One11Twenty

For only being a band “official” for a little over a year, One11Twenty encompasses and presents an array of different sounds and genres on their latest EP, Last 10 Seconds. The EP introduces five new tracks, ranging from indie pop to folktronica sounds. While drummer Mitch Mueller and multi-instrumentalist Kyle Delfatti provide the rhythms and instrumentation on the album, vocalist Tim Jordan paves the way through his poetic lyricism and genuine melodies.

Album opener and title track “Last 10 Seconds” introduces their signature indie pop, sound graced with electronic elements. Its an easy listen, and introduces the minimalism and simplicity that comprises much of the album right off the bat. It’s straightforward, free of clutter, and clean-cut. On top of it all, it presents a story: a situation, two lovers who suffer from the universal ordeal of miscommunication and complication. It’s a solid track, and a good way to kick-start the EP.

“Two Summers” follows, and instantly seems to be one of the strongest tracks on the album. Vocalist Tim Jordan’s vocals are reminiscent of and bear elements of other frontmen such as Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind, Joe Newman of alt-J, and Adam Levine of Maroon 5. This synthpop tune starts off with the ironic phrase “I don’t want to write a song about missing you,” which makes you wonder whether or not the song is literally based around that concept. However, with the chorus hook “They say don’t fall in love with your best friend// It’s not worth the pain when it ends, that depends,” it reveals that it may be more than just symptoms of denial.

The story from the first song continues revealing that in this one, the couple from the previous song were once friends, and that in their pursuit towards unanimous bliss, they have lost a complete and wholesome relationship. Surely, this is once again a universal concept, for two people to start as friends and slowly become more than that. They could become potential and longtime lovers, or suffer the unfortunate fate of a complete collapse in their relationship, which is truly an awkward and complicated situation from there on. This isn’t entirely what the song is about, and is more of a mere interpretation. However, it’s in our nature to speculate and divulge what’s been presented to us through any story. A good song will offer that to you; the gift of imagination within an ongoing story.

“The Luckiest Man Alive” deviates from the indietronica sounds that band has introduced so far, leaving the synthetic elements while incorporating harmonica and folk elements. It’s another song surely to reach out to others, proposing that in a way “The Luckiest Man Alive” is in fact maybe just like everyone else. They’re just another person who’s been and continues to go through the many obstacles and feats of the world. One who’s been through great and tough breakups and relationships, endured both good and hard times. One who “grew old and had a child.” It’s nice to think that we could fit the idea of being the “luckiest man alive.”

“The Fiddler” returns to hark the band’s returning indie-electronic elements. With a poppy chorus colored by Delfatti’s guitar lines, the song stays true to the band’s style. It is also presents an easy listen through, balanced with appropriate instrumental breaks and catchy phrasings. However, the tone of the album soon transitions to a state of intimacy and melancholy; as the album paves the way for album closer “Let Me Sleep/Starving.”

Each song on the album is worthy of being labelled “indie pop,” and has hinted at messages revolving around the complexity and delicacy of relationships in many forms. It’s only natural that one would come across a slower track, one that presents an atmosphere to the somber and pensive dimension in which album closer “Let Me Sleep/Starving” resides in. The piano progression is immediately indicative of the “mood” of the song, and slowly sucks you in along with the accompaniment of Tim Jordan’s vocals.

However, towards the end of the track, you’re snapped out of this trance when Jordan begins to fumble at the mic with his concentration broken. The song suddenly gives way to an “inside the scenes” perspective as we’re given insight into a typical day in the recording studio for the band. The contrast between the emotive intensity of the song and performance and the jovial chide between him and the engineer/band that concludes the song is incredible. It shows both the professional side of the band, and the “unprofessional” side. It shows that the band are just like everyday people.

It’s intriguing because, through their music, you are provided with a representation of what the group wants you to see. Through their selected songs, you begin to see them through their music, rather than as people, in a sense. To return to “reality” while listening to a song is something you rarely see; to hear the band speaking/laughing in a studio recording is uncommon. Intentional or not, this kind of stuff rarely makes its way onto an album. In this case, we have the introduction of the somber piano progression that continues throughout the whole track, abruptly interrupted by Jordan’s faultering and laughter that cuts through the track like a knife. The transition of an emotive and a melancholy track, to a cheery, and lighthearted ending is an interesting way to present a song, and conclude an album.

