Small Black is an American indie band from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, New Yor

They are currently signed to the George Clanton, 100% Electronica record label. The band consists of Josh Kolenik (lead vocals/guitar), Ryan Heyner (guitar/keyboards), Juan Pieczanski (bass/guitar), and Jeff Curtin (drums). After releasing the critically acclaimed ''Small Black'' EP, the band signed to

Jagjaguwar Jagjaguwar is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Jagjaguwar is a label included in Secretly Group, which also includes ...

to release their debut full length, ''New Chain'' (2010). Their second full length, ''Limits of Desire'' was released in May 2013, with the single "No Stranger" a mainstay on satellite radio. The band has toured consistently since 2010, participating in numerous festivals such as

Primavera Sound Festival Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held in Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain that takes place between the end of May and beginning of June. The first edition took place in 2001 in Poble Espany ...

Fun Fun Fun Fest Fun Fun Fun Fest (often abbreviated as "FFF" or "F3F") was an annual music and comedy festival held in Austin, Texas, United States. The festival was the only genre based festival in the United States, featuring stages that focused specifically ...

Capitol Hill Block Party The Capitol Hill Block Party is an annual three-day music festival and block party held each July in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. Performance genres include pop, R&B, indie rock, punk, EDM, and many more. ...

, and the

SXSW Music Festival 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 conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

History

Josh Kolenik and Ryan Heyner formed the band while experimenting with lo-fi and loop-based recording techniques. Kolenik cites

the Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album '' Dare ...

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic band formed in Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), along with Martin ...

(OMD),

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

and

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close a ...

as influences on the group. The initial EP was recorded in Kolenik's uncle's attic with vintage keyboards and samplers, during the winter of 2008-2009 as Uncle Matt made surfboards underneath them. Guitarist Juan Pieczanski and drummer Jeff Curtin, both from Washington D.C., met while attending Columbia University. The earliest collaborations of the entire group began years prior to the band's formation during after-hours recording sessions in a post-production film studio located in the

Brill Building The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as ...

. After the band's initial release, they supported

Washed Out Ernest Weatherly Greene Jr. (born October 3, 1982), known professionally as Washed Out, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Commonly associated with the chillwave genre in the 2010s, Pitchfork dubbed him "the godfather of chi ...

on tour in 2010, also performing with him on stage during that tour.

Musical style

Their sound is commonly described as belonging to the

chillwave Chillwave (originally considered synonymous with glo-fi and hypnagogic pop) is a music microgenre that emerged in the late 2000s. It loosely emulates 1980s electropop while engaging with notions of memory and nostalgia. Common features inclu ...

genre though the band's members don't label themselves as such. The band began with an emphasis on lo-fi sounds and distorted textures in their initial release, but has since adopted a more varied approach, expanding to include a mix of hi and lo-fi sounds, synthetic and acoustic instruments. The underlying elements of synth-heavy production and melodic, lyrical vocal style have been a fixture of the band’s sound throughout their entire catalogue. All the band's releases to date have been self-produced.

Other contributions/collaborations

The band has provided remixes for

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

, and

Frankie Rose Frankie Rose (born 1979) is an American musician and songwriter. She was an original member of Crystal Stilts, Dum Dum Girls, Vivian Girls and Beverly. Career Formerly of bands Vivian Girls and Beverly, Frankie was the drummer for the acts Crys ...

. In 2010 they released the ''Moon Killer'' mixtape, a loose collection of sample-based tracks featuring contributions from

Heems Himanshu Kumar Suri (born July 6, 1985), better known by his stage name Heems, is an American rapper from Queens in New York City. Best known for being part of the alternative hip hop group Das Racist, Suri is also the founder of Greedhead Music ...

and

Star Slinger Star Slinger (born Darren Williams) is an electronic music producer and DJ based in Manchester, UK, taking influences mainly from house and hip hop. Star Slinger first came to attention after self-releasing a beat tape in the summer of 2010 en ...

. Guitarist Ryan Heyner was formerly a member of the hardcore band Silent Majority. Jeff Curtin provided the drums for Wild Nothing’s second studio release, ''Nocturne'' (2012), and is credited as a sound engineer/producer for his work with Vampire Weekend and

Those Darlins Those Darlins was a rock and roll band from Nashville, Tennessee, active between 2006 and 2016. The group has released three albums, their alt-country-leaning self-titled debut ''Those Darlins'' in 2009, the garage rock influenced ''Screws Get L ...

. Juan Pieczanski is the former host of the music interview show "Juan's Basement" on Pitchfork TV. He has contributed as a writer/producer for

MNDR Amanda Lucille Warner (born September 12, 1982), known professionally as MNDR, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She rose to prominence after being featured on Mark Ronson & The Business Intl's 2010 single " Bang Bang Bang" ...

, Psychobuildings and

Briana Marela Briana Marela Lizárraga is an American musician. Previously from Seattle, Marela is now based in Oakland, California.

Discography

Studio albums

*''New Chain'' (

, 2010) *''Limits Of Desire'' (Jagjaguwar, 2013) *''Best Blues'' (Jagjaguwar, 2015) *''Cheap Dreams'' (100% Electronica, 2021)

Extended plays

*''Small Black EP'' ( CassClub/Jagjaguwar, 2009) *''Real People EP'' (Jagjaguwar, 2014)

Mixtapes

*''Moon Killer Mixtape'' (Free download, 2011)

Singles

*''Despicable Dogs'' EP (Transparent Records, 2009) *''Photojournalist b/w Sun Was High (So Was I)'' 7" EP (Jagjaguwar, 2010)

Splits

*''

/Small Black'' split (

Lovepump United Records Lovepump United is an independent record label founded in 2004 by Vassar College students Jake Friedman and Mookie Singerman in Poughkeepsie, New York. The label is based in New York City. Friedman and Singerman were the only members of a duo G ...

), 2010

References

External links

Small Black website

Small Black
on the

official website. * * * * {{Authority control Electronic music groups from New York (state) Chillwave musicians American synth-pop musicians Jagjaguwar artists