Carissa Johnson

“I went to my first concert when I was in third grade, I saw Avril Lavigne and Simple Plan,” recalls synth-rock artist Carissa Johnson. “The energy of being at a live show stuck with me and I knew I wanted to play music and start writing my own songs.” The Boston native released her newest and fifth album, Blue Hour, last November, her first non-acoustic solo record since 2016’s Only Roses. “I recently learned my genre is ‘bubblegrunge’ and I laughed out loud when I heard that,” she says. “I also used to define my music as ‘trashglam.’ My influences span a wide amount of genres these days. I’d probably say something like power pop/new wave meets folk but with synths.” She also garnered inspiration from her hometown:“I’ve always been fascinated with Boston’s history, and its music history. ...