By: Dr. Matt Warnock
Element 57 was born out of the ashes of nationally acclaimed Indie band 4th Plane Jaiant, who’s two albums, Tideline and Bipolar, received national college radio play with the band maintaining an incessant touring schedule. In 2004, founding members Chris Galyon, Andy Kallenberger and Jason Wilbur changed their musical direction from a Dave Matthews inspired progressive jam band to the riff heavy, groove oriented modern rock that Element 57 thrives on today. New band members Mark Banner and Justin DeFreece were added to complete the current line-up, a move intended to help further the bands musical vision.
Recorded with long time Portland engineer and producer Sean Norton, Element 57’s new record Ripcord, is a record filled with a strong sense of duality. On the one hand it’s chalk full of modern rock radio-ready songs such as “20 Minutes,” and “Weather,” while on the other hand it maintains a dark, more emotive demeanor. From the ever-climbing title track, “Ripcord,” to the driving pulse of “Lifeline,” the songs overflow with energy, while still focusing on melody and form. Guitar and saxophone rise and fall over a waterfall of sound and a pounding groove. All of which is led by Chris Galyon’s dynamic vocals, that simultaneously conjure up both Peter Gabriel and Chris Cornell.
Winning the 2006 Independent Music Award for best rock song, “Woke Up Late,” Element 57 is hoping for even more industry accolade with Ripcord, and they seem to be getting it. All forms of radio, traditional and online, have been quick to respond to the new record. Portland radio stations KUFO 101.1FM and 94.7FM KNRK as well as over 250 college, FM and public radio stations around the nation have added the songs “Ripcord”, “Weather” and “20 Minutes” to their play lists.
In the fall 2009, MTV, VH1 & The E Channel have licensed the new album for popular TV shows such as The Real World, Road Rules, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Bad Girls Club, The City, Cribs and several others. In August of 2008, the band was named as the MTV2 Emerging Artist, landing the band two live music videos and an interview broadcast on MTV2, NBC Sports, MTV2.com and Comcast On Demand. MTV2 also chose the band to represent the Portland Music scene during the Dew Tour 2009 by broadcasting live performances and interviews with the band across the nation.
Guitarists Chris Galyon and Justin DeFreece recently sat down with Guitar International Magazine to discuss the bands accolades, their latest record and how they plan to build on the bands early success.
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Matt Warnock: Being based out of Portland, Oregon, you guys are close to Seattle, which has probably the most well-known music scene in the Northwest. What’s the scene like in Portland right now compared to what’s going on in Seattle?
Chris Galyon: I think Portland actually has a more interesting music scene than Seattle does. There are a lot of old jazz and blues players on the scene in Portland, which gives it a distinct vibe. Portland’s also a big city with a small city vibe, so the music city has a small town feel to it, we all kind of know each other and there’s an intimate feeling to it.
I’m not really that in touch with the Seattle scene to tell you the truth. We play there every few weeks but I don’t know if that’s where I’m drawn to for live music. Portland’s got a great scene, so there are tons of great bands to check out here, and great places to play.
Justin DeFreece: My exposure to the Seattle scene has been playing in roots, rockabilly bands, so that’s the side of the scene that I’ve been exposed to. In Portland there’s this heavy jazz thing going on right now, and in the rock genre people tend to be pretty eclectic.
I hear things here that I haven’t heard in other cities. Bands are drawing from a ton of different influences, there’s the reggae influence, the folk influence, so we hear a lot of acoustic stuff here. It’s kind of all over the map, which makes it a very cool place to make, and check out music.
Matt: At this point in music history it almost feels like everything’s been done in the rock genre, as far as new and innovative turns in the music’s history. How do you approach developing your own sound, one that sets you apart from your peers as well as those who’ve come before you?
Chris: I think for us, we’re more concerned about writing good music, than trying to fit into a slot so to speak. Especially as we grow and release more albums, it’s more about writing great songs, that’s the main focus of the band. I also think that the cream will rise to the top. If we’re committed and focused on our projects, that will distinguish us from the sea of rock bands out there.
We also have a little bit different angle with the sax player in our band. I don’t know if that defines us, but it automatically creates this little nuance that helps us stand out. The problem with having so many bands out there is that not only are there a ton of bad bands to compete with, sometimes the good bands, or the ones that are deemed as good by the press, don’t write interesting songs. The bands that focus on writing good material, and performing it well, will end up standing out in a crowd.
Matt: Before you jump in Justin, Chris mentioned that your use of sax helps you stand out against other rock bands, which it certainly does. Did the Portland jazz scene have an influence in this decision? How did it come about that you decided to bring a sax player into the band?
Justin: I wasn’t there in the very beginning, but I’ve known Jay, the sax player, for a long time. We actually went to high school together, where we met in the school’s jazz band. So, in a roundabout sort of way I’d say yes, we met because of jazz. His approach to the songs, and the suggestions we make to him, come from the need to be sonically original, not fall back on what a sax has traditionally done musically.
Sometimes he’ll use different technique and textures, things that sound sonically interesting. I love the times when he plays things that just use the tonal quality of the saxophone, instead of playing a typical horn line. It’s a cool, sort of organic, thing that happens when he plays that way.
Chris: He brings a sense of syncopation to the songs that maybe a guitar couldn’t do as poignantly, at least from a single-note standpoint. He’s able to play a few notes back and forth, but they’re really syncopated, so it becomes a unique idea. It almost serves as a DJ at times, it kind of fits that vibe. He also plays the EWI, electronic wind instrument, which provides another offset of that sound, it may not be about the notes at all, just about the rhythm and texture.
