MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR

December is here and we have one last DTU artist to introduce before we enter 2013, so please meet Major Major Major. The two-piece garage pop band featuring singer and guitarist Adrian Sebastian and drummer Andrew Torrey, hails from Austin, Texas and is influenced by the energy and rawness of bands like Ty Segall and WAVVES. After recording their EP, the band (then a 4-piece) continued playing live shows 1 band member left for Harvard and the other got kicked out of venue for being too wasted before taking the stage. Initially the band was hesitant to continue playing as a two-piece and thus, reinvented their sound. This December, Major Major Major will embark on their first tour from Texas to Alabama; after which, the band plans to record their sophomore EP.

FILTER: Who are your main influences?

MMM: Both Andrew and myself (Adrian) agree with most of our musical tastes with the exception of Bjork, who Andrew constantly makes fun of me for being obsessed with her. However, as far as our band is concerned, our main influences are Deerhunter along with some garagey stuff like Ty Segall, King Tuff, Thee Oh Sees and we also love glam such as David Bowie and Roxy Music. Andrew also claims to draw his drum parts heavily from Mastodon and Slayer although I’m not sure I believe him.

FILTER: How did you meet?

MMM: Andrew and I first met nearly two years ago through mutual friends at the University of Texas at Austin. I heard he played drums from a friend and I immediately called him up to schedule a practice. We immediately worked up a set and played our first shows during South By Southwest 2 months afterward. We recorded our first EP that May.

FILTER: What is your biggest achievement as a band to date?

MMM: We are extremely proud of our debut EP which has gained a lot of exposure in the Austin scene and has started to get exposure elsewhere. The songs mean a lot to us, and we were relatively new before recording the EP. The recording process really brought us together as a band and created an organized focus for the kind of music we aim to make. Also, we had a very small budget, which led us to use Kickstarter to raise money for the album. We also chose to put the album exclusively out 12” in order to give our fans something special especially since they were so generous in helping us fund the it.

FILTER: Where did the band name originate?

MMM: The idea for our band came from the character Maj. Major Major Major in the novel Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. Maj. Major Major Major is a comedic character in the book used to point out the absurdity and uselessness of authority. His Father named him Major Major Major as a joke, and ironically he later becomes a sergeant in the Army therefore acquiring the rank Major. Although we are fans of the book, we mainly are attracted to the way our band name looks and it’s reference doesn’t hold any relevance to our music.

FILTER: Favorite Bands?

MMM: Adrian: Deerhunter, David Bowie, Ty Segall, Wipers, Husker Du, Elvis Costello, Deerhoof, Tame Impala, Talking Heads and XTC
Andrew: Magnetic Fields, Mastodon, The Wave Pictures, Cake and Lightening bolt

FILTER: Plans to Tour?

MMM: We are going on a short tour through Texas, Louisiana and Alabama this coming week starting Dec. 14th. Andrew has to go to Huntsville AL to celebrate Christmas with his parents so we figured we’d plan a tour on our way to Huntsville and drop him off. The cities we are playing include, San Antonio, Houston, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Birmingham. A summer tour is definitely on our agenda as well.

FILTER: Plans for next release?

MMM: We are mostly in the stages of pre-production demoing varies songs. Our plan is to start recording a 3 song EP this coming January which we are really pumped about. This upcoming EP will take a more raw approach in comparison to our last EP but will maintain the pop sensibilities of our debut. - Filter

Meet MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR, a garage-pop band from Austin, Texas. Originally consisting of four members, current lead-men Andrew Torrey and Adrian Sebastian decided to take the band in a new direction after recording their first EP. Namely, that new direction is their current brazen two-man approach. “Scream Queen,” is their first release after refocusing their energies, and the track has a unique quality that is somehow simultaneously raw and polished. This is a band that plays your house party tomorrow and then the festival circuit next summer.

Watch the accompanying video for “Scream Queen” above, which puts a sinister twist on your run-of-the-mill college house party. - All Things God

The new single from Austin garage pop duo Major Major Major is the musical equivalent of going to a party in a nice classy house, then walking inside to see that it’s full of sketchy guys with tattoos, beards, and drug problems. On the surface everything is clean and presentable (poppy vocals and polished production) but hiding underneath is a level of raw grittiness that separates it from typical pop music.

Uptempo drums and driving guitars create a nice reckless energy that we’re not used to hearing behind catchy vocals like this. There’s really something for everybody here. If you play it at your next house party, don’t be surprised when your conservative co-worker gets down on the dance floor with the weird guy you always see hanging around the tattoo shop. Cheers! - Sunset In The Rearview

Saturday night I was hanging out over at Hotel Vegas, catching a great local show in honor of this new single by Major Major Major. While the group’s line-up has changed quite a bit since their inception, the duo that remains still has the ability to get a crowd all riled up (which was par for the course for the night…see Growl/Shivery Shakes) into a frenzy. This new single is energetic, and revolves around the erratic vocals and pounding rhythm of the drums. You’ll be able to find this new track on the band’s up-coming EP, which we hope is out sooner rather than later. - Austin Town Hall

Austin, Texas has been proving to be a great hotspot for garage and punk bands of late, and another impressive act to add to their roster is Major Major Major, who despite their name are a duo, and probably not majors, although we haven't checked. Anyway, their eponymous debut EP is out now and here's the brilliantly raw and bouncing 'Peace Love Darkness'. - Sound Of Confusion