Leopold and his Fiction

The balanced reincarnate of a sultry era of western darkness under big city lights and country back roads lead to the morning shore of a transpiring musical horizon. Leopold and his Fiction houses honest and transcendent San Francisco rock ?n' roll. The gritty Detroit vintage rock bleeds out from front man Daniel James' roots, simmering underneath distant genres and unwavering imagination in an attempt to reinvent what each member feels has dissipated from the greater measure of music.

Consistent with James' chameleon persona and his soul inciting vocals, the new album includes a lineup of Jon Sortland on drums/Farfisa and Micayla Grace on bass guitar. Enlisting the expertise of Thom Monahan (Devendra Banhart, Little Joy, Vetiver) to co-produce along with the vintage setting of John Baccigaluppi's The Hanger, this recording ventures out appropriately from the blues structure of the first two records, while engaging start to finish the theatrics and entertainment of voyage fans have become accustomed to hearing. Monahan pushed the previous recording methods to new heights providing a platform for ideas to flourish and the additional band mates brought their individual characteristics to the table by adding to the songs arrangements during the recording process.

James felt The Hanger added to the final product not only with their long list of vintage gear, but with the ambiance as well. James explains, ?walking into almost any given night after recording at The Hanger, familiar noises of trains passing and the complete blackness of the warehouse consoled us into three to four hour spontaneous sessions, while shaking up awake anyone in listening distance. This contributed to the fleshing out of the feast of sounds and the birth of new ideas, making them strong enough to lure in the sun through the pane glass skeletons scattered and tempered by humid Augusts breath.?

With visually stimulating live shows that often finds listeners in a dark, smoke filled bar where the beer is cheap and the music makes you take notice, Leopold and his Fiction understand that some things are meant for the studio and some are meant to excite you at the live show. The song writing is not limited to one or the other, this album expresses both allowing the band to magnify the brilliance of the recording while giving fans what they've come to expect for them live: music and style influenced by the early 70's and performed with energy that gets the crowd on their feet and dancing.

Leopold and his Fiction climbed to #30 on the CMJ charts for the second album, Ain't No Surprise and made it into the top 20 with their self-titled debut, while earning praise from NPR, Relix and Big Takeover, among others. Offering a morbid cohesion of California and a gentle open plains reminiscence stimulating a reason and energy for people to listen closely, this new vision in music and thought offers an alternate take to the repetition of a-sides with their own traditional sounds and elaborations.