NEWSLETTER
VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 6

Included In This Issue:

• Know Your Aura - AURA Music & Arts Festival Pre-Parties!
• Artist Spotlight - An Interview With Jeff Lloyd of The Heavy Pets
• Local Love - Ketchy Shuby
• On The Radar - Elephantgun
• Hey DJ - Craig Heneveld
• Featured Bands - Upcoming Tour Dates

**PRESALES ALERT** Be sure to pickup your tickets today to guarantee yourself a spot at AURA 2012. For only $30/day, you can see over 40 bands, camp in a beautiful setting for three nights, and have one of the best weekends of your life. Don't delay! (AURA tickets make great Valentines Day gifts!) Tickets Available Here

Know Your AURA: AURA Music & Arts Festival Pre-Parties!

Giving you three jam packed days of music just wasn't enough.... we're going to give you even more! We are excited to announce seven AURA performer showcases leading up to the main event. AURA Music Events and Brotherly Love Productions are joining forces and playing host to the official pre-parties in Miami, Boca Raton, Tampa, Dunedin, Jacksonville Beach and Athens, GA. Polish those dance shoes and come out to see old friends, make new connections and groove with the likes of Kung-Fu, The Werks, Fusik, Brock Butler of Perpetual Groove, Jeff Lloyd of The Heavy Pets, Aquaphonics, Ketchy Shuby, Fusik, The Resolvers, The Fritz, Spontaneous Underground, Nick Noyes, Consider The Source, Psychedelphia and The Funky Nuggets. We hope to see you out!

Visit our website to get all the details:
http://www.auramusicfestival.com/index.php/music-and-arts/preshows

Artist Spotlight: An Interview with Jeff Lloyd of The Heavy Pets

As veterans of the festival, what does AURA mean for you and the band?
This is our second year playing Aura, but we very much treat it like our own festival. It seems that everyone we know in Florida is going, so it has a very homey feel to it. Aura also brings people from all over, so it is an opportunity for us to reach new audiences. We are very close with many of the people that work year-round to make this one weekend so special, so we have tremendous respect for the finesse and the elbow grease that goes into it all.

Have there been an follies or noteworthy occurrences for THP at AURA?
Well, last year was a bit of a travesty. Mike's father got really sick, and Mike ended up flying home to NY the day we played AURA. The good news is his Dad is now totally ok, but it was tremendously scary and stressful on all of us at the time. It was the one and only THP gig ever without Mike. I thought we handled it well by adjusting the setlist, shuffling vocal duties and whatnot, but without the five of us, it just wasn't The Heavy Pets. I ended up sitting-in with Jaime, Jim and Justin on their late-night Lather Up! set, which probably ended up being the better set. Rather than playing THP songs with adjustments, we were just jamming all out - expecting nothing, anticipating everything and all that. It was a ton of fun, but this year, we are bringing everything for both our THP sets... we have unfinished business.

We look forward to seeing you back at full strength. What do you have in store for this year?
Last year we had actually prepared our set a week in advance and tweaked it in rehearsal. We worked a lot on transitions and the tempo changes during the improv sections, putting emphasis on details that we don't normally address. I can count on one hand how many times we have prepared a setlist before the day of a show, so it was a pretty special thing to us. We will be bringing the same intensity and attention to detail to this year's AURA sets. Also, we will just be getting home from a quick 14-city run through the Southeast where we will be debuting a bunch of new tunes. AURA will be our first chance to take them home and play them for our Florida fans.

Since JamCruise, what has changed for you as a musician and as a band?
Well, quite a bit really, but I guess what has changed the most for us has been our outlook. I am still on a complete love high from the whole experience. It was just so incredibly inspiring! I got to witness and participate in some incredible music and watch our musical world expand in so many ways. I made friends with musicians and fans that I will keep with me for the rest of my life.

Best thing about the AURA festival site, Forever Florida?
That it is so beautiful and they let Daryl throw a festival on it.

Artists you're most excited to see this year?
See entire lineup. I haven't seen Papadosio since last AURA, so that is a treat. Dopapod and Kung Fu are both bands we have done some shows with and are always incredible. BioDiesel I caught once in Philly, and they killed it so I am pumped to see what they do in a festival setting.

