r/indianapolismusic

Brandon Meeks is an acclaimed Indianapolis-based jazz bassist, bandleader, and hip-hop producer. Originally from Gary, Indiana, he moved to Indianapolis in 2004 and has since become a cornerstone of the city's contemporary jazz scene.

Career & Musical Style

• Genre Fusion: He masterfully blends traditional straight-ahead jazz with modern hip-hop beats and soulful rhythms.
• Native Sun: He co-founded this prominent hip-hop jazz trio alongside drummer Richard "Sleepy" Floyd, known for combining live jazz improvisation with hip-hop instrumentation.
• Collaborations: He frequently performs and records with local heavyweights, including saxophonist Rob Dixon and the Brandon Meeks Trio featuring William Menefield and Cassius Goens.
• Session Work: He is an active session musician with credits on over 1,000 independent recordings.
• On-Screen Role: He portrayed the legendary jazz bassist Ron Carter in the 2015 Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead, starring Don Cheadle.

Recent Projects & Accolades

• "Unsung Giants" Project: In early 2026, Meeks was awarded a prestigious $10,000 Creative Capital State of the Art Prize. The grant funds an oral history and composition project designed to honor and preserve the legacies of overlooked Black Midwest jazz elders in Indiana (such as Kenny Phelps, Clifford Ratliff, and Billy Foster).
• Jazz Hero Award: He was named a 2026 Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association.
• Live Albums: He recently released the EP Live at The Center, recorded at The Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana.
• Community Concerts: He is the creator of the 3rd Sunday Jazz Concert series, a free outdoor community concert program that runs through the summer months.

Izzaldin is an independent musical artist based in New York and Paris (by way of Indianapolis) who releases music under the label Holistic Records. His sound blends alternative elements, hip-hop, electronic vibes, and retro-futuristic production.

Key Albums & EP Releases

• ExPats Club
• WIZY 1120 AM (2025)
• Futura in Retrograde (2023) [1]

🎵 Popular Singles & Collaboration Tracks

• "Hoosiers" (feat. DJ GNO)
• "Bloodhounds"
• "8 Bit Love" (feat. Evaanz)
• "B2NY" (feat. DJ GNO)
• "Box of Chocolates"
• "SPIKE"

What It Was

Before closing, this highly eccentric, one-room cabinet of curiosities was hidden away on the second floor of the Murphy Arts Center in the Fountain Square neighborhood. Co-founded by Michael Kaufmann and artist Kipp Normand, the word "psychphonics" was completely made up to mean "sounds of the spirit". Visitors accessed the tiny 11-by-10-foot space by passing through a heavy red curtain hidden inside a local record store.

The Unique Exhibits

The museum purposefully lacked long, academic explanation panels, opting instead to let visitors form their own interpretations. It focused heavily on underground American music culture, Afrofuturism, and esoteric Indiana history. Some of its most famous, bizarre artifacts included:

• The Parliament-Funkadelic "Baby Mothership": A 1970s flying stage prop built by Indianapolis native Tom Battista.
• An Elvis Burger King Ashtray: Supposedly sourced from the fast-food joint where Elvis Presley was famously "spotted" after his death.
• Sacred Dirt Samples: Vials of soil collected from religious pilgrimage sites, known UFO landing zones, and the arena of Elvis’s final concert.
• Fallen Empire Currencies: Money from dissolved regimes, such as the Soviet Union.

PILLARS is an American four-piece, primarily instrumental post-rock band from Indianapolis, Indiana. Formed in 2015, the group blends elements of indie-rock and post-rock to build heavy, atmospheric soundscapes characterized by intricate, cinematic peaks and plunges.

Band Members

The quartet consists of:

• Marc Ertel – Guitar
• Justin Williams – Guitar
• Nason Frizzell – Bass
• Zach Frizzell – Drums

PILLARS' music is available across streaming platforms, including their official PILLARS Bandcamp Profile and PILLARS SoundCloud page. Their core releases include: [1, 2, 3, 4]

• EP1 (2015) – The band's debut introductory extended play.
• The Great Divide (2017) – A two-song opus tackling heavy societal themes.
• Of Salt and Sea (2017) – Their first full-length, entirely instrumental album.
• Cavum (2019) – A darker, heavier sophomore album exploring structural human isolation in a hyper-connected world.
• Cavum Reimagined (2020) – A collaborative remix and reimagined version of their

Billy Strings concludes his highly anticipated, three-night run at the Fishers Event Center tonight, Saturday, August 8, 2026, at 7:30 PM. These performances are the rescheduled dates from his originally planned April 24–26 run, which had to be postponed after the bluegrass star fractured his leg in a skateboarding accident.

Run Overview & Schedule

The multi-night stint marks one of the first major music events at the state-of-the-art, 7,500-seat mid-size arena.

• Night 1 (August 6): The opening night
• Night 2 (August 7): Proving his trademark humor and resilience,
• Night 3 (Tonight - August 8): The grand finale of the weekend run. Doors open at 6:30 PM, and the performance kicks off promptly at 7:30 PM.