DonFest 2

Haters Club hosts the second annual DonFest at Icehouse. Bringing in our good friends Scott Hefte and the Bury 'em Deep and Echo Lake. Come give thanks and get your Don on! Haters Club is a rock and roll outfit that isn’t afraid to jump smoothly from genre to genre, while staying focused on sweet melodies and vocal harmonies. Songwriter D.J. Kukielka, guitarist Ted Held, and bassist Amy Rajkowski were friends and members of the local label Eclectone forming the band in Minneapolis, 2010. The band debuted its first song, “Day After Halloween,” featuring J.T. Bates on drums, along with a video from Six-Ton Productions in 2011. Over the next year, the band only played a few gigs, notably opening for Caveman at 7th Street Entry, and received local radio attention. The band recorded their first EP, The Golden Age of Haters Club, in 2012 with Brett Bullion. Shortly after the EP was released the band went on hiatus for personal reasons. After spending the last 10 years playing in a wide range of projects (Wizards Are Real, Street Hassle, Bourbon County), Kukielka and Held have brought the band back together with former Hojas Rojas bassist Donovan Johnson, and drummer Erik Olson. Kukielka was eager to relaunch the band and they recorded their vibrant EP, RIYH, at Minnehaha Recording Studios in October, 2022. The EP was released in January, 2023 and the band was featured on the Current’s March Scouting Report and made the best-of-2023 list for Adventures in Americana. Don’t hate on this crew, you’re gonna have fun. From the ashes of such bands as Seymore Saves the World, Superdanger, Me and My Arrow, and Stolyette, rises a dark and brooding indie-western soundtrack for your apocalypse. Scott Hefte and the Bury ‘em Deep have combined to create hellish landscapes of a dystopian nightmare while not forgetting the righteous influences of old school country, indie-pop, and noise rock. The resulting sound is one of Johnny Cash, Phil Collins, and Godspeed You Black Emperor, fighting a bloodless three way cage match for superiority. No one wins but you, when you dig the music of Scott Hefte and the Bury ‘em Deep. Minneapolis-based trio Echo Lake has been blending genres of American roots music since 2016. Founded by Stephen Filla-Kim, Donovan Johnson, and Cory Ginsburg, the band delivers an eclectic mix of traditional country, folk, and expansive psychedelia. While their live sets feature a curated smattering of covers from influences like Beck, Blaze Foley, The Tallest Man on Earth and The Grateful Dead, it is their original songwriting and live improvisation that form their core sound.