Curriculum

Curriculum is an American-based alternative ("indie") pop band that formed and originated in New York City in 2006 and, since 2011, is signed to Blacklight Records. The band consists of four members: Gregory Preston Olivier, Phillip Mandelbaum, Wyatt van Cleef, Dana Breckenridge, along with Stephanie Kesh, and Shawn Middlesbrough, with the latter two being considered "honorary members" of the band who primarily handled the band's production and some of their songwriting; Kesh and Middlesbrough "left" the group in 2013 to pursue a career of their own and Breckenridge took over as the band's chief producer. The band formed in 2006 when most of the band members were attending the same high school in New York City.

The band gained notoriety in late summer 2011 when they posted a video of themselves singing their rendition of the Loud Females song "All I Need (All I Don't)", which became a viral hit and later released as the band's first promotional single. In November 2011, they signed to Blacklight Records and released their debut single "So Mainstream", which reached the top three in the UK and also became an international hit. In February 2012, they released their debut album Syllabus, which reached #1 in the UK and spawned three more singles, two of which also hit in the top three in the UK.

Throughout 2013, the band attempted to promote and release their long-awaited sophomore album aptly titled Sophomore, along with other material. In October, the band released their latest single "All Pink Everything", which became their biggest hit in the UK by reaching #2 on the UK Singles Chart. Sophomore will finally be released in January 2014.

2006-2011: Formation and early career
The band formed as six members - four "regular" members" and two "honorary" members - who collectively come from three different countries/national backgrounds: Olivier, Mandelbaum, and van Cleef are American, Breckenridge is Australian-born but has lived most of his life in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Canada before moving permanantly to the United States in 2004, and Kesh and Middlesbrough are British.

Olivier and Mandelbaum had known each other since they were babies and eventually befriended van Cleef in middle school. Olivier, Mandelbaum, and van Cleef later met Breckenridge in high school. Shortly after the regular members of the band had formed, they met Middlesbrough at a college party. Kesh entered the group while trying to help them with their musical skills in 2010. At the time, Kesh was working with her sister Beastette on her material.

During their first five years together, the band never played in public before and initially only started out by getting together for only jam sessions. Eventually they started to seriously work on their music. The band apparently almost broke up when some of the band members went to different colleges instead of attending the same college as one another. Eventually, the band decided to stick together with them not feeling that attending different colleges would not threaten the band or their time needed to work on their music.

In April 2011, the band released their first independent EP titled STUBDEPS. A month later they released their second independent EP titled Hipsterology 101. The band couldn't afford to make physical copies of the EP and only "released" the EPs online with a link to the both EPs beings shown on their official Facebook page; The EPs were given away for free and were even uploaded in their entirety on the band's official YouTube page. Some of their songs from the EPs managed to get moderate airplay on college radio stations and demand grew for the band to perform live at certain functions and parties.

Name changes
The band went through a series of name changes before settling on their current name. The band was first titled Werewolf Weekday but was then changed to The College Boys. The band, for the longest time, were known by The Weekenders and later The Lost. Eventually, they settled on the name Curriculum which was nod to the members fondness of college life and culture, academia, knowledge, and education. According to sources, the band was almost called Curriculum Vitae and Syllabus, the latter eventually being the title of their debut album.

2011-2013: Syllabus
In late summer 2011, the band uploaded a video of themselves singing a song called "All I Need (All I Don't)". The video was meant to be shown only to their small fanbase of college students but the video became viral hit in the United States and garnered over five million views at the time (since the band's popularity has grown, the video now has 33 million views). The band eventually was prompted to release the song on iTunes where they considered it their first ever promotional/"buzz" single, saying that their actual debut single was coming soon. The promotional release of "All I Need (All I Don't)" reached #63 in the United States.

In 2011, the band announced that they were pursuing a professional music career and a record deal in the US and UK. After announcing that their debut single would be "So Mainstream", in November 2011, they signed with Blacklight Records. That same month, the band released "So Mainstream" in the UK and US; the single would eventually reach #3 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming their first charting single in the UK. Soon after, they released their second promotional single titled "Innocent; Convicted", which peaked at #13 on the UK Downloads Chart. "So Mainstream" also became a big international hit for the band.

In February 2012, the band released their debut album Syllabus. The album garnered generally positive reviews and would become commercially successful. The album debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Silver in its first week of sales, after selling over 103,000 copies. To date, the album has sold more than one million copies and has been certified Diamond by the Urapopstar Recording Association Phonographic Society (URAPS). The album would also see some degree of commercial success in international markets as well. In the US, Syllabus has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

In March 2012, the band released their second single "At A Party". Originally supposed to be released in January 2012, the single's final release featured American pop singer Blonde Ambition. Blonde was added onto the song after she was only supposed to be featured on the remix of the song and had managed to befriend the band. "At A Party" debuted and peaked at #3 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming their second top three single.

