It's January 2011. There's two feet of snow on the ground. Just blocks from Brooklyn's largest garbage dump, a group of guys are huddled around a space heater in a wasted apartment above a metal shop. It looks like a place where things go to die. The view out the window reveals a strip club and a poultry slaughterhouse. Even by the standards of a city not known for its aesthetic prowess, it's a hole. It's in this primordial ooze that Fort Lean was born. Five old friends tired of the grind. This is the very beginning, but it feels like the last chance.
Having been holed up in their bunker, writing and rehearsing for the first two months of 2011, they played their early March debut in front of a sold out crowd. "Beach Holiday," "Dreams (Never Come True)," "High Definition," and "Perfect" are the band's first recordings. The results of a weekend recording session, the four songs were released for free through Bandcamp on April 13. Encapsulating both the light and dark, the songs bounce along with a frenetic energy, but the world they reference is often a place of pain and disillusion.
Since unleashing their music on the world they've been featured on top-tier blogs such as Stereogum, RCRB LBL, I Guess I’m Floating, and My Old Kentucky Blog, and have shared the stage with the likes of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Male Bonding, Violens, Fang Island and Shark?.
They've been hard at work recording new material, sharing production duties with Ayad Al-Adhamy of Passion Pit. The band is also affiliated with Greedhead Entertainment - the label, management company, and group of dudes that hang out with each other, helmed by Himanshu Suri of Das Racist (“like Odd Future except older, fatter, and less controversial,” says guitarist Zach Fried). Additionally, the band brings a great deal of outside musical experience to the project. Bassist Jake Aron is a talented producer and audio engineer.
Frequently collaborating with Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear, Jake has worked with such bands as Yeasayer, Twin Shadow, CANT, and Jamie Lidell. He also plays as Lidell's touring bassist.
Drummer Sam Ubl is a former writer for popular music website Pitchfork, as well as an array of other major publications. He currently works as an elementary school teacher. The group is rounded out by frontman Keenan Mitchell, synth man/guitarist Will Runge, and guitarist Fried, who is a former touring member of Bear Hands.
Listen and download the EP for free at http://fortlean.bandcamp.com/
Watch the new video for High Definition here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YSmsw4wsmUAnd for further info - http://www.facebook.com/fortlean and http://twitter.com/fortlean
Having been holed up in their bunker, writing and rehearsing for the first two months of 2011, they played their early March debut in front of a sold out crowd. "Beach Holiday," "Dreams (Never Come True)," "High Definition," and "Perfect" are the band's first recordings. The results of a weekend recording session, the four songs were released for free through Bandcamp on April 13. Encapsulating both the light and dark, the songs bounce along with a frenetic energy, but the world they reference is often a place of pain and disillusion.
Since unleashing their music on the world they've been featured on top-tier blogs such as Stereogum, RCRB LBL, I Guess I’m Floating, and My Old Kentucky Blog, and have shared the stage with the likes of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Male Bonding, Violens, Fang Island and Shark?.
They've been hard at work recording new material, sharing production duties with Ayad Al-Adhamy of Passion Pit. The band is also affiliated with Greedhead Entertainment - the label, management company, and group of dudes that hang out with each other, helmed by Himanshu Suri of Das Racist (“like Odd Future except older, fatter, and less controversial,” says guitarist Zach Fried). Additionally, the band brings a great deal of outside musical experience to the project. Bassist Jake Aron is a talented producer and audio engineer.
Frequently collaborating with Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear, Jake has worked with such bands as Yeasayer, Twin Shadow, CANT, and Jamie Lidell. He also plays as Lidell's touring bassist.
Drummer Sam Ubl is a former writer for popular music website Pitchfork, as well as an array of other major publications. He currently works as an elementary school teacher. The group is rounded out by frontman Keenan Mitchell, synth man/guitarist Will Runge, and guitarist Fried, who is a former touring member of Bear Hands.
Listen and download the EP for free at http://fortlean.bandcamp.com/
Watch the new video for High Definition here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YSmsw4wsmUAnd for further info - http://www.facebook.com/fortlean and http://twitter.com/fortlean
