Bay Area Reggae Band HIGHEST INTENTION Sets Worldwide Release of their Highly Anticipated Debut Album UNIVERSAL LIGHT

San Francisco, CA – HIGHEST INTENTION is a vintage Roots Reggae Revival band that hails from the San Francisco Bay Area. Their sound is locally grounded and globally appealing, bringing to mind artists like Sublime, 311, and even Bob Marley. Their highly anticipated debut album UNIVERSAL LIGHT will release March 22, 2019 worldwide in stores and online. This stunning debut is a solid release that honors the tradition of Jamaican Roots music while also forging its own brand of progressive Reggae for the new millennium.

UNIVERSAL LIGHT features guest producer Ces-One (J-Boog) and guest musicians Raleigh Neal (Michael Franti), Paul Wolstencroft (Slightly Stoopid), Toho Saunders (President Brown), and many more. Lead singer Karim Israel (Arise Roots) features on the song “Morning Light,” and KBong (Stick Figure) laid down piano on a tune! Describing the first single and title track of the album, Kristy Rose of Top Shelf Reggae says, “Blending traditional reggae sounds with jazzy elements, “Universal Light” is so much more than a song – it's a social statement.” Additional singles “Sky” and “Fat One” will be releasing to radio ahead of the album’s release.

Formed in 2012 by guitar player and singer Ben “Down” Lowe, HIGHEST INTENTION has performed alongside countless Reggae greats and established themselves as a local favorite, conveying a message of love and unity with a clean and fundamentally modern Roots Reggae sound. HIGHEST INTENTION plays to wildly enthusiastic audiences in clubs, concert halls, and festivals up and down the West Coast, including the world-famous Mavericks Challenge surf competition, the Bay Area Vibez Festival, and has performed with artists including Damian Marley, Fishbone, and Native Elements, to name a few.

Ben Lowe says, “The idea behind Highest Intention is to make music that can heal people and make them feel better, and that’s the highest intention for music I can think of. Our music aims to be clean, natural, fluid and graceful.” Highest Intention combines unique and thoughtful songwriting with heavy one drop beats, deep intoxicating bass lines, live horns, and vintage dub style effects featuring sound man Aaron Dahl (M.I.A., Wiz Khalifa), who is arguably the only true apprentice to dub legend Scientist aka Hopeton Brown. The band name “Highest Intention” was conceived by Judah at the Black Spot in Santa Cruz, CA.

Ben Lowe has had many of his own songs broadcast nationally on ABC Television and on shows such as The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and has produced Reggae music for numerous TV networks including Bravo, ABC, and MTV. As a singer and guitar player, he credits the Stepping Razor, Peter Tosh, Culture, and Burning Spear as musical influences, and has backed some of Jamaica’s best-known artists – including Cornell Campbell and Andrew Tosh. Ben Lowe originally founded the hit underground Reggae band Free Energy while attending UC Santa Cruz, and during his tenure with the band he shared the stage with the likes of Steel Pulse, Morgan Heritage, the Marley Brothers, and Culture, to name just a few.

Highest Intention is on the rise with a loyal and steadily-growing fan base, elevating how people feel, spreading positivity, and bringing good vibes with their music. They will be touring their debut full length album in 2019.

“We are extremely proud of the team that came together for Highest Intention. This project has brought new local talent together with internationally touring pros.”


For more information about HIGHEST INTENTION please visit: www.highestintentionband.com

To pre-order UNIVERSAL LIGHT on digital services please visit: smarturl.it/HighestIntention

To pre-order UNIVERSAL LIGHT on Bandcamp please visit: highestintention.bandcamp.com

For Booking inquiries please contact: highestintention@gmail.com

For Press and Interview inquiries please contact Billy James of Glass Onyon PR: (828) 350-8158 or glassonyonpr@gmail.com

For Reggae Press, Radio and Interview inquiries please contact King I-Vier: kingivier@gmail.com

For Digital Marketing, please contact Jerome Forney at Independent Distribution Collective: jerome@independentdistro.com

Australian-American New York Rock Band THE WALK-A-BOUT Achieves National Radio Success with Their Sophomore Album THINGS ARE LOOKING UP

Long Island, New York – Aussie-American acoustically driven rock ‘n’ roll quintet THE WALK-A-BOUT hail from the artistic East End of Long Island, New York. THE WALK-A-BOUT released their sophomore album THINGS ARE LOOKING UP, produced by Andrew Michael Bertrand and mastered by Roger Lian, in stores and online worldwide on June 15, 2018. A limited edition 180-Gram Red Splatter Vinyl is also available exclusively on their website.

