Posted on: August 9, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

The New Up was selected one of three finalists in the MTV Best Breakout Bay Area Artist Awards. Based on fan voting via OurStage.com, The New Up ranked #1 out of the top 20 finalists from 130 entries in the San Francisco Bay Area. Selected by MTV to be videotaped at home and in the studio, the band filmed at The Pleasure Pad (the band’s rehearsal/recording space), Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, and at Ex’pression studios in Emeryville, CA. The interview and performance footage will be aired throughout the day on MTV2 from August 17-28 as well as on MTV2.com and TheNewUp.com starting August 17th. Final online voting will take place from August 17-28 on OurStage.com, and the winner will be announced during the broadcast of the MTV Video Music Awards on September 13, 2009.
Wrapped in effusive female fronted melodies, darkened by whirling guitars while juxtaposing hard-hitting 00s alternative with psychedelic overtones, The New Up awaken lusty social revelations that call upon hope with their new EP Better Off, the second EP of a three-part series due out August 18th. The first EP of the series, Broken Machine, received national recognition where it charted on the CMJ Top 200. Music critic Dennis Cook (Pitchfork, Signal to Noise, JamBase) deemed them “a post-Radiohead group, full of mutated pop hooks, absinthe guitars, smartly wrangled chaos and undisguised beauty and feeling. But, there’s little in the way of influences, even Radiohead’s, that you can pin down exactly… What they’ve made is their own.”

Backed by sincere musicianship inspired by Chicago roots and San Francisco surroundings, The New Up’s influential evasiveness illustrates a dichotomy of urban darkness and Midwestern sincerity, highlighting their equal fascination with nature and urban chaos. Headquartered at their San Francisco home, endearingly named The Pleasure Pad (where the band rehearses and records), members ES Pitcher (vocals, guitar), Noah Reid (guitar, vocals), Hawk West (flute and automation), Dain Dizazzo (bass) and Drew Bertrand (drums) began recording a series of three EPs in the spring of 2008. After laying down the basic tracks at Hyde Street Studios with Jaimeson Durr (Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Handsome Boy Modeling School), they began layering additional tracks at The Pleasure Pad, where they could explore by recording flute lines in bathrooms and trying odd mic placements in closets – without the pressure and financial constraints of a traditional studio.

The New Up Fall Tour

8/21/2009-Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco

8/22/2009-Cellar Door, Visalia, CA

8/23/2009-Viper Room, Los Angeles

8/24/2009-Soda Bar, San Diego, CA

8/26/2009-Hole in the Wall, Austin, TX

8/27/2009-Rudyards, Houston, TX

8/28/2009-Vinos, Little Rock

8/29/2009-Preservation Public, Knoxville, TN

8/31/2009-Caledonia Lounge, Athens, GA

9/2/2009-Alley Katz , Richmond, VA

9/3/2009-Outback Lodge, Charlottesville, VA

9/4/2009-The Red and the Black, Washington DC

9/5/2009-Trash Bar, Brooklyn, NY

9/6/2009-Cedar’s Lounge, Youngstown, OH

9/7/2009-Now That’s Class, Cleveland, OH

9/8/2009-Kent State University, Kent, OH

9/9/2009-The Robin Hood, Kent, OH

9/11/2009-The Dark Room, Chicago

9/12/2009-Cactus Club, Milwaukee

9/15/2009-Nutty’s, Sioux Falls, SD

9/16/2009-Lion’s Lair, Denver, CO

9/17/2009-Zebra Lounge, Bozeman, MT

9/18/2009-Black Forest, Eugene, OR

9/19/2009-Tonic Lounge, Portland, OR

9/20/2009-Nectar, Seattle, WA

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