Solid Gold

By Zachary Swickey

It’s easy to get lost in the slew of new, digitally-tinged indie bands that offer little beyond what MGMT already created four years ago. Oversaturation of a genre can cause some bands to get lost in the mix, which is a shame when the band is great. Case in point: Solid Gold, who concoct some of the most original, experimental synth pop sounds whole music world has to offer.

Solid Gold was formed ten years ago by a trio of friends at the University of Wisconsin. After a migration to equally chilly Minneapolis, Minn., and some lineup adjustments, Solid Gold finally began shaping their psychedelic persona. Originally sticking to a drum machine for percussive duties, the group eventually enlisted a real drummer, and added a slide guitarist for a little something extra to expand their sound.

The band released their debut album, Bodies of Water, in the fall of 2008 and received some much-deserved buzz. The effort is a brilliant amalgam of ‘80s-like synth sounds, though that is a rather limited way to describe the array of influences contained. “Those Who Go” has the digital deliciousness of a club banger, while “Synchronize” contains a seriously catchy low-end warble that all but forces one to groove. Despite themes like heartbreak and escape, it’s a rather danceable album. “Who You Gonna Run To?” bears a self-explanatory title, and I have a feeling most people have an ex they would gladly dedicate the tune to.

The great thing about Bodies of Water is how cohesive the album sounds, while being schizophrenic in its sonic nature. Examples are aplenty: “New Kanada” offers an unexpected slick banjo sample throughout; “Neon Rose” is a wildly awesome (and well-executed) Mariachi-inspired song; and my personal favorite, “Just Like Everyone Else” contains mesmerizing strings and relaxed tickling of the ivories that contrast against the angry, biting lyrics.

In 2010, Solid Gold released a new EP, Synchronize, which included tracks like “Sharpshooter” and “One in a Million,” which builds in an epic fashion around a lackadaisical piano chord. Also included is a “Top Gun” soundtrack cover song, Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone.” That may seem like a cliché track to cover, but Solid Gold does it in an earnest fashion.

For a band that’s been around ten years, Solid Gold doesn’t have a hefty back catalog of music, but the album and EP they have released are clearly meticulous labors of love. The band claims to have scrapped two entire albums over the course of their history, which can help explain the sparse releases. They are currently working on their sophomore album with a late 2011 release expected.

I was lucky enough to see them perform a batch of new tunes live recently, and one song was notably much louder and aggressive than their previous efforts (in the best way possible). Having heard these new tunes, I predict this new effort from them could be my “Album of the Year.” Their debut would have been my number one of 2008 … if I had only been aware of it. - MTV Newsroom

"Here's a compliment to Solid Gold.
As headliners of one of the opening night shows of Iceland Airwaves 2007, the band left a stellar impression on their audience - and us the festival staff. They continued the trend at their next 3x shows that week in Reykjavik , ending with us booking them for our closing night party at the Festival Press Centre.
Saw them again at this years SXSW - and can highly recommend them for your upcoming musical engagement."

-Eldar Astthorsson
Iceland Airwaves Festival Manager

Grapevine Reykjavik- English language arts and entertainment paper.

Dressed in matching white ladies’ blazers christened with splashes of paint, Organ’s sole American group of the evening, the very fun Minneapolis- troupe Solid Gold delivered their sweaty dance-rock despite the general lack of… well, dancing. The trio, who operated off of programmed drums, lacked in any volume dynamic, but who can really notice when someone’s constantly and sexily yelling at you.

Pitchfork coverage:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/46542-live-iceland-airwaves-festival

http://www.nme.com/news/bloc-party/31896

The ninth Iceland Airwaves festival opens tonight with shows taking place at six of nine festival stages. Among the acts you'll be able to catch tonight are Smoosh (US), Soundspell and Shadow Parade at NASA, XXX Rottweiler and the cream of Icelandic hip hop scene at Gaukurinn and Solid Gold (US), Múgsefjun and Airwaves Wednesday show legends The Zuckakis Mondeyano play the brand new Organ venue. | more

Portuguese Blog
http://rraurl.uol.com.br/cena/4653/Iceland_Airwaves_movimentou_a_capital_islandesa
Know the story about the “Model/actress/presenter of a talk show” that tries and fails to play good music. The faces of Solid Gold may launch a new stereotype: the “Models that play well.” Not to say that this is very Backstreet Boys, because in this case they really know how to write a track. The three men from Minneapolis, who without even launching a single disc, have been called to play the still warm first day of the festival, and other shows in absolutely all areas of the city. The sound is in a few moments very 80’s, Batteries, electronics, keyboards, all mixed with interesting guitar riffs and indie rock. Hear them rock on myspace.

Solid Gold "Neon Rose" live from Iceland Airwaves on Youtube

The Minnesota Band plays their third gig at Iceland Airwaves, this one at Hresso for the closing party of press center.sorry about all the people walking by.And go check out Solid Gold! They're amazing! www.myspace.com/solidgoldband

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JCnPNYpd8mQ

http://mymusic.blog.is/blog/mymusic/entry/316656/


Today is the closing day of the Airwaves Info & Media Center. Join us and the world press for some serious wrap-up party-ing tonight at 22:00. Live shows by two groups that have all ready set its mark on this years Iceland Airwaves; Solid Gold (US) and Bloodgroup (IS). FREE ENTRANCE - but PRESS passes provide priority access.
- the Grapevine Reykjavik/Pitchfork

