Loveless in the Midwest: The Otto Modest
on the local scene
Jarret L Green
Issue date: 1/26/05 Section: Entertainment
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"When we play live, I don't think we really realize that we're playing live," says vocalist Josh Evans. Like many of the shoegaze acts, such as My Bloody Valentine and Ride, that the band references, their performances are completely about the music, and the members often seem too focused on their instruments or one another to realize anyone else exists.
It makes sense that a band that is so focused and open-minded in execution and product would also have an organic creation process. "Many times a song will completely change," explained Evans, who writes the rough ideas for most of the songs. "Love on Me," a new song which began as acoustic, morphed into one of the band's loudest songs. "Country Mouse" began with a drumbeat Collin Giles, who usually plays guitar, created electronically.
The new album will also be more ambitious than anything else the band has recorded. They plan on recording 15 or 16 songs, some of which will be instrumental interludes to add to the overall cohesion of the LP. The album will feature more of the band's experimentation with electronic beats, samples and various effects, especially reverb and echo from guitarist Ross Martin.
You'll also hear Giles playing his guitar with a bow, a technique created by Jimmy Paige and updated by Sigur Rós, or an EBow, both of which create a sound similar to whale singing. Much of Giles' guitar work calls to mind Kevin Shields or TV on the Radio, but he sounds more like Muse's Matthew Bellamy when he's behind the keyboard. Aaron Schafer's bass work is often the warm center of the new songs, whether it's the slow rise to a screaming chorus in "Far Between" or the wavy verses of "Equals."
The band, it seems, is destined for greatness. Not many bands fill the niche that their music encompasses, especially in America. Like, for example, Explosions in the Sky, an instrumental group from Austin, Texas, who went from releasing two semi-successful albums on a small label to scoring the soundtrack to last year's "Friday Night Lights," The Otto Modest is too big to be contained by a regional scene. They play music people need to hear.
Unfortunately, you won't be able to hear them much until after the new album is released; they're taking time off from live shows until then. Meanwhile, check them out at theottomodest.com and listen for them on The Rage local spotlight.
It makes sense that a band that is so focused and open-minded in execution and product would also have an organic creation process. "Many times a song will completely change," explained Evans, who writes the rough ideas for most of the songs. "Love on Me," a new song which began as acoustic, morphed into one of the band's loudest songs. "Country Mouse" began with a drumbeat Collin Giles, who usually plays guitar, created electronically.
The new album will also be more ambitious than anything else the band has recorded. They plan on recording 15 or 16 songs, some of which will be instrumental interludes to add to the overall cohesion of the LP. The album will feature more of the band's experimentation with electronic beats, samples and various effects, especially reverb and echo from guitarist Ross Martin.
You'll also hear Giles playing his guitar with a bow, a technique created by Jimmy Paige and updated by Sigur Rós, or an EBow, both of which create a sound similar to whale singing. Much of Giles' guitar work calls to mind Kevin Shields or TV on the Radio, but he sounds more like Muse's Matthew Bellamy when he's behind the keyboard. Aaron Schafer's bass work is often the warm center of the new songs, whether it's the slow rise to a screaming chorus in "Far Between" or the wavy verses of "Equals."
The band, it seems, is destined for greatness. Not many bands fill the niche that their music encompasses, especially in America. Like, for example, Explosions in the Sky, an instrumental group from Austin, Texas, who went from releasing two semi-successful albums on a small label to scoring the soundtrack to last year's "Friday Night Lights," The Otto Modest is too big to be contained by a regional scene. They play music people need to hear.
Unfortunately, you won't be able to hear them much until after the new album is released; they're taking time off from live shows until then. Meanwhile, check them out at theottomodest.com and listen for them on The Rage local spotlight.
