Dopamine Crash and P.J. Howa are Sok Hop’s upcoming performers for today, Tuesday, March 3. Before going to see them play, learn about the origins of the musicians, their music and where they plan to go.
Dopamine Crash
Dopamine Crash is an alternative rock band based in Cedar City. The band has been playing since December 2024 and recently won the Fan Favorite award at Utah Tech College’s Battle of the Bands event.
Vocalist and guitarist Lizzy Walter and the band’s last bassist, Mak Duncan, were the pair who decided they wanted to form a band. They then recruited Lilly Miller, with whom Walter attended high school, and Kaylin deLespinasse, whom they found shredding at Battle of the Bands. It was then through deLespinasse that the band found their bassist, Laynie Evans.
“There are so many men in the music scene, it’s very male-dominated, and I feel like there are a lot of music spaces where there aren’t as many women,” said Walter. “I want to erase that and make it equal.”
The group is passionate about staying true to themselves and the art they create. In the music they create, they strive for an intense, grunge palette.
“When I write music, I try and be as relatable as possible,” said Walter. “When you’re in a hard rut, or just going through something, I feel like it helps so much to be understood.”
“The songs that we have are based from anger,” said deLespinasse. “Even though they might sound happy or upbeat, the songs have definitely been from people that have hurt us, from annoying things that have happened and from anger.”
Walter comes to the group with lyrics for a song and the basic chords for the rest of the group to build off of. Suddenly, someone hears a drum beat in their head, the guitars harmonize and a song is born.
“When someone goes to see a show, and it’s all boy bands, they go assuming it’s going to be good, but I feel like there’s been times when people go to see girls, and they have to prove themselves,” said deLespinasse. “I hope that girls can watch us and be like, ‘No, I don’t have to prove myself, I’m a good musician too.’”
Their performance will consist of two original songs, and the rest of their setlist will be covers of songs done by all-girl bands from the ‘80s and ‘90s.
P.J. Howa
P.J. Howa is an elementary school behavioral aid by day and a rock musician by night. In addition to his cowboy alternative solo career, he’s also the vocalist and guitarist in SEIZER.
His musical career started when he was in fourth grade. Howa’s cousin got him started playing guitar, which led him to play a funky version of the Star-Spangled Banner for his elementary school talent show. To impress the same cousin, he also learned to play the trumpet in middle school.
Howa is constantly writing songs and is a firm believer in the importance of having multiple creative avenues.
“The fun thing with doing your own stuff is I can decide whatever the hell I want to do,” he said.
While SEIZER plays an intense, visceral type of rock music, Howa tries to keep his own music very minimal and acoustic, with a focus on the lyrics.
He takes inspiration from Bob Dylan, Sun Kil Moon and Johnny Cash, striving for simple songwriting with clear heartbeats and human perspective.
Howa commonly creates a melody on guitar, meditating on how it makes me feel while he’s playing. He then organizes his thoughts into a simple phrase and creates a song based on that tune and those words.
“I try and be very present and absorb everything that is going on around,” Howa said. “Whatever is in front of me, trying to dig deeper and look inside of the normal and draw inspiration from that.”
He has around 30 unreleased songs written and, when the opportune time comes, wants to release a stripped-back 10-song project.
Howa plans to move to Salt Lake City with his band in the hopes of being able to support himself with music. Whether it’s through being an audio engineer, teaching guitar lessons or performing, he’s ready for the opportunities that northern Utah has in store for him.
Expect a laidback, introspective setlist from Howa as he plays his original songs for the crowd tonight.
Dopamine Crash and P.J. Howa will be playing at Sok Hop tonight at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door.
