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Transviolet is an alternative pop-rock band formed in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 2015, consisting of lead vocalist Sarah McTaggart, with Judah McCarthy, Michael Panek, and Jon Garcia as musicians and writers. The band initially formed online before moving to the West Coast to collaborate in person. Transviolet gained initial recognition after a local publicity stunt, celebrity endorsements, and after being selected for a Google Play commercial. They have released three EPs and three singles, and have played a number of high-profile tours and festivals.


Career

McTaggart originally met Panek on a musicians' networking website. At the time, McTaggart lived in Grand Cayman and Panek lived in
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, although as McTaggart later recalled, she initially lied on the site and stated she too was from
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
because that was where she wanted but could not afford to move to. Panek in turn enlisted Garcia, whom he had known since they attended Churchville-Chili Senior High School together. The group, originally named ''Noise Floor'', collaborated at a distance at first before establishing itself in
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
. After relocating to
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, McCarthy, another Churchville-Chili alumnus and friend of Panek and Garcia, joined the line-up and the name was changed to ''Transviolet''. According to the group, the name was inspired by the poem ''When The Violets Roar At The Sun'' by Charles Bukowski, and was chosen to mean "transcendence into a new, violet awareness". Transviolet firstly began gaining widespread recognition with endorsements from
Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...
and
Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...
. McTaggart and Perry had known one another as children and attended the same church. The band caused some controversy early in its career by sending out anonymous packages containing a
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with "just press play" handwritten on each one. The packages were sent to members of the
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of
Fueled by Ramen Fueled by Ramen LLC is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by 300 Elektra Entertainment. The label, founded in Gainesville, Florida in 1996, is now based in New York City. History John Janick conceived of the lab ...
, a label distributed by
Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...
. The cassettes contained a recording of the song ''Girls Your Age'', which was released online in mid 2015. A Shazam code was also included. The eponymous EP containing ''Girls Your Age'' garnered more than 20 million streams for its top three songs. The band toured with
LANY LANY (, an acronym for "Los Angeles New York") are an American pop rock band from Los Angeles. Formed in Nashville in 2014, the band consists of Paul Jason Klein and Jake Clifford Goss. Signed to Polydor and Interscope Records, the band have re ...
in 2016. The song ''New Bohemia'' from the ''Transviolet'' EP was chosen for use on a Google Play commercial, and the band was named the "band of the week" by ''
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'' in January 2016. That April, ''New Bohemia'' entered Billboard's
Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...
chart where it peaked at #35. In 2017, the EP ''Kaleidoscopes'' was released. Transviolet was signed by
Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
in early 2015. They split ways with the label in late 2017. They were then picked up by
Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...
, followed by the release of the EP ''Valley'' in 2019. A track from ''Valley'', ''Undo'', featured as the closing music of an episode of the
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series ''Unbelievable''. The group performed on ''
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'' on July 12, 2016. Transviolet also performed on the Today Show and ''
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''. They have played at a number of festivals, including
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, Governors Ball,
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, and
Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
. In July 2018, the band headlined a hometown concert at The Echo (venue), Los Angeles. In September 2019, they self-released the single ''Sunshine'', followed by ''Money Money'' in October and ''Born To Rule'' in November. Later in November, in advance of a date at the legendary
Troubadour (West Hollywood, California) The Troubadour is a nightclub located in West Hollywood, California, United States, at 9081 Santa Monica Boulevard just east of Doheny Drive and the border of Beverly Hills. Inspired by a visit to the newly opened Troubadour café in London, i ...
, the band guested on ''Aliens'' by The Griswolds.


Members

* Sarah McTaggart — vocalist * Judah McCarthy — guitarist * Michael Panek — multi-instrumentalist * Jon Garcia — drummer/producer


Albums

*''Born to Rule'' (2020) *''Drugs in California'' (2022)


Extended plays

*''Transviolet'' (2015) *''Kaleidoscopes'' (2017) *''Valley'' (2018)


Singles


As lead artists

*"LA Love" (2016) *"Future" (2016) *"Sunshine" (2019) *"Money Money" (2019) *"Born to Rule" (2019) *"Freak Like Me"(2020) *"Tropics" (featuring Reo Cragun) (2020) *"Drugs in California" (2021) *"Clean Laundry" (featuring
Dreamers Dreamers or The Dreamers may refer to: Books * "Dreamers", a 1918 war poem by Siegfried Sassoon * "The Dreamers" (play), a 1982 play by Jack Davis * ''The Dreamers'' (novel series), a 2003–06 fantasy series by David Eddings and Leigh Eddings ...
)
(2021) *"Blue Flowers" (featuring Little Hurt) (2021)


As featured artists

* "Telescope" (with Tim Legend) (2017) * "Know U" (with Jesse Porsches) (2018) * "Lost Frequency" (with The Swoons) (2019) * "Gone" (with
Great Good Fine Ok Great Good Fine Ok (abbreviated GGFO) is an American synthpop band based in New York City, United States. The band was founded by Jon Sandler and Luke Moellman in 2013. Although both grew up in Upstate New York (Sandler in Niskayuna and Moellman ...
)
(2019) * "Aliens" (with The Griswolds) (2019) * "Heart Lies" (with Taao Kross) (2020) * "Tendencies" (with Sleeping Lion) (2020) * "Daydream" (with Charlie Crown) (2020)


See also

*
List of alternative rock artists This is a list of alternative rock artists. Bands are listed alphabetically by the first letter in their name (not including "The"), and individuals are listed by the first name. 0–9 * +44 * 3 Doors Down *3OH!3 * 4 Non Blondes *7 Yea ...
* List of bands from Los Angeles * List of indie rock musicians


References


External links

* {{Authority control American alternative rock groups Musical groups from Los Angeles 2015 establishments in California