Big Hassle Media NY
44 Wall ST FL 22
New York, NY 10005
P 212.619.1360
F 212.619.1669
Big Hassle Media LA
5566 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016
P 323.456.3490
Tiny Victories
Those Of Us Still Alive
Tiny Victories is Greg Walters and Cason Kelly. Their debut EP drops Feb. 28.
So here’s where the band name comes from (or so they tell me): Greg and Cason were walking down the street in Brooklyn when they saw this guy scraping graffiti off his front porch. Somebody wrote “F— You” on his house. He had this gleam in his eye, like he was getting even with the universe in a small way. “All right, everybody, today is mine.” And Greg’s brother Doug, who was with them, turned around and said: “So what are the opposite of tiny defeats?”
For me, that’s what this music is about: small moments of redemption, amplified. It’s got the spirit of a marching band at a funeral. It’s a party at the end of the world, and you can’t help but join in.
It’s a big sound for just two guys. In their live show, they play electronic music with an array of samplers and gadgets and live drums—no laptop. They’ll sample crowd noises with a microphone during the set, process it live, and weave it into the songs. Their show has an uncommonly organic, improvisational feel for electronic music. I’ve seen crowds completely change when Tiny Victories takes the stage.
If you ask Greg and Cason about it, they’ll tell you every song is an experiment. Each uses a method they’ve never tried before. It’s a process that’s impossibly complicated—they’ve tried to explain it to me, and I just nod my head and stand back.
Once (after a long night of drinking) Greg put it this way: “We make simple songs out of complex pieces.” Take a melody that works on an acoustic guitar. Then orchestrate it with samples that have been reprocessed beyond recognition—like the sound of trash being thrown into a Manhattan dumpster. They sampled that one afternoon, then ran it through a gazillion effects and turned it into a backbeat you can hear in the ending of Get Lost.
I first found out about these guys last year, back when I had a job booking bands in Brooklyn. I’d scroll through hundreds of bands looking for something new, something that stood out. And then I came across these two. It was suspiciously great music.
They formed the band in 2010 after meeting in Brooklyn. Cason moved there from Athens, GA, and spent his early 20s doing social work with inner city kids. Greg, born in DC, moved to New York after six years as a foreign correspondent, covering a war (Russia-Georgia) and two revolutions (Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan). If you ask them to tell you a story, get ready for a crazy one.
Those Of Us Still Alive is their debut album. But these songs don’t sound like a band’s first effort. They have the confidence and consistency of a mature project. It’s an album about how the outside world might not be as bad as it looks, or maybe it is. And it’s about ghosts that won’t shut up.
–Timber Wolf
Brooklyn, New York
January 2012
Tiny Victories Announce Debut EP Those Of Us Still Alive, out February 28
Release First Single “Lost Weekend“
“Aural ecstasy… These boys do it right, and then some.” - New York Press
“NYC artists on the rise… in the classic ‘brainy pop’ tradition inaugurated by Brian Eno.” - The Deli Magazine
Tiny Victories is excited to announce the release of their debut EP Those Of Us Still Alive, out February 28th via their own BirdDog Records. In celebration of the upcoming release of their first album, they’ve released the track “Lost Weekend” for free download, available for posting HERE.
“Lost Weekend” provides the perfect introduction to Tiny Victories, showcasing the band’s array of samplers, gadgets and live drums, coupled with singer Greg Walter’s self-assured vocal melodies. Living up to the band’s namesake, the track focuses on small moments of redemption, amplified, with the spirit of a marching band at a funeral.
Those Of Us Still Alive has an uncommonly organic, improvisational feel for electronic music. As Greg explains, “We make simple songs out of complex pieces. Take a melody that works on an acoustic guitar, then orchestrate it with samples that have been reprocessed beyond recognition-like the sound of trash being thrown into a Manhattan dumpster.”
Comprised of Cason Kelly and Greg Walters, the duo formed Tiny Victories in 2010. Prior to their transplant to Brooklyn, Cason spent his early 20s doing social work with inner city kids, while Greg spent six years as a foreign correspondent, covering a war (Russia-Georgia) and two revolutions (Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan).
Previously having shared bills with Hooray for Earth, The Hood Internet, Bear Hands, and Braids, Tiny Victories plans to tour this spring, including a stop in Austin, TX for SXSW.
Those Of Us Still Alive Tracklisting:
1. Mr. Bones
2. Gravitron
3. Lost Weekend
4. Longevity
5. Get Lost
2400x2400
Those Of Us Still Alive - Album Art
2400x2400
L-R: Greg Walters, Cason Kelly
612x612
L-R: Cason Kelly, Greg Walters