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Texas band widens its musical web with help from Spider-man |
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Written by Kurt Brighton
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Thursday, 17 January 2008 |
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You have to be skeptical of fairy tales, especially when it comes to the music business. When a band’s rise to fame seems too good to be true, it probably is. Most of the time there was a lot of hard work involved in positioning a band to make such a leap.
But sometimes the elements that make up a good legend are so palpable you just have to go with it.
And as fairy tales go, you can’t top what happened to Sounds Under Radio. The Austin-based quartet found themselves in a unique and enviable position last year when the music producer for Spider-man 3 was winnowing the list of possible songs for the film’s soundtrack. A couple of phone calls later, and the unsigned band had their song “Portrait Of A Summer Thief” showcased alongside bands like The Killers, Flaming Lips and Snow Patrol. Not a bad day’s work.
Of course, there’s more to it than that.
“As an independent, unsigned band we were very active before Spidey,” said frontman Lang Freeman. “We had been doing a lot of great things on our own, building momentum. But when that placement came along, it opened up a whole other door to a national audience that we had not yet fully tapped in to. That very much just blew the doors wide open for us.”
Shortly after the Spider-man deal was inked, Epic Records signed the band, and its album, Cinematica, was enjoying wider distribution and publicity than band members ever imagined. Again, though, despite the rosy picture of an unknown band being scooped up like an old-school Hollywood starlet at a drugstore counter and molded into a superstar, there’s more to it than that.
“Actually, this is a part of the Sounds Under Radio story that is commonly misread,” Freeman said. “Although I absolutely understand why people would reach the conclusion that because of Spider-man we got our deal with Epic, the truth of the matter is we were working on it independently, seeing if anyone might be interested in possibly releasing it.”
After the band had set up several label showcases — and before the Spidey deal even became public — a brand-new A/R rep from Epic heard the record and went to Austin to hear the band play. Next thing you know, it’s fairy-tale time again.
That’s not to say that Sounds Under Radio has had it easy, or that the band hasn’t paid its dues. Officially in existence since 2004, the group’s roots actually go farther back, to a time when Freeman and bassist Bradley Oliver played tunes in their dorm room at the University of Texas. After adding guitarist Doug Wilson and drummer Sonny Sanchez, the band had a complete lineup.
The music has a solid pop backing, with strong hooks that grab the listener right away. But the band revels in a minor-key, angst-ridden kind of pop, not exactly the tortured pain of emo, but not anywhere near bubble-gum land either. For his part, Freeman said he is exploring ways to open up his own life and experiences to musical interpretation, but he is also trying to keep the lyrics open-ended enough that they resonate universally.
“It is a bit easier to present these deeply personal issues to an audience by allowing them to interpret the songs for themselves, because it allows me to hide a bit inside of that,” he said. “For me there is a frightening nakedness in being a songwriter. Things that were never originally meant for an audience suddenly become the focal point for an audience. But I’m OK with that now because I feel like I’m being honest with the words I write.
“It’s my own personal catharsis of sorts,” he added.
TO GO:
Sounds Under Radio
8 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 17
Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St. (20th and Larimer), Denver
All ages, $10 in advance, $12 day of show
Call (303) 292-0805 for more information
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