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Behind all great musical projects lies an artistic puppeteer that orchestrates the strings – for Plug In Stereo, it’s 17-year-old wunderkind Trevor Dahl. Trevor is a jack of all trades, a multi instrumentalist with a talent for easy-going and down to earth acoustic melodies.

Trevor grew up in Portland surrounded by music like Bob Marley, Jack Johnson and The Shins. Listening to his family play music while he grew up, it was something that was always part of Trevor’s life. Writing poems and lyrics since elementary school and picking up a guitar in the 6th grade led to Trevor recording tracks in his bedroom and the start of something great.

“Music has always been a big part of my life,” says Trevor. “Ever since I started playing guitar, I’ve only ever wanted to play music.”

Even after being in countless bands as a kid, nothing felt as right to Trevor as the creation of Plug In Stereo. When one of the band’s he was a part of took a break, he decided to borrow a friend’s microphone and recorded some solo tunes. He threw them up on MySpace and when the reaction was bigger and better than he expected, Plug In Stereo became his new driving force. While other teenagers were finishing their junior year in high school, Trevor had already toured the country with the likes of Dashboard Confessional, Never Shout Never and The Ready Set, self-recorded and self-released two EPs, and has just finished recording his first full-length album,Nothing To Something. Plug In Stereo can be perceived as already living out the long career of an established musical veteran, when in reality, they’ve only just begun their journey. Plug In Stereo’s first full-length Nothing To Something is an album filled with acoustic pop jams that will have music listeners tapping their feet and clapping their hands. A masterpiece in the making, the album was produced by several musical pros such as Kevin Gates (Never Shout Never, Cady Groves, The Ready Set), Jeff Bond, and Christofer Drew of Never Shout Never and Jordan Witzigreuter from The Ready Set. Along with being produced by some generational pop heavy hitters like Christofer and Jordan, the album’s first single, “Oh Darling” features guest vocals by Cady Groves.

With influences such as John Mayer, The Shins, and Jason Mraz, Plug In Stereo’s new album takes a different route, straying from his older more synth heavy sound. This time around, Trevor focused on providing his fans with more genuine melodies and lyrics brought on from experiences in his own life.

“Now, I’m more interested in the natural sounding music with more thoughtful lyrics,” says Dahl. “The upcoming album is the first batch of professional recordings for me, so I’m really excited for everyone to hear them.”

After recording and releasing two prior EPs, Trevor’s management sent them to Triple Crown Records, who fell in love with the tracks. Triple Crown and Trevor met and before long, a beautiful relationship had evolved and Plug In Stereo was signed. Plug In Stereo’s first full-length Nothing To Something will be released on their new label, Triple Crown Records, and they couldn’t feel more at home.

“Getting signed was really crazy to me. It was a dream come true,” says Trevor. “I feel like we fit together so well so it really worked out!”

Plug In Stereo are currently on the fast track to success with no signs of slowing down. With the release of Nothing To Something set for April 12th, Trevor’s next plan is to simply tour, tour and…tour. He’s currently touring with The Scene Aesthetic, He Is We and Carter Hulsey, will be playing dates on The Glamour Kills Tour with The Ready Set, and will be playing this year’s Bamboozle Festival.


Payung Teduh was created by two close friends that used most of their time in playing music at the canteen of FIB as well as providing background music for the Pagupon Theater of Indonesia University. These two close friends, Is and Comi, played their music anywhere from the canteen of FIB UI, hangout places inside the campus complex, to the lake side near UI’s Center Administration Building. Their togetherness in playing music has been supported by friends around them which then lead to the creation of a duo that eventually became the next big thing at UI.      

 

Payung Teduh was then born in late 2007 with their first formation, Is on vocal & guitar, and Comi on Double Bass. After playing duo for some time, it was necessary for them to improve their exploration in their music as well as improving their stage performance. In doing this, they recruited Cito as a drummer and Ivan as a guitalele player in 2010. Angin Pujaan Hujan was the first song that eventually known as the signature composition of Payung Teduh’s style of music. As time went by, they wrote new songs such as Kucari Kamu, Amy, Untuk Perempuan Yang Sedang Dalam Pelukan.  They also played songs written by a colleague/mentor Catur Ari Wibowo who is also a director of Pagupon Theater that wrote songs such as Resah, Cerita Tentang Gunung dan Laut. Amalia Putri, a good friend of them, also wrote songs like Malam and Tidurlah that were then added into their album. Payung Teduh then recorded these songs and released their first indie album in late 2010.  

 

In this first album, it can be said that the musical characteristic of Payung Teduh is like the music in the 60’s with a blend of keroncong and jazz music. Whenever they were asked what kind of musical genre that Payung Teduh played, it was up to the listeners to define what kind of genre that they played, in a sense that they won’t stop playing music in just one genre, but in many other genres while still maintaining the strong characteristic that they already have.

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