Solid Gold likes to apply personality to everything it touches. Whether it’s hand-making album art or crafting projections for its live show, the group embraces the do-it-yourself ethic to an extreme degree, debt be damned, the “traditional model” bucked, competition… well, look out.
Solid Gold entered the WeSC/Vice Let’s Get Physical online contest last year, in which voters could either cast ballots for or against bands. Instead of spending time drumming up peer votes against other acts, the members pooled their fans, “some computer savvy friends,” and rigged the voting in their favor. More than anything, thye just wanted to grab the attention of the voting panel, which selected Solid Gold from the other finalists to fly to London and perform at the WeSC/Vice party at the Old Blue Last.
“Artists are required to hustle, schmooze, sacrifice and sometimes and sometimes exaggerate to gain attention among the masses, but in the end the music needs to speak for itself and is what will be remembered,” vocalist Zach Coulter says.
The electronica/dance troupe has spent six years selling out venues in cities like its native Minneapolis, Chicago, New York and Madison, Wis. It has released three Eps, the most recent-“Who You Gonna Run TO?”-in February. It was one of the few American bands selected to play in last year’s Iceland Airwaves music festival in Reykjavik and has garnered airplay at such stations as non-commercial WBAI in New York, nonprofit KEXP Seattle, alternative KDLD/KDLE Los Angeles and triple A WXRT in Chicago, as well as Billy Zero’s podcast at XM Satellite Radio.
When finances for an upcoming full-length didn’t allow Solid Gold to yet again record at Butch Vig’s Smart Studios in Madison or Master Mix in Minneapolis, the band set up shop in “apartments, cabins, farmhouses and basements” to cull its synth- and guitar-based tunes. The band has sold or given away over 1,000 hand-screened, self-designed, one-of-a-kind T-shirts, which have also sold at clothing boutiques like Oak in New York. Solid Gold- which comprises core members Coulter, Matt Locher, and Adam Hurlburt, all of whom can play guitar, bass, keys and program beats- crafts its records in limited-edition runs, with handmade or design-intensive packaging.
With the full-length due late this summer and tracks on par with acts like Junior Boys and the Knife, Solid Gold is seeking creative ways to roll out its sale and dissemination. “We’ll likely release the record through digital download for an affordable price and offer a premium physical copy that we hand-make ourselves for an appropriate price. This is the direction that we see music distribution heading, and we’re going to ride it,” Locher says. “The way we’re looking at it is, like, “Fuck it, we have no money, nothing to lose, and a killer record”…if anyone out there has a better idea, we’re open to suggestions.”

- Katie Hasty
Billboard Magazine July 19th, 2008


Full unedited interview:

Solid Gold: "We won the WeSC/Vice contest "Let's Get Physical" which was based on internet voting, and then by a panel of judges. We, and some computer savvy friends, rigged the voting, however, we were legitimately chosen as winners by the judges, and flown to London ."

Billboard: what's the story here? how were you legitimately chosen when you illegitimately won peer voting? what was the thought behind that?
ZC: Wow, gettin to the dirt right away are ya? That makes it sound worse than it really was. Everyone involved and everyone we met with VICE and WESC were awesome and very generous, but the gears of the competition itself were a bit of a shitshow. It had an option of either voting for or against(in true VICE fasion) a band...a bit negative really. Anyone could vote as many times as they wanted, so bands started voting against other bands. So if a band wanted to pass us in the standings, theyd vote us down like 100 times in an hour and move ahead. We responded by voting for ourselves multiple times in order to combat the attacks. We never once voted against any other artists, but when it comes down to it, we are hustlers. We are not purposely gonna hurt other artists, but if attacked, you bet your ass we will defend ourselves, and this was a good example of that. The music business is a fucked up business, probably the most akward of all, so a band needs to act accordingly. In that case, we made damn sure we did well enough in the voting to be recognized by the judges, because thats what it came down to in the end...the bands were picked. We were chosen on the merits of our music. I think that competition is a microcosim of the industry itself: artists are required to hustle, schmooze, sacrifice and sometimes exaggerate to gain attention among the masses, but in the end the music needs to speak for itself and is what will be remembered.

Solid Gold: "Our t-shirts have been sold at several high-end boutiques in NYC"

Billboard: what boutiques are those? How much money would you say you've made off of merch? how many t-shirts have you sold? Are you graphic designers or other kinds of visual artist?
ML: The Naked Ape in Reykjavik , Iceland ; Oak in WIlliamsburg and SoHo; others not worth mentioning, more in the future. We are thousands of dollars in debt, and really shitty accountants, so any money that we've made has already been spent. Over the last six years we've made and given away or sold over a thousand t-shirts. We hand print and hand paint each shirt, so every one is different, there is no real way to track how many we've made, or what they look like. Usually we just give them to our friends, because they're broke too. Fascination with art of all kinds is what brought us together as a band, so we have become skilled at making anything we want or need. As a group we feel that any piece of art should be a complete thought, nothing should be overlooked, hence lush packaging, shirts, lights, projections, clothing. Honestly we think about this shit all day.

Solid Gold: "For recording we work with close friends that help us with engineering and production."

Billboard: any friends of note?
ZC:Ryan Olcott produced the upcoming record. He was the frontman for the V2 band 12 Rods and now he is the mastermind behind Mystery Palace and he is a musical genius. He has had a lot of experience in the industry, good and bad i think. I have personally learned a lot from him. I would feed him on recording breaks and pick his brain. He's got a lot of crazy stories involving industry madness, like Todd Rundgren eating huge sub sandwiches and supposed nice guy popular bands who are actually huge assholes. Funny enough, when i told him we were doing a bilboard interview, he told me that his old band got their lawyer and in turn their label because of their bilbord write up. So lawyers, if your reading...get back to work.
ML: A lot of other great Minneapolis and Madison musicians played with us on the record.

Solid Gold: "...none of this was done in a conventional studio. We did all of the work at various apartments, cabins, farmhouses, basements, etc. It was approached in a guerrilla style to suit our needs and budget of almost nothing."

Billboard: was that for all your albums? or this forthcoming one?
ZC: the forthcoming album. We have recorded in some hot shit studios before, like Butch Vig's/Garbage's Smart studios in Madison and Master Mix in Minneapolis, but this time it was all up to us, no outside input but no outside money as well. There was basically no budget to acquire proper studio time, so we were forced to be creative and frugal. However, we soon found out that we function better in non-traditional spaces...less formality, more creativity. Our band has always reflected that ideal, so it makes sense that it would translate into recording. Our producer Ryan Olcott supplied a good preamp,some good mics and a laptop. We could have recorded in a fucking jungle and it would have sounded sweet. Technology + knowhow + creativity = sweetness. One of our main goals is to build our own recording facility, but itll be more like a futuristic clubhouse rather than a formal studio.maybe we'll do it in the jungle...
ML: it'll be so fucking green.

Solid Gold: "usually with hand-made or design-intensive packaging"

Billboard: what packaging are you most proud of?
ML: We are proud of all of our packaging; its like trying to pick a fovorite son. You know you like one better, but you'd never tell anyone.
ZC: My favorite, and probably because its one of the most recent, is the design Matt created for our latest ep. Its magical. One of those things that took me awhile to get used to, but once i did, i couldnt stop looking at it. We sold out of the ep, but we still have some cases left which i swear we could sell on their own.

Solid Gold: "Bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have begun releasing their own material for little to no money for digital download, and premium prices for limited physical copies We plan to approach the release of our upcoming record in this manner."

