Breathe Carolina

Breathe Carolina are an American electronic music duo from Denver, Colorado, currently composed of David Schmitt and Tommy Cooperman. The band formed in 2007 and have released five albums, and nine EPs. Their latest studio album, '' Dead: The Album'', was released in November 2019.

History

Beginnings (2007)

Kyle Even, born on September 21, 1985, and David Schmitt, born on March 26, 1988, spent their early years playing in various local Colorado musical groups. After being introduced to alternative rock by an older stepbrother, Even moved towards vocals as a teen. Before joining Breathe Carolina, Even performed in the band Rivendale. They produced an extended play called ''Portrait of Shadows''. Schmitt, on the other hand, started on bass at the age of 12 and then branched out to guitar, performing in Colorado with As the Flood Waters Rose (later named the Autobiography).

Both bands played together often. As the Flood Waters Rose opened up for Rivendale at Rivendale's album release at Grandpa's Music Box in Thornton. After leaving As the Flood Waters Rose, Schmitt started recording his own song on GarageBand, which he later asked Even to participate in creating. As both bands broke up for the members' departure for college, Even and Schmitt started Breathe Carolina.

''Gossip'' and ''It's Classy, Not Classic'' (2007–2008)

Breathe Carolina started in 2007 with Even and Schmitt recording songs on the music-creating software GarageBand for fun. They created a Myspace profile, gaining over 10,000 song plays in 2008 and accumulating over 30 million plays during 2009. The name Breathe Carolina came from a dream that Schmitt had in 9th grade, about calming down a woman named Carolina. Soon afterwards, Even quit his job as a photographer to tour with the group full-time. Their first EP, ''Gossip'', was released as an iTunes exclusive on November 26, 2007. It was self-released and has since been removed from the store. Billboard.com Retrieved 8 December 2008.

Breathe Carolina recorded their first album using GarageBand, and signed with Rise Records before its release. The album introduced a few new songs that were not featured on ''Gossip'', including "The Introduction", "No Vacancy", "Show Me Yours", "Classified", "That's Classy", and "You Wish". "Don't Forget: Lock The Door" was the only track from the ''Gossip'' EP that is not featured on the LP. The album was released on September 16, 2008, and was followed by a tour to promote the album. Breathe Carolina headlined their tour with Every Avenue, Brokencyde, and the Morning Of. While on "The Delicious Tour", they announced that they would be making a music video for "Diamonds". The video has appearances made by Millionaires, as well as Josh White from Umbrella Clothing and This City Is Burning Records.

''Hello Fascination'' (2009–2010)

A few months after the release of ''Punk Goes Pop 2'', shortly after they finished the 2009 "Take Action Tour", Breathe Carolina announced that they had left Rise Records and have signed with Fearless Records and would be in the studio recording their upcoming album ''Hello Fascination'' with Mike Green. On June 29, 2009, the first song from ''Hello Fascination'' was released: "Welcome To Savannah", which was a featured song on the Fearless Records Summer Sampler 2009. New songs were also played during Vans Warped Tour 2009. These songs include "I.D.G.A.F." and " Hello Fascination". On July 27, 2009, the second song from ''Hello Fascination'' was released, the title track of the album. '' Hello Fascination'' was released on August 18, 2009.

In September 2009, the band announced they will be headlining the EZ Bronz Tour. Also in 2009, Breathe Carolina was featured on the cover of ''Substream Music Press'', which also features an interview with Even and Schmitt. Toward the end of October 2009, ''Hello Fascination'' was released in Japan. The Japanese edition of the album includes a bonus song entitled "Have You Ever Danced?". This song features David Strauchman (Every Avenue), Jeffree Star, and Austin Carlile (of Of Mice & Men).

Breathe Carolina's "Hello Fascination" is the featured track playing in the background of the current promos for NBC's ''The Jay Leno Show'', airing from September 14, 2009. The track was also featured in MTV's The City. Their song "I'm The Type Of Person To Take It Personal" was also featured in The City's Season Finale in December 2009. Breathe Carolina released a music video for "Hello Fascination" on February 3, 2010. The music video is directed by Spence Nicholsen.

