Monday, September 18, 2017

L.A.-based brother-sister duo Phil and Lu evolves into full-band The Morning Yells. Upcoming release follows-up last year’s “Mood Rock” debut.

Hear “elegant bridge between folk and classic indie rock” single “She Got Time” now via All Things Go. Full “Proper Wilted” EP arrives Oct. 6th.

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The Morning Yells (L-R): Curran McDowell, Trevor Smith, Laura Stancil, Phil Stancil. Photo credit: Chase Bescey.

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Check out the premiere of “She Got Time” by The Morning Yells at All Things Go or listen via the links below!







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The Morning Yells – Live

10/4/2017: Los Angeles, CA @ Good Times at Davey Waynes
10/7/2017: Los Angeles, CA @ Hotel Cafe (11PM)

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“An elegant bridge between folk and classic indie rock.” — All Things Go

The Morning Yells is a new Los Angeles-based band that evolved from the brother-sister duo Phil and Lu (Phil and Laura Stancil), which released its debut album Mood Rock (“True emotion and reminiscence,” said The Line of Best Fit) in late 2016. The siblings, who have been playing music together their entire lives, are now joined by fellow multi-instrumentalists Trevor Smith and Curran McDowell to form The Morning Yells. The foursome will release a five-song EP “Proper Wilted” on October 6th. “She Got Time,” the first single from the collection is streaming now, after recently premiering via music discovery website All Things Go.

“We grew up in a family band, playing roots-rock and folk music at festivals and local watering holes throughout Michigan, where we’re originally from,” says Phil, whose warm and reedy tone defines the vocals on the EP. “Our Dad taught us everything we know about music, and we fell in love with Beach Boys, America and The Moody Blues by digging through his record collection.”

“Proper Wilted” was recorded by Mark Rains, best-known for his work with artists as diverse as Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Waylon Jennings, which goes a long way towards explaining the sound of The Morning Yells.

In the span of a mere five songs, the band adeptly covers a variety of genres, with each member easily jumping from piano, to guitar, to bass. All four contribute to the songwriting.

Although a short set, “Proper Wilted” is full of highlights, notably on its lead single “She Got Time,” a track that, despite the Stancil’s assertion that it had been tossed around for years, sounds completely inspired.

“It didn't find a place until The Morning Yells became a group, but it definitely is the strongest example of our style at this point,” Phil says. The Morning Yells is currently working on a second EP, and will continue to perform in and around Los Angeles throughout the rest of 2017.

“Proper Wilted,” the debut EP by The Morning Yells arrives on Oct. 6th, 2017 preceded by the single “She Got Time,” streaming now. Members of The Morning Yells are available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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The Morning Yells
“Proper Wilted” EP
(Golden Boy Records)
Oct. 6th, 2017


Track Listing:

01.  Must Be You
02.  She Got Time (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
03.  She Knows Exactly What She’s Doing
04.  Sad Eyed Boy
05.  Take Me Somewhere

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The Morning Yells Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Friday, September 15, 2017

Shining Mirrors shares Motown-meets-downtown single “Cardiac” from upcoming self-titled EP, out Nov. 3rd.

Brooklyn-based trio “perfectly finds the intersection of Phil Spector-style pop and punk” says PopMatters.

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Shining Mirrors (L-R): Drew Robinson, Reni Lane, Josh Christie. Photo credit: Drew Robinson.

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 Check out the premiere of “Cardiac” by Shining Mirrors at PopMatters or listen via the links below!







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“The hooks are immediate, and the track’s warm confidence wins us over within seconds; for two minutes and 51 seconds, we can revel in the trio’s remarkable combination of innocence and danger.” – Jedd Beaudoin on “Cardiac” by Shining Mirrors for PopMatters

For most bands, a day job gets in the way.

“These songs were all recorded in our loft,” says Shining Mirrors front man, Drew Robinson. “Drums and all. Fortunately, I’m the building manager. That’s my day job.”