Billboard: any other specifics on this?
ML:These guys can do whatever they want, because they have shitloads of money. There was a big risk to what they did, but it if they failed, they'd still be able to pay rent on their castles. Also, for twenty years these two bands have been getting like 7cents per unit, while the record companies got the rest. I would also tell the record companies to fuck off. We're not exactly new to this business, we've been screwed by a lot of these industry types. The way we're looking at it is, like, fuck it, we have no money, nothing to lose, and a killer record. Until someone comes to us with a creative and respectful way of approaching this fucked up business, we're gonna do what we can on our own. This industry is full of middlemen who make money by getting a percentage of what someone else does. This hurts the fans, and it hurts the artists, its the reason cds don't sell anymore. We want to eliminate that gap. To do this we'll likely release the record through digital download for an affordable price, and offer a premium physical copy that we hand-make ourselves for an appropriate price. This is the direction that we see music distribution heading, and we're gonna ride it. If anyone out there, has a better idea, we're open to suggestions. Shit, we'd gladly let iPod use our song, but its not likely that Steve Jobs will pick a song about drugs and depression to sell his whack-ass walkman.
ZC:them shits cant even play cassette-tapes.HA!

Solid Gold: "Our e.p. released in February got a good amount of airplay... It continues to get airplay in major markets across the US and on Satellite radio and Internet radio sites."

Billboard: What stations? what channel on satellite? what podcasts?
ML:BIlly Zero on XM featured it on a podcast, Marty Lennartz played us on XRT in Chicago, which I grew up listening to, Dead Air with Chuck P. on Indie 103.1 in LA, Delphine with Shocking blue on WBAI in NYC, KEXP in Seattle, our friends the Current in MPLS, and apparently we're huge in Tampa .
ZC: Besides those hot shots were hundreds of backdoor, indie, college and awesome but tiny radio stations around the country. To me, thats the heart of radio. People making no money, playing their favorite music for community listeners. Fuck commercials and fuck Clear Channel.period.

Billboard: Have you sold out any venues?
ML:3 shows at Iceland Airwaves in Reykjavik , NYC, Chicago , MPLS, Madison , etc. Probably not as many as Metallica. We are however planning for a double live record from the Pyramids in Egypt which will probably sell-out. That and we wanna be the first band to play in space or on the inside of a geyser.
ZC:we crave danger and water. We are thirsty and dangerous.

Billboard: Where besides New York are you visiting this summer?
ZC: We'll be on tour after the record comes out, but where hasnt been decided yet. The next big trip will most likely be Tokyo because our good friend/residsent dj/resident madman WOTLIE has set up shop there.

Billboard: What is the prospective month or date you're releasing the new album?
ML:Late Summer

Billboard: will any songs from the EP be on the new album?
ML:the first2.

Billboard: How many EPs, singles and albums have you released total?
ML:3 eps so far. we've got a lot of stuff that'll never come out
ZC: We never felt the need to make a full length. We've always like shorter, more concise statements. But after all the personal shit that went down in our lives piled on top of all the nasty bullshit thats been happenin in our country and the rest of the world, a full length became neccessary.

Billboard: How long have you been together as a band?
ML:6 years

Billboard: Are you good dancers?
ZC:Have you ever heard of the "Werewolf"?


- Billboard Magazine

When my band mates and I received a hush-hush e-mail regarding a super secret performance by Tapes ’n Tapes, I wondered how V.I.P. I had become. Would I cruise down a red carpet, pausing for anxious cameramen? Would I be handed complimentary champagne?

But this is Minneapolis – even an unpublicized show spreads like the scenester plague.

The packed house waited as the scheduled start time of 9 p.m. fell back, back, back to around 10:30. Opening up was local crew Solid Gold, whose members’ looks and couture echoed one another, blowing long bangs back from their faces and rocking through such tunes as “Calm Down” and the funked-out “Out of Your Mind.” These three required no drummer and instead made worthwhile music over drum loops that ranged from rock to disco.
- How was the show

Solid Gold Onion A.V. Club Interview 2 4/10/2008

Solid Gold used to haul organs around on tour, but increased recognition abroad has forced the Madison-spawned, Minneapolis-based trio to travel light, limiting its luggage to keyboards, guitars, basses, laptops, self-designed costumes, and lighting equipment. Rotating instruments between songs, Zach Coulter, Adam Hurlburt, and Matt Locher create an atmospheris, digital sound that’s smooth, spooky, danceable, and in the words of bloggers worldwide, “sxy.” In 2007, between playing SXSW, New York, and Chicago, the band performed at Vice magazine’s pub in London and at the Iceland Airwaves Festival in Reykjavik. Shortly before the release of its recent Who You Gonna Run To? EP, the group sat down with The A.V. Club to talk about travels past and future, and its new Bodies Of Water, scheduled for release this summer.

The A.V. Club: Did you really record Bodies Of Water in a frozen shed in the forest?
Adam Hurlburt: We started recording at my cabin in Northern Wisconsin.
Matt Locher: Mostly to get away from the city, because the tone of the album is very melancholy. The more upbeat and urban songs were recorded in the city.
Zach Coulter: [Our music has] always been influenced by art, light, cities, movement.
ML: Our approach has always been our hands on the product. [For the new album] a guerilla recording style suited our needs and suited the means that we had, which was basically a budget of zero.
ZC: But, if we wanted an opera part, we found one. If we wanted a string quartet, we got it. We wanted a grand piano, we wanted banjos-we got them. What pleases me is the communal fell.
ML: The three of us have a great time playing with each other and love writing with each other, but it’s when we get to involve a bigger group that it’s really enlightening.
AVC: Do you tend to collaborate mostly with Twin Cities artists?
ZC: We have friends here, but we don’t necessarily consider ourselves a Minneapolis band. In part because we didn’t have our formative years here, and also because I don’t think we fit in very well. We have a lot of people we like to work with here, but for some reason we do better in Iceland than we do in Minneapolis. We’re signing autographs in Reykjavik; we come back home and can’t even get listed in a paper.
AVC: Did the warm welcome abroad come as a surprise?
ZC: We knew in our heads we were making a good product and that it might translate better to other cultures. I don’t think we necessarily have an Americana kind of sound, or an indie-rock kind of sound. But we can go over well with Djs, in dance clubs, with rock crowds [overseas].
ML: It was a humbling experience when our official festival show in Iceland was sold out- there were 400 people there, 100 people outside trying to get in- and then we came back to Minneapolis a week later and played Seventh Street[Entry] to 17 of our good friends. [Laughs] It’s refreshing to have a humbling moment like that, but it’s just, like, I guess this isn’t our city. We’ve always regarded it as a pit stop on our way somewhere else. The thing is, any kind of creative media that you’re involved in, you think that you’re the best, and you want everyone to love it. Whenever you run into people who don’t- naturally, you talk shit.
AH: But, normally, it doesn’t come out in an interview.
ML: [Laughs] I’m glad this is being recorded. Free Mumia Abu-Jamal.
AVC: What’s after the pit stop?
AH: A mansion in the south of France. [Laughs]
ZC: We definitely want to go back to Europe this year.
ML: Tokyo is our next destination.
ZC: Our buddy WOTLIE, who does two remixes on the EP, is a huge DJ in Tokyo and he’s trying to get promoters to fly us over there. Hopefully, that will happen later this year. South America is another horizon we’re looking to, and we’re going to back to Reykjavik as soon as possible. The vibe we got was absolutely amazing.
AH: The coolest art.
AVC: The visual-arts component seems important to the band.
ZC: Matt is really big into design, T-shirt making, and screen-printing.
AH: Matt’s our Martha Stewart.
ML: There’s an old German term, “Gesamtkunstwerk,” which means “The complete work.” It’s the idea that an art presentation should be a complete project. We’re in a band, it should look good, it should sound good, it should feel good- in all facets. I didn’t even want to be in a band just to play a local bar. I’ve always had delusions of grandeur.
-Katherine Tylevich
-------------------------------------------

