Junior Prom (band)

Solomich and Erik Ratensperger were both former members of The Rassle. Ratensperger was a member of The Virgins and Solomich of The Takeover UK.[3] They met in 2010 in New York through mutual friends. "Basically from day one, we started playing music together." When it came time to finally decide on a band name, they received some help from a fellow bar goer. "We were talking about possible names and someone suggested Senior Prom, and this old drunk dude sitting a couple feet down was eavesdropping and he was like ‘na na na – Junior Prom’."[4]

In 2013, Jeff Castelaz signed the duo to Elektra Records and they released their first single "Sheila Put The Knife Down" on September 30, 2013.[5] They then released their second single "International" on December 17, 2013. The single features Mark’s 66-year-old landlord singing backup vocals.[6]

On February 4, 2014, the band released their self-titled debut EP. Originally, Ratensperger and Solomich "wrote and scrapped an entire album before they did the songs on the EP." [7] The pair wrote and produced their EP, which was mostly recorded in Mark’s kitchen and the band's rehearsal space.[8] The music video for "Sheila Put The Knife Down" was also released in February, premiering on Refinery29.[9] After the release of their EP, it was announced that they would support Panic! at the Disco on select dates of their Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! Tour.[10] They also joined Bear Hands on a string of dates during their Summer 2014 Tour across the US.[11] They spent the fall of 2015 on tour with Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness and Hunter Hunted.[12] In 2014 "Sheila Put the Knife Down spent 14 weeks in the Alt-18 countdown on Alt Nation on Sirius XM Radio[13] It ranked 32 in the year end Alt Nation Top 36 of 2014. [14]

Junior Prom’s music has been featured in various TV Spots. "Big Timer" was featured on the premiere of MTV’s Faking It in April 2014.[15] A month later, it was used on MTV’s Awkward Season 4 Episode 4.[16] Their second single, "International" appeared on ESPN’s College Basketball Anthem 2013-2014.[17]

In January 2016 Ratensperger left the band and John Paul Frank joined to release the single "Stand!" [18] "Stand!" appeared on the soundtrack in Electronic Arts video game Need for Speed 2015. [19] In September 2016, the band was changed to a solo project of Mark Solomich upon the release of the single "You, Me & Joe Strummer".

Solomich is also a writer/producer for other artists including Kissy ("Killer Vibes" & "Osaka") [20] and social media star Jacob Sartorius ("All My Friends") [21]

Junior Prom's debut EP was released on February 4, 2014.

All tracks are written by Erik Ratensperger and Mark Solomich.

Produced by Mark Solomich and Ian Longwell at Stu Stu Studio NYC.Released on a song by song basis throughout 2016-2017.