Putnam Hall

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Putnam Hall is an American indie rock band formed in Orange County by Lillard (Anthony) (vocals/guitar) with Kris Wismer (drums) and Al Walters (bass) in 2002. Putnam Hall grew a following in Orange County, starting in the fall of 2002, and quickly rose, dubbed by OCNYE as the hidden jewel of the local stage. They will be appearing on the Vans' 2006 Warped Tour. Putnam Hall’s guerilla Do-It-Yourself promotional tactics and flat-out hard work that has brought their music from shows all across Orange and LA Counties to garnering television airplay on MTV and radio airplay on 106.7 KROQ and Indie 103.1.

1 Early years
2 2005
3 2006
4 Discography
5 External links

[edit] Early years

Putnam Hall is an intellectual indie rock band. Naming his band after his freshman residence hall at UC Berkeley, Lillard was born and raised in a nice suburban home in southern California, then went on to graduate from UC Berkeley with double degrees in economics and rhetoric, and finally, realized the “Yuppie American Dream” by working a high paying job in the finance field.

Always uncomfortable with the socially-accepted high-paying lifestyle and predictable career path, Lillard quit his job and started this post-punk, indie rock outfit -- Putnam Hall.

Lillard first met Kris in 2002 when the drummer heard the four-song demo that Lillard had recorded. The two became fast friends and found writing music together came easily, receiving inspiration from James Brown, the Skatalites, Rancid and No Doubt.

Upon the departure of their original bassist, and just prior to the recording of their first EP, “brandnudemusic”, Lillard and Wismer met Al Walters, then a bassist for another band that had formerly included Wismer. Lillard was impressed with from Al’s melodies and signed him to the band.

[edit] 2005

In July ’05, armed with an invigorated sense of punk rock attitude (think Rancid) and thoughtful, multifaceted songwriting (think No Doubt), Putnam Hall went back to the studio and recorded “Love and Industry”. The album is a dynamic blend of throaty vocals, raw guitars and pulsating rhythms that hearken the frustration of being locked in a suburban lifestyle that just doesn’t fit.

In December, MTV launched a new channel and asked Putnam Hall to appear. Entertaining for MTV's launch After Party at The Cutting Room, Putnam Hall was also asked to host a show called "Maximum Chi". The special was filmed at Sin-e and featured Putnam Hall's newest video, "Supernothing", which became ranked MTV Chi's top 10 requested videos on the channel.

The video has since been played on MTV U, the college only broadcasted MTV affiliate channel.