easter island

I have said this before, but it is worth repeating-- something amazing and unique about Athens is that it's this community of talented people who are all here for one reason or another-- gifted artists, musicians, creatives. Prime example-- Easter Island, pictured above. My family grew to know a few of these guys when we first moved here, and over time, as we've spent more time together I learned more about them and their band. The band is composed of Patrick Ferguson (drums), Ryan Monahan (bass/keys/vocals), Asher Payne (vocals/keys), Ethan Payne (vocals/guitar), and Nathan Thompson (guitar).

 I just got a copy of their debut album 'Frightened', and you guys-- it is beautiful. Buy it. 

They've been featured in Direct Current's RADAR, Paste Magazine, Movement Magazine, among others. You can find their band's website at easterislandband.com, and if you visit their bandcamp you can download two of their tracks for free. Here's a little more info about them:

Easter Island emerged in 2010 from a multifaceted, wildly creative art scene in Athens, GA. Better Things, the band’s impressive debut EP, introduced the world to a dream pop canopy riddled with expansive guitars, keys and synths, all tied together by the light, airy vocals of Ethan and Asher Payne. “Proud,” the EP’s standout slow-builder, was

featured on ABC’s Off The Map. Drawing inspiration from the PI tarisian Golden Age and the works of Hemingway and Fitzgerald, Easter Island romantically diagrams the way things are and the way they ought to be.

Following the departure of the band’s rhythm section, John Cable and

Andrew Terrell, Easter Island’s current incarnation is rounded out by Nate Thompson on guitar, Ryan Monahan on bass and keys, and Patrick Ferguson on drums. Ryan is also the driving force behind burgeoning pop-rock outfit Monahan. Ferguson, who moonlights as the drummer for Five-Eight, is the man responsible for Easter Island’s dynamic post rock sound, having engineered Better Things as well as Frightened, the 2012 full-length debut. The latter record thematically focuses

on the quest for the intangible, the weight of apathy, and a yearning

for something that will last forever. Lead single “Hash,” with its spectacular cult escape visual treatment that premiered at the Atlanta Film Festival, is emblematic of the album’s nuanced dissection of humanity and relationships. The brothers Payne, through the much forgotten medium of the music video, display an auteristic approach which bleeds into their songwriting. Easter Island is enamored with the finer things in life and the pursuit of beauty in all endeavors. They want to live a good life in a modern climate of diminished expectations. In the context of starving artists and communal living, this often manifests itself through a “champagne taste on

a PBR budget” mentality. That same predilection towards golden sustenance is conveyed in the band’s studio approach and energetic live shows. With Easter Island’s five parts now firmly in

place, their mellow yet urgent swells of sound cry out in the now with

faint echoes lingering in 1920s Paris.

I had a conversation with John the other night (who is actually their branding consultant). John was an army brat and moved around a lot growing up.  We talked about how leaving a place (and the people who made it what it was) is hard... because when you get there, you carry around this presumption that your time there is limitless, and you don't notice or appreciate the value of those relationships and that place in time in your life. I think this is what I am experiencing now as we prepare to move to Colorado. So much happened here in Athens for us. It has been such a weighty time-- so good, and so hard, both at the same time, and seeing it come to a close is bittersweet. I am going to truly miss these people and this community. I feel like this is the place where we figured out who we really are-- as husband/wife, as a family. It has been crazy and intense. Anyway. I want to write more about this, and I will, but for now I think I'll just say-- the people in this band are some lovely souls, and to me it is so representative of our time here that we would get to know them and share at least some small part of life with them. I wish there was more time. And I could say that about SO many people in this town.

Easter Island. GORGEOUS music. Go listen/buy it and support them.

PS-- Piper is doing great and back to her old self. Almost. And Trevor graduates from Law school a week from today. Yep.

xoxo