Alesana Story

It's been a long process, but for the guys in Alesana, it's also been a rewarding one. The sixsome from Raleigh, North Carolina, have a lot to show for their hard work. It's usually a dream of what most musicians would like to achieve. Just getting off a headlining stacked tour with From First To Last, The Word Alive, Asking Alexandria, Memphis May Fire, and announcing their UK Tour and Warped Tour Dates, you'd think they'd be exhausted, right?

"This was by far the most rewarding record-making process of our career. We were extremely focused and had been building this story for over a year. It was always our dream to turn a record into a story, much like a movie or play" says Shawn Milke, the vocalist, guitarist and pianist, of Alesana. "The songs are built to stand alone and also to play as pieces of the entire story. Each song is accompanied by a piece of sketch art representing the vision of our main character, The Artist, and the events he is seeing and experiencing. The record is accompanied by a short story written and edited by myself and co-written by Dennis and each song is a musical accompaniment to the eleven chapters of the story."

Pretty interesting. "The Emptiness" was released January 26th available through Fearless Records. Adam Fisher of Fear Before (The March of Flames) and Melissa Milke appear for guest vocal duties. "It is very rewarding and exciting for me" says Shawn, when talking about working creatively with his sister. "I have been singing with my sister since we were little kids. She has always been a great performer of dance and honestly, she was the ham when we were growing up."

With a large following in Mexico and South America, releasing a Spanish version of "To Be Scared By An Owl" only seemed like the most logical thing to do. "The ultimate reason for choosing this song is that our translator said this was the best choice for maintaining the integrity of the melody hooks and also for establishing the closest translation in terms of accuracy to the English lyrics."

They will undergoing a headlining US and European spring tour in support of "The Emptiness" with A Skylit Drive before playing the Warped Tour this summer. "We knew we wanted to do a full US and European headline tour in support of The Emptiness and having toured with them a good bit in the past, it seemed like the right fit. They are friends of ours and we are looking forward to traveling the world with them."

Boredom provides a stronger inclination to write than anything, so you'd think that they would be bored out of their minds. Fortunately not for Shawn. "I am very proud to say that Melissa and I, along with our friend and Alesana bass player Shane Crump, have started a project called Tempting Paris. There should be some music online in the coming weeks and we would love if you would check it out."

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. Consider Alesana too busy. After years of hard work, this post-hardcore/screamo band has accomplished what only few are privileged to do. Watch for these guys to continue to blow up and work hard for what they get. 2010 is a big year for Alesana, so check out "The Emptiness" and enjoy their success with them.

Tigers Jaw - Spirit Desire

Unexpected delightfulness came from this release from Scranton, PA's Tiger Jaw, titled "Spirit Desire". This band is young but accomplished. Already having a full length under their belts and making a name for themselves in the independent music scene, these guys have all the chops to take themselves further and this release is only proof that hard work and the ingenuity of escaping obscurity by exploring new ideas can happen for anybody that's willing to sacrifice.

They've harnessed their abilities to write unexpected, tensioned hooks and low key harmonies fused with a slow but light compositions without totally abandoning their punk influences. It all kind of happens naturally in this 7". It shows a young band growing into a sound they can niche out for themselves that can still stay relevent to todays indie all the while still staying true to what laid that road out before them more than a decade ago.

It is surprisingly fresh and infectious, all while spanding four songs, this band shows just what they can do and what they are about to do in the future, and that is making inspired music for the uninspired. I suggest checking this band out live then getting to know them on record.