Artist bio #1 - Anthony Ortiz
Los Angeles-based pop artist Anthony Ortiz doesn’t want to stand out. That’s right: his goal is “to say the things that people are afraid of saying themselves” – but that we all feel.
“I want people to think ‘Yeah, me too’ when they hear my songs,” he says. Naming Post Malone, Dominic Fike, and Justin Bieber as musical influences, Ortiz creates moody tracks with instantly memorable vocal hooks and lyrics that tap into everyday, real-life situations. From the most vulnerable emotions to the happiest, every song Anthony Ortiz writes draws upon his own experiences - and his ability to tap into the universal – to connect with anyone ready to listen: “I don’t know how to be anything other than who I am. I can’t be anything else other than who I am.”
Originally from the small town of Land O’ Lakes, Florida, Ortiz wasn’t always dreaming of pop stardom. His first dream – skateboarding professionally – was derailed after repeat injuries led his father to take away his skateboard. Wanting to make money to buy a new board, then-16-year-old Ortiz headed to nearby downtown Tampa to busk, covering “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls. Despite never having sung or played guitar before, he made $800 that first day. Soon enough, “I realized I was singing for myself, and I was out there not because I wanted the money; I was out there because I truly enjoyed it.”
Anthony Ortiz names Bieber and Ed Sheeran as career inspirations, having watched both go from busking to selling out stadiums – a path he will soon follow. Busking soon led Ortiz to a connection with Simon Cowell and the SyCo team, which earned him a spot on La Banda, the Latin TV show that produced CNCO. There, he met the producer who helped him write his first song, earning local radio play in the Tampa area. Shortly after graduating high school, Ortiz was invited to compete on The Voice. Newly enamored with a whole new world in Los Angeles, he skipped his flight back home when the show wrapped - “and I’ve been out here ever since.”
Following “Fall For You,” “Ivy League” is Ortiz’s second release on LA-based label Red Slushy Records. Thanks to his time spent experimenting and shaping his sound as an independent artist, Ortiz is entering this new chapter with an open mind and laser focus on his own creativity. “Ivy League” was written and recorded with Taylor Sparks and Julian Garcia and recorded at Sparks’s studio. Painting him as a misunderstood but thoughtful romantic and inspired by a tense meeting with the father of a girl he was dating, “Ivy League” is relatable to anyone who’s been judged based on their appearance. The song came together quickly: “I wrote it in literally five minutes because it’s very honest. It wasn’t a concept; it wasn’t a formula. It was me just saying exactly how I felt.”
With an undeniable persistence, Anthony Ortiz is the embodiment of setting your mind to achieve a goal and keep improving. Never one to slow down, his next release is “Attitude,” out soon on Red Slushy Records. Written with Michael Fatkin from Australia in Fatkin’s home studio, “Attitude” will be the first taste of an upcoming EP. “This is a whole new quality of music that I’m experiencing,” Ortiz says, “but I am starting off in such a pop realm because I think that’s what I loved about music in the first place was these pop artists and they evolve themselves. And I want to have the same evolution.”
What happens when an emo kid grows up? Crooked Teeth (Tyson Evans) makes bedroom pop for emo kids – dream-punk with massive pop hooks and a big rock sound, born out of a longtime appreciation for the experimental, industrial sounds of larger-than-life artists that have crossed over from alternative music to the mainstream. Combined with vulnerable lyrics that might've been written in your diary, had they not felt so immediately universal, it's no surprise the world is catching on. Crooked Teeth has seen radio support from The World Famous KROQ, Bay Area's Alt105, and BBC1's The Rock Show with Daniel P Carter, not to mention an Audiotree performance as well as tours with This Wild Life, Grayscale, WSTR, and Hot Mulligan.
"Light Me Up" marks the next step in Crooked Teeth's artistic evolution. With memorable lyrics from the start, the track also features the powerful guitars that fans have come to love from songs like "Beg" (884k Spotify streams), "Plight," and "Gone Forever" while leaning into new melodic territory, instrumental harmonies, and explosive drums. It's not so much a change as a natural progression; "I've always known that I wanted to have these really big pop hooks," he says, "I'm not afraid to be bombastic." "Light Me Up" features the ethereal vocals of Talker; rhythmic verses and a sparkling chorus build to a dreamy, yet chaotic bridge (think Now, Now meets blink-182). Crooked Teeth wrote the song with help from Four Year Strong's Alan Day; it was mixed by Courtney Ballard (5 Seconds of Summer, All Time Low, Good Charlotte, Anti-Flag, Waterparks).
Out of a world in shambles, in a music industry shut down, comes Social Order. Together, Mason Musso (Metro Station, vocals/guitar), Matthew Di Panni (The Mowgli's, bass), Anthony Improgo (Parade Of Lights, drums), and Andrew Ward (Nuwave Fighters, guitar/keys) are bringing a dark, cinematic vibe and new influences (they cite The Cure, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode) to their pop and alternative backgrounds. The result is modern pop with refined lyrics, a post-punk/alt-electro aesthetic, and an epic, anthemic sound.
Wanting to make sense of the chaos in the world and create something positive, Musso first brought Di Panni and Improgo on board in 2020. After working with the group on their first two videos, Ward joined Social Order on guitar and keys. He shares, "That was a really cool learning experience, doing that first video with them. And then we all just kind of clicked." Today's bands aren't only about the music – branding and videos are just as important as the albums themselves – so having someone who understood what they were going for has allowed Social Order to fully realize their vision.
Social Order have four singles under their belt to date. 2020 saw the release of "Going Out Dancing," a song that celebrates having fun at the end of the world; "Dreams," a carefree look at romanticizing things from the past that you can't seem to forget; and "Humans," a desolate, post-apocalyptic look at the depression many of us have felt as the world falls around us. Most recently, they've released "Chastity," written with Nickolas Wheeler (Wheelhouse Studios / The All-American Rejects) – a project set in motion by manager Scott Waldman at Waldman Management. Di Panni describes the writing process: "We just clicked- he had all the right ideas and things to say, we were saying all the right things back to him."
Writing across West Coast cities, Social Order's creative process is entirely collaborative. Musso and Improgo will take turns coming up with guitar riffs or demos on their phone or with GarageBand and asking each other for feedback. Improgo explains how it all comes together: "Everything starts with an idea starter. Once we get a hook going, then I'll build it out. We have been in the same room, but I'm like the heart, and I reach out to each individual one- 'Okay. All right. What do you think of this? What do you think about, what do you think of this? What do you think of this?' And then I bring it together."
What can Social Order do for you? It's up to you to take what you want from it. "I like telling stories," Musso says, "and if the stories hit people in a positive way, or maybe it makes you think, then I've done my job, and I feel really good about that." Following "Chastity," Social Order plan to release another single before focusing on an EP. Ward and Improgo already focus heavily on sequencing and electronics, and the band is eager to rehearse and perform live once possible.
From mixing and mastering and producing to video and graphics, Social Order is self-contained and totally DIY – something that Musso says "feels really fresh. It feels new, and it feels fun to just create something, especially during this crazy time." As a new group, they're still finding their sound – and finding it exciting to have the freedom to create and define things for themselves in the band environment.