Press-Downloads:
www.spinefarm.fi/press/ranch/branded_women

Release-Date:
the 23rd of August 2004

Biography:
In the end of the year 1999 Julle, the former singer of an infamous country and western band The Lousy Lovers, wanted to form a band around Katja’s beautiful voice, which she had discovered in a karaoke bar. In a drunken stupor Salla promised to learn how to play the organ and Joanna traded her violin into guitar. After rehearsing for a few months, Branded Women’s first drummer Vera joined the band.
It actually happened that the name existed before the band. Joanna had bought a cool "Five Branded Women" -movie poster and everyone thought that would be a great name for a band. Thus they became Branded Women!They all had an absurd urge to challenge their skills, and the beginning could be compared to losing one's virginity to another virgin: it’s an awful chaos, but something truly unique is shared together.Since they all had different tastes in music, it was also impossible to try and make their music fit into some certain genre. Maybe the mishmash of tastes was the seed to the birth of the peculiar Branded Women sound.

During Winter 2001, Branded Women got their songs included on recordings for the first time when the Danish Bad Afro Records wanted to include the song "Not a love song" in their compilation. Next Summer, Sportin' Life Records released the band’s first 7".
Unfortunately, in Summer 2001 Vera announced that she would have to leave the band in order to pursue her dancing career. The sad farewell to Vera didn't have to mean a sad farewell to Branded Women though. Almost immediately after Vera’s departure they found a new drummer Timo, whose contribution to Branded Women has been more than testosterone. Along with him, their sound changed, now being groovier than ever!

In the Autumn of 2003 producer, Jürgen Hendlmeier took Branded Women into the studio to finally record a full-length album. The recordings were started at Hästholmen studios, and after having a few months break they were continued at the Kick Out The Jams!-studio in Helsinki, finally getting it all together during February 2004.
This year has been a turning point for Branded Women in many ways. Not only did they sign a record deal with the Finnish Ranch Records, but now they will also release their first album Velvet Hours - Stolen Moments.

"A weird, yet compelling mixture of garage, exotica and electronica. Smooth feelings surrounded by a hypnotic beat. It doesn't matter whether you listen to them on record or see them live on stage, in the end, it's all about emotion. After a few songs you're pretty much drifting somewhere else; first you forget to talk, then you can't think and after you've lost the track of time, you feel a simple, almost primitive urge to move."

Line-up:
Katja - vocals
Salla - organ
Joanna - guitar
Julle - bass
Timo - drums

Tracklist:
1. Still in Me
2. Something to Hold on
3. More
4. You Know Me
5. Worth Living
6. Sunbather
7. Explanations
8. Perfect
9. Runner
10.Feel