batteryboy

“...reminiscent of Cloud Cult’s acoustic work and neo-folkies like Bon Iver.” - Andrea Swensson, 89.3 The Current batteryboy is an orchestral rock group founded as a solo project by Cobey Rouse in 2011. With intelligent lyrics, unique instrumentation and distinct sound, batteryboy has recently been compared to The National, Bon Iver, Cloud Cult, U2, Nick Drake, Sigur Ros and Velvet Underground. The name comes from the 1960 TV show Torchy the Battery Boy about puppet with a light on his head that showed lost children the way back home. After playing in bands for years in Omaha and Minneapolis, Rouse gave up his pursuit of music to focus on his new family and career. Ten years later, personal experiences drove him back to music. “Rouse pours his heart into batteryboy’s eloquent lyrics; they come straight from the soul.” - Rift Magazine Knowing that his serious, emotional approach to songgwriting was not the quickest way to the stage or radio, Rouse was hesitant to complete these new songs or ever play them publicly. After discovering the music of Cloud Cult, Rouse was inspired by the idea that he could make music that was not only be therapeutic for him, but could be for others as well. He set out to write new material with a new approach to handling the love, pain, loss, hope and desperation in the world around him. This work would eventually become batteryboy's 2013 debut album, Up for Air. “...(Up for Air is an) incredibly intricate debut...a record filled with just as much sadness as it is with inspiration.” - Natalie Gallagher, City Pages Starting solo with drums at his feet and guitar in hand, batteryboy hit a few coffee shops and music venues, but it was a nice hobby and really nothing more than that. Ready to hang it up again after about a year, Rouse took a flyer on an opportunity to record 4 songs in one hour for $100 at a small studio in the basement of a violin repair shop. That's when everything changed, because an employee who worked in that shop happened to be Shannon Frid-Rubin, violinist for Cloud Cult. She heard him playing while recording and the two talked a bit about his music and direction. Six months later, Frid-Rubin had become the second member of batteryboy for the next year. During the recording or Up for Air, multi-instrumentalist Eric Carranza was hired on to add what Rouse refers to as surrealism to their sound. Carranza's effortless beauty on guitar and Rhodes give batteryboy a sound and dynamic that stands apart and strikes a deep emotional chord. “The melody of the sad songs, even without the lyrics, opens your heart. The reserved upbeat tempo of the joyous songs makes you smile wistfully...it’s just beautiful, grown up music.” - Ann Treacy, TC Daily Planet The band now is now a powerful four piece, featuring the undeniable talents of cellist/vocalist Hilary James and Kahlil Brewington on percussion. Their unique instrumentation, beautiful, soaring harmonies and driving, understated rhythms add a tense, emotional soundtrack to batteryboy's heart-rending, deeply personal lyrics. batteryboy are currently working on their second album for a late 2015 release and preparing for a spring 2016 tour. "The sound is comfortably grounded by heart-over-head vocals graced in sweet harmonies anchored in pulsating percussion. Lofty and sincere lyrical lines slide over the sweetly sad string slips that will keep them in you inner ear for the next year and more." - Mid West Music Fest making music to make sense of everything else. new album 'before the silence breaks' available at http://batteryboy.bandcamp.com