Bad Veins

Detail: It's not often or ever that a band from the Midwest plays as little as five shows before finding themselves on stage at an event currated by one of New York City's most well known day-to-day culture blogs. Benjamin Davis (vocals, guitar & synth) and Sebastian Schultz (drums) - the guys behind Cincinnatti's Bad Veins - were just as surprised as anyone else to find themselves performing at Gothamist's Movable Hype show this past January.

The story began as a solo act with Davis piecing together ideas he had swimming in his head in the wake of his former bands dissolution. He put down dense orchestral tracks that resonated with a fuzzy melancholy, and featured vocals sung through megaphones and telephones. Though he was making headway recording material on his own, it became clear to Davis that he'd be short a pair of hands if he ever wanted to replicated the recording on stage. Enter Schulz, a French born but American raised drummer that had just seen his own band call it quits.

Davis quickly found Schulz to be exactly what he needed. The latter's impassioned drumming took the music to new heights, allowed Davis to kick his stodgy drum machine to the curb, and most importantly gave Bad Veins the opportunity to take the stage. Lucky breaks are few and far between on the musical landscape, but for Bad Veins they came upone theirs at their second ever show, when a band they were opening for stumbled upon their sound check. Upon hearing their supporting act warm up, Atlanta's Snowden were instantly impressed. They traveled on to New York on tour and told stories to venue bookers, writers and friends about this great new band they played with Cincinnatti. Before long opportunities sprung up for shows, and a couple of phone calls came in from record labels. Weeks later they were playing Brooklyn and Manhattan.

To date Bad Veins have played a little more then a dozen shows, yet have already shared the stage with the likes of Snowden, Viva Voce, Silversun Pickups, Apples in Stereo and O'Death.