Hi and welcome to edition #10 of Alternative Motive! We are a monthly music newsletter focusing on today’s alternative music scene. If this email was forwarded to you and this is your jam, please click here to subscribe.

Tuned In

Happy birthday Alternative Motive!
Reflecting on one year as a newsletter

I’m a big birthday celebrator. I hear a lot from older family members that birthdays become less significant the older you get, but I truly cannot imagine skipping out on the cake and candles. Whether I’m turning 23, 45, or 80 years old, I’ll be blowing up a pack of dollar store balloons and scattering them across the floor of my apartment. But my own love for birthdays aside, most people can agree on one thing: first birthdays are important.

With that, I’m excited to celebrate Alternative Motive’s first birthday this month! One year ago, I launched this newsletter as my undergrad capstone project. I spent four months researching newsletters, building a brand, and writing the launch edition’s big feature article. Eventually, the first edition of Alt Motive came out in April 2023. Over the past year, I’ve put out nine editions of the newsletter and have written about so many people and topics in the alternative music scene. In Tuned In — the “chatty” part of the newsletter, where I share stories and opinions — I’ve talked about following tours, making friendship bracelets and the notorious “pop punk fall.” Meanwhile, in Backstage — the newsletter’s monthly in-depth feature article — I’ve explored the fangirl to music industry pipeline, debated merch cuts and heard from so many Canadian musicians. In the past year, Alt Motive has spoken to Koven Wei, Calling All Captains, cutsleeve, Robin Henry, Sam Hansell, New Friends and Good Kid. The newsletter has featured their music too. With nine editions of Alt Motive came nine editions of Alt New Monthly. This year, the playlist shared 90 songs with listeners, highlighting a mix of emerging and established artists from Canada and beyond.

Newsletter subscribers may have noticed that Alt Motive took some time away in early 2024. (In personal news, I just finished the final academic semester of my Master’s degree, which has made life quite busy!) That being said, Alt Motive is planned to go back to its regularly scheduled monthly editions as of today. I hope the time away was worthwhile as this edition’s Backstage feature is the newsletter’s first documentary piece. Hopefully, there will be room to explore more multimedia features in the future.

As always, I’m looking to explore new topics and improve Alt Motive with every edition. Feedback is always welcome, as are story ideas and song submissions.

Here’s to another fantastic year of music!

Backstage

Grogette’s Living Room
The DIY house venue building a space for London, Ont.’s punk community

Welcome to Grogette's Living Room, a DIY house show venue located in London, Ont. For those who haven't had the guts to "ask a punk" for the address, get a glimpse into the venue that has become a third space for the city's punk scene. Run by Josh Benko, performed at by local and global bands, filled with music lovers, and modelled by the one and only Grogette — the space is one of a kind.

"Grogette's Living Room" is Alternative Motive's first video documentary, made to celebrate edition #10 and the 1 year anniversary of the newsletter. Check it out below!

Alt New Monthly

April 2024’s Alt New Monthly features music from the Thunder Queens’ debut album, the surprise new drop from Marianas Trench, plus the two songs from Junko Daydream and Polluted featured in the “Grogette’s Living Room” documentary.

To find songs previously featured in the Alt New Monthly playlist, check out the Alt New Archives on Spotify.

Thank you for reading the tenth edition of Alternative Motive. Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already and follow Alternative Motive on Instagram and TikTok.

See you in your inboxes soon,
Kendra