The Velvet Teen

The Velvet Teen is an Indie band from Northern California. The Velvet Teen was founded by Judah Nagler and Logan Whitehurst as a side project from their other bands. Soon after conception, they were joined by bassist/vocalist Joshua Staples and recorded an EP, The Great Beast February in 2001. That year, they were signed by Slowdance Records and collaborated with Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla on their first full-length album Out of the Fierce Parade. Logan Whitehurst, who is also an accomplished artist, created the etchings used as the album's artwork. Two videos from the album ("Radiapathy" and "The Prize Fighter") were featured on Subterranean, an MTV2 program. Their second full-length album, Elysium, was recorded on a laptop by Judah and Ephriam Nagler, and mixed at Kingsize Studios in Los Angeles by Dave Trumfio and Mark Hagler. In stark contrast to their earlier work, the album does not use any guitars at all. The album's core instrumentation is piano and string arrangements. The string and horn ensembles were arranged by Adam Theis. Several weeks before Elysium's U.S. release in the summer of 2004, Logan Whitehurst left the band for health reasons and his wish to follow his solo career, Logan Whitehurst & the Junior Science Club. Casey Deitz (The Americas, from Chico, California) was welcomed as the new drummer/vocalist. In 2006, the band recorded and released their third album Cum Laude!, with Judah as producer and his brother Ephriam Nagler as recording engineer. They supported the album on Minus the Bear's 2006 tour. In November 2006, Josh Staples left The Velvet Teen in order to fully focus on his other band, The New Trust. Then, on December 3, 2006, Logan Whitehurst died of brain cancer at his home in Los Banos, CA. On February 28, 2007, Judah posted a message on The Velvet Teen's official website confirming that the band would continue. Recently they have started touring again. Nagler has taken over the bass/vocal duties and Matthew Izen of the Polar Bears and formerly of The New Trust is playing guitar.

Discography

EP's

• Comasynthesis EP (March 2000)
• The Great Beast February EP (February 2001)
• Immortality EP (November 2001)
• GyzmKid EP (May 9, 2006)

LPs

• Out of the Fierce Parade March 19, 2002
• Elysium July 20, 2004
• Cum Laude! July 25, 2006

Imports, Re-releases

• Plus, Minus, Equals (The Great Beast February And Comasynthesis) (July 16, 2002)
• Out of the Fierce Parade (Japanese Version) (June 4, 2003)
• Elysium (Japanese Version) (May 22, 2004)
• Secrets Safe, A Buried Box (Japanese Only Compilation CD) (October 29, 2004)
• Elysium (Double 10" Vinyl) (June 16, 2005)
• Cum Laude! (Japanese Version) (June 28, 2006)

External links

• Official Website
• Slowdance Records
• Soundcrank Podcast Hosted by The Velvet Teen
• The Velvet Teen on MySpace

Source: http://www.slowdance.com