Winter Circle

April 2005
"For those of you not glued to the recent 94.7-FM The Buzz's March Bandness contest, we have a winner.

The indie rock-pop-flavored Winter Circle, with their song "Don't Go," won the contest, beating 3 Dates Later, Neverday and Plexus to grab $1,000 cash, a spot in the Buzz's rotation, the title of "official Buzz house band," as well as an opening slot for Thursday's "Buzz Ball 2005" show featuring Sum 41, Unwritten Law and Hawthorne Heights at the Bricktown Events Center.

"'Don't Go' was actually the first song written by the band," vocalist Kevin Dawson said recently. "This contest was our first show, so we're pretty stoked; we're trying to keep the momentum going."

Speaking of momentum, bandmate Andy Hale said Winter Circle's members got their feet under 'em pretty quickly.

"We all come from different bands (Shade Seven, Edensleeve, Fist of Five) who've played a lot of shows, and we've all brought our past experiences and inspirations into this new band," Hale said recently. "It's really wonderful for everything to have come together so quickly. Now we just need to keep it up!"

The band plans to write, record and perform throughout the summer.

"We should have three more songs in probably a couple weeks, "Dawson said. "This fall, we're gonna have a five-song EP that we'll shop around."

Visit wintercircle.com for more information. -PJ"
- Oklahoma Gazette

April 2005
"For those of you not glued to the recent 94.7-FM The Buzz's March Bandness contest, we have a winner.

The indie rock-pop-flavored Winter Circle, with their song "Don't Go," won the contest, beating 3 Dates Later, Neverday and Plexus to grab $1,000 cash, a spot in the Buzz's rotation, the title of "official Buzz house band," as well as an opening slot for Thursday's "Buzz Ball 2005" show featuring Sum 41, Unwritten Law and Hawthorne Heights at the Bricktown Events Center.

"'Don't Go' was actually the first song written by the band," vocalist Kevin Dawson said recently. "This contest was our first show, so we're pretty stoked; we're trying to keep the momentum going."

Speaking of momentum, bandmate Andy Hale said Winter Circle's members got their feet under 'em pretty quickly.

"We all come from different bands (Shade Seven, Edensleeve, Fist of Five) who've played a lot of shows, and we've all brought our past experiences and inspirations into this new band," Hale said recently. "It's really wonderful for everything to have come together so quickly. Now we just need to keep it up!"

The band plans to write, record and perform throughout the summer.

"We should have three more songs in probably a couple weeks, "Dawson said. "This fall, we're gonna have a five-song EP that we'll shop around."

Visit wintercircle.com for more information. -PJ"
- Oklahoma Gazette

A local band, Winter Circle, featuring four musicians with ties to the western metropolitan area are beginning to make some noise in the music field - with their song "Streetlight Flicker, " being named 2005s Song of the Year by Irok Radio.

The band includes Bethany resident John Megehee, a graduate of Putnam City and the drummer for the group; and Oklahoma City residents Kevin Dawson, guitar and vocals; Andy Hale, guitar; and Toby Prince, bass and background vocals.

The band formed in December of 2004 and the group has been gathering attention with live performances and recording additional music for a CD Release.

The group competed in the 2005 Battle of the Bands competition sponsored by The Buzz, 94.7 FM with their first song, "Don't Go." The band advanced through the competition and emerged as champions by the judging panel of record industry executives.

The group and their second song, "Streetlight Flicker," was featured in January on MTV's reality series, "The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet II."

Work is nearing completion on another CD, entitled "The Huge and Hopeful" which is scheduled for release in March. Winter Circle will begin touring regionally in the spring in support of the new CD.
- The Tribune / February 16, 2006

December 2005
"Winter Circle is catchy indie-pop at its best. Best, I tell you! Go check them out now, before I light your car on fire." - Insomnia Radio Website

"This little gem of pop came to me last month and at first review thought OK it was just another group doing re-hashed rock and pop. Surprisingly this group has what it needs to break into the big times! The lyrics are good as well as the music and I can see that this group will have much success in the future. - Andrew Allen" - Kangar Radio Website

Rock ‘n’ roll and fine art may not seem like a logical mix of mediums, but the Individual Artists of Oklahoma gallery is all about taking chances. The gallery will be featuring some of the metro’s up-and-coming rock acts in “Art Rock.”

The bands slated for the first of these events on Friday are Winter Circle, 4 Points West and Star Crash Speedway.

“A multitude of extraordinary bands are based in Oklahoma, and we are excited to have the opportunity and the space to showcase local talent,” said Jeff Stokes, IAO’s executive director.

