Hyper Crush is an American electro-hip hop group from Los Angeles, California, consisting of rapper Donny Fontaine, singer Holly Valentine, and DJ/keytarist Patrick Ridge.
Background
Early career (2006–2007) Hyper Crush, composed of three former Agoura High School students, began with Donny Fontaine (born Steven Gone) and Preston Moronie (born Patrick Ridge). The duo started out as a Doo-wop group named the Bel-Airs, but their name, musical style, and appearance changed later to reflect their interest in electronic and synth-based music from the 1980s. When they sought a female vocalist to go along with Fontaine, their long-time friend Holly Valentine (born Angelina Araya) took the job.
The group first gained widespread exposure through their Myspace page. They began playing shows in Los Angeles and other places in and around California. In late 2007, they released their debut, Mixtape Volume 1, which contained 31 original Hyper Crush songs. Along with the mixtape, they also released independently-made music videos for "The DeLorean" and "Slow Motion".
Both musically and in their appearance, Hyper Crush makes copious references to the decades of the 1950s and the 1980s. Common examples of these references include the Nintendo, popular arcade games from the 1980s, Technicolor, Hypercolor clothing, the DeLorean, and Sega Genesis. Sounds from Nintendo's Duck Hunt game begin the song "The Arcade" and music from The Legend of Zelda end it. In addition, their fans are called "The Zapper Gun Gang," which is derived from an NES Zapper reference made in the lyrics of "The Arcade." During live performances, Fontaine often wields a modified laser shooting version of the 1989 Nintendo Power Glove.
The Arcade (2008) The Arcade, released on May 1, 2008, was the debut album of Hyper Crush, and the follow-up to Mixtape Volume 1. The album featured 13 songs, 2 of which had been previously released on the mixtape.
At the CD release party hosted by Hyper Crush, they also premiered the video for "The Arcade", the title track of the album, although it was not put online and made viewable to the public until June 30. The video was a joint project of Six29 Entertainment and A hill Productions and was directed by Mickey Finnegan. It was Hyper Crush's third video, but the first one to be professionally done.
Signing with Universal Motown & Mixtape Vol. 2 (2008–2011) In early November 2008, Hyper Crush signed with Universal Motown. They said in a 2008 interview for BVTV (Bella Vista High School in California) that they had a new album coming out and it was "almost done." It was mentioned that since their first album was independently released, they would re-use about 8 of the songs from The Arcade and the rest of the new album would be new songs. They also stated that they don't have a final name for the new album, then added, perhaps facetiously, that Bella Vista Rocks The Arcade was the working title. In another BVTV interview, in 2009, the band said they were still "mixing down" the album and hoping for a release that summer.
Hyper Crush released the video for "Robo Tech" in late February 2009. This was their fourth video and second video to be professionally done. It was directed by Mickey Finnegan, as was "The Arcade".
The delays in releasing their second album incited the band to release some material through a different channel, and they released their second mixtape on the Internet on June 26, 2009. Valentine spoke about the mixtape: "We wanted to make something cool to put out, especially because our album seems like it's taking long to people... We were like, 'Okay, it's hard to put the album out so we're gonna put out a 21-song mixtape.' Making new music is important to us and we want to give that to our fans."
Hyper Crush released the first single off their upcoming album on September 17, 2009, titled "Keep Up" with Tommy Henriksen co-producing and co-writing the track with Hyper Crush. On May 21, 2010, the group held a video premiere party at The Roxy for "Keep Up," openly inviting fans to join them via Twitter. They released the second single "Ayo" featuring Diplo along with a music video featuring tour footage. The third single "Kick Us Out" was released on November 3, 2010 and peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play chart. The music video premiered on Vevo on March 16, 2011.
Night Wave Records: Night Wave and Vertigo (2011–2016) The cover art for their fourth single, "Fingers Up," was released on their website on June 6, 2011 and the actual single was released around midnight on June 8, 2011 and samples "Derb" by DJ Derb.