Goldspot

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Goldspot
Frontman Siddhartha Khosla of Goldspot performs in Bangalore in 2012
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, United States
Genres	Indie rock Alternative rock Indie pop
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Mercury Records Union Records
Website	Goldspot.net
Past members	Ramy Antoun, Seth McLain, Sergio Andrade, Derek Horst

Goldspot is a New York-based band. Founded by singer/songwriter/producer and television and film composer Siddhartha Khosla, the group has since received critical acclaim for its debut album Tally of the Yes Men (Tally), and second album And The Elephant is Dancing. The band released its third full-length, Aerogramme, on August 20, 2013.

History[]

The Los Angeles-based band Goldspot is named after the fizzy drink Gold Spot. According to an interview with Siddhartha Khosla (the band's core member), the drink was very popular back in India at the time.

After a live performance on DJ Nic Harcourt's KCRW show, the band soon began playing shows across Los Angeles in venues like The Troubadour and Hotel Cafe.^{[citation needed]} Harcourt championed the band, hailing them as his "favorite band of 2005",^{[citation needed]} and began playing tracks from Tally of the Yes Men in heavy rotation ("Rewind", "Time Bomb", and "Friday").^[1]

The band was founded by singer/songwriter Siddhartha Khosla and Writer/Producer/Drummer Ramy Antoun. From 2005 to 2007, the line up consisted of Sid, Ramy, Sergio Andrade (bass), Seth McLain (guitars, keys and backing vocals) and Derek Horst (guitars and backing vocals). The band signed a record deal in 2005 with a start-up, independent label , with distribution through ADA.^{[citation needed]} Thanks to KCRW's heavy airplay they were able to sell 10,000 copies^{[citation needed]} of their debut Tally of the Yes Men. Tally was co-produced by Jeff Peters and Goldspot.^{[citation needed]} Respected radio stations KEXP and WTMD, along with other indie radio stations across the country, began to play the record in constant rotation.^{[citation needed]}

Eventually, the band signed a deal with major record label Mercury Records (Universal Music Group) in the United Kingdom.^{[citation needed]} An alternate version of Tally was released in the UK in June 2007, featuring A. R. Rahman's Bollywood Orchestra, and received plaudits from UK press like Q magazine, the Sunday Times, and The Guardian.^[2] The Sunday Times hailed Goldspot as "the best band to come out of America in years".^{[citation needed]}

Tally reached No. 10 in the alternative charts.^{[citation needed]} The debut single "It's Getting Old" was the second most downloaded iTunes Single of the Week ever, behind Justin Timberlake.^[3] The follow-up single "Friday" was BBC Radio 2's "Record of the Week"^{[citation needed]} and reached No. 21 in the UK airplay charts.^{[citation needed]} The band also released a Hindi version of the same track which reached No. 4 in the BBC Asian Network Charts.^{[citation needed]} "Friday"'s video appeared in regular rotation on MTV, VH1, "The Hits", "The Box", Q, and Sky television networks.^{[citation needed]} Khosla also performed the single in Hindi.

Tally made several "Top Albums of 2007" lists.^{[citation needed]} Goldspot was named the No. 4 best new act of 2007,^{[citation needed]} and Tally was named in the Sunday Times' "Top Albums of 2007".^[4]

Goldspot also played the Glastonbury (headlined by The Arcade Fire and Björk), O2 Wireless, and V festivals throughout the summer of 2007.^{[citation needed]} The band has opened for Travis, Death Cab for Cutie, Franz Ferdinand, and Bon Jovi.^{[citation needed]}

Follow-up album And the Elephant is Dancing, produced by Beach Boys engineer Jeff Peters and Siddhartha, was released digitally on 2 November 2009.^{[citation needed]} Music supervisor and influential DJ Nic Harcourt (KCRW) hailed Goldspot as "one of my favorite bands of the moment",^{[citation needed]} and called the band's new album "a classic and timeless gem...it's as if George Harrison never left India".^{[citation needed]} The band appeared on NPR's Tell Me More with Michel Martin in April 2010^{[citation needed]} as well as influential radio shows KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic with Jason Bentley^{[citation needed]} and WTMD (Baltimore) in 2010,^{[citation needed]} where they performed songs off the new album.^[5] Songs from Elephants have appeared in dozens of major network television shows and films.

The band's newest release, Aerogramme, on Khosla and co.'s own Mt. Hoboken Records/Nice Music Group recounts the travels of Khosla's family from India to the US in the late 1970s. Lead single "The Border Line" received consistent airplay on US radio (including Sirius XM's "The Spectrum" and several other Triple A-format stations around the country). The album was released to very positive reviews, including the Los Angeles Times' pop music editor naming it the #1 album of 2013. Aerogramme was released under Sony India for several South Asian countries.

On May 1, 2014, Goldspot was nominated for a Vh1 India Music Award: "Best Global Indian."

Television, film, and placements[]

Khosla is currently the composer for NBC's This Is Us and Lionsgate/E!'s The Royals. His recent credits include FOX comedy Grandfathered and feature films Fat Camp and Liv. He composed original songs for the musical film Basmati Blues and ABC series The Neighbors. He also wrote original songs for the series, including a Bollywood musical episode that aired on March 17, 2014.

Khosla co-wrote the track "Flirting" with Natalie Imbruglia which appeared on her 2009 album Come to Life.^{[citation needed]}

The bands song "Rewind" was featured in the "Double Date" episode of How I Met Your Mother.^[6]

Their songs also featured in the 2009 movie Today's Special and the music video for Ina Mina Dika was shot for the movie featuring actor Aasif Mandvi in it.

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

• Aerogramme - / (August 20, 2013), (India) (October 15, 2013)
• (2010)
• Tally of the Yes Men - Mercury Records/Universal Music Group (2007), SONY BMG (India) (2008) (UK Alternative Charts No. 10)

Singles[]

• "The Border Line" (2013)
• "Friday" (2007) (UK Alternative No. 21, BBC Asian Network No. 4)
• "It's Getting Old" (2007) (UK Alternative No. 10)
• "Ina Mina Dika" (2011)

References[]

External links[]

• Official site
• Allmusic profile