BrandsForBands

Formed in 2009 when two college dropouts turned roommates started writing pop songs together in their sweltering Chicago apartment, Stepdad has moved far from those roots, but the basic formula still hasn’t changed. Songwriters ultramark and Ryan McCarthy possess an ability to write high-energy pop songs laden with hooks that rival artists who happen to be filling stadiums - they’re a songwriting team with a great ear for melody, harmony, and song structure. Because of this, buzz quickly followed the release of their self-produced debut EP, Ordinaire (Quite Scientific, 2011).

Now hailing from Michigan’s west coast, they've had the amazing fortune of being able to work with producer Chris Zane (The Walkmen, Holy Ghost!, Friendly Fires, Passion Pit) on their debut album Wildlife Pop (Black Bell, 2012), toured with Fitz & The Tantrums, Reptar, Passion Pit, Vans Warped Tour, and have had songs featured in countless TV shows, commercials, and video games.

Recently the band expanded their line-up by adding longtime friend and guitarist Nathan K. (a well known Michigan songwriter and solo artist in his own right) and drummer Ben Weissenborn, replacing Jeremy Malvin (who has gone on to his own career as Chrome Sparks). Long time bassist Alexander Fives parted ways with the group in 2014.

Stepdad is ultramark, Ryan McCarthy, Nathan K., Ben Weissenborn

My name is William Boreing, Front man for Stocklyn. We are a Texas band, we play Rock'n Roll and we mean it.

We've all been playing around lubbock since we could convince bar owners to let us in with X's on our hands. Making our living playing our instruments and entertaining Lubbock as best we could. We have all toured with various State wide and National level bands. But at some point I grew a bit weary of the side man role. I still loved playing guitar and I tried to mean every note I played, put my heart into it. But there was always an itch.

So I started (or rather kept) writing for myself. I've always been hugely influenced by Led Zeppelin, Wolfmother, AC/DC, Aerosmith and several other of the greats. But While playing lead for Red & the Vityls, I had an opportunity to really immerse myself into Texas music... not Texas country but Texas music I found that the music I wrote for myself, the music I loved had a home and people who loved and welcomed it.

So I got with my best friends. A small crew but guys that would die for each other. And I decided we would make music for us. By our rules and within our means.

We never went without. Once we started doing it all ourselves a ton of people kicked in in a BIG way! After contacting several local venues to track in their rooms after 3am when the doors lock, or on their closed days I was contacted by Don Caldwell. Talk about a lifesaver! The guy said he believed in the project and wanted to help in anyway he could including letting me use his studio at night when everyone else left free of charge. We had already decided that we wouldn't sacrifice quality for easy at any stage and without this leg up I don't think we could have accomplished that.

With the help of Justin Thomas Williams, Ryan Garza, Seth Ramirez, Justin Lentz, a whole slew of quality people from the Blue Light we did it.
We never gave up on the dream of the highest quality. We didn't have enough money to rent a lot of things we needed for as long as we would have needed, so if we needed a Marshall sound and couldn't get it we Built a Marshall. If we really needed a u87 and couldn't get it we built a mic. Me and Justin Locked ourselves away for countless hours fueled by a desire to "do it right" and with a "why not us" attitude about trying to be great.
When it was done we were Melanee, we had 6 tracks we were really proud of, and even a couple in studio videos!

From there we burned CDs ourselves, made a stamp to have our name on em (having spent every resource on the product already) and started playing shows. Opening for anyone who would have us and playing for anyone who would listen. We've always had the attitude of "do it right" so every show was our last and if both we and the crowd weren't drenched in sweat when it was said and done I chalked it as a failure.

But the response was incredible! I can't say enough about the Texas scene, the Lubbock scene especially, and the Blue Light and Office specifically,
The project was always about making music for us, making music with my friends, and doing the thing as well as we could.

As luck would have it our little record found it's way to sleepwalker studios via Jeremy Boreing where, upon overhearing it played, it caught the ear of David Hodges ans Steve Solomon who run the joint.

David got in touch with me and I started saving, painting fences, selling all my earthly belongings and putting in sweat to have enough money to get my butt to California and sign a record deal.

We retracked the record with me playing almost every instrument, still keeping as many of my friends and original parts as we could. It really mattered to me that it be the best it could without loosing itself and it's roots in great music by great friends.

