Lemuria (American band)

Lemuria
Background information
Origin Buffalo, New York, United States
Genres Indie rock, punk rock, emo, power pop
Years active 2004–present
Labels Asian Man, Bridge 9, Art of the Underground
Associated acts Paladin, Still Ill, Splag, Team Chocolate, Failures' Union
Website www.lemuriapop.com
Members Sheena Ozzella
Alex Kerns
Max Gregor
Past members Kyle Paton
Jason Draper[1]
Adam Vernick

Lemuria is an American rock band from Buffalo, New York, formed in 2004. After a slew of singles and EPs in their early years, not to mention a few bassists, Lemuria has more recently crafted three seminally popular albums and a hearty touring schedule in the U.S. and internationally. The band's most recent efforts have been recorded by indie rock stalwart J. Robbins and released on Boston-based record label, Bridge 9 Records.[2]

History

Lemuria was first established in the summer of 2004 by drummer/vocalist Alex Kerns, guitarist/vocalist Sheena Ozzella, and bassist Adam Vernick.[3] The trio began writing songs and released a five song demo, recorded at Watchmen Recording Studios, which started a long term relationship with engineer Doug White.[4] After a handful of shows, and the release of the (now rare) Lemuria demo, the group parted ways with Vernick, and in March 2005, Jason Draper stepped in to join on bass.[3]

The line-up of Lemuria featuring Alex, Sheena, and Jason went on to record many singles, splits, and 7" records.[3] The majority of the early releases, including the demo, s/t 7", Lemuria/Frame split, AOTU Single Series, and "You're Living Rooms All Over Me", were all released (or co-released) by Art Of The Underground,[5] an indie record label owned and operated by Alex Kerns.[6]

In 2007, after years of touring,[7][8] the band remarked that never recording a full-length album had given them time "to grow and to "find our sound.""[3] The band once again returned to Watchmen Recording Studios and began working on their first record, later titled Get Better and released on Asian Man Records.[3][9] Lyrically, with the exception of the songs written by Sheena and Jason, the album took a much darker tone than previous works, as many of Alex Kern's lyrics were written dealing with the recent death of his father. Musically, however, the songs were bright and 'uplifting' as a result of the band and Alex's attitude. All these things led to and helped in titling the record Get Better.[4]

Sheena Ozzella onstage, 2012

The band began to tour on headlining bills as well as on tour packages. In the fall of 2007, Lemuria went on their first European tour, followed by the release of 'Get Better' in 2008 and continued extensive touring throughout the US (Perhaps most notably featured on the Asian Man Records tour in 2008 alongside The Queers, Bomb The Music Industry, and Andrew Jackson Jihad.) as well as Puerto Rico, the UK, and Canada.[7] Lemuria also became a regular at the Gainesville, FL based festival, The Fest, playing for the first time in 2006 and continuing to play every year since.[7] When asked about their touring schedule, members of the band often express an affinity for the lifestyle:

“ We're on tour a lot. It's one of the reasons we do the band. It's an excuse to travel. You go to a different city every day and show people your art.[8] ”

In the fall of 2009, Alex and Sheena parted ways with Jason, who went on to concentrate on his other project, Failures' Union. Kyle Paton stepped in and the band continued to tour, though song writing became the responsibility more so of the duo of Kerns/Ozzella.[10][11] The band continued to write and be active, and in April 2010 announced that they had signed to Bridge 9 Records.[12] Signing to the Bridge 9 label, traditionally releasing albums for hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front and Slapshot, brought up many questions for both Lemuria as well as Bridge 9 as to the future of the two entities.[12] In part, the connection to the label was due to a famous fan of Lemuria, Paramore's Hayley Williams, who had gone to see them play and connected the band with her then-boyfriend, Chad Gilbert, from New Found Glory, which had released an album on Bridge 9, according to an interview in Dying Scene.

In July, 2010, Lemuria made another big change and went in to record their debut full length for the label with J. Robbins in Baltimore, MD at Magpie Cage.[13] However, during the mixing process of this recording session, bassist and Canadian citizen Kyle Paton ran into legal issues at the American border and as a result had to part ways with the band.[14] In order to perform a show scheduled for later that week, Lemuria added the new bass player Max Gregor, who flew up from Texas and began rehearsing in the studio.[11] The lineup of Kerns/Ozzella/Gregor has continued to tour and perform one-off shows since that time.

In early 2011, Lemuria released the digital single, "Chautauqua County", and a subsequent album, entitled "Pebble."[15] The trio played a month of headlining shows to correspond with the release, followed by consistent shows through the year in the U.S. and Europe along with acts such as The Thermals, Cheap Girls, Screaming Females, and David Liebe Hart.[7]

Playing less than a dozen shows in 2012, the band closed out the year by again recording with J. Robbins. The result became its third full-length studio album, The Distance Is So Big, released June 2013 on Bridge Nine. With the most consistent line-up in the band's career, Lemuria spent 2013 supporting "The Distance Is So Big" with shows across Canada and the U.S., including a week at Austin's SXSW festival. 2014 tours brought the band across the U.S. a few times, with a notable stop at Chicago's Riot Fest, and before crowds in Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines. During this time, the band has shared the stage and tours with Ted Leo, Aimee Mann, Tiger Jaw, Kind of Like Spitting, and The Menzingers.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Compilation albums

7" singles and split releases

Music videos

Compilation appearances

Demos

References

  1. ↑ "Lemuria | Free Music, Mixes, Tour Dates, Photos, Videos". Myspace.com. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  2. ↑ http://www.theb9.com/article/542
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Upcoming Talent: Upcoming Talent #3: Lemuria | Features | Scene Point Blank | Music webzine | Reviews, features & news". Scene Point Blank. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  4. 1 2 "Supernaut Booking". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  5. ↑ "Lemuria Official Website". Lemuriapop.com. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  6. ↑ http://archives.buffalorising.com/story/lemurias_cd_release_party_the
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Lemuria Official Website". Lemuriapop.com. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  8. 1 2 Douglas Baptie (2007-10-02). "Lemuria interview | Feature | Music @ The Digital Fix". Themusicfix.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  9. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20101025125552/http://asianmanrecords.com/bands.html. Archived from the original on October 25, 2010. Retrieved November 12, 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ↑ "Lemuria changes lineup, plans new material". Punknews.org. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  11. 1 2 "Lemuria: Bridge 9, J. Robbins, The Bass Player Shuffle, And Australia's Importance In Risk". The 1st Five. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  12. 1 2 "Lemuria signs to Bridge 9". Punknews.org. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  13. ↑ http://www.bridge9.com/article/679
  14. ↑ "Lemuria talks about new bassist, Bridge Nine". Punknews.org. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  15. ↑ "Media: Lemuria: "Chautauqua County"". Punknews.org. Retrieved 2013-07-02.

External links

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