We Are The West
From beyond the setting sun comes the sound of We Are The West. The intrepid imaginers lay claim to no particular state or border, only a direction, calling the listener to explore the familiar and embrace the unknown. Their boldest vision yet is a portrait of endless possibility and sonic adventure that must be heard to be seen. We Are The West welcomes you to 'The Golden Shore' (coming March 30, 2018).
"We Are The West is interested in exploring the convergence of sound and space, often taking to the road to record in experimental locations, searching out how the acoustics of place converge with live narrative. They have performed in storm drains and shipping containers, sheep farms and convents, and most frequently converge in the underground parking garage of an office building on Santa Monica Boulevard the Saturday before each full moon."
- The Believer
Brett Hool (voice/guitar) and John Kibler (bass/voice) formed We Are The West in a shipping container on a sheep farm in Holland, and began performing as a duo in an abandoned convent in Brooklyn, before moving back to California. "Originally described by Rolling Stone as a two-man orchestra of stunning vocals, meditative guitar, and exploratory double bass," (Albuquerque Journal), the group now often includes an extended family of musicians with Elizabeth Goodfellow (drums/voice), Sylvain Carton (woodwinds), Ben Tolliday (cello), Joe Kennedy (keys), Paul Cox (organ), Ben Peeler (pedal steel), and Mathias Künzli (percussion). Their national tours have included performances in natural desert amphitheaters, mine shafts, tow lots, redwood groves, sunset coves, and masonic temples, in addition to traditional theaters and festivals. Onstage they have supported Lord Huron, Pete Yorn, and Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers, as well as chamber artists Kinan Azmeh (Silk Road Ensemble) and Real Vocal String Quartet. Their recordings have been featured in compilations for Textura, Sound and Motion, and the Surfrider Foundation.
We Are The West's underground parking garage concert series "feels like the wave of the future" (Los Angeles Magazine), presenting a recontextualized and genuinely deep musical experience. The Saturday before each full moon, the band transforms an everyday office parking garage into an extraordinary performance space. Different guests open each night, from established artists and acclaimed bands, to chamber groups and avant-garde sound experiments. The garage itself provides an unusually welcoming environment, a perfect setting for We Are The West's transporting and dynamic sound. "If the parking garage is an instrument itself, Hool and Kibler are virtuosos," (Santa Monica Daily Press).
We Are The West has released four EPs, each recorded in a different improvised locale: their LA parking garage, a barn in western New York, the high desert of New Mexico, and a ranch in Sebastopol. Their first full-length album 'The Golden Shore' makes landfall March 30, 2018.
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