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THE BIXBY KNOLLS

/ Profile /

Los Angeles, CA

Currently [ Offline ]

Active/Local

Member of the IsGoodMusic Network.

About

Los Angeles 2009

On an April Saturday morning as the sun comes over the Sierra Nevada’s and shines on the Wells Fargo Building and the skyscrapers making up downtown LA.

The railway tracks and bridges that connect the city of Angels to the rest of the waking world are reverberating to a new sound. In a rehearsal space in the industrial sector of the city a new band is taking shape, one that is forming for the new decade, a band called The Bixby Knolls.

They deliver a slab of vintage rock and roll with a mountain of fresh significance.
The north of England and the west of America meet at The Bixby Knolls. A blistering blend of British northern grit with a prevailing nod to great Western Americana. The aural pleasures of Arthur Lee and Love with Joy Division, The Clash with The Beach Boys, The Smiths and Oasis with Link Wray can be heard throughout these tracks.

They find themselves one morning gathered in a studio off 7th Street with a case of Tecate, a barrel of Jamesons and their guitars turn to full. Curt, a life long resident of Los Angeles along with his long time friend Sho Bagley are joined by Sammy from New York and Mike Clemenza originally from Chicago. The band are brought together by a pure, untainted addiction for music and an ideal that music blocks away the negative outside forces and forms a positive, colourful and refreshing way of life.

This is the Gospel of The Knolls and a belief not lost as they spend most of their nights writing or rehearsing at their studio or playing the clubs of downtown LA.

The Bixby Knolls have been drawing on diverse and creative influences a plenty, which they reflect in their writing and recording. Their sound contains influential elements of pop music from all genres and spans the last six decades. It covers all corners of the globe from Kingston, Jamaica to Detroit and Memphis, USA; from Satara, India to Manchester, England and Hawthorne, California.

Although The Bixby Knolls sound takes its influences from every corner of this fantastic planet they retain the sound of their own environment, a sound and a passion for LA.
Guitar driven songs incorporate dynamic production for the new decade and the 2010’s, as well as giving a nodding glance of respect to the ghost of Arthur Lee’s Love.

By the way, Bixby Knolls, is an area of South Bay, Los Angeles, where the Munchkins, settled after tearing it up along the yellow brick road in The Wizard of Oz.

Fresh from high school, Curt Barlage began his musical profession at an independent record store in Redondo Beach, but his musical journey had began years before listening to his father’s Beach Boys collection and the sounds of Los Angeles’ other great sixties heroes Love and The Doors. This musical knowledge, as well as diversity of sound has been key in forming the new band. Curt discovered the distant and beautiful sounds of classical Bollywood soundtrack queen Asha Bosle. He listened to the sounds of northern England, in the form of Factory Recordings, he listened to Creation, he nodded his head to Jamaica and the sounds of Trojan and Studio One, whilst always retaining his love of the indigenous rock music from the Homeland.

The vision was born…

Sammy was born in England but raised in New York, but his English roots have inspired him to seek out the musical culture of his birth place and be it skinhead, suede head, mod or rocker Sammy will listen to it. Whilst on this musical quest he discovered the thunderous rhythms of Keith Moon, a primary influence on Sammy’s rhythmic style and then became a believer in the R&B movement of 1960’s England.
This shared love of that music led Sammy and Curt to meet one evening at the legendary LA music venue, Spaceland.

The sound was born….

Out of the cold and rain of the Windy City came Mike Clemenza, tired of Chicago and yearning for some action and some sun. Originally a guitar player Mike was eager to find band mates with a similar style and taste and answering an on line ad found himself in less than a month of arriving in the city a member of The Bixby Knolls.
A massive fan of Oasis from a very young age (his first CD purchase being ‘What’s The Story (Morning Glory)) Mike has found a bond with the other band members and brought his own passion and style.

The rhythm is born…

South of LAX is El Segundo, the neighborhood of Hawthorne and the home of The Beach Boys. Sho was a regular at the record store where Curt worked and had played in numerous bands in the area before joining The Bixby Knolls. A dedicated follower of classic southern blues and soul, Sho brings his experience and skills to the fore as well as bringing his own dynamic sound.

The band is born…

At present, The Bixby Knolls can be found playing in and around Los Angeles and will be playing nationwide very soon. They have just completed a six track EP entitled ‘Love To Hate This Day’ with Mark Rains due for release in early 2010.

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