Pomplamoose
Encyclopedia
Pomplamoose is an American indie music duo consisting of multi-instrumentalist
s Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn. The band formed in the summer of 2008 and sold approximately 100,000 songs online in 2009.
. Pomplamoose is an English-spelling approximation of the French pronunciation.
and MySpace
with few live performances gathering over 322,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel . The group first gained widespread recognition when their video performance of Hail Mary was featured on the front page of YouTube. The duo recently produced the latest studio album of Julia Nunes
.
Their videos mostly take the form of "VideoSongs", a medium Jack Conte defines with two rules:
On April 11, 2010, the band was interviewed on NPR
's All Things Considered
. Conte discussed the "glitz-free" manner in which they record:
Also in April 2010, their cover of The Chordettes
' "Mr. Sandman
" was used in a commercial for Toyota's Avalon
series, set in an art-deco train station.
In September 2010, Pomplamoose recorded a collaboration with Allee Willis
entitled "Jungle Animal". Willis contacted the duo after hearing their cover of "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire
and offered to write the new song for them. Willis also provided the single art for the song.
During the Christmas season of 2010, Pomplamoose performed in several ads in the style of their YouTube videos for Hyundai
singing their versions of the Christmas classics such as "O Come All Ye Faithful", "Jingle Bells
", "Up on the Housetop" and "Deck the Halls".
In 2011, Pomplamoose began a weekly, interactive, half-hour webcast called “Hey, It's Pomplamoose: A Show about Pomplamoose and Other Things” that airs every Tuesday. After the March 29th show, the webcast has been put on hiatus until their East Coast tour is completed. The tour includes Ryan Lerman, Carlos Cabrera, and Lauren O'Connell
as backing band and opening act. For the Washington, DC show, Pomplamoose opened for OK Go
, also known for their YouTube videos.
and songs through the iTunes Store
. Conte has recorded two EP
s - Sleep in Color and Nightmares and Daydreams and released them along with the compilations VideoSongs Volumes I-IV through the iTunes Store. Conte's use of Electro-Harmonix
audio equipment has been featured by the company in several different videos. Conte's first notable appearance in mainstream media was when he supplied his voice for the "teenage boy" character in the popular videogame The Sims 2
. Conte first gained widespread attention when his video Yeah Yeah Yeah was featured on YouTube's main page. The video, animated in stop motion
, has garnered 722,176 views as of March 6, 2011. The majority of his new music is released as singles posted to YouTube
in the form of "VideoSongs" (explained in Recordings and Performances).
Critics have reviewed Conte's solo work positively, citing evocative lyrics in Sleep in Color, creative delivery of his videosongs, and the tenacity to create his own niche in the Internet music market. However, Amplifier magazine negatively reviewed Conte's music stating, "Hints of Conor Oberst
, Radiohead
, Patrick Watson
, contemporary punk rock (screamo), radio power pop, and incalculable other singer-songwriters are more than borrowed, making for a short mishmash of electro rock."
In May 2011, it was announced that Dawn would be joining Barry Manilow
on his new album entitled, Fifteen Minutes, singing the song, "Letter From a Fan".
In 2010, Nataly Dawn in collaboration with Lauren O'Connell
formed the side project group 'My Terrible Friend'.
On July 17th, 2011, Nataly Dawn announced that she would be releasing her first solo album. She started a funding campaign on Kickstarter
where the minimal goal of $20,000 was reached in just 3 days. On September 6, 2011, the album funding campaign came to a close with 2,315 people donating a grand total of $104,788 exceeding the original goal of $20,000 by more than five times.
VS4 is the fourth album in the series of videosong albums by Jack Conte. With the release date being March 23, 2011, Conte released "Make the Grade" as the first videosong. Conte stated at the end of the video that he will be releasing a new videosong every two weeks for the next seven months.
Conte also stated that there is a 109-page book filled with the orchestral scores, lyrics, and five full page black-and-white photos. It also includes piano and vocal transcriptions for "I Wonder Where the Moments Go", vocal arrangement for "Away", and a piano transcription for the riff in "Time of Your Life".
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
s Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn. The band formed in the summer of 2008 and sold approximately 100,000 songs online in 2009.
Etymology
The name of the band derives from the French word pamplemousse, meaning grapefruitGrapefruit
The grapefruit , is a subtropical citrus tree known for its sour fruit, an 18th-century hybrid first bred in Barbados. When found, it was named the "forbidden fruit"; it has also been misidentified with the pomelo or shaddock , one of the parents of this hybrid, the other being sweet orange The...