The first thing we hear on the new self-titled EP from the Brooklyn-based band is bass player Reni Lane telling her bandmates to “try it again.” It’ll remain a mystery as to whether the previous take of opening cut “Cardiac” (premiered this week via PopMatters) just wasn’t up to snuff, but boy did they get it right on the one that made it.

The EP (out Nov. 3rd) contains this song, along with four more tunes that Shining Mirrors thoughtfully describes as “dark garage” music.

“My biggest musical influences are Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix,” Robinson says, exposing some deep roots. “I lived in the suburbs of Baltimore during my teens. I recorded a string of albums in my bedroom under various pseudonyms, and I played in a band. We had some mild success. We toured. We released an EP. Then I followed my girlfriend to New York. We toured. We imploded.”

While living out this familiar rock n’ roll story, Robinson had the name Shining Mirrors in the back of his mind the whole time. In 2012 he took it into the land of the living.

“As a human, your eyes never see your own face,” he explains of the moniker’s significance – the “Mirrors” specifically. “What you see is a reflection of yourself. All art, film, painting, literature, etc. is a mirror.”

And “Shining?”

“It implies a moment of clarity, something that’s crystal clear, like the kind of epiphany that burns your eyes. It’s like the moment when you finally realize something you’ve been thinking about for 20 years.”

For those indie-rock, power-pop, dark-garage fans in the house, please rejoice in the fact that it’s only taken a fraction of that time for Robinson to realize his vision for Shining Mirrors.

The new EP from Brooklyn-based threesome Shining Mirrors arrives on Nov. 3rd, 2017, preceded by the single “Cardiac,” streaming now. Members of Shining Mirrors are available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Shining Mirrors – Live

9/29/2017: New Haven, CT @ Stella Blues
11/3/2017: Brooklyn, NY @ Flowers For All Occasions (EP Release Show)
11/10/2017: Philadelphia, PA @ PHÂRMÂCY

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Shining Mirrors
“Shining Mirrors” EP
Nov. 3rd, 2017
  

Track Listing:

01. Cardiac (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
02. All Action
03. Favorite TV Show
04. I Got Thru
05. Holy Men

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Shining Mirrors Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Thursday, September 14, 2017

Hootie and the Blowfish guitarist, co-founder Mark Bryan releases third solo LP “Songs of the Fortnight,” performs live in Paste Magazine’s NYC studio.

Two-time Grammy winner, recent Emmy recipient for “Live at the Charleston Music Hall” series, helps bring South Carolina city’s scene into national spotlight.

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Mark Bryan as photographed by Jonathan Boncek.

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Mark Bryan stopped by the Paste Magazine studio in NYC to perform songs from “Songs of the Fortnight” and chat with editor, Hilary Saunders.



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Mark Bryan – In The Press

“A driving, full-on pop masterpiece.” – Popdose

“Steady, whimsical optimism.” – MAGNET

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Mark Bryan – Live

10/5/2017: Columbia, SC @ Music Farm/Tin Roof (5PM Early Show, Free Admission)
10/7/2017: Columbia, SC @ Books-A-Million (2PM EST, In-Store)

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“It’s satisfying. It’s a chance to take what I have learned from my experiences within the music industry and convey it to the next generation.” – Mark Bryan chats with Isaac Weeks of the Charleston City Paper about his work as a musician beyond playing music.

Hootie and the Blowfish guitarist and co-founder Mark Bryan hit NYC last week in support of his recently released new solo album Songs of the Fortnight (Chucktown Music Group), and stopped by the Paste Magazine studio to play songs from the record and chat about his various music-related projects outside of the realm of performing.

Some of these include helping to establish the College of Charleston’s concentration on the Music Industry, and teaming up with the esteemed local venue, the Charleston Music Hall to launch a television show “Live at the Charleston Music Hall,” which recently won a regional Emmy Award.

Bryan is also heavily involved in Carolina Studios, a non-profit recording studio that allows children in low-income areas to have a songwriting and recording experience free-of-charge. Bryan also brings his unique perspective on the industry to his work managing the emerging Charleston-based rock band Stop Light Observations.

