A group of young Sammamish musicians are on the verge of something big.
About 10 years ago, two young friends at Pine Lake Middle School, Will Holmes and Paul Beeman, began to dream those rock star dreams which have captivated millions of youngsters before them.
Fast forward to 2010 and guitarist Holmes and bassist Beeman have put together one of the most promising young bands to emerge from the Plateau – complete now with the addition of fellow Skyline High School student, singer Ashley Bullock, and drummer Ryan Sprute from Eastside Catholic High School.
Over the weekend, their band, ‘Great Waves,’ won its way through to the final of Sound Off!, the largest underage battle of the bands in the Northwest.
Sound Off! bands before them, including Schoolyard Heroes, The Lonely Forest, Dyme Def, and Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head, have all gone on to becoming mainstays of the Seattle band scene, and if their semi-final winning performance at the Experience Music Project on Saturday night was any indication, this band has a bright future.
Great Waves is also the name of a song by one of their musical heroes, the critically acclaimed Australian band The Dirty Three, led by violinist and Nick Cave collaborator Warren Ellis.
The violin features strongly in Great Waves’ music, too, played by relatively recent additions to the band, David Bahr and Michael Spaly. Partnered with Bullock’s smoky, saucy, lonely-housewife-on-the-front-porch vocals, the alt-country sound of the violin brings to mind another band which brought some country influences into their music, the Cowboy Junkies. So too, the influence of Cat Power’s Chan Marshall is not far from the surface of Bullock’s soulful voice. Joe LaRosee and Bill Campbell complete the nine-pieces of the Great Waves puzzle.
The lineup of Great Waves’ influences reads like a diverse list of everything that is good in music today such as Radiohead, My Morning Jacket, Bon Iver, Cat Power and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Adding some timelessness to these upstarts, they also name-check Carole King, the Beatles and Van Morrison, showing that they aren’t adverse to raiding their parents’ record collections.
But the Sammamish foursome know that success in the music business isn’t going to come by accident. The members have all deferred college studies this year to focus on making it happen. In November last year they recorded a handful of tracks at Jupiter Studios in Seattle, which they hope will become the nucleus of a debut album. When not working 9 – 5 to pay the rent, Holmes, Beeman, Bullock and Sprute are hold up in their studio in Capitol Hill, putting long hours into perfecting their already captivating sound.
Local music fans are encouraged to get into Seattle on Saturday night to hear it for themselves, and to cheer on Great Waves in their quest to be named the best underaged band in the Northwest.
The Sky Church at the Experience Music Project building, The Seattle Center, is an all ages venue. Show starts at 8 p.m., and will feature four local bands.
Tickets are $7 for students and EMP|SFM members, $10 general public. Call 206-770-2702 or 1-877-EMP-SFM1 for tickets and information.
