by Andrew Leahey The Deadly Syndrome is an indie folk quartet from the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles. Native Californians Will Etling (guitar) and Jesse Hoy (drums) met at the University of California in Santa Barbara, where the annual Reel Loud Film Festival (a UCSB tradition featuring student-made silent films accompanied by live music) resulted in their first musical collaboration. After mutual friends introduced the musicians to Chris Richard (vocals) and Mike Hughes (keyboards/drums), both of whom had relocated to L.A. from the East, the Deadly Syndrome was born in 2006. A handful of raucous shows on the L.A. club circuit led to a contract with Dim Mak Records that same year, and the band released its debut album, The Ortolan, in September 2007.