. Pomplamoose is an English-spelling approximation of the French pronunciation.
Recordings and performances
Pomplamoose's presence is primarily videos on YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
with few live performances gathering over 322,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel . The group first gained widespread recognition when their video performance of Hail Mary was featured on the front page of YouTube. The duo recently produced the latest studio album of Julia Nunes
Julia Nunes
Julia Nunes is a singer and songwriter from Fairport, New York. Her career has progressed online through her videos of pop songs on YouTube in which she sings harmony with herself and plays acoustic instruments, primarily the ukulele, guitar, melodica and piano.-Biography:Nunes was born into a...
.
Their videos mostly take the form of "VideoSongs", a medium Jack Conte defines with two rules:
- What you see is what you hear. (No lip-syncing for instruments or voice)
- If you hear it, at some point you see it. (No hidden sounds)
On April 11, 2010, the band was interviewed on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
's All Things Considered
All Things Considered
All Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
. Conte discussed the "glitz-free" manner in which they record:
Also in April 2010, their cover of The Chordettes
The Chordettes
The Chordettes were a female popular singing quartet, usually singing a cappella, and specializing in traditional popular music. The Chordettes were one of the longest lived vocal groups with beginnings in the mainstream pop and vocal harmonies of the 1940s and early 1950s...
' "Mr. Sandman
Mr. Sandman
"Mr. Sandman" is a popular song written by Pat Ballard which was published in 1954 and first recorded in that year by The Chordettes. The song's lyrics convey a request to "Mr...
" was used in a commercial for Toyota's Avalon
Toyota Avalon
The Toyota Avalon is a full-size car produced by Toyota in the United States, and is the flagship sedan of Toyota in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the Middle East. It was also produced in Australia from 2000 until July 2005 when it was replaced in November 2006 by the Toyota Aurion...
series, set in an art-deco train station.
In September 2010, Pomplamoose recorded a collaboration with Allee Willis
Allee Willis
Allee Willis is an American songwriter, artist, set designer, multimedia artist, writer, collector and director.-Overview:...
entitled "Jungle Animal". Willis contacted the duo after hearing their cover of "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...
and offered to write the new song for them. Willis also provided the single art for the song.
During the Christmas season of 2010, Pomplamoose performed in several ads in the style of their YouTube videos for Hyundai
Hyundai Motor Company
Hyundai Motor Company is a Korean multinational automaker based in Seoul, South Korea which, along with Kia, comprises the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, the world's fourth largest automaker as of 2009. As of 2011, it is the world's fastest growing automaker for two years running...
singing their versions of the Christmas classics such as "O Come All Ye Faithful", "Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells
"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857...
", "Up on the Housetop" and "Deck the Halls".
In 2011, Pomplamoose began a weekly, interactive, half-hour webcast called “Hey, It's Pomplamoose: A Show about Pomplamoose and Other Things” that airs every Tuesday. After the March 29th show, the webcast has been put on hiatus until their East Coast tour is completed. The tour includes Ryan Lerman, Carlos Cabrera, and Lauren O'Connell
Lauren O'Connell
Lauren O'Connell is a singer/songwriter from Rochester, New York. She has released two full length solo albums and one EP as a duo with Nataly Dawn. She began uploading videos of herself performing original songs on YouTube soon after releasing her debut album Sitting in Chairs...
as backing band and opening act. For the Washington, DC show, Pomplamoose opened for OK Go
OK Go
OK Go is a rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, USA, now residing in Los Angeles, California, USA. The band is composed of Damian Kulash , Tim Nordwind , Dan Konopka and Andy Ross , who joined them in 2005, replacing Andy Duncan...
, also known for their YouTube videos.
Albums
- Pomplamoose VideoSongs
- Release date: March 11, 2009
- Label: ShadowTree Music
- Format: Digital downloadMusic downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
- Pas Encore
- Hail Mary
- Be Still
- Centrifuge
- Beat the Horse
- Twice as Nice
- Little Things
- Expiration Date
- Tribute to Famous People
- Label: ShadowTree Music
- Format: Digital downloadMusic downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
- My Favorite ThingsMy Favorite Things (song)"My Favorite Things" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music.-The Sound of Music version:The song was first introduced by Mary Martin in the original Broadway production, and sung by Julie Andrews in the 1965 film.In the musical, the lyrics to the song are a...
