Cig Bros.

Even though their name might suggest otherwise, none of the members of Cig Bros do a whole lot of smoking. Then again, their misnomers, non-sequiturs and creative quirks are what they appear to be most proud of. After working on several projects and enduring periods of trial and error, each of these musical minds has arrived at the same conclusion: never take yourself too seriously.

The project began during a time when guitarist John O'Connor, a Seattle U freshman, and drummer Michael Beswetherick, a University of Washington freshman, weren't happy with the bands they were playing in. Naturally, the two of them started jamming, and the result was something that O'Connor refers to as "sort of a joke."

"It was just more playful," said O'Connor, "not too deep or serious or emotional."

More recently, they've added synth player Cynthia Chiou (yes, the SYNTH-ia joke has been made) as well as bassist Ryland Bydalele to the band, both of whom are also UW freshmen. All four of them attended Inglemoor High School in Bothell, Wash. and played in various bands together at different periods of time. It was also at Inglemoor High that the name Cig Bros was born. Apparently, when one of their friends started smoking, they began referring to her as "Cig Lady." O'Connor and Beswetherick always intended to write a song about Cig Lady, and as the concept evolved in their minds, they started thinking of themselves as Cig Bros.

"We don't really smoke in the band," said Beswetherick. "It's kind of an ironic title. It sort of represents how we don't take ourselves too seriously."

A lot has happened to Cig Bros' sound in the last few weeks. Even though the addition of a synthesizer is relatively new, it has assumed a lead role.

"Our sound is still developing," said Chiou.

If you visit the Cig Bros myspace, you'll hear a couple of early recordings by O'Connor and Beswetherick. The two guitar-heavy tracks have sort of a Clap Your Hands Say Yeah feel to them, featuring O'Connor's uniquely off-kilter vocal styling. O'Connor is presently enrolled in Seattle U's audio recording class and thus, has access to the university's relatively new studio. Studio time is in the Cig Bros future, a development that will see them posting new tracks online soon.

The band's musical outlook and general feelings toward making music are almost paradoxical. On the one hand, they love to joke around by experimenting with wacky noise samples like explosions and pod racing sounds. They also enjoy performing oddball covers like "The Shire Song" from Lord of the Rings and "Mos Eisly Cantina" from Star Wars. On the other hand, they put a lot of time and effort into their compositions and they don't mean for the wackiness to be completely random.

"If you're in a band, you should have certain constraints, and then you should try to grow out of those constraints," Beswetherick said.

First and foremost, Cig Bros is grateful to be playing in Seattle. While it's difficult in places like New York and Los Angeles for young bands to gain momentum, the Emerald City has proven to be the perfect home for up-and-comers.

"It's weird how the music community in Seattle is telling us ‘yes, we want to embrace new music,'" Chiou said.

In the short time they've been playing, Cig Bros has performed at The Firehouse in Redmond, Piecora's, The Comet Tavern and The Vera Project. Their next show will be on May 7 at the Comet Tavern with Land of Pines and Marry Me Lazy Eye. They will also be performing at the ArtSideOut's "Collision" arts show May 17th in the Campion Ballroom.

- Seattle U Spectator