The Only Way Out Is Through: Streamlined DTES plays V Club 3.22

photo: LA Watson

Lexington, Ky.-based progressive rock band Dream The Electric Sleep (L-R: Chris Tackett, Matt Page, Joey Waters) will perform at The V Club Friday.

Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch

It’s been two years since Dream The Electric Sleep released its debut album, Lost and Gone Forever, for free, out of nowhere, to critical acclaim. The Lexington-based progressive rock band’s stunning 14-song concept record about the life of an eastern Kentucky coal mining family would not be easy to duplicate.

So, live, and in the studio, Matt Page, Chris Tackett and Joey Waters would move on in a new direction, continuing to see where their diverse musical influences take them.

“When we finished the first record, sometimes you just kind of know that you have something special on your hands, and you just cross your fingers and hope for the best,” bassist Chris Tackett said.

“Nobody knew who we were; we weren’t anyone. We hadn’t recorded anything and we’d never played any shows. So it was just really important for us to just get the music out there and let people hear it. We thought we’d achieved something pretty damn special.

“It’s been nice to get the good response; we’ll take it.”

After downsizing into a three-piece a few months ago, the guys in DTES were challenged with recreating live, the richly layered sound (think Pink Floyd meets Muse) found on the debut record.

“It was a definite transition,” singer-guitarist Matt Page said. “We were trying to figure out how to fill up the space, since the album that we wrote was fairly lush with keyboard parts, acoustic guitars, and harmonies.

“We sort of debated whether we wanted another guitar player, or someone that can do keyboards, but nothing really worked out. So at this point we’re a three-piece. We’re trying to work [arrangements] with samples, and applying the stuff we need to, as opposed to finding another member.

“So we worked hard at figuring out ways to sort of beef up the sound again, and I think we’ve finally got to that point. Last year was sort of us testing stuff out live while we were writing new material. But it’s kind of nice that the three of us gelled, and work together so well. We’re all pretty happy with where we’re at.”

Dream The Electric Sleep performs Friday at The V Club in Huntington with John Lancaster and Horseburner.

“Even though the three-piece, live, with the material from [Lost and Gone Forever] at certain points was maybe a little thinner than the album was obviously, because there’s not five or six guys on stage playing,” drummer Joey Waters added. “It made us a little less muddy live. So, from that standpoint it was a good thing.”

Tackett, who’d came on around the time the band was finishing the debut album, said writing as a three-piece has had its benefits.

“This record we’re getting ready to record was written as a collaboration between the three of us, as opposed to the last record, where I kind of stepped in and helped finish the album. This one, we all worked together on. So it does sound a little bit different. I wouldn’t say it’s anything drastic, but it sounds more like a real band.”

Tackett, with years of experience being in bands as diverse as Chum, The Heptanes, and Hyatari, said Dream The Electric Sleep is bringing everything together as a three-piece.

“As far as doing the three-piece thing, my role in it, like Matt mentioned, we’ve really experimented with some effects and different techniques to fill up some space, especially in trying to mimic the older songs. But the new material, I think, since it was kind of hashed out in a room with the three of us, it sounds a little more natural live.”

Page said Tackett’s sonic tendencies and sensibilities were more integral this time around, and that each member’s influences make the band what it is.

“This album, Chris’ influence and sound have really helped to shape that. Like, I don’t listen to anything like what Chris listens to, and I don’t know that Joey listens to anything that I do, so we all have our feet in different musical genres. It’s an extraordinarily exciting thing for me.”

“These guys have been really cool about letting that sort of influence leak into this band,” Tackett added. “I certainly wouldn’t say it’s taken over or anything like that, but there’s definitely some Hyatari-type elements that we employ from time to time. They’ve been really gracious with letting me express that side.

“It is a weird style, and it’s kind of like, my style, so it’s cool that they let me include that in this project. I personally think it makes for a really unique sound with Matt’s harmonies and writing. We do incorporate some of that Hyatari-type slower, doomy, dissonant stuff, and it works!”

Waters seconded Tackett’s increasing influence in DTES.

