- Cold The Fontaines 1:00
- Handstand The Fontaines 1:00
- Please, Say Something The Fontaines 1:00
- I Love You The Fontaines 1:00
If, after listening to The Fontaines’ debut EP, you find yourself at a loss for how to describe them, don’t worry. The brother-sister duo (Charlotte, 21, sings; Hank, 26, plays guitar) don’t want to make music that’s easy to pin down.
“We call it New-Wop,” Hank says, adding that the he really wants his music to be “swoon-worthy,” to have that indescribable sense of a song taking over your heart, a feeling he’s had when listening to Miles Davis…and Beach House. For Charlotte, it was hearing The Drifters in grade school that made her realise what kind of sound she wanted to play with in her own music.
Hank moved to Los Angeles in 2008; partially for his health, but also, he adds, because he “wanted to live in a culturally important city where I could be in warm weather and still go out and hear rock n’ roll at night.” Charlotte, who always knew she wanted to sing (perhaps because she shares a birthday with Frank Sinatra), followed suit after she graduated high school, determined to follow her brother into the music business. Charlotte found herself inspired as she watched him “play every dive bar and small social gathering in town.” Hank says of the early years, “She and I both knew that getting up on stage to perform always beats sitting around and then regretting it afterward.” It simply made sense to join forces.
Charlotte came up with the name, chosen for reasons as eclectic as their music: she was inspired by Trip Fontaine, a gentlemanly but troubled character from Jeffrey Eugenidies’ ‘The Virgin Suicides’; the French poet Jean de la Fontaine; and, finally, Johnny Fontaine, the Frank Sinatra pastiche from ‘The Godfather’, because she loved his “over-the-top persona”.
By 2015, The Fontaines were playing wherever and whenever they could. “We try to make our shows as unpredictable and spontaneous as possible; we’re constantly pushing ourselves to step it up.” They also began to write compulsively. Hank estimates they’ve written over 300 songs in two years. ‘Dusty Springfield’, which is set to be the group’s fourth single, was written the night before it was recorded. “We actually already had a different song with the name ‘Dusty Springfield’,” Hank explained. “We didn’t like it, but we still wanted to record a song inspired by her. The other guys in the band were shocked when we showed up to record a new song with the same title.” The Fontaines’ self-produced new songs were recorded in downtown L.A. and mixed by Matt Linesch (Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes).
‘The Fontaines EP’ recently reached #121 on the CMJ college radio charts, #14 on the KKBB specialty radio charts, and #48 on the FMQB specialty radio charts. In addition, “Paul Newman” was recently debuted as “Today’s Top Tune” on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic. The band made their CMJ debut in 2015 and will be appearing at this year’s Canadian Music Week and other international festivals.
The Fontaines will release their second EP, ‘II’ on June 24th 2016.
“LA brother and sister duo The Fontaines have a feel for Doo Wop and call what they do New-Wop. Really, it’s just irresistibly catchy music. Hear it for yourself with ‘Paul Newman’.”
KCRW/Morning Becomes Eclectic“Siblings Hank and Charlotte Fontaine call their music ‘new-wop’, and indeed it updates the finger-snapping goodness of the 1950s with modern flourishes. As Hank explained when the duo dropped its first single, though, the song titles are a sly commentary on tabloid obsessions rather than paeans to their namesakes. Anyway, Charlotte Fontaine’s coquettish vocals on ‘Cate Blanchett’ sound like the in thing, man, and (spoiler alert) we can’t wait for the next single, ‘Dusty Springfield’.”
Buzzbands LA“Nothing we like better than ‘young’ RETRO …Retro is never out of style and this new brother sister duo are bringing a fresh taste of harmony to the planet!”
Retro Kimmer“Are you ready for some ‘new wop’? If that sounds intriguing, you’re sure to enjoy the sounds of brother-sister duo the Fontaines, who are dedicated to delivering a stylish retro sound for fans to boogie-woogie down to.”
Yahoo! Music – The New Now
Band Members:
Charlotte Fontaine – Vocalist
Hank Fontaine – Backup Vocalist, Guitarist
Jason DeMayo – Bassist, Vocalist
Scott Zimmerman – Backup Vocalist, Drummer
LINKS:
http://thatfontainesound.com
http://twitter.com/thefontaines
http://thatfontainesound.bandcamp.com
http://instagram.com/thefontaines
http://soundcloud.com/thefontaines
http://youtube.com/c/thefontaines