Winter Circle is preparing to launch a tour once its new EP, “The Huge and Hopeful,” comes out. The band is hoping to capitalize on a successful year that scored its songs spots on MTV reality shows and on the loop of XM radio.

Winter Circle’s melodic, radio-friendly sound got is first break with a top-four finish in KHBZ-FM 94.7’s Battle of the Bands and becoming 94.7’s official house band in 2005.

“We played our first show as a band at Frontier City,” Winter Circle’s Andy Hale said of their quick rise in popularity. “Four shows into our career and we were opening for Sum 41.”

The band had recorded “Don’t Go” on a whim, which was the single entered in the Battle of the Bands contest. After the contest, the musicians leapt back into the studio to turn out more songs for an EP, which Hale admits was a mistake.

“We had this self-imposed timeline; we rushed it,” Hale said. “When we went back in to record some more songs, we knocked it out quicker than we should have. We didn’t give the songs enough time to develop.”

They ultimately shelved the EP, and instead spent their time playing live and practicing. They did make use of their time by getting in touch with industry professionals, including MTV, which featured their music on the “Real World/Road Rules Challenge.” They would also hear from a Los Angeles indie rock radio station.

“MTV liked them, so I guess ultimately it’s what other people think of your songs,” Hale said.

They decided to take another shot at the studio and tapped Grammy-winning producer, Eric Delegard (Bowling for Soup, Cross Canadian Ragweed), and hope to release the “The Huge and Hopeful” in late March. They are confident that their collective experience in music will help them get to the next step.

“We’re not seasoned pros by any means, but we’re not completely naïve,” Hale said. “It was nice to take our past experiences and apply them to what we’re doing now, the things we messed up before, do them correctly this time.”

Local band manager and promoter Mark Maxey organized “Art Rock.” IAO will continue putting on the events as an ongoing effort to support all the various mediums of artistic expression.

“IAO has, in the past, featured local music shows as a function of the performance committee, and ‘Art Rock’ represents a revival of that program,” Stokes said. “Our purpose is to encourage and sustain Oklahoma artists in their various crafts.”
- Oklahoma Gazette / February 15th, 2006

January 20, 2006
"...This is a band that consistently produces catchy hooks, smooth melodies and superb songwriting, then steps back, tears it apart and reconstructs it multiple times until it is perfect. Winter Circle plays what it plays while maintaining a respect for what other artists do and play. Its motto: 'Anything that helps the Oklahoma music scene helps us.'... - Daniel Lapham" - The Oklahoman

The mission statement of Individual Artists of Oklahoma is to sustain and encourage “emerging and established artists in all media who are intellectually and aesthetically provocative or experimental in subject matter or technique.”

At 8 tonight, three up-and-coming local rock ’n’ roll bands get to share some of that creative sustenance and encouragement when they kick off the inaugural night of “Art Rock at IAO” concert series.

The guitar-driven intellectual and aesthetic provocations of Winter Circle, 4 Points West and Star Crash Speedway will rattle the gallery walls now displaying the off-grain textile exhibit and the paintings of Dana McBride, while threatening to send cracks through the concrete-and-color sculptures of Eric Krause.

But don’t the “art-rock” tag mislead you. In pop music parlance, that phrase refers to the often-bloated, classically influenced, cathedral-organ bluster of such ‘70s arena acts as Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes and King Crimson. Not that there was anything wrong with those guys. I loved ‘em all. Still do.

But that was then and this is now. Winter Circle (guitarist Andy Hale, singer Kevin Dawson, bassist Toby Prince, drummer John Megehee) drive a 21st-century brand of punk-powered pop that’s careened onto the sound track of MTV’s “Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Gauntlet II” and been featured on XM satellite radio along with other top unsigned bands from across the country. In 2005, the group beat out a large field of locals to become the official house band of KHBZ-FM 94.7 FM The Buzz, and they’ve just completed and EP, “The Huge and Hopeful,” with Grammy Award-winning engineer Eric Delegard (Bowling for Soup). And all of this within a year of getting together.

“Yeah, we sort of jump-started through a bunch of the stuff that most people have to go through,” Hale said. “The major thing, obviously, was winning The Buzz house band thing.”

Tonight’s show was organized by the band’s manager, Mark Maxey, himself a patron of the fine arts. And the “art rock” misnomer attached to the show doesn’t bother Hale a bit

“I think we’re all really into the visual side of things and all really like art,” he said. “From small things as simple as our flier, all the way to our Web site and our CD. I’m actually a graphic designer in my other job, so I can appreciate that. But we’re not exactly art rock.”

