The Actors

Artist Information

Biography

Blending synths with guitars and drums, The Actors write reverb-laden songs with strong melodies and swaying beats. Defying indie blogwave convention, all of The Actors' electro-tinged songs are played live by hand - no programming, loops or Ableton anywhere. Their latest EP, "High and Low," is rooted in the emotion and tunefulness of The Cure, The xx, Kraftwerk, and LCD Soundsystem.

Instrumentation

Phil Maves - Vocals, Bass Guitar, Synth
Daniel Leech - Guitar, Backing Vocals, Synth
Cory Aboud - Drums, Percussion

Discography

"High and Low" EP - September 2010

Official Website

http://www.theactorsmusic.com

Links

• Facebook
• YouTube
• Twitter
• MySpace
• Last.fm
• Tumblr

Audio

• Theory of Something
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• Through a False Door
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• First Date
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• Dead Horse Bay
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• Go Home
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Lyrics

• Theory of Something
• Through a False Door
• First Date
• Dead Horse Bay
• Go Home

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• "The Actors are viciously original and worth your listening time." [+ Show ]
  

  "Almost as if they are actively trying to conquer the West Coast music blogosphere, The Actors combi..."Almost as if they are actively trying to conquer the West Coast music blogosphere, The Actors combine every aspect of pure catchiness, tight structure, and reverb soaked tracks that the current modern music nerd is starving for. But this isn’t piggybacking on the wave of dark synth-rock bands making noise right now, The Actors are viciously original and worth your listening time. With only a 5-song EP (free to download here) and a significant buzz among the Bay Area music scene, the band is on their way to becoming a bit more than they might have expected. Darkly fun music like this doesn’t come around this often, at least not this honest." - Shawn Robbins, Kata Rokkar, Nov 2010
  

• "...A capacious synth-pop sound reminiscent of a fusion between Band of Horses and MGMT..." [+ Show ]
  

  "With a capacious synth-pop sound reminiscent of a fusion between Band of Horses and MGMT, The Actor..."With a capacious synth-pop sound reminiscent of a fusion between Band of Horses and MGMT, The Actors filled the spaces between people with their reverb-laden songs. The Actors steadily built a captivating groove so that by the time they got to the most powerful song of the set, “First Date,” the whole room had broken out in dance." - The Deli Magazine SF, Dec 2010 (live review)
  

• Best of 2010 SF Bay Area - picked "Through a False Door" [+ Show ]
  

  Featured "Through a False Door" in Best of 2010 Bay Area list: "We’ll be doing plenty of “Best of...Featured "Through a False Door" in Best of 2010 Bay Area list:
  
  "We’ll be doing plenty of “Best of 2010" retrospectives over the next few weeks, but it seems appropriate to kick off our look back at the past year with a more comprehensive survey of San Francisco Bay Area indie music in 2010...there are so many talented artists in the Bay that there’s no better way to get a taste of things than to just immerse oneself in the music." - The Bay Bridged, December 2010.

• "Their enthu­si­asm for the music was infec­tious...it was dif­fi­cult to pull myself away." [+ Show ]
  

  "The band was nice enough (and con­fi­dent enough) to let me hang around and shoot some pho­tos yes­..."The band was nice enough (and con­fi­dent enough) to let me hang around and shoot some pho­tos yes­ter­day while they tracked a new song...When I vis­ited Tiny Telephone, spir­its were high. While they were only lay­ing down live basics, the sounds and takes they were get­ting were rich and juicy. Their enthu­si­asm for the music was infec­tious and by the time I started to get famil­iar with the song they were work­ing on, it was dif­fi­cult to pull myself away." - Keith Axline, The Signal and Noise, Dec 2010

• "A moving combination of heroic vocals, gentle synthesizer tones, and grooving beats." [+ Show ]
  

  "The Actors' latest EP High and Low...is a moving combination of heroic vocals, gentle synthesizer t..."The Actors' latest EP High and Low...is a moving combination of heroic vocals, gentle synthesizer tones, and grooving beats...“Theory of Something” builds its conclusion in charming vocal harmonies...“Through A False Door” follows, quickly exploding in a brilliant burst of guitar hooks and voluminous synthesizer tones...with the lead singer belting out in a powerful high tenor. On the album's most seductive track “First Date,” the singer is able to show off an impressive vocal range, with fantastic harmonies supporting it...Catchy and sweet, High and Low is an exciting EP with plenty of space to discover sounds and hooks within the music that will certainly delight your ears." - Ada Lann, The Deli Magazine, December 2010.

• "The vocal melodies are wonderfully structured while the vast variety of keyboard and basslines are layered perfectly." [+ Show ]
  

  "What makes this EP a bit different...is the depth of the record. The vocal melodies are wonderfully..."What makes this EP a bit different...is the depth of the record. The vocal melodies are wonderfully structured while the vast variety of keyboard and basslines are layered perfectly...one dance party not to miss." - September 13, 2010

• "It’s hard not to love this heavy synth retro-pop. Awesome stuff..." [+ Show ]
  

  "It’s hard to make comparisons sometimes without taking away from the uniqueness of the band you’re ..."It’s hard to make comparisons sometimes without taking away from the uniqueness of the band you’re talking about....It’s hard not to love this heavy synth retro-pop. Awesome stuff, and you can go download it for free at their bandcamp!" - September 10, 2010

• "I was pleased to catch wind of The Actors..." [+ Show ]
  

  "In slight opposition to my complete overdose on the beachy, shoegaze psychedelic sounds of summer, ..."In slight opposition to my complete overdose on the beachy, shoegaze psychedelic sounds of summer, I was pleased to catch wind of The Actors this morning." - September 15, 2010

Setlist

Typical Set Time: 40-45 Minutes

Songs:

Theory of Something
Through a False Door
First Date
Dead Horse Bay
Go Home
Heat In The Street
Not a Beast
Too Casual
You Were Gone
Doomed to Die First

Basic Requirements

Calendar