Who would you want to collaborate with from the AURA line up?
I do have a few things planned, but I would be happy to play with any of the musicians at the fest. A lot of great jams come from jumping into the unknown with no expectations or fear, so I hope to see some ballsy and spontaneous collaborations going on.

Local Love: Ketchy Shuby

Sharing a name with an infectious Peter Tosh tune comes with a certain amount of responsibility. Keeping the theme of the habitual high spirited reggae legend, the band Ketchy Shuby prides itself on charismatic performances and universally appealing tight grooves. Although prroudly repping their tropical hometown of Miami well, their worldly approach to music ranges from nu-soul to throw back funk and alternative rock. The dance party starts from note one and chances are the band will be the ones getting down the hardest.

Paying tribute to their influences, Ketchy just dropped a cover album titled Downtown Soul: Record Singles Club. The eclectic mix features selections from fallen icons like Notorious B.I.G. and Kurt Cobain, while also offering homage to modern greats the likes of Frank Ocean and Ween and classics such as The Rolling Stones and Otis Redding. These contemporary masterworks fill the gaps perfectly between high energy originals that are sure to incite an old school style dance party. Get down!

On The Radar: Elephantgun

With an award under their belt like Rad Dudes Magazinge's "Best Looking Band Ever" Elephantgun is a different breed of musicians than the rest of the AURA lineup. Finding their roots in the laid back beach town of Melbourne, FL, the trio brings a harder edge that dabbles in snippets of alternative rock and grungy funk. Fast distorted guitars, post-punk and slap bass rhythms and fierce drum work shelter soulful vocal efforts. The Space Coast's gem has been featured in Guitar Player Magazine and was the winner of Ampeg's Straight Up Tone Competition last year. They are busy in the studio right now working on their next album, and as guitarist Trevor Prince explains "we think this album is very honest and people will be able to relate to it well. After all, if music isn't honest then what is it?" We couldn't agree more.

Hey DJ: Craig Heneveld

This year AURA scaled back on its producer and DJ presence, but we had to keep a few stand out acts in the family. As a well-known figure in the Florida music scene, Craig Heneveld has been working his way through the Southern electronic music scene since 2004. That hard work has landed him spots opening for Mark Farina, EOTO, BONOBO, BoomBox, Pnuma Trio, The New Mastersounds, and Conspirator just to name a few.

The future is bright for the young gun and as dynamic transformation resulted in the new alias UDNTPRTY. With the new moniker comes a fresh approach to seamlessly combining his overt influences of funk, soul, disco and club music. He doesn't stop there and remains tied to his jam roots with plans to drop a bootleg remix of The Grateful Dead's "Althea." Episode one of this podcast series dropped this week and is just a taste of what Heneveld has in store for AURA.

WHERE CAN YOU SEE OUR FEATURED BANDS?

The Heavy Pets On Tour

• 2/14 O'Malley's, Charleston, SC
• 2/15 The Wormhole, Savannah, GA
• 2/16 Georgia Theater, Athens, GA
• 2/17 The Blind Tiger Greensboro, NC
• 2/18 Millennium Music Conference Winter Jibberjam II Cape Hill, PA
• 2/22 The One Stop, Asheville, NC
• 2/23 The Cider House Knoxville, TN (w/ The Werks)
• 2/24 The Evening Muse Charlotte, NC
• 2/25 Southland Ballroom Raleigh, NC (w/ The Werks)
• 2/26 The Whiskey, Wilmington, NC
• 2/29 Amici, Milledgeville, GA
• 3/1 5 Points Pub, Columbia, SC
• 3/2 The Five Spot, Atlanta, GA
• 3/3 GATA's, Statesboro, GA

Ketchy Shuby On Tour

• 2/16 - The Stage, Miami (w/ Fusik and The Resolvers)
• 2/18 - Churchill's, Miami (w/ Arboles Libres)
• 2/24 - Beachside Tavern, New Smyrna Beach(w/ Aquaphonics)
• 2/25 - Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa (w/ The Resolvers and Aquaphonics)
• 3/3 - Carnival on the Mile, Coral Gables

Elephantgun On Tour

• 2/24 The Thirsty Lizard, Satellite Beach, FL
• 2/26 Hunkerdown Hideaway Cocoa Beach, FL

UDNTPRTY On Tour

• 3/1 The Crowbar Tampa, FL (w/ Perptual Groove)