SEGO, Social Cinema – 21+

“Art-Punk by non-punk non-artists”—Utah bred and LA based, Sego first caught the attention of LA tastemakers with their penchant for avant-garde grooves helming indie-pop hooks. Since its genesis, Sego’s prolific output and experimental live shows have garnered all the accolades modern indie bands dream of—critical praise fromNPR,European tours, festival spots at Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits, and a national (Xfinity) commercial airing on the Olympics and theSuper Bowl.Living and recording together out of their downtown LA warehouse, Sego(Spencer,Thomas, Derv, and Kathleen) has just started releasing tunes from their3rd forthcoming full-length album. This offering expands upon their pop sensibilities and thematic musings while boasting all the resistance and intelligence that makes them the most compelling art-punks in the scene.

Social Cinema is a new band with over a decade of history. More accurately, Social Cinema is the latest chapter in a decade-plus friendship and artistic journey evolving alongside the people behind the music. 

When three Wichita friends, Austin Engler and brothers Griffin and Logan Bush formed Kill Vargas in 2013 as young teenagers, they couldn’t have guessed that they’d all be still performing together a decade later. Along the way, the trio would cross paths with Nebraskan band, Death Cow, featuring Mari Crisler and Reed Tiwald. Between sharing bills and sleeping on each other’s couches after shows while on the Midwest DIY scene grind, the three and two would become inseparably close, and eventually join forces as five in 2021, under the new name Social Cinema. 

Whether it’s due to their years as touring musicians, gradually honed songwriting and stylistic ambitions from scrappy, garage-y roots, or some combination of all of the above, Social Cinema makes an immediate impression with seasoned beyond their years songwriting chops and a road-hardened work ethic and resolve to match. Since adopting the Social Cinema banner in 2021, the alternative/indie rock quintet has issued four EPs — 2022’s Causing Scenes and Repeat, Get Along, and Stay Numb in 2023 — and a number of singles highlighting the outfit’s multifaceted songcraft prowess, and has shared bills with the likes of Metric, Saint Motel, Slothrust, The Velveteers, Spiritual Cramp, Bad Bad Hats, Sego, THICK, PUP, The Macks, and more. 

After releasing Stay Numb in Spring 2023, Social Cinema dropped its compilation album which is the sum of all three EP’s that they released that year, along with two new songs.Titled It’s Nice to Meet You: Singles Collection, the ten-track release continues Social Cinema’s adoption of professional studio polish, this time bringing that refinement to the direct, galvanizing punch of the band’s garage rock roots. Spanning territories that range from anthemic power-pop on the opener and title track, “When Is It Ever That Easy?,” to the groovy and grittiness of “Healer,” this latest chapter in Social Cinema’s journey is a celebration of the sounds and scenes that got each of its five members to where they are today. Whereas all of their EP’s released in 2023 showcased the quintet’s ambitions to bring its sound to new, more stylistically dynamic and fresh territories, It’s Nice to Meet You is a loud and proud assertion of the band’s DIY ethos and the wallop of its no-frills rock roots not only intact, but stronger than ever. 

New Music from Social Cinema will be out to the world in the first half of 2025.