The Record Company

Of the recent wave of young artists exploring vintage music, few pull off the blues with such aplomb as L.A. trio the Record Company. Singer-guitarist Chris Vos’ sublime vocals (and his aw-shucks attitude) and the tight rhythmic backing of Alex Wood and Marc Cazorla only tell part of the story — there’s a timelessness, and even effortlessness, to the songcraft on their debut EP “Superdead,” now available for free download. It’s as if these tunes have been around forever. The threesome has won fans everywhere they’ve played, most memorably at the Silver Lake Jubilee [that's Vos, pictured above] when they did an a extra fill-in set on the main stage. They’re bound to win more. - Buzzbands L.A.

Of the recent wave of young artists exploring vintage music, few pull off the blues with such aplomb as L.A. trio the Record Company. Singer-guitarist Chris Vos’ sublime vocals (and his aw-shucks attitude) and the tight rhythmic backing of Alex Wood and Marc Cazorla only tell part of the story — there’s a timelessness, and even effortlessness, to the songcraft on their debut EP “Superdead,” now available for free download. It’s as if these tunes have been around forever. The threesome has won fans everywhere they’ve played, most memorably at the Silver Lake Jubilee [that's Vos, pictured above] when they did an a extra fill-in set on the main stage. They’re bound to win more. - Buzzbands L.A.

The Record Company are a blues based trio from Los Angeles. The band includes vocalist Chris Vos who plays guitars, lap steel, pedal steel, harmonica; Marc Cazorla on drums, piano and vocals and Alex Wood on bass, guitars, piano and vocals. Wood has connections to the area, as he grew up in Wayne before heading West for the rock and roll life. The band’s debut album, Super Dead, is a collection of subtle, funky and well played blues music that hearkens the musical spirits of Morphine and John Lee Hooker. The charm of the band’s songs come from their raw and live in the studio recordings. - The Key/XPN

The Record Company are a blues based trio from Los Angeles. The band includes vocalist Chris Vos who plays guitars, lap steel, pedal steel, harmonica; Marc Cazorla on drums, piano and vocals and Alex Wood on bass, guitars, piano and vocals. Wood has connections to the area, as he grew up in Wayne before heading West for the rock and roll life. The band’s debut album, Super Dead, is a collection of subtle, funky and well played blues music that hearkens the musical spirits of Morphine and John Lee Hooker. The charm of the band’s songs come from their raw and live in the studio recordings. - The Key/XPN

The backyard of The Record Company's Los Feliz house is the kind of place where you want to sit and stay a while. Birds are chirping, a lawnmower whirs in the distance and a dog slumps happily on the grass. There's not much smog, so the downtown skyline is visible. The idyllic spot is perfect for laid-back BBQs, long nights spent sipping beer and the band's good-time blues.

Marc Cazorla, Chris Vos and Alex Wood, the three members of The Record Company, are lounging on the back porch drinking iced coffee, explaining how three transplants from the northeast and midwest ended up making bluesy music in L.A. that would sound more at home in a sweaty, backwoods Mississippi juke joint. Their first track, "Don't Let Me Get Lonely," features Vos' surprisingly rich vocals over an infectious jumble of handclaps, driving bass and a tinny harmonica. - L.A. Weekly

The backyard of The Record Company's Los Feliz house is the kind of place where you want to sit and stay a while. Birds are chirping, a lawnmower whirs in the distance and a dog slumps happily on the grass. There's not much smog, so the downtown skyline is visible. The idyllic spot is perfect for laid-back BBQs, long nights spent sipping beer and the band's good-time blues.

Marc Cazorla, Chris Vos and Alex Wood, the three members of The Record Company, are lounging on the back porch drinking iced coffee, explaining how three transplants from the northeast and midwest ended up making bluesy music in L.A. that would sound more at home in a sweaty, backwoods Mississippi juke joint. Their first track, "Don't Let Me Get Lonely," features Vos' surprisingly rich vocals over an infectious jumble of handclaps, driving bass and a tinny harmonica. - L.A. Weekly

The backyard of The Record Company's Los Feliz house is the kind of place where you want to sit and stay a while. Birds are chirping, a lawnmower whirs in the distance and a dog slumps happily on the grass. There's not much smog, so the downtown skyline is visible. The idyllic spot is perfect for laid-back BBQs, long nights spent sipping beer and the band's good-time blues.

Marc Cazorla, Chris Vos and Alex Wood, the three members of The Record Company, are lounging on the back porch drinking iced coffee, explaining how three transplants from the northeast and midwest ended up making bluesy music in L.A. that would sound more at home in a sweaty, backwoods Mississippi juke joint. Their first track, "Don't Let Me Get Lonely," features Vos' surprisingly rich vocals over an infectious jumble of handclaps, driving bass and a tinny harmonica. - L.A. Weekly

The backyard of The Record Company's Los Feliz house is the kind of place where you want to sit and stay a while. Birds are chirping, a lawnmower whirs in the distance and a dog slumps happily on the grass. There's not much smog, so the downtown skyline is visible. The idyllic spot is perfect for laid-back BBQs, long nights spent sipping beer and the band's good-time blues.

