Kate Davidson and M. Ritchey have been making music together for twelve
years. Having begun their collaboration in a small, dimly-lit dorm room
in Portland, they continued by founding the band Dear Nora in 1999.
After several national and international tours, Kate decided to pursue
a new life in San Francisco, where she learned how to rip wicked guitar
solos, turned Dear Nora into a Fela Kuti-inspired 9 person jam band,
and released several albums (on Magic Marker Records) to wide acclaim.
M. Ritchey stayed in Portland and formed The Badger King with YACHT’s
Jona Bechtolt, and also followed her tendency toward the mythical to a
weird, often cryptic, electro-fantasy-prog solo album under the name
"Manta" (which became "Mantar" after veiled litigious threats from a
local smooth jazz band became tedious), pouring her energies into an
inhuman laptop that neither gave nor received love.
Over the years, both Kate and M. Ritchey explored many new musical
avenues, but a small part of each of their hearts remained in that
tiny, poorly-ventilated dorm room in which both their friendship and
their musical lives were born. Luckily, and for unrelated reasons, they
both happened to move to Los Angeles at the same time that, due to the
whims of Fate, each was becoming disillusioned with her solo musical
venture. It was at this moment that Lloyd and Michael spread its wings
and took flight into the disgusting, smoggy air. Now older, wiser, and
infinitely more attractive, Kate and M. Ritchey were ready to bring
their well-honed individual expressive talents together again, after a
decade of solitary wandering. A new album was inevitable, and ended up
being recorded in only about four days due to the incredibly strong and
positive vibes both were experiencing.
"Just As God Made Us," Lloyd and Michael’s debut album (States
Rights Records), sounds like Dear Nora mixed with Mantar, plus elements
of Yes, the Doobie Brothers, the Indigo Girls, Hector Berlioz, "The
Winds of Change" by the Scorpions, Beyoncé Knowles, Ween, the pre-disco
work of the Bee Gees, Joni Mitchell, Pharoah Sanders, and possibly
Peter, Paul and Mary.
Lloyd and Michael is the sound of friendship. It
is the sound of freedom.
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Check out our dancing friends called Body City, featuring music by Aphex Twin and Lloyd & Michael:
dear katy and ritchey, thanks for playing at uci yesterday. you were totally great. i hope your night-time show went as well as your afternoon one, and i hope to see you again really soon. thanks! sam
lloyd y micheal....i'm still obsessed with yr-all's music. this is chris from french quarter. i show yr music to ppl all the time. plz play in sf soon. l&m is the best. hope yr doing well.
Lloyd & Michael, I just watched that whole youtube from Holocene, even though it is naught more than a smear of jpegs strung together, because you sound so damn pretty. Love, Sarah
I think we have the same keyboard! I do believe I heard the "laser beam" effect at the end of the whale song with the dancing people. Love the sweet sounds!
guy and sly miss lloyd and michael very much, the rest of our world tour was boring and dumb without you. well actually it was kinda fun but not as much as if you guys had been kickin it with us. we saw aki and koichiro from apartment star and said hello from you. we actually played where you played in tokyo, at marbletron. eerie...now we're flying back to melbourne tonight. our tour is over, the shows are played, but the memories remain...love always, guy - come to australia!!
Got your new album-- it is great and I am playing it on the show. I have been a fan of Katy since seeing her a bunch of times long ago in Arizona and then one time in LA.
Also cheers to State's Rights Records for sending me a free double cd music sampler with the order. :)
today i got your album, just as god made us, in the mail. as my boombox is currently not boomin, i put on my stinky jogging clothes and ran out the door with my headphones on. i ran and ran all the way around the track with a huge grin on my face, and i think i scared this kid doing tricks with a soccer ball. i was faster than ten very fast ponies, and it's all because of your awesome, awesome music.
