West Coast entrepreneur Markus Muller-Stach and Candlebox’s Kevin Martin recently launched a new label called G4L Records. Their first signee is the Galveston, TX rock trio To Whom It May (THIM). The band’s virgin release for the new imprint is called The Great Filter and, according to vocalist-guitarist Jonathan Jourdan, the title is personally significant. “We had been performing with a lead singer under a different name for nine years,” explains the frontman. “When that setup ran through its cycles we decided to keep going with me as the singer, even though I never sang before. For the next four years, we wrote our record while I also was learning how to sing. It was a very humbling experience.”
They had been pursuing music for so long the band believed this album would literally be their last hurrah. “The Great Filter refers to the theory by Italian physicist Enrico Fermi that there is a step in the evolutionary process of life that is almost impossible to get past,” says Jourdan. “And to us that was kind of how we felt about making this record. Are we gonna clear it? Is this gonna be the end of us? The album concept was perfect because it’s been a real uphill battle for us to finish this and find where we belong.”
THIM had been touring incessantly, having amassed a large following in their native Texas and doing a successful national tour with the band Nothing More. Their fortunes shifted, however, when a five-day regional run with the legendary group Candlebox turned into a golden career opportunity. “We hit it off with Kevin and Markus right away,” says Jourdan. “We were sitting in a great position because our record was done and we were looking at a home for it. It was real serendipitous for us because they seemed to be interested in what we as artists wanted to do. It’s been killer working with them. I can’t say one bad thing. Those guys are solid!”
The Great Filter dropped on July 20. “We had looked at a few other options," concludes Jourdan. "But nothing felt right. It was all about ‘We think you’d fit into this pre-molded space, or if you nip and tuck this we could work with you.’ With G4L it was all about them believing in us and helping us take our musical ideas to the next level.”
Date Signed: May 17, 2018
Label: G4L Records
Band Members: Jonathan Jourdan, vocals, guitar; Dexas Villarreal, drums; Robb Mars, bass
Type of Music: Progressive/Hard Rock
Management: Jerry Nettles - Bronson Management
Booking: N/A
Legal: N/A
Publicity: Denise Kovalevich, [email protected]
Web: towhomitmay.net
A&R: Kevin Martin