| Supreme Beings of Leisure | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Genres | Electronica, Trip-hop, Lounge |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Independent |
| Website | Supreme Beings of Leisure |
| Members | |
| Geri Soriano-Lightwood Ramin Sakurai |
|
| Past members | |
| Kiran Shahani Rick Torres |
|
Supreme Beings of Leisure are an electronic/trip-hop band from Los Angeles, California. Current members of SBL are Singer/Songwriter Geri Soriano-Lightwood and Multi-Instrumentalist/Programmer Ramin Sakurai. SBL was formed from the remains of the band Oversoul 7 in 1998 when they signed to Palm Pictures.
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In 1996, Oversoul 7 came together as members Geri Soriano-Lightwood, Ramin Sakurai, (Bassist) Kiran Shahani, and (Guitarist) Rick Torres released "Nothing Like Tomorrow" and "What's the Deal" on two compilations on the Moonshine Music dance label. After the Moonshine releases, Oversoul 7 signed a demo deal with A&M records recording demos of "Truth From Fiction", "Never the Same", and "Last Girl on Earth", all songs which ended up on the band's self-titled debut album, which was released on Palm Pictures label. The release of the first Supreme Beings of Leisure album sold over 250,000 units with little promotional touring. Instead, SBL opted to use the internet to market and promote the album, being the first band to do a "Virtual Internet Tour", and among the very first to use Flash animation for their videos. "Supreme Beings of Leisure" peaked at #47 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart according to allmusic.com, and is in the top 100 of the Trip-Hop Dance & DJ music category according to Amazon.com sales ranking.
Ramin Sakurai of SBL composed the theme music for the PBS documentary series FRONTLINE/World News.
After the release of the debut album, the band decided to split leaving Geri and Ramin as the main members of SBL, quickly releasing the second SBL album "Divine Operating System" in 2002. "Divine Operating System" peaked at #29 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, #9 on the Top Electronic Albums chart, and #23 on the Top Independent Albums chart (all according to allmusic.com).
In 2003, SBL decided to leave the Palm Pictures taking a 2-year hiatus releasing various remixes and appearing on various artists albums during this period.
Supreme Beings of Leisure's third major album, 11i, was released on February 12, 2008 from Rykodisc Records. Creating a richer, fuller sound than on their 2000 self-titled debut or their 2002 follow-up, Divine Operating System, Geri and Ramin augmented their dynamic duo by welcoming their touring band into the studio and collaborating on a few tracks: Sheldon Strickland (bass), Geoff Brandin (guitar), and Jason Graham (drums). SBL also broadened their sound with top-flight guest musicians such as string arranger Scott Tibbs (Beyonce, Mary J Blige), turntablist DJ Swamp (Beck, Crystal Method, Morcheeba), violin virtuoso Lili Hayden and Megadeath axe-man Marty Friedman. The result is a cohesive yet eclectic blend of wild percussive adventures, spicy ethnic flavors, alluring melodies, introspective lyrics and hooky downtempo dance grooves. It’s the kind of crafty sonic salad that fans have come to expect from a crew whose licensing credits include cool placements in ads (Johnny Walker Black Label, Breil Watch, JC Penney), television (C.S.I. Miami, Alias, Dawson’s Creek), movies (Must Love Dogs, The Sweetest Thing, Hamlet, The Animatrix) and games (Tiger Woods PGA Tour for EA Sports).
SBL has earned favorable notices in Rolling Stone, the New York Times, Details, Interview, Elle, Wired, Billboard, Keyboard and Seventeen among others on their way to selling more than 300,000 records.
In 2004, former members Rick Torres and Kiran Shahani released the album LAZY incorporated with vocalist Jailyn Matthews under the name LAZY on the label ERECORDS.
In 2006, former member Kiran Shahani released his own album as a duo with Shana Halligan under the name Bitter:sweet.
In 2008, former member Rick Torres started the band The Smart Set and released the album "Mixing With The Smart Set" on ERECORDS in October 2009.
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Dance | US Heat. | US Ind. | |||
| 2000 | Supreme Beings of Leisure
|
— | — | — | |
| 2002 | Divine Operating System
|
9 | — | 23 | |
| 2008 | 11i
|
9 | 32 | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||
| Year | Title | US Dance | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | "Strangelove Addiction" | 40 | Supreme Beings of Leisure |
| 2002 | "Divine" | 9 | Divine Operating System |
| 2003 | "Ghetto" | 5 |