Los Angeles-based Calamity Magnet melds the world of indie-pop with girl group harmonies of the sixties, adding a hint of country flavor and the occasional peek at a Beatles influence. The brainchild of Texas-born songwriter/musician Sara Radle (ex-The Rentals), Calamity Magnet picks up where her critically acclaimed solo records left off.
For a band that only started playing together in October 2007, Calamity Magnet already have a lot under their belts. They headed into the studio in January 2008 to work with multiple Grammy Award winning engineer Dennis Moody, and created their first group of recordings together. Three months later, they released that collection of six songs in the form of a self-titled EP (now available through iTunes, as well as their MySpace page.
In early June, Calamity Magnet shot their first music video for the last track on the EP, Movin' On, and in late June will head out on their first tour together. At a time when not many bands are dealing with rising gas prices and hitting the road, Calamity Magnet will play 20 dates across the United States in 3 weeks, supporting their new release. The band will document their experience through video blogs that will be posted daily to their YouTube page.
About the band members:
Lead singer Sara Radle's music career began in San Antonio, Texas, fronting the punk/pop band Lucy Loves Schroeder. She later moved to Dallas, released a string of solo records, and started her own label before relocating to Los Angeles to help Matt Sharp (ex-Weezer bassist) form The Rentals. Sara recently parted ways with The Rentals to be able to dedicate her full attention to her distinctive song-writing through Calamity Magnet.
In a recent blog Sara posted about her departure from The Rentals, she writes, "I am so thankful Matt asked me to move to Los Angeles from Texas to help him start the group back up again, and I leave The Rentals with amazing memories and the experience of having worked with some of the best musicians I know. While it makes me sad to leave that experience behind, I have realized that what makes me happiest is being a songwriter, and that's where my focus should be returning to at this point in my life."
To learn more about Sara and her previous bands and records, please visit her MySpace page (myspace.com/sararadle).
Lead guitarist Joe Bourdet was raised in the California foothills near Nevada City where the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Sacramento delta informed his rootsy musical sensibilities. A stint in college and other travels saw him move from Santa Cruz to Glasgow Scotland where he cut his teeth playing with any band that could play 'the good music.' Upon relocating to Los Angeles, Joe joined up with a group of Laurel Canyon styled folk-rock mavericks that became Jonathan Wilson and the Whispering Pines. Following that, he joined The Shore - a combo with a vision of American rock filtered through the best anglo-centric interpretations. Joe then moved on to working as a side-man and occasional session player in and around the southland. His latest project, Bolero, is a country-psych powerhouse led by Josh Schwartz, an early band member, songwriter and architect of the late Beachwood Sparks.
Growing up in Honolulu, Valerie Ngai has classical bass training and performed in chamber ensembles, symphonies, and musical theatres around the west coast. Currently, she is also playing bass and drums with Loverlee, an indie pop band from Burbank. Loverlee has been recognized as a Featured Band at liveatthegig.com, and has had their song, When We're Alone, be named as one of the L.A. Times Top Ten Songs by Unsigned Artists to Download.
A Los Angeles native, keyboardist/vocalist Genevieve Kwong meandered musically through a milieu of bands, perfecting her pleasantly unique style along the way. Currently, in addition to Calamity Magnet, she is also playing with Loverlee, mixing it up with keys, flute, bass and percussion, while singing back-ups and sometimes lead vocals.
Joe Zabielski came up in the vital Western MA indie scene of the late 80's and 90's drumming in Amherst and Northampton based bands, most notably in the University of Massachusetts's psych-rockers, The Eyes. Once that scene had run its course, Joe moved on to Silverlake, CA where he currently plays with Moving To France and Calamity Magnet.
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…shrink me down again