Anthony Wynkoop, otherwise known as Scartoon is from Las Vegas, NV. A longtime friend of the Sweet Heat Records family, we're honored to be able to release his newest single, "Bonafide Lover." Teaming up with Virgin Music Group for a distribution deal, his track has already racked up 10,000+ plays across all major streaming platforms since its release on August 23, 2024. Bonafide Lover has been featured in Band Camp Diaries, popular German blog, Sonic Realms, and today is being covered by Sweet Heat. Keeping in nice and simple, we go into full Q&A with Scartoon and get to know this Las Vegas mover and shaker a bit more.
Q: What’re your thoughts on the music scene in Las Vegas?
A: Las Vegas has it all. There’s a little something for everybody. Whether you are a jazz drummer fresh out of university trying to get a rock project off the ground, or you're a legacy entertainer that has a 12 show residency at the Wynn, there’s work to be done. Vegas has state of the art recording studios with world class engineers; engineers that will ignore you unless you know who to name drop in the subject of your email. Las Vegas also has boutique Studios where you crawl up into the attic of a bar to find a local drummer also running a recording studio. Both of these studios will have great music (shout out to Cutie Bros).

Las Vegas for me, has been a Pandora’s box. I feel that an honest day's effort and collaboration with others has taken me to some pretty insane places. With the right amount of delusion and some ambition it’s very easy for an artist in any genre to put together a project and be playing for 100 people in no time. People like Tony Z., Lionel Miranda (aka L-Rich/Sweet Heat), Pro Welton (Ingrooves/Virgin Music), and Patrick Pulsar are just a few names, out of many, that are cultivating Las Vegas to have its own homegrown musical identity.
There is room for casual musicianship in Las Vegas as well. We have plenty of open mics and plenty of business owners willing to host open mics, which is something I’m grateful for. The open mics, the shows, the studios, I think are all signs that the Vegas music scene is thriving and growing.
Q: Favorite memory in Las Vegas?
A: Going out to eat with people I love.
Q: Favorite music memory/experience outside of the state of Nevada?
A: I have two; in 2015, I DJ’d with my buddy Rashan in a venue called the Black Box theater in Monterey, California. We were absolutely nobodies, but we were from Vegas and it was a fraternity party, so they were none the wiser. We DJ’d for two hours and the show was absolutely insane.
But, my most favorite memory ever is when I played a live show in Austin, Texas. I put together an experience with some comedian friends in Austin. After the show, everybody took some shrooms and had a great night. We ended up sleeping in a little bit, but I accidentally booked the Airbnb for only one night, so the cleaning lady woke us up in the morning and informed us that we had to find a new spot. After a Three Stooges montage of all of us packing up and moving to another Airbnb, we needed to get some food in our system. We hit a restaurant about a block away from the Airbnb Called Elizabeth St. Café. We got a table for eight and our server had a great sense of humor, plus big blue, beautiful eyes. Ater about four cocktails, I got the courage to leave my number on the table for her. She encouraged that. She’s actually the girl that I write about in "Bonafide Lover."
Q: How would you describe your music?
A: I would say my music is pretty bipolar. On the one hand, I have what’s referred to as bank job music; music that is meant to be listened to in a getaway vehicle. Well, make sure your ski mask looks good. On the other hand, music that's represented in songs such as "Bonafide Lover." When I record live music, it is typically very tender, heartfelt and somber.
Q: Who are your biggest musical muses?
A: Right now, I’ve been listening to a lot of Dijon, Nick Hakim, Chet Faker, Hing Giz, and Killawatt
Q: If you could have coffee with one artist who would it be and why?
A: I would love to have coffee with Hans Zimmer. I’ve heard his workflow is absolutely legendary and that he is somebody who likes to be efficient and have fun.
Q: What helps you stay creative?
A: Living life. Doing things other than music. Reading, watching TV, playing video games, traveling, and cooking. If you sit there and beat your head against the wall because you feel forced to create, it’s not going to come out the way you want it to. You have to allow yourself to go through all the seasons of creativity.
Q: If you could give advice to any young artist starting out, what would you say?
A: Collaborate with others and don’t allow yourself to be stubborn about your art form. Seize the means of production, learn how to record, and play all of your music. Then, invite others to join you. It will grow the scale of your project, emotionally and economically.
Q: What’re your future goals in music?
A: I think right now, the team and I are really focused on putting together a super sick live show. The group of musicians I’m playing with right now are really good and I’m excited to lean into that.
Visit https://open.spotify.com/track/2htT7HcSp5lGIOjXoKaYcj to stream "Bonafide Lover" and be sure to follow @scartoon.live on socials for updates on upcoming live shows, DJ sets, new music and more. Like what you've read and listened to? Gain full access to Sweet Heat Records music playlist, free downloads, blog post and more at www.sweetheatlv.com.
By Peyton Burns, Anthony Wynkoop (Scartoon) and Lionel Miranda
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