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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

    S U R V I V E, the band behind the ‘Stranger Things’ soundtrack, brought its dark sound to Tucson

    Adam+Jones+of+S+U+R+V+I+V+E+plays+a+synthesizer+while+partially+shrouded+in+fog+and+colored+lights+at+Hotel+Congress+on+Tuesday%2C+Oct.+4%2C+2016.+S+U+R+V+I+V+E+is+comprised+of+Mark+Donica%2C+Kyle+Dixon%2C+Adam+Jones+and+Michael+Stein.
    Rebecca Noble
    Adam Jones of S U R V I V E plays a synthesizer while partially shrouded in fog and colored lights at Hotel Congress on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. S U R V I V E is comprised of Mark Donica, Kyle Dixon, Adam Jones and Michael Stein.

    S U R V I V E, a four-piece band from Austin, Texas, came through town on Tuesday night. The band played a packed show at Hotel Congress. The concert kicked off its U.S. tour for their new album RR7349.

    Why should you care about S U R V I V E? You’ve probably already heard their work. Band members Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein created the soundtrack for Netflix’s “Stranger Things.”

    Their Tucson show was their second of the year. Their first was an album release party in Austin.

    Adam Jones and Mark Donica make up the other half of the band.

    The release of “Stranger Things” came at the perfect time. The show’s popularity raised awareness of the band right before the Sept. 30 release of RR7349.

    “I … think that maybe people who heard the music in the show were like ‘Oh, this is really cool’” Jones said. “But a lot of the soundtrack stuff is formatted to be watched with film, and the album is made to be listened to by itself. So I think a lot of people can hear the stuff on the show, maybe they even bought the soundtrack … But then they listen to the album and are like ‘Oh, okay. This is more of a listening experience.’”

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    The unconventional album name stands for Relapse Records, release number 7349. S U R V I V E names all their releases after the catalog number assigned by the record label.

    The band’s makes dark electronic music, but Relapse Records specializes in metal. The label has released albums from Mastodon, Pig Destroyer and Baroness. When Relapse first reached out to the band it came as a surprise, but the band saw it as a way to reach a new fan base. The members said they’re happy with their label choice.

    “We got put on a handful of metal shows early on and the crowd always like liked it, so we knew it worked,” Stein said.

    Jones joked about how metal fans tend to spend a lot of money on albums:

    “I will say that metal fans are big collectors of records. So I’m sure in like a year we could put out a deluxe gatefold edition with some gold leaf imprinting text on it or something like that. And it would cost like $45, and people would be like ‘Hell yeah, I’m gonna pre-order that shit.’”

    S U R V I V E’s still getting used to the notoriety and mainstream visibility “Stranger Things” brought. Interview requests have rushing in, taking time away from the band’s other activities.

    “It’s not regular compared to what our lives have been like up until now. It’s cool.” Jones said.

    RELATED: El Ten Eleven rocks Congress, kicking off US tour in Tucson

    If you like “Stranger Things” and need some new music, the band has some suggestions. They created a Spotify playlist full of dark synth music. The playlist includes tour opener Majeure. It also includes Lydia Ainsworth, who plays a show at Congress on Oct. 29.

    “There’s actually a lot of women on that mixtape, which is cool because I don’t think that gets represented as often in electronic music,” Dixon said. “There’s Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Suzanne Ciani, that’s very nice, floaty kind of stuff. And then Lena Willikens is pretty aggressive, sick techno.”


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