“There’s so much pressure to constantly better yourself,” Lydia Night, lead singer and songwriter of The Regrettes, says. “That phrase, ‘further joy,’ summarized what it meant to be on the hamster wheel of constantly chasing happiness, but in turn, that’s what makes you unhappy,” she adds.

As the pandemic set in and Los Angeles shut down, The Regrettes were having a full-blown identity crisis. Lydia had been touring since she was 12-years-old and the band spent the past two years headlining sold-out shows and performing at festivals like Coachella. As NME said of their sophomore album, The Regrettes were “truly unstoppable” until they weren’t.

In January of 2021, after more than a year apart, The Regrettes reconvened for a 10-day writing retreat in Joshua Tree. They left the desert with a vision for the record and demos in hand. Although the subject matter is anything but light, she still calls it the “poppiest, and danciest” album they’ve ever made.

“What Further Joy means, that chase for happiness, that quote sums it up,” Lydia says. It’s the lesson that allowed The Regrettes to pause, go inward separately, and still land in the same place together, becoming a tighter unit than they’ve ever been. It’s also the lesson Lydia hopes listeners walk away with. “We all deserve happiness and to be present, and we’ll never get there if we feel so much shame and guilt for not being there already,” she adds. “Don’t get caught in the hamster wheel of chasing joy.”
 
 Catch The Regrettes, Malibu Wild and The Perfect Children TONIGHT at Fountain Square for Indie Fridays Powered by CincyMusic!
 
 Malibu Wild is about getting lost in yourself; it’s about being in the moment. The feeling of freedom and feeling everything. Formed in Cincinnati in 2018, Malibu Wild combines pop/rock with elements of tropical pop.

The band started off 2019 with the release of their high-energy alt/pop debut single “American Dream”, and started off 2020 with their tropical pop single “Easy”. They spent 2022 challenging themselves to release 5 more singles in a span of 7 months further evolving their sound. In the spring of 2023 Malibu Wild released their anticipated single “Midnight Drives” and will have more to come in the summer.
 
 It's as if word of the sheer intensity witnessed at The Perfect Children's live show has gone viral. In just under two years, the band's sonic stew of gospel, soul, garage, blues, rock, and even punk has created a buzz that's leaving jaws open, rumps shakin' and feet stompin'. With songwriter Kristen Kreft (Pearlene/J Dorsey Blues Revival/Daniel Wayne and the Silver Lines) at the helm, the dynamic duo of Beth Harris (The Hiders/Pearlene/Daniel Wayne and the Silver Lines) and Nicole Potter-Borngrebe on backing vocals, and rhythm section inertia of Adam Shelton (RX2/Kalip) on drums and Nic Powers (Static Falls/The Sweep) on bass, the vocal velocity of this frenetic force will etch an impression that will last. They are something to behold.