Village Echoes
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Village Echoes

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | Established. Jan 01, 2013 | SELF

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | SELF
Established on Jan, 2013
Band Rock Alternative

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"Artist of the Day - 4/3/2014"

Just like we always need American muscle cars, we need American muscle music, the kind Dave Grohl perfected by taking the pumping hope of Van Halen, putting it in drug rehab and forcing it to read books, and coming out with something culturally unifying. In this spirit Village Echoes is fixing up several generations of Mustang in their garage. The three piece is Al Masi on vocals and lead, James Pounsett on drums, rounded out with Steve Parfitt on bass.

Just like we always need American muscle cars, we need American muscle music, the kind Dave Grohl perfected by taking the pumping hope of Van Halen, putting it in drug rehab and forcing it to read books, and coming out with something culturally unifying. In this spirit Village Echoes is fixing up several generations of Mustang in their garage. The three piece is Al Masi on vocals and lead, James Pounsett on drums, rounded out with Steve Parfitt on bass.

The band also must have a sensitive side because their name comes from an English-language anthology of the Chinese writer Wu Zuxiang.

Masi's guitar and Parfitt's bass are the perfect aural casserole of Grohl's two post-Nirvana outfits with the soaring long, chasing a dream riffs of The Fighters mixed in with the jilted, tight sound of Queens of the Stone Age.

At the risk of pissing off every women's study major in the universe, one of the refreshing things is Village Echoes have a nice male energy that has been forgotten in the era of female pop star and ethereal female electronica voice. It also has an innocent quality rather than the quality of a band fronted by the fictional television character Jesse PInkman in is more unenlightened moments. They have a song about a cute girl on her cute bike which is a thing and a truth that needs to be expressed to the world. - EarYummy


"EP "Evolve" Review - 17/02/2014"

Village Echoes are a three-piece from Sydney Australia who formed in the Fall of 2013 and somehow wrote and recorded an EP called Evolve within a couple of months. You might expect something with such a fast turnover would sound like a mess but the opposite is true. The songs are well put together, catchy, burst with emotion as well as from a production standpoint sound great. There are five songs on this album and each one of them feels accessible. Structurally, they aren't very experimental but they do bring creative parts to the songs which you can appreciate all the more because of the limited members of the band.

The album starts out with one of the strongest songs on the EP entitled “Another Thought.” You can't help but appreciate the creative vocals components of the songs. They are great at utilizing vocal harmonies. It adds a lot to the song and gives it additional depth that is hard to find with a simple lead vocal. The chorus is powerful and fills with energy but not quite as fun as the breakdown they have at 2:30.

“The Bike” is a catchy song full of tons of twists and turns, which never leave you bored. It was during this song I realized that these guys sounded like a band that has been together for years and not a band that just formed. “In Memory” is their attempt to be a bit more melancholy and nostalgic. It wasn't the standout among the five songs but it was by no means a bad song either.

“Horizons” returns to a pop/punk style. They leave the distortion on the whole time for this one and it feels like a continuous burst of energy until it ends. They close with a memorable number called “What Would Have Been.” The vocal line is melodic yet holds an additional emotional weight which adds depth to the song. I also have to mention that the drumming was exceptional on the song; not only the technical ability of the drummer but his restraint as well as artistic creativity.

Evolve isn’t perfect but at this stage of the game I can only imagine what their full length will sound like. - The Equal Ground


"Live Review - 17/10/13"

"A young band with a very mature sound..weaving soundscapes mixed with a healthy dose of indie rock. The track 'Horizons' was a stand out with its upbeat vibe to get the old toes tapping along. - The AU Review


"EP "Evolve" Review"

VILLAGE ECHOES 5 track EP ‘EVOLVE’ is a coming together of musical influences to create what is a very impressive debut EP! Opening with a punching rock track ‘Another Thought’, ‘Evolve’ sits the listener in the drivers seat of what will eventuate into a colourful 20 minutes of Alternative Rock. Lead strongly by its musical build, ‘Evolve’ has that unique Australian vocal sound that’s reminiscent of seasoned veterans, Grinspoon. For an early debut release from a band that’s only a few months old, its safe to say that Village Echoes is a band that will keep fans charged with anticipation for future releases - ‘Evolve’ is one hell of an EP!

Recommended tracks:
- In Memory
- Another Thought
- Horizons - Be Heard Of


"Interview with Spirefocus"

Sydney's Village Echoes have released their debut EP Evolve. Written and recorded only months after forming, Evolve encapsulates the trio's diverse influences, creating five fresh and assured tracks. Catchy hooks, dual vocal sections and powerful rock moments (In Memory's drum outro is huge!) dominate, pushing the creative boundaries in the rock genre.
?I caught up with vocalist/guitarist Alex Almasi to find out more.


Spirefocus - In less than a year you guys have met, written songs and recorded an EP. That's an incredible achievement in itself. How has this happened?
Alex - To be honest, it didn't happen by accident. We were serious about not only writing good music but getting it heard. We were running on pure adrenaline at one stage, as we had a studio date booked and only a few rough ideas at the time. We pulled three of those five tracks together in a few days, and they kind of wrote themselves. We are also firm believers that you make your own luck, and we want to play as many shows in front of as many people as possible. We believe in our music and are confident people will like it.

SF - Can you explain the song writing process for Evolve?
Alex - In general, the music comes first and then lyrics. The songs usually started with one idea, which we would track and share amongst the band. Doing this gave us a strong foundation for when we got together. We've got a DIY studio set up with a computer, drum pads, guitars, mics, and an interface, and we just jammed on these ideas whilst recording the whole session. This worked well for us because it allowed us to construct the song using the best takes. From there the rest was in.

