The Submarines

The Submarines are an American indie rock band from Los Angeles formed in 2006.

The Submarines
Blake Hazard of The Submarines performing at Sunset Junction in Los Angeles in 2009
Background information
OriginLos Angeles, California, U.S.
GenresIndie rock, indie pop, electronica, folk
Years active2006–present
LabelsNettwerk
WebsiteTheSubmarines.com
MembersJohn Dragonetti
Blake Hazard
Jason Stare
Scott Barber

Band history

Working as solo artists in Boston, the two members of the band, John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard, were introduced through a mutual friend, Joe Klompus. Dragonetti and Hazard formed a romantic and musical partnership, then took their show to Europe. The relationship lasted for four years, but ended in the fall of 2004 when the pair moved to L.A.[1] After the break-up, both Hazard and Dragonetti continued writing songs, and because Hazard still recorded her music in Dragonetti's home studio, the pair quickly discovered the songs they had written were about each other and their sadness in having broken up. They decided to work on a few songs together and eventually got back together, and married. The new songs were mastered for the couple as a wedding present, and those tracks eventually became their first album.[2] Hazard has said of the relationship, "It’s hard, definitely hard. Luckily we are like-minded aesthetically and musically." Declare a New State!, The Submarines' first album was released in 2006 on the Nettwerk label.[3]

Blake Hazard

Blake Hazard is from Burlington, Vermont. Her full given name is Eleanor Blake Hazard, although she prefers her middle name and uses it as her first. She attended the Putney School in southern Vermont, southeast of her hometown.[4] She is also a graduate of Harvard University and is the great-granddaughter of American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald.[5]

Blake released a solo album of her own titled "Little Airplane" (2002) just two years previous to her breakup with John on California's election night in 2004. "Little Airplane" was recorded by John in his studio and was released on Boston-based independent record label Kimchee Records. The album can still be obtained on Kimchee's website[6] or through The Submarines web store.

Blake is an avid runner and has run numerous marathons and races for many causes. These marathons have taken place in Boston, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.

John Dragonetti

John attended the American School of Dubai.[7] Originally from Jackson, Michigan, his family moved to Dubai when he was young.[8] Upon arriving in Boston, he briefly attended college at the Berklee School of Music.[9]

To support himself, John worked as a bike messenger in the city of Boston[10] and played in several Boston-area bands before going solo. Jack Drag was his moniker for music he recorded at his apartment home studio, which he called Space 67. Much of the recorded material was done on a 4-track cassette recorder. Several singles and a self-titled, full-length album, "The Red Record," or "cataloged as Pop Spelled Backwards" (as dubbed by his friends and bandmates[11]) were released. The first single, "Velour," was released by Dave Gibbs (of the Gigolo Aunts), on his label called Sumerville Records. The second single was put out by John's record label, called Devil's Weed, Inc. A third single was released on Hepcat Records. As a result of these recordings, John was signed to A&M Records. When A&M was acquired by Universal Music, Jack Drag was dropped from the label and he continued recording independently in Space 67. Vowing to keep releasing his music, he rolled up his sleeves and released more albums with Shifty Disco, Scientific Records and Sugar Free Records. This eventually led to a project with his old friend Peter DuCharme (AKA: Master Cylinder) called the Junior Communist Club.[12] Several tracks left over from the Jack Drag A&M sessions were used for the project, and a few staple commercials resulted from the release. To this date, there have been no plans to release any new material by Jr. Communist Club. John has stated that "Although encouraged to, we never did put together a live show. I'm sure we'll collaborate again but whether it will be under the Jr.Commy moniker remains to be seen."[13] As for his moniker Jack Drag, he states on the Jack Drag web site, "It's all about The Submarines now!"[14]

Band

Jason Stare and Scott Barber are part of the touring band. (As an inside joke, John has said that when the Subs play live with some computer tracks, the band is called The Robots). The Submarines have toured the United States and the world, sometimes as a duo, and sometimes as a full band. Many shows in the beginning, for the band's first tour, consisted of just Blake and John. For the band's second release, Honeysuckle Weeks, Jason joined to play drums for their live shows. Jason has been the band's live set drummer since the release of Honeysuckle Weeks, and is featured in Apple commercials for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. He is an artist, a college graduate and is from Long Island, New York. On bringing him on tour, John has stated, "I saw him live and I liked his playing. But seriously, just look at him. He looks cool!"

