Escondido

Jessica Maros and Tyler James (Courtesy: Facebook) 

Listening to Escondido is a welcome trip to the Wild West. Lead singer Jessica Maros' voice is sweet, sexy, and seductive with an old-school Spaghetti Western-theme and a hard rock mash up playing in the background. Most of the songs are guitar driven and heavily influenced by Ennio Morriocone, famous Italian composer known for providing the soundtrack for the Dollars Trilogy starring Clint Eastwood.  Jessica along with her colleague Tyler James' (from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes) penchant for Wild West themes, energetic on stage persona, and some banter between the two makes their live act performance a unique experience.

Jessica likes to describe the band's music as "desert rock". It makes sense regarding how Escondido got started. Jessica is originally from Vancouver, Canada. At age 19, she had a record deal with a major label in Nashville.Things didn't go smooth for her. The label that she had signed with pressured her to be someone she wasn't. Eventually she dropped out, felt dejected, and decided to take a four year break from music. During that time, Jessica started her own successful fashion label. But in the end, she found her calling, sold her business, and returned to one thing she loves: music.

(Courtesy: Facebook)

At a friend's place one night, Jessica met Tyler and they started jamming after she shared with him a couple of songs she wrote. Coming away with demo tapes, she and Tyler decided to form Escondido. "There is something barren about where to go," says Jessica. She adds, "it's okay if you don't know where you are in life." That's how Jessica felt. After a disappointing record deal at 19, it seems like Jessica "wandered in the desert" for four years, starting her own fashion label and even getting married. She realized that's not where she wanted to be and her music reflects that. Her lyrics talk about losing love and new beginnings. But most importantly it contains autobiographical themes.

There is nothing sexy about how they came up with the name Escondido. Tyler had the name for a long time. Despite that, Escondido has started to taste success. Already the band has performed on Conan and their song "Cold October" was featured on the hit show "The New Girl". Even former president Bill Clinton digs their music (okay there's a photo of him with an Escondido record but it looks like it's been photo shopped!)

Bottom Line: Their shows are energetic and fun. They do what they like and because of that, they are enjoying fame and success. In this day and age, it's pretty rare. So go see a band that writes and produces their own music independently.

Jessica Maros: Lead Singer/Guitarist/Song Writer
Tyler James: Back-Up Singer/Keyboardist/Producer

Brain Box

(Courtesy: Facebook)

In these tough times, everyone is struggling. Brain Box is one band, though it would be inappropriate to say they are making ends meet. Each member of the three-piece band have their own lives, own challenges, and yet despite all this, one common theme unites all three of them: friendship.

The band plays due to camaraderie, a strong passion, and enthusiasm for playing music. When they play to a live audience, their music sounds like 90's-Grungy-High Tempo rock anthems. But Brain Box are creative enough to blend different genres, making them one of those rare bands that can't be slapped with one label. Some songs are fast paced while others are slow, fun loving work of art. Like their music, their inspiration for writing lyrics come from blaming someone to randomly flipping through the Yellow Pages, find words and piecing it together into something coherent.

(Courtesy: Facebook)

Brain Box started in 2002. Matt Chenoweth, the lead vocalist, had already played in dozen bands. At that time, he was involved with Crabdaddy, a local band originally from Boston but settled down in Athens, Georgia. Crabdaddy got the chance to play a gig with another band called American Dream. There, Matt met the band's drummer Eric. Both of them met up with guitarist Bruce from The Futurabold. Since then, they have been jamming together.

Bottomline: This band does not play only to get a paycheck every night after a hard night gig. They perform because they enjoy each other's company and through that, they are able to go out and delight their fans with their unique brand of music. Despite the financial constraints they face in their day to day lives, fans should check this band out because they genuinely enjoy playing and making sure everyone leaves with a smile on their face.

Royal Thunder

Dressed in black and a penchant to tell stories through live performances, Royal Thunder starts off every song with a jingle and a guitar solo before jumping themselves into a melody driven hard rock and heavy metal jam session. The three-member band goes heavy on playing odd time signatures layered with thick, dense sounds. Each song is sung in a melismatic style with a moody and atmospheric tone to it. The melodies are kept and driven by strict guitar rhythms and hard drumming.

Originally formed in 2007, Royal Thunder took off in 2009 with a new album released and titled CV. Lead singer Mlny says she performs because "that's one thing I can do that doesn't allow me to conceal who I really am.". Since then, they have played across the country and this fall, they are expected to tour Europe.

Bottom Line: Go watch them for the passion and energy they display. Their unique melodic, hard sound should not be taken for granted. This band will keep your eyes glued to them and your ears in tune with their music.

The Locksmyth

This three-man band is delightful to watch. The Locksmyth's music stays rooted in funk and blues-influenced rock and roll but they also incorporate Cabaret, Ragtime, Jazz, and Psychedelic sounds as well. Along with their unique style of rock and roll, the band's lead singer Ethan Gabriel Jack singing ranges from echoes to whistling. Each song is crafted with heavy emphasis on improvised guitar solos and Ethan's soft vocals going high and low.

Started in 2012, Ethan and his friend Dustin Cox, guitarist for The Locksmyth, decided to collaborate with Atlanta based producer Joey Jones after their stint with another band, "A The Color". Since then their profile has grown considerably, recently opening for the Royal Thunder at the Earl.

