The Invisible Hours. Find them.
January 16, 2011 No Comments
Providence, RI. A Friday night last December. A line-up of bands playing at The 201- a venue that during the day looks a bit like your grandfather’s basement bar, open to viewing from the inter-connected Mamma Teresa’s take-out Italian food. The band I went to see was on last (at midnight), but I decided to play musical roulette and sit through the entire line-up, which turned out to be a positive experience in all cases – so, kudos to the booking agent.
I have heard the rumor that Providence is the current capital of “Noise Rock”; true or not true, it was my first experience of an evening of this kind. And the fact that The 201 has no elevated stage, the bands are in a large corner, doing their thing. The lighting is just horrible for photography but just great for getting lost in the sounds. This is where I heard The Invisible Hours.
I like this description from The Invisible Hours web site: “Initially dabbling in math-rock inspired complex compositions, they have drifted into a vocabulary rooted in the fuzz, echo, and the rolling percussive pulse of psychedelia while still remaining anchored by the songwriting approach.”
And, the demo CD these kind fellows gave me to listen to was awesome. Being a lover of all things graphic design, I treasure the limited edition, hand-printed and numbered CD.
The Invisible Hours – Find them. If you can.
Chris Kelly
Guitarist Chris Kelly was kind enough to answer a few questions for us about how this demo CD came to be after 9 years of musical collaboration with Alex Moore.
Your web site says you guys played together for 9 years before deciding to record a demo CD. Why the wait?
Alex (drums) and I had played together on and off for around ten years in different projects. We were always really serious about getting things off the ground but never ended up playing with people who were as serious as we were. Grad school also got in the way a bit too. When Ian joined us on bass in December 2009 it was a breath of fresh air because not only is he a great player and contributor, but we can count on him.
Why only 4 songs?
When Alex and I went into the studio in November 2009 we only had four songs written. Two months earlier we were playing in another project with a friend of ours that didn’t end up working out. We took the songs that we had written and finished them to be recorded. We have close to twelve songs now and will be recording new tracks late January and early February to release a full-length.
Are you happy with the process and the outcome of the recording experience?
I am happy with the outcome of the recording. The tracks take me back to a specific time and how that time felt. We recorded them with Scott Hoffman way out in western Massachusetts so I always think of drinking diner coffee and walking around this small town in the middle of nowhere. We are looking forward to finally getting more tracks down, especially now that Ian is with us. Ian is actually recording it this time so we can slow the process down a bit.
I know it’s always a tough question.. but.. what influences or inspires you/the band to write a song? What tends to come first, sounds or words? How much do you collaborate on the instrumentation choices?
Ever since Ian started playing with us we write everything as a band, although I usually end up writing the lyrics alone. It usually starts with one of us having an idea, a drum rhythm, guitar riff, or bass line. We create parts and gradually piece them together until we are content.
Are you all based in RI?
Yes, we all live in Providence. In fact, at one point we all lived within a block of each other and did not completely know.
