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The Ether Family Presents... creates infectious pop-rock of a style all their own. Their output is prolific and ambitious, weaving complex themes and story lines throughout their releases. The four-piece devours every decade of rock and pop drawing influence form the The Beach Boys, Kinks, Beatles, XTC, Big Star, Minutemen, Donovan, The Replacements, Pavement, The Grifters, Guided By Voices, The Apples In Stereo and Of Montreal (to name a handful), but the band always maintains their unique individuality and rare chemistry. They have three previously released albums, the critically acclaimed Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, their debut Tools For Men Who Want To Succeed, and the first part of their four album series entitled How To Get Lost In A Time Consuming Ego Trip. The complete series will be comprised of 80 songs at over 160 minutes in length -- possibly the most extensive concept record ever released.

AMIE STREET

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The Ether Family Presents... - The Story

Threads of the The Ether Family Presents... were formed in early 1997 as a project under the cryptic name subReal. Jimmy and Earl Ether had played together for years in various eclectic and dissonant bands, but they decided to point their new project in the direction of experimental pop. Though they both worked as engineers in professional studios, they decided to set up a small home studio in Jimmy's basement to record in a more intimate and relaxed environment. These recordings eventually became the album Tools For Men Who Want To Succeed, which was released in late 1998.

Though rough around the edges, Tools laid down the basis of what would become The Ether Family Presents... and provided an early peek into the "Ether Family" guise. Jimmy's wife, Gayle, made a brief appearance on vocals for two of the album's tracks, and the "Ether Family" name even made a hasty last-minute appearance on the album's cover art.

Soon after the release of Tools, Jimmy began developing and recording demos for a multi-layered four-part concept album called How To Get Lost In A Time-Consuming Ego Trip. During this time, Jimmy and Earl decided to expand the line-up to include Gayle on bass and vocals and Freddy on drums.

Getting together for the first time in the early months of 1999, TEFP... began to take shape with each rehearsal. As a result of their collective enthusiasm and musical growth, only a few tracks from How to Get Lost... made it into their regular repertoire, some of them disappearing completely from the early live set. What took its place was Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, a linear story that followed the demise of a relationship. As the album developed, the new rhythm section began to assert an influence on Jimmy and Earl's songwriting. Jimmy and the rest of the band wrote new songs spontaneously, shelving How to Get Lost... for another day. The tracks for OMPS were recorded in a large abandoned choral studio in the building where Jimmy worked. Though plagued by the aging studio's technical difficulties and characterized by grueling marathon sessions, the band finally released Original Motion Picture Soundtrack in late 2000.

The album made it into the hands of music reviewers, radio stations, and listeners nationwide, where it was accepted with critical acclaim and enthusiasm. The album's songwriting showed considerable improvement over Tools. Jimmy was becoming more and more confident as a lead vocalist. Gayle began to do some lead vocals as well, and her harmonies and bass playing quickly became a signature of the band's sound. Earl, formally a bass player as well, now became the lead guitarist and developed a melodic picking style that uniquely wove its way around Jimmy's rhythm guitar. And Freddy added the driving backbeat pushing the band further into the rock realm.

After doing regional tours and local shows in support of OMPS, The Ether Family Presents... finally turned back to the How to Get Lost In A Time Consuming Ego Trip project. By now, the record had changed. Deeper in scope from the original 1998 demos, which sketched out the record to include four distinct cycles representing basic alchemical elements, the seasons, and moods, the new How to Get Lost... became far more complex, making four distinct albums, rather than one single album split into four movements.

The band is currently mixing the second part of the album series for release in Spring and are currently recording material for the third album in the series.