Animal Sun
Formed in 2015 and led by two brothers; vocalist/songwriter Steven Blake and drummer William Alton cut their teeth playing in small clubs up and down the east coast. The name was in dedication to their late friend and musical compadre James Sun, who’s life was tragically cut short in 2011.
By 2017, Animal Sun had begun appearing all over local radio and opening for noteworthy acts such as The Frights, (Epitaph) as well as minor touring. After establishing a dedicated fanbase, the two moved to Los Angeles, where they would meet keyboardist Tyler DeCastro, and bass player Adam Gardner. Their lead single "girl in blue" was released on June 20th, 2019, and quickly made its way onto renowned alternative stations such as idobi radio and KROQ "Locals Only", even snagging the #5 spot for multiple weeks in a row and gaining over 1.3 million streams on Spotify alone.
The immediate success allowed Animal Sun to begin playing to packed rooms all over, including the legendary Troubadour. While quietly putting together their debut album ‘echoes of a dream’ to be released June 11th, 2021; the band released the singles ‘every word’, 'touch', and 'more than a friend'. The tracks were well-received, being featured in award-winning, music magazines such as Alt Press and American Songwriter, holding the #2 spot on KROQ's Locals Only for multiple weeks in a row, and generating hundreds of thousands of streams around the world. The band now begins its most exciting era to date.
"So redolent of Interpol I had to do a second to make sure. Once you get over that it is easy to bathe in the noise made by Group Photos who have a curious acousticness built into their sound. Quite unique actually and once it sank it it started to grow on me. Most of the joy is gleaned from those musical dynamics as the vocals tend to surf the wave created." - mp3hugger.com
Group Photos is the Post-Punk project led by Alex Lara, with members Spencer Cohen, Victor Lara, and Gerardo Miranda, completing the group. Coming from different areas across Southern California, Group Photos resonate with a darker focus on the strange nightlife of California. Generating Post-Punk driven guitars & heavy overdriving bass lines along subtle vocal leads, the band displays a style, unique in comparison to the beach pop genres of Southern California.
