Bio

Closebye is a five piece indie rock band based in Ridgewood, Queens. The band is composed of singer-songwriter Jonah Smith, bassist Margaux Bouchegnies, multi-instrumentalist Ian Salazar, guitarist Julian Smith and drummer Simon Clinton. The band released their debut album Lucid News in 2022, showcased as an Official Artist at SXSW in Austin in 2023, and have recently opened shows for artists like Katy Kirby and Wallice.

The band’s forthcoming second album, Hammer Of My Own, was mixed by James Krausse (Porches, Carly Rae Jepsen), produced by the band, and mastered by Dave Cooley. In the words of Daniel Bromfield (Pitchfork, Resident Advisor):

“On their second album Hammer Of My Own, the band weds its dense, gauzy, texture-heavy indie rock to a formidable rhythmic chassis previously unheard in their music. Hammer Of My Own wastes no time in easing us into the band’s new sound, exploding with energy from its opening moments and recalling the miraculous early-‘90s collision of alternative rock and rave music that brought the world Primal Scream and the Stone Roses. Lead singer Jonah Paul Smith’s vocals are hushed and soothing with a worldly, cynical edge that keeps them from blending into the mix, while guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Julian Smith splashes broad strokes across the canvas with raucous guitar noise and buffeting walls of synth. Surprises and left turns abound, like the disco breakdown on “Pilates” that connects latter-day trends in physical self-care with the ‘80s Jane Fonda tradition, yet the band retains an expansive, miles-wide atmosphere that updates the best in classic dream-pop and shoegaze for New York in the 2020s. Even at just over half an hour, Hammer Of My Own is one of the biggest rock albums you’ll hear all year.”