Artist Spotlight: Paper Route

Monday, April 5th, 2010

If there were ever such a month where picking the artist to spotlight was an easy decision it would definitely be the month of March. By far, Paper Route has shown brighter than any other artist this month… well, for me at least. I’m not saying they are superior to any other artists I’ve noticed this year. I’m just saying that they have been hanging out with me a lot more than others.

I’ve been hearing them more on the radio. I know we recently added a couple new songs into the rotation. They put out a music video for their song “Gutter” which I feel is an amazing feat of Do It Yourself work. Not to mention they just released a Remix album of “Absence” called “Additions” in which artists like Passion Pit, Son Lux and Darren King remix songs.

So here’s the low down on Paper Route. Their music is amazing. Their style is awesome. Their faith is best. They are down right inspiring to listen to.

They were deemed as an artist to watch by Paste Magazinie’s website in 2007. They’ve had music featured on television, and their major debut album Absence released under Universal Records was the #13 album on Billboards Heatseakers chart. They’ve toured with Paramore, Owl City and Lights, but I’m sure we have more to see.

From what I’ve read, it all began when Chad Howat would wrestle with insomnia and spend late nights (or all nighters) on his laptop. His creativity came to him at night, where as his fellow band mates found inspiration during the day. (I can relate… but those are different stories for another day.) What I loved was, in reading their biography online, Chad said, “In between working day jobs and appeasing complaining neighbors, we wrote songs, d e c o n s t r u c t e d them, then reassembled them together in new ways. Nothing was sacred.” This process is a novel concept to me. “Nothing was sacred.” I feel like musicians might make so piece of work and look at it as being perfect as it is… or at least part of it is just how it needs to be. Not Paper Route. They look at their music and they break it up and put it back, break it up and reform it. I love the paradox of the way to perfection is to first break it.

“‘Being honest is probably the most important thing when creating art,’ Howat says. ‘You can hide it or disguise it, or even write from someone else’s perspective, but regardless, it has to come from an honest place. We try to live lives that are completely reflective of our faith, but honestly, I can only speak for myself and say that I am quite inconsistent. So wrestling with these inconsistencies, fighting internal wars with ourselves, knowing that this world isn’t supposed to be the way it is … these are all things that come out in our songwriting. When we personally have an eternal perspective on our lives, that comes out in our songs. At the same time, when we are overwhelmed with the day that we’ve barely made it through, that will come out in our writing.’ (Relevant Magazine)”

Their music is seriously some of the best stuff I’ve heard (and probably will hear) all year. You should really swing by their myspace or website. Also, check out their videos on youtube.

Some videos for the lovely people:
Gutter
Carousel

A Blog By Elisha Guido

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Artist Spotlight: The Welcome Wagon

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

I understand the tardiness of this blog and I give my apologies. I will spare you from the excuses and just get to the point.

Who is The Welcome Wagon? The easy answer would be to say they are just a band that makes oddly refreshing music. The more insightful answer is the one to come. Yes, the Reverend Thomas Vito Aiuto and his wife Monique make refreshingly odd music, but they also create music that has such depth and truth to it.

Thomas grew up in Michigan but moved to New York for seminary and ended up planting a church in Brooklyn. His wife has a somewhat similar story. She grew up in the same town and moved to New York for educational purposes (studying art at Columbia University). They married, they have a band. They started out just making music in their house. Thomas picked up a guitar, not knowing how to play it, but desiring to sing songs of praise with his family, while his wife grabbed a harmonica with the same heart. Thomas writes lyrics filled with theological depth, while Monique is the resident visual artist.

What genre would I classify their music in? Well, I would definitely place it in the indie category, but at the same time I would say it’s pretty gospel. Yes, The Welcome Wagon is an Indie Gospel band. You don’t see many of those these days.

We play a couple of their songs here on the radio. Every time I hear the lyrics I feel so encouraged and I am constantly reminded of the love that Christ has for us.

Here are lyrics from the song “Up on a Mountain”

Up on a mountain our Lord is alone
Without a family, friends or a home
He cries ooh, ooh, ooh, will you stay with me?
He cries oh, oh, oh, will you wait with me?

Up on a mountain our Lord is afraid
Carrying all the mistakes we have made
And He knew, it’s a long way down
Do you know, it’s a long way down?

Up in the heavens our Lord prays for you
He sent his spirit to carry us through
So it’s true that you’re not alone
Do you know He came all the way down?

So it’s true that you’re not alone
Do you know He came all the way down?

It’s just so good to hear music that is uplifting in both style and lyrics. I’m the kind of person that hears the music before I hear the lyrics. I can listen to a song twenty times and never know what the song is about, but I could tell you everything you would need to know about the music and melody. The Welcome Wagon has made it so easy for me to get better at listening to the lyrics and content of a song. The music is unique, the lyrics are filled with truth, and truth is always awesome.

To listen to their music check out their myspace or website.

A Blog By Elisha Guido

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Artist Spotlight: David Condos

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Over the past few months I have been learning about so many bands, some new, some old, some good, some, well, not so good. The time has come where I finally feel the urge to make a public statement of “Hey, this artist has really caught my ear this last month!” So here we go.

The two words, “so good” come to mind when I think about this artists music. I feel like his music is so much more unique than a lot of the music we hear these days and I guess the impression that it has made on me was just enough to make him the artist in spotlight for this month. Though, I must say that the competition was tough this month. I struggled between so many, but this one guy just stuck out more than the others.

Who is David Condos and why does his music sound so good? If you’ve heard the song “Like Wolves” or “I Should Be Lost Without You” then you’ve heard the sweet sound of his music. You would understand how his music is passionate and emotive, drawing you in to it’s message, but at the same time causing you to feel something within yourself. His music is simply beautiful, but there is a sweet complexity to it. I wish I could think of more ways to say “it’s just that lovely”. You see, David has been writing music since he was pretty young, but while he was in college, a guy from his church back home heard him play and wanted to help him record a CD. I love when artists are just kind of doing their thing and all of the sudden they have the opportunity to do what they’ve been doing forever… making music for us to enjoy.

I’m not even really sure how I came across his music. I think I was on iTunes going from one recommended artist to another when I came across the CD, Born After Vinyl, Volume 1. Out of all the musicians I sampled from that CD, it was his music that really made its way into my head (and my heart). It just kind of lingered there and made itself comfortable while embedding itself deep within my thoughts.

He doesn’t really do solo stuff right now, but is in a new band called Milktooth. I must admit I haven’t looked into their stuff too much, but I look forward to when I do. Be sure to check out his myspace page for both him and Milktooth.

Seriously, he is worth a listen.

A Blog By Elisha Guido

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