Arc Iris is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band from

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 Bay ...

, United States, that began in 2012 as a solo project of Jocie Adams, formerly a member of

The Low Anthem The Low Anthem is a band from Providence, Rhode Island formed in 2006 by friends Ben Knox Miller and Jeff Prystowsky. The current lineup consists of Knox Miller (vocals, guitars, trumpets, saws), Prystowsky (vocals, drums, double basses, synths), ...

. Arc Iris has had several lineup changes since their inception and have since settled on a trio that is the nucleus of Jocie Adams (lead vocals, guitar), Zach Tenorio Miller (keyboards), Ray Belli (drums). They have released four albums and toured internationally.

Career

Adams developed an interest in music at an early age and became proficient in the clarinet. She studied composition at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

where she graduated in 2008. While performing with the Low Anthem, Adams released a solo album ''Bed of Notions'' in 2011. Adams met Miller in 2012 and began collaborating, inviting Belli to join later that year. In 2013, it was announced that Adams had left the Low Anthem to pursue her new project, noting that she wanted "to have more creative freedom". In between, Adams briefly worked as a NASA technician. Arc Iris's first, self-titled album was released on April 1, 2014 through the Los Angeles-based record label

ANTI- Anti- is an American record label founded in 1999 as a sister label to Epitaph Records. While Epitaph's focus has mostly been on punk rock, Anti-'s roster includes gospel (Mavis Staples), country (Merle Haggard), hip hop (Sage Francis, The Cou ...

Records. Co-produced by Dan Cardinal, it was recorded in Boston while the artwork was created by Kacie Smith. It was described as 'traditional music thrillingly positioned at the nexus of the old and new'. The band toured as support to

Nicole Atkins Nicole Atkins (born October 1, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter. Her influences include 1950s crooner music, 1960s psychedelia, soul music, and the Brill Building style of writing. Atkins has been compared to Roy Orbison and singers from ...

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

and Tweedy and filmed a video for the song "Whiskey Man" directed by Matt Wignall. On June 2, 2016,

Bella Union Bella Union is a British independent record label founded in 1997 by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. It is now run solely by Raymonde. History After releasing records with 4AD for a large part of their career, Cocteau Twin ...

announced the release of Arc Iris's second record, ''Moon Saloon''. The album's first single, "Kaleidoscope" premiered on

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

. The band recorded the album over a five day period as they had been invited to perform as support to St Vincent on her UK tour. On August 5, 2016,

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

All Songs Considered ''All Songs Considered'' is a weekly online multimedia program started in January 2000 by NPR's ''All Things Considered'' director Bob Boilen. At first, the show featured information and streaming audio about the songs used as bumper music on '' ...

debuted the video for 'Moon Saloon' which was shot entirely on a 360 degree camera. In 2017, Arc Iris toured a complete reimagination of

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

's ''

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

''. On August 7, 2017, Arc Iris announced the formation of an offshoot band called Bwahaha that featured Ryan Miller of

Guster Guster is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Founding members Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, and Brian Rosenworcel began practice sessions while attending Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and fo ...

. In early 2018, the band toured alongside

Kimbra Kimbra Lee Johnson (born 27 March 1990), known mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two Grammy Awards and se ...

. On July 27, 2018, Arc Iris released their third album, ''Foggy Lullaby'', a complete re-imagination of Joni Mitchell's ''Blue''. Shortly after releasing ''Foggy Lullaby'', the band announced the release of ''Icon of Ego'' on

Ba Da Bing Records Ba Da Bing Records is an American record label based in Brooklyn, New York. The name is derived from the saying "ba da bing, ba da boom", common among Italian-Americans, especially in New Jersey. The label was founded in Leonia, New Jersey in 1 ...

and premiered "$GNMS" a reworking of "Money Gnomes" off their debut album.

Discography

Albums

* ''Arc Iris'' (2014,

North America,

Rest of World) * ''Moon Saloon'' (2016,

) * ''Foggy Lullaby'' (2018) * ''Icon of Ego'' (2018,

)

Singles

* "Singing So Sweetly" (2014,

Records) * "Kaleidoscope" (2016,

Records) * "$GNMS" (2018,

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arc Iris Alternative rock groups from Rhode Island Indie rock musical groups from Rhode Island American folk rock groups Bella Union artists Anti- (record label) artists