Beats Antique at Prairie Sun

Forged from the dwindling remains of antiquated culture and revitalized by the surge of a digital era comes Beats Antique. Their music is rock-solid, but the journey to where they are today was not always as concrete. The group, David, Tommy, and Zoe, first began collaborating during a production project and sound design for a belly dance company. They produced one album for the company, then another, and before long they were DJing shows and playing live. Most recently, they played the Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, TN.

David began his music career at California Institute of the Arts studying world music and composition. His passion is for creative music, specifically fusing groups of instruments together that might otherwise remain separate. Tommy studied everything from drums and film scoring/arranging to songwriting and producing at Berklee College of Music. He brings his background of rock drums, jazz and marching band ambience into their eclectic works.

Their sound fuses authentic drums with punchy brass, string quartets, and heavy synths. They hope to release their upcoming album at the beginning of October. Their work is completely self-produced by David, Tommy, and Zoe; however, they recently had the opportunity to both record live instruments and mix a few songs right here at Prairie Sun with engineer Isha Erskine. While Tommy and David play much of the record, they also proudly feature horn and string players from the San Francisco Bay Area on a number of their tracks. Tommy’s extensive drum background coupled with David’s ear for unique sound makes for quite an interesting recording session. The day started with a drum set; but by the end of the session they had procured a set of conga drums, frying pans, baking trays, and plastic jugs filled with rocks. It was an eye-opening experience: music is everywhere.

From this point onward, the band moves on to touring. After finishing their summer on the east coast in West Virginia and Vancouver, they’ll be playing at Lollapalooza in Chicago, IL and Earthdance Music Festival in Solano County, CA. They plan to finish their full record in between shows while they are on the road. Beats Antique is a triple threat that truly enjoys their work and squeezes every bit of their life force into the music.