AltNation Advanced Placement Tour

Born in Liverpool, UK, BANNERS was fascinated by dreams, life, death, hope and despair. He grew up singing in the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral Choir and the Liverpool Kop. After singing in cathedrals and concert halls across Europe, BANNERS went to work on his own material. Influenced by artists ranging from The Beatles to Arcade Fire, BANNERS' music is at once haunting and hopeful, sure to resonate with audiences across space and age.


The Moth and the Flame have been creating earnest and heady alternative indie-rock since 2011. They have been heralded as one of the top emerging artists in the western United States, and as a "band to watch" coming out of their new home in Los Angeles.
Formed in the high desert of Provo Utah, TM&TF is singer/guitarist Brandon Robbins, keyboardist/vocalist Mark Garbett, drummer Andrew Tolman, and bassist Michael Goldman. Their songs feature weaving layers of Robbins' haunting baritone, dense instrumentation, and fresh moments of simplicity. The band extends this layered philosophy to their audience by integrating installation art with their live performances; filling cities with twenty-foot-tall anthropomorphic giants, and transforming venues into lunar visions, starry nights, and floating-lantern dreamscapes.
TM&TF's latest release, &, is a collection of five complex and thematic songs produced by celebrated drummer Joey Waronker (Beck, Atoms for Peace). Released in late 2013 as the band joined Imagine Dragons on their European Night Visions tour, & begins with their first major single, Sorry. It follows the success of their 2011 debut, a self-titled album, and their signing to REDDistribution/Hidden Records.
The success of & has anticipation already buzzing for the band's next full-length album, produced by Peter Katis (Interpol, The National, Jonsi) and featuring string arrangements by Rob Moose (Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens). It was tracked while living isolated in Katis' Connecticut studio for several weeks, and is set for release early 2016. -C.R. Holgate


Once they were The Morning Benders and now they are POP ETC. The stunning debut from POP ETC is an unapologetic cel- ebration of pop music. Written, performed, produced and arranged by POP ETC with collaborations from Andrew Dawson (Kanye West, Lil' Wayne etc.) and Danger Mouse.