Watch Whitey On The Moon on Pacific Noise (05/2008)
Jamie Osborne started performing and recording as Whitey on the Moon sometime around 1996. He was living in Denver at the time. He wrote material and produced a studio project titled "Special New Band", and self-published on the Vela Para Todo label. The critically acclaimed debut release featured Jamie's unique songwriting and the music of a far flung group of strangely talented musicians and NASA scientists (no lie).
In 2000, Jamie moved to San Francisco and teamed up with drummer Greg Marasso. Amir Djavaherian joined the band on bass. The power trio Whitey lineup wrote and recorded 2004's "Discolandia". The band plays gigs and radio shows and gets great love from earth people via internet.
In 2005 Jamie takes extended trip to India. Special New Band guitarist and certified moon reservist Jeff Osborne is called up for training purposes. Jeff, Greg, and Amir organize highly disciplined training regimen and await Jamie's return. Jamie returns.
The band gets kicked out of the Tenderloin rehearsal studio. So Totally Not Cool! Who would even dare? It's like, we're Whitey on the Moon... whoa, don't you... don't you even know!?
Heartbreak, tears and drama. Cut to family members saying nice things about how the boys were really trying so hard. Is this the end? What do you do when you get evicted from the cheapest, greasiest, darkest stinkbox in San Francisco? Rock bottom right?
Hells no. We've got the discipline. We work the hard work. We blast off for a new stinkbox in the east bay. No goodbyes. No looking back. No stress with the bay bridge fare increase. It's all good.
The four piece records demos in the shadows of El Cerrito BART. The demos sound good. The train keeps rolling. Meanwhile the band is performing with some of the finest rockers around. Musicians are paying attention. Crowds are looking closer. Who are these whitey moon dudes?
2007, dudes return from their strategic retreat in El Cerrito. They've got the City like a mean space fever and it just won't quit. One summer weekend they decide to bike over to Tiny Telephone. "Hey John, we wanna make a record." "Sweet!". Turns out Tiny Telephone is well set up for that sort of thing. The weekend is a success (thanks Tim Mooney!).
The latest hits are about to drop - New material is titled "One Less Car". You won't be disappointed. We got our helmets on.
Augusta Metro Spirit :: "A sound familiar to the ears of blues and country fans, this band reverberates in the eardrums with magnetism reminiscent of Wilco's progression through the years. With simple harsh lyrics and bleeding power chords throughout the six track collection, Whitey on the Moon explores the timeless expanse of territory called Americana while blending the open spaces of the prairie into a rock n roll framework of cataclysmic sound."
Splendid Ezine :: "Lazy melodic lines, labyrinthine tunes, concise and laconically ironic slacker poetry, spidery and fragile guitars, slightly ramshackle rhythms... these thirteen tracks work on a subtle, insidious level: the telegraphic cleverness found in lyrics like "After the divorce there was an age of free poetry..." (from the delicious "Age Of Free Poetry")... the sometimes laid-back, sometimes off-kilter atmospheres reference Beck, Guided By Voices and Calvin Johnson."
All Music Guide :: "Goes right for the jugular with 12 catchy-as-heck indie tunes in the spirit of mid-period Pavement with a gleeful humor similar to the Halo Benders"
Bay Guardian :: "Bay Area indie rockers Whitey on the Moon, who come off smart and punchy like San Diego and Chicago – think Joan of Arc bouncing off the walls of a cramped spacecraft with, say, Squirrel Bait. On this year's Discolandia (Vela Para Todo)... They impress with a hyper, punky energy and a hint of quirky, soulful storytelling. More please!"
VIDEOS!
Empty Charms (Chuck D) - video by Chuck Boom
Afghanistan - video by Chuck Boom
