Battleme

Battleme

Battleme @ The Echo (LA, CA)
Background information
Also known as Matt Vondy
Origin Austin, Texas U.S.
Genres rock slacker pop folk rock
Years active 2009–present
Labels El Camino, Trashy Moped Recordings, Get Loud
Associated acts Lions
Website Battleme official website
Members Matt Drenik

Battleme is the stage name and band of Lions singer Matt Drenik, an American musician. It was started as a creative outlet to other projects Drenik was involved in during 2009.[1]

Career

Battleme first appeared in the season 2 finale of Sons of Anarchy on FX Network with the song, "Burn This Town." It was a departure from the guitar heavy band Lions that Drenik fronted.[2] These spurts of lo-fi acoustic folk produced numerous songs that began to see Drenik breaking away from the heavy psychedelic outfits he'd previously played in, one of which "No Time For Blood" was featured on NPR's KUT "Song of the Day." [3]

In the summer of 2010, Drenik relocated to Portland, Oregon to solely focus on the project. He built a studio in the basement of his house and began recording the demos of what would become Battleme’s self-titled debut full length. After tracking over 40 songs, the record was narrowed down to 10 and sent out. Thomas Turner of Ghostland Observatory responded and signed Drenik to his Trashy Moped Recordings label. The two began working on the final version of the record in the fall of 2010 with Turner producing. In conjunction to working on the full-length record, Drenik released a quieter solo EP, Big Score, on his own imprint Get Loud. The record consisted of six previously recorded concrete folk numbers.[4]

Several Battleme songs appeared in Sons of Anarchy season 3, including a cover version of Neil Young’s "Hey Hey, My My," which has received over 16 million YouTube views and an assortment of remixes by the likes of Stefan Biniak and others.[5]

On March 8, 2012, the video for Battleme single "Touch" made its premiere on MTV Buzzworthy.[6] That same year, the band also appeared at Music Fest NW (Portland, OR), Capitol Hill Block Party (Seattle, WA), SXSW (Austin, Texas) and Lobster Fest (LA, CA) in 2012.

Battleme's collaboration with Bob Thiele (Sons of Anarchy, Forest Rangers) on songs "Time" and "Lights" was released on November 19, 2012 on the Sons of Anarchy Volume II soundtrack via Columbia Records.

On December 6, 2012 Esquire Magazine picked the Battleme / Thiele collaboration "Lights" as one of the 10 Best Songs of the Week, stating, "Because if the Flaming Lips had written an original song for their Dark Side of the Moon live shows, this is what it might've sounded like.".[7]

In the spring of 2013, Drenik left Trashy Moped and signed to El Camino, an LA imprint headed by former EMI Publishing VP Matt Messer. He went into the studio in April to work on his 2nd full-length album with producer Doug Boehme (Girls, Guided By Voices, Tokyo Police Club).[8] The record was released to positive reviews coming from such outlets as Magnet Magazine, USA Today and American Songwriter with American Songwriter stating, "a timeless collection of rock anthems." [9] The video for the first single, Just Weight, premiered at Filter.

In the spring of 2014, Battleme toured the US in support of Future Runs Magnetic opening for The Toadies and The Supersuckers on three US legs. That summer, Battleme opened for Veruca Salt for 10 shows on the Midwest and East Coast legs of the tour.[10]

They did a short tour in the spring of 2015 with US band Local H, previewing new material they working on for an upcoming album. That fall they entered Revolver Studio (Portland, OR) and began recording.

On October 29, 2015 Billboard Magazine premiered the first track, Shake Shake, off Battleme's upcoming record "Habitual Love Songs". The record was released on January 15, 2016 via El Camino.[11] On December 19, 2015 the track was featured on Seattle's KEXP as "Song of the Day".[12] In January 2016, Habitual Love Songs was released by El Camino Media to positive reviews, with Relix Magazine noting, "From the driving riff and disaffected vocals of 'Shake Shake' to the jangly Wilco-sequel country sheen of 'Back To You', Battleme delivers something for everyone." The album premiered on BlackBook that same month, with the influential blog stating it's "full of sexually charged, slithery, Stones-like blues rockers." [13]

In February 2016, Battleme appeared on KEXP Seattle with Cheryl Waters to perform four songs live in-studio from the record.[14] The band played regionally, headlining small clubs in Portland and Seattle in support of HLS, along with a few festival appearances in the summer of 2016 at Wildwood Music Festival (Oregon) and Fisherman's Village Music Frestival (Washington). In October 2016, Drenik's full band embarked on a headlining tour of Europe, ending with six live appearances in Greece. The shows were well received, with a number of show reviews, like Greece's FeelA RockA, concluding, "Without exaggeration, this is one of the best live performance I have attended. Battleme reached the bar sky high, earning full respect from the audience." [15]

In November 2016, Drenik announced via his website that a live, solo EP was slated to be released in January 2017 via El Camino Media. The four song set was recorded at the Cactus Cafe in Austin, Texas on May 3, 2014 and includes a live version of "Burn This Town", originally featured on The Sons Of Anarchy Volume 2 Soundtrack. [16]

Discography

Appearances

References

  1. ↑ "Exploding in Sound". Matt Drenik speaks with Exploding in Sound. Exploding in Sound. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  2. ↑ "Austin Sound". No Time For Blood. Austin Sound. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  3. ↑ "Song of the Day". No Time For Blood. Exploding in Sound. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  4. ↑ "Austin Sound". Battleme I Got Fire. Austin Sound. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  5. ↑ "Stefan Biniak - The Johnny Rotten Bootleg". Video. YouTube. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "MTV Buzzworthy". Video Premiere : Battleme 'Touch'. MTV. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  7. ↑ "Esquire". Songs of the Week. Esquire.
  8. ↑ "Stunt Company". Battleme. Stunt Company.
  9. ↑ "American Songwriter". Battleme. American Songwriter.
  10. ↑ "BATTLEME ON TOUR WITH VERUCA SALT IN JULY!". battleme.tv. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  11. ↑ "Billboard". Battleme Premieres "Shake Shake". Billboard. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Song of the Day: Battleme - Shake Shake". kexp.org. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  13. ↑ "BlackBook Premieres: Battleme's Habitual Love Songs". Battleme. BlackBook. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Live on KEXP YouTube". Battleme Live on KEXP. KEXP. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  15. ↑ "Ανταπόκριση: BATTLEME - Drunken Gramophone, Κύτταρο, 04/11/2016". Battleme Live on Kyttaro. FeelA RockA. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  16. ↑ "Battleme | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
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