Transviolet

Transviolet is an American alternative pop-rock band that formed in 2015. The band consists of lead vocalist Sarah McTaggart, along with Judah McCarthy, Michael Panek, and Jon Garcia. The group’s formation began online, with McTaggart connecting with Panek via a musicians’ networking website. At the time, McTaggart was residing in Grand Cayman and Panek in San Diego, though McTaggart initially misrepresented her location to facilitate the collaboration. Panek then brought in Garcia, a former high school acquaintance. The initial distant collaborations eventually led the group, then named Noise Floor, to establish themselves in San Diego. After a move to Los Angeles, McCarthy, another mutual friend of Panek and Garcia, joined, and the band rebranded as Transviolet. The name is derived from Charles Bukowski’s poem ‘When The Violets Roar At The Sun,’ signifying ‘transcendence into a new, violet awareness.’

Transviolet quickly gained attention through unconventional marketing strategies, including a local publicity stunt where anonymous cassette tapes of their song ‘Girls Your Age’ were sent to music industry contacts in mid-2015. This was followed by endorsements from prominent artists like Harry Styles and Katy Perry. McTaggart and Perry shared a childhood connection, having attended the same church. Their debut eponymous EP contained ‘Girls Your Age’ and accumulated over 20 million streams for its top three tracks. In 2016, the band toured with LANY and their song ‘New Bohemia’ was featured in a Google Play commercial. The Guardian recognized them as the ‘band of the week’ in January 2016, and ‘New Bohemia’ peaked at #35 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart in April of that year. The band continued their releases with the EP ‘Kaleidoscopes’ in 2017.

Transviolet’s career progression included signing with Epic Records in early 2015, although they parted ways in late 2017. They then signed with Sony BMG, leading to the release of the ‘Valley’ EP in 2018. A track from this EP, ‘Undo,’ was featured as closing music in an episode of the Netflix series ‘Unbelievable.’ The band has made multiple television appearances, performing on ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden’ in July 2016, and also on the ‘Today Show’ and ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.’ Their festival appearances include Reading, Governors Ball, South by Southwest, and Firefly. In July 2018, they headlined a concert at The Echo in Los Angeles. The band continued releasing music independently in late 2019, with singles like ‘Sunshine,’ ‘Money Money,’ and ‘Born To Rule.’