The Velvet Teen

The Velvet Teen
Left to right: Casey Deitz, Matthew Izen, Judah Nagler
Background information
Origin	Santa Rosa, California, United States
Genres	Alternative rock Indie rock Baroque Pop noise rock
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Slowdance Records, Side With Us Records
Associated acts	Atair, The New Trust, The Americas, Odd Bird, Polar Bears, 20 Minute Loop
Website	www.thevelvetteen.com
Members
Judah Nagler Casey Deitz Josh Staples Matthew Izen
Past members
Logan Whitehurst (deceased)

The Velvet Teen is an indie rock band from Northern California.

History

The Velvet Teen was founded by Judah Nagler and Logan Whitehurst as a side project from their other bands, Tin Circus and Little Tin Frog. Judah and Logan recorded the EP Comasynthesis, which had a prominent electronic sound, in 2000. It featured Judah doing most instrumentation and singing alone, although Logan provided live drums for some tracks and sang the song "Penning the Penultimate" himself. In 2001, they were joined by bassist/vocalist Joshua Staples and recorded another EP, The Great Beast February, which had more of an alternative sound.

That year, they caught the eye of Slowdance Records owner, Ezra Caraeff, and were signed to the label. In 2002 they tapped Death Cab for Cutie's guitarist Chris Walla to be the producer for their first full-length album Out of the Fierce Parade. Logan Whitehurst, who was also an accomplished artist, created the etchings used as the album's artwork. Two music 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 his brother Ephriam, and mixed at Kingsize Soundlabs in Los Angeles by Dave Trumfio and Mike Krassner. In stark contrast to their earlier work, the album does not feature 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 was diagnosed with brain cancer and left the band to focus on treatment. Casey Deitz of 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. Cum Laude! had an odd, progressive sound that was faster and livelier than any of their previous work. 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, after his cancer had been declared in remission, Logan Whitehurst died at his home in Los Banos, California.

On February 28, 2007, Judah posted a message on The Velvet Teen's official website confirming that the band would continue. They started touring again in the fall. Nagler took over the bass/vocal duties, and Matthew Izen of the Polar Bears and formerly of The New Trust played guitar.

In February 2009, Josh Staples rejoined The Velvet Teen. On April 25, 2009, The Velvet Teen played their first show as a four piece at the Silicon Valley Brownout at Nickel City Arcade in San Jose, CA.

The Velvet Teen's first recording as four piece, a four song EP titled "No Star", was released digitally November 11, 2010. The physical release of "No Star" will be released January 7, 2011 at the bands CD/Vinyl release show at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. The music video for the song "No Star" was released February 19, 2011. The 12" of No Star was released by Side With Us Records and as of early 2011 The Velvet Teen appears on their "Bands" page. A full length record is now in the work for release in 2012.

Discography

LPs

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

Singles & EPs

• Comasynthesis EP (March 2000)

1. "Your Cell"
2. "Super Me"
3. "Never Happy"
4. "Milo 7"
5. "Penning the Penultimate"
6. "Reverie to Chanticleer"

• The Great Beast February EP (February 2001)

1. "Naked Girl"
2. "Counting Backwards"
3. "Mother of Love"

• Immortality EP (November 2001)

1. "Stay with Me"
2. "Weddings and Wakes"
3. "Heaven"
4. "No One Will Ever Love You" (The Magnetic Fields cover)

• The Velvet Teen & Sin in Space split single (September 2004)

1. "Code Red" – The Velvet Teen
2. "Go!" – The Velvet Teen (Tones on Tail cover)
3. "Extraterrestrial" – Sin In Space
4. "Do You Love Me Now?" – Sin in Space (The Breeders cover)

• GyzmKid EP (May 9, 2006)

1. "GyzmKid"
2. "Spin the Wink" (Little Cat Remix)
3. "False Profits" (Cute Version)

• No Star (November 11, 2010)

1. "No Star"
2. "Forfor"
3. "Fixing a Faucet"
4. "Pavlovian Bell"

Imports & re-releases

• Plus, Minus, Equals (The Great Beast February and Comasynthesis) (July 16, 2002)
  • Combines The Great Beast February EP and Comasynthesis EP onto one CD
• Out of the Fierce Parade (Japanese version) (June 4, 2003)
  • Includes the bonus tracks "Naked Girl," "Counting Backwards," "Mother of Love," "Your Cell," and "Code Red"
• Elysium (Japanese version) (May 22, 2004)
  • Includes a bonus DVD featuring music videos for "Radiapathy" and "The Prize Fighter," as well as a making-of "The Prize Fighter" video documentary
• Secrets Safe, A Buried Box (Japanese only compilation CD) (October 29, 2004)
  • Collects the Immortality EP and unreleased tracks
• Elysium (limited double 10" vinyl) (June 16, 2005)
  • Limited edition pressing includes the bonus track "No One Gets the Best of Me"
• Cum Laude! (Japanese version) (June 28, 2006)
  • Includes the bonus tracks "No One Gets the Best of Me," "Spin the Wink" (Little Cat Remix), and "False Profits" (Cute Version)

External links

• The Velvet Teen's official website
• The Velvet Teen's official MySpace page
• Slowdance Records
• Soundcrank Podcast Hosted by The Velvet Teen
• Metroactive article on the recording of Elysium