Lost In Company
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Music
Press
At the end of April we got invited to cover Ram Jam, a music festival in Fair Hill, Maryland. Lost in Company, a band you might remember from one of the Second Saturday shows, was playing so it looked like a great time. We of course show up with a cooler full of beers and whiskey that promptly was taken from us on entry. (we stole it back later that day) So we were kinda bummed at first but everyone there was in a good mood and they sold beer so we were having a good time right away. (side note on the contents of our cooler, Corona Coronitas are a deceiving hunk of little shits, you think your getting a case of Coronas but really it’s a case of lies, it was like scoring with a girl and finding out her boobs are just a huge padded bra (implants are still cool)). The festival turned out pretty rad though, good bands, LOTS of hippies and even a wedding ceremony. Be sure to check out Ram Jam next year and when the parking guy asks if you have any alcohol say no even if you do. www.ramjamming.com - guilty people
It was another good saturday night at Cedar Street this past February. It was Lost in Company’s record release show and the place filled up. As the opening act The Cinnamon Band loosened everyone up with smooth blues/folk tunes people filtered in and the energy grew. By the time a little buzz started kicking in it was time for the Oldermost, a great indie rock band from Philadelphia that brought a huge sound with them and a great performance. The party officially started when Lost in Company hit the stage. It was like just then someone had spiked everyone’s drinks with wildness and there was dancing everywhere. Lead singer Chris Johnson’s performance was like if James Brown, Michele Jackson and Lenny Kravitz formed a Voltron that had a guitar as a sword. - guilty people
Lost in Company lead singer Christopher Johnson comfortably slouches in his spot on a broken-in semi-circle couch, examining and smiling at the rest of the members of the band gathered around him.
Changito, better known as drummer Luis Santos, cracks a joke about his beginnings in Texas. Bassist Benjamin Contios, originally hailing from Massachusetts, admits to a more nomadic life, dictated by whereever music takes him. Guitarists Ryan Reese and Paul McCoy were long time friends of Johnson.
But it wasn’t until the members made connections in Philly in 2009 that Lost in Company emerged.
“The five of us coming together doesn’t really make any sense,” Johnson says with a laugh.
Their song “Entertain,” which is about searching for the answers to keep a girl to stick around, begins with bluesy guitar lead-in to Johnson’s vocals. Like most of Lost in Company’s music, the bass and guitar riffs converge to create the funk, jam, pop and rock fusion that distinguishes the band.
Even Johnson can’t easily describe their sound.
“The things that John Mayer tried to do with pop and the blues, what Maroon 5 tried to do with pop and with Stevie Wonders range of vocal ability,” Johnson explains. “It’s also dance music. And we have a some guitar going on in there like Lenny Kravitz.”
Lost in Company’s self-titled EP was released in 2009. It was recorded in Port Richmond at Cedar Street Studios, which is where they are currently working on their first full length album.
Where the EP was the brainchild of Johnson, the new material is going through a more collaborative process that is both exciting and nervewracking, according to McCoy.
“We almost called ourselves ‘The Overly Diplomatic Blues Band,’” he says. during the recording sessions.” - G.W. Miller III , Jump Magazine
Discography
Lost In Company E.P.
Photos
Bio
Something is happening in Philadelphia. In February 2011 Lost in Company released its debut EP, recorded and produced by Ted Richardson at Cedar Street Studios. The quintet, who’ve recently been making noise on the local Philadelphia music scene, was formed first in New Jersey in 2009. The current lineup includes: Guitarist and lead vocalist Christopher Johnson, auxiliary guitarists Ryan Reese and Paul McCoy, Benjamin Contois on bass, and Luis Santos on percussion. Since then, Lost in Company has played The M-Room, The North Star Bar, The Tin Angel and have recently returned from the Dewey Beach Music Conference where they played the main stage of the Rusty Rudder.
Front man Johnson’s lyrics have the touch of romantic fatalism and are a throwback to the neo-soul of the nineties and early aughts. It is a sound which also combines jazz funk, blues, and rock with the anthemic pop hooks of now, but without the melisma that characterizes contemporary pop. In the American Idol age, Lost in Company is refreshing, and stays clear of monosyllabic riffs and self-indulgent vocal theatrics; relying instead on Johnson’s lyrics, sung with a slight rasp and a sometimes indecipherable drawl. Johnson’s voice endows a complexity to the lyrics that might not be otherwise apparent if delivered by another, a sort of semi-impassioned laconic coolness, an ache in his voice to suggest that he is really singing about something he hasn’t quite gotten over yet (which for the sake of the Philadelphia music scene, we have to hope he doesn’t).
Band Members
Links