The band had originally started out as more of a fusion type of group, along the lines of Dave Matthews, and we had the sax in there as a part of that sound. When the group moved forward and became Element 57 we moved towards more of a rock vibe, rather than the jam kind of vibe we had earlier, and Jay brought that jazz influence into the group. He didn’t want to just be another Morphine, which is one of the only rock bands to feature a sax in that context, so he’s always looking for new ways to shape the music so it sounds like us, and not just like other rock bands who’ve used sax.
Matt: The band has been winning critics polls and awards recently, which is always a funny thing for Indie bands. Some bands see awards like these as an honor and they really dig them, others don’t really seem to care about that aspect of their careers, which may just be a front to support their rock star image. How do you guys feel about winning awards for your music?
Chris: I’m happy about the awards. I honestly respect the fact that we’re being picked out of the sea of bands that are out there right now. We were given an Independent Music Award, where we competed against over a hundred and ten thousand other songs, and we won. I mean I was floored by that, and we’ve seemed to have success in that realm, where it’s a blind listening test.
There are a bunch of competitions online these days where people vote for their favorite bands, and that’s cool, but it means more to me when we’re recognized for something that was a blind submission, where we’re being honored for the quality of our music and not the size of our fan base. The MTV thing was awesome, so was the Independent Music Award and the Billboard Award, I think it’s a great thing. It’s not that we’re going to go flaunting these things around, but it’s great to be awarded these honors by organizations that I have a lot of respect for.
Matt: Being an Indie band, releasing two albums and getting out on the road by yourselves, is it a goal for the band to be picked up by a major label, or are you content to do things as an Independent band?
Chris: I think the goal of the band is to be self sufficient and to be able to make a living making music. If that could be done independently, depending on what happens from here, I think we’re all open to that, to run the show ourselves, if we can make enough money to survive that way. But, we can’t deny the amount of money and marketing that is behind a signed act.
Just the scope of the marketing that major labels have at their disposal is hard to compete with as an Indie band. But, at the same time I know those contracts aren’t happening as much as they used to. There are other angles that bands like us look at, such as licensing deals, and endorsement deals, there are many ways to do things on our own, which we’re always exploring.
Matt: Along those same lines, do you think that it’s possible to survive as an Indie band these days, even without a major label contract?
Justin: I think it can be done. Around here, there are a lot of people who aren’t enjoying a huge amount of success, but they’re certainly making a living for themselves. Signing with a major label comes with a lot of perks, but bands may also be sacrificing their longevity at the same time. With the technology we have now, the internet and home recording for example, it’s becoming easier to do it on our own these days.
It’s a hard road to travel, but if we can do a lot of these things on our own it’s good for the band, and it also might help out with a label later on, if we go that route. I think if a label sees that a band can market themselves, book gigs and develop a fan base, they’ll take that into consideration when looking for new bands to sign.
Chris: I think it’s easier now then it ever has been to be an Indie band, though easy is a subjective term. With social networks and home recording, things can be done on a smaller platform than in years past. The catch is that now there are a million bands out there that may not be worth listening to, so fans have to sift through the mounds of bands they find on MySpace and Facebook. But the good bands will rise to the top, at least I hope they will. Laughs.
Matt: As far as writing and playing is concerned, how do you guys divide the guitar roles in the band? Is it a case of the traditional lead vs. rhythm player, or is it not that defined?
Justin: A lot of times we start out with a basic kind of blueprint of the songs we’re working on, then add the rest of the material from there, but we don’t really assign a lead or rhythm role to either of us. We try and add stuff to the songs that will help make them better, instead of saying that Chris will play the lead line here, and I’ll do the chords there, it’s never really that specific.
Chris: A lot of times I’ll be singing, so I tend to take more of the rhythm stuff, just because it’s hard to be wailing away on a lead line when I’m also focusing on singing the lyrics. Justin joined the band about a year ago, and I’ve never really had another guitarist in any band I’ve played in. It’s been a great opportunity for me to take a breath, to hand certain aspects of the music over to him, so I can do other things, really makes things easier for me.
To be able to hand things over to Justin, who is incredibly capable as a guitarist, it lets me focus more on my singing, which is a really nice bonus for having that second guitar player. And we’ve never really run into any ego issues, we’re both really open to suggestion, and there’s been a rule in the band that if it’s good it’s good, if it sucks it sucks. So we’re just trying to come together to make great music, not worry about who’s playing what parts.
Justin: I’ve always been a fan of bands like Lynard Skynard, and even classical music, where the musicians have to come together like the gears of a clock to make things happen. It’s not about who’s playing what, the music comes first. It shouldn’t be a matter of playing something because we can, like adding a solo to a song where it doesn’t really need it, just because I came up with a cool lick. The overall sound of the song is of the utmost importance, how we get that sound is about the band as a whole, and not really about assigning solos or rhythm parts to either guitarist.
Matt:I’m wondering how you guys came up with the name Element 57, are any of the guys in the band chemistry buffs?
Chris: When we changed the bands name from the groups previous incarnation, and there were about ten names on the table. Jay came up with the name. The definition is a rare earth metal, and we thought, we’ll that’s kind of what the band is. It was also easy to remember and it sparks curiosity. People always ask us where the name comes from, and the more scholarly people will ask us about the reference to the periodic table. So, it’s just a unique name that we all dug, and it seems to have stuck.
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