Austin Bis

Austin Bis
Austin Bis Performing with MAGIC GIANT at the Troubadour in 2014
Background information
Born	(1987-06-09)June 9, 1987 Washington D.C., United States
Genres	Pop, Indie Folk, House, Dance-Pop, Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, record producer
Labels	Washington Square Razor & Tie Concord Universal
Associated acts	Magic Giant, David Guetta, John Legend, Jon Batiste
Website	magicgiant.com

Austin Bis (born Austin Bisnow, June 9, 1987) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and lead singer of the band MAGIC GIANT. He has written and produced songs for artists such as David Guetta ("Listen"), Big Time Rush (“Like Nobody’s Around”), Jon Batiste & Stay Human (“Express Yourself”), Steve Aoki & Moxie Raia ("I Love It When You Cry"), and Paul Oakenfold (“Who Do You Love”), where he was also the featured artist. In addition, Bis has collaborated with John Legend, Akon, Aloe Blacc, Diplo, will.i.am, Cody Simpson, Adam Levine, Gym Class Heroes, Benny Blanco, Mike Posner, Claude Kelly, Beast, Sammy Adams, and Cisco Adler.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Early life

Bis grew up in Washington, DC and is the brother of Elliott Bisnow, best known for being the founder and CEO of Summit.^[8] Summit helped Austin cofound the organization Get Well Soon Tour.^[9]

Career

Austin Bis with Akon in the studio

Bis is a writer, producer and pianist on the title track of David Guetta’s 2014 album, Listen. The album went No. 1 on Billboard's Dance Electronic Chart the day it was released, reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 making it Guetta's highest charting album in the US, and has gone No. 1 in over 50 countries worldwide.^[10][11][12] Bis has two additional #1s on the Billboard charts for his work as a writer and producer on the Jon Batiste & Stay Human single, “Express Yourself”^[13] and on the Nickelodeon Boy Band, Big Time Rush single, “Like Nobody’s Around", which saw its music video premiere on Vevo during the 2013 Kids' Choice Awards.^[14] According to Vanity Fair, Batiste & Stay Human's "stirring" performance of "Express Yourself" on The Colbert Report in 2014^[15] must be connected with Colbert's decision to name Batiste as the bandleader on his new iteration of The Late Show.^[16] In June 2015, Bis's work with K-pop group, Beast achieved 1st place on the daily Oricon Singles Chart (Japan's equivalent to US Billboard Hot 100).^[17] Bis also co-wrote the lead single "I Love It When You Cry (Moxoki)" off Steve Aoki's 2015 release, Neon Future II.

As a solo artist, Bis was featured on electronic music DJ Paul Oakenfold’s 2013 single, “Who Do You Love” which Bis also penned and performed on stage with Oakenfold in both Hollywood and Vancouver. As a musician, Bis played Fender Rhodes on the Billboard #1 (US Mainstream Top40) Gym Class Heroes’ “Stereo Hearts feat. Adam Levine”^[5][18] and organ on Cisco Adler’s “Classic” as well as the remix featuring Sammy Adams.^[18][19]

MAGIC GIANT

In early 2014, Bis formed the Indie folk band MAGIC GIANT. Its most recent single, "Set On Fire" charted #1 on KROQ's Locals Only and #4 on Spotify's US Viral 50.^[20][21][22] The group's song, "Let It Burn," was called "a summer festival anthem" by NPR.^[23] Billboard described its live show as "joyful" and "inspiring mass dance-alongs."^[24] The group has played festivals such as Electric Forest,^[25] Wanderlust^[26] and Lightning in a Bottle^[27] and events such as Rock the Vote and Chris Douridas’s (KCRW) “School Night!”^[28] The band has shared the stage with artists such as Mike Posner, Beats Antique, The Lumineers’ Stelth Ulvang, Eric Hutchinson, Andra Day, Lukas Graham and The Late Show's Jon Batiste, and the group's EP features Dave Matthews Band’s Rashawn Ross and Spencer Ludwig.^{[1][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]} The band was the debut live performance of 2015 on KEXP's The Morning Show hosted by John Richards.^[36] New Music Seminar announced MAGIC GIANT as an 'Artist on the Verge' Class of 2015, with past artists including Macklemore, Banks, and Fitz and The Tantrums.^[37]

Get Well Soon Tour

In 2011, Bis teamed up with Grammy Award-winning producer, Benny Blanco to create the non-profit, Get Well Soon Tour, which aims to bring joy to children in hospitals through surprise visits from superstar musicians around the US.^[9] Since their first visit with Justin Bieber on Valentine's Day, 2011,^[38] the “tour” has brought artists like Bruno Mars, Pitbull, Britney Spears, John Legend, Selena Gomez, Diplo, Robin Thicke, FUN., and Maroon 5.^{[39][40][41][42][43]} In 2013, Get Well Soon Tour got several patients backstage access at The Grammys to meet The Black Keys, B.O.B. and Miranda Lambert.^[4]

References

External links

• MAGIC GIANT: Official site