Freelance Whales – Summer Session Number 7

In a very unique way, Freelance Whales took it upon themselves to promote their club gigs. They would play acoustically in the street and at subway stations, staying in the areas of New York City that were aggressively consuming culture. They spread the word of nearby gigs by handing out flyers at these open-air shows. It was also in the street that they starting building a reputation and attracting industry folk.

Click through to check out the performances and stories behind “Ghosting,” “Location,” and “Generator ^ Second Floor” at Last.fm Studios New York.

Freelance Whales Perform: Photos These multi-instrumentalists hail from Queens, New York and are made up of Judah Dadone, Doris Cellar, Chuck Criss , Jacob Hyman and Kevin Read. They go beyond the basic guitar, bass, keyboard/piano and drum set up. Into the mix you’ll find banjo, mandolin, glockenspiel, harmonium and various percussive instruments. Outside of drummer Jacob, it’s pretty much an open door to who will and can play what. And it doesn’t stop there. Band members are constantly looking for more instruments to learn and bring into the mix.

Freelance Whales first released Weathervanes themselves in early September of ’09. The next month they played at CMJ and label interest sparked even more. Frenchkiss along with Mom & Pop were the two labels the band was most interested in. They asked if the two labels would be keen to work together on this project. After the two of them met and talked, they found they had a lot of supplementary skill-sets and a lot of mutual admiration for one another. So they decided to work this album together and re-released it in late April of this year.  Freelance Whales are currently on the road with Tokyo Police Club through 8/20. Included in there is a stop at Grant Park in Chicago for Lollapalooza on 8/8.

Do you love Freelance Whales? Think more folks should discover them? Give them a thumbs up at the top of the post and let us know why in the comments. Oh and while you’re at it why not vote for your favorite song from their session in this nifty poll.