Somehow Disappearing

Biography

New Idea Society centers around the song writing of its main creative force Mike Law (also the main force behind EULCID). Along with his former primary collaborator Stephen Brodsky who left the band in 2007 due to geographic distance, Chris DeAngelis has moved to become a centerpiece of the band for the last several albums. DeAngelis, a masterful piano player also plays synthesizers in the band. New Idea Society has begun to assemble an impressive catalog of home recorded songs in addition to...

New Idea Society centers around the song writing of its main creative force Mike Law (also the main force behind EULCID). Along with his former primary collaborator Stephen Brodsky who left the band in 2007 due to geographic distance, Chris DeAngelis has moved to become a centerpiece of the band for the last several albums. DeAngelis, a masterful piano player also plays synthesizers in the band. New Idea Society has begun to assemble an impressive catalog of home recorded songs in addition to some "proper" studio releases. Their first album "You Are Awake Or Asleep" is a dreamy pop filled low-fi experimentation. It is full of songs made at their home studio with a single microphone. Though originally recording in Massachusetts the band has been from Brooklyn, NY of late.
With their second full length 2007's "The World Is Bright And Lonely" as usual New Idea Society was not content to go the standard route even while recording in a fully equipped studio. The record was recorded totally live (yes including vocals) by a band of assembled friends after only one practice! This forced everyone to quickly find the core of the songs without over analysis. In this manner the recording of 16 tracks was completed in less than a week. The new album was recorded live with the musicians all playing in one room because according to the band "that is what music sounds like."
Originally the band began as a way for Mike Law to test the limits of his recording ideas for songs that didn't fit into his other project off rock DIY heros EULCID, but has since grown into his only focus that has toured the U.S., Japan, and Europe. On tour NIS had been ever changing, a live show may have consisted of Mike Law solo, to a 5 piece band or somewhere in-between. Finally in 2010 with Somehow Disappearing the band has settled into a group of solid creative personalities.
However for the last few years it has evolved into a more proper band with the completion of an album of much broader statement, "Somehow Disappearing". The band describes it as a full band record created for the "last second of a moment".
Alan Cage of Quicksand, Burn, and Seaweed pedigree, joined the band for several tours and the creation of "Somehow Disappearing". His distinctive and influential drumming can be heard throughout the album and was noted by some critiques as a high-light. The album was also produced by Andy LeMaster, main songwriter of Now It's Overhead and Producer of Azure Ray, R.E.M. and Bright Eyes among others. The band spoke glowingly of working with him in 2010 interviews.
During a 2007 tour for "The World Is Bright And Lonely" the band was involved in a serious accident on the autobahn in Germany. Though each band member sustained some type of injury singer Mike Law broke several bones in his shoulder. Though the band has said in interviews it is not fond of talking about the crash it was mentioned as a primary reason for the duration between albums in 2007 and 2010.
Somehow Disappearing was accompanied by videos for Strange Language, Summer Lion, and a critically acclaimed video by the New York Times for the song Thorns.
New Idea Society has toured the U.S., Europe, and Japan several times.
All New Idea Society releases seem to have additional bonus tracks on European and Japanese pressings. Currently "Somehow Disappearing" in Japan contains a song called "Alone" not available in the U.S. "The World Is Bright And Lonely" has a bonus 5 song CD that accompanies the LP. In Japan "The World Is Bright And Lonely" CD comes with an epic 10 minute plus instrumental. CD versions of "You Are Awake Or Asleep" comes with "Simple Song (You Are Awake Or Asleep)" in Europe while "Question Mark" and "Stuck On" are paired on the Japanese release.
Marshall Ryan and T Watson have joined the band in the last year.
In 2011 the band have been releasing some dramatically different versions of their songs deconstructed by other musicians such as Kurt Ballou from Converge on their official website www.newideasociety.com

New Idea Society- "You Are Awake Or Asleep" 2005
New Idea Society- "The World Is Bright And Lonely" 2007
New Idea Society- "Quiet Prism" 2010
New Idea Society- "Somehow Disappearing"2010
New Idea Society- "UN-MIX SERIES" 2011 Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.