ABOUT TENEMENTS
Tenements, conceived in brooklyn in 2009, is a musical pursuit of four friends who were drawn to the wide-eyed city from around the globe. Their debut LP is titled 'Greenling'. Greenling is a dark and soulful collection of tracks rooted in indie rock, americana and psychedelic rock. Singer Jeremy Gordon tells stories of lives weaving in and out of realities and of modern and fading societies. Tenements' songs strive to leave the listener with a sense of fulfillment in uncertainty, while keeping a hopeful eye open. The round and resonating rhythms of bassist Alejandro Haaker and drummer Iisaac Schmidt provide a sturdy bed for thick layers of guitars and piano contributed by Jeremy Gordon and lead guitarist Steven Welbourne.
In the fall of 2010, Tenements met producer/engineer Jay Braun of Melody Lanes in Brooklyn and shortly after began work on the LP. With the help of Jay, the group strived to craft all aspects of the recordings in as natural a state as possible, recording the backline instruments live and utilizing real acoustic instruments and sounds in all tracks. Greenling is filled with sounds of rattly Tele's, bright acoustic piano, analog delays, spring reverbs, dirty horn lines and thick rhythms. The LP was also mixed at melody lanes with Jay Braun in the early spring of 2011 and then mastered at the Magic Shop Blue Room in Manhattan by Warren Russell-Smith.
The first songs that would become some of the tracks on Greenling were written by Jeremy Gordon starting in the summer of 2008 as he recorded a demo of 4 songs in Austin, Texas shortly before moving to Brooklyn in the fall of 2008. Once settled in Brooklyn, Gordon met guitarist Steven Welborne and began to put the songs into their current form. After meeting various early contributors to Tenements' sound, Gordon and Welborne met drummer Isaac Schmidt and bassist Alejandro Haaker and began to write, hone their sound and then to begin the process of recording Greenling.
Jeremy Gordon is the songwriter, singer and guitarist/keyboardist for Tenements. He moved to Brooklyn in 2008 from Austin, Texas where he played in indie/space-rock band The Story Of until 2005. Jeremy began writing the songs that would eventually be some of Tenements first tracks while in Austin in 2007, and recorded a demo with the help of drummer Jonathan Gibbs just before moving to New York. Jeremy lives with his wife Lorna in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and spends his days working as a freelance graphic designer, reading Wikipedia and trying to remember the rhyming words that skirted through his mind just before he woke up in the morning.
Steven Welbourne is the lead guitarist for Tenements and he also contributes keyboards and backing vocals. He came to New York by way of Michigan where he grew up. Steven fronts a side project named The San Remo (after the old Beats' hangout in Greenwich Village), which Jeremy also contributes Trombone to during live shows. Steven lives on the other end of Greenpoint and spends his days measuring TV marketing data while dreaming of minor key arpeggios.
Isaac Schmidt is the drummer for Tenements, and also contributes backing vocals. He was born and raised in Germany by American parents and then ventured to New York when he turned 18. Isaac also makes iPad and iPhone apps, and is making a great studio assistant app for Jay Braun. When he's not playing drums or making apps, he is fixing Macs and learning to drive. Isaac lives in Fort Greene, Brooklyn with his lady Alexis.
Alejandro Haaker is the hardest working man in showbusiness... and the bassist for Tenements! He also contributes backing vocals. Besides playing bass in Tenements, he also plays bass for Latin Ska band, Kofre as well as Cosmonaut and Steve Northeast. He aspires to play standup bass in the subway, cook giant meals for his neighbors and sell Four Loko on the black market. He also works part time in a tax office. Alejandro moved to New York from his homeland of Peru and lives in a converted warehouse building in the Hasidic part of Williamsburg where he has a roof with a view!
