Originally Published on June 8th

For the start of June, I thought it would be fun to post an open call for artists to introduce themselves. The idea would be to welcome some new artists into the FMOF family. Well, after well over a hundred responses, I definitely have my hands full! In an effort to get to as many of these artists as possible, I am going to do a series of Spotlight Articles that will serve as introductions to groups of these artists at a time.

Vivian Beer

Canadian independent artist, Vivian Beer, is a musician who gives her audiences a few different looks on what they can expect. Stylistically, her music circles indie folk, pop, and alt pop styles of music. Around these genres, one can hear subtle influences of dark house and even metal in her work. It is very cinematic. It is very anthemic. One of her latest release, the 2-song EP Breathe, would be a direct example of that. It has a very Björk meets Tori Amos vibe.

In 2024, she released a ballad, Let Down You Walls, which doesn’t have all of the additional instrumental influence. It is a ballad featuring piano and cello accompaniment. It is a beautiful performance, a beautifully written song. It was written about the world collectively moving on from the pandemic, as it sort of addresses the feeling of that aftermath. It has this feeling of emerging from the rubble.

Check out Vivian Beer’s website here.

Collette McLafferty

Chicago-based indie artist, Collette McLafferty is a particularly interesting artist. She definitely floats around the alt-pop genre, somewhere in the same space where The Veronicas might fall. The music has a lot of hybrid space for digital programming, synth performance, along with some potential areas for electric guitar work, heavy bass, etc. Her vocals are very lovely at times, and then she can turn on this dirty, grungy performance that makes for really cool transitions musically. One of her most interesting songs is a cover of Pearl Jam’s song Oceans, which is just a downright excellent cover.

McLafferty’s song Naked in Ohio, is a unique alt-pop song. I like how it almost begins as if it were a piece of music in a musical. It is very theatrical, as it builds to the body of the song, before bringing in the heavy synth elements of the music.

Flying Earrings

Flying Earrings are a Lesbian punk band who formed in 2017 out of Leipzig, Germany. Their only release to date is the EP, Dreams, which released in March of 2025. It is 4 songs that run at 25 minutes, each song being over 6 minutes long. As I am listening, I can honestly say I don’t hear so much of the punk element. It is more an alt-rock, acoustic pop vibe. There is some really interesting, experimental moments, like in their song, Hush, that features a very curious percussion instrument that sounds like two metal instruments being slapped together. I love the subtle build in their songs. The deep alto of the vocals. It feels like that moment the needle goes into the arm before an addict pushes the drugs into their vein. Anxiety before elation.

Biting Fauna

Biting Fauna is an indie pop/indie folk project out of London, with a vocalist that is part whisper folk, with moments that touch on a sort of Michael Stipe energy. Their only release to date is the EP, Carnivore, which released in April of this year. It is a very atmospheric acoustic EP featuring 4 songs and running at 17 minutes.

Their best song is Sea Glass, which features the most foundational performance by the vocalist and is structurally a very powerful song. There is an interesting feeling I get when listening to this band. It’s almost an uneasy energy in moments that they suck listeners out of with these high, resolving moments. It happens at the climax of Hope, when the lead vocalist resolves on this long steady note and the song just builds in energy from that.

DØGN

“A story of when the only way out is through.”

That quote is the first of two sentences in the description of Norwegian indie artist, DØGN’s latest EP, Philosophrenia, Volume III, which released in January of 2026. This EP is 4 songs and runs at 16 minutes. It has a very similar feeling to AURORA, with maybe a little more dissonance. The song, Omens, even experiments with moments of using microtonal techniques, similar to Maddie Ashman.

I really appreciate the unique approach of this release. I think there is an effort to avoid sounding too much like one thing, not to be different, but to challenge themselves musically. My favorite song, Mountains, perfectly ties the entire EP together. It is probably the most pop-influenced song, besides The Void, but it has this beautiful resolution in the chorus.

Final Thoughts

As we move forward in June, I hope to put one or two Spotlight articles out every week. Some days, there may be 2-3 artists featured in the article, and some days there may be 5. It depends on how much time I have to work into the article when it comes. For those who are familiar with FMOF, I like to put an extra bit of effort into the writing process for our articles. That means I like to dig into the artist, listen to their catalog, and put out a full article. There is absolutely no A.I. used in the writing process. I am the journalist and the editor and sometimes, there are grammatical imperfections in these articles. Really, they’re glorified journal entries inspired by the music I am writing about that day. They are not emotionally unbiased, in fact, I pour my emotion into writing these articles. If you are an artist that is interested in being fully featured, make sure to follow me. Go to fmofmusicentertainment.com and click on the “How to Submit Music or a Video” Page on the toolbar. It walks through the official submission method step by step. Artists are never required to pay for reviews. In two years, I’ve never accepted a payment from one single artist and I won’t. I just ask you pay it forward. Share the article, refer other artists, and follow the FMOF socials so we can continue to get the word out. Look, there are a lot of different associations who are fixated on preying on independent artists with empty promises about helping them get famous. These musicians don’t need another entity doing that. I just ask you do one thing: Go Press Play.

HOW TO SUBMIT MUSIC OR A VIDEO