to see people in real life because it’s so hard to cut through the online.
Davis: I don’t know! I like my guitar.
Ariana: It feels very, very surreal, because I did college radio too, and I think I never imagined myself being on the other side of it and actually having some sort of relevance to people. It was crazy at the San Diego show. People knew the lyrics to our songs, all of them! Like what?
The best fans are in San Diego. People were so nice, and they were screaming. You guys are the best! It’s honestly just surreal. It feels unreal. I think we’re all, not to be pretentious, but we are the right people to be doing this, because we just have so much love for music.
KSDT: Starting out mainly in the LA area, how has the experience been touring with Alison’s Halo all over the West Coast?
Jack: Heartburn, really cold.
Davis: They’re really nice, very sweet people, massive chillers. Very caring and parental in a way, which is cool.
Jack: They’re also just such great musicians, I mean, they’ve been doing this for so long. They have it so dialed. Every show is just effortless.
Ariana: On touring, I’d say you have to really like the people you’re in a van with. But we had so much fun together.
Davis: Yeah, I mean I think we had a great time. I feel like people might expect it to be like “Oh I’m sick of seeing your fucking face everyday,” but for me, its like, “I love talking to you guys all the time!”
Ariana: Exactly! Like when we got back from tour, we all went ou,t and Jack even ended up sleeping on Davis’ couch when we all could’ve just gone home. I think we’re all just grateful that we vibe so well on tour. Moral of the story: Alison’s Halo has been amazing to tour with, even though everyone misses their beds.
KSDT: In an interview last year with Teen Vogue, you guys mentioned that you have no big heroes in music anymore. Can you guys give some more insight into this perspective?
Jack: I don’t really fucking look up to anybody anymore, at least in the way I did when I was a kid. I would look at blink-182, or look at any band, and be like, “they’re the coolest band ever, I want to be them.” Now, I mean I like stuff, but I don’t have that burning passion. I don’t like anything that much anymore. It’s not that I think I’m better or anything. It’s just that I think music’s lost its spirit a little bit. And it’s not even that I don’t have any gods. I still look up to people, but it’s just not how it was. It’s just not.
Jay: To popcorn off that, I feel like all the music that you retain and look up to is stuff you listened to when you were like a teenager. I guess just now knowing the reality of what making music is really like, to me it’s just like, “Okay, you guys are doing the same shit we’re doing.” It’s hard to look up to people who are in the same kind of position as us. But if you look at the 2000s or even the 2010s, it was so different. I was telling Jack I wish we were doing this 10 years ago. Nowadays, I feel like people just do music because it’s an outlet for their feelings, which isn’t necessarily bad because performing and being on stage is really cathartic, but I don’t know. I feel like there needs to be more of a separation between art and the artists themselves.
Davis: I think the demystification of artists in general has made it less about icons and more about regular people. I know too much about people, so it’s hard to look up to something that I know so much about. It just feels like that distance that was once there as a kid, or through youth in general, or even through the internet has faded.
Ariana: It used to just be MTV top 20
Davis: Yeah, or your homie had a CD or a record and you didn’t know anything about it aside from the fact that your friend had it.
Ariana: There’s too much, everyone’s trying to do too much. Chill out.
Jack: There’s so much shit nowadays where it’s like, “I see the cultural signifier you are trying to mimic poorly, and it makes me upset.”
KSDT: A big part of your guys’ is allure as a band is this sort of general mystique that you surround yourselves with. Would you guys say that this separation between artists and their audience is something that you guys are intentional about? And how does this sense of anonymity affect the way that you guys approach untitled (halo) as a project?
Ariana: I love separating myself from untitled (halo). Hours before this, I was playing with my nephew and being very goofy but when I’m on stage, I’m different. I really am, I mean I’m even different right now. And I think a lot of musicians and artists stopped doing that. You need to create something for people to have hope in, and that’s what we’re trying to do.
Jack: It’s just too much ego and face in music. Remove yourself a little. So many people have this mindset of “I am the project, I’m uplifting my social credit because I have a project,” instead of just devoting yourself to the work. Everyone’s devoting themselves to themselves and making themselves an idol, when that way of perceiving people is gone. Everything’s falling flat over and over and over again. I think we know that, and we don’t want to do that, we have no interest in doing that.
Davis: Whenever you walk into a gallery, you have to make reductions. You don’t know who or what the artist is or even what they were trying to do. And I guess that’s kind of what I love about music. Like when you listen to something and it’s so impactful, not because you know so much about the artist, but because it made you feel so strongly.
KSDT: One thing I’m hearing a lot from you guys is this sentiment against a lot of the conventions that have come to be standard within the music world today. Do you think that sentiment is something that you guys try to impart in the way you write songs and even perform?