Nor is 4 Points West, by any stretch. Or is it? This project of ex-Nixons guitarist/vocalist Jesse Davis with singer/guitarist Bryan Thompson, bassist Marty Shields and drummer James Wyrick has produced a six-song EP titled “Lonesome Demise of a 1st Place Prize” that features brawny acoustic and electric guitar, life-worn vocals and spare percussion coming together in a beautifully ramshackle yet tuneful hybrid of roots and ‘90s lo-fi influences.

A full length album is in the works; the songs have earned airplay in Dallas, Oklahoma City and Tulsa; labels are showing interest; and Davis may be headed back to the big-time he enjoyed with the Nixons in the ‘90s. And he’s not finicky about the “art rock” term.

“We’re involved locally, my wife and I. We really support the local artists, and we feel like we’re a part of the scene.” Davis said. “It’s a brand new thing that they’re doing, and we heard about it, and Mark asked us to do it, and we’re like, yeah, sure.

“I though it was kinda neat. ….I don’t know, we just are what we are. We’re not a jam band. It’s not improvised. I mean, we orchestrate what we do. But we don’t mind getting a little artsy, and we don’t mind rockin’ a little and we don’t mind goin’ down and just playing acoustics. We actually love that. And, you know, we’re just very roots-based but with a lot of experimentation.”

Well, that seems to fit the IAO criteria.

Meanwhile, Star Crash Speedway (guitarist Jason Velasquez, bassist Scott Norris, drummer Trace Gross, singer/guitarist Todd Moulton) wash a ton of tuneful guitar and vocal cord-flexing harmonies over their audience in a tidal wave of power-pop splendor that reminds this listener of Foo Fighters more than just a little. And Moulton wasn’t offended by the comparison, nodding to Dave Grohl and company, among others, as major influences.

“Yeah, they’re a huge influence,” Moulton said. “They’re just an amazing band, and I’ve never actually tried to be like any other type of band. But, yeah, that always seems to break through.”

Nothing wrong with borrowing, as long as the artists whip their own flourishes through the mix, as this band does on their “Monument” EP, which has drawn the interest of no less than Columbia Records.

As for the IAO show, Moulton said, “When I saw the flier for that show, I was kind of, you know, there’s not a band on the lineup that would fit the kind of art-rock bill. But I guess they just got that from being an art gallery.”

Conclusion: Forget the ‘70s pomp rock connotations of the art-rock label. Embrace the IAO credo - The Oklahoman / February 17th, 2006

For those who like to find the bands before they get big, Winter Circle is one of the better Oklahoma candidates. This band's part of the fastest-growing state cultural export, mainstream emo-rock. Winter Circle will host a CD release party at The Conservatory at 8 p.m. Friday for its new EP, "The Huge and Hopeful."
If you haven't heard the band's signature single, "Streetlight Flicker," on KHBZ-FM 94.7 "The Buzz" yet, it's just a matter of time. The rest of the songs are all carefully sculpted; over six tracks, there are four possible singles with the bittersweet "She Wants Me" and "Dynamite" the best contenders as follow-ups.
Winter Circle isn't exactly rocket science, but it isn't trying to be. It is honest, simple rock 'n' roll that should connect to teenage audiences, if marketed effectively. "Huge and Hopeful" is, from beginning to end, a very good study on how to make efficient mainstream rock.
With a proper tour and a little help from the radio, the band has a great chance at being signed to a major label and injecting itself into the modern rock rotation. Fans who will surely rally around "Streetlight Flicker" can say they knew the band when. For more information, go to wintercircle.com. -Charles Martin - The Oklahoma Gazette

Local indie band Winter Circle will be debuting their newest CD at 8 p.m. March 31 inside The Conservatory, 8911 N. Western. Their year long trek has brought them many successes and their latest offerings musically should catapult them into the big league.

Having come together from some of the top bands of Oklahoma City last year, Winter Circle's first year has been a roller coaster ride to say the least. One of their first live performances was performing as part of the 94.7FM The Buzz Battle of the Bands at Frontier City. After winning this over 300 other entries, they went on to open in front of 1,500 persons with Hawthorne Heights, Sum41 and Unwritten Law.

"I think the initial excitement from the audience’s reaction was, we definitely have a sound here that was working," said guitarist Andy Hale. "We wanted to take our time and do things right with getting back into the studio."

They released an extended play (EP) of four of their songs, one of which was the winner of 94.7FM's band battle. "Don't Go" began to enjoy frequent playing rotation on the Clear Channel radio station.

"The quality of our recordings is essential to us, we work hard to master that," Hale says.

The search was on to find the right elements to help this band move upward and on to more huge and hopeful sightings.

