Today, Previous Industries, the trio of Open Mike Eagle, STILL RIFT, and Video Dave, release their debut album, Service Merchandise, via Merge Records. Service Merchandise can be heard wherever you stream music and is available on CD or LP in the Merge store. In addition, the album on limited-edition Fruit Stripe Peak Vinyl can be purchased from Previous Industries' Bandcamp page and includes a signed 8"x10" glossy photo of the band!

Unbeknownst to the world in 2022, the trio planted the seeds for their group with the Madlib-produced track “Circuit City” on Mike’s album a tape called component system with the auto reverse. On it, Mike was joined by Video Dave and STILL RIFT, showcasing their chemistry and mutual inspiration. “That wasn’t the first song we made together or anything,” says Mike, “but that was the one we decided to show people first. We had been in the lab for a minute, working together and figuring things out.” The product of that longevity arrives wholly formed as Service Merchandise.

The album invokes the triumphant return to the collective spirit of era-defining rap groups like A Tribe Called Quest or Souls of Mischief, with three longtime friends and collaborators writing and recording all of the songs together in the same physical space. The trio traded lines back and forth in real time while recording at Open Mike Eagle’s home studio in Los Angeles, mirroring their early experiences rapping live on street corners and at open mics in Chicago, LA, Miami, and New York City. The album’s songs, like "Zayre,” “Pliers,” “Showbiz,” and “Braids,” are named after retail chains of the past, with verses from Dave, RIFT, and Mike filled with references to a world now replaced by Amazon Fresh locations. It evokes nostalgia for those times and showcases a strong sense of self-expression, similar to the era of rap when stores like Montgomery Ward and K-B Toys thrived. The album also features guest verses by Queen Herawin of the Juggaknots and production from GRAMMY-nominated producer/rapper Quelle Chris (who produced two songs on the project), Child Actor, and Smoke Bonito.

Next month, Previous Industries will embark on a North American tour starting July 22. Kicking off in Nashville, Tennessee, they will perform along the East Coast with stops in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and Boston before concluding at Los Angeles’ Lodge Room.

Previous Industries on tour: 
Jul 22 Nashville, TN – The Basement
Jul 23 Atlanta, GA – 529
Jul 25 Carrboro, NC – Cat's Cradle (Merge 35) [SOLD OUT]
Jul 26 Washington, DC – Songbyrd
Jul 27 Philadelphia, PA – Milkboy
Jul 28 Brooklyn, NY – Elsewhere (Zone One)
Jul 29 Boston, MA – Sinclair
Jul 30 Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom
Aug 02 Dallas, TX – Ruins
Aug 03 Austin, TX – Ballroom (Inside)
Sep 27 Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
Sep 29 Columbus, OH – A&R Music Bar
Oct 01 Seattle, WA – Barboza
Oct 02 Portland, OR – Hawthorne
Oct 04 San Francisco, CA – Neck of the Woods
Oct 05 Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room