originality has no influence. best to say inspired by the likes of
jeff buckley and conner o'. nathan day lays out a blend of passical musion
or a blending of passion and music with a bit of reality or personal
experience thrown in for texture -L. Anthony
Percussionist, Levi Willis (aka, ‘Capt’n Sham’), started his career in ‘92 recording Drum and Bass, Hip-Hop, and Rap tracks in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Word quickly spread of his musical prowess and he soon began recording across the midwest and eastern United States with short stints in Memphis, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina; and New Orleans, notably. The latter of which was for a label by the name of ‘Steady Mackin’ Records’, which insisted on flying him to their city from his hometown of Fort Smith, Arkansas and setting him up with room and board. Once these projects were finished, however, Sham was intent on spending the next four years mixing, mastering, and producing Hip-Hop and Rap music for local Fort Smith artists through ‘Bank Vault Records’ as he spent his own free time creating a total of five complete albums of Drum and Bass material (not to mention myriad Drum and Bass and Rap tracks he released through different aliases.
“I started with Electronic Drum and Bass....“ Sham explains, “and eventually moved onto playing drums for myself. I had an idea of putting my type of music in with an acoustic/rock kind of feel... I was really just waiting for that to happen after ‘Bank Vault’.”
Bassist and Backing Vocalist, John Long (aka ‘Johnny Mojo’), spent ‘93 in what is now the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith with a major in music, specifically, studying Classical and Jazz guitar. Due to personal events he was forced to quit after completing his first semester. Soon after, though, he dedicated his time toward playing bass in a punk band while continuing work on his own acoustic material. Nothing much came of this band, and they eventually separated, leaving Johnny to concentrate his talents on his solo material until sometime in ‘06 or ‘07 at which time he began, again, playing as a bassist for a rock band that simply couldn’t further their music for lack of agreement and, often enough, talent.
“It was a good time when we were all completely smashed, “ Mojo recollects, “but that’s about it. Really, if drama had been talent we would’ve been awesome.”
Once the members disbanded, he spent the next couple years putting very little of his time into his own music, with the pressures of raising a family weighing heavily on him.
Still, music constantly occupied his mind, taking notable interest in artists such as Cliff Burton, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, A Perfect Circle, Trent Reznor, and even System of a Down (“The music, not really the lyrical content,” he says about the last.).
Backing guitarist and Keyboardist, Luke Willis (aka, ‘Andrew Honestly’) had little, if any musical inclinations before he met frontman, Adrian Bartholomew (aka, ‘Nathan Day’).
Nathan had spent many years writing and the last few playing out his solo music but, as he says, “never really thought that I’d have an actual band.”
However, from the moment Andrew picked up Nathan’s guitar, he showed an outstanding natural talent. The two soon hit the road, busing and hitching across the country, together or apart, but always meeting up eventually.
“At first,” says Nathan, “I completely refused to teach him guitar. Cruel as it may sound, I didn’t want to waste my time unless I was sure that he was serious about the idea. But eventually it got to the point where we’d be on opposite ends of the country and I’m on the phone explaining chord progressions of whatever song he was learning at the moment.”
Once they met back up in Portland, Oregon in 2008, Andrew had progressed significantly. Not only could he play most of Nathan’s songs, but he had written his own compositions with both the guitar and the piano. However, the pair hit the road again, without a thought of a musical career.
Eventually, they were sick of hitchhiking and decided to go home, “just passing through,” they imagined, on their way back to New York City, were Nathan had spent the last six months bumming around the music scene in the bars and subways stations of Brooklyn. As soon as they were home in Fort Smith, Nathan, Andrew, and Sham were playing together. Sham and Nathan had spent some time talking, at which time, they simultaneously expressed interest in a Hip-Hop/Drum and Bass-type percussion inside of a modern rock feel, (“with plenty of room for violins, cello, piano...that kind of thing.”). They spent an easy six months there planning, playing, and collaborating. But even still, no one had a thought of it being permanent.
Finally, it was a week before Andrew and Nathan were scheduled to depart. On a whim, they decided to play an open mic night at a local venue in downtown Fort Smith. Immediately upon completion they were booked for their first gig as a full band (after a quick call to Johnny, who immediately jumped on board, itching to play after the long absence of music from his life). “After that,” Nathan explains, “I just asked Johnny if he’d want to play a couple songs with us. I had never really heard him play bass...only his acoustic stuff. But I had no doubt that he would be an amazing bassist.”
Things fell into place with a frightening pace from there. A month after their first collaborative public performance (the open mic even marking Andrew’s very first performance), they had their first show as a band, with many compliments and much approval (one girl even ran up on stage, threw her arms around Nathan, and confessed her drunken love for him), and two months after this event, they were being played on local radio stations and booking regular events.
And now? Who knows what will happen?
If your band is interested in submitting music to be played on our broadcast, here is how to do it!
Go to Arkansas Internet Radio www.arkansasinternetradio.com, if you like what you see and hear and want to be a part of it, click on the band sign up tab and sign up and submit music in Mp3 format to: airarkansas@live.com
There is no catch..It's Free..Well we do take donations if you believe this broadcast could be helpful in promoting Arkansas bands and shows..
Our broadcast has only been up for 9 weeks and we are getting an awesome response from bands and listeners..Check it out and submit and listen!
Nathaniel...<br /><br />'Cheers'<br /><br />Thanks for finding me...<br />& showing some LOVE...<br /><br />How is the day my friend...<br /><br />'Ciao'<br />TD <br />
Hey, i hope i can come out there Firday, i have to talk my sister or someone into babysitting. If i cannot make it then we just need to set up a different time to hang out. Hope to see you guys soon <3 Rain
