Feature / Music / Year End 2021
Pass The Mic: Artists and labels on 2021

It's been a long year. Everyone around the world has struggled through another twelve months of pain, loss, boredom and frustration – so spare a thought for our friends in the music industry who've had to puzzle their way through releasing music during a vinyl shortage and trying to book tours which might get cancelled before they step foot on a stage. In this year's Pass The Mic, we ask a few dozen artists and record labels to tell us how their 2021 went: what music did they discover, how they'll remember it, and what's coming up for them in 2022. Here are a few choice quotes to whet your appetite – read on to hear from some of our favorite artists and labels on 2021.

Supposedly Sade is working on a new record so I will put all of my eggs in that sweet sweet basket and hope it's 2022. I'm sure this is what everyone was hoping the indie label would say.

- Sydney Christensen (Kill Rock Stars)

 How the fuck does one write such perfect, heavily impactful, yet very succinct and "simple" songs like the Ramones? I'd like to do something like that with Cloud Rat but we just keep getting more densely complicated and elaborate. AAAAHHHHHH 

- Rorik Brooks (Cloud Rat)

I remember having such crazy butterflies before going on [for our first post-pandemic show] that I puked in the back alley of the venue right before our set. When I told the other dudes about that after we got off stage, Chris was like, "Oh yeah, I puked back there like an hour ago. I hope you didn't step in mine." Really brings a band closer, ya know? 

- Matt Burns - guitar/vocals (Debt Neglector)