Onion A.V. Club interview 1 SXSW 2007

AVC: How was South By Southwest?
AH: Totally rad. This time we dressed up in Mariachi costumes from Minneapolis all the way down to Texas, and didn’t take them off until Sunday, and we got there on Tuesday…There was a lot of free beer. Matt started a new band with Mark Mallman called Paradise Destinations. They started it mid-interview.
ZC: South by Southwest was completely confusing. You walk down the whole block and the same band is playing in each window—
AH: Teleporting to the next stage.
ZC: And these were supposed to be--
AH: The cream of the crop.
ZC: Yea, these are so many bands that are supposed to be the future of music as we know it. And if that’s the future of music as we know it, music as we know it is gonna be in the shitter. Either A) their choice of bands was kind of near-sighted, or B) there wasn’t too much stuff going on that’s blowing our minds. I think “A” is more likely.
AVC: What’s missing?
ZC: It’s kind of easy to say a lot of bands are missing it. But it’s harder to say what exactly it is they’re missing. I think it’s a format thing. It’s a tough argument, because the guitar/bass/drum/vocal thing is great sometimes, but hard to impress. At least in Texas, it was like, you have a really, really good egg salad sandwich, but I’ve had a fucking thousand of those before. And I want to try something new.
It’s like a jazz trio or jazz combo. That will never lose its kind of magic. You can always look back and say, there’s a point for that, you can always listen to that. Same with rock n’ roll. A four piece rock n’ roll band is a fantastic entity. At the same time, I don’t see anything--minus maybe the hip-hop movement and some of the electro/dance/DJ stuff--both things happening in the last 20-30 years--there hasn’t been anything else that’s evolved.
If they say that every year now, history’s doubling over on itself, and there’s so much more information every year you live, music should be the same way. I thought, going down to South By Southwest, man, there’s going to be some bands down here doing some crazy, crazy shit that’s going to blow my mind. We saw some great bands, but nothing fucking fantastic.
AVC: Does pressure to be in the spotlight hurt a big band?
ZC: We saw The Good, The Bad And The Queen play; we were actually in the front row. Personally not my favorite music, but fantastic, with Damon Albarn from The Gorillaz and Blur. How he is morphing music--
AH: --He’s moving. Everybody in that band had a profound effect on me, musically.
ZC: I don’t know if that’s Damon himself, moving that forward or if it’s a collection of people. The Gorillaz, did something unique, and it’s not really straying from the format, but…at least there’s something being tried.
AH: Yea, he’s trying. He’s doing something that you don’t hear. It’s not incredibly obscure--it’s all very friendly. And that’s where I think our direction is; not going in the same way as the Gorillaz--or The Good, The Bad, And The Queen--but in that realm, where it’s not your every-day sounds.
ZC: We’re also going to be doing something at MCAD in late fall…We’re going to go through the record, song by song, each having anything from costume changes to backdrop scenery, and put together a cross between Stop Making Sense and Live at Pompeii--this theatrical live performance, and try and recreate the songs that we’ll have finished by then.
AVC: Do you think you’ll stick around in Minneapolis after Adam finishes school?
AH: It’s been productive for us. I’ve learned a lot from the people that we know up here, like James Buckley, and the Totally Gross guys.
ZC: It all depends on what happens.
AH: Before we finally kill each other. I’m getting buried in Eau Claire.
AVC: Who else do you know up here from Eau Claire?
AH: Digitata, Mystery Palace, Mel Gibson and the Pants, Building Better Bombs, and now we’re starting to recycle people.

AVC: What do you think about today’s distribution models that break the norm? Have you thought of capitalizing the same way as bands like OK Go?
ZC: It’s so easy, but it’s also, at the same time, just as difficult. To have something that pops out of it is going to be as difficult as it was to have something pop out of the same game with record companies…Technology is a fantastic thing. If there’s a collection, or a collaborative effort between humans to take these great ideas and these great mistakes and move them in a way that will help everybody, in terms of living, art, fucking love and music, and family…penicillin--
AH: I’m allergic to penicillin.
ZC: You’re a fucking rat against nature. It seems right now, bands that wouldn’t be heard, are being heard. But when it gets so big, it gets controlled.
AVC: Do you think that squelches music? That everyone puts their foot in the door at once?
ZC: I don’t know. The door is going to rip the fuck open, the wall will fall down.
AH: Is it going to squash the industry? Probably. There’s not a better time to be a musician without the record industry.
ZC: The industry’s going to be done. In a couple years, if it topples over on itself, and there are so many bands, and so many blogs, one person can’t see through all that.
AH: That all naturally will take care of itself. But not without some rich assholes that are sitting on top of towers.

AVC: Are you hopeful for the future?
AH: I’m totally optimistic. But I’m scared of my optimism.
ZC: Right now it looks like there’s an imprint of America actually on the floor of our studio. It looks like the upper Northeast is being smeared into the Atlantic Ocean.
AH: So is Mexico. And Canada.
ZC: Florida’s gone. Maybe it’s an omen, on the floor of Solid Gold’s practice space.
AVC: I like the colors.
ZC: It actually looks like a day-care.

