Indie Rock

London's eclectic one-man band Tom Vek (born 1981, London, UK) combines electronic music with indie rock, punk with dance, and influences like new wave and garage (and also made most of his early recordings in his parents' garage, too). As a teen in the mid-'90s, Vek was inspired by grunge and began making rock along the lines of Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam; before that, he backed his guitarist father on bass and drums in their practice space/garage.

The Vines are an Australian alternative rock band noted for producing a musical hybrid of '60s rock and '90s alternative music. Since 2006 their line-up has consisted of vocalist and lead guitarist Craig Nicholls, rhythm guitarist Ryan Griffiths, bassist Brad Heald and drummer Hamish Rosser. They appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in October 2002 (the first Australian band to do so since Men at Work in 1983) with the words "Rock is Back: meet the Vines" boldly emblazoned underneath.

Philadelphia Grand Jury has always been two friends: Berkfinger and MC Bad Genius. Previously knowing each other for some 20 years Berkfinger hadn't seen Bad Genius for going on 6 years when one day the curious bearded fellow just strolled into one of his solo shows with a bass and plugged himself right back into the singer's life. These two childhood buddies since had a rotating ensemble of drummers – until recently.

Marnie Stern is a New York City, USA musician, songwriter and guitarist. She has garnered much acclaim for her technical skill and finger-tapping style of guitar play. Her début album was "In Advance Of The Broken Arm" (Feb 2007, Kill Rock Stars) and the latest is "Demo" (Jan 2011, Dog Daze Tapes). The début was favourably received by critics, especially The New York Times: "The year's most exciting rock 'n' roll album.