Drawn from Bees are an

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...

band from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The band is composed of Dan James (lead vocals, guitar), Stew Riddle (bass guitar, vocals), and Matt Wedmaier (drums, vocals). Drawn from Bees are signed to local

-based

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, Bonefinger Records, distributed via Believe Music, and published by Ink Music/Universal.

History

After a ten-year stint as

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band Glasshouse, Drawn from Bees debuted in 2008. Drawn from Bees launched their first EP, ''The Boy and the Ocean'', a few months later. In March 2009, the band released their second record, a mini-album entitled ''And the Blind Shall Lead the Way'', which has garnered widespread praise from the music press. The band has also been featured on

Richard Kingsmill Richard Kingsmill is an Australian radio announcer and music journalist. He worked for ABC radio station triple j from 1988 until his redundancy in December 2023, and was the station's longest-serving presenter. From 2017 he was group music d ...

's flagship

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

radio show, 2009, as well as having single 'Long Tooth Setting Sun' added to rotation. The band also won a

Unearthed competition to play the Valley Fiesta. In October 2009, Drawn from Bees released their third record, ''The Sky is Falling'', an EP containing a series of vignettes revolving around a central theme of the sky falling down, touring throughout

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. The band spent the remainder of 2009 in the studio, preparing their debut full-length record. In April 2010, the band were invited to showcase at

Musexpo MUSEXPO is an international music, media and technology conference based in Burbank, Los Angeles. It was created in 2005 by former DJ and music industry journalist Sat Bisla. It is still in operation as of July 2023. List of artists Animal Alpha, ...

Los Angeles, followed by showcases at Music Matters, Hong Kong and

Europe. The band undertook a month-long tour of the United States in 2011, including performances at South by Southwest (Austin, Texas), Canadian Music Week (Toronto) and the Bowery Ballroom (New York City). In 2012, Drawn from Bees released ''The May King and His Paper Crown'' to critical acclaim. Gravity,Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
the new Drawn from Bees single, is a return to form for the perennial Brisbane art-rockers. From the swelling synths to the driving bass, the song propels the listener across space and time in a retro-futuristic space odyssey. Accompanying the single release is a music video that takes the space adventure theme, drawing on inspiration from 1980s space adventure cartoons, such as Ulysses 31, to create a cosmic adventure complete with lost love and space monsters. Gravity is the fourth release in a space-inspired series, following All These People, Kindness, and Coldest Night.

Style

The

sound that is purveyed by Drawn from Bees combines elements of

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

with

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

, a movement that can be traced back to the 70's and 80's pioneers, including

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

. Modern

contemporaries include

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band's touring line-up includes former core ...

, and

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

Discography

* ''The Boy and the Ocean'' EP (2008 - Bonefinger Records/Believe Digital) * ''And the Blind Shall Lead the Way'' mini-LP (2009 - Bonefinger Records/Believe Digital) * ''The Sky is Falling'' EP (2009 - Bonefinger Records/Believe Digital) * ''Fear Not the Footsteps of the Departed'' LP (2010 - Bonefinger Records/Believe Digital) * ''Cautionary Tales for the Lionhearted'' EP (2011 - Bonefinger Records/Believe Digital) * ''The May King And His Paper Crown'' LP (2012 - Bonefinger Records/Believe Digital) * ''Web of Thieves'' EP (2014 - Bonefinger Records/Believe Digital) * "All these People" Single (2016 - Bonefinger Records/Believe Digital) * "Kindness" Single (2017 - Bonefinger Records/Believe Digital) * "Coldest Night" Single (2017 - Bonefinger Records/Believe Digital) * "Gravity" Single (2017 - Bonefinger Records/Believe Digital)

References

External links

*
Drawn from Bees
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Drawn from Bees
on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

Drawn from Bees
on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

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