The Violet Lights

Near dusk one Los Angeles evening, as the haze-smeared sun began to disappear beyond the hills above Sunset Boulevard, a tall and imposing figure with dark eyebrows and a terrifying gaze strode through the eleventh floor double doors of his West Hollywood condo, clutching a fossilized Saber-toothed tiger skull in his left hand, dodging an ancient sword that hung by a rope from the ceiling, and without slowing the stride that took him across the room to where floor-to-ceiling glass looked out over a vast panorama of city, announced without addressing anyone in particular, "We are leaving for Iceland tonight." After an intense furor of arrangements, calls, and purchases by his three personal assistants, housekeeper, personal chef, and tall blonde Icelandic tutor, by midnight everyone, luggage and all, was in the private jet ready to take off for Reykjavík, including the eccentric billionaire whose last-minute whim had set it all in motion. Among the staff on the plane sat Joel Nass and Amber Garvey, his personal assistant and private chef, newly hired but highly-paid young L.A. transplants. With the now customary ten thousand dollars in cash from the accountant tucked into Joel's front coat pocket, fresh in Amber's mind conversations with her boss reminiscent of the Biblical scenes of Satan tempting Jesus with an offer of all the kingdoms of the world, and more money in their bank account than they'd ever had, Joel and Amber could easily have determined that their move from Green Bay, Wisconsin to Los Angeles in search of opportunity five months before had ended in nearly complete success. Not long after that plane left the Van Nuys airfield, however, Joel and Amber made the decision that would suddenly leave the two far from the world of lengthy stays at luxury hotels on private Hawaiian islands or discussing with their employer the latest details of his plans to weave clothing out of actual money. These days, they are much more likely to be found huddled next to each other in the back of a Dodge Caravan along a highway in Wyoming in the windy cold of a winter night, sleeping with wool hats on their heads and their noses tucked under the edges of their sleeping bags. Joel and Amber decided to leave their jobs with the wealthy businessman, and immediately after, began work on the first record by their newly-formed band, The Violet Lights. And soon after finishing the record, in early 2012 they decided, sink or swim, to begin touring North America without financial backing and with the responsibility of seeing after nearly every aspect of the endeavor themselves, which has led to quite a bit of sleeping in their minivan, showering at truck stops, selling most of their possessions, giving up their apartment, and generally getting by and making things work by whatever means necessary. That first record is Sex & Sound, and The Violet Lights played more than 100 shows in support of it by early 2013. Joel describes the sound of the record as a reflection of what the band has gone through to this point, "I wanted to capture the impetus and experience of moving out to L.A. from the relative calm and security of the Midwest. Amber and I have dealt with a lot of discontent, numbness, frustration, anger, and fear in pursuit of success as The Violet Lights and within our personal relationship. I knew that there had to be loud and destructive passages, but wanted to temper them with enough melodic elements to make the record enjoyable and to represent our belief that the struggles in our life or any life are not without purpose and meaning, no matter how disparate things may seem." The Violet Lights are currently in Los Angeles in the studio recording the follow-up to their first record, to be released in 2014. On the band's blog (http://thevioletlights.com/blog), find photographs of the band and stories of their travels, and view their complete tour schedule here: http://thevioletlights.com/shows.php. "L.A. by-way-of Green Bay, Wis., band The Violet Lights may let their Britpop influences overshadow over their NYC garage-rock and indie-pop urges, but it’s certainly not anything to be upset about." –Buzzbands LA "... Sex & Sound is reminiscent of The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, The Killers and other Brit-pop influenced bands, and Joel Nass and Amber Garvey keep the melodies moving forward with rocking guitars, rhythmic bass lines and poppy lyrics." –The A.V. Club "With their infectious mix of indie rock and Britpop, plus just enough garage rawness to keep things interesting, things are looking pretty bright for Wisconsin-bred, Los Angeles-based newcomers The Violet Lights." –Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Indie rock duo.