Electronic Press Kit
Welcome Center is a Dallas/Philadelphia-based electronic-pop band that formed in 2017.
Jesse Smith and Aaron Sternick write, record & produce all of the band’s music from Dallas and Philadelphia, respectively – a long-distance collaboration only made possible by 14 years of friendship and a cloud storage account.
One of the very first songs the band wrote together, 2019’s ‘Is This All There Is?’, embodies what makes their camaraderie click: the buoyant rhythms of early New Order, the throbbing house-influenced bass, and the existential dread of DFA records, meditating on the banality and meaning of materialism. Pop Matters called it an “instant hit.” Central Track placed it among the top 20 songs released by a Texas band in 2019.
In July 2020, Welcome Center will release ‘This House Will Be Filled With _____”. The EP digs deeper into what the duo built on ‘Is This All There Is?’ – five tracks of throbbing rhythmic grit, glimmers of swirling analogue flourishes, and Smith’s trademark moody and introspective lyrics, recently compared by NPR’s WXPN as “equal parts Gibbard and Robert Smith”.
The band postponed its Summer/Fall Tour of 2020 and has re-focused its efforts on writing/recording a string of singles throughout 2020. They are hopeful to pick back up touring in early 2021.
Listen:
Watch:
Press:
“Welcome Center’s music is a bright form of electropop/synthpop that sports hooks galore with bubbling synths recalling Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and the guitar rhythms and textures of New Order. The song sounds like an instant hit as it builds to a glorious crescendo and soars all the way through.” – Pop Matters
“[Is This All There Is?] is considerably high-quality production…layered with exuberant analog synths and electro-pop guitar licks.” – Central Track
“[Welcome Center] remind me of an even more depressing New Order, as if Ian Curtis was still around writing dance hits.” – Audio Fuzz
“[Is This All There Is?] is a bright and hook filled piece of anthemic electropop.”– Spill Magazine
Welcome Center communicates “feelings of loss, numbness, and pain through a musical compilation that feels almost tactile; they weave differing sensory strings into a fluorescent blanket of melody.” – Atwood Magazine
“Charming nostalgic indie-pop. Early Youth Lagoon meets Ariel Pink.” – Earbuddy
Contact:
Email: wlcmcntr@gmail.com