Los Angeles, CA, indie-pop sextet, Run River North, took a practical approach to writing, recording and promoting their debut album. Focusing on recording one song, and releasing an accompanying video, per month, the act figured that in a year, they would have a 12- song full-length to distribute. Halfway through, however, the act garnered attention from Honda, were surprised with a booking on a major network late-night talk show and signed to a label.“Since we didn’t have a space to record, we thought it’d be funny to record in our Hondas,” says frontman, Alex Hwang. “We were hoping somebody from Honda would see the videos and a couple of people we knew worked at the ad agency. They bumped thevideo upward to the higher-ups and Honda began a campaign with us.” The campaign resulted in Run River North being booked on Jimmy Kimmel Live! as a surprise. The video of the band being told the news, and its subsequent performance, went viral, and soon people were on digital services, buying what the combo had recorded up until then––a six-song “accidental demo” as Hwang puts it.
The self-recording and promotion had worked with a handful of labels showing interest in the group. Interestingly, Hwang says, a couple of major labels backed out after the appearance on national television, but one entity, Nettwerk Music Group, kept after them.“Nettwerk’s people kept coming to our shows and being in our managers’ ears," Hwang recalls. "After they took a meeting, our managers were really impressed. They felt like Nettwerk was a label that would go to bat for us. Nettwerk’s people were also very genuine with us.” Trusting in its managers, who they initially met through a festival booking with Anberlin (as Kyle Griner managed them, as well), Run River North signed on with Nettwerk Music Group and are currently recording their debut album for them with esteemed producer, Phil Ek.
Look for a full-length label debut to hit shelves soon.
–Albert Vega
