Guide to San Jose DIY artists and their music
Find great new music and support the hard work of artists who play in our scene!
Last updated March 12, 2026.
San Jose hosts a variety of local artists from a wide range of genres (though it can safely be said hardcore is most ampily represented). I wanted to highlight some of those artists
The intention for this is to be a living document. If you are an artist or music enjoyer from San Jose (or South Bay) and want me to listen to your stuff or another band’s stuff, shoot me an email at timshelbandsj@gmail.com (or dm, but emails are far more fun). Additionally, if I find it gets too long, I may take some old ones out (and possibly put them in a smaller section at the bottom).
Note: images taken from sources online, either Spotify or Instagram, then converted to be smaller, and dithered, using imagemagick. Both for style, and to keep the page downloads small (it makes the photos <10kb!) Command used: “magick [INPUT PHOTO] +dither -colors 8 PNG8:[OUTPUT PHOTO]” I also changed the size and cropping of photos to be 250x250
Brahm
Brahm is prototypical scramz/screamo done incredibly well both technically and emotionally. I had the privilege of seeing them recently at Vago Super, and it was one of the best live shows I’ve experienced in San Jose. They were incredibly locked in with one another. Tonally the guitar and bass were spot on (thanks in part to help from the live mixing from Heavy Lemon). I was taken aback by how emotionally charged the vocals were; the singer's voice is heartwrenching. It was clear they were well rehearsed, they played incredibly tightly the whole way through. Technically, I was most impressed by their drummer, who made the instrument look trivial to play. He was consistently on time, playing fancy beats and fills the whole way through, which elevated the experience of the whole band. They have 2 singles and an EP out, all of which are fantastic. I am a fan of “Life will still be beautiful” and “I will find you.” Check them out!
Void Participant
In the vast world of music, Void Participant exists in the same archipelago of artists like Chalk Talk and Indigo de Souza. The core of the music is the vocalist’s very soft, pretty voice, which sings over clean electric guitars, enveloped in a tastful amount of reverb in a bittersweet soundscape. I am impressed by production quality of her songs, which in addition to being well mixed with a nice sound selection, are full of flourishes, love, and tiny details. I am quite the fan of her song “Could Be Cool.” A friend of Heavy Lemon and the San Jose scene, she plays frequently around the city at places like The Tamper Room and SOFA pocket park. She has released a series of singles and EPs under this name over the past year or so. I am excited to see what she does next!
Mayday Mae
Fun, queer, indie rock. Her aesthetics now could currently be best described as campy, and “red,” with possibly a touch of goth. Her music exists around indie rock and surf rock, using a lot of clean rhythm guitars, loud acoustic drums, and many harmonizing vocals. Her lyrics are unapologetic and pop-esque, and there is a streak of activism in her music, and she has publicly stated (and wrote a song about) supporting women into local music, and wanting to create more spaces for queer artists in south bay. She is incredibly active in the Bay Area for her music. I like her song "new moon" quite a bit. You can support her work on all platforms!
Much love and support to these initial entries! Please reach out with more recommendations from our scene, and I will check them out. Once again, email is timshelbandsj@gmail.com