Royal Bangs

In early Fall 2009, Knoxville, TN-based quintet Royal Bangs will release their highly-anticipated sophomore album Let It Beep on Audio Eagle Records (U.S.) and City Slang (Europe). The forthcoming album arrives on the heels of their self-released (and home-recorded) full-length debut We Breed Champions (2006), which caught the attention of Patrick Carney of The Black Keys. In May 2008, Carney reissued We Breed Champions on his own Audio Eagle Records. Royal Bangs will tour this fall in support of Let It Beep, opening for Carney’s new band Drummer. Royal Bangs were founded by Ryan Schaefer, Chris Rusk and Sam Stratton. The trio took a brief hiatus prior to the reissue of their debut album—Schaefer spent a year in France soaking up musical inspiration for the follow-up—and later reconvened, rounding out their line-up as a five-piece with two additional members: Henry Gibson and Brandon Biondo. Nearly two years after the record’s initial release, Royal Bangs toured in support of We Breed Champions performing at Bonnaroo and SXSW in addition to opening for The Black Keys for a series of dates in Fall 2008. The band recorded their sophomore effort Let It Beep at Tangerine Sound Studios in Akron, OH. The album was produced by Schaefer and engineered by Ben Vehorn (Love as Laughter). Let It Beep fuses two concepts: the electronic (thick synths and dance-y drum programming) and the pop/rock of the 1970s. Of the recording process, Schaefer says, “We were consulting a lot of 70s pop recordings for production ideas—Off The Wall-era Michael Jackson, the Bee Gees and Fleetwood Mac, among others.” Schaefer also cites Bruce Springsteen, Thin Lizzy and the Blade Runner soundtrack as primary influences.