Relaxcitement by Distance to Empty

" ~Robert Cornelius (singer Poi Dog Pondering)

The Bottleneck, in Lawrence Kansas -- the club from which emerged Paw, Stick and Frogpond…host joint for Butthole Surfers, Burning Spear and Lucinda Williams – in May 2002 was also the first stage for Distance To Empty, four Kansas natives with little in common but location and the sheer enjoyment of playing music…

Meet…Curtis, a hair stylist (no, he’s not gay so don’t bother asking) with a fondness for Frank Sinatra, Liza Mineli and Maynard James Keenan. He’s also the son of a preacher man. Meet…Bo, once frat boy and varsity collegiate rower at the University of Kansas who claims his music obsession started with U2’s “The Joshua Tree” and Bob Marley’s “Legend” when he was 13. Meet…Kyle, published poet and self-described computer geek, who reportedly made a few mix cds with N’Sync and the Backstreet Boys in high school. Kyle does not deny these allegations, but embraces his former poor tastes like one tells stories of battle scars. Meet…Ryan, a high school drumline teacher that spent five summers touring with an international drum and bugle corps. Ryan cut his musical teeth on Aphex Twin, Squarepusher and Nirvana and can’t really stand all the other “pop crap” the rest of the band listens to.

“Yeah, we are extremely different people. Ultimately I think this is the source for a lot of the spark and creativity in the music” says Bo McCall, guitarist and one of the band’s three lyricists. “The distinctive personalities definitely come out when you’re listening to the songs and watching us perform live.”

Between surfing and occasionally going to class during a foreign exchange semester in Australia, McCall wrote the band’s first songs. The band came together through mutual friends months later on the other side of the world in Lawrence, Kansas. In the beginning there were no dreams of rock star excess and poolside fantasies full of scantily clad women. Just the experience. And maybe the possibility of landing a few phone numbers.

Two years and lots of gigs at college bars and late night house parties later, in the Spring of 2004 the band released their first full length album. One reviewer called the self-titled Lp “hopelessly romantic, yet painfully bitter, full of adolescent definitions of love sung with a man’s maturity.”

Thanks to a more aggressive tour schedule around the Midwest from Austin to Chicago, and with the help of the ensuing information age, the independently funded album went on to sell almost 1,000 copies over the next year. You might be familiar with this phenomenon: fan-building through file sharing and growing sales via online distribution.

2005 was a break-through year for the band. Audiences quickly grew around the Midwest as the band’s stage presence began to mature and their sound came into its own. Gigs were offered all over the map, including a private party at a P.G.A golfer’s house, an opening spot for Coldplay and Rilo Kiley and a weekly acoustic show at a country club. “That’s one of the great things of being a touring band, you just never know what’s coming next,” says Akers. Over the course of the year they would continue to share stage with a variety of bands and audiences, including Dave Anderson (former bassist Funky Meters and the Radiators), Grasshopper Takeover, Apollo 13, Shaking Tree, The Architects, Abileen and Anything but Joey.With the success of the year Distance To Empty went back to the studio.

Recorded in a nine day flurry, Relaxcitement is a pop-rock roller coaster ride crackling with dynamics, hooks and a visceral energy hijacked from the bands live performances.

“The goal was to keep the sound as pure and driving as possible on this one. Guitars, bass, drums, and vocals. Period. It seems that a lot of bands are abusing the benefits of technology these days. Nobody in this band wants that over-produced limp sound,” says Whitehouse.

Distance To Empty next step is back into the van, this time taking it to a national audience. Expect them to throw down the same conviction displayed on Relaxcitement in front of live crowds. The band will also continue its search for the right record label to support their efforts. “Being a DIY-er in the music industry today is easier than ever and really I think has been an invaluable experience in our group’s development. But its tough for an indie artist to balance the demands of management and still give the appropriate attention to the music. You get to a certain point where you’re ready to work with trusted professionals,” says McCall. Regardless, Distance To Empty’s quest is to spread good times. Give em a ring, doesn’t have to be diamond. Or drop them a line. Just don’t be a stranger…

Website

http://www.distancetoempty.com

Discography

Distance to Empty-Self-titled released May 2004 on Plastic Artifice Records

Distance to Empty-Relaxcitement released May 2006 on Plastic Artifice Records

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