Kurt Travis is a Sacramento-based vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who became one of the most prolific figures in the city's post-hardcore scene, fronting (at various points) Dance Gavin Dance and A Lot Like Birds, releasing solo records, and running his own indie label.[1][2] Over roughly a decade he passed through a string of Sacramento bands and built what one writer called "a big resume," anchoring the local post-hardcore lineage alongside collaborators like Will Swan, Zachary Garren and Cory Lockwood.[2][1]
According to Wikipedia, Travis was born on January 16, 1984, in Scottsdale, Arizona — Sacramento is his base and origin city, not his birthplace.[3] His birth surname is Thomas; his father is three-time world gymnastics champion Kurt Thomas. He changed his surname from Thomas to Travis following his mother's remarriage.[3]
At a glance
- Sacramento-based vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.[1]
- Joined Dance Gavin Dance as new singer in 2008, replacing Jonny Craig.[4]
- Sang on DGD's 2008 self-titled album and 2009's Happiness.[5]
- Departed DGD in 2011 when the original lineup reunited; replaced by Jonny Craig.[6][5]
- Co-vocalist of A Lot Like Birds from summer 2011, through their 2011 album Conversation Piece (Doghouse Records) and 2013's No Place (Equal Vision Records).[5][2][7][3]
- Released solo EP Wha Happen (January 24, 2012, Doghouse Records) and album Everything Is Beautiful (Blue Swan Records, May 2014).[2][7][3]
- Stepped away from A Lot Like Birds in 2016; founded indie label Esque Records (August 2015, Sacramento) and formed new bands Eternity Forever and Push Over.[1][3]
- Released second solo album There's A Place I Want To Take You on May 17, 2019 (Blue Swan/Esque Records).[3]
- Rejoined A Lot Like Birds when the band reunited in 2024.[3]
Local status
Travis is consistently presented by Submerge as a Sacramento musician, not a touring outsider. He is repeatedly described as "Sacramento-based" and "Sacramento musician," and a 2017 feature opens by calling him "The Sacramento-based vocalist."[1][2] His Sacramento bona fides are reinforced by his band affiliations: he joined hometown acts Dance Gavin Dance (described as a Sacramento-based / hometown band) and A Lot Like Birds (a Sacramento-based progressive/post-hardcore group), and his earlier band Five Minute Ride is named among the Sacramento-rooted projects he came up through.[4][2][1] He kept a downtown Sacramento loft as of 2014.[2] Confidence: high.
Evidence quote: "Kurt Travis, co-vocalist of Sacramento-based post-hardcore outfit A Lot Like Birds (and former co-vocalist of fellow Sacramento-based band Dance Gavin Dance)..."[2]
Career and band history
Five Minute Ride and early projects
Before his higher-profile work, Travis was a member of Five Minute Ride.[4] A 2017 retrospective lists a fuller chain of bands he "lended his talents to" over the years: Five Minute Ride, No Not Constant, O! The Joy, Dance Gavin Dance and A Lot Like Birds, plus his solo records.[1] According to Wikipedia, Travis joined Five Minute Ride in 2001 while still a senior in high school; the band was based in Cameron Park (not Sacramento proper) and disbanded in October 2005.[3]
Dance Gavin Dance (2008–2011)
Travis joined Dance Gavin Dance in 2008 as the band's new singer following the acrimonious departure of original vocalist Jonny Craig.[4] The band knew of Travis (then "formerly of Five Minute Ride") as an option and their manager pushed for him; after trying out a few candidates, the band found none could match what Travis could do, making the decision simple.[4] He entered the studio with DGD in April 2008 for the album that became their self-titled record, released that August.[4][7]
On 2009's Happiness (released June 9, 2009), Travis sang lead while guitarist Will Swan took over screaming duties after co-vocalist Jon Mess left; Swan described working closely with Travis to build cohesive vocal themes.[5] Travis recorded both the 2008 self-titled record and Happiness with Portland-based producer Kris Crummett.[2]
In 2011 the original DGD lineup reunited (Swan, drummer Matt Mingus, bassist Eric Lodge, and the vocal duo Jon Mess and Jonny Craig), and Travis was out of the band — replaced by returning original vocalist Jonny Craig.[6][5] Travis described the change bluntly as having been "kicked out."[5][2] Mess later publicly apologized via Twitter for comments about Travis's exit attributed to him in an Alternative Press interview, and stressed that he and Travis remained good friends.[6] Travis confirmed there was no real drama and that everyone — himself, Craig, Tilian Pearson and the other DGD members — remained on good terms.[2][7]
A Lot Like Birds (2011–2016, 2024–present)
