Highland Eyeway

Highland Eyeway blends the perfect ratio of drone, noise, and psychedelia into an impressive EP, where each track complements the others without repetition. Moments of massive energy coexist with more relaxed rhythm sections containing spacey guitar effects that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Tame Impala song.

Royal Green begins with a drone heavy intro in a two-part song titled “Geostone.” Arising from the guitar’s growl we hear what sounds like the inner thoughts of lead vocalist Houston Matson-Moore: “Discover each other / Do you love your mother?” Part two transitions from the drone at exactly the right time to keep the listener engaged. It becomes a gentle melody, filled with rhythmic strumming and a trippy reverberated guitar that slowly grows in volume, ending in a fast paced drum driven outro, finally crashing to an explosive close.

The end of “Geostone” is a gradual renewal. A slow strum meets drums, sending this song into a full noise jam session. “Fryin’” is the song you want to listen to while swerving between cars on a freeway. “Rock Paper Scissors” features the same kind of heavy rhythm jamming. It’s a beautiful track that will have you headbanging.

The psychedelia of this album comes at the end. “Pathways” contains some of my favourite lyrics, evoking an incredible feeling of renewal through lessons learned. The line “I taste a little bit of sorrow in your spit / Makes me wonder what you’re trying to / Get out of me” seems to be referring to the singer looking back at a broken relationship, and considering what their true intentions had been.

Royal Green concludes with an instrumental track, featuring an impressive outro of noise. Throughout this EP, Highland Eyeway successfully melds three different styles into five cohesive songs. Together, they take the listener on a path of introspection. - Discorder Magazine

Riding the snake down a jammy wave of unity into the mouth of destiny herself. And you know, guitars.
VANCOUVER — If you like distorted, melodic guitar in a heavily psychedelic setting, then check out Vancouver’s Highland Eyeway. The band is a three piece, heavily inspired by psychedelic rock, made up of local Vancouver forest dwellers, Houston Matson-Moore (Guitar, Vocals), Max Andolfatto (Bass, Vocals), and Spencer Chapnan (Drums). Matson-Moore and Chapnan have been playing together since they were ten years old. After jamming together for over ten years, eventually they joined forces with Andolfatto and created the band in August of 2014.

Up until now, all that existed for recordings of Highland Eyeway is a live recording on cassette. It was a priority for the band to release an album of much higher quality. Hence, their EP Royal Green is set to be released in August. They’ve been labouring on the album for months, pulling all-nighters in the studio to come up with their most clear sounding recordings yet. Along with the album, they’ll also be releasing a locally made music video for their song “Fryin,” featuring live kayaking footage filmed in Lynn Canyon and Seymour River.

Since forming, Highland Eyeway has made playing live a priority, captivating audiences made up of people of all ages and all walks of life. Their “jammy” vibes and open-ended songs leave room for them to create something real and unique with each performance.

For the band, the music is meant to create a space where there’s a “flow of stream of consciousness, where you can get into the trance of the jamming, and get people into the collective vibe.”

Seeing Highland Eyeway live is like being carried on an ocean of sound. Building from the centre, their sound expands outwards. And in a circle of flying psychedelic chords and electrifying ripples, it spreads into the audience and unites each listener as a wave that moves with the tide of the music. While riding the wave of their sound, it’s easy to become free and to lose yourself in that “collective vibe,” to feel yourself lifted and waving like seaweed in a sea of sound. Live, the band unites people in a way that music is meant to.

This August Highland Eyeway will be touring from the 9th-24th, playing shows in Vancouver, Whistler, Victoria, Saltspring and Edmonton. - BeatRoute Magazine