--------------------------------------------
Onion Madison review:

Relocated Madisonians Solid Gold's seductive electro-pop has found a welcoming home in the Twin Cities by at least one measure: Minneapolis rapper POS guests on "Sound Asleep," a track on the band's upcoming EP. POS' verse is a treat, but it's the ominous atmosphere and creepy, processed hook that make the song. Look for more of that danceable spookiness when Solid Gold gets out a full-length pplanned for later this year.



- the Onion

After giving a high-pressure fellowship presentation, I came back to my room, shoved a CD in my stereo, and leeeeaaaned back. Little did I know what UNBELIEVABLY stunning melodies would soon ooze out of my speakers.

Hit with Solid Gold's eerie electronic textures, poppy yet haunting vocals, unpredictable drum machines, and sinuous melodies, I fell to the floor, convulsing with happy surprise. My heartbeat tripled in rate and quadrupled in volume. My palms got wet. My toes pointed inward. "Ol' Hibes," yelled my housemate, "Hibah dearest! Please quiet your heart! Tell it to be still! I'm compsing!"

AND THEN I found out that they're going to do a show in Minneapolis TOMORROW* before stunning audiences at SXSW (where they garnered tons of praise last year). That's when the room spun. My posters and photographs rattled off of the walls. The tiny bit of coffee leftover from breakfast tumbled over and dribbled into my mouth, sending my platelets and globules spiraling frenziedly down my bloodstream.

To be fair, I doubt I'd be gushing like this had I heard of the band before or had any sort of expectations going in. I'm not sure how much of my delight had to do with the novelty of finding something new, but at their best moments, Solid Gold sound like some sort of weird Junior Boys -Hot Chip- the Knife- slick 80s electro pop love child. At their worst moments, they sag into that intolerable brand of anonymous slickness embodied by Bloc Party and other "alterna-electrorockers".

So yeah, it may not change your life, but it WILL change the way you think of bands you haven't heard that much about.

*8 pm at the Kitty Kat Club (E.P. Release). C U there. I'll even share my lunch leftovers (Afghan delicacies from Crescent Moon Bakery) with you.

Here's a more objective description from the SXSW website, untainted by sleeplessness and melodrama: "Psychedellic glammed-out dub rock band from Minneapolis, MN. Pairing electric guitars and keyboards with bass heavy beats and samples, Solid Gold is defining the new urban sound. Hip hop and dub beats, grooving guitars, and infectious vocals that belong in dance clubs, house parties, and bedrooms worldwide."

Solid Gold- Who You Gonna Run To

Solid Gold- Who You Gonna Run To (Mgatp Remix)* (REC'D)

http://hypem.com/track/492513
KRLX Music Blog


"Who You Gonna Run To? Who You Gonna Run To Now?"

When it comes to this band, I only had one thing noted. Scribbled on the corner of their one-sheet where the words, "Solid Gold = Sexy Music." Honestly, I can really leave it at that. Summed up, Solid Gold is sexy music. Eased vocals seduce you into a bed of plushy keys and steady percussion. Add in a bit of atmospheric synthiness and you got yourself a slice of electric goodness that is Solid Gold. The Minneapolis-based trio spent their preliminary year recording in a remote cabin on a frozen lake - somehow...somehow that situation led to Solid Gold. It seems a bit of cabin fever has its benefits. Though they still may not have been completely immune considering these guys spent all of 'o7 South By clad in mariachi suits. If you likey what you readey, Solid Gold will have you saying, "Giggity-giggity aalll riiiight."

http://bothsidesofthemouth.blogspot.com/2008/04/solid-gold.html
Both Sides Of The Mouth

I'm not quite sure when it happened but sometime in the last few years the Twin Cities scene has gradually morphed from a place where patchy flannel, rumpled jeans and cranked up Gibson's were de riguer stage attire to a musical moment rife with tasty electronic weirdness and boundary-pushing pop groups. Local trio Solid Gold help drive that point home on their excellent new 6-track EP, Who You Gonna Run To?, a collection of chilled-out electro pop sedate enough in tone that you don't mind spinning it in the background while cleaning up your apartment but with enough rhythmic mojo that you'll invariably find yourself bopping your head while folding up your whites (particularly on the beat-heavier remix tracks that comprise its second half). Having already garnered signficant buzz out of town, Solid Gold won a spot at a Vice magazine curated concert in London and headlined at the Iceland Airwaves festival in Reykjavik, it seems inevitable that this release will raise their profile here in town significantly and have everyone primed for their forthcoming full-length Bodies of Water, due this summer and being helmed by local scene luminary Ryan Olcott (12 Rods, Mystery Palace).
http://www.reveillemag.com/features/concert-feature/scene-showcase-solid-gold
Reveille Magazine

Who You Gonna Run To? - Solid Gold : Time to chill out with help from Solid Gold. This synth-heavy single envelops you with its swirling layers from what sounds like a mad, chilled-out scientist behind the keyboard. It's found on the Who You Gonna Run To? EP from Minneapolis-based Solid Gold. They were one of 12 American bands at last year's Iceland Airwaves Festival and are currently working on a full-length due out this summer.
http://myoldkyhome.blogspot.com/2008/03/pop-dee-lites-singles-party.html
My Old Kentucky Blog

Another track that I’ve been chilling on, zoning out to in a nostalgic daze, is Solid Gold’s “Who You Gonna Run To?”, off of their self titled EP. I’m really vibing to it, and though it is such a nice piece with it’s casual tone, I do like what Woltie did with it. Love the brass. I know that I’ve said it before, but I always feel that the best electronic music is sad.
http://redthreat.wordpress.com/2008/03/08/sexy-woman-take-me-to-the-bedroom/
Redthreat

Oh, Mann! Was hab ich da nur angefangen! Die Geister, die ich rief, die werde ich nicht mehr los... Was vor 3 Wochen als netter Einfall anfing, hat mir mittlerweile beinahe mein komplettes Sitz - und Klickfleisch gekostet. Worum gehts? Das SXSW 2008! Das ist ja bekanntermaßen mittlerweile eine wu... read more »
http://cowbell.fm/track/27601
The Last Pop Song

Solid Gold "Who You Gonna Run To?"

Label: Self-Released.

Genre: Disco-nouveau/dream pop.

My take: Solid Gold is from Minneapolis, and its dreamy, psychedelic sound is ecstasy. This six-track EP is a little taste of what these boys are about: sexiness, '70s funk/soul, disco, '80s R&B and psychedelic dream pop. Their sound is a little kitschy, yes, but the talent behind this record is undeniable. For people who like MGMT, this is the perfect band.
http://blog.mlive.com/kalamazoo_gazette_extra/2008/03/widrs_top_5_42.html
Kalamazoo Gazette Extra



I have to go to class, but I wanted to get something down before my night got shot with homework. Solid Gold is a nice blend of Minneapolis electronic and alternative, you wont see me saying that very often, but I tend to make exceptions. Lately I’ve been in a different groove with the music I’ve been listening to; The Fashion, The Raveonettes and now Solid Gold.

