Date Signed: September, 2019
Label: Better Noise Music
Band Members: Lee Jennings, vocals; Cody Weissinger, lead guitar; Caleb Freihaut, rhythm guitar; Robert Weston, bass; Homer Umbanhower, drums
Type of Music: Emo / Mainstream Rock
Management: Dave Bethel, George Vlahakis, 248-767-1214
Booking: Justin Hirschman - IAG, 212-813-9292
Legal: Eric German - Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, 310-312-3214
Publicity: Mitch Schneider, Kelly Walsh - SRO PR, mschneider@sropr.com, kwalsh@sropr.com
Web: thefuneralportrait.com, Instagram @tfp_devotion
A&R: Lexie Viklund
Atlanta-based band the Funeral Portrait began its move towards a label deal in 2019 when it recorded and uploaded its original song “Holy Water.” It was soon picked up by SiriusXM Octane, gained traction, and in short order attracted interest from a number of outlets. But for a few key reasons, Better Noise Music stood out to the five members and ultimately a deal was signed.
“We’d just started with a new management company and had been grinding on tour when labels began to reach out,” vocalist Lee Jennings recollects. “But none of them felt right the way that Better Noise did. They were way more about what we were about, wanted to focus on the music and liked us for what we were. Other labels wanted to change us. I was 340 pounds at the time and an A&R guy at another label told me that I had to lose a hundred before they’d sign us.”
The launch of the band’s career in earnest coincided with the onset of the COVID pandemic, a rough time for anyone intent on a new venture. “That was such a huge moment for the industry,” Jennings recalls. “Almost every band was put on hold. There were also some personnel changes at the label and we were on pause for about two years. But when the new head of A&R [Lexie Viklund] came in, she basically saved the day. She loved the record and was upset that we’d been delayed. It’s been about two years on the grind with her and that’s changed everything. This label believes in our band.”
Greetings from Suffocate City dropped in September. By the end of 2024 the band had wrapped a five-month tour with labelmate Five Finger Death Punch. The Funeral Portrait is on their own tour now.
Jennings was raised by his grandmother, who passed on the day that the band was signed. He’s since lost 100 pounds but only because he chose to, not because a label made it a condition of a deal. – Rob Putnam
