Back in June, Duped Zine shared a compilation titled The Fourteen Bears in Summer and Winter. Operating out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, an area that has not gone unnoticed these past years in the world of independent music, Duped has always carved their own path of pop-centric, enduring and incredibly heartfelt musical contributions.
Playing a key role in the Big Pop Show the past two years, Duped continues to showcase some of the best artists out there. Although not all from NC, this comp focuses on the connected spirit of collaboration, friendship and fandom. Put together by the members of the band Little Chair, the comp includes artists such as The Matildas, Entrez Vouz, David T, K9, Sleep Tight Tiger, The Laughing Chimes, Sacred Heart Academy, Hill View #73, The Sourdrops, Deerest Friends, Little Chair, and more!
Written by Shea Roney | Featured Photo by Braeden Long
Across the country, on a mission from the highest order, young pop song swooners and DIY consumers embarked on a journey down to Durham and Carrboro North Carolina to be a part of history. Returning for its second year in a row, The Big Pop Show, held March 20th-23rd, was a four-day fest put on by friends Nathan McMurray, Lilian Fan, Eli Schmitt, Annie Vedder and Charlotte Kane.
Beyond the live music, BPS also hosted a discussion panel that interrogated ethical ways of engaging with art and sustaining the local communities involved in its creation. The Panels were “Beyond Aesthetics: Art, ethics and individual responsibility in times of political unrest” and “Airwaves to Algorithms: Technology, artistic consumption, and the economy of attention”.
With the help of Averi Love Little, we collected photos from Braeden Long, Kian Kermani, Shannon McMahon, Chance Venable, Audra Barbieri, Finch McGowan, and Emily Burrows, as well as quotes from the artists and organizers involved, to capture the joy, friendship and the resounding community that prospered at The Big Pop Show 2026.
Kellen and Susie of Good Flying Birds by Chance Venable
Handstand by Braeden LongCharlotte, Lilian, Eli, Annie, Nathan by Kian Kermani
“the big pop show meant everything to me. i was there for all 30+ sets and film screenings and i still feel like i missed out. there was an incalculable amount of magic and energy in the air. i could see the connections and friendships forming before my eyes, and there is nothing that makes me happier than to see people in joy, in love, in hope and empowerment together in space. every single set was some of the best music i’ve seen from these artists, and never was there a moment of envy or competition, only pure inspiration.” – Eli Schmitt (Organizer/TV Buddha)
Eilee and Evren by Kian KermaniDonkey Basketball by Averi Love Little
“Disregarding the boatloads of brilliant sets, the late-late Saturday Night / Sunday Morning Cookout parking lot tailgate was a sight that will never escape my memory. Practically hundreds of freakazoid losers like ourselves lost en masse into the quesadilla-quesadilla-quesadilla tray madness alongside a particularly great hang.” – Isaac Lowenstein(Donkey Basket/Lifeguard)
Van Goth by Chance Venable
“It felt like summer camp! I guess playing in a wooden room cemented that feeling, but so did all the amazing people from all over the country meeting in one place” – Sydney Salk(Van Goth)
“We have a lot of electronics and had to play a stripped back set with the minimal sound system – but somehow this got a rowdy bunch of young people to watch silently. Within 30 minutes sweaty mosh pits had broken out in the same room. These people were here for the music.” – Simon Schadler (Van Goth)
Piper + Kathleen by Audra BarbieriPaige by Kian KermaniPaper Jam by Braeden Long
Arm Wrestling by Kian KermaniTouch Girl Apple Blossom by FinchMcGowanLizzie by Audra Barbieri
“The Big Pop Fest has always been almost like the central point to a much larger community. It feels almost like one of those detective boards, where we could take string and connect all these bands across the country to each other and the commonality would be Pop Fest. On the surface level I would say it’s been a joy to watch so many talented artists perform and has been truly transformative for me as a musician; but on a much deeper level, it has given me some of my best friends in the world. To feel understood completely by your peers is a truly special thing and I think if nothing else, that’s one thing I gained from my years there. There is absolutely nothing like it, and honestly I don’t know if there ever will be. I’m just glad I’ve been lucky enough to witness it for myself.” – Lizzie Cooper(PARKiNG)
The Sourdrops by Shannon McMahonHenry and Braedenby Emily Burrows
