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Real Estate
Left to Right: Alex Bleeker, Matt Mondanile, Martin Courtney, IV in 2011
Left to Right: Alex Bleeker, Matt Mondanile, Martin Courtney, IV in 2011
Background information
OriginRidgewood, New Jersey, United States
GenresIndie rock, dream pop, jangle pop, neo-psychedelia, surf rock
Years active2009–present
LabelsMexican Summer, Woodsist, Underwater Peoples, Half Machine, Domino Recording Company
MembersAlex Bleeker
Matt Mondanile,
Martin Courtney, IV
Jackson Pollis
Matt Kallman
Past membersEtienne Pierre Duguay
Jonah Maurer
WebsiteOfficial website

Real Estate is an American rock band from Ridgewood, New Jersey, formed in 2009. The band is currently based in Brooklyn, New York,[1][2] and consists of Martin Courtney IV (vocals, guitar), Alex Bleeker (bass, vocals), Matt Mondanile (guitar), Jackson Pollis (drums) and Matt Kallman (keyboards).

Biography

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In 2008, singer and guitarist Martin Courtney, guitarist Matt Mondanile (Ducktails), bassist Alex Bleeker (of Alex Bleeker and the Freeks), and drummer Etienne Pierre Duguay formed Real Estate in Ridgewood, New Jersey.[3] In 2011 Jackson Pollis replaced Duguay on drums and Jonah Maurer joined the band on keys and guitar.

After issuing singles on the Underwater Peoples and Woodsist labels, the band's 2009 self-titled debut received critical acclaim, including an 8.5 rating and Best New Music tag from Pitchfork Media.[4] Review aggregator Metacritic gave the album a normalised rating of 79%, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[5] Tours followed, supporting acts such as Girls, Kurt Vile, Woods, and Deerhunter. In 2010, Real Estate performed at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago and the Primavera Sound Festival[6] in Barcelona.

In 2011, Real Estate signed with the Domino Recording Company. The group issued their second record, Days, on October 18, 2011. The album received positive reviews, including a rating of 77/100 on Metacritic[7] and 8.7 on Pitchfork.[8] Later that year, The Fader featured Real Estate on the cover of Issue #76.[9] 2012 saw the band perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California and the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago.

A single "Talking Backwards", was released in early 2014, followed by the band's third album, Atlas.[10][1][11][12] During the album's recording, keyboardist Jonah Maurer was replaced by Matt Kallman.[13]

Influences

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The band is influenced by The Feelies, as Real Estate said to Still in Rock.[14] "Our songs are pretty poppy and melodic, like The Beach Boys and we're a little more slowed down. I think we took the surfy-type rock vibe and we tried to slow it down a little bit as part of our sound".[15] Specifically, the band takes a large influence from The Beach Boys' album Surf's Up. The band grew up around such groups as Titus Andronicus and the Vivian Girls during high school; the three founding members looked up to these bands who were gaining popularity at this time.[16]

During college, Martin Courtney first learned how to play guitar through learning Elliott Smith songs. He admired how the sound of many of his songs could sound happy, but maintain sadness in their lyrics. Martin also studied song structure from Elliott, stating that Smith is "kind of a genius".[17]

The cover art of Atlas drew heavy inspiration from the book Design as Art by Bruno Munrai through the use of a tiled pattern against a white background.[18]

Songwriting

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In college, Martin began working on writing songs, one of the first songs being written for Real Estate was "Green River". Kinder Blumen was written by Matt Mondanile and Martin Courtney. Kinder Blumen, was the working title for the song which was conceptualized by Mondanile; it was supposed to be the German way of saying "flower children", which is actually "blumen kinder".[19]

"I liked the idea of just making music and not thinking about specific parameters set out to make this record different from the last... Having written the last album, you've learned so much more about songwriting."[20] said Courtney to . On the Real Estate's 2009 release, songs like "Suburban Dogs" were recorded quickly to Mondanile's 8-track tape and were written in the process of recording. "That song is one of my favorite recordings we've made." For the recording of Atlas however, the band wanted to make sure that they rehearsed before heading into the studio. "Atlas is much more of a transitional record... we're all much older now than we were, I'm living in a different place, we're still doing this seriously, where as it's a little bit more clear as of what we were doing on Days" says Mondanile.[20]

In 2013, Alex Bleaker told The Ripe TV about having done the band's second album (Days) in a home studio which allowed them to keep a lot of the low fidelity quality from their 2009 LP, but paved the way for more professional grade recordings.[21] Later on in 2014, they followed the trend of recording methods by tracking and mixing/mastering the album at The Loft in Chicago, which is a professional recording studio. This recording studio is best know as being owned and used by largely famous music group Wilco.[20]

The band incorporates ideas of growing up in the suburbs, reflecting on high school experiences. The first record talked a lot about being an adult, but not feeling the maturity level or independence needed to fully leave home or the suburbs.[16] On Atlas however, the band decided to leave behind a lot of it's previous use of nostalgic emotion in the lyrics and instead focused on a more current state of being. Having been just married, Courtney says," Yeah, that plays into it. And once that happened, I found myself thinking more about where my life was going and where it was at, thinking about plans and kids. That definitely comes into the lyrics." During the time of recording the song "Navigator", Courtney told Stereo Gum of the emotion he felt when recording the 2015 LP in Chicago and how it reflected into his lyricism and stance on his current situation.[17]

