The Criticals
Bushwick, quiet on Friday afternoon, had a distant humming that could barely be picked up by the ear. Walking on Troutman street, the minimal noise became louder. The sound guided us on a perfect path up to Brooklyn Made, enticing the listener to follow the sound and take a peek inside.
The Nashville-based rock band, The Criticals, were proudly standing on stage in the middle of their sound check. They stood out in front of the mid-century modern pattern on the stage’s back wall while patiently embracing the process. The band includes Parker Forbes (lead vocals), Cole Shugart (lead guitar), J. Rudolfo Rosas (rhythm guitar), David Michael Meadows (bass guitar), and Tyelen Gibbs (drums). The band started with the intro to what would be the first song of the show. The intro reverberated as the instruments kicked in, the coordinated sound ultimately shaking the bones of the venue. It was that good, and it was only the soundcheck. They continued to practice small portions of their songs, starting and stopping at random points. The band’s talent was evident through their ability to pick up mid-song and be completely locked in together. With their chill and easy going nature, The Criticals finished sound check plainly sailing.
We caught up with singer Parker Forbes and guitarist Cole Shugart a few hours before their March 31st Brooklyn gig, where they answered a few questions for the groovement:
The two of you are from Nashville and have been present in that scene for years. How has the Nashville music scene been an influence in your music and your life?
Cole: Huge influence.
Parker: I think kind of in every way, it sort of shaped us. I grew up as a drummer in my teenage years, and even before, we played in some bands together. I was on drums, and he started playing guitar about the same age as me. Franklin, Brentwood, all surrounding areas, and Nashville, there were a hundred bands of kids our age easily, and they were all good. It was kind of crazy when you look back on it, just the number of kids we were friends with who were so talented.
Cole: It’s also interesting because so many legacy artists retire in Nashville. It seems like there’s a pipeline of people who live in LA, then when they’re ready to raise their kids or retire, they move to Nashville, cause you don’t really get bothered when you go to a restaurant. A lot of these kids we’d be playing with, their dads would be in huge bands. Me and Parker never had parents or people in the music industry that were related to us. It was really cool to show up with our little rinky-dink instruments to somebody’s basement, and they have an ungodly amount of gear. It was really cool.
What was the first concert you went to?
Parker: Mine was Keith Urban. I went to Keith Urban with my parents in Memphis when I was probably seven, eight. I don’t really remember the show all too well, it was so long ago. That was an arena show, and that was my first experience like, ‘damn this is cool.’
Cole: Mine was James Taylor at a place called Starwood, an amphitheater in Nashville. It’s since shut down. It was cool as fuck. I don’t really remember the show at all, but I remember thinking it was cool as hell.
Personally, how did each of you get started in music?
Parker: My dad is a big hair metal guy, 80s new wave. He loves Journey and Motley Crue. I mean this is right when we got cable, but there used to be a channel, VH1, and he had a bunch of these DVDs of all the greatest hits music videos for those bands. The drummers had these massive, ridiculously over the top kits and fifteen fucking toms, and it was the coolest shit ever. I had no idea how to play anything, but I’d always wanted to play drums. I got inspired by those videos mostly. And we moved to Nashville when I was nine, and then I was like, fuck it, I got to start meeting some people.
Cole: For me, my grandpa used to play in a surf band in Detroit. He had a child and moved back to Tennessee to a small town outside of Nashville. And he always played guitar growing up, which was cool to me. My parents are big music lovers, and I was introduced to a lot of bands growing up. I always wanted to play guitar, but my parents made me take piano for six months. And during that six months, my grandma went to a gas station, and there was a guitar behind the clerk, and she was like “why the hell are you selling that guitar?” And he was like, “some guy just came in five minutes ago and said I need $10 worth of gas, and I have a guitar to trade, and it was done.” And she was like “how much will you sell it to me for?” The clerk said $10, and that was my guitar. And then just playing ever since.
What was the first concert you ever performed? Was there a specific moment or feeling knowing this is what you wanted to keep doing?
