The Union Trade
Encyclopedia
The Union Trade is an American Indie rock
band formed in San Francisco, California
, in 2006. An early and leading member of the Bay Area post-rock
scene, The Union Trade is also the founding band of San Francisco independent music label, Tricycle Records
. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Nate Munger (lead vocals, bass), Don Joslin (guitar), and Eric Salk (vocals, guitar, keys). The founding drummer was Dan Rodkewich. The band's current drummer, David Elrod, has been with the band since 2010.
, The Morning Benders
, Neon Trees
, Film School
, Vetiver
, Pela
, Figurines
, The Pack A.D.
, Starlight Mints
, Dappled Cities, Polysics
, Loquat
, and LoveLikeFire
.
The Union Trade made their recording debut in February 2007 with the release of their first EP
, Now the Swell, on Tricycle Records
. This EP was also the first release on the label which guitarist Don Joslin co-founded with San Francisco music photographer, Julie Schucard. The follow up full-length album, Everyday Including, also released on Tricycle, came out in August 2008. Smother Magazine called it "a transcendental album awash in guitar fuzzy logic and hugely catchy triumphs. Simply amazing and simply essential" and the UK music blog
The Beat Surrender ranked it #32 of its Top 50 albums for 2008. The Union Trade's most recent recording for Tricycle, the EP Why We Need Night, was released on February 8, 2011, and received recognition as a notable release from music publications such as the KEXP blog, Indie Rock Cafe, Largehearted Boy, and Faronheit. The San Francisco music blog Kata Rokkar calls Why We Need Night "A moody but gorgeous EP infused with youthful sincerity, it is cinematic in scope with soothing soundscapes of atmospheric, ambient, and shimmering chimes interspersed with crashing interludes...This isn't average post rock that drags and bores the listener, this is tight and well thought out songs that burst with color and expand with repeated listens."
As members of the local San Francisco indie rock scene, The Union Trade have have played multiple live shows at local venues including six at Bottom Of The Hill, Cafe Du Nord, and Rickshaw Stop. They also performed as part of the San Francisco indie music festival Noisepop in 2007 and 2008. In 2008 and 2009 The Union Trade traveled to Austin
, Texas
, to perform in the Bay Area Takeover, a Bay Area music scene showcase sponsored by Tricycle Records and the music blog The Bay Bridged during the South by Southwest
(SXSW) music festival. In 2009, they were also selected as an official showcasing band at SXSW. In a review from the release show of Everyday Including, West Coast Performer magazine described The Union Trade's live set as a "heavy-hitting somber sound" with "a hauntingly sustaining wail over jagged vocals and pulsating rhythms set by the band's aggressive drummer and bassist."
The Union Trade have been placed in regular rotation on several important internet radio outlets, including Pandora Radio, somaFM's indie pop rocks, and LastFM
and shoegaze genres. Designating themselves "cinematic post-rock," the band describes their sound as bridging the typically instrumental rock sounds of influences such as Mogwai
, Explosions in the Sky
, This Will Destroy You
, with the highly effected guitar and vocal sounds of bands like The Appleseed Cast
, Ride
, Slowdive
, and Swervedriver
.
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band formed in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, in 2006. An early and leading member of the Bay Area post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
scene, The Union Trade is also the founding band of San Francisco independent music label, Tricycle Records
Tricycle Records
Tricycle Records is a San Francisco based independent record label founded in 2006 by Julie Schuchard and Don Joslin . The label launched with the release of The Union Trade's first EP, Now the Swell, in 2007. Since the launch, Tricycle records has grown into a multi-genre label catering to DIY...
. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Nate Munger (lead vocals, bass), Don Joslin (guitar), and Eric Salk (vocals, guitar, keys). The founding drummer was Dan Rodkewich. The band's current drummer, David Elrod, has been with the band since 2010.