Since the album’s release THE WALK-A-BOUT has achieved massive radio success, consistently landing in Top 20 charts alongside artists such as Paul McCartney, Jeff Tweedy, Mumford & Sons, Death Cab for Cutie, Sharon Van Etten, and Jackie Greene. THINGS ARE LOOKING UP is currently at #12 on Roots Music Radio’s Alternative Rock Chart. The singles “Consequences” and “By My Side” each broke the Top 10 RMR Alternative Rock Chart, and the single “That’s Just The Way It Goes” reached #13. The video for that song had play on over 75 broadcast outlets throughout the summer and early fall of 2018.

Hit singles from the album are receiving support from incredible radio stations across the US including: KFAI in Minneapolis, MN; KKFI in Kansas City, MO; KPFT in Houston, TX; KAOS in Olympia, WA; KRUX in Las Cruces, NM; KXUA in Fayetteville, AK; WERU in East Orland, ME; WKKL in West Barnstable, MA; KDHX in St. Louis, MO; WFWM in Frostburg, MD; KAFM in Grand Junction, CO; KSER in Seattle, WA; WTCC in Springfield, MA; WPKN in New Haven, CT; WHFR in Dearborn, MI; the internet station TME.FM Radio; and even CJAM in Ontario, Canada.

The band’s carefully crafted songwriting has allowed THE WALK-A-BOUT to explore the outer reaches of the orchestral atmosphere, and their dynamic new collection explores that avenue with a welcome pop appeal while maintaining their depth and introspection. Members of THE WALK-A-BOUT have worked with the likes of Bill Ortiz (Santana), Vince Welnick (The Tubes, The Grateful Dead), renowned jazz saxophonist David Murray, Earl “Chinna” Smith (Bob Marley and The Wailers), and Grammy winning film composer Alex Wurman. With something in their catalogue for every mood, whether it is a smooth island vibe, a high-stepping funk feel, or straight hard-driving rock, their music is visceral, emotional, fun, and easy.

After self-realized string master Kevin Anderson had composed a growing catalog of guitar vignettes over several years, fate brought him together with Australian singer/songwriter, blues harpist, and didgeridoo player Darren “Sully” Sullivan. Sully was the perfect songwriting partner to translate Kevin’s vision into the lyrical domain, and they began working together in the fall of 2015. At that time, as part of a crew on a ship, Sully penned his lyrics for the material while sailing around the world. He applied his very special brand of wordsmithing, creating imagery for Kevin’s original titles that spanned a wide range of subjects from heartbreak, to soul-searching, adventure, to introspection, to even the simple concept of enjoying being alive, permeating each musical piece with a special energy.

THE WALK-A-BOUT lineup moved closer to completion with a chance introduction to career drummer/producer Drew Bertrand in December 2015. Drew quickly acknowledged the unique nature of Kevin and Sully’s writing and began sculpting arrangements and cadence for every song, carefully recognizing the distinct identity of each piece. Dave Christian, a longtime musician friend of Drew’s, quickly fell in love with their sound; he expressed interest in working together, and the subsequent sessions proved that Dave’s vocal and electric guitar contributions were ingredients that rounded out the sound on all the material the band had been recording and performing live.

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP is the second album from THE WALK-A-BOUT and was primarily conceived in the studio during pre-production, with the songs on the record representing the momentum that the band was feeling during the time. The essence of urgency within the album was derived from this unique way of developing the record, and is reflected in the undeniable energy of the release. Already in the studio writing their next release with their new virtuosic bass player Keenan Zach, THE WALK-A-BOUT will continue to tour along the East and West Coasts throughout 2019 leading up to the Great South Bay Music Festival in Patchogue, NY, and an Australia tour is in the works for the coming year.



For more information including tour dates or booking inquiries please visit: www.walkaboutband.com

To order THINGS ARE LOOKING UP on digital services please visit: http://smarturl.it/TheWalk-a-Bout

To order THINGS ARE LOOKING UP on Bandcamp please visit: https://walkabout.bandcamp.com/

For Press and Interview inquiries please contact Billy James of Glass Onyon PR: (828) 350-8158 or glassonyonpr@gmail.com

For Radio Servicing or Interviews please contact Peter Hay at Twin Vision Radio Promotion: (718) 369-11370 or twinvision@aol.com or Sali Z: (480) 250-7591 or college@yahoo.com

For Digital Marketing please contact Jerome Forney of Independent Distribution Collective: jerome@independentdistro.com

International Rock Collective Sontaag Release Hawkwind Cover "Silver Machine" feat. Nik Turner!

