Unmarked Cars

Artist Information

Biography

Unmarked Cars is a five piece band from Oklahoma City that has been compared to the Metric, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Paramore, Blondie, No Doubt, L7, with tinges of Pink Floydian moments amongst many others. Their bristling live shows are highlighted by clockwork rhythms, phased out guitars, synths and gritty female vocals bathed in the light of projected madness.

Beginning as a project of step brothers Justin Hogan on guitar and Rich Hayes on bass, they soon added Scott Edwards on the drums. Unmarked Cars played briefly as an instrumental band with the dynamic visual effects provided by independent filmmaker Mike Walsh, as they auditioned to find a vocal fit with the brand of rock that they had come to play. After nearly a year of grueling auditions a match was finally found in Courtney Harmon, and soon to follow was the first release, entitled The Charade EP, with a video for the title track and Dreaming Awake soon to follow (both directed by Mike Walsh).

Building momentum with their new vocalist, playing local shows and writing new material, the band recorded and released their debut album. With the release of A Guide To The Common Era came a lot of notoriety, from being featured on The Local Heat TV, the Set, a local music segment on The University of Oklahoma's The Wire, to the Chevy Bricktown Showcase, aired on KWTV (the Oklahoma City CBS affiliate), to playing a number of festivals including ACM Rocks Bricktown, the Oklahoma City Pride Festival, the Free Tulsa Music Festival, and the Norman Music Festival. The band also performed at, and was included as part of the exhibits of, the Oklahoma History Museum's Rock Exhibit with the Flaming Lips and Wanda Jackson (amongst many other greats) and the Women's Pioneer Museum: Women of Rock exhibit.

After the success of the debut album, the band began playing more regional shows and garnered airplay on Oklahoma City radio station KSPI: the Spy and Rock 100.5: the KATT, amongst others. As the fanbase of Unmarked Cars grew, they found the need to expand the musical family to include a keyboardist/guitarist James Spake. With this full line-up the band continues to evolve and grow their sound, popularity and fanbase, blossoming in an ever expanding artistry that culminates in the a live show that must witnessed.

Members of the band have also taken part in film projects including Shuttermind (directed by Melissa Sue Lopez, written by Melissa Sue Lopez, P. L. George), Kriemhild's Dream (James Britton), Phantom (James Britton) and Scars (Mike Walsh).

Instrumentation

Courtney Harmon - Vocals.
Justin Hogun - Guitar.
Richie Hayes - Bass
Scotty Edwards - Drums.
James Spake - Keys/Guitar

Discography

Self Titled EP "Unmarked Cars"

Debut LP "A Guide to the Common Era"

Links

• Facebook
• Last.fm
• MySpace
• Twitter

Audio

• Red Shift Desert
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• Collision
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• Crowns of Confusion
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• Only the End
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Lyrics

• Crowns of Confusion
• Red Shift Desert
• Collision
• Only the End

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Singer helps band make mark [+ Show ]
  

  LOCAL BAND Q&A Q: What has been the biggest accomplishment in your music so far? A: Justin Hogan...LOCAL BAND Q&A
  Q: What has been the biggest accomplishment in your music so far?
  
  A: Justin Hogan, guitar: Finding a singer who fit with what we were wanting to do musically. It took us from a three-piece instrumental prog band and made us evolve into what we are now.
  
  Q: What are the lessons you've learned from performing?
  A: Richie Hayes, bass: We've learned that it's a commitment to the audience to put on the best show you can, no matter what. That said, it also seems there is no such thing as a 'perfect' show. The important thing is to have fun.
  
  Q: What do you hope to accomplish with your music?
  A: Courtney Harmon, vocals:
  That someone out there gets that feeling you get when you listen to music that really affects you. We also want to have longevity.
  
  Q: What has been your biggest mistake on stage, and did anybody notice?
  A: Scott Edwards, drums:
  We've screwed up many times--you never know what will happen when you get that many people together in one place. Therein lies the fun.
  
  Q: Have you ever changed up your set because of equipment failure?
  A: Hogun: No. Usually if we have that happen, the rest of us keep on playing until the problem gets rectified. We did a mean version of "Thriller" one night at the Deli in Norman after a snare drum broke. It was hilarious!
  
  Q: Do you listen to your own music on CD?
  A: Hogun: Yes, but we mainly hear it live .
  
  Q: What sets your band apart from others in your genre?
  A: Harmon: Well, first we'd have to define what exactly our genre is. (on its myspace page, the band is described as "original rock.") Other than that, good musicianship, energy, and lots of television screens.
  
  Q: So is there anything that really irritates you musically speaking?
  A: Hayes: Nickleback. Cheesy lyrics about strippers.
  
  --Chris Colberg
  
  
  

• Soundcheck News [+ Show ]
  

  7/22/2009 Lord knows good lead singers are hard to come by these days. Local boys Unmarked cars suf...7/22/2009
  Lord knows good lead singers are hard to come by these days. Local boys Unmarked cars suffered 30 auditions while trying to find a vocalist with the pipes to front their band, shuffling through a rogues' gallery of less-than-stellar contenders. "We had a guy on meth and he would say, 'I remember seeing you guys live once, but I was tweaking at the time,'" said guitarist Justin Hogun. "And that was every story he told us, it always ended with 'but I was tweaking at the time.'" "And he came in eating barbecue potato chips and kept offering them to us throughout the audition," bassist Rich Hayes added. After running through the remaining applicants with no more luck, Hogun's girlfriend, Courtney Harmon, tried out. Although Harmon hadn't stepped behind a microphone since highschool, she impressed the band members, and two years later, the Oklahoma City group is releasing its first full-length album, "A Guide to the Common Era." Unmarked Cars began as an instrumental trio, so the album is filled with skilled songs reigned into tightly crafted rock tracks. Hogun spent time honing his skills in California, and the West Coast rock structure is evident with shrewd, aggressive, hook-driven songs designed for Harmon's pop-punk delivery and energetic stage presence, reminiscent of Gwen Stefani before she was sold to the Japanese. Basically, "A Guide to the Common Era" is an album built for the "Rock Band" gaming generation of music fans. When the songs are coupled with a bristling live show, Unmarked Cars are a worthy contender to be the next metro band to break into larger markets. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/unmarkedcars.
  --Charles Martin
  

Setlist

our typical set is about an hour right now...most of our songs fall in around 3:30 but we sometimes go into the spirit world and work them for a good 7-8 minutes til we're nice and sweaty...

Basic Requirements

Calendar