More recently we were picked up by Scott Weiland & the Wildabouts' camp and given the opportunity to tour the US with 'em. LA to NY to FL, Corpus Christi to Boston and everywhere in between, myself Blake Vera and Seth Ramirez, playing homemade Rock'n roll as hard as we can, and never loosing the get sweaty mentality. We are so grateful to be doing what we love, and getting to share it with so many. The response has been amazing!

"They're an audacious guitar driven strut. It's loud, sweaty, near the edge of excess, and on the cusp of chaos; it's the way rock and roll was meant to be played."
-Thomas D. Mooney, New Slang

Summer Twins are sisters Chelsea (guitar, vocals) and Justine Brown (drums, vocals). They write dreamy rock ‘n roll songs with a touch of California sun. Born and raised in Riverside, Ca, they formed Summer Twins in 2008, with a focus on singing pop harmonies atop garage rock inspired by the ’50s and ’60s. Summer Twins play live with Michael Rey Villavicencio on bass and are signed to Burger Records and IRMA Records (Japan).

Saddle up the horses and take your guns to town boys because the Sun Gods in Exile are back. After a three year silence Portland's God's of Southern Fried Biker Boogie Rock have cowboy-ed up and returned to shake the dried clay from your boots and put a little swagger in your step. Ten thunderous tracks titled "Thanks for the Silver" that add just a little more southern than fried this time around and take aim with their six shooters hitting the target every single time.

Formed in early 2008 by four guys that worship at the altar of vintage rock, Sun Gods In Exile is more than the sum of their respected pasts. After a brief stint in Boston's Cortez, Portland, Maine guitarist Anthony D'Agostino hooked up with old friend bassist JL, late of Ocean, to get back to basics and to play the kind of old school rock and roll that they both love. Augmented by the rock steady addition of Johnny Kennedy on drums and centered around the southern-fried vocals (and guitar) of Adam Hitchcock the boys of SGIE quickly became a club favorite all along the eastern seaboard, garnering opening slots with many including Roadsaw, Hackman, Mess With The Bull, The Brought Low and many others. Hearing what Tony & Co. had we here at Small Stone quickly signed Sun Gods In Exile and sent them into Mad Oak Studios to record their debut album “Black Light, White Lines.” 2010 saw the band making their debut at SXSW as well as trips up and down the coasts and a first foray across the pond. After three years and countless devastating live shows the band returned to Portland to re-group and write what would become "Thanks for the Silver." In the process, SGIE added a fifth full time member, Christopher Neal, on the keys as well as swapping JL for his brother Mark on bass.

"Thanks for the Silver" shows the Sun Gods in Exile truly coming into their own. Adam and the boys haven't just traded in their beer and muscle cars for whiskey and horses. "Thanks for the Silver" presents a band self-assured and self-aware with all the strength and swing of the first album and yet more mature at the same time. Christoper's adddition on organ, harmonica and slide guitar add flourishs only hinted at on "Black Light, White Lines" without detracting from the power that Mark and JK are pounding out. And Tony D hasn't given up a lick of ground when it comes to riffs and solos. Check it out and we hope you'll agree and say "Thanks for the Silver."

For fans of: Black Crowes, Allman Brothers, Blackfoot, The Brought Low, Infernal Overdrive, James Gang, AC~DC, Alice Cooper, Gideon Smith & The Dixie Dammned, Shame Club, The Cult, Dixie Witch, Roadsaw, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Molly Hatchet.

Formed in a Los Angeles garage in 2012, guitarist Jessica Owen, bassist Beth B and drummer Katie Fern have been creating melodic, hook-driven songs with layered vocal harmonies ever since. Inspired by the likes of The GoGo's and The Primitives, the power-pop trio combine just the right amount of jangle, reverb and driving rhythm to dispense three-minute sweet tarts that are sure to get stuck in your head. Their debut LP 'Never Enough' was released in April 2016 on San Diego's Volar Records to much acclaim. Their follow up EP, 'Tv Girls' is set for release in December 2017 and not to be missed. 

