Every week, 101D.com will highlight a new artist in our exclusive Diamonds In The Rough Series. This week, we proudly present Birds & Batteries; one helluva talented band from the Bay Area who is looking to soar through the music industry.
Background Check: The members of Birds & Batteries have spawned from the east coast, Midwest and Southern California. Thanks to the large number of former B&B members, bassist Jill Heinke found Brian Michelson and Mike Sempert by knowing the past keyboardist for the band. "Jill was brought into the band by a friend and former member, Julie Thomasson (keys), who was herself recommended by a friend and former member, Ben Thorne (bass), who plays in a band with another friend and former member, Neil Thompson (guitar)," Mike explained. The band has stayed in the same lineup for two years now and has already performed in the legendary South by Southwest festival held yearly in Austin, Texas.
The Goods: Birds & Batteries currently have up tracks from their last album called 'I'll Never Sleep Again.' "I think there was a lot of growth between those two albums, sonically speaking," said Mike. "When I recorded 'Nature vs. Nature', B&B was a solo project and a lot of recording was done at home. When I'll Never Sleep Again" was recorded, there was a bit more of a group dynamic, though it was still my songs and arrangements, and mostly my playing." The band worked in a studio located in downtown San Francisco for the second album and the production quality is improved. "The thing I'm most proud of on that record is the flow and narrative," Mike said. "I really like the song 'I'll Never Sleep Again' into 'A Passenger'."
Video Animation: The band takes pride in their music videos, in which they have worked with an animator. "We filmed on a green screen with our buddy Nate Wanzek," Mike said. "It was basically [the animator's] concept, but a lot of her imagery is from the art from 'I'll Never Sleep Again,' which is the photography of Brian Stevens."
To check out I'll Never Sleep Again, click here.
[Tags] Rock
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