Vinyl Theatre

Vinyl Theatre

Vinyl Theatre in Chicago
Background information
Origin Milwaukee, Wisconsin[1]
Genres
Years active 2012–present
Labels Fueled by Ramen[2]
Website vinyltheatre.com
Members Keegan Calmes
Chris Senner
Nick Cesarz
Past members Josh Pothier

Vinyl Theatre is an indie rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, formed by Keegan Calmes and Chris Senner. The band later grew to include Josh Pothier and Nick Cesarz.[3] Before being signed to an official record label, they produced several singles that were released on the band's Soundcloud page,[4] leading up to the release of Chromatic EP in 2014.[5] The band was then signed to Fueled by Ramen later in 2014.[2] They released their first studio album, Electrogram, with Fueled by Ramen on September 23, 2014. Vinyl Theatre supported the album by going on a national tour of the United States with Twenty One Pilots.[6]

The band has said to be influenced by other bands such as Death Cab For Cutie, Two Door Cinema Club, The Shins, The Killers, Young the Giant, and twenty one pilots.[7]

History

Formation (2012–2014)

Singer and guitarist Keegan Calmes first met keyboardist Chris Senner at a cross-country meet in high school. They decided after getting to know each other that they would meet up again, this time to begin writing and practicing songs.[8] Calmes left Wisconsin to attend college at Adams State University in Colorado while Senner attended college at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. The two wrote songs and shared ideas over Skype and email and eventually recorded a demo CD together. Senner emailed one of his friends from college, Nick Cesarz, and asked him to record drums over their tracks.[9] Cesarz was brought into the band once Calmes and Senner have their approval of his recording. Keegan returned home from Colorado, having dropped out to be able to pursue music as a career. The band was in need of a bass player, so Chris contacted a high school friend, Josh Pothier, and asked him to join. With his parents' blessing, Pothier dropped out of college, where he was close to finishing a degree in psychology, to join the band.[10]

The group first called themselves "Alchemy", but after searching on the internet, they found other bands either with the same or similar names, making it difficult for themselves to stand out.[11] They dropped the name when they had new management and replaced it with "Vinyl Theatre", stating that the vinyl aspect meant "When you buy a record on vinyl, it’s often for a band you’re truly dedicated to..." and "theatre" represented the theatrics of music.[12]

With their name, members, and management being settled, the band began collaboratively writing songs and began putting them on social music sharing site, SoundCloud. There, they released their first song, "Breaking Up My Bones", which received large amounts of feedback from around the world. Looking back, the band realized that the combination of the site's only weeks-old "trending" feature and self-promotion on other social media networks was what provided them with so much feedback.[13]

Fueled by Ramen and touring (2014–present)

In March 2014, the band was put on Billboard's Next Big Sound Chart[14] and was also announced to the setlist of Summerfest's Emerging Artist Series to take place in July of that year. New York City-based record label Fueled by Ramen, which has bands such as Paramore and Twenty One Pilots on their roster, picked up on the attention that Vinyl Theatre was receiving and contacted the band to ask for a performance. People from the label flew out to Milwaukee and watched the band perform in their practice space, which was also Nick Cesarz's basement. On August 19, 2014, Vinyl Theatre announced via their Facebook page that they had just been signed to Fueled by Ramen and that their first album, Electrogram would be released on September 23, 2014.[15]

On the same day of their signing announcement, Vinyl Theatre announced that in the fall of 2014 they would be the opening band for their labelmates Twenty One Pilots along with indie-pop band Misterwives. After the tour finished, the band embarked on their first ever headlining tour across six states.[16]

Recently Vinyl Theatre announced that they would be touring with Magic Man and Smallpools. They also announced that they would tour with The Mowgli's, following with their Alter the Sound tour.

In February 2016, it was announced that bassist Josh Pothier parted ways with the band due to ongoing health issues.[17]

Members

Discography

List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak position
US Heatseekers
Electrogram 35[19]
List of extended plays
Title Album details
Gold
  • Released: 12 November 2013[20]
  • Label: Independently released
  • Formats: Digital download
Chromatic
  • Released: 16 June 2014[21]
  • Label: POST/POP RECORDS
  • Formats: Digital download, cassette
List of singles, with selected chart positions
Year Single Peak chart positions Album
US Emerging Artists
2013 "I Need You Here"[22] — N/A
"Summer"[23] — Electrogram
"Tokyo"[24] — Gold
2014 "If You Say So"[25] — Electrogram
"Take Me Home"[26] — Chromatic
"Breaking Up My Bones"[27] 46[28] Electrogram
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

References

  1. ↑ "Vinyl Theatre". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  2. 1 2 "Please Welcome Vinyl Theatre To The Fueled By Ramen Family!". Fueled By Ramen. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  3. ↑ "Smallpools - Tickets - U Street Music Hall - Washington, DC - April 25th, 2015". 9:30 - 815 V ST. N.W. Washington DC. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  4. ↑ "Vinyl Theatre". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  5. ↑ "Vinyl Theatre – Chromatic (EP) | FANA". fana.me. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  6. ↑ Levy, Piet (August 25, 2014). "Milwaukee band Vinyl Theatre signs with Fueled by Ramen". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Interview: Vinyl Theatre on releasing debut album 'Electrogram'". GroundSounds. 2014-09-17. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  8. ↑ "Vinyl Theatre: Behind the Band - Chris Senner - YouTube". December 9, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Vinyl Theatre: Behind the Band - Nick Cesarz - YouTube". November 24, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Vinyl Theatre: Behind the Band - Josh Pothier - YouTube". December 16, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Vinyl Theatre's hitting its stride in the music world". July 2, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  12. ↑ "DirectLyrics Interviews Vinyl Theatre: On Signing With Fueled By Ramen, Debut Album "Electrogram" & First Headlining U.S Tour!". November 7, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  13. ↑ "At lunch with Vinyl Theatre". October 4, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Next Big Sound | Billboard". March 22, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Vinyl Theatre - We are happy to announce that we have...". August 19, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Vinyl Theatre Kick Off Headlining Tour Tonight". November 26, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
  17. ↑ Band Facebook Page
  18. ↑ "Vinyl Theatre's New Album Electrogram Out Today!". Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Vinyl Theatre - Chart History Billboard". Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  20. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Gold by Vinyl Theatre". Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  21. ↑ "CHROMATIC | POST/POP RECORDS". Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  22. ↑ "iTunes - Music - I Need You Here - Single by Vinyl Theatre". Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Summer - Vinyl Theatre - Listen and discover music at last.fm". Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Tokyo - Vinyl Theatre - Listen and discover music at last.fm". Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  25. ↑ "If You Say So - Vinyl Theatre - Listen and discover music at last.fm". Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Give It a Spin: "Take Me Home" by Vinyl Theatre". Retrieved February 1, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Vinyl Theatre Sign to Fueled by Ramen - News Article - AbsolutePunk.net". Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Billboard Twitter Emerging Artists illboard". Archived from the original on February 1, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
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