Indie Rock Recording Artist (ECR Music Group, NYC)
Founder/A&R, Hook & Ladder Records
Co-Founder, Buffalo Music Club
With the first two singles from his forthcoming new record Red Sky Warning (out June 6th), DAVID CLOYD has returned to the national spotlight in stunning fashion—major press coverage, major and multiple editorial placements on Apple Music, and an invigorated and passionate audience on three continents. Now the album’s final stand-alone single, “If We Could Escape,” is out March 6th on ECR Music Group.
“David is a cornerstone artist for this label, and I’m so glad his music is arriving at exactly the time when people need it most,” says ECR Music Group President, and co-producer, Blake Morgan. “Great artists often light our fires in the darkest times, and David is no exception. And this track, ‘If We Could Escape,’ is the one that—above all the others—made me want to mix this record.”
Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest, the track has special meaning for the artist. “With each step I take toward fulfilling my dreams, life always seems to trend toward crazy—a leap into the unknown, a gutsy move under pressure. No matter how uncomfortable and terrifying each choice can get, my life is a thrilling and wild ride, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Cloyd’s reputation as an indie-music cult figure has been cemented in recent months—the release of “If We Could Escape” follows on multiple editorial nods from Apple Music. The streaming giant has added his two previous singles “Ocean Of Hours” and “Drive With Me” to their “New In Alternative” playlist, alongside music from St. Vincent, U2, The Cure, My Morning Jacket, Bright Eyes, Bon Iver and others.
The Indie Grid writes, “Cloyd’s return promises not only a continuation of the distinctive artistry that made him a cult figure but also a deeper dive into the emotional terrain he’s been traversing throughout his career. As he navigates themes of time, love, and identity, this new material reflects the emotional complexity of someone who has lived through both the highs of indie stardom and the quieter more personal victories of life outside the spotlight.” Plastic Magazine adds, “Revered for his ability to craft emotive, intricately layered compositions, David Cloyd has enjoyed a decorated musical adventure that’s seen him become an indie cult hero.”
Before moving north to Buffalo, Cloyd made a stunning splash with his 2009 debut album, Unhand Me, You Fiend!—an album he’d recorded in his 9-foot by 9-foot apartment in Sunset Park, Brooklyn on a personal computer he’d built by hand. After being discovered by—and subsequently signing to—Morgan’s ECR Music Group record label, Cloyd’s debut went on to hit #1 on the world’s second-largest streaming service at the time (eMusic), culminating in a major feature about the artist in New York Magazine. Multiple TV music placements followed, his work becoming a regular fixture on MTV’s Real World, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and Bad Girls Club. His follow-up record, I Could Disappear, showcased his extraordinary musicianship with a set of live-in-studio performances of the material from his first record. His re-imaginings of Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” and Paul McCartney’s “Dear Boy” won him an even broader audience, with the latter being licensed by McCartney’s own company, MPL Communications.
A move to Buffalo to start a family was next for Cloyd, with the artist branching out as a producer himself and founding the Buffalo-based ECR imprint Hook & Ladder Records. In the years since, he’s become a tentpole music figure and producer in Buffalo’s music scene, producing Caroline Fenn’s Fragile Chances (2013) and Buffalo Tango Orkestra’s acclaimed debut Ecos Del Pasado (2018), while also becoming ECR Music Group’s VP of Creative Operations.
This new record finds Cloyd hitting the same brilliant note his earlier work struck. His artistry will draw comparisons to Radiohead, Beck, Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley, and Peter Gabriel as it always has, but Cloyd’s distinctive voice—both as a singer and as a record maker—continues to be completely his own.
Red Sky Warning, written and performed by David Cloyd, mixed and mastered by Blake Morgan, is out June 6th, 2025. The album’s third single “If We Could Escape” is out March 6th on ECR Music Group.
