CDfuse.com

Hometown: Austin, Tx, United States

Influences: Jeff Buckley, Muse, Radiohead

Website: http://www.surmusic.com

Our Story:

“Sometimes I wish I just wrote songs about happy clouds and smiling trees…” half jokingly cracks Lang Freeman, “…but the truth of the matter is the things in my head are a bit more complicated than a Bob Ross painting.” Well complicated or not, through all the obstacles of self doubt and a case of heartache that just won’t seem to go away, something has seemingly paid off for Lang and the guys of Sounds Under Radio as they were recently named the 6th Best New Local band by the 2005 Austin Chronicle Music Readers Poll (one of only 2 rock acts making the list), and that after only a year together as a band.

They’ve taken their shag rug thick Foo Fighters style guitars, pounding rhythms and screaming falsetto melodies to forge a sound and an audience uniquely their own. Falling somewhere between Muse, Queens of the Stone Age and Snow Patrol, this hard hitting indie rock quartet have found a musical niche for themselves that appears to be catching on with haste. Attracting audiences that range from black hoodied shoe gazers to fist shaking metal heads and all those between the band has begun making some serious waves across Texas and the Southwest, accepting invitations to share bills with bands like Saliva, The Burden Brothers, Jerry Cantrell (formerly of Alice in Chains) and Billy Duffy of the Cult as well as showcasing at festivals like the South By Southwest Music Festival, The Northgate Music Festival and Dallas’ New Music Festival and playing on the Zippo Hot Tour. The band has also had music featured on the CNBC show \'American Made\' as well as had their material used as theme music by Esquire Magazine\'s XM radio program \'the Andy Langer Show\'.

“I must admit, it’s really nice to be part of something that people are latching on to,” comments Bradley Oliver. “But it’s still a bit strange when folks come up and do things like and steal our set lists after shows. I just want to be like –hey I promise I have better handwriting than that… I was just in a rush!” Thrust in to the local limelight during SXSW 2004 after winning rock radio station 93.7 KLBJ’s Schmoozefest competition, Sounds Under Radio found it’s birth while showcasing at the festival as well as found it’s first major market radio exposure in the addition of their single ‘Overflow’ to KLBJ’s (and Emmis Broadcasting station) regular rotation. Since then, the band has toured heavily throughout the region, been the featured artist on KUT 90.5 (Austin’s NPR station) ‘LiveSet’ as well as the ‘Austin Music Minute’ and has packed houses and pleased crowds at famed local Austin venues like Stubbs, Antone’s and La Zona Rosa.

In such a short period of time, Sounds Under Radio have taken something that started off as nothing more than a small recording experiment between Lang, Bradley and some producer friends and have grown it in to something that is much bigger than anyone could have in the beginning ever expected. “I had just gotten back to LA (where I was living at the time) after a long tour in Japan with another band and found a CD from Lang and Bradley waiting for me in the mail with a note asking if I would be interested in being in a band like this,” says Doug Wilson. “I immediately loved the songs, the sounds… everything. The idea of being part of it really excited me, so when I decided to move back to Austin after that tour it was perfect timing.”


After a year and a half of playing live, writing, demoing songs and really learning to actually become a band, Sounds Under Radio decided it was about time to start working on a full length to record to document the work they were doing so they pushed forth and enlisted the help of renowned rock producer Will Hoffman (from the band Pushmonkey). The record, titled \'Cinematica\' is planned for an early fall release with increased regional and national touring to follow in support of the album. “Will was the perfect producer for our band…” comments Sonny Sanchez, “… when we listened back to mixes we all get this sense of –yes, this is what Sounds Under Radio genuinely sounds like… this is the four of us and the songs we write. It’s refined but not filtered, it’s what we are as a band captured on tape, and that’s everything we wanted to do with this record.”

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