Lemuria (band)

Lemuria is an American indie/punk rock band from Buffalo, New York, who were formed in 2004. Lemuria has recently released their "The First Collection" EP compilation and the LP, "Get Better".^[1] On October 27, 2009, the band released their new single "Ozzy", and have been continuously touring across both Canada and the United States.^[2]

A press release on April 19, 2010 by Boston based record label, Bridge 9 Records, stated they had signed Lemuria.^[3]

History

Lemuria was first established in the summer of 2004 by drummer/vocalist Alex Kerns, guitarist/vocalist Sheena Ozzella, and bassist Adam Vernick.^[4] The trio began writing songs and released a five song demo, recorded at Watchmen Recording Studios, which started a long term relationship with engineer Doug White.^[5] After a handful of shows, and the release of the (now rare) Lemuria demo, the group parted ways with Vernick, and in March 2005, Jason Draper stepped in to join on bass.^[4]

The line-up of Lemuria featuring Alex, Sheena, and Jason went on to record many singles, splits, and 7" records.^[4] The majority of the early releases, including the demo, s/t 7", Lemuria/Frame split, AOTU Single Series, and "You're Living Rooms All Over Me", were all released (or co-released) by Art Of The Underground,^[6] an indie record label owned and operated by Alex Kerns.^[7]

In 2007, after years of touring,^[8][9] the band remarked that never recording a full length album had given them time "to grow and to "find our sound.""^[4] The band once again returned to Watchmen Recording Studios and began working on their first record, later titled Get Better and released on Asian Man Records.^[4][10] Lyrically, with the exception of the songs written by Sheena and Jason, the album took a much darker tone than previous works, as many of Alex Kern's lyrics were written dealing with the recent death of his father. Musically, however, the songs were bright and 'uplifting' as a result of the band and Alex's attitude. All these things led to and helped in titling the record Get Better.^[5]

The band began to tour on headlining bills as well as on tour packages. In the fall of 2007, Lemuria went on their first European tour, followed by the release of 'Get Better' in 2008 and continued extensive touring throughout the US (Perhaps most notably featured on the Asian Man Records tour in 2008 alongside The Queers, Bomb The Music Industry, and Andrew Jackson Jihad.) as well as Puerto Rico, the UK, and Canada.^[8] Lemuria also became a regular at the Gainesville, FL based festival, The Fest, playing for the first time in 2006 and continuing to play every year since.^[8] When asked about their touring schedule, members of the band often express an affinity for the lifestyle;

In the fall of 2009, Alex and Sheena parted ways with Jason, who went on to concentrate on his other project, Failures' Union. Kyle Paton stepped in and the band continued to tour, though song writing became the responsibility more so of the duo of Kerns/Ozzella.^[11][12] The band continued to write and be active, and in April 2010 announced that they had signed to Bridge 9 Records.^[13] Signing to the Bridge 9 label, traditionally releasing albums for hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front and Slapshot, brought up many questions for both Lemuria as well as Bridge 9 as to the future of the two entities.^[13] Across the board, the response seemed to be that the band was going to continue developing in their own way, and the record label was broadening their horizons.^[12] In July, 2010, Lemuria made another big change and went in to record their debut full length for the label with J. Robbins in Baltimore, MD at Magpie Cage.^[14]

During the mixing process of this recording session, Kyle Paton ran into legal issues at the Canadian border (being a Canadian citizen), and as a result had to part ways with the band.^[15] In order to perform a show scheduled for later that week, Lemuria added the new Bass player Max Gregor, who flew up from Texas and began rehearsing in the studio.^[12] The lineup of Kerns/Ozzella/Gregor has continued to tour and perform one off shows since that time.

It was recently announced, along with the release of the digital single, 'Chautauqua County', that the Album recorded during this session would be titled 'Pebble', and has a release date of 1/11/11.^[16] Lemuria is also set to play a month of headlining shows to correspond with the release, and has live performance plans scheduled through early 2011.^[8]

On December 5, 2012, the band went into J. Robbins studio, and began recording its third full-length studio album, The Distance Is So Big.

Discography

Albums

• The Distance Is So Big (Bridge 9 Records, 2013)
• Pebble (Bridge 9 Records, 2011)
• Get Better (Asian Man Records, 2008)

EPs

• Self Titled 7"/CD (2005)

Compilation albums

• The First Collection (Yo-Yo Records, Asian Man Records, 2007)

7" singles and split releases

• "Brilliant Dancer" (2013, Bridge 9 Records)
• "Varoom Allure" b/w "Cannonballs to Hurt" 7" (2012, Bridge 9 Records)
• "Cheap Girls" - Split 7" (2011, No Idea Records)
• "Chautauqua County" b/w "They Are Who I Say They Are" - 7" (2010, Bridge 9 Records)
• "Ozzy" b/w "Expert Herder" - 7" (2009, Hex Records)
• "Under The Influence Volume 7" - Split 7" with Off With Their Heads (2009, Suburban Home Records)
• "The Ergs" - Split 7" (2007, Art of the Underground, Yo-Yo Records)
• "Art of the Underground - Single Series Volume 10" 7" (2007, Art of the Underground)
• "Your Livingroom's All Over Me" - Split CD/LP with Kind of Like Spitting (2006, Art of the Underground)
• "Frame" - Split 7" (2005, Art of the Underground)

Music videos

• Wise People (2012)
• Pleaser (2012)

Compilation appearances

• Invisible Children Benefit - Robbed the Bank, 2012 (song: "Wise People")
• IndoorShoes - Adopted Friends Vol. 1, 2010 (Song: Hours)
• Insubordination Fest 2009 CD/DVD - Insubordination, 2009 (song: "Hours" - live recording)
• Insubordination Fest 2008 CD/DVD - Insubordination, 2008 (song: "Mechanical" - live recording)
• NY vs. NJ - Crafty Records, 2007 (songs: "Beespit", "Origamists Too")
• Art of the Underground Sampler CD - Art of the Underground, 2005 (song: "Getting Over Ourselves" - from 2004 demo)

Demos

• 2004 Demo CD (2004, self-released)

References

External links

• Official website
• Lemuria in Buffalo Rising
• Jersey Beat interview
• Punknews.org "Get Better" review
• Interview with The Music Fix
• Lemuria in Rochester City Newspaper
• Sound As Language interview