Student band Marcy Avenue to release new mixtape

Financial District, NEW YORK– This Halloween, King’s-birthed band Marcy Avenue will release a mixtape retelling the story of Romeo and Juliet in a post-apocalyptic world. Weaving covers of various songs into a narrative, Future Lovers will be available for download Oct.31 through Marcy Avenue’s Facebook page.

Marcy Avenue is the brainchild of Forest Erwin (‘15). He composes the multi-layered tracks using digital audio workstation systems, but includes vocals and instrumentation from others.

“I make everything, but I don’t like doing it alone,” Erwin said. King’s students Emily Grace Cone (’16) and Hannah Eckart (‘15) have sung in Marcy Avenue, and Adam Schwartz (‘15) arranges bookings and publicity.

“He’s my hype man,” Erwin said. New York University student and rapper London O’Connor, a bass player in California, and a friend in Seattle who mixes the music are also involved.

The upcoming mixtape will feature a combination of sample (using a portion of another sound recording, such as a drum beat, into a composition) and live performances. Marcy Avenue’s style is “dancy” and includes a full range of frequencies, Erwin said.

The band has funk, hip hop, rap and alternative rock influences, including The Cure, Gorillaz, Outkast, The Smiths, Toro y Moi, and The Talking Heads.

Before forming Marcy Avenue, Erwin was part of a band called The Gruuv in his hometown El Paso de Robles, CA. Cone, who sang in a quartet The Lovenotes, attended the same highschool as Erwin. They occasionally performed in venues together, including one memorial service held in a saloon.

After coming to King’s, Erwin taught himself to play piano and began composing in December 2011. Last spring, a subway stop in Brooklyn became the band’s namesake.

In addition to Future Lovers, Marcy Avenue plans to release a remix of the XX’s “Sunset.” To receive updates and listen to tracks, follow Marcy Avenue on tumblr, Facebook, YouTube and SoundCloud.