“Charleston is an amazing city in the middle of a remarkable renaissance,” Bryan says of his adopted hometown (he is originally from Bethesda, Maryland). “I’m lucky to be part of its growth.”

As a member of a nearly 20 million album selling group Hootie and the Blowfish, Bryan’s guitar playing was ubiquitous in 1995. Hootie and The Blowfish’s Cracked Rear View earned the biggest album sales of any release that year, and is now ranked as one of the biggest selling albums in music history. Success at that level brings all sorts of pre-conceptions, so when first hearing the tunes on Bryan’s just-released third solo album Songs of The Fortnight (Chucktown Music Group), listeners will be surprised at the down-to-Earth songwriting that sounds like Southern hospitality.

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Hear “Forgetting About Me” by Mark Bryan via Guitar World or here!


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Bryan’s efforts on behalf of the local music scene also brought about the concept for the Songs of the Fortnight album.  After Hootie went on semi-hiatus almost a decade ago – the band still convenes for its hometown two-night stand every August – Bryan became passionate about producing other artists, which led to a prominent role as a producer in Charleston music scene.

As Bryan began to amass dozens of production credits, he also started to record and release songs on the fly – first his own, and then those of other artists he was working with. This led to the launch of the “Song of the Fortnight” blog, where Bryan posted a new song of his own, or an artist he was playing with or producing, every two weeks, for three years.

Eventually, there was enough material for an album, which comprises the 11 songs on Songs of the Fortnight. The album features ten Bryan originals, and an opening cut that is another nod to Bryan’s ease at throwing the spotlight; a barn-burning cover of Scruffy The Cat’s college radio favorite “Mybabyshe’sallright” (featuring frequent REM collaborator Peter Holsapple on harmonica.)

In fact, Songs of the Fortnight functions as somewhat of a capper – the “Song of the Fortnight” blog could have continued indefinitely if Bryan hadn’t received the offer to work for the College of Charleston. but the opportunity was right in line with his interest and continuing passion for elevating the Charleston, South Carolina music community.

Mark Bryan’s third album Songs of the Fortnight is out now via the artist’s own Chucktown Music Group. Bryan is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Mark Bryan
Songs of the Fortnight
(Chucktown Music Group)
Out Now
  

Track Listing:

01. Mybabyshe’sallright (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
02. If You Saw Her (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
03. Almost Loved Me
04. A Little Bit of Everything
05. The Great Beyond
06. Forgetting About Me (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
07. Whole Lotta Lovin’ (feat. Hank Futch)
08. Sweet Love (feat. Kathy Dempf)
09. Only Love Can Satisfy
10. A Song For Maryland
11. Maybe Then (Acoustic)

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Mark Bryan Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Tree Machines reveals “Up For Air” full track list, cover art, title cut. Los Angeles-based band’s two-year labor of love arrives Sept. 22nd.

Record release show at Hotel Café set for Sept. 29th; Album sampler available now via Noisetrade; Hear “Up For Air” title track via Impose.

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 Tree Machines (L-R): Douglas Wooldridge, Patrick Aubry. Photo by Kasia Nawrocka.

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Tree Machines – In The Press

“A big, urgent, liberating sound.” (Buzzbands.la) | “Anthemic.” (The Wild) | “Gleaming placidity.” (BlackBook) | “Some LA soul that indie pop needs.” (Popdust) | “Viciously human.” (Atwood) | “Emotionally staggering.” (Diffuser) | “Best new rock song of the year.” (BULLETT) | “Beautifully brutal.” (Innocent Words) | “I’ve been unable to stop listening.” (Gold Flake Paint) | “Hope and illumination.” (The Vinyl District) | “Heart-quickening sentimentality.” (MAGNET) | “Best thing I’ve heard all week.” (Daytrotter)

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Los Angeles! Join Tree Machines at Hotel Café on Fri., Sept. 29th for the Up For Air record release show! TIX | RSVP

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“A new sound. You can hear the band experimenting with folk electronics.” – Impose with the premiere of “Up For Air”. Listen here or at the links below!