Featuring Killing Joke's Youth, Dave Barbarossa of Adam And The Ants/Bow Wow Wow and ex-Hawkwind legend Nik Turner!

New York/London - International rock collective Sontaag, whose conceptually ambitious, eponymous debut album (a sonically cinematic, cross-generic space opera) arrived into the progressive firmament to critical acclaim in 2014, are finally set to re-establish contact with our much-troubled earthly realm.

On March 15th, 2019, Sontaag return with a fiercely contemporary interpretation of Hawkwind's iconic 1972 hit, “Silver Machine.” The Sontaag crew on this particular mission finds core creatives Richard Sontaag (guitars, keyboards, producer) and Ian Fortnam (vocals and guitar) joined by Killing Joke's Youth on bass, Dave Barbarossa (Adam And The Ants/Bow Wow Wow) on drums and ex-Hawkwind legend Nik Turner on sax.

“Silver Machine” is mixed by Youth.

Design and photo montage by Julie Cunnah. Thanks to Kevin Nixon.

“Silver Machine” is available through Cleopatra Records via all digital platforms and also comes in radically remixed form courtesy of Sontaag's fellow travellers in outer and inner psychedelic space, The Orb.

Ian Fortnam: “Hawkwind were punk-proof. Even in '77, Richard and I would jam on 'Silver Machine.' Hawkwind were the UK's counter-cultural underground incarnate. I discovered them in that narrow space between Bolan and Bowie, simultaneous to Alice, in the summer of '72. Astral explorers. Eyes aflame with psychedelic visions. The people your parents dreaded you becoming. The coolest band alive. 'Silver Machine' was Hawkwind's magnum opus, a spiralling maelstrom of riff-driven brilliance. Who wouldn't want to cover it? Four years ago I found myself spirited to Nik Turner's place in Wales, where we spoke of the Great Pyramid, orgone accumulators, space rituals, hallucinogenics, sonic generators, woodwind and Hawkwind. Before we parted, I gave him a copy of the first Sontaag album and the seeds of the 'Silver Machine' project were sown. Obviously, the very best material deserves the very best band, so calls were made to maestro Youth and Dave Barbarossa (the dream rhythm section) and here we are. And what a rare privilege to work with The Orb whose 'Imaginarium Translucent JellyFish Dub' remix is a work of art in and of itself.”

Richard Sontaag: Ian's been pestering me to do a Hawkwind cover since way back when -- the coolest kid in our school, he was often seen walking around with the Doremi Faso Latido LP under his arm between classes. But our Silver Machine came about in an unexpected way. I was alone in the studio late one night, and noticed that the guys had strung up a microphone from the ceiling. I put all the amps in a circle around it -- which is really bad technique - and went round each one, blasting out Silver Machine on different instruments. That was the most fun I have ever had in a studio -- and some of it even made it on to the final track.


Here's what the press have raved about Sontaag:

“Progressive restored to its original sense. By referencing the last five decades of music and film, Sontaag create a highly original sci-fi morality tale for the future, and one of the year’s most unusual listening experiences, itself crying out for movie status.” 8/10 - Classic Rock

“Progtastic!” 4/5 - Daily Mirror

“Just download it to your brain from the nearest orbiting space station.” - Huey Morgan, BBC Radio 2

"A schizophrenic head fuck of an album, switching between ambient electronica and crunchy hard rock." - Detroit-Metro Times

“A spectacular collision of British eccentricity and dramatic storytelling.” - Line Of Best Fit

“Sontaag have created one of the year’s most unusual listening experiences with this 21st century take on a sci-fi morality tale.” - Shindig

To purchase:
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/silver-machine-single/1454878221?ls=1&app=itunes
Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/39eOqbnGw0A3Pd9npzHqKy

For more information: https://twitter.com/Sontaag

Press inquiries:
Glass Onyon PR
PH: 828-350-8158
glassonyonpr@gmail.com


CLEOPATRA RECORDS, Inc.
11041 Santa Monica Blvd #703
Los Angeles CA 90025
www.CleopatraRecords.com ;
Facebook @Cleopatrarecords
https://www.facebook.com/CleopatraRecords/ ;
Instagram @cleopatrarecords
https://www.instagram.com/cleopatrarecords/ ;
Twitter @cleopatrarecord
https://twitter.com/cleopatrarecord ;
Youtube @Cleopatrarecords
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCopQ0616Fpfrq8Gt0N-0zOQ ;
Soundcloud @cleopatra-recs
https://soundcloud.com/cleopatra-recs ;
Dailymotion @Cleopatrarecords
https://www.dailymotion.com/CleopatraRecords ;
Vimeo @cleopatrarecords
https://vimeo.com/cleopatrarecords ;
Spotify  @cleopatra_recs
https://open.spotify.com/user/cleopatra_recs ;
Linkedin @cleopatra-records
https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleopatra-records

International Rock Collective Sontaag Release Hawkwind Cover "Silver Machine" feat. Nik Turner!

