Goldspot
Goldspot |
|---|
Goldspot is a Los Angeles based band started by Siddhartha Khosla after an amateur career in acapella at UPENN[1]. The band was first introduced by DJ Nic Harcourt on his morning show, KCRW's "Morning Become Eclectic". After a live performance on Harcourt's show, the band soon began selling out shows across Los Angeles in venues like The Troubadour and The Hotel Cafe.[citation needed] Harcourt championed the band, hailing them as his "favorite band of 2005", and began playing the band's debut "Tally of the Yes Men" in heavy rotation. Songs "Rewind" , "Time Bomb", and pop classic "Friday" were in heavy rotation. [2]
History
"Goldspot isn't my favourite drink. It wasn't even my first drink; Coke was. But we named ourselves after it because it's bubbly and refreshing. I wish I could still drink it, but I hear that Goldspot is no longer made in India," says Khosla.[3]
They recorded their debut album, Goldspot, with drummer Dino Crescentini. The music is a mix of tabla, sitar and keyboards. The songs have received accolades for their unusual style with modern music harmonizing with an Indian traditional vocal thread, an alaap, before the music comes in. The song Burning Ashes, is an example of this. [4]
The band's core members, Siddhartha Khosla (songwriter and lead singer) and Ramy Antoun, signed a record deal with a startup independent label Union Records, and with distribution through ADA and KCRW's heavy airplay, were able to sell 10,000 copies of "Tally of the Yes Men".[citation needed] The toured mostly around Los Angeles, and made only couple trips to the East coast, as other indie radio stations across the country began to play the record.
Eventually, the band signed a deal with Mercury Records in the United Kingdom, and in 2007 the band were exported to the UK. They spent months leaving the United States in an effort to create a buzz for their album release in Europe. An alternate version of "Tally" was released commercially in June, 2007, featuring A. R. Rahman's Bollywood Orchestra, and was received with plaudits from UK press like Q magazine and The Guardian.[5] The Sunday Times hailed Goldspot as "the best band to come out of America in years". Debut single "Friday" was BBC Radio 2's record of the week, and reached #22 in the UK airplay charts, and the band also released a Hindi version of the same track which reached #4 in the BBC Asian Network Charts. "Friday's" video appeared in rotation on MTV, VH1, "The Hits", "The Box", Q, and Sky television networks. Khosla also performed the single in the Indian language of Hindi and made it available on iTunes UK.
Though the band only signed a major record deal very recently in 2007, they have officially been together since 2001 and have worked with Union Records and even great producers such as Beach Boys' Jeff Peters.
Goldspot also played the Glastonbury, O2 Wireless, and V Festivals throughout the summer of 2007.
Goldspot will soon be releasing their album in India. One notable problem is that their US based fans cannot access their new music because it has not been released in the states and is only available on iTunes UK.
Goldspot returned from the UK and will be recording a new album in 2008.[6]
"Tally of the Yes Men" was honored as the #4 album of 2007 in the Sunday Times "Top Albums of 2007."[7]
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
Friday - 2007 (UK #22)
Music Videos
Time Bomb
Friday
Rewind
YouTube also features an assortment of live and user filmed footage of Goldspot including covers. See: Goldspot on YouTube[8]
Single of the Week
The song "It's Getting Old" was available in April, 2007 for a free download on the UK iTunes Single of the Week. It was the second most downloaded iTunes Single of the Week ever, behind Justin Timberlake. [9]
TV and Film
Their cover of Spencer Davis's motown classic "Keep on Running" was featured in the film credits and sountrack of Simon Pegg hit "Run Fatboy Run" (2007).
Their cover of the Modest Mouse song "Float On" was used in the US TV series The OC during episode 5 of season 4, "The Sleeping Beauty", and also appears as the first track on the OC Soundtrack Vol. 6.
"Time Bomb" appeared in Season 3 of the OC as well.
"Rewind" was featured on NBC's “Inconceivable” in 2005
References
- ^ http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0308/pro04.html
- ^ http://www.virginradio.co.uk/music/artists/goldspot/biography/
- ^ http://ia.rediff.com/us/2000/sep/24us1.htm
- ^ http://ia.rediff.com/us/2000/sep/24us1.htm
- ^ http://www.myspace.com/goldspot
- ^ http://myspace.com/goldspot
- ^ Records of the year - Times Online
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=goldspot
- ^ http://www.ilikemusic.com/indie/Goldspot_Friday-3944