I’m pretty pleased with the EP, its definitely alternative, but at the same time it kind of has that electronic Bloc Party flavor to it, which is what I like most. Another nice thing, is its mixed well, the subtle synth accents make for a really dynamic listen. The solidity of the original tracks and the bonus remixes by Mel Gibson and The Pants and Wotlie make Solid Gold’s EP a force to be reckoned with.

http://hotbiscuits.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/solid-gold/
Hot Biscuits


From their album Who You Gonna Run To?, "Bible Thumper" is a song that is fairly unassuming at first. It's poppy, clean music that somehow creeps into the back of your head. The swoony watery effects that underlay the song are a bit distracting at first, but once you listen repeatedly they kind of just blend in with the bassline and the dance beat makes this a good candidate for a remix.

http://www.quarterlifeparty.blogspot.com/
Quarter Life Party
- Various Blogs/Publications

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/05/30/solid_gold/

Solid Gold performs in The Current studios
by Mary Lucia, Minnesota Public Radio
May 30, 2008

St. Paul, Minn. — The band Solid Gold released an EP earlier this year entitled, "Who You Gonna Run To" and will soon release their debut album "Bodies Of Water."

Their music has been described as an exploration into "unique instrumentation and composition, pairing circuit-bent organs with classical violin and opera singing, juxtaposing banjo with harsh electronic beats."

Songs performed:"Bible Thumper", "Get Over It" and "Neon Rose".




The value of SXSW
by Chris Roberts, Minnesota Public Radio
March 12, 2008

As Minnesota's birds start to head north after a long winter, its indie rock bands are migrating south to Austin Texas.

They're going to the annual South by Southwest music festival, which runs through the weekend.

For many musicians, "South by," as they call it, is the best chance to play directly to the bloggers, writers, radio programmers and label scouts they've been trying to reach all year, but that is certainly no guarantee they'll be discovered.

Minneapolis, Minn. — South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, is a straight shot down I-35. It's a mere 18 to 20 hour van ride for Twin Cities musicians with stars in their eyes.


The Minneapolis indie rock band Solid Gold has been an official South-by entrant three years in a row. Bass player Matt Locher said it didn't take long to shatter their illusions.

"After being there once, you kind of realize it's not a spectators festival, and it's not really so much about your performance, but it's more about the kind of networking that you do down there," Locher said. "Kissing peoples'....."

Locher decides not to finish that sentence. "You have to figure out a way to set yourself apart," he continued.

"Or else you're just gonna blend in, because between 2,000 bands, that means 8,000 rock-n-roll dudes and all of us, without shame, look exactly the same," Locher said.

Solid Gold guitarist Zach Coulter said his bandmates chose to deck themselves out "Texas style" to get noticed.

"Last year we decided to wear Mariachi suits for the whole time we were down there," Coulter said. "And we had a rule for the band that you couldn't take the suit off unless you were sleeping."
"You're supposed to be able to break out as a band down there, but you really can't unless you've already broken months before in the press."
- Matt Locher, bass player with Solid Gold

After two years of being kind of swallowed up by the festival, Solid Gold members think they've finally got South by Southwest figured out. It also helps that they've got a new record coming out that they can put in the hands of industry types.

But they've taken on a slightly jaded view of the festival.

"You're supposed to be able to break out as a band down there, but you really can't unless you've already broken months before in the press," Matt Locher said. "We're relatively unheard around the country, so we want to go down there and we have to go down there, but like so many others things in being a band it's pretty much a waste of our time and money."


http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/05/30/solid_gold/

Solid Gold performs in The Current studios
by Mary Lucia, Minnesota Public Radio
May 30, 2008

St. Paul, Minn. — The band Solid Gold released an EP earlier this year entitled, "Who You Gonna Run To" and will soon release their debut album "Bodies Of Water."

Their music has been described as an exploration into "unique instrumentation and composition, pairing circuit-bent organs with classical violin and opera singing, juxtaposing banjo with harsh electronic beats."

Songs performed:"Bible Thumper", "Get Over It" and "Neon Rose".




The value of SXSW
by Chris Roberts, Minnesota Public Radio
March 12, 2008

As Minnesota's birds start to head north after a long winter, its indie rock bands are migrating south to Austin Texas.

They're going to the annual South by Southwest music festival, which runs through the weekend.

For many musicians, "South by," as they call it, is the best chance to play directly to the bloggers, writers, radio programmers and label scouts they've been trying to reach all year, but that is certainly no guarantee they'll be discovered.

Minneapolis, Minn. — South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, is a straight shot down I-35. It's a mere 18 to 20 hour van ride for Twin Cities musicians with stars in their eyes.


The Minneapolis indie rock band Solid Gold has been an official South-by entrant three years in a row. Bass player Matt Locher said it didn't take long to shatter their illusions.

"After being there once, you kind of realize it's not a spectators festival, and it's not really so much about your performance, but it's more about the kind of networking that you do down there," Locher said. "Kissing peoples'....."

Locher decides not to finish that sentence. "You have to figure out a way to set yourself apart," he continued.

"Or else you're just gonna blend in, because between 2,000 bands, that means 8,000 rock-n-roll dudes and all of us, without shame, look exactly the same," Locher said.

Solid Gold guitarist Zach Coulter said his bandmates chose to deck themselves out "Texas style" to get noticed.

"Last year we decided to wear Mariachi suits for the whole time we were down there," Coulter said. "And we had a rule for the band that you couldn't take the suit off unless you were sleeping."
"You're supposed to be able to break out as a band down there, but you really can't unless you've already broken months before in the press."
- Matt Locher, bass player with Solid Gold

After two years of being kind of swallowed up by the festival, Solid Gold members think they've finally got South by Southwest figured out. It also helps that they've got a new record coming out that they can put in the hands of industry types.

But they've taken on a slightly jaded view of the festival.

"You're supposed to be able to break out as a band down there, but you really can't unless you've already broken months before in the press," Matt Locher said. "We're relatively unheard around the country, so we want to go down there and we have to go down there, but like so many others things in being a band it's pretty much a waste of our time and money."




http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/programs/local_show/archive_2006.shtml

December 3, 2006
Members of Solid Gold talked about how emotionally sensitive their drum machine is and at which venue in the Twin Cities people are most likely to dance. Chris Roberts also had music from Kanser, Big Ditch Road, The Williams/Schimke duo, John Ewing, and much more.


