Lavender Diamond is an American,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
-based band, fronted by singer
Becky Stark.
History
While living in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...
, Stark began performing as Lavender Diamond in a play that she and
puppeteer Xander Marro wrote, created and toured with called ''Birdsongs of the Bauharoque'' inspired by the work of artist
Paul Laffoley.
A self-produced CD of Stark's songs accompanied the tour in a hand-sewn,
silkscreen
Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open me ...
ed sleeve. Lavender Diamond became a duo and eventually a four-piece band after Stark relocated to Los Angeles. With the help of local patrons Brian Kaneda and Josh Scuteri, Lavender Diamond self-released a four-song
EP and performed at L.A.'s
ArthurFest ArthurFest was a two-day music festival curated by Arthur Magazine. The festival took place September 4 and 5, 2005 at the Barnsdall Art Park in Los Angeles, California. The lineup included such acts as: Yoko Ono, Sonic Youth, The Black Keys, Modey ...
, at
South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, and at the
CMJ
CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...
New Music Seminar in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. In
2006 Lavender Diamond signed to
Rough Trade Records in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, and
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts.
History
Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City apar ...
in the U.S., and toured and performed with
The Decemberists
The Decemberists are an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. The band consists of Colin Meloy (lead vocals, guitar, principal songwriter), Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (piano, keyboards, accordion), Nate ...
for three weeks.
In 2007 the band released its first full-length album, ''
Imagine Our Love
''Imagine Our Love'' is a studio album by the Los Angeles-based folk band Lavender Diamond. It was released in May 2007 by Matador Records.
Track listing
#"Oh No" – 3:47
#"Garden Rose" – 5:04
#"Open Your Heart" – 3:11
#"Side of the Lord" ...
'' and appeared on the
Madonna tribute/
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* C ...
record, ''
Through the Wilderness
''Through the Wilderness'' is a tribute album with contributions from a variety of artists dedicated to American singer Madonna. It was released on November 27, 2007, by Los Angeles-based Manimal Vinyl Records. According to label head Paul Beah ...
.'' In 2009 they covered
"Purple Rain" for
SPIN Magazine
''Spin'' (stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012.
Histor ...
's tribute to
Prince's "Purple Rain".
The band parted ways with Matador and went on hiatus for a few years while its members continued to work and play in other projects. In 2011, the original Lavender Diamond lineup reunited for a few concerts in the Los Angeles area, and in 2012 released their second album, ''
Incorruptible Heart
''Incorruptible Heart'' is the second full-length album by the Los Angeles-based band Lavender Diamond, released in September 2012 as a vinyl LP, compact disc and digital download. It received generally favorable critical reviews.
Background
Th ...
''.
Rege furnishes Lavender Diamond with all of its artwork.
Members
*
Becky Stark —
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
* Steve Gregoropoulos —
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
,
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
*
Ron Regé Jr. —
drums, artwork
*
Jeffrey Rosenberg
Lavender Diamond is an American, Los Angeles-based band, fronted by singer Becky Stark.
History
While living in Providence, Rhode Island, Stark began performing as Lavender Diamond in a play that she and puppeteer Xander Marro wrote, created a ...
—
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
,
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
Former members
*
Devon Williams —
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
,
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
* Jeff Kwong —
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
Discography
Albums
* ''Artifacts Of The Winged'' 12-song solo CD (
2003, self-released)
* ''
Imagine Our Love
''Imagine Our Love'' is a studio album by the Los Angeles-based folk band Lavender Diamond. It was released in May 2007 by Matador Records.
Track listing
#"Oh No" – 3:47
#"Garden Rose" – 5:04
#"Open Your Heart" – 3:11
#"Side of the Lord" ...
'' full-length album (2007)
* ''
Incorruptible Heart
''Incorruptible Heart'' is the second full-length album by the Los Angeles-based band Lavender Diamond, released in September 2012 as a vinyl LP, compact disc and digital download. It received generally favorable critical reviews.
Background
Th ...
'' full-length album (2012)
* ''
"Now Is The Time" ''full-length album (2020)
Singles and EPs
* "When Are You Coming Home?" b/w "Wild" (
2003, self-released)
* ''Themepark Ashtray'' 7" with Vague Angels (2004, Pretty Activity)
* ''Cavalry of Light'' EP (
2005, self-released)
* "Christmas Time Celebration / The Song Of Impossible Occurrences" 7" with The Queens of Sheeba, Devendra Banhart (2005, Cold Sweat records)
* ''Open Your Heart'' EP (
2007,
Rough Trade Records, with
Colin Meloy
Colin Patrick Henry Meloy (born October 5, 1974) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the frontman of the Portland, Oregon, indie folk rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acoust ...
)
* "Everybody's Heart's Breaking Now" (2012,
Paracadute
Paracadute is a record company owned by OK Go. OK Go left their previous record company, EMI, because of a disagreement between the band and the label. OK Go reissued their album, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky, with Paracadute taking care of the ...
)
Compilation appearances
* ''Hen House Studios Anthology 3, 2003'', performing "Lavender Diamond- Emptiness is a Conductor" (2003, Hen House Studios)
* ''
Through the Wilderness
''Through the Wilderness'' is a tribute album with contributions from a variety of artists dedicated to American singer Madonna. It was released on November 27, 2007, by Los Angeles-based Manimal Vinyl Records. According to label head Paul Beah ...
'' a tribute to Madonna performing ''Like A Prayer'' (2007,
Manimal Vinyl
Manimal Vinyl is a Los Angeles-based record label founded in 2006 by film/TV producer, composer and former fashion editor Paul Gebser-Beahan.
History
The label was started out of Beahan's living room in late 2006 in the historical Hancock Park ...
Records)
* ''Purplish Rain: A 25th Anniversary Tribute to Prince's Purple Rain'', performing ''Purple Rain'' (2009,
SPIN Magazine
''Spin'' (stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012.
Histor ...
)
* ''
The Switch (Music from the Motion Picture)'', performing "Open Your Heart" (2010,
Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus.
History
Founded in 1978, Rhino was originall ...
)
* The soundtrack of game
Space Ducks
''Space Ducks: Soundtrack'' is a compilation album by American recording artist Daniel Johnston. It was released on Daniel Johnston's Eternal Yip Eye Label in 2012, with a later, longer version released on Feraltone in 2013. It was inspired by Jo ...
, performing ''Moment of Laughter'' (2012)
Mystical Unionists (Becky Stark and Ron Regé)
* ''An Introduction to The Mystical Union of Souls'' 5-song CD
* ''"Sketches" for The Craft of Consciousness'' 7"
See also
*
New Weird America
New Weird America is a 21st century style of music that primarily draws on psychedelic and folk music of the 1960s and 1970s.
Etymology
The term was coined by David Keenan in the issue 234 (August 2003) of ''The Wire'', following the Brattlebo ...
References
External links
Rolling StoneArthur MagazineNew YorkerL.A. WeeklyBoston GlobeABC News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavender Diamond
American folk musical groups
Indie rock musical groups from California
Matador Records artists
Musical groups from Los Angeles
New Weird America
Rough Trade Records artists