“Deadliest Catch” Indie Rockers Golden State To Release New Album July 19th

Photo Credit: Janée Meadows

Indie rockers GOLDEN STATE are gaining international recognition and a faithful following for their brand of soaring and deeply emotional rock. The Los Angeles-based band has placed an array of songs on high-profile TV shows, film and commercials although they are not signed to a major label. Their self-released debut full-length album DIVISION, out Tuesday, July 19, will feature a few of these tracks as well as newly recorded material. They will perform the new music live in Los Angeles on Wednesday, May 18 at the Viper Room and Tuesday, May 24 at Silverlake Lounge with more shows to follow.

GOLDEN STATE’s fusion of classic songwriting and incisive arrangements is crafted by lead vocalist/guitarist JAMES GRUNDLER, bassistALEX PARNELL, lead guitarist MARC BOGGIO and drummer FERNANDO SANCHEZ. They turn big melodic hooks into epic rockers with subtly poignant lyrics.

These strong  emotive tunes have earned the band placements on popular TV programs such as ABC’s “Private Practice,” “The Gates”and CBS’ “Flashpoint” as well as several MTV shows including “Teen Mom,” “16 and Pregnant” and “If You Really Knew Me.”

• In addition, their powerful and moving track “All Roads Lead Home” aired on the Emmy-nominated episode of Discovery Channel show “Deadliest Catch,” generating 4,000 digital sales of the song in just four weeks. View a snippet of that episode honoring the late Captain Phil Harris here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6a2mWVsDOs.

• “All Roads Lead Home” was also selected as the title track for Luke Wilson’s 2008 film Henry Poole Is Here, prompting over 145,000 views of the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUsv_dDqX6U.

• Their track “Let It Touch You” was used for a viral iPad ad campaign: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nut9JihkNvQ andhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2DVbLVQcSw.

• More recently, “All Roads Lead Home” is being featured in the trailer for the new Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr. film Dolphin Tales: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdpg9NsgEaI.

• GOLDEN STATE is also getting international attention as a previously unreleased song “Till The End” is being used in multiple promos for the BBC’s upcoming coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s royal wedding on April 29. Watch here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMaU3aswjx0 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF7v6W6hIXE.

• Early press reaction has been positive. GOLDEN STATE is currently featured in 944 Magazine’s annual music issue. Writer Juliana Appenrodt described the music as “riveting and eloquent” and further says, “The guys of Golden State have been quietly revolutionizing the world of modern rock ‘n’ roll for quite some time, but this year they’ve decided to turn up the volume.” (April 2011). Los Angeles music critic and tastemaker Kevin Bronson wrote about the band on his respected Buzzbands.la blog, noting the “muscular anthems reminiscent of British arena rockers such as U2, the Catherine Wheel and Muse…the single ‘World on Fire’ is a meat-and-potatoes modern rocker that tastes awfully familiar but is so hearty it won’t let go. All part of a balanced musical diet, I say.” (4/13/11)

GOLDEN STATE was formed from the ashes of GRUNDLER’s prior band, American Recordings’ Paloalto. After two Rick Rubin-produced albums, the industry began to change and false promises, lies and excuses quickly became the norm.  Scarred and defeated, it would take another four years for the quartet to come together with all the right players. Now all with the same direction, the music comes from a place of inspiration, a subconscious voice, a startling take on alternative rock, dazzled by horrors of the world but secure in human foundation.

“It’s that journey you have to take to redefine yourself,” explains GRUNDLER. “You go back to your roots and find that place you were before you started making music that was so exciting and organic. I lost my way and started believing what everyone else was telling me rather than just trusting what I do. I feel so much more confident in the music that I’m writing and the place we are because we’re making our own timeline and making the process happen. This time it is all sparked by the inspiration.”

DIVISION will include: “Light Speed,” a huge love anthem full of galactic imagery; “The Outsiders,” a bombastic rallying call for society’s misfits and alternative thinkers; and first single, “World On Fire” which GRUNDLER says is “almost biblical. There’s a stained glass window that is part of Fabian socialist society. It depicts two men with hammers over their heads ready to swing down at this globe, this round ball that just came out of the furnace–this world on fire–and they’re going to shape the way they want. When the world’s on fire, will we be able to believe in each other?”

Another gem is the lush, stripped-back ballad “All Roads Lead Home,” the album’s emotional bedrock and safety net. “It’s about remembering,” says GRUNDLER. “When you’re out in the world and things get shifted and scattered, just remember that you can find your way back to that place it all began.”

“The sky’s the limit,” GRUNDLER proclaims. “This time around I don’t think we’re biting off more than we can chew. We’ve seen how it works and how to put it together to be at that arena level.”

All they ask is that you keep your mind open and your heart unbound.

Listen to album track teasers and GRUNDLER explain the inspiration for DIVISION here: http://goldenstateband.com/division/.