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viviandarkbloom

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Hometown	Cambridge, MA
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Band Members	Rob Morris: vocals, guitars; Loren Bienvenu: drums; ... » more
Achievements	» more
Upcoming Shows	None

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About the Artist

Vivian Darkbloom is perhaps the best-kept secret in the Boston music scene. Their songs and stage performances speak for themselves, but they also have some must-see secret weapons. Rob Morris's Wii Guitar is always a crowd pleaser, and has been...

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Music

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Achievements

May 2009 Alt. Rock

February 2009 Radio 92.9

April 2008 CMJ

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Press Coverage

Boston's One to Watch - 2008 by Ryan's Smashing Life
Vivian Darkbloom is Boston's Hot New Band. They're young, creative and really good. After just a year of playing together as a band; Rob Morris (vocals and guitar), Brian Skerrat (bass and vocals) and Loren Bienvenu (drums) are emerging as one of the city's brightest new talents. The group just released the "Lets Become Machines" EP which showcases their considerable range and growing talent. It was very much a DIY process. We recorded it in our drummer’s basement," singer Rob Morris said on the phone recently. "It was a very cumbersome approach. We’re not sound engineers. But it came out pretty well. The public seems to respond to the tracks. Indeed they do. The band rocked the stage at Bill's Bar recently opening up for Static of the Gods (highly recommended!) The house was thoroughly impressed and one can't help but know that better days are on the way. INFLUENCES, SOUNDS and STYLES: Vivian Darkbloom has some sound similarities and song structures in common with one of my favorite bands in the country: Mason Proper (a hugely talented Michigan indie rock outfit that would be far more famous than they are currently if they had the benefit of being on the left or right coast.) And it was during our recent chat and though our email correspondences that I learned from Morris that he has been influenced by Spencer Krug and Dan Broeckner's Wolf Parade (another favorite band - this one from British Columbia, Canada.) This revelation keeps us going for some time further. Darkbloom plays a cover version of Wolf Parade's "Modern World" that I am thoroughly interested in hearing. Morris is a bright guy. He's a graduate student here in Boston at MIT. Right now he's working on a sound project involving guitar and kinetic movement. It's only a matter of time before the world will know this guy's name. UPCOMING DATES: Vivian Darkbloom has two local shows over the next three weeks to check out. They will be at P.A.'s Lounge in Sommerville on April 17th and at TT the Bears in Central Square, Cambridge on May 8th. I figured I would ask Morris which song the group considers their best - so I could listen for the track at these shows. Our favorite song to perform? I think all three of us in the band would tell you that we have no idea anymore," Morris said. "We do listen to the performance and critique it... Like 'there was a strong intro to "Jamie," or the chorus on that one came in a little late.' Otherwise they're just patterns of notes now. It's the newer stuff we are focusing on. The beauty of a band like Vivian Darkbloom is that there is only what's upcoming. They are the best of the emerging talent here in Boston. They are what's next.

CMJ/Sonicbids Spotlight by CMJ
Alt-rock triple threat, Vivian Darkbloom, won the CMJ Sonicbids spotlight award for the week of April 7, 2008. Formed in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2006, the group has already toured throughout the Northeast with early gigs at famed, alt-rock incubator and dive bar, TT The Bear's. Vivian Darkbloom's first EP, Let's Become Machines, was produced and engineered by the band members themselves: Rob Morris (vocals, guitar) Brian Skerratt (bass, vocals) and Loren Bienvenu (drums). The band's single, "It Is What It Is," was recently played on Boston's mass market radio station WFNX. Rob Morris' live performances have caused a buzz among gadget-geeks—his instrument is a home-made, Nintendo-Wii controlled guitar. In January, the guitar was included in a trade show in Japan for Yamaha and for Genyo Takeda, the inventor of the Wii.

Live Review by SecretlyIronic.com
The highlight, though, was the middle of the three performers, Vivian Darkbloom. Their track “Cold War,” if there were any justice in the music biz, would be on heavy rotation. Lines like “I loved our cold war, we never had to mean what we said, we spoke like our governments” and “you list me as a friend, but it’s complicated, I guess the whole world knows now” are just brilliantly clever. And then there’s the fact that the lead has attached a Wii remote to his guitar, and wired it in some way so as to have the motion sensor affect the tones coming out of the instrument.

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