Marc Cazorla, Chris Vos and Alex Wood, the three members of The Record Company, are lounging on the back porch drinking iced coffee, explaining how three transplants from the northeast and midwest ended up making bluesy music in L.A. that would sound more at home in a sweaty, backwoods Mississippi juke joint. Their first track, "Don't Let Me Get Lonely," features Vos' surprisingly rich vocals over an infectious jumble of handclaps, driving bass and a tinny harmonica. - L.A. Weekly

Don't call the Record Company a blues band. "There's a preciousness to the term 'blues artist,' says Chris Vos, the band's dreamy lead singer (cool it ladies, he's married). "We tip our hat to the greats—Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed—and carry a lot of the blues in our music; but we've got too much respect for the genre to lump ourselves into it. We're more similar to an early rock 'n' roll band." The band's sound is raw, definitely bluesy and reminiscent of some of the best acts of the '50s and '60s—like if John Lee Hooker and the Stooges had a well-behaved love child.

Vos and his wife Valerie moved to Silver Lake from Milwaukee in 2010, and it wasn't long before he found friends in bass player Alex Stiff (single, raised in Wayne, PA) and drummer Marc Cazorla (also single, originally from Elmira, NY). The three bonded over blues, BBQs and beers, and by late 2011 they were playing music together. Less than a year later, and they've already toured (with the Whigs), snagged Lucky Brand as a sponsor, and will begin a month-long residency at the Satellite on November 5. We dug their sound so much, we invited them to headline Time Out's launch party. More recently, we invited ourselves into Stiff and Cazorla's Los Feliz home to get the nitty gritty on life in LA for a down-home blues bluesy rock band.

Time Out Los Angeles: When did the light bulb go on that you three should make a go at this whole being-a-band thing?

Chris Vos: We'd become really close friends, listening to records and drinking beers every Friday night—it was all music all the time with us. Still is. One night last October, we were listening to John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat's Hooker & Heat album, and just realized—we all love this music, why don't we do something like this, kind of raw like this, together? So I went home, wrote a couple songs, brought 'em back to the guys, they made 'em better, and we actually recorded the first day we played together.

Marc Cazorla: We said screw it, let's just hang some mics up in the living room and see what this sounds like.

Chris Vos: The song 'Born Unnamed' from our EP, we recorded that first day. And I remember thinking halfway through the song that it just felt right. It felt exactly how I wanted it to feel, like having a really good, easy conversation with someone. We were all just being exactly who we were, and it worked.

Alex Stiff: Sometimes before shows, like on tour, we'll say to each other, 'Guys, we hung some mics up in the living room and now we're in Canada.'

Time Out Los Angeles: What are your favorite places to play in LA?

Marc Cazorla: You begin to feel guilty asking your friends to come see you play at clubs with expensive drinks and $10 covers. When we play at High-Fidelity record shop it's free, they have beer and wine for people, and you get randoms walking by and popping in. It's really grassroots and old school—we like that.

Chris Vos: The Satellite is awesome of course. Harvard & Stone was one of the first places that let us play. We once played on the 30-yard line of the Rose Bowl for a committee banquet. And we played your launch party—I'm still shocked that no one fell in that pool. I kept seeing high heels one inch from the edge.

Time Out Los Angeles: There were a few close calls, for sure. What would you have done if someone had fallen in?

Chris Vos: I probably would have jumped in to save them—we all would have. Though I'd have to take off my boots first. Man, a water rescue would have been a great story: "Entire band jumps in pool to rescue party-goer!"

Time Out Los Angeles: Ha! Luckily you guys were able to stay dry. So, what about when you're not playing music/collectively saving lives? Any favorite spots to hang in LA?

Chris Vos: When we do go out on the town, it's usually not far. Ye Rustic Inn is pretty much a staple for us. If you want to find the Record Company, you probably have a good chance at the Rustic. I also love LACMA. Staring at a 700-year old piece of art? That blows my head off completely.

Alex Stiff: I love going to Griffith Park with Seger [Stiff's two-year old lab mix]. You get to the top and there are such great views of the city. And for food, Village Pizzeria in Larchmont is great, and Larchmont Deli has the best sandwich in town.

Chris Vos: Oh! There's a little food truck that parks outside the Von's in Echo Park... Taco Zone! Man, I love that one. Those two little ladies in there just doling out the best Mexican food ever.

