Bio | lochandkey

LOCH & KEY

Sean Hoffman – Guitars and all other instruments

Leyla Akdogan Hoffman – Vocals

Former American Music Club and Bedroom Walls member Sean Hoffman and visual artist Leyla Akdogan make up the Los Angeles-based duo Loch & Key ( www.lochandkey.net ). The band was conceived while passing time in a laundromat in the south of France; the first song penned on a poorly intonated souvenir guitar purchased from a beachfront kiosk on the coast of Catalonia. The pair has been “sailing the musical high seas ever since.”

(–The Deli LA)

LA Weekly called Loch & Key’s 2010 debut offering, Jupiter’s Guide for Submariners a “cottony travelogue wrapped up in the cocoon of Hoffman’s golden guitar shimmers and Akdogan’s dreamy wanderlust.” The Los Angeles Times described it as “…hushed romantic sentiments & gently jazz-tinged arrangements…sweet nothings eased into your ears at a members-only speakeasy.” Recorded entirely in Hoffman’s Echo Park studio and featuring guest appearances from such notables as guitarist Vudi (American Music Club, Swans, Ariel Pink), and drummer Derek Brown (The Eels, Everest), Loch & Key’s debut was an exploration of otherworldly spaces filled with serene soundscapes and dreamy, narrative lyrics.

Loch & Key’s latest release, Slow Fade, is the ambitious follow-up to their DIY debut. Set for release on October 27 (preorder on September 27), Slow Fade is lush, high fidelity, and sonically adventurous. With their trademark touches of jazz and bossa nova still present, Slow Fade introduces a kaleidoscopic combination of musical elements from various pop traditions (psychedelic pop, vocal pop, contemporary folk pop, French yé yé pop, art pop/rock, A Capella doo wop) as well as ambient electronic experimental music. Minimalist guitar arpeggiations call to mind Nick Drake and the late 60’s English folk scene; melancholy yet emotionally distant vocals conjure chanteuse Francoise Hardy from the fringes of French yé yé and hints of Mazzy Star; chugging pop songs remind one of The Motels earlier work; and a haunting surf/countrypolitan twang that could easily fit the score for David Lynch’s Blue Velvet is woven throughout. Inspired by subjects as varied as SoCal surfer gangs, the mysterious folklore of feral children, and magical road trip destinations from Big Sur to Jupiter, Slow Fade is a pop surreal ode to California dreaming.

Note to audiophiles: Slow Fade was professionally mastered by Dave Cooley (Light In The Attic) at Elysian Masters where the laquers for vinyl were also cut on a refurbished & modernized Neumann VMS66 cutting lathe—the same 1966 model that cut the coveted early Led Zeppelin records and the last model where Neumann used discrete electronics. (Updated with a modern disk computer system and various electronic improvements, it outperforms in terms of soundstage, frequency response, and perceived depth.)

Outside of the band, the husband and wife team are involved in various musical and visual projects. Sean performs in the band Chaparral (a trio with Kip Boardman (Watson Twins, Tony Gilkyson) & Steve Didelot (AMC & Mark Eitzel). He also produces records for other artists like Zig Zags and has kept busy performing with a variety of artists like Ariel Pink, comedian Neil Hamburger, cult folk star Linda Perhacs, and punk legend Don Bolles. Leyla has kept her hand in the art world while she completed law school—showing in galleries around Los Angeles, winning Best Micro-Short at the SoCal Independent Film Festival (2013) for her animated music video King of Silence (for fellow musician Mark Lane), creating the animated trailer for the LA Film Fest (with music contributed by Flying Lotus), and was a featured artist for Brit + Co’s 2016 Re:Make Festival. As a practicing lawyer, she channels her progressive activism into serving the arts and modest means communities.

For More Information, please contact Josh Mills, It’s Alive! Media,

323-464-6314, josh@itsalivemedia.com, www.itsalivemedia.com