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Tree Machines shares the "Up For Some ‘Up For Air’" album sampler with Noisetrade and sits for an extensive interview with Noisetrade’s Will Hodge.

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“I wanted to create something that was a little more retro and hip hop-inspired,” says Mike Giffin, the behind-the-scenes producer and multi-instrumentalist in Tree Machines about “Up For Air,” the title track from the band’s upcoming debut album, out Sept. 22nd. Hear it now via Impose. “Almost instantly, Doug (Wooldridge, the band’s lyricist and vocalist) came up with the catchy melody and rhythmic patterns that are still there in the song to this day. Who knew it was going to be the album’s title track?”

Wooldridge concurs, “I’ve always had an affinity for this song ever since Mike brought the beat in for us to listen to. While making this album, we’ve recorded about 20 or so tracks and Mike kept trying to add this one it to the pile of songs ‘not quite ready for release,’ but each time I’d come into the studio and see ‘Up For Air’ missing from the list, I’d put it back in defiance! Now that everything is said and done, it’s one of my favorite songs on the album.”

About his lyrics on the cut, Wooldridge explains, “Some of this album deals with loneliness and the feeling of being in a wholly unfamiliar place trying to figure out what we’re doing out here on the West Coast and if we can even keep our heads above water long enough to keep going, even if it’s only for one more day.”

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Relocated from Lawrence, Kansas, Tree Machines built a safe room in Los Angeles. Not for security of the conventional kind, but for a place to unleash, and make the kind of music that is at once vulnerable and strong, without fear of consequence. Anthems for times that don’t make sense, but carve a path forward.

Here, Douglas Wooldridge (vocalist, lyricist), bandmate Patrick Aubry, and producer Mike Giffin (all three contribute to the various instrumentation and music) spent two years creating Up For Air, the debut Tree Machines full-length album, scheduled for release on the band’s Man In The Machine label on Sept. 22nd.

Up For Air follows-up 2015’s debut Tree Machines EP, which contained the band’s first single “Fucking Off Today,” a difficult-to-ignore opening salvo that expressed Midwestern malaise (which these former Kansans know all too well) in a new way. Three more Tree Machines singles appeared during the summer of that year.

Members of Tree Machines are available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Tree Machines
Up For Air
(Man In The Machine)
September 22nd, 2017


Track Listing:

01. I’ll Float On
02. Waiting On The Sun  (SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3 | LYRIC | VIDEO | REMIX)
03. Up For Air (YOUTUBE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
04. Like A Drum
05. All Your Lies
06. Don’t Give Up
07. Weights and Stones (SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3 | LYRIC | VIDEO)
08. Fade On (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
09. Always Losing
10. Carry On
11. Monsters
12. Like An Ocean
13. Under The Weight

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Buzzbands.la with the premiere of “Fade On” by Tree Machines. Listen here or at the links below!






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Substream with the premiere of the “Weights and Stones” music video. See it here or watch and listen at the links below!







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Tree Machines Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Monday, September 11, 2017

J Hacha de Zola joined by members of Morphine, Klezmatics, Gato Loco, Tom Waits collaborator Ralph Carney for third LP “Antipatico,” arriving Oct. 6th.

“Urban Junkyard” artist sets Oct. 14th record release show at Maxwell’s; Gets “Super Clean” in new mini-doc; Records sold-out batch of one-of-a-kind lathe cuts.

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J Hacha de Zola as photographed by Miguel Peralta Jr.