Parker: First show I ever played was in an AC/DC tribute band when I was eleven. We played at a place in Franklin right outside of Nashville. We only played four or five songs, and I just had a blast. I was on drums.
Cole: My first show was at Kids on Stage when I was eleven at a summer camp where all these kids would come, and they would assign you a band with all the other kids. It was cool. We played Sweet Home Alabama and Come Together. And I was shitting my pants the whole time, I was so scared. But I had a great time.
What has been the path of pursuing music after high school, and how has that journey been?
Parker: It’s weird because I think a lot of bands that I thought would still be doing it after high school, let alone six, seven years out of high school aren’t really doing it anymore or at all.
Cole: Of those hundred, maybe ten are still around.
Parker: A lot of them that did stay together moved somewhere else, so in Nashville, there are hardly any. We formed The Criticals well after high school, but we were in so many different projects growing up, that it opened our eyes to what to do and what not to do, versus if we started playing, like a lot of kids, when they’re in high school and their first band is the one they try to go for. You have to trial and error a lot before you find out what works. Even still, we are not doing stuff we did six months ago and are doing new stuff we maybe won’t do later, you just figure it out along the way.
Cole: It’s tough when you get out of high school ‘cause real life hits you. I think that’s where a lot of bands start dropping off, unfortunately. At the end of the day, if you’re doing what you love, just keep pressing for it. A lot of people don’t realize we’re a new band to 99% of the world, even though we’ve been doing it for a decade. There’s a lot of time that has to happen, a lot of development. Just keep at it.
What is the origin of your name?
Parker: I was in college in LA for two years, and I was about to move back to Nashville. I wanted to start a rock band and the name was the hardest thing ever. I was sitting watching a commercial. It was some Life Alert commercial, and it kept saying critical on the screen. I thought that was pretty cool; put an ‘S’ behind it. I always liked ‘the’ band names, and I feel like a lot of people don’t do that anymore.
The Criticals started with the two of you. How did the members now come into the band?
Parker: I started the band myself, and I was kind of writing and recording the first few songs. And then we had so many different revolving band members, everyone was in for three months and out. It was getting kind of exhausting, and I wanted a band that’s going to stay steady. Even after Cole joined, we still had a year and a half of constant revolvers. We’ve had this group together for a year and a half.
Cole: Rosas was the first, which was one of Parker’s friends. He joined us for a show and has been with us ever since, and that was three years ago. Tyelen was the same, another band you [Parker] were working with. Michael was my roommate, and he had given up music. And he came to see us play and was like ‘holy shit.’ I think he didn’t realize we were a band band. I think he thought it was a side project kind of thing. The next day he’s sitting there like, ‘so what’s going on with the guys, is everybody in this for real?’ At the time, the bass player didn’t want to tour, and this was right after Covid. I told him the bass player may want to dip pretty soon, and he [Meadows] was like, ‘so you need a bass player, huh?’ And the next day, a bass showed up on our doorstep, and he learned all the songs.
How would you describe your music?
Parker: We’re all influenced by a lot of different shit. I know that’s probably a common answer, but we are. Even just Cole and I grew up on a ton of different stuff from our parents. We were growing up on pop, rock, country, everything. All that seeps into our music at some point, but if I had to say, I’d say indie rock, alternative rock. But we got some funk in there, some pop, and it’s impossible not to seep in ‘cause we love it.
What’s next for you?
Parker: Finally putting out some new tunes. We’re excited for it.
Cole: Just turned in the masters, and that will start rolling out in the next couple months. I think the EP will come out in July, full-length after that, probably early next year. And touring our booties off, just cruising.
* * *
The venue started filling as the view from inside became a sea of bodies. After two dynamic openers, Savioa, and the Telescreens, The Criticals followed immediately after. The hard hitting intro began as the instruments kicked in, this time accompanied by the encouraging cheers from the audience. Just like in sound check, the intro resonated throughout the building and built up the anticipation from the crowd.
