Music
Press
I am honored to feature the music of Exit Culture as the theme music for the Public Television series "Natural Heroes." After winning our first Emmy award earlier this year, I felt it was essential to upgrade the look and feel of the series. I met with Exit Culture this past summer, and upon hearing sample tracks from their CD Duality, knew immediately that this was the sound I had been searching for.
The "Natural Heroes" series is made up of very different stories of people all over the world making a difference for our environment. Exit Culture's "Aurora" captures exactly the feel I was seeking: global, modern, timeless. The unique combination of ancient didgeridoo, driving bass and drums, and dense atmospheric keyboards is a perfect complement to the series' message and outlook. "Natural Heroes" focuses on the problems that threaten our natural world, showcasing the efforts of the many brave people who are actively working to solve these problems.
Exit Culture's "Aurora" complements these heroes' drive, persistence, and positive outlook with music that conveys their passion.
We are thrilled to enter our third season with Exit Culture's "Aurora" as our theme music. "Natural Heroes" is currently distributed to over 60 Public Television stations across the country, and with "Aurora" appearing at the beginning of each episode, the show is sure to draw many more enthusiastic viewers—people who are encouraged and inspired to make a difference.
Valerie Landes,
Series Producer, "Natural Heroes" on Public Television
- Valerie Landes
Discography
Duality - 2007
Photos
Bio
Exit Culture is an accidental band. Andy Graham and Dave Tomkins not only came together through a series of accidents, but developed their approach to music quite accidentally. It was only by accident that Andy thought to combine rock-oriented rhythms with African ones, and later, aboriginal Didgeridoo with the drum kit. Likewise, Dave’s interest in playing textured, melodic passages on bass guitar while simultaneously playing keyboards via foot-operated midi pedals developed only after the realm of guitar-driven rock ceased to inspire him, as its tendency to strong-arm the melodically and sonically curious bassist into submission induced more boredom than musical satisfaction.
While individually Graham and Tomkins produce sounds that defy convention, together they create a sound unlike any other. By layering complex musicality on top of organic and danceable rhythms, eastern-inspired melodies on top of western beats, Exit Culture marries pop sensibility and avant-garde creativity to create a blend of music that is at once familiar and foreign, inviting and challenging.
Although Exit Culture rejects the formulaic offerings of a music industry whose current decline is an index of its own lack of imagination, theirs is not a culture of retreat. Rather, it is one of defiance—one whose exit from the mainstream promises, however ironically, to appeal more broadly to an audience tired of the same old corporate drivel, an audience who wish to embrace a new form of music that is unique, thoughtful, and independently produced.
2007 sees the release of Exit Culture’s debut record, Duality, an eclectic mix of twelve songs that vary wildly in style and sonic texture. While the album’s opening song “Catapult” introduces the band with an assault of pulsating rhythms and unapologetically complicated musical passages, other tracks such as “Echo at My Back” and “The Sweetest Thing” offer straight-up grooves and infectious hooks that recall late-seventies funk and R & B. From the middle-eastern inflections of “Vajra” to the melodious, U2-esque “The Small Hours,” Exit Culture’s Duality demonstrates just how much musical ground a drum-and-bass combo can cover. Moreover, the band’s concise song structures, attractive rhythms, and strong melodies make Duality a record that can be enjoyed either as an impressive debut from a pair of ambitious “rhythm players” or, more simply, as a collection of great songs.
Exit Culture plans to spend the remainder of 2007 and all of 2008 promoting Duality, playing live as much (and in as many cities) as possible, and writing their sophomore effort, which they plan to release in early 2009.
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