Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
That’s right, you heard me right. ROCK band. R-O-C-K. Forget the labels nu-metal, alternative, emo, etc. Rock is back and Blue Epic, a four-piece band from Birmingham, Alabama, delivers it. Their debut release is an EP, Love & Hate, on independent label Empathic Recordings, and is being marketed and distributed by New York-based TVT Records. There’s no flash, just a straight-up guitar assault that rocks for all five tracks on the EP, which was produced by Chad Blinman (Get Up Kids, Face to Face).
“We don’t listen to the radio,” admits lead singer/guitarist Phillip Roberson, 21. Instead, Blue Epic, which has been together since late 2001, draws from many influences and considers themselves separate from any “scene” that’s going on right now. At times they sound like U2 or Dishwalla, but Roberson has an incredible vocal range reminiscent of Jeff Buckley. There’s also a little Neil Young influence, further evidenced by the fact that the band chose to cover Young’s “A Man Needs a Maid” on the EP. As for their own material, you can just feel the energy exuding from this material such as the title track, “Underwater” and “Roses.”
Originally from Huntsville, Alabama, Roberson and guitarist Hadwin Brown started a cover band in high school, and continued it when they went to college in Tuscaloosa. It was here that they met bassist Max Andrews and drummer Nick Falletta. But it was a radio station in Huntsville that put on a battle of the bands that catapulted Blue Epic into an eventual record deal. “We won the grand prize of free studio time,” says Roberson. “And the engineer who recorded us was the friend of an A & R guy (Lenny Johnson) at TVT.” Johnson eventually went to see the band and signed them.
Now the foursome resides in Birmingham and has begun touring nationally in support of Love & Hate. When asked why they chose to release only a five-song EP, Roberson said, “We want to build up a grassroots following right now, and we still have a full-length CD recorded and hope to release that in the fall.” Maybe they have high hopes to build up a large following so quickly, but this band has the goods to take things to another level that fast.
Blue Epic’s songs are melodic and heartfelt (say it with me now) rock. They’re tunes you can crank up in your car that make you want to test the limits of your speedometer. Yeah, Blue Epic delivers the rock, and with all its members only 21 years old, they could be delivering it for a long time. - bullz-eye.com
For this go around of “First Look” we journey to Birmingham, Alabama, to meet Blue Epic; a modern rock powerhouse that just made their debut in record stores via a EP released by Empathic Recordings/TVT Records.
Musically the band lands somewhere between “Sugar” era Tonic and PrimeSTH, not a bad place to be at all. For the most part, Blue Epic weaves intriguing “bright” sounding guitar leads with moving rhythms and extremely melodic vocals. While all four members work together the secret to Blue Epic is the interplay between lead vocalist Phillip Roberson and lead guitarist Hadwin Brown. It’s not Page/Plant but the two complement each other beautifully giving the band a very strong frontline.
Some will throw this band into the “modern rock” field and others will place them in the “indie rock” category. It’s true that both genres have a lot in common but there are some distinctions. Blue Epic really straddles the line between the two. Not slick enough to earn the modern rock distinction and they don’t pack enough angst to land the “indie rock” label. However, the music is slick enough to be viable commercially, while at the same time retaining indie rock credibility due to the vocals and arrangements.
Roberson vocals lead the way with a voice that bridges the gap between Tonic’s Emerson Hart and Blind Mellon’s Shannon Hoon. Roberson’s vocals have a plaintive quality to them that makes the listener empathetic to the emotions he is trying to capture in the songs. Producer Chad Blinman (Get Up Kids, Face to Face) does a masterful job of bringing the songs together with a multi-layered feel that give the band a “big” sound but not going too far and making the music sound over-produced.
On the negative side is the fact that is only an EP. I for one was disappointed when it came to an abrupt end after five tracks. The EP contains four original songs and a cover of Neil Young’s “A Man Needs A Maid”. On that cover Roberson captures a bit of Young’s feel but then as the song progresses he makes it all his own. But it’s the original tracks that win the day. Especially “Time To Borrow” and “Underwater,” two songs that do the best of showing us all sides of Blue Epic.