"We began to seek out producers, engineers who would bring out the best of our talents," said lead singer Kevin Dawson. "We had heard of Eric Delegard who had produced Bowling for Soup, Cross Canadian Ragweed and Radial Angel." Delegard is a Grammy award winning engineer with Reel Time Audio in Denton, Texas. "It was grueling working Monday through Friday and heading down to record with Eric for 20 hours each weekend," Dawson added.

“We decided to release one of the earliest recordings with Eric called ‘Streetlight Flicker’, to Clear Channel and a few other radio stations late summer of last year,” Toby Prince, bassist says. “It was one of the most radio friendly songs we had written and early indication showed us we had some major attention.”

Winter Circle began to get calls and requests from several major labels and booking agencies wanting them to jump on the road and tour.

“It really surprised us how fast all this was happening with only have won one award, immediate airplay, and now this,” said drummer John Megehee. “I have a family and most of us had been in touring bands before and we wanted to take time making sure each step was the most logical and right for us as a band. We kept playing local gigs and finishing our plans for this CD release show.”

The old adage opportunity only knocks once, has proven wrong for Winter Circle. In their case it keeps knocking and knocking and knocking.

Their music began to spring up on many radio stations and internet podcasts around the world. Streetlight Flicker was picked to be showcased on MTV’s Real World and Road Rules. XM Radio picked Winter Circle as on of 13 bands out of over 500 to be featured as one of the top unsigned bands in America. As well, more than 2,500 people voted Streetlight Flicker as the top rock song for 2005 for IROK radio.

It seems Winter Circle is proving to be true to their celestial moniker. The Winter Circle is a circular grouping of first magnitude stars that are visible during winter. First magnitude stars comprise all nighttime stars brighter than magnitude +1.5.

There are only 21 first magnitude stars in the nighttime sky and 1/3rd of them (7) are within the Winter Circle. The Winter Circle is most visible during January. However, it appears that this band will be most visible for a long time to come.

For more information, visit www.wintercircle.com.

- The MidCity Advocate / March 2nd, 2006

There are just so many unbelievably strong bands albums at the moment, that it's hard to keep track. If this bands MySpace page is anything to go by (with over 10,000 friends), their first CD release is going to be huge and deservedly so, cos it's 21 minutes of sheer infectious rock. It's funny that a lot of bands are just referring to their physical releases as CDs whether they're albums or EPs, but who cares when the CD in question will only set you back $6.00.

The EP opens very strongly with "Streetlight Flicker", one of those songs that burrows it's way deep into your brain and is an excellent example of the perfect pop song. But why stop there, the CD just continues along at the same furious pace. My kids often say the music I review, just isn't their kind of music. I'm going to go home tonight though and defy them not to like the track "She Wants Me" and this to me, is every bit as good as songs from they're current favorite bands, like Panic at the Disco and Fall Out Boy. Thank God for "Hold On" as a break in the frenetic pace of the EP is needed, certainly by this old duffer. OK, so maybe I'm not that old, but a change in pace, balances this EP nicely. "Dynamite" is again almost a formulaic perfect pop song, great vocals and drum beat, that just hook you up and reels you in. "Send Me a Wave" and "Don't Go" round off the EP nicely.

Conclusion : This is a band that I would say are very much up there with Black Lab and The Profits to name but a few of the excellent bands reviewed here recently. I'm just hoping most of their MySpace friends translate to buying friends.
- www.indielaunchpad.com

There are just so many unbelievably strong bands albums at the moment, that it's hard to keep track. If this bands MySpace page is anything to go by (with over 10,000 friends), their first CD release is going to be huge and deservedly so, cos it's 21 minutes of sheer infectious rock. It's funny that a lot of bands are just referring to their physical releases as CDs whether they're albums or EPs, but who cares when the CD in question will only set you back $6.00.

The EP opens very strongly with "Streetlight Flicker", one of those songs that burrows it's way deep into your brain and is an excellent example of the perfect pop song. But why stop there, the CD just continues along at the same furious pace. My kids often say the music I review, just isn't their kind of music. I'm going to go home tonight though and defy them not to like the track "She Wants Me" and this to me, is every bit as good as songs from they're current favorite bands, like Panic at the Disco and Fall Out Boy. Thank God for "Hold On" as a break in the frenetic pace of the EP is needed, certainly by this old duffer. OK, so maybe I'm not that old, but a change in pace, balances this EP nicely. "Dynamite" is again almost a formulaic perfect pop song, great vocals and drum beat, that just hook you up and reels you in. "Send Me a Wave" and "Don't Go" round off the EP nicely.

Conclusion : This is a band that I would say are very much up there with Black Lab and The Profits to name but a few of the excellent bands reviewed here recently. I'm just hoping most of their MySpace friends translate to buying friends.
- www.indielaunchpad.com