Noise Pop Festival 2026 Presents: The Family Crest Waterstride Madi Sipesr — The brainchild of composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Liam McCormick, orchestral indie band The Family Crest was started as a recording project with co-founder John Seeterlin (bass) as a final release before bowing out of the industry. Instead of leaving music, they were inspired by their peers to set out to reinvent how a band could be created, starting The Family Crest with an audacious and bold vision of cultivating a musical community. “We always liked making music with people - getting a bunch of people together and singing. So we put ads everywhere,” says McCormick. “We posted on Craigslist, distributed flyers, and emailed old friends from school.” The outcome was greater than the original duo imagined, with over 80 people credited on the first recording the band produced and over 500 musicians credited throughout their catalog. — Waterstride - Nate Salman has been making music since childhood, using anything they can get their hands on to express the magic they find beneath the surface of daily life. Channeling stories from somewhere beyond, they have worked obsessively to refine their unique sound, seeking always for deeper meaning and authenticity. With influences ranging from Björk, Kate Bush, FKA Twigs, Arca and Radiohead to old British folk songs, their music is a tapestry of experimentation. — When asked about The Painted Blue, Sacramento singer and multi-instrumentalist Madi Sipes explains, "The way artists paint pictures, I wanted to do that with music." On a journey to paint the silence with sound, Madi Sipes & The Painted Blue is a project defined by its mature lyrics and sultry vocals.