Skidmore Fountain

About the Artist

Think ELO and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Think Flaming Lips and Can. Think Terry Riley and Talking Heads. Channeling these musical influences, New York City based indie rock band Skidmore Fountain is a bit on the unconventional side with five-string electric cello (its fifth string acts as bass), guitar, drums, and vocals making up the group. Skidmore brings the recording studio to the stage, with live string arrangements and ambient soundscapes looping through an Echoplex, vocals intensified through analog delay pedals, and orchestrated guitar lines all sitting atop pounding old school R&B and dub rhythms. It was in Tucson, Arizona where the three founders Randy Bergida (vocals/guitar), Topu Lyo (cello/vocals), and Steven Cohen (guitar/vocals) began performing together in avant-garde art house happenings. The group moved to Portland, Oregon to electrify and find their voice in the indie rock scene, recording their first album with Tape Op legend Larry Crane (Elliot Smith, Stephen Malkmus). The album was picked as CD Baby Staff Favorite for several months. Moving across the continent to New York City, the band joined forces with long time touring drummer Dylan Wissing (Johnny Socko, Novel), and as AM New York reported, "the quartet is settling into the local scene nicely". Multi-Grammy award-winning producer Ken Lewis (David Byrne, Beastie Boys) produced the band’s 2007 11-track release, Break (Triple R Records). “A lot of innovative and enjoyable music here,” Music Morsels wrote of the disc. “Brooklyn’s Skidmore Fountain sprays out poppy streams of alt-rock with surprising dexterity,” proclaimed CMJ New Music Report. “The gobs of catchy choruses seem destined for crowd shout-alongs.” Break was recently picked as iTunes favorite albums, it charted on FMQB and the title track appeared on MTV. Skidmore won the 2008 AirPlay Direct "All Things Digital Alternative/AAA" contest, also on the strength of their album Break. After winning AirPlay Direct's songwriting contest, the four spent the better part of the year writing and recording new material for their 2009 release Cloudless Blue (Young Love Records), sponsored by AirPlay Direct, Rotary Records, Planetary Group and Big Fat Cat. Skidmore Fountain has appeared at the CMJ Music Marathon in NYC and the PLAY:stl Festival in St. Louis with headlining gigs at Mercury Lounge, Pianos, Arlene’s Grocery, Knitting Factory, The Bitter End and the legendary CBGB’s. They have toured throughout the Northwest, Midwest, and Northeast.