Swervedriver

Heaven are a shiny new collaboration from New Yorkers Matt Sumrow (The Comas, Dean and Britta, Ambulance LTD), Mikey Jones (The Big Sleep, Snowden, Swervedriver), and Ryan Lee Dunlap (Fan-Tan). A romantic clash between your Dad's long lost favorite psych record and the soundtrack to a John Hughes film, Heaven ride a big sonic wave to deliver their dear and dreamy songs.

“The hardest working bands are the ones who write songs with meaning and play those tunes by kicking people’s faces in,” Joe Cardamone remarked to Sammy Fayed as they sat down to embark on a long flight from Los Angeles to Bangkok. This was the doctrine lived and breathed by singer/songwriter and LA native Curt Barlage who met Sammy a year before when he responded to a local ‘drummer wanted’ ad for Curt’s new project “The Bixby Knolls.” “There was an interesting energy in the bar before I even met Sam,” Curt recalls, “…it felt like we knew what each other were about before we even started speaking to one another.” There was a strong sense of understanding in the air between the singer and the drummer. Perhaps it was the frustration with the existing musical climate in LA or perhaps it was which records either of them were playing back in their minds that evening. They both felt that either one ‘got it’ and none of them had to do the routine and awkward 10-question inquisition game to check one another for being a ‘faker’. The forming of a band, the musician’s philosophy, the struggle against the 9 to 5 work schedule, creative pursuit, songwriting, great records, good watering holes with proper tunes, women, relationships, touring, the economy, and the dislike of the fleeting flash in the pan shit that perpetuated the streets of their local East LA circuit all ensued as topics of conversation over the wall of Silverlake noise groups on the bill that evening. In the span of a 5-minute chat the two had formed a unique bond over these shared ideals and ‘The Bixby Knolls” were born.

After some odd months and changing faces in the line up, Curt and long time friend (8 years to be exact) Cesar Saez De Nanclares of Mexico City, found themselves in a late night tequila and cerveza sinking session discussing their frustrations with the music business. Having shared the stage with early incarnations of the bixby knolls in his own outfit (the wallburds), Cesar decided to take his chances on a musical voyage while sitting in a Mexican holding cell at the border (for reasons not stated). Cesar made a phone call in the morning to Curt ready to join the brethren of The Bixby Knolls. Shortly thereafter Curt found himself on the prowl for a final member at a premier venue in Silverlake, fascinated by the energetic and floor stomping live performance of 20 year old Christian Morales on bass. The two chatted over some pints and immediately established a brotherhood. After 6 months of unsuccessful musical prospects, in the midst of turmoil, pressures with school, and frequent battles with heartbreak, Christian declared his engagement to the knolls. Hence, the final perfected line up was born.

A few weeks later Sammy found himself on a 13-hour commercial flight to Bangkok where he sat next to Joe Cardamone, the self established madman and leader behind the punk outfit ‘The Icarus Line’. Cardamone and Sammy chatted about the lack of energy in the music scene in LA and over what seemed like 8 courses of food and no sleep. As the flight began it's descent the two agreed to 'be in touch' while sharing some humorous remarks questioning how each of them had ended up en route to a third world country on the brink of civil war.