“Love & Hate EP” is a strong introduction for Blue Epic, now we have to see if their full-length debut can generate the same excitement. If it does then we have a definite winner. - rocknworld.com
On their debut release Blue Epic have created a powerful rock sound… intense melodic vocals… vast and atmospheric guitars. - Kill the Noise
“Moody, atmospheric jangle that seems equally influenced by Jeff Buckley, U2 and Neil Young.” - Alternative Press
“Atmospheric rock in the tradition of the Smashing Pumpkins at its most kinetic with heartfelt lyrics in the school of Jeff Buckley or Paul Westerberg.” - Eort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel
Discography
The Love & Hate EP 2003
Roses (Single)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Awash with the voluptuous, dirty clamor of Johnny Marr-meets-Edge influenced guitar and anthemic melodies resonating with crackling, minor-key splendor, Birmingham, Alabama-based band Blue Epic proves with their debut album Good Morning Paranoia that contemporary Southern rock resonates far beyond the stale contemporaries littering radio airwaves. From the temperamental storm of So What to the unabashed, contemplative calm of the acoustic Let Me Down, Blue Epic -- vocalist/guitarist Phillip Roberson, guitarist Hadwin Brown, bassist Max Andrews and drummer Nick Falletta -- makes the most of their mercurial, closet Anglophile nature, understanding and harnessing a provocative balance between beautiful, bad-ass noise and quixotic quiet. The bands 2003 EP Love & Hate garnered enthusiastic praise from publications like Alternative Press -- which heralded the bands moody, atmospheric jangle -- and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel which cited Blue Epics atmospheric rock in the tradition of the Smashing Pumpkins at its most kinetic. With their auspicious debut Good Morning Paranoia comes twelve of Blue Epics brash, beguiling gems, songs like the hopelessy catchy Roses -- which has already received radio play thanks to the EP -- the volatile City Rains and the hurtling headrush of Waiting. Birminghams most promising young rock band is finally receiving the serious attention and accolades it deserves.
Robersons vocals, an enigmatic, rakish blend of Neil Youngs poetic urgency with a bit of Robert Smiths sweet sonics, suit the mans lyrics well -- a warily-painted and deliberately ambiguous blend of bad love, showers of aliens, betrayals and sultry Southern heat. But despite Phillips soaring vocals, the seductive sweep of Hadwins quirky, orchestral chordwork and Nicks aggressive timekeeping, Max Andrews speaks for the guys when he declares that Blue Epic is no emo-wannabe. In fact, mention the dreaded three-letter word and the band cringes. The whole emotion thing scares me and we dont consider ourselves emo by any means, says Andrews. Phillip is even more adamant that emo is a dirty word to Blue Epic. God no, I dont want us to ever be thought of as emo. I dont want to step on anybodys toes, but Im really sick of that term already.
And while a driven defiance crackles through Blue Epic tracks like Robersons own melancholy favorite Let Me Down and So What -- a deeply personal song that Phillip says was inspired when people close to him began to question his pursuit of a music career -- the guys credit their musics lush urgency not to fly-by-night trends or hopes of becoming the next alt-radio darling. Rather, they look to longer-lasting, even risky, influences ranging from peers like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club to established elders like U2, Radiohead and Neil Young, who the band salutes with a sensuously crafted cover of A Man Needs a Maid. Producer Dave Cobb, former guitarist for the Tender Idols, understood Blue Epics hunger to reach the full, unabridged expanse of their dreamy, yet daring sound when he took over production duties for the group after a first attempt to record Good Morning Paranoia foundered after what Andrews calls a series of missteps, including overthinking each track.
Literally chomping at the bit to have a second try, a rehearsal-exhausted Blue Epic went into a Los Angeles studio with Cobb for three days in the spring of 2003. With no money left in the recording budget, and originally planning to cut just 4 songs, the recharged band banged out 10 tracks live together in the same room and emerged with the crafted, yet passionate album they had envisioned. It was just so easy, says Andrews enthusiastically. We did more in those three days than in the three months we spent during the first stab at it.
[Dave] showed us that we had the ability as a band, says Roberson. He filled us with the self-confidence to know that we could sit in a room and play live and record it and be a real rock and roll band. You know, we were tired of hearing that we were a young band but we can polish you up. But Dave said you guys are great and the bands that we admired -- thats the way they did it. It seemed right and real and helped us develop as players together and have a better concept to what were about.
....The four have not stopped writing. In addition to the 10 songs recorded in L.A., the band has since went to New York City to track an additional three songs with producer Ron Saint Germain.
The bond that exists between the four friends of Blue Epic is strong, solid. and simple. The guys - who range in age from 21 to 23 -- grew up as childhood friends in Huntsville, Alabama. Phillip and Hadwin formed a high school cover band which eventually included Nick. Max didnt even know how to play an instrument until the classically-trained Hadwin -- who also plays cello -- taught him guitar ... and then Max switched to bass. By late 200
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