The Sour Notes

The Sour Notes
The Sour Notes performing at Holy Mountain in Austin, Texas, February 2013
Background information
Origin	Austin, Texas, United States
Genres	Indie rock dream pop
Years active	2008–present
Members	Jared "The Freshmaker" Boulanger Amarah Boulanger Jeremy Harrell
Website	www.thesournotes.com

The Sour Notes are an American

The Sour Notes began initially as the moniker for singer-songwriter Jared Boulanger’s home recordings, while living in a garage apartment in the Montrose-area of Houston, Texas. The name of the band stems from his collection of Moleskine journals containing drawings, rhyme schemes and notes on self improvement, which he called his "Sour Notes”. With the help of friend and engineer Steve Christensen, this material was turned into a 6-song EP entitled The Meat of the Fruit,^[1] which featured a variety of instruments played by Boulanger, accompanied by female guest vocals.

Received in Bitterness and Touring

Upon finishing The Meat of the Fruit, Boulanger relocated to Austin, Texas and moved-in with friend and keyboardist Chris Page with plans of forming a live band. There, they met drummer Travis Hackett and bassist Brandi Dipietro through mutual friends and began performing live as a four-piece with Boulanger and Page sometimes using up to five

It’s Not Gonna Be Pretty

The Sour Notes added keyboardist Elaine Greer to the band during the recording of their synth-heavy second album It's Not Gonna Be Pretty,^[3] which was released in January 2010 to much critical acclaim. Following an East Coast tour in support of the album, the band added bassist Amarah Ulghani and The Sour Notes were selected as official showcasing artists at the 2010 SXSW Music Festival, opening for We Are Scientists at the Official SXSWi Closing Party and Daniel Johnston that summer. The Sour Notes spent the remainder of the year touring with numerous additions to the band, playing over 60 shows in and around the U.S. that year, including Free Press Summer Fest in Houston and the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City.

Last Looks

At the turn of 2011, The Sour Notes released 7-inch single Hot Pink Flares ahead of third album Last Looks,

In February 2012, the band released a split 7-inch record with fellow Austin band Marmalakes on the No Play Music label. The record featured the single "Two Hands Wait" off their forthcoming album Do What May, which The Sour Notes would spend the next two years recording. Later that year, U.S. television series

Following the momentum of sequential releases and gaining a reputation for their prolific output, The Sour Notes were first-round picks at SXSW 2013 and released a cassette-compilation entitled In The Meanwhile,^[5] containing previously released, fan-favorited songs, plus the second single from their upcoming album Do What May and a cover of the Wire song "Mannequin". The Sour Notes spent that summer road-testing^[6] new songs and were selected to open for The Dandy Warhols at Stubb’s as a part of the Red Bull Sound Select program in Austin.

Upon wrapping recording on fourth album Do What May in 2014, the band embarked on a 10-city West Coast tour in support of the album, that took them to Seattle and back in just 10 days. The album was released that September at Cheer Up Charlies in Austin to glowing reviews and featured many local guest musicians, including Sabrina Ellis of A Giant Dog, who sang on the title track.^[7] A couple of months later, The Sour Notes released a Do What May Remix compilation featuring The Octopus Project^[8] and were invited to perform at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, where they played an exclusive after-show with Foxygen at Red 7.

Darkest Sour and Finest Sour

In 2017, The Sour Notes premiered a music video for their song Ride It Out, which shadows the daily life of television actress Danielle Burgess. The video was directed by photographer Travis Emery Hackett and nominated for "Best Cinematography" at the 2017 AMVFest.

For their 7th LP More Is The Pity, The Sour Notes released a series of limited edition 7-inch singles, spanning the album from 2019-2020. Individual titles include "Peak / Dandy", "Shoulda / Enough", "Gold / Best", "Camera / Reel" and "More is the Pity (Rain) / Tradeoff". The band continues to play in and around the U.S.[20]^[21][22][23]

Discography

Studio albums

• More Is The Pity (2020)
• This Is Not Our Music (2018)
• Darkest Sour (2017)
• Do What May (2014)
• Last Looks (2011)
• It’s Not Gonna Be Pretty (2010)
• Received in Bitterness (2009)

Singles and EPs

• More is the Pity (Rain) / Tradeoff 7-inch (2020)
• Camera / Reel 7-inch (2020)
• Gold / Best 7-inch (2019)
• Shoulda / Enough 7-inch (2019)
• Peak / Dandy 7-inch (2019)
• Finest Sour 7-inch (2018)
• Do What May Remix EP (2014)
• In the Meanwhile Cassingle (2013)
• Split 7-inch w/ Marmalakes (2012)
• Hot Pink Flares 7-inch (2010)
• Never Mix, Never Worry 7-inch (2009)
• The Meat of the Fruit EP (2008)

Videography

• Shoulda (Dir. Carolyn Deskin, 2021)
• Dandy (Dir. Vineet Gordhandas, 2020)
• Peak (Dir. Michael Martin, 2020)
• Welcome To The Club (Dir. Andy Ray Lemon, 2018)
• Clock Strikes Twelve (Dir. Ofer Shouval, 2018)
• Ride It Out (Dir. Travis Hackett, 2017)
• Don’t Listen (Dir. Jared Boulanger, 2015)
• Do What May (Dir. Eric Morales, 2014)
• Two Hands Wait (Dir. Paul Raila, 2014)
• In the Meanwhile (Dir. Paul Raila, 2013)
• Last Looks (Dir. VidKidz, 2012)
• Tour Documentary (Dir. Jared Boulanger, 2012)
• Nothing’s More Contagious Than Evil (Dir. Laura Wallgren, 2012)
• Beyond Recognition (Dir. Jared Boulanger, 2010)
• A Cute Little Ruin (Dir. Eric Morales, 2010)
• Psychological Thriller (Dir. Paul Raila, 2009)
• Is It Happening? (Dir. Jared Boulanger, 2008)

References