The Co Founder began as a creative and artistic outlet for vocalist and guitar player Hayden Eller.
Background
At the time, Eller was attending college in Washington state. Shortly after launching his project, Hayden found himself playing his first ever live show at Café Racer in Seattle back in November of 2015. Developing a love for the stage, The Co Founder (as a full-fledged band and at times a solo acoustic performance) has notched over 100 shows in a little over a year.
It’s even unlikely that Eller and his larger cohort (Jake Barrow on drums and vocals plus Luke Hogfoss on bass and vocals) will be playing less shows than their current pace. They cite “catchy songwriting and a dedication to touring” as the source of the acclaim they’ve come to know through fans and critics alike. As a testament to their gritty, entrepreneurial spirit, all of their shows are self-booked and promoted, earning them a reputation for their DIY ethos.
The Co Founder isn’t quite busy enough touring to keep them from creating and recording new material, though. In September of 2016, they released a full length album, Wye. This February, too, saw the release of a new vinyl 7″ phd, which they’re currently touring on this Spring (dates & locations here).
Their latest, phd, brings together “Obsessed” and “Balance”, and was engineered by Erik Wallace of Shibusa Sound. The outfit tracked both songs at Eller’s parents house in Bellingham, WA, in just over one 10 hour session. Take a listen to “Balance” below:
Thoughts
“Obsessed” quickly throws listeners in The Co Founder’s vat of infectious, melodic sensibility and flair for tempo as a driver of their storytelling. Much of their beginning act is stop-and-go, until we’re brought into a change of momentum that you can hear and see coming, but still thoroughly come to appreciate.
I can see this track as rather accessible indie, in great thanks to the group’s clear attention to detail and well-developed cohesion — perhaps that has something to do with those 100 live shows? What is best here is the cheery, lived-in feel of their music. It all stands up to repeated listens (15+, at least, in the course of writing this), and sits in line with the overflow of love regularly sent to the group.
“Balance”, too, is a memorable feat and will perhaps solidify a new-found appreciation — if not idolization — of their talents in your musical sphere of influence. phd is a share-worthy production, almost certain to attract both the melodic pop-seekers of everyday life and the obscurity-lovers who naturally find their way to incredible music like this first. 5/5.
Support
The Co Founder has made it easy on listeners looking to support them — their music can be bought directly on Bandcamp and iTunes. You can stream their music, too, on Spotify, with news and updates often posted to Facebook.
