|
diversions:
Nasscar Poets
paying a visit to the Beach
By Alex Roman
On-line Forty-Niner
The band Nasscar
Poets aren't caught up in writing songs that are complex and
laden with deep hidden meanings, instead they write songs
that are honest and from the heart.
"Our goal
is to write honest and expressive lyrics with engaging music
and melody. The kind of stuff you want to hear over and over."
said Eli Hammond, vocalist for the LA based band.
What Nasscar Poet
writes songs with beautiful melodies, and lyrics that are
nothing more than true feelings stripped to the bare bone.
The band put out
their self-titled, self-recorded and self-released CD last
year. The band consists of Hammond (vocals), Carl Jordan (guitar),
Clark Becker (drums) and identical twins Clayton (guitar)
and Cameron (bass, vocals) Bentley.
All four members are from Northern California where three
of them, Hammond, Jordan and Clayton Bentley attended school
at UC Santa Cruz.
"I have know
the Bentley twins since I was five and we have played off
and on in bands together since age 11," said Hammond.
"I met Carl my first year at UCSC and he produced a demo
my old band was putting together."
Nasscar Poets has
been generating a buzz throughout the underground, gaining
play on college radio stations, major label interest and support
from notable rock icon Alan Parsons, who called their songs
fresh and original.
"He heard
our music and liked it and invited us up to his house in the
Santa Barbara Hills," said Hammond of Parsons. "We
were fascinated by his stories about working with the Beatles
and Pink Floyd as well as with the Alan Parsons Project. He
also showed a real interest in what we were doing, which was
exciting."
On their song "Answer
to Why I'm so Sad" Hammond sings; "These are the
things she told me/ The answer to why I'm so sad…And I do
declare/ A girl's feelings can change so fast."
Pain and change
seem to play a big role in Nasscar Poets' music.
"When these
songs were written I had recently ended a five year relationship
with my one serious girlfriend to date," said Hammond.
"I was questioning the decision I had made and also many
things about myself I had previously taken for granted. I
felt extremely confused and lost."
Nasscar Poets will
be playing at Cal State University Long Beach on Wednesday
May 16 at noon in the southwest terrace in the student union.
The band has also been recording a new album with producer
David Max, which they hope to release by mid-summer.
As for finding
where they fit in today's music world, Hammond says the band
is not uptight about being labeled as long as it makes it
easier for an audience to identify with them.
"I don't have
a problem with the classification of music as long as it is
know that these are generalizations made in order to categorize
certain movements in music," said Hammond. "These
classifications are more appropriate when they're done with
a historical perspective--the common issues affecting a certain
group of people at the time."
At this moment,
Nasscar Poets are hoping to take their honesty and melodies
as far as they will take them.
|
