Blackbird Blackbird, Chad Valley

Active since April 2010, Blackbird Blackbird (Formerly Bye Bye Blackbird), a.k.a. Mikey Sanders, is a prolific dream pop artist from San Francisco, CA.

Seemingly always working on new material, Blackbird Blackbird's collaborations with female vocalists (including Emily Reo, Steph Thompson) have allowed him to take his music to an entirely new level.

Reminiscent of Gold Panda or Washed Out crossed with female-fronted vocal samples, Blackbird Blackbird has transcended attempts to denounce him as merely "fitting in" with a specific genre or classification.

Blackbird Blackbird has also generated a huge following on Hypem and is frequently listed on the Top 100 and climbing the charts as one of hypem's most blogged artists.

In interviews Mikey has discussed growing up highly influenced by My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, M83, Joy Division, and New Order. His music and style are unique, experimental and unclassifiable.


Chad Valley are the personal outpourings of one Hugo Manuel, the balearic inclined vocalist of Oxford's Jonquil and founder member of the Blessing Force collective.

Taking a more electronic approach to sunset vibes, Hugo has made quite a splash this past summer. In his short 25 show career he's already played in Dublin, Paris, Budapest, Belgrade and Istanbul, been a big smash at In The City and supported the likes of Amiina, Mountain Goats and Foals. His music has been on every blog you can think of from Gorilla vs. Bear to Pitchfork's Forkcast, the latter of which has featured him three times in recent months and at one point in late October was the fourth most blogged about artist on the planet.

He's enjoyed a host of radio plays across the BBC and had his debut BBC session recorded for Huw Stephens' show in January 2011.

Chad Valley's debut EP is out on Service's US imprint Cascine (USA / UK / JP / Scan) and French label Maman (EU) and a follow up is slated for release this coming Spring in UK, US and Japan.