“With the band’s catchy, emotive sound — equal parts dusty alt-country and lovelorn late ’90s alt-rock — we’re surprised debut EP track ‘Let Back’ isn’t as big a hit as ‘Pumped Up Kicks’.” –L.A. Times

It’s hard to believe that I Want Us To Be Remembered is A House For Lions’ first release. The band’s debut EP is the kind of indie folk rock that can make even the coldest heart melt.

Daniel Norman, now songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist of A House For Lions, moved to Los Angeles four years ago to pursue the Tinseltown dream that is all too familiar. Finding acting less artistically satisfying than he’d hoped, Daniel spent some time in Berlin with friends to escape the LA scene and clear his head. While walking through a park, the melody for the first track on the record, “Let Back,” stuck in his head and it never left. That is when the first inkling of A House For Lions was born. The song is about wanting to build something of consequence while facing an uncertain future and though that’s how most great dreams start, the future for A House For Lions now looks bright.

In the summer of 2009, Norman had begun writing his first songs and began to seek out kindred spirits to flesh out the sound of his bare-bones experiments. In March 2010 he found guitarist Mike Nissen, who in turn introduced his friend Eric McCann to the project, adding upright bass and keys. They clicked instantly. After a hard search and hiring out the drums for a while, they added full time member Joe Luisi to round out the group. They developed a sound informed by Daniel’s roots in North Carolina and the progressive sounds of Los Angeles and the indie rock scene, fusing an art-rock sensibility with elements of alt-country. While the music has been influenced by the classics and new essentials Radiohead, Beatles, Broken Social Scene, and The Shins, their sound is entirely their own. They could easily hold their own alongside bands like Band of Horses, Dawes, and Fleet Foxes.

Once solidified, A House For Lions started playing in local indie rock venues and within six months had recorded their first EP with LA indie producer Raymond Richards (Local Natives). The EP features instruments as eclectic as the Marxophone and pedal steel guitar alongside the basic rock standards. They had also attracted the attention of producer Garret “Jacknife” Lee (U2, Snow Patrol, Weezer), who invited them to open for his project Tired Pony (featuring Gary Lightbody and Peter Buck) at the prestigious El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. Since then, A House For Lions has been gathering swift momentum. The band nationally released their debut EP I Want Us To Be Remembered on March 1, 2011 and will be booking shows in and outside of Los Angeles.