Lola Ray is an Indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 band from Brooklyn, New York. It was formed when singer/guitarist John Balicanta re-assembled his high school band from Anaheim, California

Anaheim, California

Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...

 in order to record a demo for Peter Robinson of RCA Records

RCA Records

RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

.

First band

Balicanta and high school friends Brian Spina and James McIvor

James McIvor

James McIvor is a former New Zealand boxer.He won the bronze medal in the men's welterweight division at the 1950 British Empire Games.-References:...

 had started a band called Lola Corin (Tagalog

Tagalog language

Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...

 for "Grandma Corin") during their high school years in Southern California http://www.musicsyndicate.com/college/general6/lola_tracks.asp. They had been friends since the seventh grade, but when John left to attend college in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, the band dissolved.

Reformation

Balicanta secured an internship at Dumbo Studios after meeting RCA's Peter Robinson. Impressed with his solo songwriting, Robinson agreed to sponsor a demo if Balicanta could assemble a band. After finding Alex Smolinski in New York, John called on Spina and McIvor who moved to Brooklyn immediately http://lolaray.com. They called their band Lola Ray.

First release

Lola Ray was signed to Good Charlotte

Good Charlotte

Good Charlotte is an American rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed in 1996. Since 1998, the band's constant members have been lead vocalist Joel Madden, lead guitarist and back-up vocalist Benji Madden, bass guitarist Paul Thomas and rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Billy Martin...

's record label DC Flag and opened for the band on a nation-wide tour. Their music video for their first single, "Automatic Girl" found airplay on the Fuse

Fuse TV

Fuse is an American national television network dedicated exclusively to music. It features original series and specials, exclusive interviews, live concerts and video blocks....

 and MTV2

MTV2

MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...

 rotations. It was also used on the EA Sports

EA Sports

EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...

' NHL 2005

NHL 2005

NHL 2005, the successor to NHL 2004, is a hockey video game first released on September 14, 2004 in North America and September 24, 2004 in the PAL region.-Improvements/flaws:...

 video game.http://music.ign.com/articles/552/552112p1.html.

In 2006 Lola Ray released their second album, Liars, through Red Int/Red Ink. Smolinski and McIvor have since left the band and have been replaced as the band continues to tour. Post-Lola Ray, James McIvor is pursuing a PhD in Mathematics at UC Berkeley