- The Current 89.3 FM Minnesota Public Radio

Solid Gold is comprised of Zach Coulter on guitar and vocals, Matt Locher on bass, and one sexy drum machine on percussion. They play dance-rock with hip-hop beats and crunchy guitars to dancing hipsters around Madison. They’ve also been known to make their own clothes and hand-print their own designs on inside-out vintage t-shirts, which they sell at shows. While they’ve been in and out of the studio a bit, plans for a recording are still up in the air, but it’s way more fun to go dance with the cute hipsters while seeing them live anyway. After numerous attempts on the part of the coreweekly staff to interview the elusive Solid Gold, we gave up and just had Zach and Matt interview each other and bring us a transcript when they were finished. A couple hours later Matt showed up and handed me a piece of folded paper torn from a spiral bound notebook. It had their names neatly written in the upper left-hand corner and contained the information presented below. – Colin Hughes

Z: Hello Matt, you look radiant today. Just Lovely.
M: Hey twinkle toes, did you get a hold of Peter Gabriel yet?
Z: No, that fucking Giraffe he calls his secretary won’t return my calls.
M: We definitely have to pitch that rock opera to him pronto.
Z: Pronto, word is bond. Matt, do you think the universe is expanding, contracting, or just plain static?
M: Everybody knows that it’s constantly shrinking outward, kinda like Oprah’s ass. Do you think time is slowing down or speeding up?
Z: that, like totally depends on, like, the crystals, and, like, how they feel. So let’s just pretend you use drugs for performance enhancement, what would it be, a roll, a pretty bag of marbles, and a baby-blue flashlight or 2 vicodins, a pint of wine, and a Frisbee?
M: That’s a hard one.
Z: I think our music is sexy, please expand on this idea.
M: Yeah, our music has a great rack, a killer body, and it does that one thing with its hair. How come we don’t write songs about the zodiac anymore?
Z: I don’t know, maybe cause the zodiac blows. Do you think I’m a good dancer? Seriously.
M: Yeah, you got that whole drunk white-trash girl thing totally down. Do you think we’ll be cool in the future?
Z: I don’t know bro. Can I borrow a couple of greenbacks?
- CoreWeekly

Solid Gold
Out of Your Mind

What if they gave a party and everyone had a miserable time? That’s one of several imponderables raised by Out of Your Mind, a great release by the Madison combo, Solid Gold. The EP’s six tracks are tuneful, eminently danceable pastiches of drum machines, synthesizers and jagged guitars, and the lyrics are decadent, cryptic and apocalyptic in turn. Witness the title track: “You must be out of your mind ‘cause you ain’t dancin’/You’re fuckin’ with time, you’re fuckin’ out of your mind.”
Like Franz Ferdinand and Scissor Sisters, Solid Gold mine disco to great effect. But not “Boogie Oogie Oogie” disco; I’m thinking more of disco as recorded by the Rolling Stones. Terrific stuff.
-Kenneth Burns


Solid Gold
High Five
Friday, May 27 2005
At first glance, and by both the band’s and other critics’ descriptions, Solid Gold appears to be another trio of hipster clowns making punked disco for the not-so massive masses. But even a cursory listen of the band’s self-released Out Of Your Mind proves otherwise.
No, the Madison, Wisconsin, group is something more than a disposable suppository of underground trends. Although the album is permeated with electronic beats and other synthetic touches, one gets the sense that such contrivances are merely the result of limited means (and members). The group makes the most with what they’ve got at their disposal, creating songs that are fetching as much for the sparse instrumentation as for the mix of pop, punk, reggae, and – yes, but to a small extent – disco that transcends its limitations.
Songs like “Enemy” and “Wait ‘Em Out” are buoyed by a sense of melancholy that makes them fell more like a dub comedown than a drug-fueled rave-up, while “Heroin and Cinnamon” recalls the Brian Jonestown Massacre in more ways that one. Solid Gold could do well to take themselves more seriously – just like the record they’ve created.
-Stephen Slaybaugh
Alive, Columbus, OH


If I had people over for a dance party, Solid Gold’s recent release Out of Your Mind might be playing, along with some Peaches or Scissor Sisters. The music is sexy, beat-heavy stuff, made with a drum machine, synthesizer, and guitar.

The whole damn EP is pretty fantastic, actually. There is a decadent, discotheque feel to the music that comes from the band’s combinations of danceable rhythm, electric guitar, and vocals reminiscent of Mick Jagger. A track that sticks out as quality listening material is the title track, which showcases Solid Gold’s ability to fuse the three above-mentioned pieces in such a way that it transcends genre, yet still is familiar enough to allow for your favorite moves on the dance floor. Were I to rate Out of Your Mind, I would give it a 7,501.

- the Isthmus/the Emmie/Alive Columbus

Matt Locher is a member of the band, Solid Gold. I was lucky enough to meet him at a pig roast in Wisconsin just days before he was to fly out to London with his band. Solid gold had won a competition sponsored by a Swedish clothing label and part of the prize was to perform in London. Matt described his band as “Rock & Roll with electronics”.

JLB: How long have you been in this band?
Matt: Like five and a half years.
JLB: Was it a college band?
Matt: Zack and I had some classes together. Our old drummer was a mutual friend.
JLB: Why did you get a new drummer?
Matt: Actually, we don’t have one—just electronic drums, we haven’t found the right drummer.
JLB: Well. . . , there’s no way we can’t talk about the London thing.
Matt: Oh, yeah, so the contest we won was with Vice Records/Magazine and WeSC—which stands for “We are the Superlative Conspiracy”. We submitted a song on line and people voted for it. We were one out of ten winners. Only four get to play in London.
JLB: So you were chosen first by the people and then by the executives.
Matt: Yes.
JLB: So you fly to London in a day and a half….
Matt: Yeah, its pretty crazy huh? They were gonna fly us over for only 2 days, we got them to let us stay longer, we’re working on getting a few more shows.
JLB: Did I hear someone say there were going to be important people there?
Matt: I assume so. It’s like an industry function. Industry types—friends, ass kissers and hanger-ons, blood-thirsty execs, hungry for fresh meat.
JLB: I’m guessing you still have a day job?
Matt: The three of us have day jobs. We could be spending that time writing songs—shit, we could write an album every month. Hopefully we are getting to the point now where we’ll be able to do this as our primary activity. It’s just such a crapshoot.
JLB: What did you go to college for?
Matt: I graduated with a Philosophy degree.
JLB: Originally you were headed for a medical degree? (We had heard this.)
Matt: Yeah, but I needed to get out of school.
JLB: How would you describe how you feel today in one word?
Matt: Extremely Lucky, and fortunate. No, not lucky, fortunate. Our 5 years of hard work is paying off—its very satisfying.