SF - Were there songs culled in the selection process for Evolve?
Alex - We’ve had about four or five other songs that we didn’t think suited the direction we wanted for Evolve. We still play them in our live set, but they are works in progress.
As you have probably noticed, the tracks on Evolve vary quite a bit in style, and this was a purposeful decision made by us. It’s a statement of our versatility, rather than creating an EP that drops us into one genre. We have tracks that would have worked ok on Evolve, but it would have made the record more one dimensional. I guess we chose from the broader spectrum for this one.

SF - Has not knowing each other from any other aspect of life made the song writing process easier?
Alex - It doesn’t necessarily make the song writing easier, but it certainly makes it more interesting! Constructing the tracks wasn’t too strenuous either way. We are all pretty chilled guys, and were honest with each other. If the others in the band aren’t feeling an idea, there are never any hard feelings really, we just move on.
What is great though is all of us come from different musical backgrounds. James (drums) is a big indie fan, Steve (bass) loves his metal and hard rock, and I am into alternative rock. When we throw all our ideas and influences together, it really seems to work and we get some great results.

SF - Was there any lyrical inspiration for the EP?
Alex - Like I said earlier, we usually do the lyrics after the music, which can make it harder, but it’s the way that seems to work for us.
There’s no common source of inspiration lyrically across all the tracks, but individually each one tells its own story. There are happy times, and sad times in there.
The title Evolve came from the target we set ourselves from the beginning. We had to put aside our personal musical tastes to make it work. We had to be open to each other’s styles in order for Village Echoes to get its sound, and by doing that we have evolved as a band, so the title is quite apt.

SF - I find the dual/added vocal sections really strengthen up parts of the songs. Was this something penned in the writing process?
Alex - The dual vocal thing was a bit of an accident when we were writing the tracks and it was something we hadn’t done before. We had Another Thought written, but it just wasn’t hitting the spot. We thought we’d try a version of it with a split vocal thinking it might chop it up a little, make it a bit more interesting. We tracked it, and when we listened back to what we’d recorded we loved it.

SF - Can you describe the recording process?
Alex - We did 99% of the pre-production ourselves, so we arrived at the studio well prepared. Looking back, the whole process was awesome. It was great to finally be in a studio environment as Village Echoes! We’d been working our asses off for four months, and it was a relief to finally be recording. Working with Chris and Jono at Bearclaw worked well with us and we built up a pretty good rapport with those guys over the week.
Prior to recording each track, we’d have a chat about our ideas on how we wanted our instruments to sound, the vibe we wanted, and sometimes that got a few last minute creative juices flowing.
With Chris being a drummer as well as producer - Spirefocus


"EP "Evolve" Review"

Villages Echoes are a 3 piece that have just released their first offering, a 5 track EP called ”Evolve”.

What an impressive debut it is with each track delivering something different and on first impressions, it’s hard to believe that this is their first release because of their accomplished musicianship, songwriting skills and the records productions is great... The give away of three experienced musicians.

All three have different backgrounds, Alex Almasi (Guitar and Vocals) brings alternative rock to the table, Steve Parfitt (Bass) brings Punk and James Pounsett (drums) brings indie. They embrace this by not restricting themselves to a certain genre or intending to sound in a particular vein. They write with an open mind to write the best music they can.

Alex and Steve had know each other for a while but it was early 2012 they first started to jam and make a few recording. James joined later to complete the line up.

To me they have an American sound particularly the guitars in the same way of Welsh outfit Lostprophets, and with the well polished production, pop, vocal melodies and two part harmonies of first album ”The Young And The Hopeless” by Good Charlotte.

The record was recorded, mixed and mastered at Bearclaw Productions in Kelyville. Chris Blancato and Jono Peters Produced it. When asked about the production on the record, Steve Parfitt said “When you go into the studio with two guys that are so chilled out, and are actually into the music the music that they are producing, it makes the whole process a real pleasure” - Revelrytones


"Live @ The Locies Awards 2013"

“their music was impressively focused and confident, with tinges of Nirvana in places” - Alex Needham, The Guardian Australia


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Bio

Hailing from Sydney’s Inner West, Village Echoes formed in 2013 and are a multi influenced, energetic indie rock trio creating music that is certain to appeal to fans of Bloc Party, Jimmy Eat World and Biffy Clyro.

After just 3 months after the bands formation Village Echoes quickly threw together their debut EP ‘Evolve’ prior to a single onstage performance. This record would encapsulate the wide array of influences from all 3 members, from punk, grunge, to modern indie. ‘Evolve’ epitomized the bands desire for diversity, fun and drive not to become one dimensional. With the foundations strongly set the remainder of the year saw the band travel throughout NSW with their energetic live show

“their music was impressively focused and confident, with tinges of Nirvana in places” – Alex Needham - The Guardian.

Singles ‘Another Thought’, received airplay on community radio stations nationwide as well as Triple J’s Unearthed Radio, while their video for ‘The Bike’ featured on ABC’s RAGE TV as well as notching up 50,000+ views online.

Early 2014 and work began on their new material. The trio found sanctuary in a secluded farmhouse in rural New South Wales, far from the distractions of city life. A new approach, new surroundings and a different writing method would be the reasoning for such escape. This time away would birth what would be the bands follow up tracks to ‘Evolve’.

Mixed by Simon Todkill (The Griswolds, Matt Corby), and Mastered by 2x Grammy Nominee Joe LaPorta (Foo Fighters, The Killers), Village Echoes return with the infectiously catchy new single ‘You Are Mine’. 

Village Echoes is Alex Almasi (Guitar/Vox), Steve Parfitt (Bass/Vox) and James Pounsett (Drums)

 

Band Members