Mobile Steam Unit

Part band, part audio branding agency, Mobile Steam Unit is an NYC-based music conglomerate guided by an idea: "more of the art under capitalism should be art about capitalism." (Matt Levine, Bloomberg)

Founded in 2014 on the banks of Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal, the group spent its formative years steeped in the city's independent music scene, playing small clubs (The Rock Shop, Mercury Lounge) and doing BK hipster stuff like commissioning a comic book about their fictional origin story, and wearing plaid on stage.

In 2017, fueled by a thirst for innovation, they pivoted from a "garage soul" sound to creating narrative, psuedo-comedic pop that chronicled the perils of contemporary office life and the ways in which smartphones have taken over our lives. At the same time, they began building a business offering songwriting-as-a-service to the city's burgeoning start-up scene.

In 2018 their custom theme song product (known as Music for Business™) landed them this feature in Time Magazine: https://time.com/5350381/music-for-business-tech-corporate-theme-songs/

Due in 2021, their forthcoming album "Desk Jockeys" is a sonic tussle with their seemingly paradoxical existence: making art that vilifies commerce—while making music that glorifies business.