For the first leg of the 2011 Love Notes/Letter Bombs tour, The Submarines brought on Scott Barber to play Bass for live performances. Jason and Scott also have a side project together.

Contributors

Peter also sits in on a Beatles cover "For No One" done in John's home studio in Eaglerock, CA in a home shot video recorded by The Voice Project. The video is on Vimeo and Peter plays organ for the song.

  • David Michael Curry - Viola - Declare a New State!
  • Jim Eno - Drums - Spoon

John traveled to Austin, Texas to work with Jim in his studio and contributed drum tracks for the Love Notes/Letter Bombs release. Jim's studio is called Public Hi-Fi and is based in Austin, Texas. The studio has a rare Neve 8036 Console (marked as #A41) with Uptown Automated Faders, 22 1064 mic/lin input modules and 2 1081 mic/line input modules in the board. The studio runs on both analog and digital. Which runs a Pro Tools HD2 system and a Studer 827 2" 24 track analog tape machine in the facility.[15]

826LA ‘Chickens In Love’ compilation

In 2010, The Submarines donated their time and efforts to teach children of the 826LA Organization the art of songwriting and how to creatively express themselves. 826LA held a workshop titled "Songwriting With The Submarines".[16] The results of the workshop were released as a compilation. The compilation includes Los Angeles local bands (She and Him, Cold War Kids, Fiona Apple and Dum Dum Girls among others) covering songs written by children in the Submarines' workshop. To celebrate the workshop and the children who participated in the songwriting. 826LA held a Mini Festival on March 6, 2010 which featured performances by The Submarines, The Happy Hollows and The Growlers.

Awards
  • Winner of the 9th Annual Independent Music Awards: Best Film/TV Song "You Me and the Bourgeoisie", used in Apple's iPhone 3GS ad.
  • The songs You, Me and the Bourgeoisie and Submarine Symphonika were used in Apple commercials for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.
  • The group's song Xavia was featured on the soundtrack for the film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.
  • In season 4 finale of Nip/Tuck, the song Modern Inventions was played during Gala Gallardo's operation and the song Brighter Discontent was lip synced by the lead actors of the show.
  • The duo recorded a cover version of Little Boxes for the second season of Weeds.
  • The Submarines contributed a version of My Darling Clementine to the Nettwerk compilation For The Kids Three! released October 2, 2007.
  • “Brightest Hour” from Honeysuckle Weeks also appeared on Grey's Anatomy Season 4 Episode 14 - The Becoming during a scene in which Derek asks Meredith whether or not she wants him to stay with her to watch a patient overnight rather than go home with Rose.
  • “Wake Up Song” from Honeysuckle Weeks was featured in the second season of the CW series Gossip Girl.
  • An instrumental version of Modern Inventions from the album Declare a New State! was used for the end credits of the 2007 documentary The Pixar Story. Portions of the album version of this song appear in the credits to episode No. 441 of This American Life, When Patents Attack (podcast release date July 24/2011).
  • The Submarines' song You Me And The Bourgeoisie is featured as one of the available free tracks for download on the iPhone app Tap Tap Revenge 3.
  • Their song Modern Inventions was used in the Mozilla Seabird concept video, created by Billy May.
  • The Submarines covered The Cure's Boys Don't Cry for American Laundromat Records tribute compilation Just Like Heaven - a tribute to The Cure.[17]
  • The Submarines covered The Jesus and Mary Chain's song Just Like Honey on their Love Notes/Letter Bombs release as a bonus track. (Nettwerk, 2011)
  • Their song “Plans” appeared on Grey's Anatomy Season 7 Episode 16 - Not Responsible.
  • The Submarines' song "Fire" was featured in the Kindle Fire TV commercial titled "Light your fire and more..." (2012).
  • The Submarines' song Birds was featured in the 2012 coming of age comedy film LOL starring Miley Cyrus and Demi Moore.
  • John Dragonetti provides the original soundtrack for the documentary film We Are Legion documenting the origins and hacktivism work of the loosely knit group Anonymous.
  • The Submarines' song "Tigers" was featured during the ending credits of the 2014 film "Two Night Stand".
  • In 2016, 'The Submarines' song 'Brightest Hour' was featured in the first episode of the FX series Better Things starring Pamela Adlon, created by Adlon and Louis C.K..
  • Their song Maybe was featured on the Season 2 finale of The Good Place.

