MUSIC MINUTE: INTERVIEW WITH DJ KIND BEATS

Mikey LaCroix is busy. You’ve probably enjoyed one of his performances under the name Kind Beats at Backyard on Bell, or listened to one of his radio shows. But, as he himself admits, he’s not the kind of performer you always notice. That’s kind of the point: As long as you’re happy, he’s doing his job.

The hip-hop head-turned-DJ has two shows, a booming SoundCloud page, and friends in every nook, corner, and cranny of DFW, but he’s still not satisfied. He’s on a mission to unite artists, unite sounds and make Denton even funkier.

We sat down with the music man to find out what drives him and his sound.

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ON THE SCENE: DMAC'S KICKOFF EVENT AT DAN'S SILVERLEAF

If you missed the chance to view some talented art work by local artists and musicians this past Saturday at the Denton Music and Arts Collective Kick-off party at Dan’s Silverleaf, we have to say you missed out. DMAC is a recently-launched group looking to subsidize the cost of healthcare for local artists and much more. Luckily for Dentonites, this was only the first of a number of fundraisers that the nonprofit plans to hold. So rest assured that you will have many more chances to give back to Denton while also getting to take in some great local culture. Read on for our thoughts on Saturday's festivities

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OAKTOPIA 2016: SATURDAY PREVIEW

Over the past week, we've been picking a few of our "can't miss" shows and events that are a part of this year's Oaktopia festival in Downtown Denton, TX. You can check out our Thursday or Friday coverage for events for those days. Saturday, however, is a beast of a day. Read below to check out Nathan Williams' coverage of what you should check out at Oaktopia this Saturday. 

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3 SONGS: AUGUST 2016

Colder weather will be here eventually, y’all, and frankly, we’re getting excited. As you trade in those bikinis and swim trunks for peacoats and comically large scarves, you might find yourself looking for tunes to listen to on a lazy rainy day inside, a quiet walk through campus, or to help you get through that unexpected break-up you just went through. In this month’s 3 Songs column, our place to showcase great new music, we’ve branched out a little from our normal Denton-centric content and pulled together several tracks that’ll scare the summer right out of Texas, so plug in your headphones and get ready for some alt-country from Space Mountain, Pablo Maeda and Moonbeamer.

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ON NOSTALGIA AND MUSIC VENUES

I remember being 18 years old, a freshman at UNT and my friends and I thinking that we totally had Denton figured out. We spent our evenings eating J&J’s pizza off of paper plates on the courthouse lawn and drinking mocha and mint milkshakes from Jupiter House before heading off to a show at Hailey’s to catch Mouse Parade or Explosions in the Sky or Flickerstick. I would make sure my cash and ID were ready, knowing that my hand was about to be stamped with ink that would take days to get off, which would alert the bartender that I was not old enough to enjoy the beer that everyone around me was drinking. We would hunt down house shows in ramshackle rent houses on Bernard Street, or in some kid’s apartment on Avenue G, hoping that the cops wouldn’t bust it because of too many cars on the street or the music being too raucous. We would roll into our dorm rooms sometime before dawn, peeling off our clothes that reeked of smoke and sweat and spilled beer - and close our eyes, too tired to wash the smell off of our bodies.

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