Hailing from New York City, the rock quartet known as Splender is looking to emerge as one of the premiere new acts of the year, thanks to a fiery single, "Yeah, Whatever," and a debut album, "Halfway Down the Sky," produced by rock iconoclast Todd Rundgren.

When it came time to head into a studio to cut its first album, Splender didn't really expect to land Rundgren, who is perhaps best known for his "Bang on the Drum All Day" single and his production work on Meat Loaf's classic "Bat Out of Hell" LP.

But as the band recently told the MTV Radio Network, a strange twist of events led Splender to record "Halfway Down the Sky" in a space that Rundgren knew rather well.

[article id="1450040"]"Our producer, Todd Rundgren, wanted us to do it [at Bearsville Studios],"[/article] explained Splender frontman Waymon Boone. [article id="1450040"]"Initially he had wanted us to go to Hawaii, but financially that didn't work out, so we met in the middle and

did [the record] at Bearsville." [RealAudio] [/article]

"Bearsville was actually where Todd used to have his studio," added bassist James Cruz, "and we wound up recording in his original sound and video studio."

"Which is actually called Utopia," Boone explained, "which is one of his bands... so he named it after what people know him for."

Rundgren worked on many of his '70s projects at Bearsville Studios, founded by the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan's former manager, Albert Grossman. Rundgren also issued several albums during that era via the Bearsville Records label.

Splender will play at the City Stages Fest in Birmingham tomorrow, and then travel to Columbia, South Carolina for a gig at the Elbow Room on June 21.