It’s like watching a movie take, and then transitioning to the bloopers of that scene in one take. Being entrained into the severity of the scene, and then cutting into a comical scene without an indication or proper transition. It catches you off guard. It promotes an idea/concept, it provides speculation to a potential and universal theme/message of the album.

Just try not to take album titles too seriously, like me.

(Last 10 Seconds is available for purchase digitally via iTunes. Stream the track “Two Summers” below via - Northwest Music Scene

At 19, freshman writing, literature and publishing major Timothy Jordan is already a published children’s book author and lead singer of the band One11Twenty.

They released their first EP, Last 10 Seconds, just before Jordan left for Boston. The Portland-based alternative indie group now has nearly 600 monthly listeners and over 3,000 plays on Spotify of their single, “Last 10 Seconds.” They were also professionally reviewed by Northwest Music Scene, a Pacific Northwest based music magazine.

Jordan said he met his future bandmate Kyle DelFatti in choir during his senior year, and they immediately hit it off.

“He had a guitar and I had bunch of poems, and after we met in choir, we just started hanging out, making a bunch of songs,” Jordan said. “He sent one of our songs, which was just a recording on his phone, to his boss at Youth Music Project, and that’s how we got our first gig.”

With their connections to music professionals through the music education organization Youth Music Project, their emerging project started to become something bigger.

When Jordan realized that their basement music project was growing into a full-fledged band, the duo pulled in three other musically gifted high school friends and formed Kate’s Hat, the precursor band to One11Twenty.

“We played the gig, and we had so much fun that we were like, ‘We can’t just not do this anymore,’” Jordan said.

Kate’s Hat went on to play at their high school prom and release an EP of their own in 2014, but with all five band members heading off on their own after high school, the band split. But Jordan, DelFatti, and drummer Mitch Mueller wanted to continue making music together.

While DelFatti and Mueller were off at their freshman year at Seattle University, Jordan spent the last year traveling with his girlfriend and promoting his children’s book, The Toothless Fairy.

Jordan didn’t particularly mean to write a children’s book, but the idea of a Halloween-based concept fell into his lap during his senior year of high school.

“Someone came to someone I was close with with the idea, and I said, ‘Fuck it, I’ll give it a try,’ and I sent them a poem about the concept of a Toothless Fairy, and [the publisher] loved it,” Jordan said.

The Toothless Fairy tells the story of a fairy who visits children during Halloween and trades their halloween candy for a gift. The short book is available on Amazon, and Jordan occasionally traveled to schools to read the book for children last year.

“We spent hours every day working on it that year, and it turned into this 32 page, fully illustrated book—and I was only 17,” Jordan said.

As a writing, literature, and publishing major, Jordan discovered his passion for music after he discovered writing, but he doesn’t consider himself to be one or the other—as he puts it, “you couldn't separate the two.”

After his year off, Jordan met up with DelFatti and Mueller and decided to create music under a new name—One11Twenty.

“When we broke up Kate’s Hat, we had 556 dollars between us, and when we split it up between the five members, we had 111.20 dollars each, and that’s how we came up with the name,” Jordan said.

The trio spent all of last summer working on their EP and trying to play as many gigs as they could.

“When we got back together, we just worked every day, hours every day, to record the EP,” Jordan said. “Kyle produces the music, I write the songs and the melodies and do the promotional things, and Mitch’s job is to drum.”

They wanted to leave Portland with a bang, and decided the way to go was to throw a concert before the EP was released.

“We played in this barn that we cleaned out, we built a stage, we invited literally everybody and their brother, and we just played for everyone that we could, just because it was fun,” Jordan said. “That’s what it’s about—it’s just a lot of fun.”

Now that school’s started, the band members are on opposite sides of the country. Still, One11Twenty is going strong. Despite the distance, the band is still crafting music using modern technology.

