The Lonely Forest

The Lonely Forest
Origin Anacortes, Washington, US
Genres Rock, alternative rock, indie rock
Years active 2005 – 2014
Labels

Burning Building Recordings (2009) Trans (2010-2013)

Chop Shop (2013-2014)
Website TheLonelyForest.com
Members John Van Deusen
Eric Sturgeon
Braydn Krueger
Tony Ruland

The Lonely Forest was an American indie rock band formed in Anacortes, Washington in 2005. The four piece ensemble, consisting of members John Van Deusen, Tony Ruland, Braydn Krueger, and Eric Sturgeon, has released two EP’s, four studio albums, and has placed songs on The CW’s popular television series The Vampire Diaries.[1] Lead singer, John Van Deusen, won Seattle Weekly’s “Best Of Award” for “Best Vocalist, Male” (2011).[2] The Band made their national television debut on August 2, 2011 on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Performing two songs off their album Arrows.[3]

At its core, The Lonely Forest’s music features Van Deusen's soaring vocals and keyboard melodies wrapped tightly around Ruland's expansive guitar anchored by a heavy yet nimble rhythm section.[4] The Lonely Forest got its start by winning the EMP's under-21 Sound Off! competition.[5]

Chris Walla, guitarist and producer for Grammy-nominated rock band Death Cab for Cutie,[6] made The Lonely Forest his first signing when he launched Trans with the support of Death Cab for Cutie’s major label home, Atlantic Records.[4] Trans and The Lonely Forest released Arrows (2011) through ILG, Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group.[4] In addition to Walla’s role as label head, Walla produced Arrows at Sound City studio in Los Angeles, Tiny Telephone in San Francisco, and in his own Portland-based studio, Alberta Court.[4] He also mixed three tracks - "Be Everything," "Turn Off This Song," and "Live There."[4][6] The rest of the Arrows was mixed by John Goodmanson (Girls, Nada Surf, Owl City).[4][7]

In the band's career, they have played Bonnaroo (2012), Sasquatch (2010, 2014), and Bumbershoot (2006, 2009, 2011, 2014). Their videos debuted on MTV,[8] and they received a lot of support from Seattle radio station KEXP.[9] The band also made it into 1077's People's Choice Countdown several times, including on August 19, 2011 when they made the Number 1 spot with "We Sing in TIme."[10]

Career

Regicide – EP (2006)

Regicide, the debut album by The Lonely Forest, was released Sep 18, 2006 on the The Lonely Forest label.[11] Regicide is themed, piano driven space-rock.[11] Regicide was produced by Jack Endino, who recorded Nirvana's first record, Bleach.[12][13]

Nuclear Winter (2007)

Nuclear Winter is the first full-length album by The Lonely Forest. It was released on August 4, 2007. The album is a concept album about the end of the world and the escape from destruction through space travel. It was written by The Lonely Forest with the lyrics and story by John Van Deusen. Nuclear Winter was produced by Sam Winston and The Lonely Forest. The piano used in this recording was a 1901 Bechstein.[14] "Stars and Moons" off Nuclear Winter was KEXP Song of the Day.

We Sing The Body Electric! (2009)

We Sing The Body Electric! was released on April 21, 2009 through Burning Building Recordings. For this album the band had abandoned the experimental rhetoric of their previous releases and fully embraced their knack for writing realized pop songs.[15]

The Lonely Forest EP (2010)

The Lonely Forest EP represents the first signing to Chris Walla's new label, Trans. Walla produced, engineered and mixed this self-titled EP. The first single off the EP, "Live There," debuted on Stereogum and was named KEXP's Song of the Day.[16]

Arrows (2011)

Arrows was released March 22, 2011. On Arrows, The Lonely Forest makes forthright, guitar-driven pop with indie rock leanings.[17] Arrows charted #14 on Amazon’s “The Best Albums of 2011”.[18] Several songs off the album have received special recognition. “We Sing In Time” won NPR’s “Best New Artist” in its “The Year’s Best Music” (2011),[19] “Turn Off This Song” won NPR’s song of the day (June 30, 2011),[20] “Coyote” won KEXP song of the day (March 11, 2011),[21] and “Woe is me… Am I Ruined” was featured on The CW’s The Vampire Diaries, Season Four, Episode 2: “Memorial”.[1]

Adding Up the Wasted Hours (2013)