Ariana: I think there’s an element of performance with our band. We remove ourselves, we use ourselves as inspiration. But, when we’re performing, I think we’re all emulating something that not even we know sometimes.
Jack: It’s unclouded. We go up there and we’re not thinking about, “Oh I’m gonna be like, angry looking”. It’s kind of just letting everything go. When I’m on stage, I don’t care what I look like. So if I’m angry or if I’m laughing or if I’m doing a fucking kick with Davis, it is what it is. I think all of us are letting ourselves be and not in a way that’s like, “I’m there.” I’m kind of like 10 feet behind it all.
KSDT: Filmography is such a huge part of the essence of untitled (halo). What film directors and films inspire you guys, and how do these visual influences impact your work with the band?
Davis: I fucking steal everything. My favorite director? I mean this is kind of the douchebag answer but I like Tarkovsky a lot.
Jack: I think my favorite director is Lynn Ramsey. She did Ratcatcher and a bunch of other shit, but she’s amazing.
Jay: I love Brian De Palma, I have very formative memories of seeing Scarface when I was younger. I do most of the design, and a lot of my design style is just an amalgamation of all the things that I like.
KSDT: When you guys go about writing songs, are visuals something you guys take into account? How does this influence your creative process?
Davis: Being on the outside, I feel like it’s less visuals and more aesthetics in general, which applies to sonic stuff too. I think that aesthetics and form go to the forefront, and then technicality follows through editing, and for lack of a better word, a “vibe” is sort of captured. A lot of it is just like writing on the spot, freestyling, things like that, and then it’s just sort of assembled into a track.
Jay: I think visuals kind of come second to the music most of the time, but if there’s a vibe, there’s a vibe, and if we like it, we can kind of build around it.
Ariana: “That’s Honey” is the easiest example for me, I literally watched a movie before, Lillia Forever. The next day, I wrote lyrics inspired by it, and then we made the video together inspired by the film.
KSDT: How does using digital drums and samplers as opposed to more traditional methods impact the way you guys go about performing and writing, and how has it expanded the possibilities in terms of what you guys can do as a band?
Jay: I just love being able to manipulate things live. In terms of it being unconventional, I grew up listening to a lot of Panda Bear and similar artists and seeing the way that they use samples, and just how very technical it is—using samples and kind of just building off of them. Also, because it’s so gridded, I feel like it’s a lot easier for everyone to stay on time.
Ariana: I like that we’re doing something different, and we all DJ. And I don’t know, I just go to a show all the time, and I see the same Jam Band type thing. And I think it’s kind of cool that we’re trying to be a little different. Not Dutch Interior. Dutch Interior is the coolest band ever. Shoutout Dutch Interior! You need some of those. You need some of those. And they’re and they’re really good at it, but I think it’s cool that we’re trying to do something different.
Jack: You know, it feels natural. We like other electric music and sampling and loops, and that’s naturally how we like to make music—kind of like, dissociate, get lost in the song. All of our songs, I feel like we can just kind of be hypnotic with it. I feel like the setup looks natural. I don’t think a drummer makes sense. The way that we can manipulate drums and slow them down, or reverb the track live. You can’t actually live mix drums like that, and you never could. I feel like it’s a benefit in our world, spiritually, it feels right.
KSDT: Finally, what is next for untitled (halo)?
Ariana: At some point, I think we want to make more music and play more shows. We’re gonna come back to San Diego in the summertime. Wink, wink, we’re doing stuff. Stay tuned.
And finally, at 9:00 PM, after a mystifying set by LA’s own untitled (halo), there was yet another shift in the room’s energy, and as the audience began to eagerly crowd the stage in the center of the room, the highly anticipated Alison’s Halo walked out. Clad in t-shirts and jeans, the seemingly unassuming quartet, headed by Catherine and Adam Cooper, began their set with “Sunshy” their sweet harmonies and crashing guitars quickly quieting any doubts about whether or not the band still had their chops.
Exploring more of their debut Eyedazzler with stunning renditions of songs like “Calendar”, “Slowbleed” and “Chime”, the room was caught in a swell of emotion with many in the crowd joining in the Cooper’s soft ethereal melodies. One of my favorite moments of the night came during “Jetpacks for Julian” as I witnessed two estranged friends standing ahead of me in the crowd run into one another and, after what must have been years, embracing with such force that you’d think they’d fall apart if they let go. The scene continued as Catherine closed the song singing, “I never got that far, I never got that far with him.” All in all, even if you aren’t a fan of Alison’s Halo, their skill and experience are undeniable, every aspect of their performance was on point, and in this case, calling them veterans would be an understatement.
Connect with the Artists!
Blossom | untitled (halo) | Alison’s Halo
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