History
The Union Trade's first live performance was an unpublicized show on August 19, 2006, played before a small group of friends and family in the upstairs back room of Edinburgh Castle, a San Francisco pub and music venue. Prior to The Union Trade, Don Joslin and Nate Munger were in an instrumental band together called The Andrea Doria. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Joslin described the first six months of the Union Trade as "exciting for all of us ... The vision came first, then the band set out to develop the sound ... In the end, we have all reached a place musically that none of us would have reached alone." The first official live performance of the band was at another SF venue, Hotel Utah, on September 26, 2006. The band has since shared the stage with notable national and international acts like The Appleseed CastThe Appleseed Cast
The Appleseed Cast is an American emo/post-rock band based in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, composed of singer/guitarist Christopher Crisci , guitarist Aaron Pillar, bassist Nathan Whitman and drummer John Momberg...
, The Morning Benders
The Morning Benders
The Morning Benders are an indie rock band from Berkeley, California, now based in Brooklyn, New York.In 2008, they released their debut album Talking Through Tin Cans on +1 Records...
, Neon Trees
Neon Trees
Neon Trees is an American alternative rock band from Provo, Utah, with origins in Murrieta, California. The band received nationwide exposure in late 2008 when they opened several North American tour dates for the rock band The Killers. Not long after, the band was signed by Mercury Records and...
, Film School
Film School (band)
Film School is a five-piece indie rock band from San Francisco, California.-History:The band was formed in the late-1990s by lead singer Greg Bertens [aka Krayg Burton]. Initially the band only consisted of Bertens working with members of Fuck and Pavement when they released their debut album...
, Vetiver
Vetiver (band)
Vetiver are an American folk band headed by songwriter Andy Cabic.- History :Cabic was a member of the Greensboro, North Carolina indie rock band The Raymond Brake who released some records on the now defunct Simple Machines label. He formed Vetiver after moving to San Francisco. The band...
, Pela
Pela
Pela was an American indie rock band from Brooklyn known for their intense live performances.-History:Pela's history goes back to the early ’90s when lead vocalist and guitarist Billy McCarthy met Christopher Herb. As best friends they worked at a mall together after dropping out of high school,...
, Figurines
Figurines
Figurines is an indie rock band from Denmark, formed in the mid-1990s. The band released their first EP, The Detour, in 2001 and their first full-length album, Shake a Mountain, in 2004. The band began to receive national attention in Denmark around the time of the full-length release, and began...
, The Pack A.D.
The Pack A.D.
The Pack A.D. is a garage rock duo from Vancouver, Canada. Formed in 2006, The Pack A.D. consists of singer/songwriter/guitarist Becky Black and drummer/songwriter Maya Miller. The Pack A.D...
, Starlight Mints
Starlight Mints
Starlight Mints are an indie pop band from Norman, Oklahoma. The band was formed in the '90s and has varied in size between four and seven members. The current lineup consists of Allan Vest , Andy Nunez , Marian Love Nunez , Ryan Lindsey and Javier Gonzales...
, Dappled Cities, Polysics
Polysics
is a Japanese new wave and rock band from Tokyo, who dubs its unique style as "technicolor pogo punk". It was named after a brand of synthesizer, the Korg Polysix. The band started in 1997, but got their big break in 1998 at a concert in Tokyo...
, Loquat
Loquat (band)
Loquat is an electronic/pop band based in San Francisco, California. The group is currently composed of Kylee Swenson Gordon , Christopher Cooper , Anthony Gordon , and Chip Cosby .-History:...
, and LoveLikeFire
LoveLikeFire
LoveLikeFire is a San Francisco-based indie rock band. The group was formed in 2006 and whilst an unsigned artist they independently released two EPs, Bed of Gold and An Ocean in the Air , as well as mounted a self-organized national tour to promote the latter release...
.
The Union Trade made their recording debut in February 2007 with the release of their first 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...
, Now the Swell, on Tricycle Records
Tricycle Records
Tricycle Records is a San Francisco based independent record label founded in 2006 by Julie Schuchard and Don Joslin . The label launched with the release of The Union Trade's first EP, Now the Swell, in 2007. Since the launch, Tricycle records has grown into a multi-genre label catering to DIY...
