Late Night Alumni
Origin: None
Finn Bjarnson stumbled upon Becky Jean Williams in the summer of 2003. “I had just been given a local Christmas CD that I had produced a couple tracks for,” Finn recalls, ” and as I was listening through the tracks, there she was! Her beautiful voice and style immediately struck me.” A couple of phone calls later and they were in the studio together for the first time. “I had worked up this song called ‘Empty Streets’ and wanted to try her voice out on it…” Finn continues, “and it took off from there.” Finn was already working in the studio with Ryan Raddon (Kaskade), and soon Finn, Ryan, and Becky formed Late Night Alumni.
In 2004, British record label Hed Kandi made an offer to license and release a full length Late Night Alumni album. “At that point,” Finn says, “I knew the band was not ready. We were missing an element.” That missing element turned out to be John Hancock; a talented producer with whom Finn had been trying to “find an excuse” to work with for years. With that, the band was complete and hard at work with the debut album; mixing electronic with organic elements for a unique brand of chill that is easily distinguishable in today’s down tempo house music scene.
Their first album, “Empty Streets” came out in September of 2005. Around the same time, Hed Kandi was bought out by Ministry of Sound and the album got shelved. However, despite the label not promoting the album, it soon grew into an underground classic. All around the world die-hard fans who supported “Empty Streets” spread the word of Late Night Alumni.
The single also titled “Empty Streets” received massive support, both-in clubs and on the radio; Reaching the top 10 in the UK and US charts, and getting to #1 in Spain. “Empty Streets” was also featured in commercials, including a spot for the Toyota IQ. Plus, more than a dozen of the world’s biggest dance compilations have included the track. It remains the most popular and downloaded song on Tietso’s “In Search Of Sunrise” compilation.
Late Night Alumni signed with Ultra Records in 2009, for their sophomore album “Of Birds, Bees, Butterflies, Etc.” The single, “You Can Be The One,” and – “Uncharted” were featured in ‘ Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” starring Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, and Emma Stone. Later in 2011, their third album “Haunted” was released, and their fourth record “The Beat Becomes A Sound” was released in January of 2013.