Forbes soon came out from behind the stage and took his place front and center. He is truly a spitting image of a young Mick Jagger, and we can happily report that talent-wise, he’s climbing up to become naturally just as distinguished as a frontman. The sound and tone from the band was unbelievable, almost falsely generated because it was so perfect. Shugart and Rosas were completely locked in together, sounding so in sync they could have just been one person.
The Criticals performed their set partially in a Ramones style, playing one song and immediately kicking into another without missing a beat. They then paused to introduce a song or interact with the audience. They played a mix of their previously recorded originals, such as “Good Lookin,” “Under Your Nose,” “High Life Clinic,” “Treat Ya Better,” and several new unreleased originals.
In their original song, “Homebody,” the song lyrics read, “searching for better days, but we’ll be okay.” Forbes sang the first part, and then paused for just a second while the instruments played. Then he looked up at the audience and added in his voice, “We’re all going to be ok.” The audience passionately and positively reacted to the small gesture instilling hope that whatever is going on now, we’re all going to be ok.
Throughout their set, the band was completely tight together. The drummer, Gibbs, kept impeccable time, a natural metronome. And the bass player, Meadows, executed perfect bass lines that added depth to the songs and pulse through the body.
The Criticals played their last song, “Under Your Nose,” as the entire crowd jumped with monumental stamina the entire time. As the song ended, Forbes remarked, “I love you Brooklyn, good night.” The crowd erupted in cheers as the band walked backstage. The cheers didn’t cease, as the decibels grew louder until The Crticals returned to the stage as the clock struck midnight.
The four song encore was filled with the same energy they’d been delivering for hours, their fuse still not out, and the crowd was completely enticed. The last song was “Last Nite” by The Strokes, paying homage to the New York City scene. Forbes jumped into the audience, and then returned to the stage with a childlike smile on his face.
The audience roared as the band unplugged and left the stage, then almost immediately came down to greet their friends and fans as people flooded out of the venue. The Criticals may potentially be one of the most talented up-and-coming rock bands. Watch out for them, they’re coming fast.
Connect with The Criticals on Instagram, Spotify, and their website.
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groovers•June 15, 2026
Liv Kat
Liv Kat is a sonic architect who thoughtfully bridges the worlds of music, design, and physical space. As a content creator, DJ, and music curator, Liv specializes in crafting the bespoke audio programming that transforms ordinary rooms into immersive sensory experiences. Whether she is building a custom soundtrack, spinning a live performance, or shaping a brand activation, Liv gives hospitality groups, wellness centers, and art galleries the perfect auditory backdrop to elevate their space. Powered by the chill, textured rhythms of trip-hop, nu-disco, and jazz, her work tastefully maps the intersection of sound, mood, and atmosphere.
Following a Water + Music event, we caught up with Liv to talk early concert memories, inspiration, and the power of live music.
What was the first concert you attended?
The concert that really stands out as one of my first was seeing John Mayer perform at The Gorge Amphitheatre in the mid-2000s. His stage presence was incredible, and at one point he played the guitar with his tongue… I was blown away!
Where are you from?
I'm originally from the West Coast (California and Oregon), but I've been living in NYC for eight years.
What do you do?
I'm a content creator, DJ, and music curator, which means I design the sound and music programming for physical spaces, from hospitality and restaurant groups to wellness centers and art galleries.
Who/what do you draw inspiration from?
I'm obsessed with sonic ambiance: how sound can elevate a beautiful physical space, whether that's a hotel lobby, a lounge, or a pilates studio. I draw inspiration from artists whose sound shapes mood and emotion, spanning trip hop, nu disco, jazz, and deep house, with favorites like Zero 7, Air, Thievery Corporation, and Ella Fitzgerald. I'm also drawn to interior design and architecture, and how spaces like the Getty Museum in LA or Hôtel Costes in Paris use sound and design together to create atmosphere.
What does live music mean to you?
Community, connection, and catharsis. It's one of the few places left where a room full of strangers can feel like a shared experience.
Do you play any instruments?
