Explorer Tapes

A duo from Texas who came to California in search of success, Explorer Tapes ended up taking a roundabout route to the release of their debut album. Drawing inspiration from classic pop of the 1960s and '70s, Explorer Tapes write and perform songs that are tuneful and easygoing, crafted with care, framed with expert harmonies and polished arrangements, and owing more to organic adult contemporary sounds than the more aggressive sounds of their youth-oriented contemporaries. After establishing themselves as songwriters, Explorer Tapes cut their self-titled debut album in 2015, but a change of management at their record company kept it in limbo until it finally came out in 2021. Explorer Tapes was founded in 2011 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Drew Erickson and Max Townsley, two friends who grew up together in Denton, Texas. They shared a love of classic pop songwriting, with the Beatles, Brian Wilson, and Todd Rundgren among their leading influences. As the two began writing tunes together, they set up a home recording studio to document their ideas, and recruited a group of like-minded musicians to fill out their recordings, calling the group the Colors Orchestra. After working up an impressive demo, Erickson and Townsley left Texas for Los Angeles, where they hoped to break into the major leagues of the music business. Good luck was with them, and they soon landed a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music; they worked with a number of noted tunesmiths for writing sessions, and a collaboration with Dillon O'Brian and Steve Lindsey produced "Texas Time," a number recorded by Keith Urban. As their reputation as songwriters grew, Erickson and Townsley signed a recording contract with Warner Records, and they changed their group name to Explorer Tapes. Working with producer Mike Elizondo, they went into the recording studio and with the help of a handful of studio musicians, they completed their debut album in less than a month. It was scheduled for release in 2016, with the band playing live dates to raise interest in the upcoming LP. However, after the album was turned in, there was a change in upper management at the label, and their new representatives at Warners chose to postpone the release. Years passed with the Explorer Tapes album still on the shelf, and Erickson turned his attention to other projects, working as a studio musician, songwriter, and producer for the likes of Jonathan Wilson, Father John Misty, the Killers, Weyes Blood, and Tim Heidecker. Townsley, meanwhile, worked on sessions with Midlake, OK Sweetheart, and Neon Indian. While Explorer Tapes may have seemed to be a group whose moment of opportunity had passed, the staff at Omnivore Recordings felt the album still deserved a chance to find an audience, and they arranged to give the LP, simply titled Explorer Tapes, a belated release in August 2021.
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