Saints of Valory is an American alternative rock band from

Austin 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 ...

, Texas. The band is composed of Gavin Jasper (lead vocals/bass),

Godfrey Thomson Sir Godfrey Hilton Thomson FRSE DCL (27 March 1881 – 9 February 1955) was an English educational psychologist known as a critical pioneer in intelligence research. The Godfrey Thomson Unit for Research at Moray College in Edinburgh is named in ...

(guitar/vocals), and Stephen Buckle (keyboards/vocals). The band released their ''V'' EP on May 19, 2014. This was a follow up to the ''Possibilities'' EP, which released on July 9, 2013, via

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. The debut EP features the single "Neon Eyes".

History

The band was formed in 2008 in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

before relocating to

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

in 2010. Their origins are rooted in a childhood friendship between lead vocalist-bassist Gavin Jasper and Thomson, who met in Jasper's native

while their parents were working abroad. Jasper learned to play bass and joined a country-rock band, while Thomson launched his own band. In 2008, Jasper and Thomson reunited in Brazil, with Thomson bringing along his friend Gerard Labou, a young drummer from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Calling themselves Saints of Valory (an reference to Labou's mother Valerie), the trio decided to form a band and took to MySpace to post their tracks, which attracted initial interest from independent labels. Needing a space to rehearse for a showcase, they contacted their friend Stephen Buckle, who had a small studio in his home in

Boerne, Texas Boerne ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kendall County, Texas, in the Texas Hill Country. Boerne is known for its German-Texan history, named in honor of German author and satirist Ludwig Börne by the German Founders of the town. The popu ...

. Buckle was born in Greece to an American mother and Canadian father and spent most of his childhood in Thailand and Southeast Asia, but befriended Jasper during a four-year stint in Brazil. In April 2010, he joined the band full-time as a keyboardist. After self-releasing their debut, ''The Bright Lights,'' in November 2010, featuring an early version of their track "Providence", the track entered the top 50 at

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, making the band the only unsigned artist to reach the upper tier of the chart. In May 2012, the band self-released their second EP, ''Kids,'' which entered iTunes' Top Rock Albums Chart, selling 1,700 copies in its first week. Throughout 2011 the band performed at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

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 ...

, and DeLuna Festival.

Atlantic Records, ''Possibilities'' EP

After being named one of Billboard's Top Unsigned Artists in 2012 the band announced their signing to

. The band's label debut ''Possibilities'' EP featuring the single "Neon Eyes" was released July 9, 2013 and was produced by

Joe Chiccarelli Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

and Saints of Valory.

"Neon Eyes"

On July 24, 2013, the band premiered the music video for the single "Neon Eyes" on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

. The video was also featured on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's Buzzworthy.

Members

;Current *Stephen Buckle (keyboards/vocals) *Godfrey Thomson (guitar/vocals) *Gavin Jasper (lead vocals/bass) ;Former Gerard Labou (drums)

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

Guest appearances

References

{{Authority control 2008 establishments in Brazil Alternative rock groups from Texas Atlantic Records artists Musical groups established in 2008 Musical quartets