Featuring Killing Joke's Youth, Dave Barbarossa of Adam And The Ants/Bow Wow Wow and ex-Hawkwind legend Nik Turner!

New York/London - International rock collective Sontaag, whose conceptually ambitious, eponymous debut album (a sonically cinematic, cross-generic space opera) arrived into the progressive firmament to critical acclaim in 2014, are finally set to re-establish contact with our much-troubled earthly realm.

On March 15th, 2019, Sontaag return with a fiercely contemporary interpretation of Hawkwind's iconic 1972 hit, “Silver Machine.” The Sontaag crew on this particular mission finds core creatives Richard Sontaag (guitars, keyboards, producer) and Ian Fortnam (vocals and guitar) joined by Killing Joke's Youth on bass, Dave Barbarossa (Adam And The Ants/Bow Wow Wow) on drums and ex-Hawkwind legend Nik Turner on sax.

“Silver Machine” is mixed by Youth.

Design and photo montage by Julie Cunnah. Thanks to Kevin Nixon.

“Silver Machine” is available through Cleopatra Records via all digital platforms and also comes in radically remixed form courtesy of Sontaag's fellow travellers in outer and inner psychedelic space, The Orb.

Ian Fortnam: “Hawkwind were punk-proof. Even in '77, Richard and I would jam on 'Silver Machine.' Hawkwind were the UK's counter-cultural underground incarnate. I discovered them in that narrow space between Bolan and Bowie, simultaneous to Alice, in the summer of '72. Astral explorers. Eyes aflame with psychedelic visions. The people your parents dreaded you becoming. The coolest band alive. 'Silver Machine' was Hawkwind's magnum opus, a spiralling maelstrom of riff-driven brilliance. Who wouldn't want to cover it? Four years ago I found myself spirited to Nik Turner's place in Wales, where we spoke of the Great Pyramid, orgone accumulators, space rituals, hallucinogenics, sonic generators, woodwind and Hawkwind. Before we parted, I gave him a copy of the first Sontaag album and the seeds of the 'Silver Machine' project were sown. Obviously, the very best material deserves the very best band, so calls were made to maestro Youth and Dave Barbarossa (the dream rhythm section) and here we are. And what a rare privilege to work with The Orb whose 'Imaginarium Translucent JellyFish Dub' remix is a work of art in and of itself.”

Richard Sontaag: Ian's been pestering me to do a Hawkwind cover since way back when -- the coolest kid in our school, he was often seen walking around with the Doremi Faso Latido LP under his arm between classes. But our Silver Machine came about in an unexpected way. I was alone in the studio late one night, and noticed that the guys had strung up a microphone from the ceiling. I put all the amps in a circle around it -- which is really bad technique - and went round each one, blasting out Silver Machine on different instruments. That was the most fun I have ever had in a studio -- and some of it even made it on to the final track.


Here's what the press have raved about Sontaag:

“Progressive restored to its original sense. By referencing the last five decades of music and film, Sontaag create a highly original sci-fi morality tale for the future, and one of the year’s most unusual listening experiences, itself crying out for movie status.” 8/10 - Classic Rock

“Progtastic!” 4/5 - Daily Mirror

“Just download it to your brain from the nearest orbiting space station.” - Huey Morgan, BBC Radio 2

"A schizophrenic head fuck of an album, switching between ambient electronica and crunchy hard rock." - Detroit-Metro Times

“A spectacular collision of British eccentricity and dramatic storytelling.” - Line Of Best Fit

“Sontaag have created one of the year’s most unusual listening experiences with this 21st century take on a sci-fi morality tale.” - Shindig

To purchase:
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/silver-machine-single/1454878221?ls=1&app=itunes
Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/39eOqbnGw0A3Pd9npzHqKy

