Urban Heat are a 3-piece American post-punk band from Austin, TX. The band formed in 2019 when creative center Jonathan Horstmann enlisted Kevin Naquin and Paxel Foley to form a live show based on his analog sound design experiments. The result fuses dark 80’s stylings with modern flourishes, with Horstmann’s throaty baritone delivering musings on existence and romanticism against an unrelenting industrial gothic pulse. Their live show is undeniably energetic and engaging, earning them slots at Austin’s Levitation and Seattle’s Freakout Fest in 2021 and SXSW 2020 and 2022. In 2019 Horstmann was selected as a member of Project ATX6, which saw the band’s frontperson performing at Thailand’s Jai Thep Festival and CMW in Toronto.
In 2020 the band caught the attention of Brett Orrison (Jack White, The Black Angels) and signed to Spaceflight Records. The band’s Wellness EP was produced by Jonas Wilson (BP Fallon, The Ghost Wolves) and is slated for release in July 2022.
“A lightning rod of dark electro/proto-punk/new wave/synth wave/part goth/part industrial sound that is all the things but…simultaneously transcending them into something fresher.” – Laurie Gallardo, KUTX 98.9
