Halo Orbit released today via Alpha Pup Records!

Back in 2012 I started a band with two friends, the result of that friendship is the debut of Halo Orbit. This is a project of three individuals whose friendship drove the idea of starting something together. I love this band because all who participated are musicians who continually strive to create something totally original.

suGar, the guitarist/keyboardist of Halo Orbit is my favorite guitarist. She has so much talent and knowledge in sound and composition. She has a band in Japan (where she lives) called Buffalo Daughter, that I toured with back in the 90's during my stint in Distortion Felix. We were opening up for Girls Against Boys on a three band bill, and ever since then I was obsessed with suGar's skills.

On the other hand, there's Mark Guiliana. Mark and I met after a Mars Volta show in New York (where Mark lives). At the time I wasn't even sure what he had done but he was so cool that I knew I had to do a project with him. After we hung out, I was blown away by what I didn't know, but what I found through YouTube...that Mark is one of the best drummers in the world. His own Beat Music was enough to flip me out, but then I heard him rip on some of these jazz videos and I can honestly say, he has more style in his pinky then I have in my entire career. 

Then there's me...who hasn't released any new records since 2012. Mars Volta's Noctourniquet was the last full length record I participated in. I really thought this Halo Orbit record was going to come out in 2014 but I am glad it came out as it did, because we were able to find the perfect homes for our album.

Because we waited, suGar was able to secure a deal for us in Japan via BeatInk. BeatInk is known in Japan to release the music that has really inspired us over the years. Bands like Battles, Brian Eno, Squarepusher, Tyondai Braxton, Jah Wobble and Aphex Twin are all part of the BeatInk family and these artists are held in the highest regard in the Halo Orbit camp. 

And over here in the US, I was able to convince the mighty Alpha Pup records to put it out in the rest of the world. Daddy Kev, who heads Alpha Pup, is part of today's Los Angeles music scene and pretty much spearheaded the most exciting music of this decade. Kev started the great Low End Theory (Big Sir played there early on with Ikey's Free Moral Agents back in the early 2000's) and has stake in Brainfeeder (Flying Lotus' label that also puts out my man, Thundercat's records) and JonWayne's new label The Office. Just to say we are part of Los Angeles's musical center is more than I could ever want.

Here is the new Halo Orbit video, Angels Flight, for you musical viewing. I hope you dig it and I hope, if you like it, you will support independent music and actually buy the record. You can start here- https://itun.es/us/JC-Egb

-Juan