And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead
Century Media Records / Lonely Planet Productions
And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead

Formed in late 1994 by singers/guitarists/drummers Conrad Keely and Jason Reece, Trail of Dead has evolved over the years expanding their line-up while still being creatively driven by the core founding members. Friends since childhood, Keely and Reece started playing music in the indie rock town of Olympia, WA and eventually relocated to Austin, TX where they started ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. Their first release was a self-titled album that came out on Trance Records in 1998 and was succeeded by Madonna in 1999 on Merge records. ...Trail of Dead toured the US with Superchunk shortly after and in 2002 they released Source Tags and Codes on Interscope Records. Over the next four years the band released two additional albums on Interscope Records – World's Apart and So Divided before parting ways with the label in the fall of 2007. In the Spring of 2008, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead launched their Richter Scale Imprint and thanks to a partnership in the US with Justice Records and in Europe with Superball Music, their sixth studio album The Century of Self was released in February 2009. In the Spring of 2010 the band entered a worldwide deal with Superball Music and their Richter Scale Records Imprint and they released TAO OF THE DEAD in February 2011. In the summer of 2012 the band headed over to Hannover, Germany to record their eight full-length studio album Lost Songs – due out October 22nd on Richter Scale/Superball Music. Currently, Jason and Autry are based in Austin, TX, Conrad is based in Cambodia and Jamie lives in LA. FACTS ON LOST SONGS: Hello, we are ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. This is our eighth album, it was recorded this summer in Hannover, Germany. The music was partly inspired by the apathy to real world events that has plagued the independent music scene now for over a decade. It was also inspired by artists such as the Cure, KARP, Ros Sereysothea, Human League, Hildegard von Bingen, and a few others. We feel that because the lyrics can say more about the album than we could, we would simply share them with you. We would like to dedicate our efforts to Pussy Riot, and any and all artists who have attempted to exercise their creativity under the oppression of government, as well as the endemic oppression of an indifference to passion present in our mainstream culture. - Conrad Keely, Phnom Penh 2012 INFLUENCES INCLUDE: Fugazi, Melvins, Bikini Kill, KARP, Unwound, Sonic Youth, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Public Enemy, Yes, J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, etc. TOURED/PERFORMED WITH... Superchunk, Secret Machines, Blood Brothers, The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Doves, Audio Slave, Foo Fighters, U2, The Sex Pistols, The Sword, Mogwai, Dinosaur Jr., Queens of the Stone Age, Explosions in the Sky, Peaches, Spoon, My Bloody Valentine, Dethcock, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Sleighbells, Surfer Blood, Rival Schools RANDOM FACTS: - Source Tags & Codes - Received highest possible score of 10.0 on Pitchfork. - Conrad and Jason met in high school in Hawaii - Went to college together at Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA - Moved to Austin, TX and started playing as a guitar and drums duo under the name You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Conrad has done album artwork for band's albums as well as others including The Sword, Fugo, Amanda Palmer and Eagle Claw and has showed his work at galleries across the world.

Read More >

Matt Skiba And The Sekrets
Century Media Records / Lonely Planet Productions
Matt Skiba And The Sekrets

A trooper, a vagabond, a minstrel and an artist - over the course of fifteen years and eight full-length albums as the lead singer/songwriter for Chicago's Alkaline Trio, Matt Skiba has been all of these things. Touring the world, heart on sleeve, Skiba has consistently penned some of the great dark pop anthems of the past decade. For both major labels and indies, whether it be acoustic ballads or antagonistic anthems, Skiba is an icon of the outsider and he has remained a singular voice of a sub-genre he helped to create. Now, after so many years as part of the band that has come to define him, Skiba has stepped out from the Trio to create Babylon, the debut album from Matt Skiba and the Sekrets.

Babylon doesn't mark a major sonic departure from the infectiously catchy, sanguine-stained tunesmanship Skiba is known for. The songs are still cleverly-crafted and instantly memorable, but the details of the tracks on Babylon are what separate this album from all of his previous output. His independence from the confines of a group dynamic allow the songs to take flight, subtleties intact, and elevate the music from mere songs to exquisite songcraft. Of his unfettered creativity, Skiba explains, "Working as part of a group is great, but it's a democracy. You hear something in your head and play it, then the other guys comment and you compromise. That's what being in a band is about. I wanted to create that music in my head – not a dissected and altered version of it."

