Hey Look Listen: “I'm all over the map with what I listen to, but this year has been a lot of Courtney Barnett and Jesse Welles”

Nom De Plume: “Success for us is people listening to our music and enjoying it. That’s it”

JB Elwood: “Music is an escape for listeners, and it brings us all together regardless of background or where we live”

Pisgah: “The beauty of being an independent artist who's not known is that right now I can make what I want, and I don't have to answer to anyone for it”

Daze of Laur: “When I write music, I'm going into a place that's deeply personal, trying to channel directly from my soul and heart, without worrying about who's going to receive it”

David Lockeretz of Sons of the Mellow Mafia: “One thing that I come back to is the idea that art (including music) should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable”

The Easter Parade: “I think my love of songwriting came from listening to great songwriters such as Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, Tom Waits, and Randy Newman”

Solum: “My musical truth is to be completely free in what I make and unbound by any genre”

Mercy Kelly: “We definitely draw a lot of inspiration from the gothic romanticism of bands like The Cure, but also from the hopeful, anthemic energy of U2, especially their Joshua Tree period”

Seann Medicina: “I prefer to connect with listeners in live performances. Then I can see if they are paying attention or not”

Bad Bubble: “Music is the universal health care of the world. It fixes you. It gives you something to identify with. It helps broken hearts. It helps deal with pain”

Joe Hodgson: “My biggest influences, guitar-wise, would be Gary Moore and Rory Gallagher. What they did spoke to me in ways that no guitar players ever have”

Farbod Biglari: “I see songwriting less as construction and more as discovery—something already there that I just need to uncover”

Andrea Pizzo and The Purple Mice: “For us, it’s not about chasing what's popular, but about evolving while remaining consistent with our identity”

Brook McKeon of The Burbs: “If we could make changes [to the industry], we’d bring back compilation CDs and split EPs. And also bring back not giving a fuck cos at the mome there’s too many squares”

Michellar: “As songs arrive…I always find myself in that place where I feel most vulnerable and authentic…true to the inner core of my expression”

Wizardom: “My new single, Unique Soul, celebrates that all 8 billion plus humans on this planet are all unique, and to embrace that”

Spencer Graham: “The most beautiful part of what I do is when I see someone escape their day, the worries in their life, and find a moment of peace and joy”

Gianfranco GFN: “We're living through a major turning point in the music world, but above all, in how we make music”

John Kolar: “I grew up in love with the music of The Beatles. I would ask for their albums on CD every Christmas and listen to them from front to back”