Remember when indie pop wasn't totally over-produced, over-commercialized, and playing in chain restaurants? So do Clean Equations. Clean Equations began as the solo project of vocalist / guitarist / keyboardist / general noisemaker Mike Nyhan. Between constant travel as a full time chemical engineer, Mike managed to compile a plethora of poorly recorded demos from his life on the road. Upon returning to Philadelphia in early 2009, Mike and long time friend / producer / State Capital Records guy Dan Hewitt began crafting the best of these demos into what would become Clean Equations first proper release, a six song, twenty-one minute self titled EP. Recruiting an impressive lineup of new and old friends from Philadelphia and New York City, the EP features Mike Nyhan on vocals / guitar / keyboards, Nero Catalano on bass (722), Gretchen Lohse on vocals (Yellow Humphrey), Geoff Morrissey on guitar (Law of the Sea), Jonas Oesterle (The Teeth) on drums, Jo Schornikow (The Shivers) on piano, and Jim Thomas on organ / piano / keyboard (Blue Floor Music). Clean Equations are influenced by such diverse bands as Joy Division, Ariel Pink, Guided by Voices, the Bats, Grandaddy, Destroyer, Far, Ester Drang, Sufjan Stevens, the American Analog Set, the Eels, Suicide, Broken Social Scene, Les Savy Fav, the Walkmen, and the Dismemberment Plan. Their music has been favorably compared to early Death Cab for Cutie, Galaxie 500, and American Football with subtle hints of the Appleseed Cast and the Smashing Pumpkins.