Artist description For nearly a decade, Velvet has crafted songs of sonic brilliance interspersed with moments of quiet beauty. Their appreciation for mind numbing fury has kept them on the fringes of the more jangle-oriented D.C. scene. However, it is this very fury that has helped Velvet rise above the fray. After opening for Eyes Adrift (Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, Bud Gaugh of Sublime, Curt Kirkwood of The Meat Puppets) at Washington, D.C.’s Black Cat – Generation Gap Magazine described Velvet as being “eerily reminiscent of the band Hum” but with a style of their own that is quite difficult to pin down. Formed in 1995, this College Park, Maryland band has released three stellar independent albums on Signal to Noise Records, each produced by Bruce Falkinburg at the legendary Phase Studios (Burning Airlines, Clutch, Rumba Club, Spirit Caravan, Mya). But Velvet is perhaps best known for their awe-inspiring live act, which has garnered the respect of music critics and legions of loyal fans. Over the years, Velvet has toured relentlessly around the mid-Atlantic and amazed crowds and headlined at such venues as the Black Cat (Washington, D.C.), Fletcher’s (Baltimore, Md.), The Recher Theatre (Towson, Md.) and several television and radio appearances including MHz Networks, 99.1 WHFS, 98Rock, DC101 and WMUC FM. They have opened for such national acts as: Good Charlotte, Eyes Adrift, Sev, The Anniversary, Fairweather, and Hot Rod Circuit. In a recent “Reader’s Choice” poll by the University of Maryland’s daily newspaper, The Diamondback, Velvet was voted best local band. Upon the release of their latest album, “short term memories…” (Signal to Noise Records, 2001) Dave March of 99.1 WHFS in Washington, D.C. declared, “Velvet is probably one of our most requested local bands.” As part of their quest for world domination, Velvet has had songs featured on the Discovery Channel’s “Outward Bound” series, and in the recent feature-length horror film Jigsaw (Tempe Entertainment). Velvet plans on releasing their next studio album within the next year and are in hopes of being picked up by an established indie label/major label for financial support to tour nationally. -Daniel Obregon CEO Signal to Noise Records

Music Style rock

Musical Influences thursday, hum, sunny day real estate, boy sets fire, the breeders, handsome, etc.

Similar Artists Hum, Sunny Day Real Estate, your favorite band

Artist History 8 years of constant playing and brawling in the Washington DC/Baltimore Area

Group Members Joe Brewer: vocals/guitarJoe Calvarese: guitar/vocalsAndrew Walker: bassJay McKinley: drums;percussion

Instruments guitar, bass, percussion

Albums 4 albums: Velvet (1997), Tragic (1999), live album released by Burn-one.com (2000), Short Term Memories (2001)

Press Reviews "...It appears the DC scene has some competition for the title of World Emo Championship, and Velvet is busting out on the tag-team match. According to Signal to Noise Records, "the DC scene is dead, its proprietors living on the flesh of a legend." As tasty as that flesh is, Velvet's emo-core on Tragic tastes great too. Don't take these guys for a bunch of sappy kids brought to tears by the shear EMOtional power of their tunes, these guys are powerful. The songs "Falling Out," Vice Versa," and "Pheremoans" all packed a metal punch, and with just enough prodution and screeching to make me wanna rock out!!" -Wet DevoH Vol.1-��Now, I could give a long list of 90's bands that I hear in the music of Velvet, however: 1) that wouldn't be too interesting and 2) that wouldn't fully describe them. This is the second album from this Maryland quartet who have a variety of tricks up their sleeve. And that is one of the greatest things about this band -- their diversity. They touch on a range of sounds (and emotions) with dynamic songs that can go from small, quiet, peaceful day-dreams with softly sung vocals and wonderful harmonies to full on rocking distorted guitar fests with screamed singing. "Falling Out" is as subtle as a brick, with its crunching, hard riffs and distorted voice, while it's predecessor, "Cheer Up", is a mellow acoustic piece with violin and heartfelt lyrics. All throughout the CD, the two guitars work wonderfully together, adding meat to each other when necessary, and harmony to give it that Alt-rock/emo feel. This is an album with good songs full of feeling only made better by good production. I recomend it.� - Wiretap Music Review

Additional Info CMJ compilation, Green Fridge Compilation, NHtunes.com Compilation, Velvet's song

Location College Park, MD - USA

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