Triangle Shirt Factory (listen to Podcast)
Triangle Shirt Factory is the folk, rock, reggae music of Trevor Leonard. The twenty-five year old singer/songwriter was born and nurtured in Bucks County Pennsylvania, a fading farmland suburb of Philadelphia. Leonard draws inspiration from his hometown and writes about preserving nature, discovering hope, creating community and opening up to new ways of thinking about progress.
Triangle Shirt Factory’s first full length effort, Widening, self-released on October 23, 2007, demonstrates mature songwriting with melodies comparable to Jimmy Eat World, the passionate groove of Sublime, and intellectual lyrics similar to the poetry of Simon and Garfunkel.
The concept of the record is to be open – open to change, beauty and signals that would otherwise be overlooked; to question progress on personal, political, and global levels; to develop a community of passionate thinkers. In the last year, Triangle Shirt Factory has toured the Northeast and Midwest several times and has opened for artists ranging from Roger Waters to Valencia.
Leonard celebrates nature and family, offers hope to desperate characters, and cultivates memories, questioning and the mind in an accessible narrative style. In addition to playing an array of instruments on Widening, Leonard produced the songs on the album and developed arrangements for family members and friends to add instrumentation.
The moniker Triangle Shirt Factory alludes to the historical Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York City that burned in 1911 and changed labor rights forever. Claiming the lives of more than one-hundred women, children and men laborers due to unsafe conditions, the tragedy was a catalyst which halted unfair treatments of workers and women. The music of Triangle Shirt Factory carries with it a call to action and Leonard’s message is clear: positive change is possible; we must act to prevent tragedy, not wait until it is too late.
Widening encourages listeners to open their minds to history and possibilities. Triangle Shirt Factory has been on the road non-stop, delivering energetic and thought-provoking performances with no signs of relenting. “I love to tour and share stories about my life with people at shows,” Leonard remarks, “and I love hearing their stories as well. Our stories are significant and inspiring. I live to be inspired and inspire others and that is why I play music.”
The Viking and I think that Trevor gave the best answers we've ever heard to our questions. Usually we ask the general "What are you doing right now...", "where's your band name come from?", "what is your creative process?", type questions; we've never gotten a bad answer, but the way that Trevor answered them really spoke a lot about his passion for music and for his career. He's an extremely intelligent, well-read and fascinating college graduate, with an ear for acoustic melodies and smart lyrics.
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
Rob Grad (podcast up soon)
"After being a member of 2 successful bands, this Venice California based singer- songwriter has finally decided to step out on his own. He is one of those rare, instantly recognizable artists who uses his unique style, sound and voice to create his own brand of rock.
A fan at a recent show referred to the sound as "...if Lucinda Williams and Peter Gabriel sat in with U2". Rob Grad was the bass player and a main songwriter in early 90’s RCA act Kik Tracee– a time he remembers fondly. “We got signed right out of high school without a demo because of our live show. Everyone has a first band. Ours just got further than some. I hadn’t even heard a Sonic Youth song yet.”
The first time he did hear a Sonic Youth song, however, it changed his life. “I remember sitting there thinking, ‘I didn’t know you could do this.’” Later, Lucinda Williams and Jeff Buckley provided similar revelations in his musical development. Soon after that first “Sonic Youth” moment, it became obvious to Rob that he could no longer continue on the same artistic path, so he picked up the guitar, started singing, and left Kik Tracee to start in a new direction.
In 1998 he formed a studio project called Superfine. Superfine recorded 2 cds, a 7” vinyl single, and appeared on the 1999 soundtrack to the television show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” which has sold over 200,000 copies to date. As he continued writing what he originally thought was going to be more Superfine material, Rob again found himself moving in a new direction. “The songs have always led the way for me, and I needed to come out from behind the wall of sound to do them justice.”
He is currently working on his first solo cd, and performing regionally on the west coast. These live solo performances have quickly been earning him a reputation as a “must see” artist. Recent Los Angeles venues include The Hotel Cafe and Genghis Cohen. Hisset lists tend to blend his original material with drastically reworked covers of an eclectic mix of songs that can include anything from Nirvana to Billie Holliday. Guest performers on the album include Martin Tillman (cellist, Elton John) and John Leftwich (bassist, Lyle Lovett, the Eels). Rough mixes of some of the songs have already placed on NBC, CBS, HBO and the WB.
The cd is tentatively titled "No Apologies" and will drop early 2008."
After having done this show for about 6-7 months, we've run in to a lot of bands that have showed a lot of promise, but lacked the time (years might be a better word) and experience to really know how to key-in on their strengths, strengthen their weaknesses, and completely understand what they're doing and where they want to go.
Rob Grad brought in a huge breath of fresh air in regards to all of those things and caught Viking and I by surprise! A very pleasant surprise! He's had that life experience that so many haven't had yet, and is able to play/record excellent quality music; as well as present himself in a way that very well depicts his passion for his music. All I have to say is...we want him back on the show AQAP (as quick as possible). He hopes to have his new album, "No Apologies" out in May, which includes a DVD and a new music video!
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