Teaming up with AFI's Hunter Burgan on bass and My Chemical Romance's Jarrod Alexander on drums, Babylon remains the creation of Skiba himself. "It's a band, but it's not a band. It was great to have Hunter and Jarrod come in and play. They are both great musicians and it was a thrill to play with them. Everyone involved in the album breathed life into the ideas, making them songs and giving those songs a foundation that couldn't be stronger or more inspired." His singular vision shows the true breadth of his songwriting skills, from the uptempo chant of the album opener and lead single "Voices" to the heartfelt, acoustic strains of its closer, "Angel of Deaf" In between tracks like "Olivia", a paean to the pain only someone you love can cause, and the tongue in cheek devil's hook of "Luciferian Blues" take the listener on aural adventure that is simultaneously familiar and fresh. "My songwriting – whether it be for Alkaline or for Skiba and the Sekrets – comes from the same place. I craft songs a certain way and there is always going to be a piece of what I've done before in it," he explains. Fans of Alkaline Trio will immediately fall in love with tracks like "You" and "The End of Joy", while the 80's post-punk new wave synth of "Falling Like Rain" may take some by surprise. Babylon offers something for those just coming to the party and those who have been there for years.

Not merely a studio experiment, Matt Skiba and the Sekrets will be touring extensively behind Babylon. The shows are sure to be equal parts intimate and explosive, with Skiba performing the entire album along with a few unexpected surprises. "I can't wait to play these songs live. It's always exciting to try new stuff out, and to do it with an all new band – who knows who'll be coming along for the ride when we do this live – is going to be great."

Read More >

Legendary Shack Shakers
Colonel Knowledge Records
Legendary Shack Shakers

Picture it: the rustic grind of rural America. The cacophonous crunch and wheeze of motor-driven rock songs accompany the sound of corroded farm implements awakened to service once again. The soundtrack of a time when strip malls will choke with ivy and the vestiges of overdevelopment will be razed and plowed up for acreage. The Legendary Shack Shakers confront an America that is in decay on their seventh full-length album, AGRIDUSTRIAL.

Read More >

Cowboy Indian Bear
Cowboy Indian Bear
Cowboy Indian Bear

"Lawrence, Kansas' favorite sons (and daughter), Cowboy Indian Bear, make both a reaffirmation and a grand leap forward with their second full-length album Live Old, Die Young. It was captured alongside producer/engineer Joshua Browning and over three years that included a grueling touring regimen through multiple blizzards, blown tires, shouting matches in art galleries, travels to exotic locales and the loss of beloved family members. Trust that the joys and adversities of that period all find their way onto LO,DY in multiple ways. If their debut album Each Other All The Time was about constructing a framework, the laying of a foundation, their latest collection of ethereal indie rock is about the subtleties and embellishments that turn a house into a home. The individual memories and collective hardships of the quartet are spread throughout LO,DY like family portraits on a mantle. While all the pictures may be beautifully rendered and cleanly framed at first glance, a deeper look suggests something a little more difficult to work around. But life is not as linear as it is often idealized. Once again those challenges, both musically and narratively, are being put forth in Cowboy Indian Bear's work. LO,DY, however, is a testament to bonding, growth and family ties. If you look a bit closer the results are likely better – a lot better – than the last time you paid a visit. Maybe stay a while this time."

Read More >

Aceyalone
Decon Records
Aceyalone

For legendary emcee Aceyalone, being out of the norm has paradoxically always been the norm. The Los Angeles rapper and founding member of Freestyle Fellowship, Haiku D'Etat and Project Blowed returns with Aceyalone & The Lonely Ones, an album that draws on Phil Spector, 60s girl groups, the J.B.s and a slew of raw, dirty funk for sonic inspiration.

Dirty Art Club
Dirty Art Club
Dirty Art Club

Comprised of members Madwreck and Matt Cagle's complementary production skills, Dirty Art Club channels psychedelic electronica layered with thoughtful nods to hip hop, dreamy beats and dark, melancholy undertones. Hailing from North Carolina, Dirty Art Club debuted their first album "Heavy Starch" in 2011. Serving seamless sonic collages replete with digital instrumentation and analog synths, their EP "Hexes" is released on Phonosaurus Records.

Read More >

Lazerbeak
Doomtree
Lazerbeak

Lazerbeak is a thug. Do not be deceived by the nice-guy introductions backstage. Beak is responsible for some of the hardest lavabangers in hip hop, period. Catchy, rib-crushing, filthy.

In his basement workshop, Beak works mostly with a MPC2000XL. He layers propulsive, hard-hitting drums with driving guitar and keyboard melodies. He paces after the addition of each element, ducking to avoid the overhead pipes, playing air drums, and calculating his next layer.

Beak’s sequencing is a large part of his sound. “After you’ve got the main structure, to make it a real song, you have to take it all part again. It’s like a battle with the beat, every time.” And Beak always wins. When it’s over, the effect is some helicopter-at-the-omnitheater shit. He’ll take a beat down to its most essential elements before letting it off the leash to explode into anthemic proportions.

Lazerbeak got involved with the Doomtree crew through his high school friendship with Stef (P.O.S). But by then he’d already been playing music for years. Since 8th grade he played with The Plastic Constellations, the indie rock group that would go on to tour the country, signed to French Kiss Records. Stef, having heard Lazerbeak’s music with TPC, encouraged him to start making beats. Beak got a loan from his folks to buy his first MPC from Guitar Center. Stef came over in the afternoon to show him the ropes. No looking back.

