The Picture Show
Jacksonville, Florida, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2004 | SELF
Music
Press
This short three-song EP from Jacksonville, Florida outfit The Picture Show is a major tease. I’ve wondered when bands would start looking back towards that mid ‘90’s alternative and pseudo-grunge bands for inspiration. The Picture Show conjures forth visions of “Vs.” era Pearl Jam. They deliver the goods in a pop-rock goodie bag that the most elite of music fans will want to call their own. I just can’t wait for the full-length; this is more of a tease than Katie Holmes!
- J-Sin
Smother.net - Smother.net
A high energy band that creates an intense, passionate, and emotional rock sound. This pushes boundaries and gives you a taste of what's to come from ThePictureShow studio.......
Adidas Soccer
- Adidas Soccer
As their moniker would suggest, ThePictureShow initially bonded over a shared love of low-budget movies. The three-song EP Blur, wouldn't be out of place on your hard rock station of choice, especially the big - voiced "Majestic", an emotionally charged relationship song with a textured tasty guitar tone.
DIG IT. (JR) - MidPointMusic Guide
By TAMARA McCLARAN, Shorelines
Most local bands playing original music dream of making it big. For many, that dream hinges on getting signed by a record label.
The Picture Show has accomplished one part of the equation. The Jacksonville band featuring Aaron Jespersen on vocals, Dan Stewart on guitar, Ryan Ito on bass and Brad Daninger on drums recently signed with 10 Spot Records. The Los Angeles record label, part of the Universal Music Group, released the band's debut album, Shatters into Discontent, in February. The album is available for sale nationally at retailers including Best Buy, Target, Barnes and Noble and Borders.
"It's given us a level of distribution that we could never really get to by ourselves," Stewart said. "We're very excited about this. So much has happened that we just couldn't do on our own."
Shatters into Discontent is the same 12-track album the group produced and released independently about two years ago. While the music is the same, the album's packaging and graphics are different. Most notable are the promotional stickers attached to every CD with the label's marketing slogan, "The band considered the next U2."
"We would have never said that about ourselves even though we like it," Stewart said. "It is a very difficult thing to live up to."
The band's musical style is reminiscent of U2 and other bands like Pearl Jam, The Who and The Killers. Shatters into Discontent has received airplay on college radio stations across the country. The band has been receiving many inquires from online sites interested in reviewing the CD.
"It's exciting and a little scary at the same time," Stewart said.
Since the album's release, The Picture Show has played a few shows in the area, including a gig at the Ocean Club, while they line up a tour to support the release. They also have been working on new material in anticipation of their next album, which could be released this year. Stewart said fans may notice a slight change in the music.
"We've got a bunch of new songs," Stewart said. "The new material is different. It's a little edgier and a lot more rockin'."
In the meantime, 10 Spot is promoting one Shatters into Discontent track, Majestic, as The Picture Show's first single. The band has also produced an acoustic version of Majestic that will be featured on a compilation CD that will most likely be marketed to corporate clients, such as retailers, to use as background music. Stewart says 10 Spot is also soliciting the band's music to the television and film industries.
"We've talked about how appropriate that would be," Stewart said. "It would be very cool for us."
The band members' passion for movies and filmmaking originally brought them together. Stewart, Jespersen and Ito have been friends since childhood, when they were all living in Northern California. After producing a few low-budget movies while in high school, their ambitions changed and their focus shifted to music.
Stewart moved to Jacksonville with his family several years ago, but a strong friendship and shared interests kept the three friends connected. They continued to work on their music together and eventually Jespesen and Ito also moved to Jacksonville.
They met Daninger, who had also moved to Jacksonville from Minnesota, and formed The Picture Show four years ago. In spite of many challenges, the band focused on writing and performing original music from the beginning because they knew they wouldn't be content working as a cover band. Over the years, they have seen a lot of bands come and go. They decided not to give up. And while they still have a lot of work to do, Stewart says they don't take their success for granted.
"It sounds so cliched, but perseverance is one of the best qualities a band can have," Stewart said. "You have to have blind faith and believe what you're doing is worth something."
For more information about The Picture Show, visit www.myspace.com/thepictureshow.
- Florida Times-Union
Discography
Released second full length album, "New Color Wheel", in 2010 independently.
Released the EP "Life" in 2009.
Debut album, "Shatters Into Discontent", re-released by 10 Spot Records in 2008.
"All Right"-2006 Songwriters Showcase of America's recipient for rock song of the year.
