Music Spotlight
The Airborne Toxic Event
Recommended by: Sam Lefland
The Airborne Toxic Event is a five piece rock band from Los Angeles signed to the label Island Records (Bon Jovi, The Killers). Mikel Jollett (lead vocals) was inspired to begin writing songs in March 2006 after his mother was diagnosed with cancer. Jollet met Daren Taylor (drums) that summer, and were joined four months later by classically-trained violinist Anna Bulbrook, bassist Noah Harmon, and Steven Chen who was initially asked to join as a keyboardist but instead ended up playing lead guitar. The band played its first show in Echo Park in fall 2006, less than one month after the final line-up had been established. The band received much critical acclaim from the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Weekly, and even Rolling Stone who named them one of the top 25 bands on MySpace in 2006. Thanks to National radio exposure and a television spot on Last Call with Carson Daly in 2008, the band was signed to indie label Majordomo, on which they released their debut album in August 2008. The band is expected to release their sophomore album in early 2011. Check out their performance of "Sometime Around Midnight," which Adam Clayton of U2 once named as his favorite song, on Letterman.