French-American multi-instrumentalist and stunning vocalist Sydney Wayser has emerged with her sophomore album The Colorful, a more lighthearted follow-up to 2007's The Silent Parade. It presents a collection of songs decorated with the playfulness of toy instruments while maintaining 22-year-old Wayser's sense of intimate and serene elegance. Praised by NPR for her "natural gift for melody and musicianship," The Colorful demonstrates a developed maturity that showcases this gift clearly and delicately. Now based in New York, Wayser grew up in LA, spending her summers in Paris. She quickly gleaned much of French culture from her songwriter father, leading her to musical influences that include Edith Piaf, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Jacques Brel, among many others. This European sensibility is evident on both The Silent Parade and The Colorful, each filled with tunes that could easily provide a soundtrack to a Godard film or a playful scene from Jeunet's Amélie. The Colorful, as a whole, feels like a sonic representation of this transition through the earth up towards the light. With an unwavering sense of charm and wit, melody and phrasing, Wayser's latest offering is an irresistible invitation to follow her into the light; an invitation not to be denied.

Hailing from Malmo and Stockholm Sweden, The Bell are a three piece with a penchant for memorable melodies and drum machine driven, classic, alternative songs. Vocals and instruments are shared by the trio of Nicklas Nilsson, Mathias Stromberg and Jan Petterson. Though they live many miles apart, they co-wrote and recorded Great Heat together through e-mail, electronic file exchanges and Skype. Great Heat is the follow-up to their stri- kingly good 2007 release Make Some Quiet.

Considering how quiet they've been over the past couple years, you'd think the Big Sleep decided to suddenly take their name seriously after the tireless tour cycle behind 2008's Sleep Forever LP. The truth is much simpler...

"We took a little break, worked on stuff separately and just lived our lives," explains bassist/vocalist Sonya Balchandani.

"It obviously took longer than we thought it would," adds guitarist/vocalist Danny Barria, "but I wasn't feeling rushed or pressured. I just wanted to write good songs."

Which brings us to the hefty hooks and sugar-spun noise pop of Nature Experiments, the filler-free full-length Danny and Sonya have hinted at since 2000. That'd be the year the duo started cutting demos in the former's Brooklyn kitchen; demos that eventually shifted from a loose shoegaze sound (the You Today, Me Tomorrow EP) to the iridescent instrumentals and groove-locked guitar anthems of the Big Sleep's debut album, 2006's Son of the Tiger.

As promising as that LP was, it's nowhere near as focused and forceful as the tractor beam tracks the pair started recording at the beginning of 2011. Helped in part by Sonya's increased use of GarageBand as a songwriting tool and a more collaborative creative process, Nature Experiments is as robust as a Big Sleep record gets, bursting at the seams with restless rhythms and choppy power chords ("Ace"), venomous vocals and blown-out beats ("Meet Your Maker"), and effects pedals/synth pads that rub and ring out against some of the band's most climatic choruses yet ("Valentine," "Ghosts In Bodies," "Ladders"). And if you need a breather, there's always the psych-steeped balladry of "1001" and "Wood on the Water."

"There was definitely a tunnel vision thing going on with our last record," says Danny. "That pressure was cool and intense, but the guiding principle this time around was to take our time and do whatever we needed to. We'd work on things separately and then meet in each other's living rooms with just an acoustic guitar and a keyboard, which is funny considering that's exactly how the band started."

"This band's always been about what comes out of the two of us working together," adds Sonya. "I think it's normal to write a little past the edge of your capabilities, so then you have to deliver, and the next time around, you end up pushing yourself again. We are always just looking for and editing ourselves towards what feels right, what we can both agree is putting across a feeling in a style that's truly 'us'." - Andrew Parks

"These boys are going to make a million dollars." - Tav Falco

Consisting of band member Robert Husak, and brothers Garnet and Snow Keim, The Blakes have been gaining momentum as their music attracts more and more attention from all corners of the entertainment industry.

"Soak the Kinks in cheap booze, reignite the Stooges’ strut and add some modern Strokes of ambition, and you have the Blakes." - Spin

"The trio’s self-released album has been spritzed up and retooled, but there’s no containing the primal, giddy energy that crackles through it. Careening back and forth between desperate/lovesick and drunk/predatory, the band turns raw, conflicted desire into instantly addictive pop gems and scorching, swaggering rock. The band’s hearts and influences are on full display, but the results are wonderfully contagious." -NPR