Fak3 5miles

Austin's premier weekend of local music is almost upon us; It's time to start brushing up on what's going on in the local scene. This annual event, Hot Summer Nights — offset semi-annually by its winter counterpart, Free Week — brings Austinites out to venues around the Red River Cultural District (RRCD) at no cost.
This makes it easy to bounce around and see as many bands as you can stand; However, donations are recommended and are not tied to any one show. The schedule spans Thursday, July 18, to Saturday, July 20.

This concert series featuring more than 140 acts is a fundraiser for the RRCD, which puts on a huge percentage of Austin's live shows throughout the year, whether it's during festivals like SXSW or it's just any Monday night. Beyond fundraising its effects are manifold, including getting people into venues they may not normally visit, introducing them to new favorite local acts, and reminding them that this musical neighborhood is a great option for nights out without a plan or a car.

Showing up and wandering around is a perfectly fine strategy for this festival. But CultureMap Austin editor Brianna Caleri and live music columnist John Laird, who also runs music and film blog Side One Track One, have teamed up to share their top picks for the weekend.

Fak3 5miles and Valice
Stylistically, this unexpected duo is all over the place. Rock group Valice, who apply their chops as a former Beatles cover band to their own weird and psychedelic rock tunes, met rapper Fak3 5smiles as a dancer for a music video from their latest album, Do you want to be alone? They're playing two separate shows, but the two bands share a bassist/keys player (Ricci Valice), and Fak3 5miles will make an appearance in a couple Valice songs during their set. See Fak3 5miles at Taquero Vaquero on Friday at 9 pm, and Valice at Swan Dive on Saturday at 11 pm. — BC - Culture Map Austin (Written by Brianna Caleri & John Laird)

For the ones that fly. Fak3 5miles embraces living in the moment.

Fak3 5miles‘ Ukiyo Lucid takes no prisoners. The 7-track release produced by Sam Hinds at Three Hound Sound is a thunderous blend of everything from rock to rap, soul to R&B, coming at you full-throttle from the self-proclaimed murderer of genres, with a melding of experimental and avant garde styles in a genre-defying blitz. It’s as though songwriter/vocalist Chance Hoops understands that life’s too short to be so narrow, so time for that lethal embrace of it all.

The title itself is an intentional connection of two words: The Japanese Ukiyo, “the floating world,” or living in the moment and detaching from life’s worries; and lucid – easy to comprehend, or also meaning luminous. For Hoops, it’s about living “free within your spirit. Let things come. Let things go.”

Take in the luminosity when Fak3 5miles plays tonight, Tuesday Aug. 20, at Far Out Lounge and Stage. Doors at 6 p.m., with sets by Austin rockers GOOD, San Marcos band Soma Jerome, and Bicyle Boy. - KUTX 98.9 ( Written by Laurie Gallardo

There are not too many bands in Austin with a true cult following, but one group is making it happen in a magnetic new music video.
"Don't know where, don't know why" (stylized in lowercase) is the standout track on Valice's new EP as of September 30, Do you want to be alone?, cranking up the weirdness factor with a mix of spiritual motifs, Southern sounds, and psychedelic twists..Austinites may recognize the Hyde Park Presbyterian Church as the main shooting location, as well as friends in the cast. Among them is Chance Hoops (who makes his own music as Fak3 5miles), the especially expressive dancer whose eyes roll back in the church scene. The band didn't know Hoops was a musician when they invited him on set, but now he raps in a deadpan on the Gorillaz-like "All my lies," also on the EP. - Culture Map Austin (Written by Brianna Caleri)