The Naked and Famous are an alternative rock band from Auckland, New Zealand.
They formed in 2008 when Thom Powers and Alisa Xayalith recorded EPs This Machine and No
Light with engineer Aaron Short, a fellow student at Auckland's MAINZ music college.
The band took their name from a line in the English artist Tricky's song "Tricky Kid",
"everybody wants to be naked and famous", that is ambivalent about the notion of celebrity.
The EPs were subsequently released on local independent label Round Trip Mars and Powers
and Xayalith began performing live with Ben Knapp and Jordan Clark on bass and drums respectively.
Aaron Short became a performing member of the group.
Knapp and Clark left the group and Jesse Wood and David Beadle joined the band as full-time
members in 2009.
The group have released two studio albums Passive Me, Aggressive You and In Rolling
Waves.
History Passive Me, Aggressive You
After recording "All of This", the group then set about recording the single "Young Blood"
and their debut album, recording mostly at home and at Auckland studio, The Lab.
"Young Blood" debuted on the New Zealand chart at number one on 14 June 2010 – the first
New Zealand artist in three years to do so.
The Naked and Famous released their debut studio album, Passive Me, Aggressive You,
on 6 September 2010 on their own label, Somewhat Damaged.
The album was produced by Thom Powers and Aaron Short and mixed by Billy Bush.
On 6 December 2010, the BBC announced that The Naked and Famous had been nominated for
BBC's Sound of 2011 poll.
In 2011, the band garnered six nominations at the New Zealand Music Awards for Album
of the Year, Single of the Year, Best Group, Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Best Alternative
Album and the People's Choice Award.
They were also nominated for the NZ On Air Best Music Video and won the MAINZ Best Engineer
Award and the MAINZ Best Producer Award.
On 28 February 2013, the band announced One Temporary Escape, a concert film recorded
at The Warfield in San Francisco in 2012.
It was released for free download on 18 March 2013.
In Rolling Waves
The band settled in Los Angeles in mid-2012 after completing touring for Passive Me, Aggressive
You.
They had performed over 200 shows in 24 countries between 2010 and 2012.
Sharing a home over the back of Laurel Canyon, they began work in earnest on writing and
demoing their second album.
Their intention was to record an album that could be played live, not relying on backing
tracks - something the group had always eschewed.
Entering LA's Sunset Sound studio in March 2013 with engineer Billy Bush, they began
the process of recording In Rolling Waves.
The album sessions were completed in a month and then in June 2013, The Naked and Famous
headed for London where Alan Moulder spent a month mixing the album at his Willesden
studio, Assault and Battery.
The album was mastered at Sterling Sound in New York by Joe LaPorta, who had also mastered
Passive Me, Aggressive You.
The album was produced by Thom Powers with Aaron Short.
Justin Meldal-Johnsen co-produced two tracks with Thom Powers.
On 23 July 2013, the band revealed their new single "Hearts Like Ours" along with the release
date for their second studio album In Rolling Waves, on 16 September 2013 in the UK.
The track shows a promising start for the album with Hev Bailey of Music Eyz saying
"Hearts Like Ours ends just as steadily as it began, slipping quietly out of the speakers
as though it were never there.
The same can not be said for your head, however.
It’s been two weeks since I first heard this track and I still wake up humming it
every morning."
Band members Current members
Aaron Short – keys Alisa Xayalith – vocals, keyboards
Thom Powers – vocals, guitars David Beadle – bass
Jesse Wood – drums Past members
Ben Knapp – bass Jordan Clark – drums
Discography
Passive Me, Aggressive You In Rolling Waves
In popular culture "All of This" was featured in the 5th episode
of the 1st series of The Almighty Johnsons and in the 4th episode of The Secret Circle.
"Punching in a Dream" was featured in season 2 episode 5 of The Vampire Diaries, season
1 episode 7 of "World of Jenks, and in the eleventh season of Degrassi.
It also appears on the soundtrack for EA Sports' FIFA 12 video game.
"Punching in a Dream" has also been featured at the start of The Vampire Diaries season
3 episode 11.
"Punching In A Dream" is the theme song for and is regularly played in the UK reality
series Made in Chelsea.
It was featured in the world wide influential YouTube short documentary Kony 2012.
In 2012, "Punching in a Dream" was featured on the musical comedy film Pitch Perfect as
well as the 2012 game Forza Horizon.
"The Sun" was used in episode 18 of the 4th season of Gossip Girl, in the intro of the
first episode of One Tree Hill season 9, in the end of episode 19 of the 1st season of
The Secret Circle, in the "Moment of Truth" episode of Grey's Anatomy and at the end credits
of episode 2 of the 6th season of True Blood; this episode has the same name as the song.
"Young Blood" was featured in a promo for the television series Property Brothers, as
well as the pilot of Covert Affairs, in the pilot and Season 3 Finale of The Almighty
Johnsons, in season 4 episode 13 of Chuck, in season 4 episode 14 of Gossip Girl, and
in the season 5 episode 6 Promo of the episode Alo from Skins.
It was also featured in the eleventh season of Degrassi, in the third episode of MTV's
Awkward, and in the pilot of The Secret Circle.
The song is also featured in the film Prom and in its trailer, and in Red Bull's The
Art of Flight, a snowboarding film released 7 September 2011.
The song has been also featured in a Canon EOS 600D TV commercial aired worldwide in
Q3 2011.
This song was also on an audition of Brittney Kerr which screened 18 January 2012 on American
Idol 2012, Season 11.
The song is also used in the 2012 reboot of the SSX snowboarding series of video games,
and was used prominently in multiple trailers leading up to the release of the game.
The song was also used in trailers for the 2012 horror film The Cabin in the Woods.
It was also used in the pilot episode of Elementary premiered on CBS on September 27, 2012.
"Young Blood" was featured in the series finale of the sitcom Whitney.
A remix of "Young Blood" is also featured in the movie 21 and Over.
In the Philippines, "Young Blood" was also used as the opening theme song of #SU, a student-oriented
magazine TV talk show produced by students of Silliman University in Dumaguete City.
It was also featured at the beginning of the prom scene in the 2013 horror movie, Carrie.
The song appeared in a 2010 advert for Strongbow Apple Cider.
"No Way" is also featured in Red Bull's The Art of Flight, it also appeared as the backing
soundtrack for an advert on Channel 4, showcasing their new dramas.
"Girls Like You" was featured in the 11th season of Degrassi and in the third episode
of The Secret Circle.
It also has an airing near the end of The First Time when Aubrey plays it from the CD
mix she made for Dave's car as he is giving her a ride to school.
"Bells" was featured in the 12th episode of the 5th season of Gossip Girl and in the 22nd
episode of the 8th season of Grey's Anatomy.
"Bright Lights" is featured in Need for Speed Rivals.
"Heart Like Ours" is featured in the EA Trax for EA Sports' FIFA 14 video game.
Awards and nominations Gallery
References
External links Official website