The deluxe edition of ''Hello Fascination'' was released on July 6. On June 23, Schmitt and Even launched a clothing line called Blush, and " I.D.G.A.F." was announced as the band's next single, with the music video being released on July 30, 2010. The duo played on the Altec Lansing stage during Vans Warped Tour 2010 and covered the song " Down" by Jay Sean for the compilation album ''Punk Goes Pop 3'' that was released on November 2, 2010.

On November 21, 2010, Breathe Carolina released their second ever Christmas-themed song for a part on the '' 'Tis the Season to Be Fearless'' compilation album. The song is titled "Mile-High Christmas". The first Christmas song they released was "Snowed In", which was the first song ever recorded and released by the duo. "Snowed In" was initially recorded when the band first recorded their ''Gossip'' EP, but the song was decided not to be included on the EP by the time of its release.

''Hell Is What You Make It'' (2010–2012)

On December 22, 2010, Fearless Records posted a video featuring a 30-second preview of the track " Blackout". Recording for the third studio album took place in early 2011. On April 28, 2011, it was announced that the album would be titled ''Hell Is What You Make It'', and that its scheduled release date would be on July 12, 2011. A promotional website for the album launched a 40-second video containing a preview of the track "Wooly".

The album's first single, " Blackout", was available for streaming via MTV Buzzworthy on June 13, 2011, and was available for digital download the following day. On June 16, the duo performed "Blackout" for a nationwide television presentation on Jimmy Kimmel Live. A music video for the track was shot in Los Angeles, California on July 1 and 2, and was released on the duo's official Vevo page on YouTube on September 20. The song has since become the duo's most commercially successful single to date, peaking within the charts of Canada, New Zealand, Scotland, the United Kingdom and United States, while also being certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling more than 500,000 copies. Two other tracks from the album, "Wooly" and "Sweat It Out", were available for streaming prior to the album's release. The group participated on the Scream It Like You Mean It 2011 tour during that summer to promote the album. An extended play titled ''Blackout: The Remixes EP'' was released on September 27 via iTunes.

On December 23, 2011, it was announced that the duo signed with Columbia Records. Throughout early 2012, the duo participated in the Blackout Forever tour alongside the Ready Set with guest appearances by Ashland HIGH and Matt Toka. On February 22, it was announced that the duo would be participating in the 2012 Warped Tour. The duo have also since re-entered the studio to continue writing and recording new tracks. The duo announced that a new single, "Hit and Run", which was to be released on May 22, 2012. Schmitt also announced that a music video for the song is in production, saying that the video will actually have a concept, unlike their previous videos. The song premiered via ''Alternative Press'' on May 21, while being available for digital download the following day. The duo also contributed to the compilation album ''Punk Goes Pop 5'' with their cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean".

''Savages'', ''Acoustic'', ''Thank You'' and style and lineup changes (2013–2016)

Breathe Carolina had finished working on their fourth studio album and had said that they were going back to their old roots for the record. On March 25, 2013, it was announced that the title of the new album is '' Savages''. On July 6, 2013, the duo released their first mixtape ''Bangers'' for free download via Sol Republic. Following its release the band toured North America with bands We the Kings, the Ready Set and rapper T. Mills.

On October 15, 2013, David Schmitt made an announcement via Alternative Press discussing founding member Kyle Even's departure from the band, due to his new responsibilities as a father.

The band later embarked on the "We are Savages Tour", touring with Jonny Craig, Mod Sun and Ghost Town. The band has released three singles from their album Savages, the title track as the first buzz single with a lyric video, "Sellouts" featuring Danny Worsnop from Asking Alexandria as the official lead, with a music video and "Bang It Out".

A music video of the song " Chasing Hearts" featuring Tyler Carter from metalcore band Issues was released on April 18, 2014, followed by another for the song "Collide" featuring clips from their album's release party in Los Angeles, California.

On April 15, 2014, "Savages" was released.

September 9, 2014, Breathe Carolina released a collaboration with Candyland, "Find Someone", on SoundCloud.

On June 9, 2015, the band released a single with producer Apek, titled "Anywhere But Home", on Zouk Recordings (now Armada Zouk).

