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1996 was a big year for Velvet. By April they had their first CD in the market, The self-titled interactive CD plus was released by Motion City Interactive.
The sound of "Velvet" showed the wide variety of styles that
the band meshed into their own smooth alternative sound. During the first
few months of the CD's release over 80 radio stations started adding songs
off Velvet to their regular rotation. The video for Shangralava Lamp was
premiered on 21 Local and National Video shows. They were featured in
articles in such magazines as Billboard, Cashbox, Hollywood Reporter and
USA Today among others. The band began playing regularly at The Whiskey,
The House Of Blues, The Roxy and many other prominent LA Clubs. The Band
also toured nationally and was invited to join several 1996 summer festivals. In 1997, Arty, who had been producing several other artists, decided to leave the band to pursue his career as a producer. The other three members wished Arty the best and naturally decided to continue as a three piece. Velvet started writing new material for their follow-up CD. This new formula actually added a surprising different more energetic dimension to the Velvet sound. Another twist in the rubics cube that is Velvet. To test this new mixture Velvet performed for VH-1 at the Bite festival with the Barenaked Ladies and did a short west coast tour. The Velvet boys have also recorded a six song E.P. Clear Lake Audio in Hollywood, CA. Clear Lake is where No Doubt recorded "Tragic Kingdom". Where are they now? In 1999 Mark Prudeaux left the band to pursue his career is a graphic artist. Mark has done Inking for Top Cow Comics and currently work for Warner Bros as a artist. In 2000 Kevin Caetans and Kevin Danish changed their music direction style adding a female singer and a harder rocking sound. The new formation is now called "Drag". |