Discography

Albums

EPs
  • Remix EP (Nettwerk, 2006)
  • Shoelaces EP (Nettwerk, 2012)

Live
  • Live Session (iTunes Exclusive, 2006)

Compilations
  • For the Kids Three! Compilation (Nettwerk, 2007)
  • Just Like Heaven - A Tribute to The Cure Compilation (American Laundromat, 2008)

Video
  • The Submarines - Peace & Hate (Official Video)[18] Declare a New State! (Nettwerk, 2006)
  • The Submarines - Submarine Symphonika (Official Video)[19] Honeysuckle Weeks (Nettwerk, 2008)
  • The Submarines - You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie (Official Video)[20] Honeysuckle Weeks (Nettwerk, 2008)
  • The Submarines - Fire (Official Video)[21][22] Love Notes/Letter Bombs (Nettwerk, 2011)

References
  1. ANON. "The Submarines". Filter Magazine. Archived from the original on 2006-12-11. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
  2. Henson. "The Submarines Interview". The Red Alert. Retrieved 2009-01-20.
  3. Brown, Marisa. "Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
  4. "Blake Hazard of "The Submarines" plays at Sunset Junction Tomorrow". The Daily Truffle. Archived from the original on 2010-05-16. Retrieved 2010-11-04.
  5. Carraway, Kate. "Marriage Records: Coupledom in Indie Rock Has a Special Patina but Is Not Without Its Perils", L.A. Weekly, 2008-09-25
  6. "Catalog | Blake Hazard - Little Airplane". Kimchee Records. 2010-06-25. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  7. "The JACK DRAG micro-site BIOG". Shiftydisco.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  8. Molly Bergen (2008-12-02). "Interview: John Dragonetti of The Submarines". LAist. Archived from the original on 2016-01-19. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  10. Worley, Gail (1998-09-30). "MUSIC: Acid rockers reinvent retro-pop". Orlandoweekly.com. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  11. "jackdrag :: disco". jack drag. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  12. "Junior Communist Club". Egg City Radio. 2008-01-04. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  13. "disco :: jr communist club". jackdrag. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  14. "space 67 ::". jackdrag. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  15. "Public Hi-Fi Homepage". Public-hifi.com. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  16. "News - 826LA To Release 'Chickens In Love' Compilation". FILTER Magazine. 2010-02-10. Archived from the original on 2010-02-13. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  17. ANON. "American Laundromat Records site". Archived from the original on 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  18. "The Submarines - Peace & Hate (Official Music Video)". YouTube. 2006-08-24. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  19. "The Submarines - Submarine Symphonika (Official Music Video)". YouTube. 2009-12-02. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  20. "The Submarines - You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie (Official Music Video)". YouTube. 2008-08-12. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  21. "The Submarines - Fire (Official Music Video)". YouTube. 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  22. Newman, Jason (2011-06-03). "The Submarines". Buzzworthy.mtv.com. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
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