EDITED BY KATIE HASTY Enjoy exclusive performances, interviews, music and more from dozens of Underground artists at billboard.com /underground. VON IVA On Dec. 19, Von Iva will make a big splash -not onstage but on the big screen. Audiences will be treated to four original songs from the group in the Heyday/Wamer Bros. Pictures film "Yes Man," starring Jim Carrey and ac- tress /musician Zooey Deschanel. The San Francisco -based trio was cast to appear in the movie, as well as on its soundtrack, after music su- pervisor Jonathan Karp ("Superbad," "The 40 Year Old Virgin ") found the JASON band's album, "Our Own Island," while in the stacks at Amoeba Music WEBLEY in Los Angeles. Songwriter Jason Webley has made "We had a friend who would sneak some pretty unique friends in pretty our CDs in the end caps of the rows unique places during his 10-year career. there," drummer Kelly Harris says. "He He was invited to tour in Mexico was drawn in by the cover and ended after a "superfan" dance choreog- up loving the music." rapher created a ballet around his The three became four as the band songs. He used that as an opportu- was cast as the movie's fictional group nity to meet Warner Latina pop star Munchausen by Proxy, with Deschanel Ximena Sariñana, with whom he per- installed as lead singer. Von Iva's reg- formed and penned some songs. ular lead singer, the fierce, soulful A- Then there were some Russian llan Iva, helped rewrite the tunes to college students who paid for his cater to Deschanel's voice. trip -and seven subsequent others - Von Iva was originally a quartet to play shows in destinations like when it formed six years ago, when Siberia. Thousands of fans arrived at founders Elizabeth Davis (former the shows knowing every word. de- bassist for Seven Year Bitch) and Har- spite the language barrier. ris picked up Iva and dexterous key - And don't forget the Monsters of boardist Becky Kupersmith. Davis Accordion tour, which took several eventually dropped out and the trio wizards of the instrument up and went onto embrace a more minimal- down the West Coast this fall. "The ist sound. most feared instrument in the world," The group has gone on to self -re- Webley cheekily penned on the MOA lease a full- length set, a music video press release. and two EPs, the most recent being, This summer, Webley made a pair appropriately, "Girls on Film," on Oct. of visits to Australia, played support 28. With help from the Royalty Net- dates with the Avett Brothers and work, Von Iva has scored around a opened for Dresden Dolls' Amanda dozen TV placements, including Palmer in Europe. He also completed Logo's "Curl Girls," a Nokia phone spot a record with Palmer under the MICKEY and Showtime's "The L Word." The moniker Evelyn Evelyn, easily sell- FACTZ band has also been tapped to open ing out of the 1,111 -copy limited edi- Rapper Mickey Factz started his music career just two (clientele includes Devin the Dude and Nipsey Hustles). for such acts as the Walkmen, the Gos- tion pressing of the vinyl set, released years ago, but he's accomplished plenty in that short He is preparing his debut album, "The Leak Vol. 3: The sip and the Go -Go's with the aid of the by his own Eleven Records. amount of time. Achievement," scheduled for release early next year. In- M.O.B. Agency. -KH "I have a dumb obsession with After leaving New York University law school to focus house producer Precise and Illphonics (LL Cool J, the Contact: Joyce Williams, manager, numbers, 11 being my favorite," he on music full -time, the 23- year -old Bronx -bred MC Clipse) contribute production. Joyce amusicindustrynetwork.com says with a laugh. began releasing mixtapes online in 2006. First came "I plan on having a bunch of eclectic artists and I'm Playing to the fringe has worked "In Search of the N.E.R.D.," on which Factz laid lyrics going to be touching on a lot of different subject mat- in Webley's favor, enabling him to over beats made by Pharrell Williams' group. A year ters like police brutality, relationships and just life- things sell nearly 60,000 copies combined later he released "Flashback," followed by the critically that normal people go through," Factz says. "People want of his five full -length albums and a acclaimed "Heaven's Fallout." Thanks to tracks like the to feel like they're connected to an artist and a lifestyle and handful of collaborative efforts. sneaker -inspired "Supras," the latter mixtape quickly a culture, and I feel like I'm the person who's going to Each offers a different sound, from became a fan favorite. bring that forward." circus to theater, from Balkan to At the beginning of 2008, Factz began releasing a new While the weekly leaks have since been strategically Latin, crooner to punk. "Every one track every week as part of a series appropriately titled halted ( "We want people to yearn for more music, and is going to be insanely different," "The Leak." On "The Leak Vol. 1" and "The Leak Vol. 2," what comes with yearning is purchasing," he says), Factz he says. "It's very natural for me to Factz released tracks like "Automatic "; "I'm Sean," ded- continues to promote his music in other ways. He appears jump around." -KH icated to Sean Bell, who was shot to death by New York on the cover of XXL's December issue as part of its an- Contact: jason.webley a gmail.com police in 2006; "Incredible "; and "Rockin' N Rollin'." The nual top 10 up- and -coming feature. He's been perform- last of those, featuring the Cool Kids, was recently added ing on the college circuit, with stops at State University of CATCHING UP WITH UNDERGROUND ALUMNI to rotation on MTV. "When we leaked the first song, we New York in New Paltz and Chicago's Roosevelt Univer- Locksley (June 18, 2005) has been selected as Ray Davies' backing band on probably got like 100 only downloads," he says, "and the sity coming up, and he was part of a slew of shows and his 12 -date U.S. tour in November and December... Anathallo (April 1, 2006) last song we put out got about 9,000 or 10,000." panels during this year's CMJ Music Marathon. signed with Anticon. Records and will release its new album, "Canopy Glow," Factz has gone on to co -found his own marketing, -Mariel Concepcion Nov.18... "Mary" by Joe Purdy (April 4, 2008) is featured in the film "The Se- branding and styling business and label, GFC New York Contact: Saint Louis, manager, saint a GFCNY..com cret Life of Bees." 76 BILLBOARD NOVEMBER 22, 2003 www.americanradiohistory.com.