ism (NYC) on purevolume™

Rock / Alternative / Indie

GOING DEEP TO FIND THE MONKEY UNDERNEATH: N.Y. BASED INDIE BAND

ism

HITS EMOTIONAL AND PHILOSOPHICALNERVES ALL OVER THE WORLD WITH ITS DYNAMIC MIX OF ROCK, ELECTRONICA, TRIP-HOP AND INDUSTRIAL SOUNDS

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Favorably Compared To Nine Inch Nails and a More Rockin' Radiohead, Foursome Led By Yale Grad, Singer/Songwriter Andre Mistier Follows Its Success At College Radio (The Debut Album Monkey Underneath Hit #31 on CMJ's Radio 200 Chart) With Rising Commercial Radio Single Beside The Sun, Currently Being Spun on 84 Top 40, Alternative And Mainstream Rock Stations, Including 15 Radio & Records Monitored & Indicators

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After Rocking Thousands Overseas At The European Music Day Festival Last Summer, ism Has Become a Huge Touring Sensation In The U.S.; Dates This Summer Include Nebraska's Comstock Rock Festival (July 16), Where They'll Share a Bill With Poison, Styx and Puddle of Mudd

In his legendary, generation defining anthem Give Peace A Chance, John Lennon sang of the many isms that so narrowly define humanity's general way of thinking. But why limit ourselves to one ism when life is so abstract and the world's in such crying need of more universal understanding? Maybe the problem is not just the direction in which we narrow our ways of thinking, but that fact that we choose to narrow our thinking at all.

That's just one of the powerful philosophical questions explored by the New York based band ism on their stunning STM Records debut Monkey Underneath , a collection that, perhaps more than any other album of the modern rock generation, artfully blends intellectual yet relatable lyrical concepts with a brilliant weaving of melodic rock, electronica, trip-hop and industrial elements. Its new single Beside The Sun, which blends a sensuous, rolling electronica vibe with a fiery Nine Inch Nails flavored edge, is primarily about a lover, but beyond that, people who take their passion and ride it to the utmost; it's a call for ism's fans to do the same.

For a band that formed only a few years ago and which began performing as a unit regularly a year and a half ago, the buzz has been incredibleand well deserved. Last June, ism (whose East Coast based members include lead singer/songwriter Andre Mistier, guitarist/vocalist Gerard Toriello, bassist/guitarist Leigh Battle and drummer Michael Higgins ) performed for 5000 screaming fans at Kotzia Square at the European Music Day Festival in Athens , Greece . The Greek publication Soundpark exclaimed, Their [ism's] performancedivulged the nerve and passion of good rock and roll, combined with the sound of novelty, which has been breaking up a storm with bands such as The Strokes and The Killers.

Hundreds of fans at ism's many sold out performances around the U.S. have favorably compared them to two bands the foursome counts as influences, Nine Inch Nails and a more rockin' Radiohead. Their tour schedule since last year has been a relentless joyride, hitting cities on the West Coast, throughout the Midwest and the Eastern Seaboard; this summer's busy slate takes them from L.A. to Seattle , Spokane , Bill ings , Chicago , Minneapolis/St. Paul, Indianapolis , Arkansas , Oklahoma , South Dakota , Kansas and New York . At Nebraska 's Comstock Rock Festival (July 16), ism shares the bill with, among others, Poison, Styx and Puddle of Mudd.

Figuratively and literally, college and commercial radio response has been off the charts. The album's first single Breathe, which was released in November 2005, was a monster hit at college radio, becoming the #3 Top Add on the College Music Journal (CMJ) Radio 200 chart on its way to a high rank of #49.

The song was also the #1 Most Added on NMW's Top 40 Main Chart, where it ultimately hit #5, and was played on 53 commercial stations. Monkey Underneath , released February 21, was a #3 Top Add on CMJ's Most Added Chart, debuted at #102 and rose to # 31 on CMJ's Radio 200 Chart.

The album's current single, the opening track Beside The Sun (which Mistier calls one of the most moving and sexy songs on the album), released May 9, is an across the board sensation, currently being spun on 84 commercial stations (with many more being added weekly), in formats ranging from Top 40 to Active Rock, Alternative, Mainstream Rock, Triple A , AC and Hot AC; 15 of these stations are Radio & Records Indicator or Monitor stations.

Recorded in New York , Monkey Underneath was produced by Mike Rogers , whose previous credits include Sinead O'Connor, Chubby Checker and Deee-Lite. Collaborating on the album's songs with Rogers, Mistiera Yale grad who majored in comparative mythologyreflects on, among other things, finding the yeses in the midst of a frustrating darkness of no's; the idea of dreams as a refuge to discovering solutions in the wake of rejection and denunciation; the way we tend to divide our lives into separate modes of work and play; and, on the title track, trying to understand just why we try to so hard to veil the primal animal within all of us.

Monkey Underneath is less a concept album than a thematic collection, says Mistier. We wanted to explore the relationship between the two sides of modern manthe animal and organic versus the technological and inorganicbut do so in a way that is first and foremost a powerful and enjoyable listening experience. You can think if you want to, but it's most important that you feel.

Our sound includes organic instruments that are generally associated with the rock genre, like voices, guitars and drums, as well as the trippy, cool vibe of electronic sounds, he adds. So we can communicate all the elements of modern man, but in a way that's fun and very listenable. The ideas are there to make the listener think, but I try write them in a way that's not overly intellectual so they come across more as common sense, universal nuggets.

True to his well-read, curious about the world nature, Mistier's inspiration for the Radiohead meets Nine Inch Nails-flavored Beside The Sun was none other than a quote from beat generation icon Jack Kerouac's On The Road about impassioned people. The previous single Breathe addresses love in its purest form, two people sharing one breath, stripped down without all the baggage people tend to add on, like insecurity and the need for validation.

The concept for another key track, Goodbye came from co-writer Rogers, who felt his original musical idea should incorporate lyrics about his own journey as a musician; it tackles the idea of trying to escape the external voices around the impassioned soul telling that person he or she is crazy for aiming higher. On its surface, Wake Up, Write It Down advises people on how to remember the power of their dreams; Mistier's verses, however, create a parallel between cellular growth within the human body and the universal human need to connect. As we gather, the fear drops away, he sings. Unite yourself.

That same concept could apply to the incredible chemistry between the four members of ism, all of whom had bounced around in other bands before. Working with Rogers , Mistierafter producing plays like The New York Times acclaimed production of As You Like It and trained in music since age 2 decided he wanted to find a way to blend electronica and rock. Rogers suggested bringing in other band members, and Mistier sought out Gerard Toriello, a friend of a friend of Mistier's from Yale. Toriello, who brings to ism the power of 80s metal like Poison and Motley Crue, had been playing with M ichael Higgins since age 11 in various contexts, so the core of ism became its driving rhythm section; Police-influenced drummer Higgins, in turn, had just been in another band with bassist Leigh Battle , who adds touches of classic rock, funk and Nine Inch Nails to the mix.

The three of them had a natural chemistry already, and it was very natural once we got together, Mistier says. Aside from being great musicians, they're all great showmen. As a group, we're really nuts and our energy onstage and off is pretty intense and off the wall. Higgins jumps up a lot, Battle has been compared performatively to Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Toriello performs like he's in an 80s hair metal band. Collectively, it's almost like a trancelike experience for me. I feel like the conduit for all this unique energy. As much fun as we have working in the studio, performing live is even more exciting, and we love challenging ourselves to recreate some of the electronica sounds onstage. We're really excited about being on the road right now, and we have all the songs ready for our next album. Charting our progression as a band has been very exciting for us.