Blackbird Blackbird

Blackbird Blackbird is the recording project of San Francisco-based electronic musician Mikey Maramag. His warm, textural synth pop and distant, dreamy vocals recall acts like Four Tet and Washed Out, though Maramag's roots are actually in metal and hardcore. Originally hailing from Hawaii, he relocated to Northern California and began his career as the drummer for Bay Area hardcore band Murder Practice. He left the band in 2009 to attend the University of California in Santa Cruz where he took an interest in electronic music and became enamored with artists like Aphex Twin and Modeselektor. While away at school he began recording under the alias Bye Bye Blackbird, eventually tweaking the name to Blackbird Blackbird after encountering another band with the same name. He released various singles before issuing his debut album, Summer Heart, in mid-2010. His blissed-out, sunny dream pop was well-received and he signed with San Francisco indie Lavish Habits to release his follow-up EP, 2012's Boracay Planet. Tours of the U.S. and Europe followed as he continued to evolve his live set-up and in 2013, it was announced he had signed to prominent San Francisco electronic label Om Records who released his second LP, Tangerine Sky, in June 2014. ~ Timothy Monger