2025 was a year of strategic work and promising growth for ATC Sound, the independent music branch of pop culture media brand Across The Culture (ATC). Highlights of the year include the following:
- Establishment as a trusted indie music review platform
- Our second annual ATC Sound live artist showcase
- Zander, an American’s release of PROJECT 2025
ATC Sound: A Trusted Voice in Independent Music
As both an informational and a commercial resource of supporters of independent music, ATC Sound saw its reputation grow for the better in 2025. Articles that captured the value of today’s trailblazing independent artists and analyzed music industry best practices both grew in visibility and attracted new readers.
Following the release of our video guide to writing a great pitch to a music blog, ATC Sound saw a significant uptick in independent artists submitting their music for review. To any artist that has come to us for an honest and compassionate review of their work, thank you, and please continue to keep us in mind as you look for people to help tell your story in an age where people are trusting non-human voices more with each passing moment.
FREE ZANDER: An ATC Sound Live Music Event
On Friday, November 14, 2025 at Underground Music Venue, Across The Culture (ATC) Sound hosted the FREE ZANDER concert, a showcase of four unique independent hip-hop artists in Minneapolis, MN. With Khruangbin playing First Ave nearby and trick shot legends Dude Perfect hitting up the Target Center as part of their Squad Games tour, competition for parking and attention was stiff. No matter — the couple dozen or so folks that took time out of their weekend to pull up were rewarded with some of the most potent and original music the Twin Cities has to offer.
FREE ZANDER is a declaration referring to ATC Sound editor and rapper Zander, an American. His trademark handcuff dangling off his wrist featured prominently in the concert flyer and Zander’s actual performance. DJ Adubs handled the boards for the second year in a row.
A regular message in both Zander’s music and writing is there is more freedom for humanity to gain — freedom from the need to buy new things, drink toxic water, eat toxic food, and work jobs that take much more than they give. In one way or another, all the acts in the FREE ZANDER lineup — from veteran rapper Mike The Martyr to nascent alt rap/R&B crooner AK Tears — gave life to this theme.
Mike The Martyr
Mike The Martyr’s set was a relentless exercise in loving where you’re from. The level of storytelling in his verses made Minnesota — considered a “flyover” state by many Americans — feel as rich as any of the biggest coastal cities in the country. A brief story about tough guys in Duluth and the details in his bars throughout his set offered a glimpse into the rowdy, candid spirit powering Mike’s life and music.
“They threw bottles at him / them shits was Heinekens” “The Quest” – Mike The Martyr featuring Muja Messiah
AJANIMF
AJANIMF (Ajani Muhfucka) returned for his second ATC Sound event with the same introverted skateboarder botanist energy that made his set so captivating in the summer of 2024. As he continues to grow his profile as a local horticulturalist and shroom expert, AJANIMF is still putting his drum machine to work in service of disorienting sample-heavy beats he marches through like Earl Sweatshirt (except AJANI likes shit and he does go outside).
AK Tears
Introducing himself with his first ever live performance at the FREE ZANDER concert was AK Tears, a rap/neo-soul vocalist and producer showcasing his particular blend of 1990s-2010s hood-adjacent online nostalgia. By far the grooviest of the night’s acts, AK Tears had the uninitiated learn his hooks and sing along by the end of his short set.
Zander, an American
Capping off the night was ATC Sound’s very own Zander, an American. With only one track repeated from last year’s setlist, Zander’s performance was urgent, direct, and political. Keeping the energy high throughout his set, Zander debuted the single “Did You Hear?!” and scorched through a bar-heavy sample plate of his catalog as “bald eagle” (i.e. red tailed hawk) cries and “Free Zander” soundbites peppered his time on stage.
FREE THE WAGE SLAVES
As part of the FREE ZANDER theme, ATC Sound debuted Zander, an American’s “FREE THE WAGE SLAVES” merchandise series with themed crewnecks and t-shirts available for purchase. In alignment with Zander’s music (e.g. “Company Time/Wage Slave,” “Done Clocking In”), Zander’s “FREE THE WAGE SLAVES” merchandise is another brash yet humorous layer of messaging critical of worsening quality of life in the United States, placing much of the onus on the greed of large employers as worker productivity increases continue to far outpace wage increases.
Zander, an American Drops PROJECT 2025
To wrap up the calendar year, Zander, an American released an exclamation point of an EP titled PROJECT 2025 in reference to the far-right sociopolitical agenda published by conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation in 2023. Led by the new single “Did You Hear?!”, PROJECT 2025 captured the best of Zander’s last two years in music by repackaging heavy-hitting singles into a potent thematic body of work. Highlights include “Mad Enough” and the acclaimed 2024 single “My Fellow Americans…”
Looking Ahead To 2026 With ATC Sound
As ATC Sound continues to expand its journalism and artist stewardship, 2026 bodes well.
If you support ATC Sound for its music writing, expect a greater volume of indie artist reviews and profile stories to be published in the coming year.
If you support ATC Sound for its representation of Zander, an American, look forward not only to more of Zander’s work, but the inclusion of at least one new artist alongside Zander in 2026.
If you are an independent artist looking to submit music for review to ATC Sound, please use this link and fill out our form so we can properly consider your work. If the ATC Sound editorial team takes a serious interest in your work, we may also be willing to partner with you as a public relations service provider for the length of a promotional campaign for an upcoming project. This is a limited paid service, so please engage with our free submission process first.
