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.
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