aloud

Aloud
Left to right: Henry Beguiristain, Jen de la Osa
Background information
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genre(s)	Rock, Indie rock
Years active	2002 - Present
Label(s)	Lemon Merchant Records
Website	Official Website
Members
Henry Beguiristain Jen de la Osa
Former members
Roy Fontaine Ross Lohr

Aloud is an American, Boston-based indie rock band known for its songwriting and vocal prowess as well as using a two lead singer approach.^[1][2][3][4]

Founded in 2002 by Jennifer de la Osa (lead vocals, guitar) and Henry Beguiristain (lead vocals, guitar), the group was rounded out by bassist Roy Fontaine and drummer Ross Lohr until 2008 and 2009 (respectively). In 2006, they created the Lemon Merchant Records label to release their own music and have been played on over 100 college radio stations around the United States.^[5][6]

Aloud is currently on a national tour in support of their latest album Fan The Fury.

History

Formation and Early Years: 2002-2006

Aloud was formed in May 2002 by vocalists/guitarists Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain out of an earlier version of the group named Feedback, which included bassist Roy Fontaine.^[7] Rob Acevedo was recruited to play drums^[8] for the fledgling band on an indefinite, but temporary basis, and the four spent the summer working on a home-recorded four song demo titled Don't Trust the Radio, which was released on July 31, 2002^[9] and sold at shows.

Aloud spent 2002 and most of 2003 performing solely in the Boston area. In early 2003 Aloud stepped into the studio to record another four song demo titled Pretty Little Picture. At some point in 2003 Rob Acevedo was replaced by another stand-in, Eric Anderson, on drums, before Ross Lohr was taken on near the end of the year as a permanent member.

With the addition of Lohr, Aloud recorded The Sooner It Comes, a six-song EP, with producer Ian Hughes in early 2004. Aloud also began performing well outside of the Boston area, expanding their touring area as far as Portland, Maine, and New York City.^[10] As of January 31, 2008, the most Aloud performances in any given year was in 2004 (74 performances).

That same year Aloud met with future collaborator Hugh Wyman (former guitarist for Baby Strange and The Luxury). Wyman would initially offer suggestions on improving the band's guitar gear before approaching them to produce their first album. They spent the first few months of 2005 organizing, refining, and rehearsing material before spending the Summer and some of the Fall recording.

Even though Aloud had been around since 2002, the band made its first real mark after releasing the debut album Leave Your Light On on May 2, 2006, to positive press and national airplay on college radio.^{[11][12][13][14]} Leave Your Light On was self-released through Lemon Merchant Records, a record label founded by Aloud with Wyman. Aloud toured the record through the Northeast United States till the end of the year.

Fan The Fury and a new lineup: 2007-present

Beginning in 2007, the band has been managed by long-time associate Annie Burns, of annie*rock, a promotion/booking/production company based in New York.

In April 2007, Aloud made it to the semi-final round of the 29th annual WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble, beating out 15 other groups for the wildcard slot.^[15] In the same month Jen de la Osa was nominated for Best Female Vocalist by the Boston Phoenix.^[16]

Aloud spent the rest of 2007 writing material for a second album, eventually choosing to record it that Fall in New York City with Sony mix engineer Chuck Brody. In between recording sessions, Aloud also performed at the 2007 CMJ Music Marathon that October.^[17]

Fan The Fury, was released on March 25, 2008. A national tour to support the album followed. A film titled Hard Up In The 2000s, a documentary of the Spring leg of the tour, was released on September 12, 2008.^[18]

In October 2008, it was revealed Aloud had been developing a multimedia live performance of Fan The Fury titled I Just Want To Witness..., taken after a lyric in the songs Witness and Justice & Forgiveness.^[19] The show integrated Aloud's live performance of Fan The Fury in its entirety with corresponding films, and was developed with filmmaker Johnathan Carr. Films were contributed by Johnathan Carr himself as well as directors Erin Bowser, Mike Pecci, Chris March, and animators Kristin Osiecki and Timothy Scholl. I Just Want To Witness... debuted in Boston on November 18, 2008. While this has been the only performance of I Just Want To Witness..., Aloud has alluded to performing and possibly touring the show in 2009.^[20]

In December 2008, music from Fan The Fury was heavily featured in Bad Habit Productions' presentation of The Laramie Project.^[21]

The latter half 2008 also saw significant changes to Aloud's core lineup. Since September 2008, bassist Roy Fontaine has not been seen with the group and Aloud toured as a three-piece during the Fall leg of the Fan The Fury tour. Subsequently, his name was deleted from the official web page and related sites on October 31, 2008. After the tour, former Baby Strange bassist Tim Hare has filled in on bass for live shows. Drummer Ross Lohr was removed from the official web page and related sites as of January 1, 2009. He was last seen performing with the group on January 29, 2009 in Allston, MA and still appears in the music video for the song Julie. No explanation has been given for either departure.

Aloud is currently performing the third leg of the Fan The Fury tour with temporary members Jonathan Schmidt (from the band Morningwood) and Rob Lynch (ex-Harris) alternating on drums, and Tim Hare and Ryan Majoris (from the band Keeping Riley) alternating on bass.

Discography

Albums

Other releases

• 2009: Rock Out Boston Club Sampler - Alternate versions of two songs and an unreleased demo, "Gone With The Rising Sun"
• 2008: The Mixtress - soundtrack for the short documentary The Mixtress
• 2007: Put On The Parka - Holiday single (digital download)
• 2006: Wicked Good Boston Bands Vol. 2 - Newbury Comics/WFNX Compilation (for AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts)
• 2003: Pretty Little Picture - four song studio demo
• 2003: Wouldn't You - Single (digital download)
• 2002: Don't Trust the Radio - four song home demo

Videos

• 2008: Hard Up In The 2000s - Spring 2008 tour documentary

Members

• Henry Beguiristain: vocals, guitar, piano/keys (2002-present)
• Jen de la Osa: vocals, guitar, piano/keys (2002-present)

Past members

• Roy Fontaine: bass, backing vocals (2002-2008)
• Ross Lohr: drums, percussion (2003-2009)

Live and Temporary Members

• Rob Acevedo: drums (2002-2003)
• Eric Anderson: drums (live, 2003)
• Tim Hare: bass (live, 2008-present)
• Rob Lynch: drums (live, 2009-present)
• Ryan Majoris: bass (live, 2009-present)
• Jonathan Schmidt: drums (live, 2009-present)

Trademark Issues

Issues surfaced in early 2005 with an electro-pop French duo going by the same moniker. The duo consisted of Cyrille Bodin and Gregory Louis. Paperwork submitted by Bodin and Louis to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (SN: 76580505) is open to the public and can be viewed here.

The main argument was in first use dates. Bodin and Louis listed September 23, 2003 as the date of first use. Aloud argued their first use in commerce of the name “Aloud” had been used prior (May, 2002). According to the USPTO site, their trademark application has been held up since May 18, 2005.

As of January 30, 2009, the application is still listed as LIVE. However, Bodin and Louis broke the group up in 2005, making the point moot and clearing the way for the American 'Aloud' to use the name without any foreseeable hindrance.

Cyrille Bodin is currently in a new band named Amen Birdmen.

External links

• allthingsALOUD.com - official site
• Aloud YouTube Channel

Notes