Music
Press
Southern rock is alive and well in Atlanta. It’s a blend of rock and roll, country music, and the blues, focusing heavily on vocals and guitars. It’s heyday was back in the 1970s, but if you’ve listened to Band of Horses, My Morning Jacket, Kings of Leon, or even bands like Nickelback, Shinedown, or 3 Doors Down, then you’ve heard southern rock’s influence on alternative rock and post-grunge.
There is nothing better than an awesome guitar solo. Hey, I can’t help it, must be something in the water here.
Actually, I shouldn’t act like I’m ashamed of the South. It’s pretty damn awesome here, even if my high school was across the road from a corn field and there were cows grazing behind the gymnasium parking lot. There’s a lot of fun to be had on those long country roads. (And I’ll stop there before I get myself into trouble. I’d hate for someone to get word back to my parents.)
1978 Champs is a band just making its start in the ATL. While I spend my time discovering bands who are popular overseas, I would be terribly remiss if I didn’t give a shoutout to the new local team. They’ll be playing at the Masquerade later this month, so anyone locally is interested, you should check them out.
Danny Moll has been fighting to share his vision, and that kind of hard work has my admiration. Check out the electronic press kit (EPK) the band put together. It’s a bit long, but I think there are a lot of lessons in there about not taking no for an answer and just getting it done any way possible. If you want your dream bad enough, you’ll fight for it just as hard as Danny has done. It’s worth a listen for anyone wanting to share his or her creative vision.
I know this is a bit different from the other music I’ve shared. Sorry if you felt like I pulled a switcheroo. I’m sure I’ll be back to my regularly scheduled tunes tomorrow.
This is my fav song though.
Thanks for checking out the local team, er, band. Quick, someone play me a guitar solo! - Tracy Cembor
Press Release:
1978 Champs debut a brand new music video for “Under Ground Kings,” covering Drake. An indie-rock/Southern-inspired punk rock project,1978 Champs hail from Atlanta, Georgia, where they wrote and recorded their full length record, Anisah.
Anisah was written and recorded over the span of 2012 by 1978 Champs’ frontman Daniel Burdette Moll, along with the production assistance of Lee Dyess at Earthsound Studios in Valdosta, Georgia. Aaron Lecesne (formerly of The Rise Of Science) stepped in alongside Jack Fowler (formerly of Come What May) and Matthew Lynch (TrioScapes) to fill out the live band, and the group spent the summer months filming a media package to accompany Anisah‘s release.
1978 Champs is an indie-rock project in the sense that everything on the record is intended to be different musically. From the emotional and intimate acoustic approach taken in songs like “Pals” and “Caverns”, to the romping southern soul of “Alamo” and “Wash Away”, the writing approach was derived from a multitude of styles and sounds. The record was made to be played from start to finish.
In its ethos, 1978 Champs is also a punk rock project. On an as-you-can-afford-it budget, Moll and Dyess crafted a full length record over the span of a year. It’s a story of friends helping out friends, and also a story of tenacity and a DIY attitude paying off. Consistently moving forward has found the Champs eagerly awaiting the winter release of "Anisah". - Indie Media Mag
I’m not a fan of Drake. Without getting into it, I am, however, a fan of cool and creative covers. The 1978 Champs, an indie rock, punk-inspired band from Atlanta, recently covered his “Underground Kings” song. 1978 Champs‘ members are Daniel Burdette Moll (vocals, rhythm guitar), Aaron Lecesne (lead guitar), Jack Fowler (bass, backup vocals), and Travis Draper (drums).
Champs turn up the heat, with heavy drumming and revving guitars, while Danny puts an energetic passion into his singing of the song. You can almost smell the sweat. Ok, you can’t, but I think this cover rocks. This is their first music video, too, so check it out. - Crayonbeats
Multimedia company Infamous Empire announced the beginning of their record label last week, and are now introducing their roster. The label has already signed Atlanta band 1978 Champs, and will be announcing the band’s full-length release date this week.
“We are absolutely stoked,” grins 1978 Champs vocalist/songwriter Daniel Burdette Moll. “I wasn’t going to release this album with a label but Infamous Empire turned out to be a great fit for an independent-minded band like us. They really stepped up to the plate and worked closely with us to develop a good partnership. Their ideals as a company are ones we share as artists, so we’re really looking forward to working with them.” - Truth Or Sarah
Discography
"Anisah" full length LP - received a four week college radio campaign and is added on some 40 stations nationwide. Streaming on multiple internet radio sites as well.
Photos
Bio
Atlanta indie mainstay Daniel Burdette Moll unleashes a new project and record under the name 1978 Champs. “It’s my favorite picture of my father,” explains Moll when asked about the project’s name. “He led a rag-tag team of kids to their division championship in 1978. He showed me the picture one day and told me the story, and I’ve always loved it. It makes me feel connected.” The same do-or-die underdog ethos is unmistakable in the Champs’ full-length debut “Anisah,” a sprawling musical landscape characterized by heartfelt vocals, scintillating guitars, cinematic textures, bluesy riffs and boot-stomping intensity. Moll’s voice is as sweet as it is harshly emotive, and he thinks nothing of switching between the soft, acoustic-driven ballad “Iolaire” to the Southern-fried anthem “Alamo” with the ease of a seasoned writer.
“I wrote this entire record myself,” he continues, “and there’s definitely the sense of going it alone written all over the album.” Indeed, the songs reflect a wide range of emotion, artfully woven into surprisingly complex lyrical plots, especially the hard-driving “Color and Cartridge” and “Gold Across The Sea.” “Even though this album was done as a DIY indie project, I still think of it as punk because its central message is not caring what others think and doing what you know as best you can.” Pieced together over the course of a year at Earthsound Studios with Lee Dyess (From First To Last, I Set My Friends On Fire, Mayday Parade), the entire project was self-financed on a pay-as-you-go budget, with Moll performing all the instruments himself. “I washed a lot of dishes to get this done,” he laughs.
After completing the album, Moll set about procuring a live band to bring his vision to life. Guitarist Aaron Lecesne, formerly of The Rise of Science, drummer Matthew Lynch of TrioScapes, and former Come What May guitarist Jack Fowler on bass rounded out the lineup, and the group set about filming a media package for the record’s release. With two videos now available to the public, single “Alamo” and a tasteful and fun cover of Drake’s “Under Ground Kings,” Moll and 1978 Champs are poised to unleash a barrage of moonshine-soaked bluesy rock n’ roll on the masses with the release of “Anisah” on March 23. “Music,” says Moll, “will never be the same.”
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