Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Switchmode plays the type of music that sounds extremely familiar, but you can't exactly put your finger on its musical touchstones. Maybe it's Seattle circa 1992, maybe it's the recent guitar fueled post-grunge or maybe it's something yet to come. Whatever it is, guitar feedback coats it and sentimental lyrics put an emotional gleam on the hazy instrumentation. With Switchmode's latest full-length - Echoes of Eventuality - this Flordian quartet is bound to leap into major label hodgepodge with a sound accessibly melodic yet cloudily distorted.
Echoes of Eventuality is yet another Jeremy Staska [Nonpoint, Poison the Well, Scars of Life] produced release who seems to be almost single handedly bringing the Florida rock underground to the mass media forefront. However, Switchmode's musical encapsulation is far from his previous encounters; no hip-hop overtones of Nonpoint and no hardcore abrasives of Poison the Well - just flannel tattering riffage that sears from Mudhoney's heyday without forgetting modern radio-ready aesthetics. So, of course, this is nothing new. But, Switchmode do implant aural remedies that hold their own territory such as on "For Life" with its booming chorus and streamlining guitars. Traveling further down the album, Echoes of Eventuality proves to sculpt subtlety into an art - carving out chiming guitar instrumentals like "Blurry Window" amidst the incongruous harshness of the surrounding tracks.
All in all, Switchmode bring good ol' rock with no frills; so, if that's your thing, the interestingly titled Echoes of Eventuality is right up your rock alley. However, once these four hone their skills and expand their water-tight guitars to seep with a bit more creativity and augmentation that their instrumental segues indicate, Switchmode will become a band of not potentiality, but reality. But nonetheless, Echoes of Eventuality is a promising independent effort that just might anchor them upon the rickety ship of major label life. - Ryan Potts
Discography
"Echoes Of Eventuality"
Release Date: Feb. 2002
Status: In Circulation
Lead Track "For Life" has gotten extensive airplay on 94.9 Zeta, 103.1 The Buzz, & 92.1 Planet
"Demo 1"
Release Date: Jan. 2000
Status: Out Of Print
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Switchmode is a heavy alternative rock band from the often-critical South Florida music scene composed of four identifiable individuals with one musical vision. “Switchmode, undeniably one of the most respected bands by fans and fellow musicians in the scene, questions life and goes beneath the superficial, making them one of the few local bands with depth and meaning in their music,” says Romina Garber of the Miami Herald.
Switchmode released their first full length CD “Echoes of Eventuality” in February of 2002. Having gained the respect from the South Florida music scene, renowned producer Jeremy Staska (Poison The Well, New Found Glory, Nonpoint) who lends his time and effort to national indie bands and only the most notable local acts produced the CD. Switchmode has played vigorously two to three times a month from West Palm Beach to Miami to support their independently released album. Having previously done a few dates in Northern Florida, Switchmode plans to return there and also to Central Florida during the coming months.
Switchmode takes their individual influences, musical and cultural, to a higher level forming a strong, mature, constantly progressing sound. Vocalist/guitarist Damien Huze grew up in France and then the West Indies during most of his youth before moving to South Florida. Drummer Mattia Fattovich was born and raised in Northern Italy until the age of 15 when his family immigrated to the US. Having German, Brazilian, and Egyptian roots, bassist Derek Dias spent a small portion of his childhood in Germany. Growing up in rural Connecticut, guitarist Steve Shoemaker has lived in several locations up and down the East Coast.
Founding member Damien Huze started the band in 1998 with the vision of taking his music and ideas to a creative sound-scape without having to conform to the latest Rock n’ Roll fad. The band has been five years in the making, three of which were used to consolidate a line-up, which would finalize the band as a dedicated force to be reckoned with. Switchmode has shared the stage with many national bands, which include Nonpoint, Mudvayne, Legends of Rodeo, Ultraspank, Endo, and Darwin’s Waiting Room. At their CD release party for the highly anticipated “Echoes of Eventuality” Switchmode played to a near sold-out crowd at Freez, one of the most popular clubs in the South Florida music circuit, bringing one of the biggest draws the club has ever seen for a local band.
Switchmode has been getting much airplay on the South Florida Clear Channel stations 92.1 Planet Radio and 94.9 Zeta. In fact, “Echoes of Eventuality” was voted by listeners as 92.1 Planet Radio’s CD of the Month for the month of April 2002. Switchmode then went into the stations studio on April 21st to give a special acoustic rendition of “Stars Above” that DJ Chachi called a “goose bump-inducing” performance.
Switchmode’s goals are to look for management and acquire national major label distribution in the near future. Dedication already having been established; only time and development stand between Switchmode and their goal of national recognition.
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