Great Northern

Los Angeles quartet Great Northern create a shimmering folk-rock-influenced style of dream pop that's centered with just enough of a rock & roll heart to keep it from floating off into the ether. The heart of the band is singer/songwriter Solon Bixler, who had been raised in a classical music environment as the son of a composer and conductor, but whose primary earlier musical experiences were as guitarist for the alt-rock band 30 Seconds to Mars (featuring pretty boy actor Jared Leto on lead vocals) from 2000 to 2003, followed by a stint in the Grandaddy-influenced psych pop outfit Earlimart. After writing and recording a series of demos while on the road with Earlimart, Bixler solicited lyrics and vocals from his friend Rachel Stolte, a singer, keyboardist, and occasional actress who had formerly been lead singer of the late-'90s post-hardcore outfit Whirlpool. Recruiting drummer Davey Latter (who had played with Bixler in Earlimart) and bassist Ashley Dzerigian (following an abortive stint with the Silversun Pickups' Brian Aubert on bass) to complete the band, Great Northern began gigging around Los Angeles in 2005 while completing the songs that would make up their first album. Following a pair of low-profile self-released demo EPs, Great Northern signed with the indie Eenie Meenie Records in the summer of 2006 and began recording their debut with producer Mathias Schneeberger. Trading Twilight for Daylight was released in the spring of 2007.