“I’ve always played with a really aggressive style, but I’ve never enjoyed playing metal, per se. I like listening to it, and that’s mainly what I’m listening to right now. Chris let me fill in on drums for Hyatari, and that was one of the coolest shows I’ve ever played. So he’s definitely been an influence on me as far as getting back into heavy music again.

“In Dream The Electric Sleep I hit as hard as I want, and really get the demons out. At the same time, I’m able to play that aggressive style but be in a band that’s more accessible to a wider audience. Matt and Chris are good at reining it in and making it sound like Dream The Electric Sleep.”

“Joey and Chris have kind of melded together,” Page said matter-of-factly, describing the rhythm section.

Page said it’s the experimentation and openness that makes DTES what it is.

“It’s really fun to work with two other musicians of high caliber that are also willing to take somebody more like me, who’s going to be more like a singer-songwriter, and put Hyatari riffs and thundering drums behind it, and come up with a sound that’s surprising to me. That’s why it’s so exciting.

Looking ahead to recording 11 new songs and 80 or so minutes worth of material with Jay Groves at Sneak Attack in Lexington, Page said he hopes the recording will be as much of a natural, creative process as the songwriting.

“I’m hoping that comes across when we start recording the album, that this is a step forward, sonically. I want to make sure we capture that as opposed to us setting up a bunch of microphones and crossing our fingers and hoping we get the sound we want.

“I’d rather go into a studio and work with a professional and get that sound, then take those tracks and kind of sculpt them outside of the studio session, in our rehearsal space, and start experimenting with amps, guitars, keyboards and vocals, all that.

“So I think that’s the process, at least at this point,” the singer and guitarist said. “To be honest, the recording process for us isn’t going to be recording something that’s already finished. It’s going to be us creating as we record.”

The guys said they’re looking forward to playing RosFest, a big prog rock festival held in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in May.

“It’s a pretty big deal for us,” Page said. “People from all over the world fly in for this festival and they’re super stoked to be there, and they’re music aficionados, and they already knew about us, which was also weird to have people know who you are but you’ve never played for them before.

“These people-- the fans, the organizers, have been extremely supportive; they want us there. So I think it’s going to be a really positive experience for us.”

Page said 2013 is shaping up to be a good year for Dream The Electric Sleep.

“We’re playing shows, we’re playing new material, we’ve got the festival coming up, which is a really big deal, and we’re gonna be in the studio trying to finish an album.

“It’s gonna be a crazy six months I think.”


IF YOU GO:

Dream The Electric Sleep, John Lancaster, Horseburner

WHERE: The V Club, 741 6th Ave., Huntington
WHEN: 10 p.m., Friday, March 22
COST: $5
INFO: http://www.vclublive.com/, (304) 781-0680
ONLINE: http://www.dreamtheelectricsleep.com/

Friendships keep energy high for Chum reunion show (H-D repost)

photo: Courtney Bell

The Huntington-based band Chum, made up of (from left to right) Jude Blevins, John Lancaster, Chris Tackett and Mac Walker is reuniting for a show on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the V Club, 741 6th Ave., Huntington

Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch


The story of Chum reads like a literal version of musical chairs. Nearly twenty years after junior high friends Mac Walker and Chris Tackett called up John Lancaster to see about jamming, more than a decade after their sophomore record never got released, after numerous lineup changes and a reunion in 2005, the Huntington-based sludge rock band is back.

Chum plays the V Club October 1st with Horseburner and Tower of the Elephant.

A band’s story can read like any relationship between two people over the years: they form, break up and/or fall apart over time. But what makes Chum’s story unique so many years after original drummer Chuck Nicholas jumped ship and founding members Walker and Tackett left is that Walker, Tackett and Lancaster, friends since junior high, are still that: friends.

“We’re all deaf and hoarse right now, so bear with us,” Lancaster said with a laugh over the phone after a just-finished band rehearsal in Walker’s basement.

The guys in Chum (Lancaster: vocals/guitar; Walker: guitar; Tackett: bass; Jude Blevins: drums) have been gathering at Walker’s every so often preparing for a pair of shows in Huntington and next week in Lexington, where Tackett calls home these days. After years of on-again off-again status, it’s good to get together and have a good time, Lancaster said.