For more information: https://twitter.com/Sontaag

Press inquiries:
Glass Onyon PR
PH: 828-350-8158
glassonyonpr@gmail.com


CLEOPATRA RECORDS, Inc.
11041 Santa Monica Blvd #703
Los Angeles CA 90025
www.CleopatraRecords.com ;
Facebook @Cleopatrarecords
https://www.facebook.com/CleopatraRecords/ ;
Instagram @cleopatrarecords
https://www.instagram.com/cleopatrarecords/ ;
Twitter @cleopatrarecord
https://twitter.com/cleopatrarecord ;
Youtube @Cleopatrarecords
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCopQ0616Fpfrq8Gt0N-0zOQ ;
Soundcloud @cleopatra-recs
https://soundcloud.com/cleopatra-recs ;
Dailymotion @Cleopatrarecords
https://www.dailymotion.com/CleopatraRecords ;
Vimeo @cleopatrarecords
https://vimeo.com/cleopatrarecords ;
Spotify  @cleopatra_recs
https://open.spotify.com/user/cleopatra_recs ;
Linkedin @cleopatra-records
https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleopatra-records

Exit North's Debut Album "Book of Romance and Dust" Feat. Japan's Steve Jansen Now Available In US On Inner Knot Records

Lush, Atmospheric and Melancholic Debut Recording 

An uncompromising debut album that explores the collective psyches and diverse influences of its renowned members. The focus is on songcraft that seamlessly combines genres and lyrical perspectives that shift between shadows and light. Exit North's “Book of Romance and Dust” traces the edges of darkness and hope across a nuanced, provocative song cycle

Exit North is a new quartet featuring Japan co-founder Steve Jansen, Thomas Feiner, Ulf Jansson, and Charlie Storm. A co-writing partnership first formed when Feiner worked with Jansen on his solo albums “Slope” (2007). In 2014 they enlisted Ulf Jansson and Charles Storm to form Exit North. Over a 4-year collaborative timeline, Steve Jansen, Charlie Storm and Thomas Feiner have contributed in multiinstrumentalist capacities and Ulf Jansson has focused on piano and keyboards. All the instruments one associates with the world of rock are involved, but employed within an eclectic mindset. The recording also features trumpet, harmonium and a string quintet. Legendary jazz bassist Lars Danielsson contributes upright bass. Feiner's deep, rich vocals are vivid and emotional. They pair perfectly with the recording's spectral qualities, incorporating the ambient and orchestral, the meditative and kinetic. The album is one that rewards repeated engagement. Full of layers and complex lyrical turns of phrase, the record requires an investment to absorb. It also includes an instrumental in North that finds Jansson conveying melodic intrigue in the absence of a voice.



“The group has a patience and attention to detail that I find rare to come across these days,” said Jansen. “Most people want to rush the process and find the nuggets as quickly as possible, but the years spent on this album have been well worth it. The recording reflects a constant pursuit for the best we can achieve without a concern for the time it takes. This type of music is timeless, so there is no bandwagon to rush towards. We each have great attention to detail and a determination to avoid superfluous musical and lyrical content. We wanted to dig deep and express our connections with music and make the type of album we felt represented a culmination of our years of experience.”

A co-writing partnership first formed when Feiner worked with Jansen on his 2007 solo album “Slope.” Jansen sensed a kindred spirit and pursued a long-term working relationship. Feiner was already partnering with Jansson on other projects and brought him into the fold. The trio officially planted the seeds for a new group. Feiner then realised the potential of inviting renowned Swedish producer and engineer Charles Storm to join the group. The two met years earlier at a Jansen performance in Stockholm, so Feiner was aware of Storm's appreciation for Jansen's previous output. They also had a mutual friend in Jansson. Everyone felt a sense of trust, shared experiences and camaraderie that informed their sessions.

“The creative process for us is successful because we can communicate progress in composition and structure without being too precious about personal choices,” said Jansen. “The tracks have been through a number of changes and this process of raising the bar was only achieved by never resting on our laurels or believing one person's own way is the best way. It's truly a collaborative band in that sense. It's why we credit all the music to the entire group.”

“There is something exciting and new about the music on this record....it is the impression of a perfect band playing together in a musical realm that is as close to perfect beauty as it could be.” - Sputnik Music

Exit North is truly about generating an aural gravity that pulls the best out of its participants. Those who admire Jansen's instrumental, experimental solo output, as well as his song-based work with Japan and Rain Tree Crow, will find much to enjoy on “Book of Romance and Dust.” Similarly, the audience Feiner has cultivated with his group Anywhen and its acclaimed recording “The Opiates,” will encounter a related, spacious aesthetic. Jansson and Storm have also worked on countless sessions across myriad genres that have enriched the global mindset they brought to this expansive ensemble.

Available April 12, 2019.

For more information:
https://www.exitnorthmusic.com

Inner Knot Records:
https://www.facebook.com/Inner-Knot-Records-90931722573/

North American press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: +1 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com