Blue Cadet-3: A Music Blog by Josh R.

  Lily Morgan is the talented songwriter behind Stella and the Reptilians, a group she’s now formed after years of writing and performing original material. Morgan wrote in via email to discuss a new release, what it’s like for her to work with a full band, and more.  RRX: First, introduce yourselves! If you could list out the names of the band members and their roles, that would be great! LM: Stella and the Reptilians are Gabe Klinger-Horn (lead guitar), Nick Santos (bass), Evan Randall (drums) and Lily Morgan (vocals and rhythm guitar). RRX: Give us some insight into the name of the project. Is “Stella” based on any real person, or is the name more conceptual than that? LM: The name "Stella and the Reptilians" actually comes from a doctor named Stella Immanuel who Trump sided by on her views of COVID. She also believes that the government is partly run by reptiles and aliens. My roommate brought this story up to me and thought that Stella and the Reptilians would be a sick ...

  (L-R: Dan Burt, Josh Clark, Jeremy Katz) The Ugly Muppets are a Saratoga based trio creating thoughtful and hard-hitting psych/garage-rock. Their recently released album titled “Committee of Public Safety” is a skillfully crafted blend of old school psych-rock influences and modern indie stylings, and the band is far from finished. In a recent interview, the Muppets (Dan, Josh and Jeremy) discuss their work on the latest album as well as an upcoming song.  RRX: So, at risk of seeming crazy I wanted to show you guys this Ugly Muppets shirt I bought way back when I saw you for the first time. JC: Wait a second, I ran into you at SPAC and you were one of the first people to wear our shirts! It was the Beck show. RRX: I do remember that actually (laughs). But anyway, I’ve kind of been calling these interviews my “local COVID catch up” because as much as I’ve tried to avoid the topic, it seems to be a dominating force on local bands. So, the theme of these interviews has sort of ...

  RRX: Give us some background on your stage name; I know you go by Snail and that your very unique setup is called “the noise machine.” KV : That’s from my friends up in Greenwich, I’m good friends with the band Eastbound Jesus, I was their roadie for about five years. My last name is Vail so they just call me Vail the Snail, or just Snail and that’s really all there is to it. Turf ‘N’ Turf is also kind of dumb (laughs). The main thing is, when I was a kid, I saw the Christmas movie “I’ll be Home for Christmas,” have you ever seen it? RRX: no actually. KV: It’s about a guy in California and he’s trying to get back to New York; he’s been in college and hasn’t been home very often and his father bribes him by saying he can have a car if he comes back. It’s a whole zany journey, and there’s a scene where he goes into a steakhouse that’s called Turf ‘N’ Turf and I remember being a kid and not getting it but my uncle bursting into laughter, and it just stuck with me. There’s a band tha...