Neighborhood Band Rocks With No Drummer

Solid Gold are a Whittier-based band composed of three stylish men and a drum machine. The group features Zachary Coulter (vocals,guitar,keyboards, programming,sampling and percussion),Matt Locher (bass, sampling,keyboards,and programming),Adam Hurlburt (guitar,keyboards,programming, and sampling) as well as the aforementioned drum machine which mostly generates rhythms. Their live show features a psychedelic light show (of sorts) and local shoe-gazers can actually be seen dancing to the everso-slightly-funky guitar rock. While their technology-laden sound and live show echo New Order and The Stone Roses, Solid Gold are a refreshingly original find in the Twin Cities' music scene. Recently I caught up with Zachary Coulter to find out more about what these guys have been up to.

Christian Fritz:How long have you been a band and how did you meet?
Zachary Coulter:We've been a band for four years now. We've used live drums, drum machines,organs,samplers, keyboards,bass pedals,tape machines,etc. in addition to the standard guitar and bass lineup for live shows. Everyone that is or has been in the band met through mutual friends.
CF:Have any of you been in any other bands?
Zack:We've all played in other bands. Most recently,Adam played guitar for the Pale Riders. Think John Wayne meets Skeletor. Awesome.
CF:Solid Gold understand style - the sound,the look,the live light show... how did it all come together?
Zack:Our sound comes from a fascination of the future,and art and architecture that strive to be futuristic. We see it as being a new style of urban music, in that it meshes the best parts of what was already good: namely the beats and rhythm of hip-hop and dub,and the energy of rock and roll. However,we don't sit down and plan this stuff out. This is just what has happened with the band over time. At the same time,we have a love for ideas and inventions of the past,mostly wicked old amps and the point in time when analog met digital.
CF:What about your style on stage?
Zack:Our style is harder to pin down,and frankly I don't care enough about it to pin it down. Thinking about it too much makes it contrived and that goes against what we're trying to do with the music. Being in a band,we're all influenced by each other but I think our clothing choices mostly come from being broke. On the other hand,the lights we use on stage are done by Bryant Locher and I can't explain them at all. You have to just see them live,or you can see pics of them at www.myspace.com/solidgoldband.
CF:Speaking of you're your myspace site,what can you tell me about Darkcloud? Zack:Darkcloud is our fictional mother,a purple Queen camel who made us.
CF:You have a West Coast tour coming up. How did that come about?
Zack:We went out East last year so we decided to go the other way this time. We booked it all ourselves,and I've never been anywhere out West so I'm stoked. I haven't even been to Idaho.
CF:Since this is a neighborhood rag,what are you favorite things about the Whittier neighborhood?
Zack:I love Whittier man,most of it at least,especially the East side of Nicollet,which I guess doesn't leave much. Mostly it's the food:Vietnamese, Taiwanese,Mexican,etc. A lot of great buildings,the MIA is rad. A lot of this city pisses me off,but my section of Whittier is great.
CF:Were you fans of the Solid Gold TV show?
Zack:None of us really know about the show. I do have an exercise tape done by the dancers,but that's about it.
CF:Who are some of your favorite local bands?
Zack:There's a lot of good local acts. I haven't seen as many as I have wanted to,but I haven't been here that long and I'm extremely busy. I've heard Prince is pretty sweet though.
CF:When is the next time people can catch you locally?
Zack:Right now we're busy with the tour and then recording directly. After that we've decided to lay off a little on shows until we figure out when all this will all be done. But we love playing live so I'm sure we'll end up agreeing to something.
-Christian Fritz
- Johnny Lunchbox/Whittier Globe

Dressed in mariachi outfits and multi-colored bandannas, Solid Gold rode into town on a static divide. With a drum machine and analog organ, the group dove so deep into the crowd’s bloodstream that you could feel your veins start wiggling. Singer Zak Coulter’s voice held a soulful reckoning at times, in perfect harmony with the rhythms as they tapped in, only to unravel in front of our eyes. That said, the band was at times in need of a lead guitar and a live drummer to sanitize their sound. Still, these kinds of dance beats, delivered by lanky banditos, are enough to get any knee knocking, even on a Wednesday night. (BB)

--------------------------------------------
Madison at SXSW '07
the Isthmus
Madison, WI

Of course, there are others with local connections who are playing the five-day musical portion of the festival in Texas. One of the most prominent of these is Solid Gold, a dance-rock group that currently calls Minneapolis home but was formed in Madison back at the beginning of the decade. Here is how the band describes itself:
Over the past five years, the band has gone through several lineup changes and explored many wavelengths of the sonic spectrum. They have incorporated elements of new wave, disco-punk, shoegaze, brit-pop, glam, hip-hop, and electronic music in their various incarnations.
This is the second year that Solid Gold has performed at SXSW.

More information about the band can be found in a review of its 2005 EP Out of Your Mind published by Emmie, with music available for listening at their MySpace page and at solidgoldband.com.
- www.popmatters.com and the Isthmus

"The macho/possibly homoerotic Kenny Loggins song from Top Gun gets an impressive electro-soul do-over from the Minneapolis-based Solid Gold. Well done, Midwest!" - NYLON

"Coulter sings like a man believing that the skys full of lies and hes just trying to pick them off, one-by-one." - Daytrotter

"Dudes know how to set a mood" - The Onion AV Club

"A slinky, sexy, sophisticated mix of indie, electro and soul; like if the Purple One fronted Death Cab For Cutie." - MTV Buzzworthy

"This totally, TOTALLY addictive piece of laid-back, twinkling Minneapolis funkiness, has us mercilessly hooked." - NME

"We swear to god, if we had any wedge, we'd sign them ourselves." - The Guardian UK

"Perplexing and drifting psych-dream-gazing-beats, that simply collapses around your soul"
- Disorder Magazine

"Sadness has never sounded so good" - Dazed and Confused

"The repeat-worthy tracks are sharp but full of smooth, ethereal melodies that float around and consume your head." - Cool Hunting

"A stirring trip that seems like a perfect soundtrack to a debauchery filled night out in the city." - Culture Bully

"One of the hottest names to watch in dance music" - DJ Magazine
- Nylon, Daytrotter, DJ Magazine, NME, MTV Buzzworthy, Guardian UK, Disorder