- La Vie en RoseLa vie en rose"La Vie en Rose" was the signature song of French singer Édith Piaf.-Signature song of Édith Piaf:Édith Piaf first popularized La Vie en Rose in 1946. The lyrics were written by Piaf and the melody of the song by "Louiguy" . Initially, Piaf's peers and her songwriting team did not think the song...
- Nature BoyNature BoyNature Boy is a song written by eden ahbez and later popularised by Nat King Cole. It may also refer to:In music:* "Nature Boy", a song by Primus from their album 'Pork Soda'...
- Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"Single Ladies " is a song by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles from her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce. It was released by Columbia Records on October 12, 2008 as the album's lead single, and appeared with "If I Were a Boy" as a double A-side single, demonstrating the...
- September
- Mister SandmanMr. Sandman"Mr. Sandman" is a popular song written by Pat Ballard which was published in 1954 and first recorded in that year by The Chordettes. The song's lyrics convey a request to "Mr...
(featuring Ryan Lerman) - Beat ItBeat It"Beat It" is a song written and performed by American recording artist Michael Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones . It is the third single from the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller . Eddie Van Halen was hired to add the song's distinctive overdriven guitar solo, but was prevented by his...
- Makin' OutMakin' Out"Makin' Out" is the first single to be released from Take That band member Mark Owen's independently released third solo album, How The Mighty Fall. The single was released on June 7, 2004. The single peaked at #30 on the UK Singles Chart, and in an interview with BBC Radio 1, Owen blamed this upon...
- I Don't Want to Miss a ThingI Don't Want to Miss a Thing"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" is a song performed by American rock band Aerosmith for the 1998 film Armageddon. Written by Diane Warren, the song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 . The song stayed at number one for four weeks from September 5 to September 26, 1998...
- TelephoneTelephone (song)"Telephone" is a song written and performed by Lady Gaga. It was released from her third extended play and second major release The Fame Monster . The song, featuring American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles, was written by Gaga and Rodney Jerkins...
- the album you bought at our show (thanks for that)
- Release date: June 21, 2011
- Label: Pomplamoose
- Format: CD
- River Shiver
- Single Ladies
- Beat the Horse
- Centrifuge
- September
- Another Day
- Mister Sandman
- If You Think You Need Some Lovin
- Achin' Heart
- Telephone
Extended plays
- 3 New Songs Woot! (2010)
- Release date: January 19, 2010
- Label: ShadowTree Music
- Format: Digital downloadMusic downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
- If You Think You Need Some Lovin
- Another DayAnother DayAnother Day may refer to:Albums* Another Day * Another Day * Another Day * Another Day * Another Day Songs* "Another Day"...
- I Don't Know
- Pomplamoose Christmas
- Release date: 2010
- Label: ShadownTree Music
- Format: Digital downloadMusic downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
- Up on the House TopUp on the House Top"Up on the House Top" is a Christmas song written by Benjamin Hanby in 1864 in the town of New Paris, Ohio.. It has been recorded by a multitude of singers, among the most notable Gene Autry, who is also known for his version of the classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".-History:According to...
- Jingle BellsJingle Bells"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857...
- Deck the Halls
- Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
- Always In The Season
Solo work
Both Conte and Dawn maintain solo careers, releasing videos through YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and songs through the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
. Conte has recorded two EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
s - Sleep in Color and Nightmares and Daydreams and released them along with the compilations VideoSongs Volumes I-IV through the iTunes Store. Conte's use of Electro-Harmonix
Electro-Harmonix
Electro-Harmonix is a New York-based company that makes high-end electronic audio processors. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. They are most famous for a series of popular guitar effects pedals introduced in the 1970s and 1990s....
audio equipment has been featured by the company in several different videos. Conte's first notable appearance in mainstream media was when he supplied his voice for the "teenage boy" character in the popular videogame The Sims 2
The Sims 2
The Sims 2 is a strategic life simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to the best-selling computer game, The Sims, which debuted on February 4, 2000. It was first released on September 14, 2004 for Microsoft Windows. A port to Apple Mac OS X...
. Conte first gained widespread attention when his video Yeah Yeah Yeah was featured on YouTube's main page. The video, animated in stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
, has garnered 722,176 views as of March 6, 2011. The majority of his new music is released as singles posted to YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
in the form of "VideoSongs" (explained in Recordings and Performances).