“We just make a marathon weekend out of it. Everybody comes in Friday night, and we do a few hours, then go all afternoon Saturday and Sunday. It’s been a blast.”

“We just make a big party out of it,” Walker added.

Tackett said that the enduring friendship and musical collaborations that have existed in the intervening years have helped Chum retain its energy.

“I can tell you right now it sounds really f---ing heavy. I don’t know if you can put that in there. It’s been cool because with John and Mac playing together in John’s solo project, and with Jude, Mac and myself playing in Hyatari together, it almost seems like it was inevitable that we’d get together and do this.”

Bringing Blevins on as drummer was a no-brainer and, for Blevins, who’d seen Chum open for Helmet at Ritter Park years ago, a great call to get.

“I was honored, of course,” Blevins said. “I’m sure they could’ve had anybody, any drummer they would’ve called would have jumped at it. I think it’s pretty cool.

Walker said the original chemistry is still there.

“It gets to be kind of like second nature, because you can almost predict what the other guy is thinking when you’re playing and writing. A few of these songs we are playing, we never released, so it’s great to bring those songs back to life.”



John Lancaster on Headhunter:
“For these upcoming shows we actually recorded an old song we wrote around 1997 called “Headhunter.” It was originally intended for that second record that never happened. When we played it live, people really liked it, so we thought it would be cool to record it and put it online for a free download.”

Tackett said what was once old, as far as Chum goes, is new again.

“One of the reasons I like to revisit Chum is because the material holds up even though some of this stuff is fifteen years old. A lot of the stuff we were writing back at that time, I consider it to be pushing the envelope as far as our song structures and tunings. It’s a little more common nowadays, but back then you didn’t hear it too often. The songs have held up well and have that energy and are really heavy, so I like to revisit it because they don’t feel old to me, they feel just as current as when we were writing them back in the day.”

It almost seemed like a drag, or maybe it was fitting, to ask the “heavy” questions of the guys: why did things go wrong, and when, back in the mid-to-late 1990’s?

Maybe it was the lack of label support after releasing “Dead To The World” on the Santa Monica, California-based Century Media Records? Walker addressed that angle.

“I think what happened was, the label wasn’t really into the band anymore, they weren’t liking the new material. We were rehearsing and writing new material and it just seemed like a lot of work wasn’t going anywhere. That seemed like the beginning of the end.”

For Tackett, internal chemistry issues arose after original drummer Chuck Nicholas left to join West Virginia contemporaries Karma To Burn before DTTW was even released.

“For me, when Chuck left the band, the songwriting, the whole process kind of changed,” Tackett said, speaking diplomatically. “Mac and myself feed off each other, and Chuck and John fed off each other, and we all worked well as a foursome. All the songs that were on [DTTW] and the two [1994 cassette] EPs were hashed out in a room together.

“We had that chemistry, and the songwriting was effortless.

“After Chuck left, we had to write with other people and it wasn’t the same, and the music started to change, not for better or worse, just different. So for me, the Chum era kind of ended when Chuck left the band.”

Tackett on Nicholas leaving (continued):
“Chuck doesn’t get enough credit as a songwriter. Correct me if I’m wrong John, but didn’t Chuck contribute lyrics and concepts? (John answers in background) He definitely helped with arrangements. With Chuck, he was really an experimental guy, and he’d just go off the deep end and just do stuff to be funny and it would end up a song. It was a weird way to write but it worked for us as a band.”

So many years later, Lancaster, Tackett and Walker, with mutual friend Blevins, are looking to not only keep their friendship intact, but Chum too. The internet age offers an avenue of communication that can facilitate long-distance collaboration, as Lancaster displayed recording and releasing his solo debut, “Phantom Moon,” last year.

Also, just as important, Chum’s fans are able to generate a mutually reinforcing energy, whether its picking songs for a set list, asking about merch, or remembering favorite shows from the past on the Chum Facebook page.

“It’s pretty much the main inspiration for us doing it at this point,” Lancaster said of the fans. “We get messages from people talking about the band, it’s just great to know that people are excited about it.”

