Quilt (band)

Quilt
Origin Boston
Genres Psychedelic rock, indie-rock, dream pop, folk
Years active 2009–present
Labels Mexican Summer
Website www.quiltband.com
Members Anna Fox Rochinski
Shane Butler
John Andrews
Keven Lareau
Past members Taylor McVay

Quilt are a four-piece psychedelic indie-rock band from Boston consisting of Anna Fox Rochinski (vocals/guitars), Shane Butler (vocals/guitars), Keven Lareau (vocals/bass) and John Andrews (vocals/drums). They have released two albums, an EP, and a handful of singles through Mexican Summer. The band tours internationally.[1] The band writes collaboratively and share vocal duties. They were born out of a local improv scene, and combine elements of folk-rock, psychedelia and dream pop.[2]

Formation

Originally from Brookline, Massachusetts, Anna Fox Rochinski is the daughter of jazz guitarist, composer, arranger, author, and Berklee faculty member Steve Rochinski, and began to play guitar at the age of 13 with her father teaching "the basics right off the bat".[1] She "started going to DIY shows when I was 15 or 16" years old and became part of The Whitehaus Family Record scene, which led to a chance meeting with Shane Butler at one of their Friday-night sessions. It was "where our band formed and where we had our first practices"[2] towards the end of 2008. Both Rochinski and Butler attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the duo became a three-piece when Taylor McVay joined on drums in 2009.[3] They began to play live gigs locally, mostly on the improv circuit. Rochinski thought of the name while 'looking around the room, and somehow Quilt appeared, and somehow Quilt stuck'.[4] In August of the same year, they released a 7 track demo-tape with the help of Peter Nichols at Spooky Town.[5]

The band made their first SXSW festival appearance in March 2010,[6] followed by the first EP Agents of Play released on a local Bostonian label in May of the same year.[7] A low-key release on vinyl, it contained five tracks that highlighted the improvisational style of the band. Both Butler and Rochinski graduated in June 2010 to fully concentrate on their music, while they began playing shows along the East Coast.[8] McVay left the band in February 2011 and was replaced by John Andrews, a New Jersey native.[4]

Quilt (2011)

Upon finishing their studies, Butler and Rochinki begun recording with Jesse Gallagher at his local Cambridge (MA) studio. Initially, McVay still participated in these sessions, but Andrews soon began to join in what was a collaborative recording process from the outset.[9] With no budget to speak of, the band recorded when they had the opportunity to do so, which resulted in a number of scattered sessions over the course of a year.[1] Gallagher as the engineer and producer, played an important role in the process and "pulled us from the murky depths of scratchy and reverby lo-fi recording up in the heights of snazzier sounds and proper vocal treatments", according to Rochinski.[10] The first result of these sessions was the single 'Cowboys in the Void' b/w 'Penobska Oakwalk' that appeared on Burger Records in March 2011.[11][12] The band finished mixing in early September and the record was picked up by the Mexican Summer label based in New York. They quickly began to ready the self-titled album for a November release.[13] Having a record deal brought a gear shift in public attention for the trio, who found themselves booked on the CMJ convention in October as part of their label's showcase.[14]

The self-titled album began to garner some positive reviews in the alternative music media.[15][16][17] After its release, the band began to tour nationwide and made forays into Canada.[18] Over the course of 2012, the band was on the road with, among others, Young Magic and The Fresh & Onlys. They also played the occasional support slot for, among others, Laetitia Sadier. Improvisation remained an important part of the shows, with Rochinski noting "it's fun, and it balances things out nicely during a live set".[10] The band also returned to SXSW where they appeared on the Mexican Summer stage and recorded a 5-track session for Daytrotter in October 2012.[19]

Held in Splendor

By the start of 2013, the band had developed plans to begin recording a follow-up. Rochinski explained that while there was a strong collaborative aspect to their music for this album they brought in 'finished' songs as well. That was a first for us. John and Shane and I all sing and write songs, and I think the album is a very good mix of our individuality and togetherness as a cohesive piece'.[1] They began rehearsing the material at The Puritan Garage in Charlestown, Boston. Quilt also teamed up with fellow Bostonians MMOSS to produce a split EP 'New Hampshire Freaks' which was released in April 2013.[20][21]

In April 2013, the band moved to New York City to begin recording at the Mexican Summer in-house studio together with producer Jarvis Taveniere. They spent a month recording 'invited friends who added saxophone and violin, cello and steel guitar'.[22] Butler explained how the experience of 'having the studio, demoing the songs and knowing each other better as musicians helped make that happen'.[22] The band continued to play live shows and embarked on their first headlining tour in October 2013 in support of the single 'Arctic Shark', released in the same month.[22] In January 2014, their second album, Held in Splendor, was released.[23][24][25][26][27][28] The band added Keven Lareau on bass for the headlining tour that followed.[29] They suffered a setback when their tour van crashed in March.[30] The band spend the rest of 2014 touring North America and Europe.