To date, Lazerbeak has produced over 400 beats. His production appears on almost every Doomtree release, including all three of P.O.S’ solo albums. He’s now completing the production for the upcoming Sims solo release and working on a solo endeavor of his own.

Most recently, Doomtree released Lazerbeak’s collaboration with Mike Mictlan. The two schemed for years to write and record the disc. For much of that time Mike was living in L.A. Lazerbeak sent Mike beat CDs in the mail. Mike rapped his verses to Lazerbeak over the phone. Big dreams, big phone bills. Now the fruit of their labor is available in all its glory as Hand Over Fist. Legend Recognize Legend.

Read More >

Dorine Levy
Dorine Levy
Dorine Levy

From Austin to San Francisco, from Liverpool to Prague, Canadian songstress Dorine Levy has wowed audiences and scored hits and gained legions of followers.

At the tender age of 16 Dorine wrote and performed the lead track for the ambient ‘9Beach’ compilation ‘La Mort’ and notching up 50,000 sales worldwide.

Major fashion brands sat up and paid attention to her debut ep and the track ‘Falling Star’ was used by H&M and Zara in their promotional soundtracks.

All this was a far cry from when Dorine found herself moving at short notice with her parents from Montreal to Tel Aviv. Despite the upset. she used this as motivation to become a powerful, unique musician, singer and producer who takes her influences from both sides of the world.

She scored success in the southern hemisphere when selected as one of the ‘Top Five International Acts’ in the 2010 MTV Australian Music Awards, even though she’d never visited the country.

Her first full-length album ‘Underwater’ she released the opener ‘There For Me’, which scored thousands of views on YouTube in days, gained a slot on MTV’s boutique playlist, and was used by Forever21 fashion brand’s global advertising campaign and by Quiksilver for their annual worldwide Pro France television recap.

No less than the legendary Tom Robinson played it on the UK’s BBC6 Radio – an accolade few can achieve.

‘Cow boy fest’ the third track released from the album was used by the loved Korean fashion brand Suecomma Bonnie for their trilogy worldwide campaign.

Her first UK single ‘Lenyrose’ was an instant hit, premiered on Indie Shuffle, was shortlisted and ‘Track of the Week’ at ‘It’s All Indie’.

The official video for the track involved fans and volunteers and renowned video masterminds Neil Cohen and Lavie Sharon who also worked with the likes of Beyonce.

Premiered by Wonderland Magazine, Dorine’s video received more than 1,000 shares and was added to the MTV Boutique playlist

After playing incessantly around her home town, Dorine and her band were invited to play a series of key industry events, including shows at Sxsw, Cmj, Indie Week Canada, First Nouvelle Prague Festival,Canadian Music Week and Sound City in Liverpool as well as festivals such as Jamrock in Czech and Culture Collide in LA and San Francisco and supporting acts such as Caldwell, Lucy Rose, Jviewz and many more.

Now continuously playing events and gigs in Tel Aviv, Dorine has spent the year creating and recording new music in her studio, with more than 100 tracks in the bag, the first five will be released this year in the UK and Canada.

Read More >

Doug DeLuca
Doug DeLuca
Doug DeLuca

Doug DeLuca is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist living in Los Angeles, CA. Born and raised on the East Coast, DeLuca grew up steeped in music. Yet in 2010, with a business degree from the University of Vermont, his dreams of a creative life were nowhere in sight; held back by insecurity, self-comparison, and a fear of failure. His own career on hold, DeLuca wound up supporting other musicians as a member of the industry, joining the marketing team at VEVO in 2013.

After spending a year seeing artists come through the office, he finally mustered up the courage to give it a go himself, and quit his job. He moved to Los Angeles in 2015 to pursue a music career full time.
In 2016, he met producer Louis Bartolini, and the two instantly clicked. Album standout “Good Feeling” was written in one night. The sound they developed as a result of that track, is textured by big backing harmonies, raw instrumental riffs, and an intentionally imperfect live feel - capturing rhythmic elements of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s soul music.


His first single “Hit Your Mark” was released on September 1, 2017. The video premiered on Grimy Goods and was covered by Buzzbands. Grimy Goods named him an artist to watch in 2018. His follow up single "Gimme Love" was released in January 2018, including sounds by bassist Nate Light (JR Rotem), vocalist VIAA (Anderson Paak, Willow Smith), and guitarist Karl Kerefoot (Lord Huron).
His debut EP, "Hit Your Mark" was released in April 2018.

Read More >

Einstellung
Einstellung
Einstellung

Einstellung formed in 2003 as an outlet for it's members to blend their record collections, with a nod to Spiritualized, Neu, My Bloody Valentine and Black Sabbath amongst others. Not attempting to reinvent the wheel, Einstellung's manifesto is to enjoy each other's company, produce music that makes them laugh/cry and through the use of dynamics and texture, create an all-engulfing sense of now.

Read More >