Travis joined Sacramento progressive/post-hardcore band A Lot Like Birds in the summer of 2011, becoming co-vocalist alongside Cory Lockwood.[2] He appeared with ALLB as early as a January 21, 2011 show at The Refuge in Sacramento, where his "melodic wails" were noted backing the band's screams.[8]
His first album with the group was Conversation Piece, released October 11, 2011 on Doghouse Records.[2] The band recorded it with Kris Crummett in Portland over three weeks, with one additional song tracked in Sacramento with engineer Chris Miller (Crummett producing remotely via Skype).[2] Travis and Lockwood emphasized that both were full "vocalists" — each screaming, singing, doing spoken word — rather than a designated singer-and-screamer split.[2] Conversation Piece marked a more collaborative, full-band effort than ALLB's 2009 release Plan B, which had largely been the work of guitarist/founder Michael Franzino.[2] The lineup also included guitarists Franzino and Ben Wiacek, bassist Michael Littlefield and drummer Joe Arrington.[2] Travis also appeared on ALLB's 2013 album No Place, released on Equal Vision Records.[7][3]
Travis stepped away from his role in A Lot Like Birds in 2016.[1] According to Wikipedia, when A Lot Like Birds reunited in 2024, Travis was confirmed to once again be a member of the band's lineup.[3]
Solo career
Travis built a parallel solo catalog. His debut solo release was Wha Happen, an EP (not a full album) released January 24, 2012 on Doghouse Records, themed (he said) around a little girl he knew who was learning to speak, mirroring the primitive feel of his first solo effort.[2][3] In May 2014 he released Everything Is Beautiful on Blue Swan Records — a label run by DGD's Will Swan.[2] The record was written with longtime friend and former DGD bandmate Zachary Garren (who by then played in the instrumental band Strawberry Girls and lived in Salinas).[2] It was made during downtime from A Lot Like Birds after a planned European tour fell through; Travis described it as a deliberately pop-friendly departure from his post-hardcore work, touching on surf-rock and lo-fi garage textures with little screaming.[2] ALLB drummer Joe Arrington also played on it.[2] Travis's manager was Eric Rushing.[2] The first single, "Brain Lord," drew over 16,000 YouTube views within a week of upload.[2] Everything Is Beautiful later landed at No. 23 on Submerge's Top 30 Albums of 2014, described as Travis ditching his post-hardcore sound for "an impressive full-length pop album."[7] His tour kickoff was at Luigi's (Luigi's Fungarden) in Sacramento on May 14, 2014, with Hotel Books and So Much Light.[2]
By early 2017 Travis was working on a second solo album, There's a Place I Want to Take You.[1] According to Wikipedia, that album was released on May 17, 2019, on Blue Swan Records and Esque Records.[3]
Esque Records and later bands
After leaving A Lot Like Birds, Travis founded Esque Records, an independent label based in Sacramento, California, launched in August 2015.[1][3] As of February 2017 he had two new bands: a long-rumored side project called Push Over with Thomas Erak of The Fall of Troy, and Eternity Forever, featuring Travis on vocals, Ben Rosett on drums (also of Strawberry Girls) and Brandon Ewing on guitar (formerly of CHON).[1] Eternity Forever released their debut single "Fantasy" in February 2017, with a six-track EP set for April 20, 2017.[1] Travis was billed to perform March 11, 2017 in Placerville at Cozmic Cafe.[1]
Songwriting and vocal approach
Across interviews Travis described his writing as fragmentary rather than concept-driven — assembling "snippets, fragments of ideas or dreams" across songs rather than building a single cohesive narrative per track.[6] On DGD's Downtown Battle Mountain II he noted a heavy hip-hop influence, describing his vocal parts as essentially raps delivered with a screamed voice, prioritizing musicality and rhyme over making lyrics "mesh."[6] On Everything Is Beautiful he said he shifted to writing more conceptually and atmospherically, away from his earlier habit of writing "from life and sorrow" therapeutically.[2] He framed his constant output as a kind of working ethic — making a record during downtime as an "in between job" rather than relaxing.[2]
Scene relationships
Travis's career threads through the Sacramento post-hardcore network. Through Dance Gavin Dance he worked with Will Swan, Jon Mess, Jonny Craig, Eric Lodge, Zachary Garren and Matt Mingus, and was tied to the DGD vocalist lineage that also includes Tilian Pearson.[4][6][5][2] He recorded repeatedly with producer Kris Crummett.[2] In A Lot Like Birds he partnered closely with Cory Lockwood and worked alongside Michael Franzino, Ben Wiacek, Michael Littlefield and Joe Arrington.[2] His solo and post-ALLB work kept him linked to Garren (Strawberry Girls), Swan's Blue Swan Records, Ben Rosett, and Thomas Erak.[2][1] In a 2009 Submerge Valentine's Day feature he appeared as a local musician under the "Kurt Travis of Dance Gavin Dance" byline.[9]