BIOGRAPHY

KEITH BOGART
NICK HAINES
SEAN HANSEN
MIKE SUTTON
are LIVES OF THE OBSCURE

Lives of the Obscure began as an idea in late 2011 in a Poughkeepsie apartment, when Nick Haines recorded four or five brief song sketches on a single track, inspired in part by the lo-fi, high-impact pop aesthetic of Alien Lanes-era Guided by Voices. Little thought was involved. The idea was to develop songs out of spontaneous impulse; he’d go with whatever felt right. The songs, although born from that concept, developed a unique profile, influenced as much by Haines’s interest in the sparse experimentation of Joan of Arc and the buoyant neurotic paranoia of Talking Heads as by his youth in DIY hardcore and punk. The resulting songs touted elements of driving, distorted pop, but were a little strange; they traded sunny meditations for overcast ruminations, perhaps like an eschatologically-obsessed Nick Cave wannabe doing GBV. 

As a full band, Lives of the Obscure came together in 2012 after Haines sent Sean Hansen (from bands Joshua and later Park Ranger) some of these demos, and Sean invited Nick to visit the mastering studio he worked at (West West Side) one Saturday to track one of the songs. Sean played drums and bass, and Keith Bogart (also from Joshua/Park Ranger) stopped by and laid down a guitar track despite an injured wrist. These sessions continued and eventually led to the release of their first EP, “Deathfête.”  They became a five-piece and began playing shows locally, developing a small but devoted following. 

After a period of existential crisis in early 2014 that included a line-up change—they lost two members on friendly terms and recruited bassist Mike Sutton—and a near-abandonment of their first full-length Into the Stacks, Lives of the Obscure has put together an EP, Bikini Island, that builds on the songwriting chops of earlier releases while solidifying their status as ‘band’ proper.  As a result, their live show has become more visceral and intense, and they have begun to fully realize their potential by adding gain and groove to their penchant for melody and arpeggiation. The result is a complex and engaging collection of songs that showcases the heady and heavy qualities of their renewed sound. Invigorated by their new formation, the band hopes to tour and put out a full-length as a follow-up to Bikini Island, which will be released via Miami, FL's Limited Fanfare Records April 14th, 2015 on Limited Edition Cassette and Digital formats.



DISCOGRAPHY on LIMITED FANFARE



'Bikini Island'
Release Date: April 14, 2015
Catalog #: LFR-031
Format: Cassette/Digital

MUSIC





CONTACT & LINKS


WEB
livesoftheobscure.tumblr.com

FACEBOOK
facebook.com/LivesoftheObscure

BANDCAMP
livesoftheobscure.bandcamp.com

SOUNDCLOUD
soundcloud.com/livesoftheobscure

TWITTER
@lotolives

OTHER LABELS
Glacial Records



ASSOCIATED BANDS

Joshua
The Ataris
Park Ranger
Robots & Empire
When Dreams Die

PREVIOUS RELEASES

Into The Stacks (LP) - Glacial Records / Sloppy Disk Records (Aug. 2014)
Deathfête EP - Glacial Records (Nov. 2012)