Critics have reviewed Conte's solo work positively, citing evocative lyrics in Sleep in Color, creative delivery of his videosongs, and the tenacity to create his own niche in the Internet music market. However, Amplifier magazine negatively reviewed Conte's music stating, "Hints of Conor Oberst
Conor Oberst
Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, Norman Bailer , Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Monsters of Folk.-Musical career:Oberst began...
, Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, Patrick Watson
Patrick Watson (musician)
Patrick Watson is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and the name of the band which he fronts, whose blend of cabaret pop and classical music influences with indie rock has been compared to Rufus Wainwright, Andrew Bird, Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley and Pink Floyd for their experimental musicianship.-...
, contemporary punk rock (screamo), radio power pop, and incalculable other singer-songwriters are more than borrowed, making for a short mishmash of electro rock."
In May 2011, it was announced that Dawn would be joining Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
on his new album entitled, Fifteen Minutes, singing the song, "Letter From a Fan".
In 2010, Nataly Dawn in collaboration with Lauren O'Connell
Lauren O'Connell
Lauren O'Connell is a singer/songwriter from Rochester, New York. She has released two full length solo albums and one EP as a duo with Nataly Dawn. She began uploading videos of herself performing original songs on YouTube soon after releasing her debut album Sitting in Chairs...
formed the side project group 'My Terrible Friend'.
On July 17th, 2011, Nataly Dawn announced that she would be releasing her first solo album. She started a funding campaign on Kickstarter
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an online threshold pledge system for funding creative projects. Kickstarter has funded a diverse array of endeavors, ranging from indie film and music to journalism, solar energy technology and food-related projects.-Model:...
where the minimal goal of $20,000 was reached in just 3 days. On September 6, 2011, the album funding campaign came to a close with 2,315 people donating a grand total of $104,788 exceeding the original goal of $20,000 by more than five times.
Albums
- VideoSongs Volume 1
- Release date: Unknown
- Label: ShadownTree Music
- Format: Digital downloadMusic downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
- "Push"
- "Eat"
- "These Days"
- "The Giant"
- "Lonely Ghost"
- "Flavors"
- "Passenger Seat" (featuring Louis Cole)
- "Yeah Yeah Yeah v2"
- VideoSongs Volume 2
- Release date: 2008
- Label: ShadowTree Music
- Format: Digital downloadMusic downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
- "We Grew Up So Well"
- "Kitchen Fork"
- "This Disaster"
- "Ten Thousand Feet per Second"
- "Out of Nowhere"
- "Trains and Window Collection"
- "Impression"
- "On Planets"
- "Gulf"
- "I Know"
- VideoSongs Volume 3
- Release date 2008
- ShadowTree Music
- Digital downloadMusic downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
- "The Way it was Before" (featuring Nataly Dawn and Ryan Lerman)
- "Freaks and Clowns"
- "Bloody Nose"
- "Get Happy"
- VS4
VS4 is the fourth album in the series of videosong albums by Jack Conte. With the release date being March 23, 2011, Conte released "Make the Grade" as the first videosong. Conte stated at the end of the video that he will be releasing a new videosong every two weeks for the next seven months.
Conte also stated that there is a 109-page book filled with the orchestral scores, lyrics, and five full page black-and-white photos. It also includes piano and vocal transcriptions for "I Wonder Where the Moments Go", vocal arrangement for "Away", and a piano transcription for the riff in "Time of Your Life".
- Release date: March 23, 2011
- Label: ShadowTree Music
- Format: CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, Digital downloadMusic downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
- "Make the Grade"
- "Time of Your Life"
- "Sinking Feeling"
- "The Time Has Come"
- "Off with His Head"
- "Long Long Time Ago"
- "Mercenary"
- "Away"
- "Only Dreaming"
- "Get it Out"
- "I Would be Happy"
- "I Wonder Where the Moments Go"
- "Mister Money Bags"
- "Push It"
- "Reprise"
Extended plays
- Nightmares and Daydreams
- Release date: May 21, 2007
- Label: ShadowTree Music
- Format: Digital downloadMusic downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
- "Starlight"
- "Yeah Yeah Yeah"
- "Tick Tock"
- "Unfrozen"
- Sleep in Color
- Release date: September 25, 2008
- Label: ShadowTree Music
- Format: CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, Digital downloadMusic downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
- Hollywood Endings
- "Like a Match"
- "The Greatest Hoax"
- "Now That's Sacred"
- "Carousel Waltz"