Sonido de la Frontera

The trio that makes up Sonido De La Frontera - Karlos Paez, Luke Henshaw, and DJ Unite - describe their music as “the combination of Soundsystem culture, hip-hop production aesthetic, and the sounds of Latin America’s most prolific dance music, Cumbia. The result is a bass-oriented, dance-driven music with a sound unique to the border between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. A mixture of all the different sounds and culture found in the southernmost part of California, it is Cumbia music with a production approach similar to hip-hop and electronic music.” Karlos Paez is best known as vocalist for Latin music project the B-Side Players. Luke Henshaw is the producer for First Power Crew and a member of Planet B and Satanic Planet. DJ Unite is a veteran DJ for Tribe of Kings Soundsystem and First Power Crew who cut his teeth on dancefloors nationwide. Their album Cumbia Mundial, originally released in March 2014, will be re-released digitally via local Three One G Records on June 25.

Phil Wickham

Platinum-selling contemporary Christian singer-songwriter Phil Wickham began leading worship for his youth group at age 13, graduating from Vista’s Calvary Christian School in 2002. His debut album Give You My World was released in 2003, after which he signed to Simple Records. It was followed by a self-titled album in 2006, and then Cannons in 2007, with the latter partly inspired by cannon explosions and C. S. Lewis’ book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, from the Chronicles of Narnia series. Among his subsequent full-lengths are Heaven & Earth, The Ascension, Children of God, Living Hope, and Sing-A-Long volumes 1 through 3. His single “This is Amazing Grace” became RIAA certified platinum and topped the 2014 year-end Christian Airplay chart, with other hits including “Great Things” and “Living Hope.” He also led worship at Soul Survivor, a global Christian movement based in Watford, Hertfordshire that oversees multiple Christian-themed festivals geared for providing wholesome and educational activities for young people. His eighth studio album Hymn of Heaven is due June 25, preceded so far by singles for “House of the Lord” and “Battle Belongs,” with the latter track also shot as a music video now streaming online.

Pip Lewis

British-American folk-pop indie singer-songwriter Pip Lewis is a top ten Song Academy Young Songwriter finalist for her tune “Missing in Action.” She was 16 years-old when she started writing, recording, and mixing her own songs in 2018, with her debut EP Pathos released the following summer. Her music has been heard on 91X and she’s performed at the House of Blues, Queen Bee’s, and the Roxy. Earlier this year, she previewed her upcoming debut album with a single for “I Fell Asleep Thinking of Her,” a narrative-based love song inspired by Greek mythology that plays with the concept of immortality. Her first full-length Human Nature, which dropped on June 3, features 14 songs including “People Like You,” which aired on the BBC and is currently nominated in the “Best Folk” category at this year’s San Diego Music Awards. According to Lewis, “Human Nature dives deeper than ever before, putting a mirror to the inextricable relationship between people and the world around them.”

Jelani Aryeh

21 year old Filipino/African-American artist Jelani Aryeh was still a teen in 2017 when his seven-track EP Suburban Destinesia (an alternative reference to San Diego’s initials SD) debuted. 2019’s Helvitica was somewhat of an autobiographical concept album, with songs including “Patagonia” (which Rolling Stone cited in its “Song You Need To Know” column), “Union Station,” and “Decide.” His indie rock anthem “Stella Brown” has earned over a million streams on Spotify. A debut album is due this summer, I’ve Got Some Living To Do, preceded this week by a single for “From These Heights.” The video for the track was filmed in an empty house with shots of protests breaking through Aryeh’s emotional state and lyricism. “It’s been a goal of mine to make a video for each single on the album,” he says. “With ‘From These Heights,’ we wanted to put emphasis on the lyrics and capture its feeling with an intense performance-based video. To achieve that, [director Will Noyce] really just kept it as simple as possible, with the majority of shots being just me delivering the message confined to a draped room. It’s designed so you have no option but to feel the weight of the words, I’m literally saying it to your face.”

Slightly Stoopid

Ska-flavored pop-punkers Slightly Stoopid, who played their first paid gig in 1994 at Soma, have a video streaming online for “One More Night” collecting vintage footage of the band over the last 20-plus years, from early days with Bradley Nowell (Sublime) to appearances with Snoop Dogg, Bob Weir, Sly and Robbie, Half Pint, and locals Karl Denson and Pepper. The band recently launched their own cannabis, spirits, and health & wellness brand Stoopid Organics. Products currently include two grow-at-home seed selections, a Full Spectrum Hemp Oil tincture (CBD-A), and high-end pre-rolled “infused” marijuana cigarettes. Additional products will continue to be announced along with an online “general store” web-portal pointing consumers and fans to regional product locations, product descriptions, and special contests and merchandise. The first night of their upcoming two-night stand at Colorado’s Red Rock Amphitheatre (with fellow locals Pepper) on August 14 and 15 has already sold out, and they’re also booked to play Mexico’s Closer to the Sun festival, running December 8-12 (with locals Iration and Hirie), and next year’s California Roots Music & Arts Festival, set for May 28 in Monterey, California.