I grew up playing clarinet, piano, and guitar. That technical foundation has been a huge asset in my DJing career.
artists•May 17, 2026
The Head and the Heart
The Head and the Heart @ Brooklyn Paramount | 5.10.26
artists•May 1, 2026
Rujen
Rumor has it that if you say the name Rujen three times into a vintage delay pedal, planets shift and gravity begins to disappear. In Brooklyn last month, the audience didn't even have to say it once before everyone in the Sultan Room started to float on a cloud of reverb, delay, and distortion. Formed between college study breaks during the thick, humid summers in Milledgeville, Georgia, Rujen is a dreamy surf-psych-rock band comprised of lead vocals and rhythm guitarist Ryan Miller, lead guitarist Creighton Perme, synth and keyboardist Nick Hanchey, bassist Charlie Brady, and drummer Ryan Barrett. It was the band’s first time playing in New York City, and they put on an unforgettable show.
Rujen began their set with a wall of sound and dreamy lyrics, playing “Psychic Sister” off of their new album Velvet Dream. We were then launched into a rock-psychedelia tsunami with “Push It,” firing up the crowd into an “anything goes” dance party with heavy delay riffs from Creighton and saturated synths from Nick. The title track for “Velvet Dream” was up next, and it was reminiscent of Electric Light Orchestra in the best way. The easy listening track is perfect street walking music with introspective lyrics from Ryan Miller to match.
Rujen continued to melt faces as they dove into three new unreleased tracks, playing “The Liz”, “Steppin’ Out”, and “Under the Light” which had a great dichotomy of fast drumming from Ryan Barrett and ethereal melody on the guitars. The next track, “Spider Silk,” really took us through a tailspin through dismantled frequencies, contemplative melodies, lullaby-like lyrics and otherworldly jams. Before their last song, Ryan Miller took a moment to shout out and thank the friends and family who supported them during their tour. The quintet ended the show with “Neptune’s Revenge,” with Charlie and Creighton trading riffs on bass and guitar. As the last echoes of the Sultan Room dissolved into the Brooklyn night, Rujen finally came to rest, leaving behind a room of people who had arrived on solid ground but left in mid air on a cloud of resonance.
Before the show, we were able to sit down with Rujen for an interview:
I heard this tour has been quite the excursion, tell me about where you’ve been and the journey to get to tonight’s show at the Sultan Room in Brooklyn?
Charlie Brady: So we had a three stop tour originally planned, and it was Richmond, Spring City and Manhattan, for the route. It was gonna be three days in a row, and on the way up, I think we had just gotten into South Carolina and found out that the original venue in Manhattan had double booked us. So the morale in the van shot down super quick. We were all pretty pissed because we were like, wow, we're about to drive to New York for kind of no reason now at this point. We were pretty unsure of what was gonna happen. But, you know, no one lost their cool and our buddy who had booked the show, Ryan Simpson, came through clutch as hell and ended up taking his band, Kama Sutra Christmas Club, off a bill they had at Sultan Room so that we could play instead. We owe him big time for that one! It all turned out for the better but it was kind of an emotional roller coaster for a second there.
Ryan Miller: We busted a tire on the way to Spring City, which was a band first. Had all five of us out there on the side of the highway flailing around trying to fix it and scratchin’ our heads like a bunch of baboons.
Charlie Brady: I think we were about three miles from the Delaware State Line in Elkton, Maryland, where the tire blew, and we're sitting there, and Creighton's the only one who noticed it. He goes, I think the tire blew, fellas.. And we're all like, I don't know Craig (Creighton). And he's like, I'm pretty sure I heard the air leave the tire, fellas.
Eventually we pull over and we're like, Fuck, he was right. The whole thing was flattened on the ground, and we tried lifting it, like, what, eight or nine times… it wasn't working. And eventually we settled, we had these two books. It was, I believe, a reggae music history book, and the owner's manual for the 2019 Ford Transit XLT, and we stacked the yoga mat on top of that as well to provide a little more height. Got the tire off and changed it. So we showed up an hour late to our Philly show in Spring City but still rocked it.