On July 18, 2015, the band made an announcement via their Twitter page, stating a three-track EP, ''Acoustic'', would be emailed as a free download to those who would buy their next single on August 31 from Beatport. The self-released EP comprised acoustic versions of the songs "Anywhere But Home", "Bury Me" and "Please Don't Say", the latter two being singles from ''Savages''. On August 31, they released a collaboration with French duo Y&V, titled "Hero (Satellite)", on Oxygen Recordings, along with the EP.

On September 24, the band announced via their Twitter page that another self-released EP, titled ''Thank You'', would be emailed as a free download to those buying their upcoming single from Beatport, in a similar way to that of ''Acoustic''. On September 28, They released the single, titled "Platinum Hearts", featuring American singer KARRA, on Armada Trice, along with ''Thank You''. The four-track EP comprised their cover of the Montell Jordan song "This Is How We Do It", an acoustic version of "Platinum Hearts", a dubstep edit of the song "Sellouts", and a mashup of the songs "I.D.G.A.F." and "Hero (Satellite)".

On November 20, 2015, the band released a single in collaboration with artist Ryos, featuring uncredited vocals from Karra, titled "More Than Ever", and was published by Dutch record label Spinnin' Records. On November 22, they announced on Twitter that a free two-track EP, titled ''More Than Ever: The Thank You EP'', will be emailed to those who would send them a proof of the purchase for "More Than Ever" via email. The EP comprised the acoustic version of "More Than Ever" and a remix of "Anywhere But Home" by American DJ Landis.

On December 13, 2015, the duo released a collaboration with producer Shanahan, on UK-based Enhanced Music which featured American singer Haliene. The single went on to receive 2.5 million Spotify streams and enjoyed heavy rotation on BPM (Sirius XM) Dance radio. The track went on to be featured in "Enhanced Best of 2015", a compilation album released by Enhanced. It also peaked at no. 26 on the Billboard Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart.

On January 29, 2016, the band announced via their Twitter page about another free EP called ''Ruins: The Thank You EP'', which they would email to the buyers of their upcoming single "Ruins", featuring Angelika Vee. On February 2, "Ruins" was released on Doorn Records. The four-track EP comprised three mashups made with their previously released songs, and a remix of "Anywhere But Home" by Mexican-American duo Skellism.

''Sleepless'', ''Oh So Hard'' (Part I and II) and ''Coma'' (2016–present)

After releasing numerous singles and remixes, Breathe Carolina announced on July 19, 2016, via their Twitter page, a new EP titled ''Sleepless'' was to be released on September 16, 2016. The first single off the EP was "See the Sky" with Jay Cosmic featuring Haliene. The second single was titled "Stable" with Crossnaders. The EP comprised eight tracks in total, including collaborations with other artists such as Inukshuk, Reez, Riggi & Piros, Ray Little, Sophie and The Bom Boms, KARRA etc. ''Sleepless'' became the group's most successful EP as of now, peaking at no. 4 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart and at no. 36 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart.

On November 25, 2016, They released a song titled "Echo (Let Go)", with IZII. The music video for this track was uploaded on YouTube on the same day. As of October 2018, the video has more than 10 million views.

They released another four track EP, ''Oh So Hard'', as a free download through Spinnin' Premium on December 23, 2016. It comprised the tracks "Talisman", "Atlantis", "Break Of Dawn" and "Get Down". The last track was produced by Breathe Carolina themselves, while the first three tracks were collaborations with Olly James, Dropgun and Swede Dreams respectively.

In late May 2017, a new track, "Glue" was previewed on the band's official Instagram page and a new EP was announced. Titled ''Coma'', it was available for preorder on June 16, 2017, and the first single "Glue", was also released. ''Coma'' was released on July 14, 2017. It consisted of five tracks including the forementioned single.

On February 9, 2018, they released the second part of their ''Oh So Hard'' EP on Spinnin Premium. It comprised tracks "Ravers", "F*ck It Up", "Blastoff" and "Like That" as collaborations with fellow artists Kevu, Tynan, Wasback and Ang respectively.

Breathe Carolina has since released tracks as collaborations with various artists such as Delayers, Dropgun, Sunstars, Lucas & Steve, Robert Falcon and Slvr.

The band released their fifth studio album, '' Dead: The Album'', on November 15, 2019, on Spinnin' Records and Big Beat.

