Founded in 2009, Lo-Fi Resistance is the creation of 26 year old guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Randy McStine. Once dubbed as a “guitar prodigy,” McStine began playing guitar at the age of five and performing publicly at the age of ten. His formative years were spent playing in classic rock cover bands, while also pursuing original music. Randy’s early work was focused on guitar- driven, instrumental rock until he began to sing at the age of fifteen. McStine would spend the remainder of his teens crafting his voice and songwriting, while continuing to expand his diverse musical tastes.
Setting up a small studio in his Upstate New York apartment, McStine started writing and recording new material in 2009 with no clear agenda. As he pooled together funding from solo performances, guitar lessons, and landscaping work, a new passion and focus was evident as the unnamed project continued. Completing a new, full-length album was now McStine’s goal.
Initially performing all of the album’s instrumentation himself, Randy eventually decided to bring in outside support for the drum tracks. McStine blindly reached out to ex-Spock’s Beard drummer Nick D’Virgilio to fill the seat. D’Virgilio would not only perform on most of the songs, but also offer and accept the role of mixing the entire album. Amongst other additional musicians, McStine enlisted longtime vocal favorite and personal friend Dug Pinnick (King’s X), for the end of a song entitled “Moral Disgrace.”
As recording sessions for the new album wrapped up in late 2009, McStine named the project Lo-Fi Resistance. The debut album, A Deep Breath, was released independently on April 6th, 2010. Praised for its unique blending of Progressive Rock, Power Pop, and Singer-songwriter influences, the album has drawn comparisons to diverse artists such as Todd Rundgren, Roger Waters, Yes, Crowded House, and The Police.
Randy began writing for a second Lo-Fi Resistance album, Chalk Lines, in April of 2011. Undoubtedly the most ambitious project of McStine’s career to date, Chalk Lines both expands on and abandons the foundations of the first album. Drummer Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson) is featured throughout the entire album, along with bassists Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree), John Giblin (Kate Bush), and Dug Pinnick (King’s X) among its roster. Dave Kerzner (Sound Of Contact, Kevin Gilbert) splits keyboard duties with McStine, along with co-writing three songs and co-producing the album.
Since the release of Chalk Lines, McStine has toured internationally as lead vocalist/coguitarist of The Pink Floyd Experience, along with filling the live guitar role for Sound Of Contact. LoFi Resistance is set to release a new record, The Age Of Entitlement, in September 2014. A bold and unique entry into the catalog, this collection sees McStine reaching into different musical territory once again, pulling influence from '70s electronic music, artpop, and more. Described as a "mini-album," The Age Of Entitlement will be a digital only release.
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