Slow Motion Driver

Harpers Ferry
Allston, MA


Monday nights often don't translate into big crowds at local clubs. It's even harder when the only other local band on the bill cancels at the last minute.
In the face of opposition, Slow Motion Driver, led by Brent Barlow on vocals and electric piano, pulls it together to dazzle the lucky band of onlookers and provide an unbelievable performance.
From the start Brent engages the crowd like a true professional, flanking him are equally talented Tom Lada on bass, Liam Bliven on guitars, and Bill Anderson on skins.

Like typical prog-rock veterans, they've done their homework on Dreamtheater and mastered their chops to the point where they make even the most unforgiving Berklee professor proud.
They throw in a dead-on version of Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" which gives Brent's voice a chance to soar in the atmosphere along with Freddie Mercury and sends Liam's fingers darting
up and down the fretboard like a schizophrenic spider. Its fun rock 'n' roll and me and my friends for one reason or another can't help from smiling.

- Kier Byrnes

“It’s not that we aren’t trying to fit in. It’s just, well, we don’t.” explains lead singer Brent Barlow of the Boston based rock band, Slow Motion Driver. As simple and as strange as this may sound, he may be spot on. “People are always asking, ‘how do you describe your music?’ or ‘what kind of rock is it?’ I tell them to listen to the damn CD, or better yet, come out and see us live and you tell me!” Barlow’s frustration is uniquely counter balanced by bassist Tom Lada’s cool and very original prospective on SMD. “You know how when you cuddle up with someone and you're spooning?” asks Lada. “Well, the person in back has this arm underneath the mess and you can try to put it over your head or simply lay on top of it or whatever? Anyway, we are the perfect place for that arm. We're not going to fit, but people will embrace us and love us.”
And he’s right. People do love SMD. It seems that not fitting in has given the band a massive amount of creative license and this creativity really shows up on their recently released debut CD, Liquid. “We offer something different, that’s all” states lead guitarist, Liam Bliven. “We don’t like to fit the mold. What’s important to us is giving our listeners good solid tunes that have good solid melodies and awesome lyrics. That’s what I liked when I was growing up on rock, anyway.”
Without a doubt Slow Motion Driver delivers a good variety of solid original rock tunes with Liquid. From the progressive opening track, Human, to the cutesy pop rock love song, Is It Love, all the way to the 80’s metal track, Monster, Liquid has a bit of something for every rock enthusiast. It’s something Barlow is proud of. “We’ve been compared to everyone in the book. Queen, Rush, Dream Theater, Live, I even heard Elton John from someone which, in my opinion, is a real stretch!”
One thing Barlow does seem clear on is the creation of the project. “My original idea was to bring back the concept of the great rock bands of the 70’s and early 80’s. Back then every band had their unique sound. When you heard Queen, it sounded like Queen. Rush sounds like Rush. Journey, Zepplin, Boston, the list goes on and on. Today so many bands seem to sound the same.”
So, what makes Slow Motion Driver so special? Without a doubt it’s their ability to maintain their peerless sound throughout a diversity of musical styling. “Hey. Not many bands strive to have different song styles these days,” says drummer, Bill Anderson. “It keeps people guessing and keeps us happy not playing the same sounding music over and over again.”
In the end Barlow finds the words to sum up Slow Motion Driver to a tee. “We give our listeners the chance to experience something truly unique in music today. We are musical chameleons! We can change our musical style from song to song and through it all we maintain our rock solid originality! In today’s market, you must admit, that’s rare.”
- Sarah Marie Davis