“It was a grand get-together of pop heads, new and old. Many fun times were had. The second nights after party had the floor of the Duke Coffeehouse bouncing to the beat of Donkey Basketball. It is really awesome that we all got to share that weekend with everyone that was there.” – The Sourdrops
Nathan and Dad by Braeden LongLillian of Little Chair by FinchMcGowan
“My favorite memory was probably watching PIPE play, they are great friends of ours but also local legends of the triangle that I look up to. It was wholesome to dance with everyone at like a truly all ages show. Also the panel on Sunday at coffeehouse was great! Highlights were discussions around what it meant for art to be political beyond just making overt political statements, and when John Davis from folk implosion was talking about the importance of engaging with artists in real life through the merch table etc. it was awesome.” – Lilian Fan(Organizer/Duped/Little Chair)
“The whole thing was like a controlled explosion – I think Nathan and Eli have this magnificent ability to grasp the whole network of spectacular projects working right now. Streamlining it all… And our set was absolutely visceral. We played on the ground and I’d look up sometimes, see people on their hands and knees in front of me. I felt like everyone in the room could read my thoughts and their movements were responses. It was really so special.” –AJ Bond (Instrument)
“For me, it was really the moment right after I got back from the Pop Fest, I was listening to the Red Xerox Tape Expo on YouTube and going through the comments. You should read the top one if you haven’t, it summed up my feelings pretty well. Some guy from Montreal.” – Lu Bond (Instrument)
“Grass lawns with fashionable people sprawled out, welcomed us to The Pop Show. Friends from different states reunited and many new friendships blossomed around each corner.
Cole opened our set with handstands as I beat his drum. It was sanctuary to smile, a place to dance, a place to connect – what a lovely time it was!” – Angie Willcut(Artificial Go)
“Pip Says Relax” by Kian Kermani
“There was something very serene and meditative about the entire event. I was expecting a lot of rambunctious and mania, but the heat combined with the length of the show, where all of the bands started to blend into another and conversate with each other’s performance, created this ease and content that cradled our performance really well. Everyone was sat down, and engaged, I could feel the impact and the fact that people were taking something from our show, there was a true exchange.” – Kali Flanagan (Superfan)
Braeden Screenprint GFB by EmilyBurrows“Let’s go swimming” by Shannon McMahon
“Big Pop was fun as hell! Massive respect to the organizers. House party after show was like a movie, someone was walking around with a ‘Big Pop’ cake while we we’re hanging by the fire – that was a memorable moment.” – Jake (K9)
Amongst Richmond’s animated DIY scenes comes the band K9, the five-bit rock band who released their debut LP earlier this year titled Thrills. Songwriter and guitarist, Jake Schmader, came up through the city’s hardcore scene, most known for his role in the heated project, Reckoning Force. But K9’s beginning was just as simple as finding excuses to record some covers with fellow collaborator and singer, Brenda. The project operated on the whim of possibilities for some time, as the band continued to grow with the additions of Ian (guitar), Evan (Bass) and Christian (drums). Soon with new voices, K9 has since shared a sparse, yet incredibly promising catalog of demos and EPs for public consumption, including 2023’s Harmony Kills EP and 2024’s In Blistering Stereo.
At its core, K9 lingers around those harsh pronunciations and “off with their heads” kinda daydreams that hardcore punk instinctually offers, but Jake has always been clear that they don’t want to be held down by it. The tracks on Thrills revel amongst the scruffy middlemen that come in and out for introductions, as each member performs with old back pocket magic that blends so seamlessly with these new ideas and some low-fi holy prowess. Making any formality just a bit more sweaty, K9 rips through with sharp guitars, conversational movements and pairs of sweet melodies as they embrace an instinctual type of looseness and pop song fascination. It’s a quick album, but its impact is in no way brief. And as they push on, K9 continues to play show after show, finding space beyond their home of Richmond, and becoming a conversational piece, a connecting thread when this band is brought up, “oh, yeah, K9? They rock.”
We recently got to chat with Jake about the project, keeping things open and starting a label.
Photo Courtesy of K9
You recently released your debut LP Thrills this past year. How has it been sitting with you since you shared it?
Good, I guess! We’re glad that people are coming across it and enjoying it. We had recorded Thrills back in the spring of 2024 and it took a while for it to come out, so the songs feel older to us having been playing them for years at this point. It’s been fun to hear what people think of the record and what kinds of descriptions and comparisons we’ve been getting. I feel like a project needs to be out in the world for a while before I’m able to hear it for what it is, instead of just hearing the mix, or whatever.
Having spent time coming up through the Richmond hard core scene, playing in the band Reckoning Force, why did something like K9 come about in your world? Did it open up anything for you in terms of how you approached songwriting or being in a band?
Absolutely. Hardcore punk is what got me started going to shows, writing songs and playing in bands – it’s still a big part of my life. I started writing songs and the project came organically out of a desire to record and perform those songs. We think of K9 as a punk band, but we try to keep the project free and loose in terms of genre and just make what we want to make, or what comes to us. Everything we’ve done with the band is informed by punk, and I hope that shines through even when we’re doing a sing-songy tune.
What were those organic components that you noticed were building around these K9 songs? Did you want to try to make something apart from Reckoning Force or did they naturally feel like their own thing?
It sprung from a few things that had been bubbling for a while. Brenna and I would drink a bunch of beers and record covers at my apartment, Christian and I would jam and I’d do the same with Ian which turned into writing and playing songs together. I didn’t set out to make anything really, just in writing and playing together the project solidified. We have similar tastes and sensibilities that have steered our style all around and generally away from straight-up hardcore.
You first shared the project with the EP Harmony Kills back in 2022. What was that initial debut of the project like and how have you seen it grow leading up to Thrills?
We actually had a demo out in 2020 that Brenna and I recorded in 2019, so it has been a slow burn. I was not aware of much that sounded like Harmony Kills at the time of its release, and I wondered what the punks would make of it, but our friends in Virginia liked it and the tape has found its crowd in time. Thrills has definitely garnered more attention, but it’s great that people are getting hip to our other stuff as a result. We started playing live between those two releases and that had a big impact on the sound and makeup of Thrills. Ian also started contributing songs and riffs following Harmony Kills, and we’ve developed a writing partnership as a band that feels really nice. We want our releases to sound unique from each other, but we have ended up having some themes that keep a through-line; recording live, raw sound, room sound, etc. K9’s music is going to be wide in scope because we can’t help it.
Creating these writing partnerships amongst the group, what sort of things do you all bounce off of each other? Especially with the mission of making each release unique, how do you push each other as collaborators in order to meet that mark?
Songs, riffs, parts, art; a lot of times it’s as simple as everyone liking or not liking an idea. We find ourselves getting interested in the same kinds of things for inspiration and I like to think we share a vision for what K9 is, and we try to stay true to that vision and to stay honest. I feel like we just go with our gut; the direction of the project changes and we have never felt like we had to reign it in. Maybe saying that we are okay with releases being different from each other is more apt.
Thrills marks the second of three releases off of the label Who Ya Know records, including two releases of some experimental and ambient work of yours, No Mystique and Bug the Cat Mix. What does having this label mean for what you put out, or even decide to explore for that matter?
We knew, even before recording Thrills, that we wanted it to come out as an LP, and Who Ya Know Records was a result of that inclination. Like many bands before us, we were not going to let anyone decide for us if that was going to happen or not, so we did it ourselves (with a lot of help from many people, especially Green-o at Not for the Weak Records). We were admittedly impatient in the ‘sending it off to labels’ phase, but the more time passes the happier we feel that it happened this way. I’m sure we will have relationships with labels in the future, but it’s fun to have an umbrella to put our ideas and our friends’ projects under, even if they aren’t all in the same lane.
Anything coming up for k9 in the future?
Yeah! We’re planning a midwest tour set to start this June, a promo tape will go along with that. We’re finishing up tracking for a collection of songs we’d like to see on a 7”. We’ve been writing a lot and we want to go play all over, all in due time.
You can listen to K9’s catalog now as well as purchase Thrills on a limited-edition vinyl pressing.
the ugly hug 