Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
By: Bridget Riley
Originally formed at Oxford College, We Fly Standby is an indie rock trio that plays catchy songs about love.
The three unassuming and offbeat men of We Fly Standby headed out to the picnic benches next to Cox Hall, embracing the unexpectedly warm February afternoon. The band has performed around Emory's campus not because college students are a hot target audience for their catchy take on indie rock, but because they are Emory students.
Made up of two College juniors and a CDC employee, the band plays acoustic melodies sprinkled with love themes and handclaps - like Emory's own version of Death Cab for Cutie.
Two years ago, Charles Rhyner and Marlon Rhine met during orientation week at Emory's Oxford campus. The pair are now friends and bandmates; Rhyner plays guitar and sings lead vocals while Rhine plays drums.
Rhyner is a thoughtful guy from New Hampshire - the kind of person who pauses before speaking. Rhine is the band's Zen master, calling music "active meditation" and taking time to meditate before playing one of their many shows.
In the early days of the band, the duo played at bars with four original songs and a slew of covers, ranging from Radiohead to Lynyrd Skynyrd. Rhyner said they were - and still are - very obliging with requests from the audience.
"We're probably the only band who will actually play 'Freebird,'" Rhyner said.
Six months ago, Brandon Kitchel joined the lineup. Kitchel first connected with the rest of We Fly Standby when he went on a camping trip with Rhyner's brother. The two got to talking about music, and Rhyner's brother put Kitchel in touch with the rest of the band.
After the trip, Kitchel started practicing with the rest of the band.
"We jammed once and decided we really liked what we heard," Kitchel said.
Kitchel, the most experienced musician of the band and a Tufts grad, works at the CDC but still keeps up with the band's demanding three-times-a-week practice schedule and makes all the shows the band plays during the week.
In their six months together, We Fly Standby have written more than 30 songs and now average two to three gigs a week.
Any qualms about such a rigorous gig schedule disappear when the band eagerly speaks about playing live.
"This sounds hokey, but sharing music with other people is a really big thing," Rhyner said. "Connecting [with the audience] is more important than singing to 200 people."
Besides playing as many shows as possible, plans for the future are still very much up in the air.
A lot of the band's future depends on the success of its debut, Main Street. Released last Friday, the six-track EP is available on MySpace for a dollar a track, or directly through any of the band members.
If Main Street sells well enough, the band hopes to use the profits to fund a full-length album in the near future.
After playing shows nonstop and writing more than 30 songs, We Fly Standby feels prepared for a record deal.
The band has already achieved some success in the area, performing at Creative Loafing's Bandzilla competition in 2006 and getting airtime on 99X.
Plus, they've already played with some bands they admire, such as Manchester Orchestra and Jump Little Children.
They dream of getting signed, but for now, the boys are ecstatic about their new EP. They'll plug the record today on WMRE with an interview and in-studio performance. They also plan to play many more shows to sell the record, such as one at Lenny's on Feb. 19.
Plans for the future are bright. Kitchel hopes to open up for bands he admires, such as Death Cab, Guster or Say Anything.
"We're going to go on tour after college and do what we can with this," Rhyner said.
- Contact Bridget Riley at bridget.riley@emory.edu - Emory Wheel Issue date: 2/16/07 Section: Entertainment
Discography
Main Street EP - 2007
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
When asked about their unusual name, expect “We Fly Standby” to collectively give you an in-depth explanation on their first show together flying to Wisconsin to perform at an outdoor festival. However, much like their vivid lyrics, We Fly Standby’s name is more of a metaphoric statement on spontaneity. The Atlanta-based, three part Indie Rock group lives by their “why be out when you can be in” mantra and as a result has performed over 35 shows within their first 6 months as a band.
“We Fly Standby” is made up of two Emory students: Charles Rhyner (guitar and lead vocals) and Marlon Rhine (drums) along with Brandon Kitchel (bass and vocals) who currently does research at the CDC. Each member had an extensive amount of experience writing and performing music in previous bands and other musical ensembles. Rhyner first met up with Rhine during their freshmen orientation and within an hour of talking had already made plans to start up a band. However, it was the addition of Kitchel that acted as the catalyst and propelled the threesome to quickly engage Atlanta’s indie rock scene.
Their music is a very interesting combination of sounds and styles that will get your adrenaline pumping with their upbeat songs while simultaneously captivating you with their intellectually stimulating words. Unlike a lot of bands these days that seem to recycle lyrics and use cliché wordage that you have heard time and time again, “We Fly Standby” will surprise you with their refreshing lyrical content. The music itself is a novel blend of various influential artists ranging from “Death Cab for Cutie” to “The Beatles” and pretty much everything in between. Although the threesome primarily plays their original tunes, they have been known to humor an audience’s requests for an occasional cover song.
Recently, “We Fly Standby” has just released their debut EP titled “Main St.” that was primarily recorded at Kitchel’s home in Kirkwood. In fact, the very first thing that can be heard on the CD is the sound of the train that frequently passes by. The album has received rave reviews in the Emory community and has already started being circulated throughout Atlanta. However, with the help of the internet “We Fly Standby” has been getting an unexpected amount of attention on the global level. The group has been steadily making fans from all over the world that are able to listen to their tunes at either their website (www.weflystandby.com) or their ever-so trendy myspace page (www.myspace.com/weflystandby).
Whether it is at a club, bar, festival, house party, or local coffee shop, “We Fly Standby” is guaranteed to put on a show that you won’t want to miss. This group is overflowing with potential, and with their tenacious work ethic and resounding love for their music we can expect big things from this Atlanta-based indie rock threesome.
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