Who: Even if they don’t know him by name, local music fans might recognize Spencer “Issy” Berry by his bands. Since 2018, the singer has fronted Amarionette, a prog-rock four-piece that has earned comparisons to Coheed and Cambria—with a funky twist. The 12-year-old Vegas band has toured with national names like Kurt Travis, former frontman of Dance Gavin Dance. But with the addition of Berry, who possesses a vocal registry like that of The Weeknd, it’s bound to grow in new directions. In 2020, Berry also founded ’80s-tinged dance pop duo HighScore, with guitarist Christian Hill. The 32-year-old singer, who grew up performing ’90s pop songs with his siblings under the guidance of their musician father, draws from a reservoir of muses including Prince and Michael Jackson.
Balancing act: Splitting time between bands rewards a creative like Berry. “It fulfills all my tastes in music,” he says. “Singing for Amarionette, I get to use a wider range of my voice and really show off the parts that I wouldn’t be able to in some of the HighScore songs. But also in HighScore, I can be a lot more mellow, and bring out a little more of the R&B side.” The Las Vegan produces most of HighScore’s music, but with Amarionette, Berry and guitarist Nick Raya co-write lyrics and the band contributes instrumentals. Berry says he toys with fictional storytelling in his music whenever possible. “Growing up, I always wanted to be a film writer,” he says. “So I think it comes from that imaginative mind and wanting to create something for people to be wowed by.”
Upcoming: HighScore just released a new single, “Sugar Tips,” which Berry says he wrote in his bedroom the night he returned home from a weeklong hospital stay for COVID and pneumonia. An EP featuring the song will arrive sometime in September. Meanwhile, Amarionette’s full-length release is slated for fall. The band will also embark on a small tour and share a bill with such acts as Rae Sremmurd, Sum 41 and The Ghost Inside at the So What?! Music Festival in Arlington, Texas, May 27-29.
Current Rotation
“The Weeknd’s Dawn FM album is pretty dope. I always stay with Michael Jackson, of course. That’s a daily listen. There’s this band called The Midnight—they’re really good. They’re synthwave. I also just got into this band called Nightly. They’re similar to The Midnight and that synthwave vibe, which we’re going to be including on a couple of HighScore songs. And [An Evening With Silk Sonic] is probably my favorite collaboration and album since it’s been out.”
Amarionette amarionette.com/tour
HighScore linktr.ee/Highscoreofficial
