September 2023 Edition

Audience Spotlight: Lily and Lilly

I was running a bit late, I had to bike over because there was no car available for me to take myself there. When I got there, thankfully there was a bike rack, funny how you never notice the things until they become relevant to you. I did not see the list for who will be performing today, but I guess I should have because the line today was tremendously huge, Im surprised everyone was able to fit in. It snaked past the establishment half way down the block. in front of me were two people I have never seen before, maybe they know why the line is so long, might as well ask them a few questions, right?

Lily and Lilly (both she/it) are two lovely individuals both 24 (are they twins?) who knows! They were sporting some pretty sick jewelry. Very frequent concert goers, they wanted to come down to Berkeley to come see Your Arms Are My Cocoon. I believe Lily is a big fan of the band who dragged Lilly to come attend this lovely event with her. From what I got from the interview, they are not from Berkeley so are not the most familiar with the Gilman scene, more fans of the band. I did get to see Lily and Lilly once or twice during the concert.

Your Arms Are My Cocoon

Your Arms Are My Cocoon Spotify

Instagram: yourarmsaremycocoon

Tyler (Guitar, Voice) DK (Bass), Alyssa (Alto sax and flute), Peter (Drums)

This is them, coming all the way from Chicago, Illinois, this is the band that has caused all of the commotion today, the one and only, Your Arms Are My Cocoon. There is not one musician who is any less talented than the rest. A very impressive band that is bound to go placees, It would be a shame if they got picked up by a major record label I would love to see them perform at Gilman at least one more time. An amazing performance filled with kneeling of the audience, stage diving, makeshift bunny ear turban, and the infamous gallon of Crystal Geyser water. 

Starting with the star of the show, Tyler, is able to have such a strong voice at such a young age of 20. is able to keep a melody going while screaming, I may be getting more familiarized with the punk rock genre or Tyler may be an extremely talented vocalist, I think I'll go with the he's an extremely talented vocalist. 

Moving on to Alyssa, said to be the musician that makes the band what it is today, having perfect ambiture on both the alto saxophone and flute, having played the flute for 10 years and the alto for 6. An amazing musician who without a doubt can fill concert halls with their musicality. When I say that the tone and expression I heard from them was unmatched I truly mean it. 

Unfortunately I was not really able to interview DK or Peter so I will have less to say about them. DK has a great stage presence, very confident in himself you can really see him pouring his emotion into his playing. This skill is pretty hard to get as first for a good performance I have to worry about playing the right things first then putting some body movement into it. DK has done many stagedives which the crowd absolutely loved, It is a shame that I did not get any good pictures of it.

Peter is a fantastic drummer, I feel like it is pretty difficult for me to write a lot about the drummer, too often are they under appreciated but I think peter really knows how to play that drum, driving the energy for the band with that power to really get a band going requires some real talent. The beats that peter makes with his drumset really sends shockwaves through my body, I can literally feel the vibrations of the drumset shake my body, but not in a bad uncomfortable way, it added to the overall energy and mood of the band.

I actually got to ask them a few more questions than I usually do which Tyler was very happy to answer them all (Thank you Tyler). Tyler has quite a fear of looking bad or messing up. who dosent? I've had that fear ever since my first performance,  can't quite seem to get rid of it either. But seeing the positive response that other people get from their performances gives Tyler reassurance that whatever happens, if something bad happens, it dosen't really matter, at the end of the day, the show goes on. Being on the road in between shows is the boring part of for the band, but since the full band has only very recently been formed, their most recent addition being Alyssa but through the concerts that they performed with the other bands on their tour, they have been able to form deeper connections. DK Said that this tour in particular had special meaning to the band and I asked Tyler to elaborate on that, he says that he has known Brandon (from another band) since 2020, they have been friends for a very long time and loved seeing her ascent in her musical performance, they shared many deep conversations and liviing this reality with her is just really really special to both of them. 

All in all, the energy of this band is spot on, thank you for giving me a performance that easily made my top 3.