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LANDONBAND * * * Well Known On the SoCal Club Circuit In Addition to Extensive Gigging In Arizona and Landon's Home State of Texas Landonband's Debut, Featuring Eight Tracks Originally Intended For An EP And “The Four Hidden Tracks,” Was Produced By Drew K (At the Drive-In, Madonna) And Mixed By The Legendary Bob Clearmountain (Rolling Stones, Pretenders, The Clash) Los Angeles-based powerhouse unit Landonband kicks off their summer tour with dates ranging from San Diego, all the way up the coast to San Francisco. Starting off in San Marcos, CA they will be playing at the Jumping Turtle on July 15th, Los Angeles' The Gig on July 18th, 12 Galaxies in San Francisco on July 26th, Orange County's Fender Avenue Bar & Grill on July 28th and Paladino's in the valley on August 3rd. Landonband has been chosen by Billboard Magazine as a top 6 finalist to compete in the IMWS (Independent Music World Series) Showcase in San Francisco. Perfectly capturing the foundational vibe of Landonband, Landon's underground unit that's taken Southern California, Arizona and her home state of Texas by storm, iTunes Music Store adds "It's a matter of when and how, not if." For the past two years, the band—including core members Bobby Harris and drummer Seth Rice—has played SoCal hotspots like Knitting Factory, Troubadour, The Dragonfly and in San Marcos, San Diego, Tempe and Dallas. Jul 15 2007 10:00P
LANDONBAND No matter how addictive and edgy her songs, how crushing and intense the energy of her shows, Landon Dunning heard the same lines from skeptics from the time she started her own band in her hometown of Dallas at 16. Stuff like, “Cute chick singer.” “One of the guys in the group must be your boyfriend.” “A blonde lead singer. Who writes your songs?” Record labels and management companies loved her even back then, and many had designs on how they wanted to mold her to fit a trendy image. But Landon, true to her visionary, independent spirit, wasn't having any of it. She moved to L.A., quickly hooked up with producer Drew K (At The Drive-In, Madonna) after starting a record for Epic Records and began working on her explosive, fiercely indie debut Defying The Stereotype. The album, whose tracks were all written by Landon or co-written by her and Drew, is currently being shipped to college radio stations across the country; the process of choosing potential singles for a commercial radio campaign is underway. The buzz has been intense. Legendary mixer Bob Clearmountain, whose 35-year resume of hundreds of artists includes Rolling Stones, The Pretenders and The Clash, mixed the album. Blown away by Landon, he says, “Rarely do I see an artist with so much to offer: brilliant, insightful songwriting, energy that never stops and a serious rock voice that kicks ass, with a raw attitude to match. From the moment I listened to the album, I knew this was an artist I needed to work with.” Perfectly capturing the foundational vibe of Landonband , Landon's underground unit that's taken Southern California, Arizona and her home state of Texas by storm, MMG Magazine adds, “If Trent Reznor and Shirley Manson wrapped up…Landon would be the blood shed.” For the past two years, the band—including core members Bobby Harris and drummer Seth Rice—has played SoCal hotspots like The Gig, Knitting Factory, The Dragonfly and in San Marcos, San Diego, Tempe and Dallas. Landonband also blew everyone away at the USA Film Festival in Dallas, where they were celebrating the Official Selection designation given to Mad Bad, a featured indie film starring none other than Landon herself. She also dominated the film's blistering soundtrack, co-producing and singing six songs and collaborating on “Sin In Disguise” with members of Collective Soul. The film was also an official winner at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. The film's director John Keeyes says, “From the first moment Landon stepped on stage the crowd went absolutely nuts. Landon truly became a rock star when she hit the stage. You could see the enthusiasm, the passion and that fiery spirit inside.” Landon shares those three key qualities with her bandmates, whom she hooked up with midway through the recording of Defying The Stereotype . She decided to hold auditions to form her own band, and Drew--who had produced demos for Harris and Rice's former group Illphonic at his Angelhouse Studios—invited them to try out. Landon, who heard the two play separately, originally had no idea that they were longtime friends who had migrated to L.A. together from North Carolina. The chemistry was quick and undeniable, the solid group dynamic apparent from the start. “I'd met a lot of players with incredible resumes,” she says, “but I was more interested in guys with the same level of passion I have, who could bring something original to the table. We all have similar styles and sensibilities, and we're all aggressive players. They believe in and respect me as a musician. I'm one of the boys, and they let me do my own thing. I've grown so much in the two years we've been playing together.” Harris adds, “Rock bands are a dying breed these days, and I like to think of us as the type of band bringing that genre back. We're not 80s rock or 90s rock, just rock and roll without all the flowery adjectives.” Landon continues, “One of the things that makes us unique is the fact that we're not trendy. Our sound is original and can't be coupled with clothing or some new sound movement. It's diverse enough to appeal to people of all ages who like music that's emotionally provocative. We do sad songs, angry songs, sexy songs…we're multi sensory. But as provocative as we are, there's kind of an untouchable mystery there, especially with me. Once people get over their preconceptions, anyone can dig it.” The title Defying The Stereotype refers to Landon's bucking the system and being an integral part of Landonband's sound, rather than just the ornamental, once blond, now brunette lead singer. It's also about taking the hard road of being an indie band that refuses to conform to mainstream industry expectations. Their shows are raw, fun and they like to say, violent—but in a healthy, cool musical way. “Defying the stereotype for me is about everything that I've personally had to overcome in this business,” Landon says. “I'm using the preconceived notions to my advantage, drawing people in and then showing that I am about substance. We've been under the radar for some time now and we've used that time to establish some true integrity and build a loyal fan base.” While Landonband originally intended for Defying The Stereotype to be an eight song EP, an error by the duplicating service caused four extra songs—originally intended for a short CD with tracks designed for radio play—to be slapped onto the disc, which suddenly became a full-fledged album. Among what they are now calling “the four hidden tracks” are the throbbing, blistering “Dirty Virgin,” which is the most requested tune at their live shows, and “Free At Last,” a thoughtful elegy to an artist friend who passed away before his time. The two songs are coupled with two very unique videos. The videos, "Dirty Virgin", produced by Landon and "Free At Last" will be released in the next month. Like their music, the videos are stylisticaly diverse; one being dark and uncomfortable and the other a celestial, uplifting, dreamscape feel. “Wind Up Monkey,” which they don't mind being upfront about it—is their way of flipping off the mainstream music industry. “We're just doing our own thing here,” she says, “and nothing we do is dependent upon whether we're signed to a major label. As musicians we're trying to find the balance between having one foot in the indie market and one foot in the mainstream market, but one thing's for sure Landonband isn't going to compromise their individual artistic evolution to conform. |
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