Plaza

In the first half of 2015 the band spent time recording their third album, which was completed in May. In April 2015, drummer John Andrews released a solo album Bit By The Fang on Woodsist Records.[31][32] In the first week of November, they announced the single "Eliot St." and that the new record entitled Plaza is planned for release on February 26, 2016.[33] The band continued to tour. They made their national television debut on November 18, 2015, on the NBC network late night entertainment program "Last Call w/ Carson Daly".

Discography

Albums

Quilt (Mexican Summer, November 2011)

Held in Splendor (Mexican Summer, January 2014)

Plaza (2016)[34]

EP

Agents of Play (May, 2010)
New Hampshire Freaks (April, 2013) - split with MMOSS

Singles

"Cowboys in the Void" b/w "Penobska Oakwalk" (March, 2011)
"Tie Up the Tides"
"Arctic Shark" b/w "As We Follow" (October, 2013)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Cheri Amour, 'Interview - Anna Fox Rochinski' The Girls Are Magazine, February 19, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Fader Interview 2014" Emilie Friedlander, 'Interview: Quilt', The Fader, January 30, 2014.
  3. ↑ Beca Grimm, 'Quilt: The Best of What's Next', Paste Magazine, February 3, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Revolt Interview 2012" Ryan Muldoon, Quilt - Interview, Revoltoftheapes.com, January 3, 2012
  5. ↑ "Quilt tape" Discogs.com entry for the self-titled demo cassette (100 copies).
  6. ↑ "SXSW Guide 2010" Austinist listing, accessed February 28, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Entry on record label website" Four track EP (digital and 7" vinyl) Agents of Play on Breakfast of Campions Records - released May 2010.
  8. ↑ "Songkick" Songkick.com listing for 2010-2011.
  9. ↑ "Interview" Averie Timm, 'Quilt has it Covered', Interview Magazine, February 2012
  10. 1 2 Jarin Tabata, 'Quilt answers the Questions of Doom' Gimmebadvibes.com, June 6, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Bandcamp" Listing from the band on their bandcamp page (included some additional tracks). Accessed March 7, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Downcast review" Editor, "Quilt – Penobska Oakwalk" Downcastmusic.com, September 21. 2011.
  13. ↑ "Mexican Summer" Record company release date announcement. Mexican Summer, September 12, 2011.
  14. ↑ "CMJ" CMJ Showcase listing for October 2011. Accessed March 15, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Pitchfork" Emilie Friedlander, 'Quilt', Pitchfork.com, December 5, 2011.
  16. ↑ "AV Club" Steven Hyden, 'Quilt: Quilt', AV Club.com, December 20, 2011
  17. ↑ "Dusted" Evan Hanlon, 'Quilt' Dusted Reviews, November 9, 2011.
  18. ↑ "2012 shows" Tourdates listed on the Mexican Summer website. February 29, 2012
  19. ↑ "Daytrotter session" Sean Moeller, 'Quilt', Daytrotter.com, October 9, 2012.
  20. ↑ "Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records". beyondbeyondisbeyond.com.
  21. ↑ "In Your Speakers review" Matt Essert, Quilt/MMOSS: New Hampshire Freaks, In Your Speakers, April 25th, 2013.
  22. 1 2 3 "earbuddy" Nick Krennon, 'Quilt – “Arctic Shark”, Earbuddy.net, October 9, 2013.
  23. ↑ Review: Quilt - 'Held In Splendor' (Pitchfork Media)
  24. ↑ Yo La Tengo – Quilt's 'Held in Splendor' Is a Frayed, Captivating Psych-Pop Odyssey (Spin)
  25. ↑ Album Review: Quilt – Held in Splendor (Consequence of Sound)
  26. ↑ Quilt: Held in Splendor – review (The Guardian)
  27. ↑ First Listen: Quilt, 'Held In Splendor' (NPR)
  28. ↑ 'NME' Album Reviews: Quilt - 'Held In Splendor' (NME)
  29. ↑ "Boston Globe" Luke O’Neil, 'Quilt is a patchwork of sounds', Boston Globe, February 20, 2014
  30. ↑ "Van crash" Michael Marotta, 'Difficult Stitch-uation: Quilt lose tour van in highway crash, reach out to fans for help' Boston news, March 17, 2014.
  31. ↑ "John Andrews & the Yawns - Bit By The Fang LP". www.woodsist.com. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
  32. ↑ "Stream John Andrews & The Yawns Bit By The Fang". Stereogum. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
  33. ↑ "Hear 'Eliot St.' From A New Album By Quilt". NPR.org. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
  34. ↑ "Quilt announce new album, 'Plaza' - Fortitude Magazine". Fortitude Magazine. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
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