The Beginning

I wanted to create something new. That’s how this got started. I’ve played music for years. Over time things fall into routines - music, job, etc….. You play a role, react in certain ways, and it becomes predictable.

I felt like I was moving in place. I wanted something exciting and dangerous, like when you’re on the cusp of something new, something you don’t understand and can’t predict.

It seemed like the most creative thing I could do was just to be different. The most innovative way I could express myself was to change the whole process. I couldn’t find new sounds by approaching things the same way.

Over a year ago I called some of my best friends and told them what I was thinking. They were into it. To this day I continue to be amazed and grateful. I sent acoustic demos with copious notes, links to songs or textures, and way too much follow up.

Our first practices were awkward, but from the very start playing with these guys has been a blast. When you’re starting out, you have to figure out how to play off each other. Travis came into rehearsals with fully baked drum beats, Mike deflected all of the compliments all of the time, and Kevin made everything more fun. Eventually, we started to sound a certain way.

Perhaps the most exciting part for a songwriter is when your songs grow up. Sometimes they end up exactly as you planned. Other times you have no idea how they got where they ended up. But neither of those things really matter. What matters is where you end up. Is the song exciting? Does it move you?

We spent a long time working on these songs. Having played live so many times, none of us needed another gig. We needed there to be a reason, something beyond a desire to meet up at a club or to run through songs in a rehearsal space.

Now we’re here. Late nights, clubs, more recordings, videos, photos, demos, and on and on.

We are excited to announce that we are Pale Monsters, a band about trying new things and pushing yourself. I’m not sure exactly how it fits together, but figuring that out is half the fun.