After Emily & the Complexes frontman Tyler Verhagen spent several years hitch-hiking around the U.S. and playing as a solo acoustic artist, he settled down in Columbus, OH and recruited childhood friends Jordan Finke, Tom Konitzer, and Brett Gregory to turn his one-man band into a full-fledged rock n’ roll outfit. Drawing on Verhagen’s experiences on the road, the four began playing shows around Ohio and the Midwest. The band recorded and released their debut full-length album, Styrofoam Plate Blues, in September of 2012, and are currently focused on touring in support of it.
Matt Sheen & The New Hat Static is Indianapolis’ new up-and-coming band. They have a unique style that is somewhat hard to define by todays standards. A collective sound that incorporates styles from rockabilly, folk-rock, indie-rock, and alternative is definitely something that is worth giving a listen. If the music isn’t enough to catch your attention the bands leader/manager will absolutely get the job done. Matt Sheen is the brains behind the band. The mysterious man born from mechanical parts and magic, has a head like an old dial TV and the body of a business man. The other members of the band are as follows: Maxwell Holden, Jerryme Shoup, Jess Felmy, and Gregory Bacon.
With their soulful four-part harmonies, poetic lyrics and indelible melodies, it’s easy to see why the Atlanta Journal Constitution would hail von Grey as “nothing short of stunning.” They sound like they were born to play together – and, in fact, they were. The four sisters have been playing music nearly their entire lives. Classically trained from an early age, the Atlanta-based quartet – Kathryn, Annika, Fiona and Petra von Grey – have built on that foundation by performing upwards of 200 shows in the past two years, from recurring residency tours at intimate venues throughout the southeastern U.S. to supporting gigs with such artists as Sarah McLachlan.
•2012 – Enters the studio to record his first real album. Can’t wait to share it.
•2008 – Graduates High School. Enters Ball State University in the Fall as a Pre-Med major. Realizes he hates Pre-Med the first week of school and decides to pursue music instead. Never looks back.
•2005 – The Homecoming re-brands themselves as Hostile Waters. They record an EP that never gets released.
•2003 – After refusing guitar lessons, Dad tricks Ernest into playing guitar by purchasing a guitar and lessons for sister. Not to be outdone, Ernest takes up guitar. Thanks Dad.
•2002 – Mistakenly tells parents he wants to take up the Cello thinking that is the name of the Upright Bass. To this day it’s the best mistake he’s ever made.
•1998 – Starts piano lessons. Will complain about them for the next 11 years until he stops and suddenly feels an immense void take shape in his life.
•1995 – Picks up a guitar for the first time. Doesn’t receive immediate reward and quickly puts it down.
•1990 – Born in Oak Park, Illinois
Walk the Moon (stylized as WALK THE MOON) is an indie rock band based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Lead singer and Ohio native Nicholas Petricca started the band in 2008 and went through several member changes before finally coming together with current members, Kevin Ray, Sean Waugaman, and Eli Maiman sometime in 2010. The band derives their name from the song “Walking on the Moon” by The Police. The group independently released their debut album, i want! i want!, in November 2010, receiving airplay for the track “Anna Sun” on WCRD,WFPK, WKNH, and WTMD. In February 2011, Walk the Moon signed with Mick Management. They signed to RCA Records and released their first official album, Walk the Moon in June 2012. Their self-titled debut is composed of many of their original tracks from i want! i want!in addition to new tracks that were written specifically for the album and were meant to reflect the kind of energy the band produced in their live shows.
SPIN Magazine has described them as a “poppy, art-rock quartet”. They were also deemed a Nylon Magazine Band Crush for their “swirly pop beats, infectious guitar riffs, and loud, sing-a-long choruses.”
-From their Wikipedia
Celeritas [suh-ler-i-tahs] is a Omaha, Nebraska based band founded in 2007 by Kin Isamov. Influenced by a vast array of genres, Celeritas creates a blend of rock songs with pop sensibilities. Among their primary influences are The Verve, Oasis and Massive Attack. Right now, Celeritas are working on a series of EP’s of which will feature the loose concept of outer space travel, loneliness, regret, hope, dreaming and love. The band will embark on their first national tour in June of 2012.
We come from different kinds of bands and play them on our sleeves. We have fun, we hope you have fun, but above all else just rage.
-From their Facebook
The Mid-west can be downright f***ing boring. I’ve been there before. Some of the kids say the mid-west can be alright. Some of them can’t stand it. I don’t know what the mid-west looks like in the Kemps’ eyes, but I’ve hung out with those dudes and from what I can tell it’s weird and gets pretty dark. First off, they roll pretty hard. Are you asleep at 6:00 a.m. on a Tuesday morning? Probably. Are the Kemps? Fucked if I know but I doubt it. Second of all, you can throw all the dismissive black angels reference out the window, references are a lazy-man’s game; this is weird-ass Indiana drug-dirge at its most irresponsible.
-From their website