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J Hacha de Zola – “March of The Hollowmen” (taken from Antipatico, out Oct. 6th)

“A fantastic power that is as carnival-like and playful as it is possessed and cacophonic.” — Atwood Magazine






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J Hacha de Zola – In The Press

“The kind of alluring character found in old children’s books.” — UTNE

“The main influence is that of Tom Waits. But if Zola has influences, he also has talent.” — VOIR (Canada)

“To say that De Zola’s creative process and musical style are unique is an understatement.” — SLUG

“Mutant blues rock.” — Treble Zine

“A twisted, dystopian narrative straight from the mind of John Carpenter.” — Elmore

“Visionary.” — BLURT

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Hoboken! The Latest Noise Presents: J Hacha de Zola celebrating the release of Antipatico at Maxwell’s on Sat. Oct. 14th. RSVP here.

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J Hacha de Zola clips coupons, folds laundry, waters plants, vacuums, mops, and washes dishes to the concern and dismay of his friends in “Super Clean.” Watch it here.

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J Hacha de Zola recently recorded a batch of direct-to-vinyl lathe cuts as part of the Leesta Vall series of “Office Sessions.” This unique run is already sold-out, but you can hear J’s favorite takes here.

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“The title of the song itself is a reference to T.S. Elliot’s ‘The Hollow Men,’” explains Rahway-based J Hacha de Zola of “March of the Hollowmen” (recently premiered via Atwood Magazine), the latest pre-release single from Antipatico (Caballo Negro, Oct. 6th), his third full-length album in just two years. “It’s truly a timeless poem,” Hacha de Zola continues. “It touches upon the absurd in the form of circular repetitive phrasing, but the poem is very song-like in and of itself, so I stole! There is also some HP Lovecraft in there.”

The tune is but one example of the magical voodoo to be found on Antipatico, (translation: “wicked”) which follows-up Picaro Obscuro, the second of Hacha de Zola’s two “urban junkyard” albums of 2016.

In addition to his seemingly non-stop creativity in the studio, Hacha de Zola will also bring Antipatico to the stage of Maxwell’s in Hoboken for a record release show on Oct. 14th. Presumably, he will case the joint with his mop and bucket ahead of time, as it recently came to light that Hacha de Zola is a bit of a clean freak. Check out the mini-doc “Super Clean” for a peek at Hacha de Zola’s unrealistic standards and his friend’s reactions to them.

Another peek into Hacha de Zola’s musical world beyond the recording studio can be heard via his recent performances for Leesta Vall’s series of “Office Sessions,” which yielded an already-sold-out batch of direct-to-vinyl lathe cuts. Hacha de Zola and his band performed many takes of the three pre-release songs from Antipatico for a total of 19 cuts. Each of these 19 takes were cut directly to their own individual 7-inch vinyl record, and only one copy of each take exists in the world.  While these unique session pieces are sold out, Hacha de Zola has digitized his three favorite versions from the day for posting here.

“This is art, and I intend on torturing everyone!” is how Hacha de Zola went about explaining to the band that they’d be cutting each record in real time. “It was absolutely grueling,” he remembers. “Everyone was joking that I had done this on purpose in order to make these tracks even more unique by inadvertently making everyone’s job harder.” Regardless, Hacha de Zola thinks the results are special. “These cuts are really quite unique. It’s hard to play a song the same way twice, let alone five to ten times.”

On Antipatico, ​​Hacha de Zola (and his gaggle of cohorts and underground legends including ​​Dana Colley of ​​Morphine, ​​Tom Waits collaborator ​​Ralph Carney, ​​Frank London of ​​Klezmatics, and “Psycho Mambo” collective, ​​Gato Loco among others) is again practicing his “reductive synthesis” method of, as he elegantly says, “shooting the arrow first and then painting the bullseye around it.”

​​Antipatico, the latest album from J Hacha de Zola, arrives October 6th, 2017. Hacha de Zola is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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J Hacha de Zola
Antipatico
(Caballo Negro Records)
October 6th, 2017
  

Track Listing:

01. Antipatico
02. March of the Hollowmen  (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
03. Lightning Rod Salesman
04. No Situation  (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
05. El Desgraciado
06. On a Sleepless Night
07. Eigengrau
08. That Same Thing
09. Amaranthine
10. A Fanciful Invention (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)

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J Hacha de Zola Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion