We had a packed weekend of music at the Northlands Festival, recording a wide variety of sessions for Paste Studio’s “On the Road” series. Our headquarters was the Maple Barn—a warm, rustic building once used for maple syrup production. For the weekend, it became an ornate performance space, decorated with vintage syrup tins, glowing neon, and even a life-size cutout of Danny DeVito, an essential for the sessions we recorded. Throughout the festival, the barn seemed to draw out something unique from every artist who stepped inside, and lespecial was no exception.
The power trio, made up of Jon Grusauskas (guitar, vocals), Luke Bemand (bass), and Rory Dolan (drums), and known for their unique blend of prog, metal, and electronic influences, arrived with a special guest: Kamika Moore of Charleston, S.C., who handled lead vocals for the session. Though they’ve only known Kamika for about a year through the jam-band circuit, the Northlands festival seemed to have a way of fostering musical chemistry, and the group played together as if they’d been collaborating for a much longer stretch of time.
They opened with “Machine Elf” from their 2020 album Ancient Homies. The electronically processed guitar tones and intricate percussion created an eerie, pulsating sound, with the analog + electronic mix landing somewhere between Portishead and Radiohead.
Next came “Divider” from their 2023 album Odd Times. Stripped back in this setting, the song leaned into a feel-good, groovy sound. Moore’s vocals stood out on this track, and the harmonies of guitarist/vocalist Jon Grusauskas added perfectly to her sound. His use of looping to harmonize with his own guitar part thickened the band’s sound in a way that tricked one’s ear; if you were to close your eyes, you would not assume the barn only had three people playing instruments.
They closed with an unreleased instrumental track titled “Dissociate,” a live favorite that showcased the band’s genre-shifting abilities. What began as a lightly Latin-flavored groove quickly evolved into chugging thick metal and eventually spiraled into full-on electronic chaos, a thrilling ride that was impossible to predict.
Huge thanks to Jen, Mike, Seth, Greg, and the rest of the Northlands team for helping to make this session happen, and for giving us spaces like the Maple Barn to capture performances that really capture the unique aspects of artists. Keep your eyes peeled for more Paste Studio “On the Road” sessions!
