Indie synth pop duo the Convenience emerged with a quirky, handmade take on bright 1980s pop and new wave sounds. Although they share personnel with the stylistically related New Orleans outfit Video Age, the Convenience operates with its own distinct songwriting team. The project’s first album, Accelerator, arrived in 2021.
Duncan Troast, originally from New Jersey, and Nick Corson from San Francisco connected during music studies at Loyola University in New Orleans. Both later contributed to the local group Fishplate, where their strong musical rapport became apparent to themselves and others. Songwriter Ross Farbe subsequently asked them to join him and fellow songwriter Ray Micarelli in the ’80s-inspired synthesizer pop endeavor Video Age. Already admirers of the group, Troast took on keyboards while Corson handled bass. They made their initial contributions as extra musicians to Video Age’s second LP, Pop Therapy, in 2018. That same year, Troast and Corson issued an EP titled EP and a two-track single on their own via the Convenience name.
Video Age’s debut release as a formal quartet, Pleasure Line, appeared in mid-2020 and marked the band’s first outing on the Winspear label. The Convenience followed suit on Winspear with their own full-length debut, Accelerator, released in October 2021.
