Transviolet is an alternative

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band formed in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2015, consisting of lead vocalist Sarah McTaggart, with Judah McCarthy, Michael Panek, and Jon Garcia as musicians and writers. The band initially formed online before moving to the West Coast to collaborate in person. Transviolet gained initial recognition after a local publicity stunt, celebrity endorsements, and after being selected for a

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

commercial. They have released three EPs and three singles, and have played a number of high-profile tours and festivals.

Career

McTaggart originally met Panek on a musicians' networking website. At the time, McTaggart lived in

Grand Cayman Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the territory's capital, George Town, Cayman Islands, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles (121 km) southwest of L ...

and Panek lived in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, although as McTaggart later recalled, she initially lied on the site and stated she too was from

because that was where she wanted but could not afford to move to. Panek in turn enlisted Garcia, whom he had known since they attended Churchville-Chili Senior High School together. The group, originally named ''Noise Floor'', collaborated at a distance at first before establishing itself in

. After relocating to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, McCarthy, another Churchville-Chili alumnus and friend of Panek's and Garcia's, joined the line-up and the name was changed to ''Transviolet''. According to the group, the name was inspired by the poem ''When The Violets Roar At The Sun'' by

Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German Americans, German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambien ...

, and was chosen to mean "transcendence into a new, violet awareness". Transviolet firstly began gaining widespread recognition with endorsements from

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His showmanship, artistry, and flamboyant fashion have had a Cultural impact of Harry Styles, significant impact on popular culture. Styles's musical ca ...

and

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

. McTaggart and Perry had known one another as children and attended the same church. The band caused some controversy early in its career by sending out anonymous packages containing a

cassette tape The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog audio, analog magnetic tape recording format for Sound recording and reproduction, audio recording and playback. Invented by L ...

with "just press play" handwritten on each one. The packages were sent to members of the

street team A street team is a term used in marketing to describe a group of people who engage with urban or campus communities to promote events. They are particularly prevalent in the music industry, which uses street teams for grassroots marketing and to p ...

of Fueled by Ramen, a label distributed by

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

. The cassettes contained a recording of the song ''Girls Your Age'', which was released online in mid 2015. A Shazam code was also included. The eponymous EP containing ''Girls Your Age'' garnered more than 20 million streams for its top three songs. The band toured with

LANY Lany may refer to: Places * Lány (disambiguation), multiple places in the Czech Republic * Łany (disambiguation), multiple places in Poland People with the surname * Benjamin Lany (1591–1675), English academic and bishop * Dorothy May De Lany ...

in 2016. The song ''New Bohemia'' from the ''Transviolet'' EP was chosen for use on a

commercial, and the band was named the "band of the week" by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in January 2016. That April, ''New Bohemia'' entered Billboard's

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...

chart where it peaked at #35. In 2017, the EP ''Kaleidoscopes'' was released. Transviolet was signed by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

in early 2015. They split ways with the label in late 2017. They were then picked up by

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

, followed by the release of the EP ''Valley'' in 2018. A track from ''Valley'', ''Undo'', featured as the closing music of an episode of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''Unbelievable''. The group performed on ''

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known simply as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show that aired on CBS from 2015 to 2023. It is the fourth and final iteration of '' The Late Late Show'', and aired in the United Sta ...

'' on July 12, 2016. Transviolet also performed on the Today Show and ''

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night news satire, news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Stephen Colbert, Spartin ...

''. They have played at a number of festivals, including

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Governors Ball The Governors Ball Music Festival (commonly known as Governors Ball or Gov Ball) is a multi-day music festival held in New York City. Launched in 2011 by Jordan Wolowitz, Tom Russell, Yoni Reisman, the festival features an array of genres and ...

South by Southwest 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 ...

, and

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

. In July 2018, the band headlined a hometown concert at

The Echo (venue) The Echo is an American music venue and nightclub, located in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. For 14 years, it hosted Funky Sole, an all-vinyl 1960s funk-and-soul dance party. The venue is also known for their punk rock s ...

, Los Angeles. In September 2019, they self-released the single ''Sunshine'', followed by ''Money Money'' in October and ''Born To Rule'' in November. Later in November, in advance of a date at the legendary

Troubadour (West Hollywood, California) The Troubadour is a nightclub located in West Hollywood, California, United States, at 9081 Santa Monica Boulevard just east of Doheny Drive and the border of Beverly Hills. Inspired by a visit to the newly opened Troubadour café in London, ...

, the band guested on ''Aliens'' by The Griswolds.

Members

* Sarah McTaggart — vocalist * Judah McCarthy — guitarist * Michael Panek — multi-instrumentalist * Jon Garcia — drummer/producer

Albums

*''Born to Rule'' (2020) *''Drugs in California'' (2022) *''Body'' (2023) *''Softcore'' (2025)

Extended plays

*''Transviolet'' (2015) *''Kaleidoscopes'' (2017) *''Valley'' (2018)

Singles

As lead artists

*"New Bohemia" (2015) *"LA Love" (2016) *"Future" (2016) *"Sunshine" (2019) *"Money Money" (2019) *"Born to Rule" (2019) *"Freak Like Me"(2020) *"Tropics" (featuring Reo Cragun) (2020) *"Drugs in California" (2021) *"Clean Laundry" (featuring

Dreamers Dreamers or The Dreamers may refer to: Books * "Dreamers", a 1918 war poem by Siegfried Sassoon * "The Dreamers" (play), a 1982 play by Jack Davis * ''The Dreamers'' (novel series), a 2003–06 fantasy series by David Eddings and Leigh Eddings ...

) (2021) *"Blue Flowers" (featuring Little Hurt) (2021)

As featured artists

* "Telescope" (with Tim Legend) (2017) * "Know U" (with Jesse Porsches) (2018) * "Lost Frequency" (with The Swoons) (2019) * "Gone" (with

Great Good Fine Ok Great Good Fine OK (abbreviated GGFO) is an American synthpop band formed in New York City, United States, who relocated to Los Angeles in 2022. The band was founded by Jon Sandler and Luke Moellman in 2013. Although both grew up in Upstate New ...

) (2019) * "Aliens" (with The Griswolds) (2019) * "Heart Lies" (with Taao Kross) (2020) * "Tendencies" (with Sleeping Lion) (2020) * "Daydream" (with Charlie Crown) (2020) * "Pure Happiness" (with Karma Fields) (2023)

References

External links

* {{Authority control American alternative rock groups Musical groups from Los Angeles 2015 establishments in California Female-fronted musical groups