Air Dubai is an American six-piece hip hop band from

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

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, United States. The band is composed of vocalists Julian Church and Jon Shockness, with Lawrence Grivich (guitar), Michael Ray (keyboards/synth), Taylor Tait (bass), and Nick Spreigl (drums). The band is known for their highly energetic live performances and their sound has been characterized as a mixture of R&B,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, and

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

. The band was voted Westword Magazine's best Hip Hop band in their 2010, 2011 and 2012 award showcases. In December 2012 the band announced via their social media pages they had been signed to Hopeless Records and released their major label debut album '' Be Calm'' in 2014. In August 2015, the band announced that they would be going on an "indefinite hiatus".

History

Beginnings (2009)

Air Dubai began as a collaboration between Julian Church and Jon Shockness while the two were still in high school in

, Colorado. Starting initially as a side project, the pair focused more seriously when local blogs and publications began to take notice. In June 2009, the duo decided to forego

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beats and began performing with all live instrumentation. Adding new members, also Denver-based musicians; Lawrence Grivich, Michael Ray, Nicholas Spreigl and Taylor Tait.

''Wonder Age'' (2010)

On April 19, 2010, Air Dubai announced on their official website that a new EP was in the works, with an expected release date of June 15, 2010. On June 1, Air Dubai announced they would be extending the EP into a full album and pushing the release date back. The album was their first release as a full band and titled '' Wonder Age''. Andy Guerrero, member of Colorado Hip Hop band

Flobots Flobots is an experimental rap rock band from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2005 by Jamie Laurie. The band's origins date back 5 years earlier to a similar project by Laurie. Flobots found mainstream success with their major label debut ''Fight ...

acted as producer for the album. On August 7, 2010 Air Dubai announced via their official

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channel that '' Wonder Age'' would be released worldwide on October 5, 2010. On March 28, 2011, Air Dubai released a remix album featuring remixed songs from '' Wonder Age'' for free on their official website.

''Day Escape'' (2011)

In summer of 2011, Air Dubai visited northern California to work on their next musical venture. Legendary producer Sylvia Massy, who has done albums for such bands as

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Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...

and

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was the lead producer for the album. On October 14, 2011, they announced via their

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page that they would be releasing their newest album on October 25 titled ''Day Escape''. The release of Day Escape saw further success for the band, with multiple songs being featured on MTV's '' Jersey Shore'' and '' I Used To Be Fat''. With the release of Day Escape, Air Dubai also began touring extensively as well as making several festival appearances.

''Be Calm'' and hiatus (2012 - 2015)

Shortly after the release of "Day Escape", Air Dubai began writing for what was to be a follow up EP. When they compiled their scrapped demos with the new songs they were writing, they decided they had enough material to produce a full-length. The album, which finished production on June 20, 2012 was recorded in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

and was produced by

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

winning producer Dwight Baker. On August 17, 2012 they announced via a video trailer on their

channel and website that their new album, which was planned to be released in Fall of 2012, would be titled ''Be Calm''. On September 12, 2012 they released the first single from ''Be Calm'' titled "All Day" and shortly after the second single titled "'Warning". On November 11, a few days before the planned release date for the album, Air Dubai announced they would have to postpone the release of ''Be Calm''. In December 2012 it was revealed that this was due to the band being signed to indie music label Hopeless Records. On December 4, 2013, Air Dubai was announced as one of the bands taking a part in

Vans Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running tourin ...

2014. '' Be Calm'' was released on July 1, 2014 through Hopeless Records, their label debut. In August 2015, the band announced that they would be going on an "indefinite hiatus", citing burnout and work on solo projects as the reasons.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Wonder Age'' (2010) * '' Be Calm'' (2014)

EPs

* ''Day Escape'' (2011) * ''Warning EP'' (2013) * ''Pastels'' (2020)

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control American hip hop groups Musical groups established in 2008 Musical groups from Denver Hopeless Records artists 2008 establishments in Colorado