When talking about how the musical process will work for the band after the release of Atlas, Courtney is quoted saying,"It’s basically, I’ll write the songs, we can all write and get together for a couple weeks and rehearse them as a band and come up with arrangements. We make it work."[17]

Discography

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Studio albums

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EPs

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Singles

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  • "Fake Blues" b/w "Pool Swimmers" (7″ Woodsist, 2009)
  • "Fake Blues" b/w "Green River" (7″ Half Machine, 2009) UK issue[28]
  • "Suburban Beverage" b/w "Black Lake" & "Old Folks" (7″ Underwater Peoples, 2009)
  • "Out of Tune" b/w "Reservoir" (7" True Panther Sounds, 2010)
  • "It's Real" b/w "Blue Lebaron" (7" Domino, 2011) UK issue[29]
  • "Easy" b/w "Exactly Nothing" (7" Domino, 2012) UK issue[30]
  • "Talking Backwards" b/w "Beneath the Dunes" (7" Domino, 2014)[31]
  • "The Chancellor" b/w "Recreation" (7" Domino, 2014)[32]
  • "Had to Hear" b/w "Paper Dolls" (7" Domino, 2014)[33]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Brooklyn based Music Blog: Album Review : Real Estate - Atlas (Breeze Pop)". Still in Rock. 2004-02-26. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  2. ^ Angel Ceballos. "Ridgewood rocks: A slew of hot indie bands have roots in Bergen town". NJ.com. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  3. ^ "Band To Watch: Real Estate". Stereogum. 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  4. ^ a b "Real Estate: Real Estate | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. 2009-11-17. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  5. ^ "Metacritic - Real Estate reviews". Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  6. ^ "Ola's Kool Kitchen on Radio 23 Real Estate Live Primavera 2010 : DJ Ola : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive". Archive.org. 2001-03-10. Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  7. ^ "Metacritic review of 'Days'". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  8. ^ "Pitchfork review of 'Days'". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  9. ^ "76". The Fader. 2011-10-10. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  10. ^ a b "Real Estate". Talkingbackwards.realestatetheband.com. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  11. ^ "Real Estate - Talking Backwards (Official Video)". YouTube. 2014-01-12. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  12. ^ "iTunes - Music - Atlas by Real Estate". Itunes.apple.com. 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  13. ^ "Real Estate announce new album 'Atlas,' listen to 'Talking Backwards'". Dominorecordco.us. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  14. ^ http://www.stillinrock.com/2014/04/interview-still-in-rock-real-estate.html
  15. ^ Marshall Katzman. “Real Estate Talks Tour, LP" Music Video” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 15 Sept. 2013. Web. 29 Feb. 2015.
  16. ^ a b ABC News. “Real Estate Band Interview: New Album 'Days' and Dog Anarchy in "It's Real" Music Video” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 1 Feb. 2012. Web. 29 Feb. 2015.
  17. ^ a b c DeVille, Chris (March 4, 2014). "Q&A: Martin Courtney On Marital Contentment, Guitar Tabs, And Real Estate's Signature Sound". Stereo Gum. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  18. ^ SPIN. “In My Room: Real Estate” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 11 Feb. 2014. Web. 29 Sept. 2015.
  19. ^ KVRXAustin. “Interview with Real Estate (Live at The Mohawk 4/11/12)” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 23 April 2012. Web. 29 Feb. 2015.
  20. ^ a b c realestateband. “Real Estate - The Making of Atlas” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 3 March. 2014. Web. 29 Feb. 2015.
  21. ^ The Ripe. “The Ripe TV: St. Jerome's Laneway Festival 2013 - Real Estate” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 23 Feb. 2013. Web. 29 Sept. 2015
  22. ^ [1][dead link]
  23. ^ "Real Estate: "Black Lake" | Tracks". Pitchfork. 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  24. ^ "Domino | Albums | Days". Dominorecordco.com. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  25. ^ "Real Estate - From The Studio Take 2". YouTube. 2013-11-20. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  26. ^ "Real Estate - From The Studio Take 1". YouTube. 2013-09-10. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  27. ^ "Real Estate Prep New EP | News". Pitchfork. 2009-11-13. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  28. ^ "Real Estate: "Green River" | Tracks". Pitchfork. 2009-06-25. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  29. ^ "Domino | Singles | It's Real". Dominorecordco.com. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  30. ^ "Real Estate - Exactly Nothing :: Indie Shuffle Music Blog". Indieshuffle.com. 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  31. ^ "Singles | Talking Backwards". Dominorecordco.us. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  32. ^ "Albums | Atlas". Dominorecordco.us. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  33. ^ "Albums | Atlas". Dominorecordco.us. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
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Category:Musical groups from New Jersey

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