Alaska in Winter was an American

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

, consisting of frontman Brandon Bethancourt, who dropped out of art school in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

, and reportedly, "spent a semester in a tiny cabin out in the middle of nowhere

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

recording music on a laptop during the winter", and which later came to be known as the project, "Alaska in Winter".

History

After completing his project in Alaska, Bethancourt returned to New Mexico and enlisted the help of fellow musicians

Zach Condon Beirut is an American indie folk project formed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2006, by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Zach Condon, who is the band's primary recording artist and sole constant member. In the studio and during live perf ...

(

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Heather Trost Heather Trost (born July 18, 1982) is an American violinist and singer. Biography Trost was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is one of the two members of the United States, American Balkan Folk band A Hawk and a Hacksaw, with husband Jeremy B ...

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A Hawk and a Hacksaw A Hawk and a Hacksaw is an American folk duo from Albuquerque, New Mexico, currently signed to L.M. Duplication. The band consists of accordionist Jeremy Barnes, who was previously the drummer for Neutral Milk Hotel and Bablicon, and violinist ...

), Hari Ziznewski, Stefanie Lamm, Rosina Roibal, Hilary Bethancourt, and Naila Dixon to help with his later musical project. The band's debut album, '' Dance Party in the Balkans,'' featured Zach Condon, who later founded

. Bethancourt has been living in

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...

, where he recorded his second album, ''Holiday'', which was released November 17, 2008. After releasing "Holiday," Bethancourt moved to

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

, where he currently resides. Under his independent label, AIWM, Bethancourt released his third and most recent album,

Space Eagle (the motion picture soundtrack) ''Space Eagle (the motion picture soundtrack)'' is officially the 3rd full-length release from Alaska in Winter. It debuted 16 February 2010 via iTunes and a note published on Alaska in Winter's Facebook Facebook is a social media an ...

, on February 16, 2010. Only 100 copies in cassette tape form have been printed, as announced by Bethancourt. On October 6, 2010, Bethancourt released the cover art for an upcoming EP, which he has entitled, "B-Sides and Other Missed Opportunities EP." He followed up the announcement with the release of the

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

on February 15, 2011. On May 31, 2011, Bethancourt announced the "pre-release" for his second extended play for 2011, which he dubbed ''

Suicide Prevention Hotline ''Suicide Prevention Hotline EP'' is an official extended play release from Alaska in Winter. It debuted 31 May 2011 through the band's Blogspot account, and a note published on its Facebook Facebook is a social media and social ne ...

''. Additionally, Alaska in Winter won the ninth-annual Independent Music Award Vox Pop vote for best Dance/Electronica Album "Berlin".

Discography

* ''Ivan Fyodorovich is Not a Real Person (self release/unreleased)'' (2005) * '' Dance Party in the Balkans (European release)'' (July 2007) * ''Dance Party in the Balkans (US release)'' (March 2008) * ''Close Your Eyes- We Are Blind 7" split vinyl'' with

Marianne Dissard Marianne Dissard is a French-born American singer, photographer, author, producer, and filmmaker. She has released four albums, four EPs, and a number of singles and collaborations. She started touring abroad in 2006, including in countries ...

(May 2008) * ''Remixes 12" vinyl'' (October 2008) * ''

Holiday A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...

'' (November 2008) * ''

'' (February 2010) * '' B-sides & Other Missed Opportunities EP'' (February 2011) * '' Suicide Prevention Hotline EP'' (May 2011) * ''Memorex Floppy Disk 7" Vinyl EP'' (October 2011) * ''Airwolfe Flexi Disc'' (November 2011) * ''December Compositions'' (December 2011)

References

External links

Official MySpace

Review of ''Dance Party in the Balkans''
on

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

*
Review of ''Close Your Eyes - We Are Blind''

Regular Beat Records (European label)

Milan Records (US label)

Interview with Brandon Bethancourt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alaska In Winter Musical groups from New Mexico American electronic musicians Independent Music Awards winners