Pomplamoose

Pomplamoose
Background information
Origin Corte Madera, California, United States[1]
Genres
Years active 2008–present
Labels ShadowTree [2]
Associated acts Jack Conte, Nataly Dawn, Julia Nunes, KNOWER, Lauren O'Connell, Louis Cole, Danielle Ate the Sandwich, Wade Johnston, Ryan Lerman, My Terrible Friend, Ben Folds, Allee Willis, Zoë Keating, Matt Payne, Anton Patzner, Andy Wilke, Carlos Cabrera
Website Pomplamoose.com
Members Nataly Dawn
Jack Conte

Pomplamoose is an American musical duo which feature Californian multi-instrumentalists, real life couple Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn. The duo formed in the summer of 2008[3][4] and sold approximately 100,000 songs online in 2009.[5] They are known for their diverse music style which the band itself refuses to label.[6]

Etymology

The name of the band derives from the French word pamplemousse,[7] meaning grapefruit. Pomplamoose is an English-spelling approximation of the French pronunciation.

Recordings and performances

Pomplamoose's presence is primarily videos on YouTube and MySpace, with few live performances. They have gathered over 429,000 subscribers[8] on their YouTube channel as of 19 August 2014. The group first gained widespread recognition when their video performance of "Hail Mary" was featured on the front page of YouTube. The duo recently produced the latest studio album of Julia Nunes. As of 19 August 2014 the duo's YouTube channel had over 100[8] million views.

Their videos mostly take the form of "VideoSongs", a medium Jack Conte defines with two rules:

  1. What you see is what you hear. (No lip-syncing for instruments or voice)
  2. If you hear it, at some point you see it. (No hidden sounds)[9]

On April 11, 2010, the band was interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered.[10] Conte discussed the "glitz-free" manner in which they record:

"I guess I kinda don't like how there's such a pedestal for music culture and especially for band culture, it just feels fake; it feels like smoke and mirrors. I feel like music doesn't have to be like that. It can be something that's very normal and very accessible."[5]

Also in April 2010, their cover of The Chordettes' "Mr. Sandman" was used in a commercial for Toyota's Avalon series, set in an art-deco train station.[5][11]

In September 2010, Pomplamoose recorded a collaboration with Allee Willis entitled "Jungle Animal". Willis contacted the duo after hearing their cover of "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire and offered to write the new song for them. Willis also provided the single art for the song.[12]

During the Christmas season of 2010, Pomplamoose performed in several ads in the style of their YouTube videos for Hyundai singing their versions of the Christmas classics such as "O Come All Ye Faithful", "Jingle Bells", "Up on the Housetop" and "Deck the Halls".[13]

Pomplamoose performing in 2014

In 2011, Pomplamoose began a weekly, interactive, half-hour webcast called “Hey, It's Pomplamoose: A Show about Pomplamoose and Other Things” that airs every Tuesday. After the March 29th show, the webcast was put on hiatus until their East Coast tour was completed. The tour included Ryan Lerman, Carlos Cabrera, and Lauren O'Connell as backing band and opening act. For the Washington, DC show, Pomplamoose opened for OK Go, also known for their YouTube videos.

On November 5, 2013, Pomplamoose launched its second season — a three-part sequel to the band’s early years, including but not limited to: videos, a tour and an album (to be released July 29).[14] In 2014, Pomplamoose was listed on New Media Rockstars Top 100 Channels, ranked at #67.[15]

Charity

On November 8, 2013, Pomplamoose performed at "Lens", Mateo Messina's 16th annual benefit concert at Seattle's Benaroya Hall for Seattle Children's Hospital.[16]

In November, 2010, Pomplamoose created a book drive for a school district in Richmond, CA, offering a free download of an album to anyone who would purchase a book for the school district. The drive raised over 11,000 books.[17][18]

Discography

Albums

  1. "River Shiver"
  2. "Single Ladies"
  3. "Beat the Horse"
  4. "Centrifuge"
  5. "September"
  6. "Another Day"
  7. "Mister Sandman"
  8. "If You Think You Need Some Lovin'"
  9. "Achin' Heart"
  10. "Telephone"

Extended plays

  1. "If You Think You Need Some Lovin'"
  2. "Another Day"
  3. "I Don't Know"
  1. "Don't Stop Lovin Me"
  2. "I'll be there in a Minute"

