Cloud Cult

The Quick and Easy
Sound: Melodic instrumentation of gargantuan proportions
Label: Earthology Records
Album: Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-partying through Tornadoes)
Why: Live painting and great music. Why else?

Since 1995, Cloud Cult have crafted sprawling, cathartic albums that have won them the attention of the New York Times, MTV, Spin, Billboard, and a devoted following of fans.

During that time, the band has grown from the solo project of singer/songwriter Craig Minowa to include cellist Sarah Young, violinist Shannon Frid, painters Connie Minowa and Scott West (who create paintings live at the band’s performances), and recent addition bassist Shawn Neary (formerly of Tapes ‘n’ Tapes), and Arlen Peiffer.

Last year saw the band headline the KEXP BBQ. Past headliners have included Devotchka and Ghostland Observatory. The band also headlined the second stage at the Monolith Festival at Red Rocks Amphitheater between Spoon and The Flaming Lips on the Main stage.

Despite offers from major labels, Cloud Cult has chosen to remain independent, recording and releasing their albums through Earthology Records, a not-for-profit environmental record label established by Minowa in 1998. On a self-funded shoe-string budget they have achieved top 20 CMJ radio charting for all of their last three albums, a domain usually reserved for the SubPops and Merges of the world.

History of Cloud Cult’s Nationally Released Albums:

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      2002: Shortly after the unexpected death of his two year old son, Minowa buried himself in the recording studio and wrote and recorded “They Live on the Sun”, which would become Cloud Cult’s first nationally released album.
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      2003: Cloud Cult’s “They Live on the Sun” went to #1 on college radio station charts across the country.
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      2004: Cloud Cult released “Aurora Borealis”, which the Minnesota Music Awards nominated as “Album of the Year” along with Prince and Paul Westerberg. With a van covered in solar panels, the band began touring nationally.
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      2006: Cloud Cult released “Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus”, which Pitchfork called “insane genius” and rated the album with an 8.3.
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      2007: The Denver Post ranked Cloud Cult’s album “The Meaning of 8” as one of the top ten albums of the past decade, along with bands like Modest Mouse The Flaming Lips and Radiohead.

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      On April 8 of 2008, less than a year after their last release, Cloud Cult hopes to keep the buzz going with another full length album “Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-partying through Tornadoes),” which was recorded and produced at Minowa’s small organic farm in Northern Minnesota. “The place is so far out in the boonies, you can barely find it, because it’s not on the maps,” said Dan Montalto, an MTV Producer who brought a camera crew to the farm to film a short MTV feature on the band.

With the new album, Minowa and company have continued the evolution of Cloud Cult’s unique sound, which refuses to adhere to any single music genre. Covering the spectrum of indie-rock to electronica to folk to classical, “Feel Good Ghosts” keeps the listener hanging from track to track as the lyrics belie Minowa’s wide-eyed and often boyish delivery of philosophical wanderings.

Cloud Cult will support the release of “Feel Good Ghosts” with a North American tour from March through May, where they’ll be working with independent radio stations WOXY.com (for the East Coast dates) and The Current from Minnesota Public Radio (for their West Coast dates). The band is also finishing up a feature length DVD documentary, due out in the Fall of 2008, which includes footage spanning the full decade long history of the band.

As one of the pioneering “Green bands” of the modern indie-rock world, Cloud Cult has backed up their open-hearted songs with green action for over a decade. Minowa’s Earthology Records has served as an eco-consultant to a myriad of national acts, as well as industry giants like Universal and ASCAP. All Cloud Cult products are 100% post-consumer recycled, and all tours are greened with energy offsets through NativeEnergy.com. In addition, the band has planted nearly a thousand trees to absorb pollutants from travel and manufacturing. Cloud Cult will have help with their greening this time out with a partnership with Esurance, who has helped green the Monolith Festival at Red Rocks and the Sasquatch festival. Reverb Rock, who has greened tours by Andrew Bird, the Beastie Boys and the Blue Man Group, will also help educate fans attending their shows on things they can do to offset their own carbon footprint.

For those interested in catching Cloud Cult’s unique live performance, which includes live painters on stage and back screen video, Spring 2008 may be your best bet. After touring extensively for the past five years, and releasing a new album annually, the band plans to take a short respite to focus on family in the latter part of 2008 and into 2009.