Musical style and arrangement

Breathe Carolina has mainly been categorized as electropop, EDM
and electronic rock. Post-hardcore influence also existed in the majority of earlier work by the band, evident by the use of screamed vocals and breakdowns. These elements, however, were usually kept to a minimum while electronic elements took precedence. This fusion of post-hardcore characteristics and dance-oriented electronica had once led the group to be labeled crunkcore as well. Also typical of crunkcore is the prevalent use of Auto-Tune and vocoders on Schmitt's vocals.

Their entire first EP, ''Gossip'', and debut full-length album, ''It's Classy, Not Classic'', were recorded using only the computer program GarageBand. The group did not produce music via studio until the recording of '' Hello Fascination'', which can be considered the group's first true studio album.

Although much instrumentation is added through programming, typical instruments were also present in their music in select songs; Schmitt provided lead singing vocals for the duo along with playing the guitar and drums while Even provided unclean vocals and occasional cleans in their newer material. Live performances by Breathe Carolina usually consisted of an arrangement of three extra members providing keyboards, keytars, drums, guitars and bass. During most live sets, Joshua Aragon played guitar (when necessary) and performs backing vocals while Eric Armenta provided drums on a standard drum kit all while Schmitt and Even performed the clean and unclean vocal positions respectively.

Since the departure of Kyle Even and the addition of DJ/guitarist Tommy Cooperman, Breathe Carolina became a four piece band. Live performances consisted of the four members and occasional extra musicians like Michael Naran (currently in the Ready Set and Sparks the Rescue). When they performed the song "Sellouts" live, Breathe Carolina is joined by a screaming vocalist, usually the lead vocalist from another band, while Luis Bonet and Tommy Cooperman performed guitar parts. Tommy also performed screaming vocals for other songs, like "Hello Fascination" on tour and co-produced the songs.

After the departure of Bonet in 2015 and Armenta in 2017, Breathe Carolina is now a duo focusing mainly on a variety of styles within the EDM genre.

Controversies

On December 14, 2022, Breathe Carolina member Tommy Cooperman was arrested and charged for engaging in a $114 million "pump and dump" scheme along with several others by federal prosecutors. According to reports, Cooperman along with others, "allegedly engaged in a wide-ranging securities fraud conspiracy" in which the defendants used their social media presence on Twitter and Discord. The incident took place from around January 2020 to April 2022 and Cooperman was charged with two counts of securities fraud.

Members

Current members
*David Schmitt – lead vocals, programming, production, guitars, bass, keyboards, synthesizer, drums, percussion (2007–present)
*Tommy Cooperman – lead guitar, programming, production, unclean vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, bass (2013–present)

Former members
*Kyle Even – unclean vocals, clean vocals, backing vocals, programming, guitars, bass (2007–2013)
*Joshua Aragon – keyboards, lead guitar, bass, backing vocals (2007–2013 session and touring)
*Luis Bonet – DJ, keyboards, programming, (2008–2013 session and touring, 2013–2015), guitar, bass (2013–2015)
*Eric Armenta – drums, percussion, production (2008–2013 session and touring, 2013–2017)

Timeline

Discography

;Studio albums
* ''It's Classy, Not Classic'' (2008)
* '' Hello Fascination'' (2009)
* ''Hell Is What You Make It'' (2011)
* '' Savages'' (2014)
* '' Dead: The Album'' (2019)

Awards and nominations

''DJ Mag''

Top 100 DJs

MTV Buzzworthy

Tours

Headlining
* Fearless Friends Tour (2010)
* The Spring Break Your Heart Tour (2011)
* Scream It Like You Mean It Tour (2011)
* We Are Savages Tour (2014)

Co-headlining
* Blackout Forever Tour (2012)
* The Friend Zone Tour (2014)

Opening act
* Feel This Tour (2013)

References

External links

*
Breathe Carolina at Fearless Records

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Musical groups from Denver
American electronic music duos
American electronic rock musical groups
Rise Records artists
Fearless Records artists
Crunkcore groups
Electronicore musical groups
Jewish musical groups
Musical groups established in 2007
Columbia Records artists
Electropop groups
Electronic music groups from Colorado
Electronic dance music duos