Fang Island was an American
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
band formed in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...
, and based in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York City. The group consisted of the guitarists Jason Bartell and Chris Georges, the bass guitarist Brock Hengin and the drummer Marc St. Sauveur.
Biography
Fang Island began in 2005 as an art project with original members, Philip Curcuru, Chris Georges and Pete Watts, while attending
Rhode Island School of Design
The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...
.
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][
]
They were later joined by Bartell, St. Sauveur, Jacober and the guitarist Nick Sadler, a former member of the band
Daughters
A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state, condition or quality of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show re ...
.
Fang Island took its name from an article in ''
The Onion
''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is currently based in Chicago, but originated as a weekly print publication ...
''.
Bartell recalled, "I think it was just a funny blip about
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, businessman, and naval officer who served as United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and again ...
having a secret hideaway, and it was on Fang Island."
The band describes its sound as "everyone high-fiving everyone"
[
]
and their goal, according to Bartell, is to "make music for people who like music".
[
]
The band independently released ''Day of the Great Leap'' in 2007, followed by an
EP, ''Sky Gardens'', in November 2008. Their song "The Absolute Place" was
remix
A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
ed by Chris Keating of
Yeasayer
Yeasayer () was an American experimental rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2006. The band consisted of Chris Keating, Ira Wolf Tuton, and Anand Wilder. They announced their split on December 19, 2019.
History Formation
The band's thr ...
in 2009.
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''Fang Island'' was named one of the year's top 10 albums by Brian Cook of ''
The Stranger''.
The album's
lead single
A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
A similar term, "debut ...
"Daisy", which has an electro-organ introduction and chanted vocals,
[
]
was played during a series of commercials promoting the
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
reality show ''
The Buried Life''.
[
]
Adam Pfleider of ''
AbsolutePunk
''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to featu ...
'' described it as a "wild party" that "listeners will want to relive ... over and over again".
[
]
Dan Goldin of ''Decoy Music'' praised the album for "successfully combining the luster of indie pop music with the technical eccentricities of progressive rock".
[
]
Ian Cohen in ''
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 ...
'' called the music on ''Fang Island'' "honest and life-affirming and infectious".
In 2010, Fang Island performed at the
SXSW
South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
music festival in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
,
and were named by the social networking analytics site
Next Big Sound
Next Big Sound (NBS) is a New York–based company which provides analytics for online music. The company analyses the popularity of musicians in social networks, Streaming media, streaming services, and radio. The company was acquired by Pandora ...
as the artists who experienced the fastest growth in online fandom during the festival.
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While in Austin, the band also recorded three songs for a
Daytrotter
Daytrotter was a recording studio, music venue and subscription-based music discovery website located in Atlanta, United States. It hosted recording sessions with indie music acts.
The original studio in Rock Island, Illinois, was founded in 20 ...
session.
[
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''Fang Island'' entered the
''Billboard'' Heatseekers Albums
The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...
chart in April 2010.
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In a 2012 interview with ''New York Music News'', Bartell admitted the happy undertones of the band's music, saying, "I am pretty ding-dong-doodily-delighted, all the time."
Their song "Chompers" from the album ''Major'' is a playable track on the video game ''
Rocksmith 2014
''Rocksmith 2014'' is a music video game produced by Ubisoft. It is a followup to the 2011 game ''Rocksmith'', but has been described as a replacement to the original game rather than a sequel. Like its predecessor, the game allows players to plu ...
''
Bartell began to produce new music as
Mythless.
Band members
;Former
* Jason Bartell – guitar, vocals (2005–2015)
* Chris Georges – guitar,
keyboards, vocals (2005–2015)
* Philip Curcuru – bass guitar, vocals (2005–2011)
* Pete Watts – drums (2005–2009)
* Nicholas Andrew Sadler – guitar, keyboards, vocals (2007–2011)
* Marc St. Sauveur – drums, vocals (2009–2015)
Discography
;Albums
;EPs
Music videos
References
External links
*
Fang Islandat
Sargent House
Sargent House is an American management company and record label based in Los Angeles. It was founded in June 2006 by Cathy Pellow, who is a music video commissioner for Atlantic Records and also owns a music video production company called Ref ...
''The Onion'' articlefrom which Fang Island took its name
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fang Island
Indie rock musical groups from Rhode Island
Musical groups established in 2005
Rhode Island School of Design alumni in music