And the steady stream of Denver acts attaching themselves to labels – both major and independent – continues.
has signed to , the band told this week.
Hopeless is home to pop-punk acts , , and others – making Air Dubai’s horn-infused brand of hip-hop something of an anomaly on the label.
“Itap a little more post-punk than us, but itap unique to be the hip-hop band on their label,” said Air Dubai keys player Michael Ray, who noted that Hopeless is distributed by EMI.
The band is beyond psyched with the signing – which includes three records and allows them to keep the large majority of revenues from touring and merchandise, Ray said.
“We did a west coast run in San Diego and Los Angeles, and we had a bunch of industry people out at the L.A. show, and people started freaking out about it,” Ray said. “Itap cliché to say this, but we went to L.A., played a show and got signed. It was our first show out there, too.”
Oddly, Hopeless wasn’t even at that showcase, which brings up the strangest aspect about the deal:
Air Dubai is a band that needs to be seen live. But Hopeless still hasn’t seen Air Dubai live.
“We had a couple people out from Atlantic and Mercury at the show – we were in talks with Mercury as well,” he said. “We had a couple managers and agents out at the show. But yeah, Hopeless wasn’t even there. It was a word of mouth thing, them hearing about us. They still haven’t even seen us play.”
If the label wants to fly to Denver this weekend, – with old-schooler opening the gig.
The band intended to release its “Be Calm” full-length in November, but then Hopeless came calling. Now the label will release the record – as it was first created by the band – in March or April, Ray said.
What next? Ray said there are plans for South by Southwest showcases in March and hopes for potential Coachella afterparties in April – not to mention an unconfirmed but much-desired Warped Tour run this summer.
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Ricardo Baca is the founder and executive editor of , the co-founder of and an award-winning critic and editor at The Denver Post.
