City Museum

The four founding members of City Museum all attended Ithaca College in the late '90s and early '00s, but never considered forming a band until they were all settled in Los Angeles in 2005.



At the suggestion of high school English teacher Kevin Flinn, the original foursome—which also included L.A. critic Jeff Miller, film exec Steven Weigle, and TV producer Mark Pedante—began adding parts to each others' songs. Once they started playing together, it became clear that the wildly diverse influences of the band members (which veer from Wilco's noise-folk to Weezer's power-pop to My Morning Jacket’s guitar histrionics) made for an eclectic sound, one that fell somewhere in the indie rock realm without residing on the mope shelf.



Through a chance encounter with a mutual friend, Miller re-connected with L.A. mainstay drummer Gregg Levinson, whom he'd last seen when the two collaborated on the 1997 album "Something's Got To Give." Levinson immediately agreed to play with City Museum, and the lineup was complete.



Over the course of nearly three years, City Museum has recorded two EPs, played dozens of shows at many distinguished L.A. venues, including the Troubadour, the Echo, and the Mint. The band also founded the pleonastically-named Cityfestockaroo Museumapaloozachella (Man), an annual backyard pool party/barbecue/bacchanalia featuring a veritable who’s who of SoCal musical talent (see: Oliver Future, Casxio, Louden Swain, Pigeon John) and a cast of hundreds itching year-round for the next installment of CityStock, as it’s come to be known.



The spring of 2008 saw the amicable departure of Pedante from the band, but a streamlined and revamped City Museum is now officially back, armed with new material and a “Goonies never say die” attitude.



With three singer/songwriter/frontmen in a band, things can get complicated and complex quickly. The band's dynamic is centered around fluidity and flexibility, where on any given song band members may change instruments from guitar to bass to keys, resulting in lively and engaging performances and a what’s-best-for-the-band aesthetic that carries over from City Museum’s democratic inception.



In the tradition of other multi-songwriter bands like Gomez, Sebadoh, Sonic Youth, or yes, The Beatles, this means melodies and music pass through multiple filters, so that even though no song sounds like the last one, they all, inevitably, sound like City Museum.