Is this your first time performing in NYC?
Ryan Miller: Correct, this is our first time performing in any of these cities.
So how did everyone meet and what drove you guys to create this musical project?
Creighton Perme: The majority of us are college friends from Georgia College in Milledgeville, GA, but Rujen didn’t begin until around 2016 when Ryan, Nick, and I had moved back home to the metro Atlanta area. Ryan B. was the final addition to the band, joining us on the cans a bit before we put out our first record.
Ryan Barrett: I was in another band at the time, and we played a show with them at Aisle 5. I really fucked with these guys, I thought they were sick, and I kept going to see them play. I think I told Creighton one time I was just like, hey man, if you guys ever need a drummer, call me. Creighton did end up calling me one day and now, we’re in New York City.
Ryan Miller: In college, we played under the name Keeva around town at the local bars. We absolutely loved the feeling of playing live and writing songs together and kept that up after graduating and moving to Atlanta.
Was there a reason for the name change?
Charlie Brady: There’s actually another band in Ireland called Keeva and they sent us a cease and desist.
Ryan Miller: With Hanchey joining the band, we wanted to change the sound a bit from what we were doing in college and, you know, really unite under the idea of being an indie-psych band or whatever you call it. So we wanted a heady new name to go with that.
And what was the meaning behind the name Rujen?
Charlie Brady: So I think Craig actually went out on this field trip, part of a study abroad for college. It was this story about how he went up on this mountain and Rujen was the name of the mountain. But I guess you must’ve seen something up there, man. And you know, I don’t ask questions, I just play root notes and fifths. So I was like, fuck it, man. You know, Rujen is gonna be the name of the band.
Ryan Miller: Yeah. And we said, “What is that man?" He said, “I don’t know, man, it’s a feeling.” We were like, “Alright, man. That’s deep. Sounds good.”
Charlie Brady: So we’ve stuck with it and now we’re almost 8 years in it.
Cool! So this tour is to promote the new album, Velvet Dream, which fans have described as ‘dream pop.’ Can you tell us about the creative process of forming the album and maybe expand on if you would consider the genre to be dream pop or something else?
Ryan Miller: So, our first record, Feel It’s True, was kind of just like a hodge podge of all the new songs we were working on as this new band, Rujen. And I think Velvet Dream is different in that we wanted something super cohesive to really establish what our sound is, what we’re trying to do, what we’re trying to present ourselves as. And dream pop is cool, for sure. I don’t think that’s exactly what we set out to be, but what’s cool about it is that people have their own interpretations of it, you know. We do some dreamy shit, but we also like to hit the fuzz pedals and rock out. We are inspired by a pretty broad range of music like Broadcast or Stereolab to King Gizzard or Ty Segall. So we try to keep it loose, I guess.
Charlie Brady: I would say the elevator pitch for our band is we like to say we’re an east coast band with a west coast sound. And if you really want to put us in a corner and label us, I think somewhere amongst the labels like indie dream, surf, psych, rock.
I love the elevator pitch. Going off of the creation of the new album, when you guys are in the studio, do you ever surprise yourselves? Ie, when you’re creating, does the music ever take you somewhere where it didn’t plan to go?
Nick Hanchey: For sure I feel like happy accidents happen all the time when we’re making new music. I feel like a lot of the process that we try to implement, is like, getting out of your own way. Not necessarily trying to think too hard, but listen critically and be willing to explore where things are going. And a lot of times that takes you to a place that you definitely didn’t preconceive. It’s kind of like we’re starting on this idea and then it gets collectively filtered through all of our five different personalities which ends up at a place where nobody could have gone by themselves. So it ends up sounding a lot more interesting and cool and just feels collaborative.
Amazing, sounds like you guys have a lot of chemistry. Going off that, we also saw the great music video for a few songs on Velvet Dream that came out last year and loved the artistic angle between fantasy and psychedelia that it brought. Where did the inspiration come for the music video, and what did it take to create it?