. This EP was also the first release on the label which guitarist Don Joslin co-founded with San Francisco music photographer, Julie Schucard. The follow up full-length album, Everyday Including, also released on Tricycle, came out in August 2008. Smother Magazine called it "a transcendental album awash in guitar fuzzy logic and hugely catchy triumphs. Simply amazing and simply essential" and the UK music blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
The Beat Surrender ranked it #32 of its Top 50 albums for 2008. The Union Trade's most recent recording for Tricycle, the EP Why We Need Night, was released on February 8, 2011, and received recognition as a notable release from music publications such as the KEXP blog, Indie Rock Cafe, Largehearted Boy, and Faronheit. The San Francisco music blog Kata Rokkar calls Why We Need Night "A moody but gorgeous EP infused with youthful sincerity, it is cinematic in scope with soothing soundscapes of atmospheric, ambient, and shimmering chimes interspersed with crashing interludes...This isn't average post rock that drags and bores the listener, this is tight and well thought out songs that burst with color and expand with repeated listens."
As members of the local San Francisco indie rock scene, The Union Trade have have played multiple live shows at local venues including six at Bottom Of The Hill, Cafe Du Nord, and Rickshaw Stop. They also performed as part of the San Francisco indie music festival Noisepop in 2007 and 2008. In 2008 and 2009 The Union Trade traveled to Austin
Austin
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas.Austin may also refer to:-In the United States:*Austin, Arkansas*Austin, Colorado*Austin, Chicago, Illinois*Austin, Indiana*Austin, Minnesota*Austin, Nevada*Austin, Oregon...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, to perform in the Bay Area Takeover, a Bay Area music scene showcase sponsored by Tricycle Records and the music blog The Bay Bridged during the South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
(SXSW) music festival. In 2009, they were also selected as an official showcasing band at SXSW. In a review from the release show of Everyday Including, West Coast Performer magazine described The Union Trade's live set as a "heavy-hitting somber sound" with "a hauntingly sustaining wail over jagged vocals and pulsating rhythms set by the band's aggressive drummer and bassist."
The Union Trade have been placed in regular rotation on several important internet radio outlets, including Pandora Radio, somaFM's indie pop rocks, and LastFM
Musical style and influences
The Union Trade is most widely associated with the post-rockPost-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
and shoegaze genres. Designating themselves "cinematic post-rock," the band describes their sound as bridging the typically instrumental rock sounds of influences such as Mogwai
Mogwai
The word mogwai is the transliteration of the Cantonese word 魔怪 meaning "monster", "evil spirit", "devil" or "demon".-Mogwai/Mogui in Chinese culture:...
, Explosions in the Sky
Explosions in the Sky
Explosions in the Sky is an American post-rock band from Texas. The band has garnered popularity beyond the post-rock scene for their elaborately developed guitar work, narratively styled instrumentals, what they refer to as "cathartic mini-symphonies," and their enthusiastic and emotional live shows...
, This Will Destroy You
This Will Destroy You
This Will Destroy You, often abbreviated to TWDY, is an American post-rock band from San Marcos, Texas, formed in 2005. The band consists of guitarists Jeremy Galindo and Chris King, bass player and keyboardist Donovan Jones and drummer Alex Bhore...
, with the highly effected guitar and vocal sounds of bands like The Appleseed Cast
The Appleseed Cast
The Appleseed Cast is an American emo/post-rock band based in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, composed of singer/guitarist Christopher Crisci , guitarist Aaron Pillar, bassist Nathan Whitman and drummer John Momberg...
, Ride
Ride (band)
Ride were a British alternative rock band that formed in 1988 in Oxford, England, consisting of Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Laurence "Loz" Colbert, and Steve Queralt. The band were initially part of the "shoegazing" scene. Following the break-up of the band in 1996, members moved on to various other...
, Slowdive
Slowdive
Slowdive were an English shoegaze band that formed in 1989. The band formed in Reading, Berkshire and primarily consisted of Nick Chaplin , Rachel Goswell , Neil Halstead , and Christian Savill...
, and Swervedriver
Swervedriver
Swervedriver are an English alternative rock band from Oxford. The band went on hiatus in 1998 before reforming in 2008 for a world tour, which included a performance at the high-profile Coachella Festival...
.
Discography
- Now The Swell (2007)
- Everyday Including (2008)
- Why We Need Night (2011)
Band Members
- Don Joslin - guitar (2006–present)
- Nate Munger - bass guitar (2006–present)
- Eric Salk - guitar / keyboard (2006–present)
- David Elrod - drums (2010–present)