Other Albums

  1. "My Favorite Things"
  2. "La Vie en Rose"
  3. "Nature Boy"
  4. "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"
  5. "September"
  6. "Mister Sandman" (featuring Ryan Lerman)
  7. "Beat It"
  8. "Makin' Out"
  9. "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"
  10. "Telephone"
  1. "Up on the House Top"
  2. "Jingle Bells"
  3. "Deck the Halls"
  4. "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"
  5. "Always in the Season"

Music videos

Solo work

Main articles: Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn

Both Conte and Dawn maintain solo careers, releasing videos through YouTube and songs through the iTunes Store.[19] Conte has recorded two EPs - Sleep in Color and Nightmares and Daydreams. He released them along with the compilations VideoSongs Volumes I-IV through the iTunes Store.[20] Conte's use of Electro-Harmonix audio equipment has been featured by the company in several different videos.[21][22][23] Conte's first notable appearance in mainstream media was when he supplied his voice for the "teenage boy" character in the popular videogame The Sims 2.[24] Conte first gained widespread attention when his video "Yeah Yeah Yeah" was featured on YouTube's main page.[25] The video, animated in stop motion, has garnered 898,010 views as of December 7, 2013. The majority of his new music is released as singles posted to YouTube in the form of "VideoSongs" (see recordings and performances).

In 2010, Nataly Dawn in collaboration with Lauren O'Connell formed the side project group My Terrible Friend.[26]

In May 2011, it was announced that Dawn would be joining Barry Manilow on his new album, entitled Fifteen Minutes, singing the song "Letter From a Fan".[27]

On July 17, 2011, Dawn announced that she would be releasing her first solo album.[28] She started a funding campaign on Kickstarter where the minimal goal of $20,000 was reached in just 3 days.[29] On September 6, 2011, the album funding campaign came to a close with 2,315 people donating a grand total of $104,788 exceeding the original goal of $20,000 by more than five times.[30][31] The album, How I Knew Her, was released on February 12, 2013, from Nonesuch Records, and features Conte, Ryan Lerman, David Piltch, Louis Cole and Matt Chamberlain.

References

  1. ↑ "Contact Us". Pomplamoose.com. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
  2. ↑ "Label". lastfm.com. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  3. ↑ "Pomplamoose: your new favourite band". The Brock Press. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  4. ↑ "Pomplamoose's MySpace Music page - About Pomplamoose". Pomplamoose. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Pomplamoose: Making A Living On YouTube". National Public Radio. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Pomplamoose history". youtube.
  7. ↑ "Last.fm - Pomplamoose". Last.fm.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "PomplamooseMusic Youtube About Page". Youtube.com. Youtube.com. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  9. ↑ "VideoSong 1 - Push". Jack Conte. March 9, 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
  10. ↑ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125783271
  11. ↑ "Toyota Avalon Train TV commercial". Toyota. YouTube. April 14, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  12. ↑ "Pomplamoose - Jungle". Jack Conte. Sep 21, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-24.
  13. ↑ Port, Ian S. (November 23, 2010). "Pomplamoose Turns Its Talents on for Hyundai Commercials". SF Weekly. Retrieved November 24, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Pomplamoose Patreon Page". Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
  15. ↑ "The NMR Top 100 YouTube Channels: 75-51!". New Media Rockstars. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  16. ↑ Mateo Messina's 16th Annual Benefit Concert: "LENS"
  17. ↑
  18. ↑
  19. ↑ "Interview: Jack Conte, Internet musician". CrunchGear. June 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
  20. ↑ "Jack Conte – Sleep in Color EP". DOA. October 13, 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  21. ↑ "Voice Box Demo by Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn". Electro-Harmonix. January 6, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  22. ↑ "Electro-Harmonix Tube Zipper Soups The Heck Out Of Jack Conte's Martin". Gearwire. June 24, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
  23. ↑ "Electro-Harmonix Bass MicroSynth Makes Some Amazing Low End For Jack Conte of Pomplamoose". Gearwire. June 24, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  24. ↑ "The Sims 2". GameFAQs. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
  25. ↑ "Jack Conte gets emotional in new album". The Maneater. October 13, 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  26. ↑ "My Terrible Friend". Artist Direct. 1 Jan 2010. Retrieved Jan 1, 2010.
  27. ↑ "Barry Manilow to Release "15 Minutes" on June 14th". Artist Direct. 4 May 2011. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  28. ↑ Dawn, Nataly. "My first solo album!". YouTube. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  29. ↑ Dawn, Nataly. "Me singing I'll Be Seeing You, by Billie Holiday". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
  30. ↑ Dawn, Natalie. "Nataly Dawn's first solo album". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
  31. ↑ Dawn, Natalie. "Nataly Dawn's first solo album, update timeline". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2012-03-07.

External links