It all started in the fall of 2005 when New York City's Benzos and Baltimore's Lake Trout kicked off their U.S. tour at New York's Mercury Lounge. Flash forward six years as the singers/guitarists for both bands, Christian Celaya and Woody Ranere, now makeup the group known as WITH LIONS. November 1, 2011 marks the kick-off of an ambitious four-EPs-a-year cycle with the first release titled, Touch the Sound.

With Lions is both a band and a production team that splits their time between New York City and Baltimore, where they have been composing music for film and TV for the last three years. After amassing a large catalog of songs numbering in the hundreds, covering everything from shoegaze to industrial, orchestral to electro, and more, they began to focus on transitioning to the band side of things. They are currently preparing a number of releases, choosing a different approach to catalog their compositions in shorter groupings, such as EPs. Each release will explore a different mood and direction, thus freeing the band from the confines of a certain sound or trademark that their previous outfits were categorized by.

After years of touring on the road and then years living in the studio composing for film and TV, With Lions plans to take a very different approach to releasing their music and connecting with the audience. While not trying to set too many ground rules, they did agree that they would eliminate all creative limitations one experiences when in a band that has a signature sound. That meant that no matter what genre or mood they wrote in, it would be a With Lions song.

Epic and cinematic, With Lions’ EPs are broken into mini scores. Dark, saturated harmony, their music can only be described in film terms. “We try to score life,” says Celeya. Whether it’s a film from childhood or a specific scene etched in your memory, With Lions’ multiple soundscapes revisit it all while moderinizing classical schemes.

The massive lifting energy of Touch the Sound channels the rhythms and progressions of Phil Spector's early-60s pop with the driving fuzz of Creation Records’ late-80s British alternative rock. Upon the EP’s completion, Christian and Woody decided to take these songs to the stage in a different way. Rather than touring endlessly in support of each release, they're concentrating on making their live performances more of a limited, special engagement, which they also intend on documenting for video to be given out to their supporters. Using this format will allow With Lions to put together a unique, live, music experience for every one of their EPs.

The first performance takes place Friday, November 11 at New York’s Mercury Lounge, where WITH LIONS will be backed by a full band of their cohorts from the past, playing all of Touch the Sound as well as new tunes from the upcoming EP releases. While Touch the Sound's live setup will include members of Benzos and Lake Trout in a more traditional rock band alignment, the forthcoming releases will include everything from string quartets and horn sections to an army of synthesizers.

The Mercury Lounge band lineup includes:
Woody Ranere on vocals, guitar and synth
Christian Celaya on vocals, bass, guitar and synth
Brian Joyce (Benzos) on lead guitar
Matt Pierce (Lake Trout and UNKLE): synths, laptop
Mike Lowry (Lake Trout and UNKLE): drums
Stephen Ortega (Happy People): vocals, percussion

Before their official release show, With Lions will perform an experimental set as a duo at the Tijuana Gift Shop Official CMJ Showcase at Bowery Electric on Wed, Oct 19th at 11pm.