Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
With years as a member of various punk bands, Drive Til Morning is the project where he finds himself. Wistful nostalgic music that sorta makes you both sad and happy at the same time, this CD is well worth the listen. In the tradition of Damien Jurado, Ryan Adams and Bruce Springsteen 'Nebraska'. We've got some high quality, alt-country/folk stylings going on. Pretty music, pretty voice, interesting thoughts. - print magazine
Seamlessly blends Hank Senior-esque twang with raw indie four-track sensibility, delicate electronic beats, and roots-based accompaniment. This self-titled album will easily build a devout following. Maybe you can be one of the lucky ones to say you heard it first. - www.bettawreckonize.com
The juxtaposition of NY and Austin are evidenced on the album, coming off as a hip No Depression-style record. The album is a great listen...invites any fan to sing along with it. - www.culturebunker.com
Consider Elliott Smith in the cool midnight air of a blue western highway, the myriad stars above, the warm tarmac beneath and the crackle of a nearby campfire. It's bare-bones country music for the jaded post-emo generation...It's the slow creaking of a rocking chair on the warped boards of a porch, watching dusk gather over distant peaks and a storm cloud drift overhead. - print fanzine
An utterly wonderful record, full of 4 AM songs; things you'd listen to while driving down a dark and lonely interstate or after getting home from a night of drinking. He has proven himself capable of writing really good, affecting songs. A force that's only going to get better and better. - www.mundanesounds.com
This is the most original thing I have heard in months. Highly recommended...a road trip captured in music. - print magazine
I was really taken aback by how good this album is. I was thoroughly impressed by how little instrumentation is involved to make a record far more complex than it lets on...loved it the first time I heard it. Drive Til Morning is perhaps one the most intricate folk albums ever created. - www.punkinternational.com
The right stuff for warm summer nights. Francis Garcia adds something fresh and new to this genre. Ten songs of beautiful, relaxed music...Get this. - www.voiceofreason.de
Drive Til Morning succeeds where few bands have succeeded before: making a true road trip-soundtrack. Take my word for it; close your eyes and follow him to the early morning. Without question, Drive Til Morning is beautiful. - www.bleedingheroes.net
Brooklyn-based one-man band Francis Garcia drowns his sorrows in twangy alt-country and lonesome steel guitars...he pares his pathos down to an acoustic guitar; simple, ambient beats; and his reflective voice. Like an electro Iron & Wine. - print newspaper
Discography
I Was The Lead Singer
split EP with Jeff Caudill
All About Records/Top Five Records, September 2006
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
compilation track - Wok And Roll
Itchy Korean Records, August 2006
Drive Til Morning
self-titled LP
Deep Elm Records, 2003
Tell Me A Story
compilation track - Unreleased No. 2
Deep Elm Records, 2002
Palm Trees Sway
compilation track - Hearts Bleed Blue
Deep Elm Records, 2002
Engine Roars Me To Sleep
compilation track - Emo Diaries Chapter Seven
Deep Elm Records, 2002
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
The son of Filipino immigrants, Francis Garcia was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Houston, Texas. He came of age in the Austin, Texas punk rock community of the early 1990s, playing in bands such as Yuck, Fourth Grade Nothing and Pop Unknown. During the nineties, his former bands shared the stage with the likes of Fugazi, Propagandhi, Lookout Records-era Green Day, and a pre-DreamWorks Jimmy Eat World.
After experiencing a geographic change of heart in 1998, Francis bid farewell to Texas, relocated to New York City and became "Drive Til Morning". The culmination of more than a decade's worth of influences, his 2003 self-titled debut on Deep Elm Records juxtaposed Hank Williams Senior, Nebraska-era Springsteen, Nick Drake, "Another Green World" by Brian Eno, and the road trip sensibility of a Wim Wenders film. It was followed by critical acclaim and tour dates across the United States opening for the likes of Pedro The Lion, Ted Leo, Calvin Johnson and Damien Jurado, and also as the headliner on opening night of the Pinoisepop 9 Asian-American Music Festival in San Francisco. Several tracks from the record have been featured on MTV's "Real World" and "Road Rules".
DTM's more recent work includes "I Was The Lead Singer", a split EP with longtime friend and collaborator Jeff Caudill (formerly of the band Gameface), as well as a cover of The Smiths "There Is A Light That Will Never Go Out" for the Asian punk rock compilation "Wok And Roll". At the present time, he is writing and rehearsing new material with a six-piece band informed by Springsteen's "Born To Run", Ziggy Stardust/Hunky Dory-era Bowie, Elvis Costello and ELO. Expect loud Fender Telecasters, electric piano, dual keyboards, pedal steel, violin, trumpet and glockenspiel next time around.
Francis currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.
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