Adidas - Featured Track on www.adidas.com/us/soccer
Semi-Finalist DiscMakers Independent Music World Series 2006
Semi-Finalist DiscMakers Independent Music World Series 2005
XM Satellite Radio
In addition to the below, The Picture Show can be heard on over 200 College FM Radio Stations
Radio Play on 104.7fm -Los Angeles.Majestic+Bleem
Radio Play on FCCJ College Radio - Majestic, Give In
Radio Play on 88.5fm - Flagler College Radio
Radio Play on 89.9fm - The Electro Lounge (National)
Radio Play on 96.7fm - The Buzzard (Greenville, SC)
Radio Play on 95.7fm - The Hog - Live band interview w/ Majestic, Bleem, Blur featured.
Radio Play on Indie Rock Show, Indie Limelight Radio Show, Band Radio, Insomnia Music Network, isound.com radio, UNF Osprey Radio
Music featured on The Ultimate Choice WBTV show
"Shatters into Discontent" - released 8/2006 (full Length CD)
"BLUR" EP - released 7/2005 (3 song demo)
The Picture Show (self titled) (5 song demo)
"A Scene to be Heard"-Compilation of Jacksonville, FL area bands.
Dewey Beach Music Fest Compilation CD 2005 & 2006
Photos
Bio
The Picture Show's "New Color Wheel" was released independently on June 5, 2010 and is the band's second full-length album. A lean and mean 10 songs, it contains some of the tightest songs they’ve ever written. The sonic grandeur they’re known for is held intact and the clarity of the sound is something they’ve never achieved before. The old cliché about synergies has always applied to The Picture Show: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” This can also be used to describe the songs that make up “New Color Wheel.” Every song is constructed in such a way that the parts are dependent on one another to make sense. Bass and drums lock in, bass and guitar lean on each other (a proverbial “back-to-back”), guitar and vocals push and pull, and so on and so forth, culminating in their best work to date.
The Picture Show started in Northern California where three eleven-year-old friends, Dan Stewart, Aaron Jespersen, and Ryan Ito, began producing no-budget camcorder movies. The band insists that this history of movie making has relevance to the rock and roll music they now create. “For one thing, we got our creative differences and ego issues in check when we were eleven,” says Stewart. “We were obsessed with making movies by any means necessary,” Stewart adds, “and we often used fictitious names in the credits.” “The end result was what mattered the most. Not individual credit,” says Jespersen. “We were very ambitious about it, too. We naively believed that we could shoot a movie in my backyard that would be as awesome as The Terminator. We were big thinkers.” Stewart adds, “It could be said that we brought a similar naiveté to the table years later when we set out to start a band.”
When Stewart, Jespersen, and Ito turned eighteen, they were interested in trying something new. “Dan’s brother was a guitar player,” says Ito, “he had a Strat and a Marshall half stack. One night, we took turns on his guitar, banging out nonsense chords for a while. Then, in some sort of burst of inspiration, we looked at each other and said, ‘Let’s start a band.” None of the three had any real experience with songwriting, instrumentation, or stage performance. “We had little more than a passion for music and the bands that created it,” says Jespersen, “choosing our roles for the band was pretty much arbitrary.” “Dan and Ryan wanted to try guitar and so I said I’d be the singer. We were basically three random guys starting a band from absolutely nothing. By all rights we should have ended up the worst band of all time.”
As soon as Stewart and Ito figured out how to string a few notes together they started writing music. The trio had developed a strong work ethic during their movie making days and they brought it with them into their music. The first thing they did as a band was to write and record three full-length albums. “Music was this new medium for us that we were very excited about,” says Ito. “We had this archaic recording device that we used to record our albums. We did three LPs in about three months. Most of the recordings were fairly atrocious but there were a few gems in there and we were definitely sensing potential. We started to feel like we were really onto something.” Of the thirty-eight songs on these tapes, one of them was notably titled The Picture Show.
A few years, many songs, and countless performances later, the band had developed into a powerful act. Having relocated to Jacksonville, Florida, they recorded and performed under different band names and with different drummers for several years. They chose the band name The Picture Show and enlisted Minnesota native Brad Daninger as their permanent drummer in 2005. “I really connected with their sound,” says Daninger, “and I wanted to show them I had something to add to it.” Needless to say he made a huge impression. “When Brad joined the band we truly felt like we had finally become the band we had always wanted to be,” says Stewart, “Our sound was complete and we felt prepared to take things to the next level.”
Their debut album, Shatters Into Discontent, contains twelve tracks ranging from epic to rocking to ballad and back again.
In 2007 The Picture Show signed with 10spot Records and released the album with distribution by Universal Music Group on February 19, 2008. “Playing in a band, you’re constantly striving to reach new levels and new plateaus. Signing with 10Spot has definitely brought us to a new level and we’re very excited about the opportunities that lay before us,” says Stewart. “Creatively, we’re very inspired and focused right now,” adds Jespersen, ”
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