Biography
Eclectic folk-rock band Lord Huron was largely the brainchild of well-traveled singer/songwriter Ben Schneider. Raised in south-central Michigan (where he spent summers in Lake Huron, hence the band name), Schneider lived in France during college years, then pursued visual art in New York before "following a girl" to Los Angeles. Originally a solo project, Lord Huron was launched in 2010 with Michigan-rooted players added to flesh out the sound; bassist Miguel Briseno, drummer Mark Barry, and guitarist Tom Renaud were all childhood friends of Schneider's. After a couple of teaser EPs, the band emerged on 2012's Lonesome Dreams, an album steeped in a cinematic Wild West sound, with occasional touches of tropical and Asian music. The album also launched a visual concept, with videos presenting the songs as trailers for Western adventure movies. The followup, Strange Trails, again blended a haunting Western ambiance with friendlier pop material. The band's own conceptual material was even more elaborate this time: The songs were allegedly based on the work of George Ranger Johnson, a 71-year-old adventure writer from Tucson. Though Johnson didn't actually exist, the band went as far as putting up a website for him. One of the videos also included an 800 number that gave an interactive adventure when fans called it. The commercial success prompted Schneider to get more ambitious on the third album Vide Noir-- Lord Huron's first for a major label (Republic), and its first to use an outside producer (Dave Fridmann of Flaming Lips fame). This time the mood was weightier, inspired by Schneider's wandering the Los Angeles outskirts after dark and pondering his place in the universe. The sound was likewise heavier and less folkish; while acoustic guitars were still used, they were now distorted and amplified. Once again there was conceptual material to go with the music, as the band released songs for streaming at amusement parks and beaches, and distributed videos to local TV stations on VHS tape.
