Sound Team

Sound Team

Sound Team in 2003; from left to right: Sam Sanford, Bill Baird, Matt Oliver, Jordan Johns, Michael Baird, Gabe Pearlman
Background information
Origin Austin, Texas
Genres Indie rock
Years active 2000--2007
Labels Big Orange
Cult Hero
Secretly Canadian
Capitol Records
Parlophone
Website Sound Team on MySpace
Past members Matt Oliver
Bill Baird
Jordan R. Johns
Sam Sanford
Michael Baird
Gabe Pearlman
also:
Will Patterson
Willis Deviney

Sound Team was an American band based in Austin, Texas that formed in 2000 around principal songwriters Bill Baird and Matt Oliver. For most of their recording career, Sound Team consisted of Bill Baird (bass, guitar, vocals), Matt Oliver (guitar, piano, vocals), Jordan Johns (drums, percussion), Sam Sanford (guitar), Michael Baird (synthesizer, tapes) and Gabe Pearlman (organ). Sanford and Michael Baird left the group in 2006. The band continued to record and tour briefly with a new lineup, but finally disbanded in late 2007.[1]

Formation and early shows

Bill Baird and Matt Oliver met in Austin in 2000 and began recording crazy songs on cheap gear that drew inspiration out of everything from traditional American folk and pop song forms to German synthesizer music. They released two CD-R albums, Sound Team and Into the Lens.

Line-up solidified, early releases and tours

In 2002 Baird's younger brother Michael, Michael’s friend Jordan Johns (both of whom were still in high school at the time), and old friend Sam Sanford all enlisted, and after they had played a handful of shows in various performance spaces and punk dives, Gabe Pearlman joined in early 2003.

The group released two cassettes, Every Day Is a New Year and the "Yes" Special Cassette, and their audience continued to grow. After touring throughout 2003 and 2004, the group continued to work dead-end jobs, pooled their cash, and converted an abandoned record-pressing plant into a makeshift analog recording studio. The result was the Marathon LP,[2] which appeared on the St. Ives label, a vinyl-only imprint of Indiana's Secretly Canadian. In the fall of 2005, several songs from previous cassette and vinyl releases appeared on the WORK EP.

Contract with EMI and break-up

In 2005, the band was signed to a contract with the Capitol Records label. Support slots on several tours culminated with an appearance in Central Park opening for Arcade Fire. In June 2006, Capitol released their debut album, "Movie Monster".[2] Although the album was met with generally positive reviews, commercial sales were poor. Another factor negatively affecting sales of the album was that, unbeknownst to the band, Capitol set the album price at an astronomical $18.98. After extensive touring in support of the album, both Sam Sanford and the younger Baird left the band for other pursuits (oil painting and a college degree, respectively). Will Patterson was enlisted as a replacement. In 2007, after a massive shake-up at Capitol in which the band's A&R rep and the president of the company (who'd signed the band) was fired, Sound Team was dropped from the EMI label. Sound Team released a vinyl EP, Empty Rooms/Bedroom Walls/Up from Ashes, and shot a Take-Away Show acoustic video for La Blogotheque that year, but internal friction in the group led to their decision to break up, and on September 15, 2007, Sound Team played their last show at the 2007 Austin City Limits Music Festival. Subsequently, the band released their entire recorded catalog as high-quality MP3 downloads, completely free of charge, on their website (now inactive).[1]

Post break-up

Bill Baird began performing under the moniker Sunset as early as 2006, and performances frequently include former Sound Team members Sam Sanford and Will Patterson (Sleep Good). Sunset lasted until 2010, after which Baird began releasing solo albums.[3] Meanwhile, Matt Oliver and Jordan Johns continued to operate the analog recording studio at Big Orange Recording, and began performing as TV Torso in 2009.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Rock Insider: Sound Team Call It Quits
  2. 1 2 Sound Team - Marathon (LP) at Discogs
  3. ↑ http://exclaim.ca/MusicVideo/ClickHear/bill_baird-go_to_mexico_video

Reviews

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