Tackett on new Chum releases:
“We haven’t discussed making a new album together at this point, but at this point who needs a record label? With a project like Chum, if we wanted to release a record for free, at this point it’s about sharing the music with people who love it. It’s a labor of love for us to play and record this music.”

Walker said, just like at practice, at the V Club show Saturday, it’s going to be a party.

“It’s great. We’ve got people coming in from all over the place, so it’s more than a reunion, we’re getting to see old friends too.”

Old friends indeed, Tackett said, summing up Chum’s future.

“We’re all basically like brothers at this point, having grown up together. I don’t see any reason for us to stop making music anytime soon.”


If you go:
Chum, Horseburner, Tower of the Elephant
Where: The V Club, 741 6th Avenue, Huntington (304) 781-0680
When: Saturday, October 1st, 10 p.m.
Cost: $8
Info: http://www.vclublive.com/

They Will Surface: Hyatari returns to The V Club 8.31

Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch

There aren’t many bands around that sound like Hyatari. The Huntington-based “drone” four-piece, together for about six years, returns to Huntington Tuesday night for a rare show at The V Club.

But what makes Hyatari’s sound so unique? On its two releases, 2005’s “The Light Carriers” and last year’s “They Will Surface,” Hyatari plays what could be called a down-tempo version of heavy, plodding, yet melodic, atmospheric metal, without any vocals.

Made up of Chum members, bassist Chris Tackett and guitarist Mac Walker, with DJ Brett Fuller (aka Charlie Brown Superstar) and recently added drummer Jude Blevins, getting the guys together is an event in itself. About a year ago, Tackett moved to Lexington for work, Blevins lives in Pineville, West Virginia and Walker and Fuller live in Huntington.

“I don’t think we get together nearly enough,” Tackett said. “It’s not cheap to run back and forth, but we make it work. Rehearsing is tough because we have to re-learn the songs, because they’re so long. Ultimately, I’d like to spend that time writing new material, but we have a good time when we do get together.”

Tackett said that Hyatari has some new material under its belt, and is shooting to release a new CD in 2012. It’s a long, slow process, kind of like the band’s sound.

Hyatari, influenced by bands like Sleep and Neurosis, gained some notoriety and critical acclaim in the drone genre right from the start.

“We kind of went out on a limb with the first record; we knew we were pushing the envelope,” Tackett said. “Usually those efforts go unnoticed. So any recognition we’ve received has been an unexpected surprise. The doom/drone genre has really sort of caught on over the last few years, but back then nobody was really doing it. If they were, I didn’t know about it.

“The drone aspect of Hyatari is a direct result of three guys in a room with loud amps and no drums; that’s how we came up with a lot of that early material.”

Tackett said the sound is something more nebulous than set in stone.

“On “They Will Surface” we never did what we intended to do, which was a whole album with no drums and more of the quiet, trance stuff. We decided we couldn’t make a heavier record than “The Light Carriers” so we tried to shake it up a little. Some of that material made it on the record, but what we ended up with sounded more post-rock than I wanted it to. I think on the new record we’re going back to the dark, brutal heaviness.”

Walker, Tackett’s longtime friend and band mate, described the songwriting process for Hyatari.

“Actually, most of the material originates with Chris,” he admitted. “My contribution really is to bring to life the musings of a frustrated guitarist disguised as the bass player.

“Writing instrumental music is pretty challenging in regards to generating interest with the listener. You don’t have anything out front to draw them in. A lack of vocals forces the songwriter to take an approach that they normally wouldn’t with a typical song structure. Hopefully the end result is interesting, and it’s able to stand on its own.”


Fuller, the DJ and “noise” guy in Hyatari, provides the ambience and atmospherics that help make Hyatari’s sound unique.

“We wanted Brett involved because we all think alike, we’re good friends, and he brings different ideas to the table,” Tackett said. “He has the freedom to wing it and call up any kind of sounds he wants in the moment.”

For a few years, Hyatari was known to employ a drum machine. About two years ago, they welcomed Blevins into the fold.

