IMPERIAL Z - ’STARZ’ (debut EP)
Founding member of Imperial Z, Dan Zacharias, honed his chops as a singer/songwriter playing in coffee shops and clubs in Boulder, Colorado while attending the University of Colorado. After graduating, he moved to Los Angeles where he teamed up with producer/electronic artist Appogee (appogeemusic.com), who is known for his experimental music as well as his remixes of indie sensation Bright Eyes and Japanese artist Kitaro. The debut EP - ’Starz’ - caught the attention of LA station 95.5 KLOS who featured 4 of the songs on their "Local Licks" program.
COMMUTER - ’BRIGHTLY SHINING, DIMLY LIT’ (collaboration w/ Appogee)
In 2006, Jay Skinner from Appogee asked Dan Z to sing on some "tech-country" songs he was working on. The collaboration came to be known as Commuter, and 10 songs later, their debut album - ’Brightly Shining, Dimly Lit’ - was born. Kevin Bronson from the LA Times said the album “is a hunk of soundtrack-ready pop that’s three mood swings waiting to happenâ€. Their tune ‘Chapters’ was featured on the season 3 finale of ’The O.C.’ and was included on the Nov. 06 Paste Magazine CD sampler. (www.pastemagazine.com) ’Forfeit’ will be featured on the soundtrack for the film ’Blink’ along with The Walkmen, Grandaddy, Her Space Holiday and Sound Team. (www.twobitfilms.com/soundtrack.htm) Listen for Commuter on Gary Calamar’s show ’The Open Road’ on 89.9 KCRW (LA) and Christian B’s show ‘Headtrip’ on Indie 103.1 (LA) Commuter teamed up with director Randy Stoudt and filmed a music video for ’Chapters’, which showed the duo commuting on bikes, skateboards, the bus, the subway and a plane on a journey away from lost love. To see the video and the oc clip, go to: www.myspace.com/commutertheband
IMPERIAL Z - ’THAT FAR & THIS CLOSE’
‘That Far & This Close’ is the latest album from Imperial Z. It features performances from ALFRED WOODY (Usher/Commuter/Overnight Lows) on drums, JAWNEE BURKES (Piel/That Noise/Woven/Rickie Lee Jones) on bass, TIKI LEWIS (Piel/Rickie Lee Jones) on vocals, JAY SKINNER (Appogee/That Noise/Tiki Lewis), CHRIS LOWERY (Shakira/Wyclef Jean) on trumpet and MATT ZACHARIAS on piano/keys. Look for Imperial Z on a Southwest tour in May 2008. The CD release party will be held in Los Angeles at the Hotel Cafe on May 16th.
