Rising stars shine bright at Lollapalooza 2022

The annual four-day celebration of music known only as Lollapalooza continues to thrive in Grant Park with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announcing a 10-year extension of the festival's contract.

Not only is the iconic music festival a good chance to see acts from the past, but it is also a chance to discover future artists before they explode onto the scene.

For example, I interviewed Dua Lipa back in 2016 for her first appearance at Lolla and her third time was a charm in 2022 when she packed in the crowds at the T-Mobile Stage on July 19.

British singer Griff is already building an impressive resume after opening for Dua Lipa for her first time out on tour. She tackles more arenas with Ed Sheeran, Coldplay and Florence + the Machine in the future. She plans to write more music in the future after her tour schedule subsides a bit.

The future is so bright that producer and DJ Maddy O'Neal had to wear shades for her interview in the media this year. Obviously having an eye for style and fashion, this talented Denver native dances to the beat of her own drum. She has made music for 12 years.

O'Neal said, “I am super pumped to be at Lollapalooza. It is a full circle moment because I went to Lollapalooza as a patron in 2006 when I was in high school. Some of the musicians that played were Daft Punk, Pearl Jam and My Morning Jacket with an orchestra.”

O'Neal is a strong ally for the LGBQT+ community and she mentioned out artists such as Wreckno and CloZee performing on the same stage as her.

She describes her genre as “dirty funky bass music with soul, but make it pretty!” O'Neal mentioned wanting to work with the Swedish electronic band Little Dragon and her new album Ricochet drops on September 20, 2022.

Taipei Houston is composed of Layne and Myles Ulrich, the sons of Lars Ulrich of Metallica fame. The band name comes from a flight itinerary from Taipei City to Houston. Layne said they wanted something “ambiguous.” Myles described himself as self-taught with some time spent at music school. The duo only have five posts on Instagram but they explained that they scrubbed their socials to debut their song the week of Lollapalooza. Layne elaborated, “If this the first time someone looks at Taipei Houston we want a good place for the listener to start. We want to build that narrative. We have more looks and photos coming, so we can branch out from the beginning.”

On the subject of distancing themselves from their father's legacy, Myles said, “We want to form our own brand and identity. We don't think about it and we would love it if nobody else thought about it. We hope one day for it not to be a thing anymore. I don't even think about it. We love writing music ourselves.”

Layne wants to keep people guessing about their work and wondering what might come next, “Going into the future, we want our music to be surprised with plenty of new turns. We have crazy rock music right now, but we are both huge Billie Eilish and Kendrick Lamar fans. We cast the net very wide. We hope to incorporate all of our influences into our work in a way that makes sense for us.”

They were both excited about more music festivals coming up this summer and with Myles being three years older than Layne he promised to look out for him while out on the road. Myles confessed, “It is a really cool experience to tour with someone from my family. We are happy to be together!”

Rising star Aiida grew up in Oslo, Norway and recently graduated from the esteemed institution Berklee College of Music after moving to Boston in 2018. Her parents also have an Albanian background and encouraged her to sing at a young age. She always wanted to perform, “I just popped up in a tutu, larger than life. This is an homage to wear it at Lolla today!”

Inspirations include Scandinavian singer Sigrid because of synthesizers and looked up to artist Fletcher with her rebellious attitude. Aiida said, “I encourage everyone that listens to my music to take up space to be quirky, flamboyant and feminine.”

She performed at Oslo Pride recently and mention the attack at a gay bar there, “It has brought up questions and issues that we didn't know were there. Finally, people are raising their voices to fight. I would love to play Pride Fest in Chicago one day.”

These amazing artists are the ones to watch in the next few years so stay tuned to their individual social media handles and websites for the future.