“I think we were all a bit apprehensive to bring in a fourth element,” Fuller said. “Chris, Mac and I have known, lived and worked together, been through a tour together; we know each other pretty well by now. I think there was a question whether anyone could come in and be a fit both personally and professionally. It took about five minutes to realize there wasn’t going to a problem with Jude. Not only did he get along with the rest of us famously, he’s one the best drummers I’ve ever heard.”

“It took us about two seconds to say ‘This is our guy,’” Tackett added.

Despite the distance separating the band members, and their involvement in other musical projects, they all said they consider Hyatari a top priority, and since they’re all friends, fun.

“I just recently realized that this process began in 1987 when Chris and I first started hashing out bar chords on amplified metal strings in my parent’s attic,” Walker said. “For me, it’s as fun now as it’s ever been.”

“Yeah, I never really think about it, but we’ve been making music for like twenty years,” Tackett said. “We wanted to do something different when we started, and that’s what we did.”

Sunday evening video theft: Hyatari live @ the Thirsty Whale 8.15.09

In the normal process of putting stuff together on Hyatari for the Huntington Herald-Dispatch, we happened upon drummer Jude Blevins' MySpace page.

There, not for the first time, but maybe most appropriately this time, we spent some quality minutes watching the band perform "Collapse" off their debut The Light Carriers (not the 15 minute version), and their cover of Seam's "Autopilot," ending their 8.15.09 set at The Thirsty Whale in drone-tastic fashion.

Of course, normal readers of this blog (hi, you two!) will recognize the date, and maybe even the sound, from the live download Hyatari recently made available from the show.

Hyatari: “Collapse”

Hyatari: “Autopilot”


Maybe you got their most recent full-length, They Will Surface, and didn't get Light Carriers; you can find a link to download it online if you look. You can also find our review of Surface if you search this site; we know you won't.

Kudos to dozens12 for uploading this; very good job. And maybe look for something awesome on the band in the paper in time for their 8.31 show at the V Club.


flyer: Jimbo Valentine

Hyatari surfaces with live recording

Some of our favorite recordings of all time are of the live bootleg variety.

So, it was with great excitement and anticipation when we heard Barry Smith talking about working on a live Hyatari recording on Facebook.

Fast forward a few days, and somehow, we get hooked up with it.

Just as being on Facebook has its perks, finding out about stuff, sometimes, we’re glad we started this blog, because we get hooked up with cool music.

We cannot disclose at this time the party that leaked the recording to us (we’ll call him J. Blevins) but we were so happy to get it we actually, finally, downloaded a piece of software that allows us to convert .rar files.

But what about the friggin CD?

Well, here at WVRockscene, some of us can’t get along half the time; some of us are more into doom, some prefer sludgy, elemental-yet melodic drone rock -- you know, the kind Hyatari smelts into existence like so much slow forming lava. But, regardless of who here is who is way more doom or drone than the other, we, generally speaking, love music without words.

So, this open air recording, captured by Smith at Hyatari’s August 15, 2009 show at the Thirsty Whale in Huntington, won’t let you down due to poor vocals. Heck, the band doesn’t even need a mic, period, as over the course of the five songs and 30 minutes or so set list, there’s no “Let’s make some noise!” or “Can someone bring me a beer?” although we’re sure that’s implied.

Joining Hyatari onstage for this show is ex-Chum band mate John Lancaster, adding to the sound. Basically, for people not familiar with Hyatari’s sound, it might best be described as sounding like Trent Reznor’s instrumental soundtrack to a movie about the slow process of tectonic plate shifting. Slow and heavy, yet melodic enough with cool progressions and chord changes that it isn’t unlikely it would in parts evoke instrumental NIN.

Between Chris Tackett (bass) and Mac Walker (guitar) maybe the wild card in Hyatari’s sound is Brett Fuller on “sounds,” as credited on the CD. Whatever he’s doing as far as synth or noise or programming, it makes Hyatari great.

The CD opens with the title track off their most recent CD, They Will Surface and “By The Throne.” On a few song you’ll notice drummer Jude Blevins jamming more ad-libbed, rocked out type fills. Killer.

Songs from The Light Carriers, “Harvesting Sod,” and “Collapse” round out the short set before closing out with the really beautiful, apparently unreleased up to now Seam cover, “Autopilot,” maybe evoking crashing into Mars on a terraform mission or something. Whatever you do, do not click on the link to the download of the song on Jude’s MySpace blog thinking you’ll be redirected to Hyatari’s site, because we weren’t.

