Can you give me an introduction to everyone in the band?
Tanner plays guitar and sings, Johnny plays guitar and percussion,
Aaron plays guitar, Anton plays bass, and Michael plays drums.
How did O’ brother come together as a band?
O’Brother originally formed as a four piece in 2006 but we went
through a line up change at the end of 2007. We parted ways with our
old singer Spencer (whom we still are close with and love) and added
Tanner and Aaron, whom we met through other bands that we knew and
friends that we had.
How did O’ brother get its name?
Basically we were all sitting around talking about the band and
Spencer said that if he was ever to be a part of something that
sounded like we did, he wanted to call it “O’Brother”. We liked it
and so it stuck. It has nothing to do with the movie “O Brother,
Where Art Thou” or the fact that Anton and Johnny are brothers. We
just thought it sounded better than anything else we could think of…
You guys have a unique sound, how would you describe it?
Hmm. Ambient Indie Rock? Maybe a little Experimental thrown in?
What are some of the band’s influences?
There are a couple of bands that we all absolutely love (Sigur Ros,
Radiohead, Pedro the Lion, Mogwai, Appleseed Cast) that probably add
the most influence to the band, but we also all have our own
individual favorites that influence each member on their own (Weezer,
The Mars Volta, Torche, Thrice, Modest Mouse, Anathallo, As Cities
Burn, and random movie sound tracks, etc..).
Where does the inspiration come from for the songs you write?
Musically, some how we all pull our individual influences together and
what you hear from us is the end result. Lyrically, Tanner tends to
write about life in general. Sometimes spirituality, sometimes
dreaming, sometimes nothing at all. At the end of the song writing
process we are usually all on the same page.
What are plans for the future?
Well, as I type this we are in the studio for the final night of
mixing our new record “The Death of Day”. That being said, our focus
right now is getting this music to as many people as we can, which in
turn means touring as much as humanly possible. We’ll be out for
about two months this spring and probably another four or five months
worth before the year is over. Other than that, we just want to have
fun and make new friends.
What has the Lord been showing you in the last year or two?
That it’s alright to question. I think we’ve all found lately that a
perfect faith isn’t really faith at all, and it will never exist this
side of Heaven. God knows who we are, what our intentions are, and
what we want to do with what we’ve been given. Everyone walks in
different ways and at the end of the day it’s only you and God.
What was the most encouraging thing to happen to you guys as a band?
I think really it’s been the overwhelming support we have found coming
from our friends and family. Trying to do this in any shape or form
beyond locally gets really difficult. We know where our home is and
we love everyone there.
What do you hope a listener comes away with after hearing you?
We hope they love what they are listening to (obviously) but more so
than that we want to them to know we love them and are sincerely
grateful.
Check out O’brother on their MySpace