The Nice Device
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| The Nice Device | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan USA |
| Genre(s) | Indie rock Indie pop |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Label(s) | None |
| Website | Official website |
| Members | |
| Alicia Gbur Matt Lannoo Nick Gerhardt Jeff Alber Thomas Smak |
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The Nice Device are a five-piece, female-fronted Indie rock band from Detroit, Michigan formed in 2001. Their musical style is primarily edgy pop influenced indie rock with some electronic overtones. The group is often compared to acts such as The Pixies, Blondie, The Buzzcocks and Metric to name a few.
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[edit] History
Summer of 2000 songwriter Alicia Gbur, inspired by the thriving local rock scene wrote three power pop songs with the intent to record and start a new band. As a returned favor for shooting photos, she asked her friends from another local band called The Atomic Numbers Zach Shipps (Electric Six) and Matt Aljian (The Mood Elevator) to come to the studio and play on the recordings. Rehearsals started with a bass player from Ann Arbor named Rich Griffith. That same month, she met guitarist Matt Lannoo at a party. During the fall of '00 the three wrote and rehearsed while auditioning drummers eventually finding Nick Gerhardt. A handful of new songs were written and in early 2001 they booked their first show at The Gold Dollar in Detroit under the name The Nice Device. A few months later, Griffith was replaced on bass with Zach Shipps.
In 2002 The Nice Device entered Ghetto Recorders Studio with producer Jim Diamond (White Stripes, The Mooney Suzuki) and recorded 3 songs for their first release, a 7" vinyl single. 2004 saw the band recording their next batch of songs at Grand Studios with Brendan Benson. Zach Shipps left the band to join Brendan's Wellfed Boys and Matt Hatch (The Sights) took over on Bass. They released the EP titled "Birth of a Lover" later that year (produced by Zach Shipps and engineered by Brendan Benson) and instantly garnered a slew of favorable reviews, as well as a publishing deal with Pure Tone Music. In 2005 they began writing songs for their first full length release eventually titled "Let The Nightlife Down". Steve Champine was added on keyboards and recording with began at 12ax7 in Hamtramck and Big Sky in Ann Arbor. Yet another lineup change, Matt Hatch left and was replaced by Jeff Alber on bass in June 2005. The video for "Innocent" was shot by Lucky Airlines in early 2006 and by May the record was released and a US tour followed. In January of 2007, Steve Champine was replaced on keyboards with Thomas Smak.
Presently, The Nice Device are writing new material for another EP to be released in the fall of 2008. In addition to The Nice Device, Alicia and Matt have also toured with The Von Bondies who have been since been dropped by Sire Records.
[edit] Current members
Alicia Gbur - Vocals, Guitar
Matt Lannoo - Guitar, Vocals
Nick Gerhardt - Drums
Jeff Alber - Bass, Vocals
Thomas Smak - Keyboards/Synth
Past Members
Rich Griffith - bass
Zach Shipps - bass
Matt Hatch - bass
Steve Champine - Keyboards/Synth
[edit] Discography
- "Gotta Get It" (2003) single on 7" vinyl b/w "My Little Birdie" and "Bittersweet" (Self-released)
- "Birth Of A Lover" (2004) 7 song EP on enhanced CD (Self-released)
- "Let The Nightlife Down" (2006) 12 song full-length album. (Self-released)
Compilations
- "Innocent" featured on the Maybelline NY/Jane Magazine - Pure Talent Reader CD #5 (2007)
- "Under Control" featured on the MC2 - Best of Motor City Music Conference (2005)
- "My Little Birdie" featured on the Pure Tone Music Publishing Compilation Volume 1 (2004)
- "Under Control" featured on the Detroit Breakdown - The Rocked Out Motor City Music Sampler (2004)
[edit] Videography
- "My Little Birdie" shot by 3alarm Carnival, directed by Kevin Leeser (2004)
- "Innocent" shot by Lucky Airlines, directed by Nick Hill, edited by Sarah Fisher (2006)
[edit] Miscellaneous
- The song "Innocent" was featured on the Maybelline New York/Jane Magazine Reader CD 2006
- 5 songs from their album "Let The Nightlife Down" are featured in a documentary called "Racer Girls" filmed in London, U.K. - airing in 80 countries.
- A 45 minute live performance and interviews were filmed at The Magic Stick in Detroit - January 2007 for CanYouHearMeTV.com's Episode 6.
- The song "My Little Birdie" is used in the film "Bachelor Party Vegas" (2006) and the TV shows "Life With Derek", "Degrassi: The Next Generation" and "Radio Free Roscoe" airing on The N television network for teens.
- The video for "My Little Birdie" was shot at the historic Michigan Theater in downtown Detroit - November 2003
