Blackbird Blackbird

Blackbird Blackbird serves as the solo outlet for Mikey Maramag, an electronic musician based in San Francisco. Warm, textural synth pop and distant, dreamy vocals define the project and bring to mind Four Tet and Washed Out, even though Maramag first immersed himself in metal and hardcore scenes. Born in Hawaii, he moved to Northern California and initially played drums in the Bay Area hardcore outfit Murder Practice. After exiting that group in 2009, he enrolled at the University of California in Santa Cruz, where exposure to electronic music sparked a fascination with Aphex Twin and Modeselektor. During his studies he started releasing material under the name Bye Bye Blackbird, later adjusting it to Blackbird Blackbird upon learning another act already used the former moniker. Several singles appeared before his first full-length, Summer Heart, arrived in mid-2010. The album’s blissed-out, sunny dream pop earned positive attention, prompting a deal with the San Francisco indie Lavish Habits for the 2012 EP Boracay Planet. Subsequent U.S. and European tours allowed him to refine his live configuration, and in 2013 he joined the roster of the prominent San Francisco electronic imprint Om Records, which issued his second LP, Tangerine Sky, in June 2014.