Black Lab started in San Francisco before moving to LA, making major label records for Geffen and Epic, putting out national charting singles, touring the country, and featuring on blockbuster movie soundtracks like Spider-Man, Can’t Hardly Wait, and Blade: Trinity.
After leaving Epic the band’s core distilled into singer/songwriter Paul Durham and producer/composer Andy Ellis — who work together long distance.
“I moved to Montana and the space out here affected me,” says Durham. “As we threw the tracks back and forth online, they took on a bigger scope.” “I like working alone,” says Ellis, “and also I like collaborating. Sending tracks back and forth with Paul is the best of both worlds.”
The duo established a strong indie presence with blacklabworld.com and entered a more experimental phase releasing a wide variety of music including six albums (Your Body Above Me, See the Sun, Passion Leaves a Trace, Two Strangers, A Raven Has My Heart, A New World), an album of electronica and remixes (Technologie), a b-sides collection (Give Us Sugar), an unplugged record, a live acoustic DVD/CD collection, a set of chill-out instrumentals, and now the latest alt-electro single “In A Moment,” all available for download at Bandcamp and iTunes plus the streaming services.
The band has had much success leveraging its independent status through social media campaigns (”Bumrush the Charts”), YouTube stunts (the “Transformers” cover), and a wildly successful Kickstarter — all due to the passion and long-term commitment of its fans.
Black Lab songs can be found in major films, trailers, TV shows and commercials, including Permanent Midnight, Varsity Blues, The Covenant, Pretty Little Liars, House MD, Banshee, The Shield, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, What I Like About You, Flashpoint, Honda, GM, and dozens of others.
