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photo
by Jen Maler |
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| Date |
City |
Venue |
| Mon 5/26/08 |
Los Angeles, CA |
Viper Room |
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Lewis
Pesacov: Guitars
Matt W. Popieluch: Singing, Acoustic Guitars
Garrett Ray: Drums
Ariel Rechtshaid: Bass
After spending the post-collegiate summer of 2003 getting drunk
at other people's weddings, Lewis Pesacov and Matt Popieluch
decided it was high time to start yet another band. The two
met while attending San Francisco State University and had been
playing together for a handful of years in various incarnations.
After playing a few shows, Lewis and Matt went down to LA to
clean up their rough demos with Lewis' longtime friend Ariel
Rechtshaid, who suggested they re-record the demos with himself
on bass and Garrett Ray on drums. The results were promising
enough for Lewis and Matt to quit their menial jobs and move
down to LA that spring where the current line-up of Foreign
Born was, yes, born.
The band released their "In the Remote Woods" EP on
Startime International in the summer of 2005, followed by the
limited edition "Loud Times in the Valley" EP on local
LA label Grand Gallop, and is planning to release their first
proper full-length, "On the Wing Now" this August
on Steve Aoki's Dim Mak Records.
Foreign Born produced and recorded "On The Wing Now"
themselves before signing with Dim Mak, trading on the experience
and accumulated recording gear of bassist Ariel Rechtshaid,
who has produced albums for We Are Scientists and the Blood
Arm, among others, as well as the arrangement skills of guitarist
Lewis Pesacov, who has a degree in Composition. The band pressed
the original version of the finished album themselves with hand-screened
covers on recycled materials and hit the road for the fall of
2006.
Touring in support of their just-finished album, Foreign Born
found themselves on the road at home and abroad with We Are
Scientists, Giant Drag, Rogue Wave and the Cold War Kids. For
both of their tours in the fall of 2006, they navigated the
US and Canada in a borrowed van powered by vegetable oil, finding
their fuel behind the nation's finer roadside dining establishments.
At home they've shared bills with The Futureheads, The Walkmen,
and Grizzly Bear, whose guitarist Ed Droste called Foreign Born
his "favorite new band" in a recent Pitchfork feature.
Their sound is a dark, acoustic, psychedelic mixture of influences
that range from Roy Orbison and John Lennon to the Fall, Primal
Scream, Jesus & Mary Chain and Brian Eno; the varying tastes
and backgrounds of the individual members informing their arrangements.
Guitarist Pesacov's formal education keeps the compositions
tight and strongly constructed, while singer Matt Popieluch
tends to do quite the opposite, with winning results. Although
it is usually Matt and Lewis who come up with the songs' foundations,
bassist Ariel Rechtshaid and drummer Garrett Ray play an equally
important role in shaping the songs' structure and arrangement.
Having just signed with Dim Mak, Foreign Born is excited to
release "On the Wing Now" and is already looking forward
to their next album, having amassed enough material to fill
another disc. During the touring and recording lulls, the band
busies itself with multiple side projects, including Lewis'
African-themed Fool's Gold, and Matt's Big Search, Ceramic Isles,
and occasional sideman duty for Cass McCombs.
Foreign Born will be on the road supporting "On the Wing
Now" throughout the summer of 2007 and looks forward to
making a new album in 2008. |
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On
the Wing Now
Dim Mak
2007 |
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