DEAD TREES are a bunch of nomadic dudes. To be more precise, they are Michael Ian Cummings (vox, guitar), Todd Dalhoff (bass, vox), Matthew Borg (guitar, vox) and Noah Rubin (drums, vox).

They formed the band in Boston, in January 2007, released their debut Fort Music EP shortly thereafter, then packed up and moved all the way west to Portland, Oregon. Somewhere along the way, Fort Music fell into the hands of STROKES guitarist Albert Hammond Jr, who took the DEAD TREES on two US tours supporting his solo effort. The dudes lived in Portland for two years, worked odd jobs, and wrote and recorded their first full-length album, King of Rosa. After releasing the album on Milan Records in late 2008, they spent most of the next year on the road with bands such as THE WHIGS, Adam Green and MGMT, as well as touring Europe, Brazil and the U.S. as LITTLE JOY’s backing band.

At the end of 2009, the dudes moved again – this time to Los Angeles, where they link up with producer Noah Georgeson (Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, LITTLE JOY, Adam Green) for their best recording to date: a buoyant, scrappy and tuneful collection of songs whose positive vibes were definitely influenced by the DEAD TREES’ new home. “I feel inspired by LA,” says Cummings. “There is space here to think and write without getting distracted. I know no one here, and I kind of like it that way. The sunshine doesn’t hurt either.” The album titled WHATWAVE was recorded earlier this year in the Hollywood Hills at New King Sound, and features musical contributions from LITTLE JOY’s Fabrizio Moretti, Binki Shapiro and Rodrigo Amarante. The DEAD TREES are paying for the album with donations pledged by fans and supporters on fundraising website Kickstarter.com. “The grassroots outpour of help has been amazing!” says Cummings. “We’ve completely funded our record independently.”