Outernational, Black Wing Halo, Bad Citizen

With roots directly planted in the original bohemian Greenwich Village, NYC's Outernational has assembled an arsenal of blistering rock and roll, defiant lyrics and an infectious sense of rhythm that is reminiscent of both The Clash and Rage Against The Machine. In fact, Tom Morello of RATM thought so much of the band that he produced their 6 track Debut EP Eyes on Fire (LISTEN), released December 2009 alongside the music video Sir No Sir (LISTEN) - a challenging criticism of the war in Afghanistan.

In 2010, Outernational relentlessly toured North America as a headliner and support band. The band traveled to the Louisiana gulf coast to perform for oil spill recovery workers and also stopped in Arizona to oppose SB1070, confronting the racist immigration law with a reinvented cover of Woody Guthrie's Deportees, as a Mexican-influenced folk duet with Tom Morello. The Arizona trip was the inspiration for the band's new 18-track mixtape Todos Somos Ilegales (LISTEN) released in December 2011 as a name-your-price download.

In 2011 the band began recording their debut LP, Welcome To The Revolution, funded entirely through fan donations via the path-breaking website Kickstarter. 13 new songs are finished and ready to see release, recorded at 10-time Grammy winner Jim Scott's PLYRZ studio. Tom Morello once again is assisting with production and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers is behind the drum kit. This new record, slated for a summer 2012 release is being driven be a radical vision for the future: a world without borders and a new hope for young people. This should not be a surprise to anyone keeping tabs on Outernational, as their defiant spirit of liberation and their relentless drive to infuse that spirit in a new generation is present in every song, as if each were a precious anthem for a whole other way the world could be, and a whole other way the people could relate to each other.

In addition to the band's genre-bending rendering of rock and roll on record, their live performance is truly a face melting, foot stomping, fist pumping roller coaster. Guitarist Leo Mintek and bassist Jesse Williams provide the engine of the band's "Future Rock" sound while Dr. Blum, a singular personality on and off the stage serves as the band's one-man orchestra section, with duties including trumpet, piano, organ, harmonium and accordion. Then there's Miles Solay: militant revolutionary politics unleashed and a romantic fervor with his heart on his sleeve. You can't help but want to follow this band down the path of #FUTUREROCK and into a future where music is boxed-in no more; a world of people working in common for the common good.


Like kids rummaging the finest musical dumpster, Black Wing Halo has mended parts and motors, soldered and stitched, to curate a new monster. Their own favorite radio station, Black Wing Halo draws on roots and rhythms, but drives with a distorted punk force. They leave no compact bin unturned. In fact, everything is recycled.