The Locksmyth are scheduled to play at the 2013 IMR Festival on August 10 at the Basement. Doors open at 5 p.m., music starts at 6 p.m.

Bottom line: This band has potential and it has all the ingredients to become the next big act in music. The Locksmyth are pushing the musical boundaries, mixing various genres with it's funk and blues-infused rock and roll and displaying a technical efficiency in sound craftsmanship.

Members:   Ethan Gabriel Jack
                  Mr. Dustin Cox
                  Andres Miller
                  Jimmy Conely
                  Troy Wolf
                  Taylor Tindell
                  Josh Yoder
                  Joey Jones
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLocksmyth/info

Website: http://the-locksmyth.bandcamp.com/

Lowbanks

Riding high on charisma and only on charisma, Lowbanks is a band fun to watch live. It is not playing anything unique or mind blowing. The band plays a mix of blues and punk rock.  Formed in the summer of 2011, originally the band was called Rabbit Run and it's sound was a lot more melodic. A bit softer let's say. Shortly thereafter, lead vocalist John Graffo came up with the name Lowbanks and from then on, their songs became more aggressive and fast paced. Oh and Lowbanks is also a city in Canada. Not that it matters but the band wanted to point that out to me.

Lowbanks thrives on collaborative song writing. John like to tell stories and their song "Born a Cosmonaut" is about a man who wakes up alone on a distant planet. At first, he likes the idea of being alone on a distant planet but starts to realize he is going to die alone. So he figures out he needs to get back to planet Earth. Quite amusing how Josh came up with the story.  

Bottomline: These guys had nothing better to do so they formed a band and rocked out live on stage. Go and see them for the live performances, drunk! Music, not much except if you are into headbanging to loud, punk-influence music.

Burners

This band is not doing anything new but it's live performances will burn you. The Burners, a three piece punk rock band has all the ingredients to keep your head bang and your feet moving. If you are into A Wilhelm Scream or Rise Against, this band's strips down its music, emphasizing on guitar solos and heavy drumming.

Bottom Line: It's for those who digest loud, banging, screaming, old-fashioned punk rock.

The Wild

Nothing makes a band more happy than coming back home... home meaning Atlanta and seeing their dedicated fans brave the rain to see them. The five-piece band, The Wild comes from their love of playing music and backpacking out in mother nature. Their music is rooted in raw, hardcore punk rock but layered with a tinge of folk-influenced, Bruce Springsteen-esque sounds.

The Wild is more than a hybrid folk-meets-punk band. Their lyrics are diverse ranging from politics to inspiring people that the sky is the limit. Performances are very emotional as one of the lead singers, Dianna teared up when she declared that Atlanta is truly the greatest city. At to add to this raw display of emotion, she asked her fans, if her lipstick is smearing her teeth. It was sort of a weird moment, but the audience got a kick when she applied more lipstick.

Bottom line: People who love punk rock, especially the raw strip down version will enjoy their live performances. Also for those who still listen to the Violent Femmes, check these guys out, their music is more high tempo though but Steve, who plays the banjo, adds folksy, clear, crisp sound to the loud guitars and heavy drumming.

Band Members:
Dianna - vocals, tambourine
Bryan - drums
Witt - vocals, guitar, harmonica
Steve - banjo, vocals
Dakota - bass

Calm White Noise

Calm White Noise blowing the audiences' mind at Drunken Unicorn.

Famous eclectic musician John Zorn once said, "It's a matter of keeping people on a spontaneous edge" and like Scatter Brain, Calm White Noise enjoys giving its audience an edgy, musical treat. The Atlanta based five-member electronic band experiments with different genres including sample electronic infused raga sounds from India, eerie, ambient tunes, and funk-influenced break beats backed by the lead singer Dylan Bank's droning vocals. Each song thrives on atmospherics, minimalism, and rich melodies while the lyrics remain cryptic and sung softly. 

While the band experiments heavily in creating new sounds, it's firmly rooted to the ground.  Calm White Noise challenges itself by making sure it's music is accessible by creating soothing melodies with pop hooks, keeping the rhythm steady, and danceable. 

The band started out as project in 2011 with a more guitar driven sound focused on vocal and melodic structures. Over time, the band shifted musically with more emphasis on using synthesizers and MIDI sequencers to create their unique sound. Needless to say the band remains proudly offbeat and focused on "trying to make music that is different".  

Scatter Brain

Scatter Brain or a.k.a DJ Mikey Forest spins his own brand of music in which he admits, "not into crowd pleasing".  Thus he is heavily influenced by house music and electronica that is either remixed, mashed up, or heavily sampled from artists as offbeat as Kishi Bashi. He started off the night at the Drunken Unicorn playing a sample of a female singing soul with beats dropping in the background. Note when he started off, nothing was pre-recorded. His music jumps from one genre to another, ranging from psychedelic to rock music all while keeping the beats intact. "It's all but flow, but there these freaking moments, spontaneity", he says with confidence and swagger.

Bottom line: The music is energetic, infectious that will make you shake a leg. The common is continuous house music/electronica laced with heavy samples from diverse artists like Little Dragon to Bjork.