Info
-Voted 'Best Indie Band' in the Northbay 2019-
Trebuchet is an indie rock quartet from Petaluma, CA.
Members: Lauren Haile, Paul Haile, Eliott Whitehurst and Navid Manoochehri.
These four met while attaining their music degrees from Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, CA. Trebuchet originated in 2010, releasing a self-titled EP in 2012, followed by their first full-length, "Carry On" in early 2014. Later that year, the band was asked to perform at Napa's Bottle Rock Festival. In 2015, they performed an original piece at Weill Hall with the Santa Rosa Young People's Chamber Orchestra.
Many years of studying and working on various other musical projects together have afforded its members a strong musical chemistry: one that has helped them achieve a level of honesty on their second album, Volte-Face, which reflects the two years of drastic change in the life of lyricist Eliott Whitehurst that inspired it.
Lead single and album opener, A Confession, is the singer/guitarist’s admission to having not lived up to the musical expectations he had set for himself. The sentiment is shared by the group and echoed in their gang vocal approach; one that features heavily throughout the whole of Volte-Face. Released in April of 2017, the album was named to KQED's Top 10 Best Bay Area Albums of the Year.
Press
KQED ARTS (NPR AFFILIATE)
"Hailing from Petaluma, Trebuchet put out two previous records that were pleasant enough, but felt too by-the-numbers. Whitehurst, generally a quiet person, comes from a family of bold musical personalities. His sister Emily Whitehurst is best known as the distinctive singer of the pop-punk band Tsunami Bomb, and his older brother Logan Whitehurst, who died of cancer in 2006, was a madcap genius whose clever songs captivated Dr. Demento and the nerdier corners of the early internet. But I often wondered while listening to Trebuchet's early recordings, “When is Elliott going to find his voice?”
Volte-Face is the answer, writ large. With the expert backing of Navid Manoochehri, Lauren Haile, and Paul Haile -- whose background with both Fleet Foxes-esque folk forms and majestic, sweeping Explosions In The Sky-type instrumentals is evident here -- the songs breathe and pulse dramatically while traversing a relationship that over-ripens and turns into something rotten. By the end, as Whitehurst lets go of all lingering guilt, a giant choir repeats the refrain “She'll be fine,” as a mantra to washing one's hands of another's needs. It's a perfect ending to the album — a huge release of liberation."
Glide Magazine
"Volte-Face captures four friends and musical comrades aligned in rich harmonies, poignant songwriting, and lush, powerful instrumentation. Volte-Face translates literally to “about face”, which in this case reflects the two years of drastic change in the life of lyricist Eliott Whitehurst that inspired it. The group counts boundary-pushing indie rock acts like Bon Iver, Death Cab For Cutie, and Sufjan Stevens among their influences, and these can be heard throughout Volte-Face. That being said, this collection of songs finds the members of Trebuchet constantly building a heartfelt sound that is different from anything else out there and entirely their own."
Vanyaland
"For California-based indie rock/emo-Americana act Trebuchet, their upcoming second effort Volte-Face looks to be a deeper — and darker — delve into the psyche of lyricist Eliott Whitehurst and the drastic changes he’s gone through in recent years. First single and album opener “A Confession” gives a little taste of just how that’s going to affect the sound of the foursome..."
City Sound Inertia
"Bolstered by harmonies from drummer Paul Haile, keyboardist Lauren Haile and guitarist Navid Manoochehri, Whitehurst’s newfound lyrical longing is brought to life with slow-building acoustics expanding into a mellifluous choir. If “A Confession” is any indicator, Volte-Face looks to be a mature and introspective reckoning of an album."
Global Texan Chronicles
"Petaluma, California indie-pop group Trebuchet’s new album “Volte-Face” is deeply rooted. Rooted in depths etching thoughts of struggle, forgiveness, hope, love in tracks beautifully constructed. With every listen new textures unfold in cinematic landscapes. Music is therapy, bending the author’s words into your own realities are the reasons we all remember moments in time when that imperative song or album plays. Trebuchet’s “Volte-Face” is instantly one of those time and space albums. Immediately tangible, long lastingly thoughtful."