In the summer of 2012, the band released their third single from Syllabus titled "Teamwork", with the single version featuring popular singer Kleo. The Olympic-themed single reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming their third consecutive single to do so while also being an international hit worldwide. In September 2012, barring the UK, the band released "Honeymoon Anthem" worldwide, becoming another international hit for the band. The fourth and final single from Syllabus, "Honeymoon Anthem" was eventually released in the UK in January 2013 where it peaked at #9 on the UK Singles Chart.

2013 to present: "All Pink Everything", Sophomore, and The Chess Club
From late spring/early summer 2012 to autumn 2013, the band had been working on their sophomore album which they aptly titled Sophomore, with the album title being announced in December 2012 with hopes that the album would be released by January or February 2013, essentially one year nearly to date that Syllabus was released. During that time instead, the band attempted to release a series of singles, EPs, and other material that eventually got postponed or cancelled. The band also went through a personal hurdle when Olivier was put in rehab for cocaine and prescription medication addiction. Put in rehab by his then-girlfriend Kleo, he was released from rehab in March 2013. Meanwhile, van Cleef and Mandelbaum attempted solo careers.

The band had hoped to release a mixtape titled The Chess Club before the start of November 2013. However, their label, Blacklight Records, intervened and decided to release The Chess Club as a commercially available rarities album sometime in the near future. The band confirmed that their sophomore album Sophomore will be released in January 2014 and that the commercial release of The Chess Club will soon follow, though a date for the rarities album has not been set yet.

In October 2013, "All Pink Everything" was released as a single. Initially, a planned solo release for Mandelbaum for his solo career, the song was eventually re-recorded by the band. "All Pink Everything" was released with all proceeds and royalties made from the single being donated to various breast cancer awareness and research charities. The single reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's biggest hit to date.

Image and popularity
Though not the first band to make alternative or "indie" music popular with mainstream audiences, they have become one of the most successful alternative acts in the present day climate of the music industry aside from Sandi Cohen, FERROXYL, and Dresden & Bareilles.

In January 2012, Curriculum ranked at #5 on James Moss' Top 12 Breakouts of 2012; on the "revised" edition of the special, which aired in May 2012, the band rose to #2. For the overall definitive list of the year, the band ranked at #12. The band has been nominated for seven Urapopstar Awards and has been included on many lists praising their image and music. They also debuted at the URAPS Rate 17 in 2012.

In February 2012, the band ranked at #30 on the URAPS Rate 17 where they got a 75% approval rating. That same month, the band was nominated for four Urapopstar Awards for Best Group, Best Alternative, Best Newcomer, and Best Male Video for their single "So Mainstream". In August 2012, the band rose to #19 on the URAPS Rate 18 where their approval rating increased by 2.5 percent to 77.5%. That same month, the band was also nominated for three more Urapopstar Awards where they were nominated for Best Group and Best Alternative for a second time in a row; the band was also surprisingly nominated for Best Promotion.

Band members

 * Gregory Preston Olivier
 * Phillip Mandelbaum
 * Wyatt van Cleef
 * Dana Breckenridge

The four regular members of the band are Olivier, Mandelbaum, van Cleef, and Breckenridge. The band formerly had two "honorary" members: Shawn Middlesbrough and Stephanie Kesh. Middlesbrough and Kesh always worked behind the scenes of the band and were never photographed with the regular members at their request to avoid confusion. Middlesbrough always handled the band's production while Kesh co-wrote and sang background vocals on the band's material. In 2013, Middlesbrough and Kesh "left" the band to focus on their solo material. Breckenridge, soon after, took over as the band's primary producer.

The band's primary lead singer is Olivier, though others in the band sing vocals as well.

Solo careers
In 2013, Mandelbaum and van Cleef attempted solo careers. Former honorary members Kesh and Middlesbrough left the group to work on their own material; they are now known professionally as Cerise + Victor. Kesh had initially planned to go solo by herself but she eventually convinced Middlesbrough to join her in her endeavors.

Discography
Main article: Curriculum discography

Albums

 * 2012: Syllabus
 * 2014: Sophomore (TBA)
 * 2014: The Chess Club (TBA)

Singles

 * 2011: "So Mainstream"
 * 2012: "At A Party"
 * 2012: "Teamwork"'
 * 2012/2013: "Honeymoon Anthem"
 * 2013: "All Pink Everything"