Marc Cazorla: I don't go to Hollywood that much, but I'll go for the egg rolls at Genghis Cohen. They're the best. And I just got a new camera, so I've been going downtown a lot to take pictures, in Chinatown and Little Tokyo. It's like another world over there—it really lends itself to good photographs.

Chris Vos: LA is such an engaging city. I never go anywhere and think "Well, this is boring."

Time Out Los Angeles: You have a record collection in here that puts whole shops to - Time Out Los Angeles

Don't call the Record Company a blues band. "There's a preciousness to the term 'blues artist,' says Chris Vos, the band's dreamy lead singer (cool it ladies, he's married). "We tip our hat to the greats—Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed—and carry a lot of the blues in our music; but we've got too much respect for the genre to lump ourselves into it. We're more similar to an early rock 'n' roll band." The band's sound is raw, definitely bluesy and reminiscent of some of the best acts of the '50s and '60s—like if John Lee Hooker and the Stooges had a well-behaved love child.

Vos and his wife Valerie moved to Silver Lake from Milwaukee in 2010, and it wasn't long before he found friends in bass player Alex Stiff (single, raised in Wayne, PA) and drummer Marc Cazorla (also single, originally from Elmira, NY). The three bonded over blues, BBQs and beers, and by late 2011 they were playing music together. Less than a year later, and they've already toured (with the Whigs), snagged Lucky Brand as a sponsor, and will begin a month-long residency at the Satellite on November 5. We dug their sound so much, we invited them to headline Time Out's launch party. More recently, we invited ourselves into Stiff and Cazorla's Los Feliz home to get the nitty gritty on life in LA for a down-home blues bluesy rock band.

Time Out Los Angeles: When did the light bulb go on that you three should make a go at this whole being-a-band thing?

Chris Vos: We'd become really close friends, listening to records and drinking beers every Friday night—it was all music all the time with us. Still is. One night last October, we were listening to John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat's Hooker & Heat album, and just realized—we all love this music, why don't we do something like this, kind of raw like this, together? So I went home, wrote a couple songs, brought 'em back to the guys, they made 'em better, and we actually recorded the first day we played together.

Marc Cazorla: We said screw it, let's just hang some mics up in the living room and see what this sounds like.

Chris Vos: The song 'Born Unnamed' from our EP, we recorded that first day. And I remember thinking halfway through the song that it just felt right. It felt exactly how I wanted it to feel, like having a really good, easy conversation with someone. We were all just being exactly who we were, and it worked.

Alex Stiff: Sometimes before shows, like on tour, we'll say to each other, 'Guys, we hung some mics up in the living room and now we're in Canada.'

Time Out Los Angeles: What are your favorite places to play in LA?

Marc Cazorla: You begin to feel guilty asking your friends to come see you play at clubs with expensive drinks and $10 covers. When we play at High-Fidelity record shop it's free, they have beer and wine for people, and you get randoms walking by and popping in. It's really grassroots and old school—we like that.

Chris Vos: The Satellite is awesome of course. Harvard & Stone was one of the first places that let us play. We once played on the 30-yard line of the Rose Bowl for a committee banquet. And we played your launch party—I'm still shocked that no one fell in that pool. I kept seeing high heels one inch from the edge.

Time Out Los Angeles: There were a few close calls, for sure. What would you have done if someone had fallen in?

Chris Vos: I probably would have jumped in to save them—we all would have. Though I'd have to take off my boots first. Man, a water rescue would have been a great story: "Entire band jumps in pool to rescue party-goer!"

Time Out Los Angeles: Ha! Luckily you guys were able to stay dry. So, what about when you're not playing music/collectively saving lives? Any favorite spots to hang in LA?

Chris Vos: When we do go out on the town, it's usually not far. Ye Rustic Inn is pretty much a staple for us. If you want to find the Record Company, you probably have a good chance at the Rustic. I also love LACMA. Staring at a 700-year old piece of art? That blows my head off completely.

Alex Stiff: I love going to Griffith Park with Seger [Stiff's two-year old lab mix]. You get to the top and there are such great views of the city. And for food, Village Pizzeria in Larchmont is great, and Larchmont Deli has the best sandwich in town.

Chris Vos: Oh! There's a little food truck that parks outside the Von's in Echo Park... Taco Zone! Man, I love that one. Those two little ladies in there just doling out the best Mexican food ever.

Marc Cazorla: I don't go to Hollywood that much, but I'll go for the egg rolls at Genghis Cohen. They're the best. And I just got a new camera, so I've been going downtown a lot to take pictures, in Chinatown and Little Tokyo. It's like another world over there—it really lends itself to good photographs.

Chris Vos: LA is such an engaging city. I never go anywhere and think "Well, this is boring."

Time Out Los Angeles: You have a record collection in here that puts whole shops to - Time Out Los Angeles