American psychedelic/garage rock band
Night Beats is an American psychedelic/garage rock project, formed in 2009 in Seattle, Washington as the pseudonym of Danny "Lee Blackwell" Rajan Billingsley. The project has toured internationally with The Zombies, W.I.T.C.H., The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Black Angels.
History
Danny "Lee Blackwell" Rajan Billingsley founded Night Beats in 2009, named after the Sam Cooke album, Night Beat. Early releases, such as H-Bomb [2] were recorded solo as a one man project, while rotating members were added as he began to tour extensively and grow an international following.[3]
Night Beats eventually relocated from Dallas to Seattle and continued to actively record a steady stream of releases such as 2013’s Sonic Bloom and 2016’s Who Sold My Generation,[4] both of which created some divergence from their earlier lofi sound, incorporating elements of soul and funk.[5]
In 2019, Night Beats released their fourth album, Myth of a Man, produced by Black Keys' Dan Auerbach. [6][7] The album featured a more polished sound than earlier works, while marking a return to the band's psychedelic and garage rock roots.[8]
In 2022, Danny teamed up with Carolina Faruolo (ex-Los Bitchos) to release the Tropicalia influenced album Monte Carlo on the Seattle based Suicide Squeeze Records.[1] He also has a collaborative project called UFO Club, with Christian Bland from the band the Black Angels. [9] Notably, the song "Right/Wrong," was the official song of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival in 2022.
On April 12, 2023, it was announced that Night Beats sixth studio album Rajan on Suicide Squeeze will be released in July. [10]
