A lot has changed during my short time with Hear Nebraska. Talented editors have come and gone, the Good Living Tour expanded and we’ve taken on the largest live music event in downtown Lincoln history.
The seasonal cycle applies best to internships, whereby most of them drop in, work like dogs for four months and move on to the next inevitably successful venture (dare I say we’ve been lucky). Yet in that regard, amidst the flurry of activity during Hear Nebraska’s past 12 months, there has been one undeniable constant: the presence of multimedia intern Lindsey Yoneda.
A regular reader will recognize the unique vision, taste and effortlessness in Yoneda’s photos and the natural way she utilized video to tell the stories of Nebraska music. She captured everything from dingy metal shows and bright sunbathed outings to jazz clubs and rock camps. To pick the best of her photos is an exercise in futility, one I attempted below and one you can avoid by seeing them all here.
Internally, and though I suspect she would cringe at the compliment, Yoneda has been a hard-working role model for the HN staff (myself included) and a beloved, quirky, hilarious traveling companion. Countless stories and anecdotes flit through my mind: traversing the cold to document an entire music festival, late-night hustles during the Good Living Tour, filming a seven-member band (and one light rig) in a tiny radio station studio. Even through the toughest, darkest stretches, she has been an absolute anchor in every sense of the word. For that, I cannot give enough thanks.
But there’s one silly (forgive me) inside joke that sticks out now. It’s a phrase I spat (mostly jokingly) to her and the others countless times throughout the past few months. Yet it’s her voice, drenched in a faux-Boston accent, I can hear tossing the words back in my face now:
“Ya late!”
It’s because this farewell to the 2016 Summer internship crew is long overdue. And it doesn’t only belong to her; HN had a pair of writers in Patrick Nolan and Michael Huber that, together, covered a ton of valuable ground. Readers could see the wheels in Nolan’s head turning as he gave us glimpses into the minds of the artists he interviewed. For his part, Huber was a near-master at the in-scene narrative, plopping his readers right down into stories and relenting only when the set had been fully constructed and characterized. All this while touring and playing with Omaha’s No Thanks.
We would also be remiss not to mention marketing intern Hayley Solonynka, who played a behind-the-scenes roll on the Good Living Tour, the HN newsletter and myriad social media tasks. Her work helped us through the first half of 2016.
While Nolan has already returned to George Washington University this fall and Huber back at UNO, we’ve retained multimedia intern Lauren Farris and welcomed back editorial-turned-marketing intern Gabriella Parsons. They will be joined by a new crop, which we’ll introduce later in the week.
To the departing, we wish our best. Revisit their brightest work below:
Lindsey Yoneda | Lincoln Multimedia
There are simply too many photos to include in this feature. We’ve managed to cull a few of our favorites, and you can see her entire body of HN work here. Her best summer video work is also below, excluding the original Good Living Tour music videos, which publish later this week.
Amber Stevens, for “Preserving Impermanence”
From Perpetual Nerve’s maiden voyage aboard the River City Star
CB Skatefest founder Trevor Hill
Omaha Girls Rock campers prepare for their showcase set
The Good Life in Grand Island during the 2016 Good Living Tour
See Through Dresses’ Alex Kirts during the Good Living Tour
Better Friend’s Alex Steele and Aaron Lee during its Good Living Tour show in Lyons
The Hottman Sisters join Lloyd McCarter during the Good Living Tour in Red Cloud
The Good Living Tour, Sidney
Kris Lager Band plays the Good Living Tour, Imperial
Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal from backstage during the Good Living Tour, McCook
Diarrhea Planet during Maha Music Festival
Michael Huber | Omaha Editorial
“It’s two in the afternoon and Steve Ponec and Brandon Hahn — bassist and rhythm guitarist of 8-bit punk band The SuperBytes — are sitting around a homemade and ash-filled firepit sprinkled with empty cigarette packets, talking about taking Adderall and playing power chords until they can’t recognize them anymore. We’ve all got shades on even though it’s not that bright out. Memorial Day for these guys means hanging out in the backyard cracking jokes, smoking Marlboros, and chasing cheap energy drinks with Miller High Life tallboys. These gentlemen have the knack for relaxation.” — from Huber’s feature story on Omaha 8-bit pop punk band The Superbytes.
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Brother’s and its Jukebox ‘Too Stubborn to Change’ | Feature Story
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“About 50 people gathered for nearly two hours downtown at Milk Run Sunday night to talk about the future of Omaha’s DIY community. The event, facilitated by Planned Parenthood organizer Kaitlan McDermott, aimed to address issues that are sometimes ignored in the punk and DIY cultures.
“There are multiple people having the exact same thought process[es], so I think it needs to become a larger community discussion,” McDermott said about why she hosted the forum. “It’s bringing people together to create an action plan.” — reporting on the first of a series of inclusivity meetings among Omaha’s DIY community.
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“La Maga attempts to capture the duality of gorgeous and gruesome, like that on the island, Franko says. Named for a character in Julio Cortazar’s stream-of-consciousness novel Hopscotch, the title previews introspection into good and evil, right and wrong.” — from an interview with Omaha emcee Conny Franko on his sophomore full-length.
Patrick Nolan | Omaha Editorial
The Bay: PHASE 2 kickflips the gap between Lincoln’s youth and music | Feature Story
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“Adam is definitely not like most people,” Alek says. “He has this clear but ever-changing philosophy in music. And his ability to construct and put together music is based on how he has been able to suck up a lot of information and then create a lot of interesting and cool ideas. And he’s always been able to do that.” — from a feature story on 19-year-old Omaha musician Adam “Hootie” Erickson.
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“Sometimes you just have an experience with a song or a melody. It’s this kind of blinding vision where it just seemed to zap you right into your soul. When I heard that song by the Ink Spots for the first time, I felt just that — zapped. It was at that time in American songwriting where the words always matched the melodies so perfectly, so I think it’s a different thing than you normally hear now.” — from a Q&A with Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier previewing the band’s Aug 4 Omaha concert.
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“[Vince Staples’] trenchant, socially-conscious and distinctive style came to a head towards the end of his set when he performed “Hands Up.” Staples paced the stage as he rapped, moving like a lion trapped in a small cage, hungry for any hapless tourist lingering on the other side of the bars. The song’s verses — Staples’ own indictment of American policing — moved in a crescendo of intensity as they progressed, tempered only by the cool and calm chorus stating simply “put your hands in the air.” The crowd obliged, rocking and swaying as Staples continued to masterfully craft a poetic condemnation without mincing any words. Staples came to a halt in his pacing and yelled to the crowd of Maha fans who had been waiting all day for this. He looked up at the sky and not at the crowd; he barely seemed to notice them at all:
“I refuse the right to be silent.” — from Nolan’s review of Vince Staples set at the 2016 Maha Music Festival.