But, look, again, we love getting live bootleg recordings. Especially when it’s from bands whose CDs we rock out on a consistent basis. They Will Surface has, much to our dismay, ended up with a scratch on it due to repeated plays, and is in constant danger of skipping.

Whether you’re more into Light Carriers or They Will Surface, we think Hyatari fans will agree, this was something worth putting out. Maybe some jerks will say something along the lines of asshole ball, whatever, screw them. And we’ll definitely look forward to maybe more Hyatari output.

Kudos are in order first to Barry Smith for doing a good job on the recording; Jimbo Valentine for going back and reworking his flyer art for the show into the cover art for the recording, and finally to Hyatari’s drummer for leaking this to us.

WVRockscene is not the local music blog equivalent of Wikileaks, but hey, we’ll take this kind of thing any way we can get it. This is the kind of thing we’d buy for $5 or so at a Hyatari show, to kind of document the event, as it were. We’d love to see more bands be able to cut live recordings and turn ‘em into CDs, especially when we love the bands so much.

We don’t know whether or not Hyatari indeed even plans on making this available, either online or in physical form. But, if you’re into the music these dudes make, holler at ‘em and pester ‘em to do so; it’ll be well worth it for this live recording to surface, somehow.

--- Download: Hyatari Live at The Thirsty Whale 8.15.09

Just In: An Entirely Promising Development

Well, at the very last minute we heard about this ambient/drone act calling themselves Enoch playing Saturday night at Shamrock's with DGF and The Renfields. Made up of Chris Tackett (Hyatari), Jude Blevins (Satchell/Hyatari/Skinfork) and Andy Rivas (Bad Employees), it sounds like something awesome so we got on the red phone for quotage and/or nut graphs...

Andy Rivas:
I have never rehearsed with them. Monday morning I got an email from Jude inviting me to join the sound, and of course I said yes. I have some synths in the studio that I never take out with the Bad Employees shows partly due to their age, and also that we already have so much gear on stage.

In order to try something different, I decided to bring out a unique gem (vintage synth) that has not been working properly for quite some time, but is still used for BE recordings and is one of our secret weapons. I’ll be running that with some choice effects and just feeling out what’s going on with Jude and Chris. Also, Jude will be bringing some gear that I use as well and am familiar with, so when he decides to jump on his drums, I may help myself to some Moog action.


Jude Blevins:
Yeh Satchell was scheduled to open the show this Saturday but John [Vanover] injured his hand so we had to cancel. I talked to Ian [Thornton] about some stuff that me and Chris has been kicking around during Hyatari rehearsals and he was up for it. Chris thought of Andy and we went from there, yeh so it was pretty much last minute.

We haven’t rehearsed together as a whole and really to be honest it will be more of a improv set than a structured set. I love to improv, it keeps me on my toes. I think it keeps a connection between the players too, you need to know when to change it up a little when it’s not working.

As far as I know we will be doing one set around 45 minutes give or take.

I’m excited to be playing guitar, which I’ve wanted to do for a while now. I’ll have a bunch of Moog pedals and a Moog synthesizer too, then I’ll move over to the drum kit near the end. I think its gonna turn out cool. We have a plan but it’s nothing we’ve rehearsed as mentioned.


Chris Tackett:
I’ve wanted to do something like this for years, but this particular idea just came up this week. So yeah; no rehearsal for this. There won’t be any songs per se, nothing’s been planned out. We have some ideas about what we’d LIKE to have happen. Whether or not they do is anybody’s guess.

...on similarities to Hyatari:
It will probably end up being somewhat similar at times, just less structured. I would expect more drone and noise than a Hyatari show. Other than that, I don’t know what to expect myself.

...on the chance for more Enoch shows, and the design:
I hope to do this again for sure. The unpredictability factor is totally exciting, and a little scary to be honest. But that’s what makes it fun. The graphic is something I came up with just a couple of days ago. I thought, if we’re actually gonna do this, a visual might help get the idea across.