Adding Up the Wasted Hours, the band's fourth album, was announced in August 2013. Released through Trans/Chop Shop Records on October 15, the new 11-track record was recorded by Chris Walla and supported by a national fall headline tour, beginning in Wenatchee, WA and closing at the Neptune Theater in Seattle, WA. It was also promoted by the lead single "Warm/Happy," which Van Deusen described as "...a self-assuring song."[22]

End of career

On May 22, 2014, the band announced that they would be taking an indefinite hiatus from producing music together.[23] Referencing their song Turn Off This Song and Go Outside, they made their farewell by telling their fans to "[b]e well, be blessed and go outside". On June 7, 2014, the band played a farewell concert in their hometown of Anacortes. The show was cited as "the biggest rock concert in Anacortes history." They played their last show in Seattle, WA on August 30, 2014 at the Bumbershoot Music Festival. Numerous interviews cited lead singer John Van Deusen wanting to start a family and a general desire to do things other than tour and produce new music as the main reasons for the band's hiatus. However, on October 21, 2014, guitarist Tony Ruland hinted on the band's Facebook page[24] that the band may release a final collection of B-sides and unreleased songs to the public, yet no further information is known. On November 8, 2014, Ruland announced a new side-project called Soft Sleep,[25] which is currently in the process of recording its first album. The project will include past members of The Lonely Forest, The Globes, and The Oregon Donor. In June of 2015, Soft Sleep released their first self-titled EP on Seattle's own Rocket Heart Records.[26]

Discography

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Music from The Vampire Diaries Season 4, Episode 2 | "Memorial" Playlist". Vampirediaries.alloyentertainment.com. 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  2. ↑ Tue., Jul 26 2011 at 12:00AM (2011-07-26). "Seattle News and Events | Best Vocalist, Male". Seattleweekly.com. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  3. ↑ "THE LONELY FOREST Makes Television Debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! « News «". Puregrainaudio.com. 2011-08-03. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Lonely Forest: Songs, Albums, Pictures, Bios". Amazon.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  5. ↑ "KEXP @ CMJ 2011, Day 2: The Lonely Forest". Blog.kexp.org. 2011-10-20. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  6. 1 2 Chris Walla
  7. ↑ John Goodmanson
  8. ↑ "The Lonely Forest | New Music And Songs | MTV". MTV.com. MTV. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  9. ↑ Loree, Jewel. "Pop Viz: What music matters most to KEXP?". http://www.jewelloree.com/. http://www.jewelloree.com/. Retrieved August 4, 2014. External link in |website=, |publisher= (help)
  10. ↑ "1077 People's Choice Countdown". 1077. 1077. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Regicide: The Lonely Forest: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  12. ↑ Brickner, Sara (2009-04-21). "Seattle News and Events | The Lonely Forest’s Spine-Tingling Sing-Along". Seattleweekly.com. Retrieved 2013-09-11. C1 control character in |title= at position 49 (help)
  13. ↑ Jack Endino
  14. ↑ See album insert.
  15. ↑ "burning building recordings / seattle, washington /". Bbrecordings.com. 2009-04-21. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  16. ↑ "Lonely Forest, The - The Lonely Forest EP - Album Review". AbsolutePunk.net. 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  17. ↑ "Album Review: The Lonely Forest – Arrows". Consequence of Sound. 2011-05-04. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  18. ↑ "the 100 Best Albums of 2011". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  19. ↑ "Discussion: The Year's Best Music (So Far) : All Songs Considered". NPR. 2011-06-14. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  20. ↑ Lonely, The (2011-06-30). "The Lonely Forest: A Catchy Call To Arms". NPR. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  21. ↑ "Song of the Day: The Lonely Forest – Coyote". Blog.kexp.org. 2011-03-11. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  22. ↑ "The Lonely Forest Releasing New Album". Glide Publishing LLC. 2013-08-20. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
  23. ↑ "Announcement of the band's indefinite hiatus". facebook.com. 2014-05-22. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  24. ↑ The Lonely Forest (22 October 2014). "So who wants a TLF B-Sides collection?! AKA new material...". Facebook. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  25. ↑ thelonelyforest (8 November 2014). "OFFICIAL @thelonelyforest side project @SoftSleepband writing and recording now! Follow if you're interested.... - Tony" (Tweet).
  26. ↑ "Soft Sleep EP – Now Available". Rocket Heart Records. Retrieved 2016-04-21.

External links

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