Saint Motel is an American indie pop band from Los Angeles, whose music has been described as everything from "dream pop" to "indie prog." The band consists of A. J. Jackson, Aaron Sharp, Dak Lerdamornpong, and Greg Erwin.
Career
2007–2011: ''ForPlay''
The group initially came together while Jackson and Sharp were attending film school in Southern California. The duo later met Lerdamornpong at a sushi restaurant where he worked near campus and Greg who went to a school nearby. The band emphasizes visuals in addition to its music; their 2009 debut EP, ForPlay, included a video for each of the six songs.
2012–2013: ''Voyeur''
The band's first full-length album, Voyeur, debuted at #18 on the alt specialty radio charts and six of its eleven songs charted on the Hype Machine Charts. The album was celebrated by everyone from The Washington Post to Daytrotter. As KCRW Music Librarian and DJ Eric J. Lawrence put it, "They have attacked with gusto on Voyeur, adding dynamic touches to their rock-solid core of songwriting," and, "Overall the album is a satisfying package from start to finish."
2014–2015: ''My Type''
The band released the EP My Type with Parlophone on August 17 in the UK. "My Type" climbed the Top 40 charts in many European countries including Italy where it was certified platinum. The band embarked on two European and one US tour in support of the EP and were expected to release the full-length album later in 2015. In December 2014 Saint Motel announced that they had joined the Elektra Records roster. Saint Motel appeared as the musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC performing the songs "My Type" and "Cold Cold Man." In April 2015, Saint Motel performed during both weekends on the main stage at the 2015 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. They also performed at Piqniq and the 2015 KROQ Weenie Roast.
2016–2018: ''saintmotelevision''
On July 11, 2016, Saint Motel announced saintmotelevision, their second album, would be released on October 21, 2016. The band embarked on a North American tour in support of the album, with Hippo Campus and JR JR as supporting acts. On August 12, Saint Motel released the album's first single, "Move," with an accompanying 360-degree video. In September, in an exclusive with Billboard, they released another song from the album, "You Can Be You." Saint Motel has released 10 virtual reality components, one for each song on the album. This makes Saint Motel the first band to release an entire album with a virtual reality VR experience to accompany every track. One year after releasing the first-ever virtual reality album, Saint Motel has continued to experiment with new technologies, releasing the first-ever augmented reality version of saintmotelevision as well as offering the option to purchase the albums ForPlay and Voyeur with Bitcoin.
On October 16, 2019, the band released the EP The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Part 1, the first of three extended plays consisting of songs from their upcoming third album, due out in 2020. Then, on March 16, 2020, the band released the single "A Good Song Never Dies". This was part of their newest EP, The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Part 2, the second part of their next album.
