Biography
"The sun-splash jangle of California with a hint of dark-art New York" (Joe Puglisi, CMJ.com) -
Fresh off their critically-acclaimed release on Holiday Records (The Drums, Surfer Blood, The Young Friends), a spot in indie-film sensation Delusional Downtown Divas soundtrack (with Lissy Trullie), and a jam-packed summer concert schedule, the señors of marseille hit Marcata studios (The Walkmen, Titus Andronicus) to record their upcoming full-length, due this winter. Momentum is clearly building.
Things were not always this sunny for the señors, however. Matt Swope and Graham Bishop wrote their first song on a four-track tape recorder in a dingy closet with a Casio keyboard and a flipped over bucket. Struggling to come up with lyrics, the two took turns sing-reading from a Sears catalog – the song was called, one-thousand-pound capacity flatbed wagon. It was terrible.
Years after these half-hearted, college attempts at cool, the two flew from L.A. to Brooklyn and got serious (kinda). With thoughts and tunes no longer borrowed from the pages of corporate catalogs, Matt and Graham formed the faux-baroque/folk/powerpop band, the señors of marseille.
Less than a month later, before they had even recorded their first EP, the Señors landed a residency at one of NY's most respected indie clubs – Pianos – where they became known for their boisterous, danceable performances. At around the same time, they hit the studio to record their first EP, which includes collaborations with critically-acclaimed indie cellist Emily Hope Price and sweet, sexy vocalist Lillian Ruiz.
Excitement about the "señors of marseille EP," released late in 2008, has steadily been building. In January ’09, CMJ.com recognized the señors as a Spotlight Artist and writer Joe Puglisi heralded their music as “a sound accessible for every music lover.”
At the same time, "Davey," co-written with Bartholomew Bishop, was featured on the soundtrack for Delusional Downtown Divas – an Index Magazine film series - with fellow NY rock and roller, Lissy Trullie.
The señors’ music was also featured in the film "Wildflower," which brought home three awards for Untucked Films at Tropfest 2008 - the world's largest short film festival.
The señors of marseille have received recognition from Mike Pinder’s Songwars 2009, a featured artist spot at indiefeed.com, as well as blog and print media attention on all continents (except Africa and Antarctica).
Recently, the señors of marseille have played with:
- pow wow!
- The Beets
- darlings
- Air Waves
- Dinosaur Feathers
- Pearl and The Beard
- I’m Turning Into
They've played at popular NY venues, including:
- Cake Shop
- Public Assembly
- Pianos
- Spike Hill
- The Cameo Gallery
- Lit Lounge
- Shea Stadium
and more…
They will be releasing a full length in the winter, as well as videos for 'davey' and 'hit the floor.'
Instrumentation
Graham Bishop - Guitar, Q chord, Vox
Matt Swope - Keyboard, Bass, Vox
Vlad Gutkovich - Percussion, Bugle
Discography
"Tubular" - 2010
"Davey" - Holiday Records - 2009 ( http://holidayrecords.net/ )
"cat scratch" (single) - 2009
"the coolest girl in new york" - 2009 Music Video Release
"davey" - 2009 Film Soundtrack (Downtown Delusional Divas at www.indexmagazine.com)
"the senors of marseille EP" - 2008
"Here In New York" - 2008 Single/Film Soundtrack
"Cat Scratch" - 2007 Single
EP and singles available online (iTunes/amazon/emusic) and on their website - www.senorsmusic.com.
The short film "Wildflower" is available at:
www.myspace.com/senorsofmarseille
The film, "Downtown Delusional Divas," is available at Index Magazine's Website, www.indexmagazine.com/ddd.
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