Family Junction

In May of 2002, Family Junction was founded on a simple principal: a coming together of friends so connected, that "family" is the only fitting description.

After their debut concert at The House of Blues in Cambridge, MA, Family Junction quickly took to the studio to record their first batch of demos.  These songs were the foundation of their first album, Pasta Bar, which was produced, written, arranged, and recorded entirely by Family Junction.  While recording Pasta Bar, one inspired night pushed Family Junction into an entirely new venture: film-making. A simple idea became a special-effects-ridden-quirky-adventure called Milk and Honey, and was pressed as a bonus in the data section of the CD.

Immediately following the release of Pasta Barin August of 2004, Family Junction began touring between Boston and Washington DC, while continuously adding new material to their act.  One year later, an extremely productive weekend in a basement in Monroe, NY became the framework for a brand new project. The idea was simple - create a CD and a DVD, combining the extensive skill set of Family Junction. This project, however, soon took on a life of its own and became what is now known as "Running Trains (we're huge in Japan)."

The self-produced CD portion of Running Trains (We're Huge in Japan) contains thirteen tightly crafted, complexly arranged songs. Family Junction members Alan Cohen (guitar/bass/vocals), Dan Levine (guitar/vocals), Matt Ross (guitar/bass/drums), and Ryan Pressman (guitar/bass/drums) switch and exchange instruments, enabling the band to independently capture various styles of music, from progressive to funk, jazz to rock, and folk to hip hop.

The DVD portion of Running Trains (We're Huge in Japan) contains a day-in-the-life alternative-universe musical adventure of rejected superheroes as they interact with the worlds around them. The after school special length (40min) movie was created (written, filmed, directed, and edited) entirely by the band. The movie provides an interactive experience for viewers with special features that include: an alternative version of the entire movie viewable by switching to the alternative angle on the viewer's DVD player at any point during the movie, commentary tracks by characters and creators, hidden Easter Egg videos throughout the whole movie, a 3D scene viewable with red and blue lensed glasses, and Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 audio mixes.

Running Trains (We're Huge in Japan) also comes with a twelve song compilation album, FamJam's Music-Stache, Vol. 1, of independent/unsigned artists. The songs are already in MP3 format and can be easily dragged into a digital music library and can be freely shared and distributed.  Liner notes for the Music-Stache are also included in the DVD's data section.

After an extensive tour supporting "Running Trains (we're huge in Japan)" Family Junction is now in the studio writing and recording new material for an even more ambitious project.  Family Junction is planning on releasing a series of five EPs, each with a different theme, and a DVD with new video content.  Additional details will be announced in the spring of 2008.