Ryan Miller: So I think we’re a pretty goofy group of dudes and it’s a little strange because maybe our music doesn’t feel that way particularly. It’s pretty serious, you know. So I think with the videos, it’s an opportunity for us to show that side of ourselves, have fun with it and just make the most crazy, far out shit we can think of.
Charlie Brady: In that particular video, “Psychic Sister” and “Spider Silk”, we filmed up near a German town called Helen,GA and it was very cold outside during MLK weekend. We had our friends, Vaughn and Elyse, come along to help produce and film the video. Sometimes it’s good to have people that aren't in the band to give you a different creative direction to go into. Elyse is a crafts wizard and designed the sun mask from paper mache as well as designing the sun costume.
Ryan Miller: And then our good friend, Elise Williams, designed our costumes that the band wore. So we had all the friends involved and got real crafty. It truly takes a village, ya know? And then we’ve got to give a massive shout out Christopher Fodera, our video editor and visual effects maestro, who really took what we had and turned it into something fucking amazing. I’ve always been inspired by Toro y Moi’s unique approach to video projects and with this record we wanted to do something different by announcing the record with a double-single, double music video. It just felt super big and exciting for us to do something different than the standard album rollout.
What’s the one thing about this band that you don’t think the world fully sees yet?
Creighton Perme: I think our live shows are a pretty fun experience that we try to make a little bit more special. We try to transition between songs and have jams, and a lot of that isn’t really captured so far into what you find on streaming.
Nick Hanchey: Because we all started out as a live music band, we would spend a lot of time crafting a set list with really intricate, froggy, inspired transitions and stuff between songs that is not recorded. We’ve actually never even recorded a live session. We don’ t have studio content of us playing in a live setting currently. So the only way to see that is to come to a show.
Charlie Brady: There’s chemistry that can’t truly be captured on an album that kind of gets filtered out with the whole recording process which I think, you know, is translated very well in a live setting. So we’re just happy to be playing for different crowds and getting reactions at live shows.
What does making music give you that nothing else can?
Ryan Barrett: For me, it's an escape. When we get together — whether we're at practice or playing a show — it's almost like meditation. We get so locked in that none of us are really here, you know? We're somewhere else entirely.
Ryan Miller: We try not to bring all the external stuff into the jam room as best we can — just focus on the music and get lost in it. It's a nice thing to have. You step into that room and all the shit you were worried about, you can forget about for the next two hours.
Charlie Brady: On tour, there are a lot of tiny moving parts — get to the Airbnb, get your coffee, wake up, pack up, soundcheck, dinner. Most of it isn't even music. You're only on stage performing for maybe 30 minutes, and you can get frustrated with all the minutia. But usually there's a moment on stage, maybe a couple songs in, where I think, whatever I was pissed off about earlier, none of that shit matters. This is what we're all here for — being present in it. And it feels fucking good. It's like a bug, and once you catch it, it doesn't go away. You keep chasing that dragon. And that's kind of where we're all at.
What do you want the people who listen to your music to take away from it?
Ryan Miller: Just to feel good. Some of our earlier stuff had a darker undertone — more alternative sounding maybe. But there was definitely a switch where we decided we just wanted the music to be fun. We want people to come out, dance, let loose, and not take it too seriously. A more positive vibe — which I think is captured in our last record, and honestly in a lot of songs on the first record too. That's what I hope people feel when they see us.
What's your dream music venue that you'd like to play at?
Ryan Miller: The Gorge.
Creighton Perme: Madison Square Garden.
Nick Hanchey: Probably Red Rocks, but I will say Sultan Room is sick!
Charlie Brady: I would love to play at the Spirit of Suwanee Park.
Ryan Barrett: Red Rocks.
What’s next for Rujen?
Charlie Brady: So we have been talking about music videos, and we recently went down to Florida and recorded a music video for an unreleased song called “Under the Light” that is coming out sometime this summer.
Go catch Rujen at a venue near you today!
Connect with Rujen on Instagram, Spotify, TikTok and their website.