of Verona is what happens when band members from New York and Toronto meet in Los Angeles. With an indie sensibility and a commercial appeal, of Verona’s sound can best be described as futuristic rock, which combines the core elements of a classic four-piece rock band with the electro pop heartbeat of 2050. MTV recently featured of Verona as a ‘Band to Know’ stating, “If you like melodic rock & roll with great female vocals like Florence & The Machine, you’ll definitely dig of Verona” and leading industry publication, Hits Magazine, declared them as one of the top five bands to watch for this year.

Matthew Stolarz was dissatisfied. A Los Angeles native, he had helped form and was playing bass in L.A. punk rock band the Briggs, but it just wasn't enough. Drawing from a wide range of influences, he had written an abundance of material that needed a proper home. He left the Briggs to make this happen, and formed the Active Set. Collaborating in the studio with the Briggs' Jason and Joey LaRocca and Youth Of The Beast's Adrian Symcox, a six-song EP was created, the first release. Through ways and means, English export Wayne Russell found his way to the band and was thoroughly hounded until he came on board to play guitar. How lucky for the Active Set! An ad for a second guitarist was posted everywhere for months and eventually spotted by guitarist Francis Ramsden, who liked the use of the word "smart” in the ad. He fit right in, and eventually cut his hair for the band. Drummer Michael Castro became a full-fledged member after saving the band from certain peril: their original drummer was fired weeks before a string of shows at SXSW, and Castro stepped in, learned the songs and proved a worthy ally. The band moved forward from there, cracking into a wealth of new material and playing non-stop. The addition of electronic drums led naturally to the use of keys/synths, bringing the sound of the band both into the past and the future.

With a healthy nod to '80s post-punk and new wave, the Active Set offer a high-energy dose of indie, intelligent and upbeat. They love quirky, driven melodies with smart hooks. Then they like to change their minds, and change it up.

Welcome to Los Angeles, a place for movers and shakers. It's a place to really get things started. If you don't live here yet, you will

“It’s a Way of Life.”

For Mike DeLay and Leilani Francisco, that’s exactly what Tic Tic Boom! has been for the last five years. The two founding members live together above their home studio in Los Angeles. They pride themselves in independently handcrafting everything from start to finish—from the home recordings to screen-printed merch and DIY music videos.

DeLay moved to Los Angeles from Seattle in 2001 and befriended Francisco who introduced him to some songs she had written. Their relationship—-musically and romantically—-blossomed from there. They moved into Mike’s back-alley rehearsal studio and holed up for a year just writing and practicing. The band released their first punk-influenced EP How to Defuse a Bomb in 2008.

Tired of relying on outside engineers and producers to record their music, in 2010 DeLay decided to attend the audio engineering program at the Musician's Institute in Hollywood, CA. While Mike was studying the two began writing and recording their second EP, drawing inspiration from new wave, punk, and indie rock. Released in January 2011, Reasons & Rhymes received a wealth of praise and recognition from publications like Sonicbids, Buzzbands LA, and The Owl Mag. CMJ.com described their music as “hook-laced synthpop that casts live drums and guitars as conspicuously as it does sugary vocals and catchy synth loops.” It also earned the band the opportunity to do an official remix of one of the most popular songs of 2011, Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks,” and an invitation to showcase at CMJ Music Marathon in New York.

In April 2012 Tic Tic Boom! released their third EP, Before the Sun Rises. It was dubbed thus by the two’s nearly nocturnal writing and recording schedule and, as with each of their previous releases, the EP showcases a different side of Tic Tic Boom! “[Before the Sun Rises] deals with concepts of life and death,” explains Francisco about the inspiration behind the EP. “How all things are cyclical and we're all just a small piece of an enormous never-ending puzzle. It's about struggling to understand your place in all of that.”

To support their live performance, DeLay and Francisco are joined by Trevor Hunnicutt on drums and Matt Gurgol on bass. Live, Tic Tic Boom! commands the crowd to dance with floor-shaking bass synths, sweeping and sometimes jittery arpeggios, disco-drum beats, and distorted guitars, all under Francisco’s dreamlike vocals. “You can almost smell the perfume and sweat from the dancefloor in the electro-pop of LA quartet Tic Tic Boom,” depicts Kevin Bronson of Buzzbands.la.

The band performed an official showcase at SXSW 2012, played the Musician's Institute tent at The Coachella Music Festival in April 2012 and was invited to showcase at CMJ 2011. Tic Tic Boom!'s music has been placed on programming on Showtime, MTV and Bravo and can be heard on over 100 college radio stations across the nation.