“I’m the one who plays all the key instruments,” DelFatti said. “I write the core melodies and structure of a song, then Mitch and I record it and send it to Tim, who then writes the lyrics for it.”

DelFatti, a Seattle University sophomore, is the “musical genius” of the band, as Jordan describes him. He plays guitar, bass, keyboard, strings, trumpet, and any other instrument that the band might want to incorporate into a song.

“Music is one of those things that I’ve always done,” DelFatti said. “I’ve played guitar for 14 years now, and when I learned one instrument, I gradually started to learn more.

Mueller, the drummer of the band and also a Seattle University sophomore, has also been passionate about music for much of his life. He has been playing drums for ten years and shows no signs of stopping.

“I record the drums, and I’ll tell Kyle what to do to go with the drums,” Mueller said. “I’ll add my little bits and pieces here and there in songs.”

The band has hopes to play at Emerson’s record company Wax on Felt’s Battle of the Bands in November. As for Jordan, he’s taken a position at WERS to review local concerts and is a part of the Emerson Treblemakers acapella group on campus. He hopes to continue being involved in Emerson’s music scene.

“Music is such an essential part of life,” Jordan said. “It’s so important to identify with some kind of art, and, for me, music is the one that I identify with.” - Berkley Beacon

What is this, Seattle U? I am only a freshman, yet I am already surrounded by people who are infinitely cooler than me. Everyone here plays an instrument, and everyone is in a band. Now whether or not the band is any good is the real question.

One of the best I’ve found so far? Look no further than SU student-led band One11Twenty. Members include SU’s own Kyle DelFatti who’s in charge of guitar and production, Mitch Mueller on drums, Tim Jordan on vocals, and Matthew Montes on bass. One11Twenty has seen some great success after the release of their first single, “On The Line”. Check it out here.

I sat down with SU’s Kyle DelFatti to get the low down on the band. Not surprisingly, One11Twenty wasn’t the group’s first time making music. One11Twenty was originally started as a side project from the group’s original band, Kate’s Hat. Where did the new band get that catchy name? Well, Kyle told me that each member’s first paycheck from Kate’s Hat was, yes, you guessed it, $111.20.

One11Twenty is an alternative rock outfit with a complex musical backing to support Jordan’s strong vocals. The lyrics on the new tracks focus on poetic anxiety written by Jordan and DelFatti composes the music to beautifully compliment his words. Kyle described their style of music to be much more calculated than their previous band and stressed that this time around they wanted to focus more on experimenting with their sound.

The band had their latest show last month as part of the Rocktober fest held at the Hawthorne theater in Portland to a sizable and welcoming crowd. Expect to see more of them in and around the SU area, but in the meantime catch their set at SU’s Battle of the Bands coming up this spring.

Sometimes it’s hard being surrounded by all this student talent. I kid you not, my second week here I had some sort of existential crisis and bought a tambourine to make myself feel better about not being musical. Alas, said tambourine has not been used for anything except to hold various snacks. Sigh. Well, at least I can still appreciate the sweet, sweet sounds of the music other SU students are making. Check out my new favorite, One11Twenty, on Facebook or Soundcloud, and keep en eye on ‘em as they plan to release more singles soon! - KXSU

Last summer we reviewed the EP from indie rock trio, One11Twenty and noted that for only being a “official” band for a little over a year, they encompass and present an array of different sounds and genres. They certainly did on that EP, Last 10 Seconds. The EP introduced five new tracks, ranging from indie pop to folktronica sounds. While drummer Mitch Mueller and multi-instrumentalist Kyle Delfatti provide the rhythms and instrumentation on the album, vocalist Tim Jordan paves the way through his poetic lyricism and genuine melodies.

Today we are premiering a brand new song from the band that shows the band’s love for indie-pop. While the vocals hint at a bit of Ska, the song follows the indie-pop trademark with a bright and cheery chorus, dropping in an infectious hook. If the band keeps busting out material like this they have a huge upside, as this song seems destined for the airwaves. The new video was engineered/produced by Kyle DelFatti and was filmed and edited by Jonathan Grace. - Northwest Music Scene