Localized
Issue 212 / August 2006 More from this Issue
Download PDF
by Tipsy McStagger
This month's Localized on Friday, August 11 at the Urban Lounge (a private club for members) will feature a couple of the most dedicated groups in Salt Lake. Dedicated to what you ask? To taking things to the next level and then the next level after that. Nation-wide bitch!
The Will Sartain Players
Will Sartain- Guitar, Vox, Mastermind
Charlie Lewis- Drums
Doug- Keys
Sweaty- Bass
Many of you may already know Will Sartain. If you haven't seen any of his projects (Starmy, Redd Tape, Tremula, Buttery Muffins) then you've probably seen one of the solid acts he books in Salt Lake. It seems as though Will has been around the SLC music scene for a long time, especially for someone so young. I met up with Will at his place and he was a little banged up from a bike accident. Injury report: concussion, chinjury, swollen knees and swollen eyebrows. He wasn't even wearing a helmet. Though his arm is in a sling he's not worried about being able to play. "If I can't play guitar, I'll just sing." That's pretty cool for a dude who has to open for Frank Black even before the Localized show.
I saw Will play music in bars when he was 16 and thought, damn that kid is pretty good. Then, how the hell did he get in here? Inspired by his older brother Mike Sartain, it's no wonder Will has developed a solid grasp on all the instruments found in rock music. Mike got Will started on the drums when he was just a little guy. "We would jam when I was thirteen and he was twenty. Even when I was a little kid I always remember Mike playing in bands that I wanted to see." Mike also turned Will on to authors such as Alan Ginsburg and Jack Kerouac. "That was huge. When I first read On the Road I decided I wanted to travel. I didn't think about touring at that time. I just wanted to be on a Greyhound for three months."
At 16 Will graduated from high school and was all about getting his Greyhound ticket, but stayed here to play in Starmy with Mike instead. His thirst for the road was never quenched so when Redd Tape was formed he decided to tour. Will worked up at the University and had one of those jobs where he could do whatever he wanted, so he spent 25 hours a week booking Redd Tape on a tour. "That's when I fell in love with touring," he says. Some of his band mates weren't so excited about it so Will decided to book a five week tour for his solo project instead.
Will recorded two albums where he played all of the instruments and has traveled a lot. He's been all over the US as well as Europe. Between Tremula and his solo stuff Will is a road warrior. Will also has plans for a new album. This time he'll have his band on the recordings. "I hope to take off some layers of myself and get to the more important things." Will leaves for Europe on August 28th and he may never come back. "I'll either move to New York," he says, "or marry a woman in Europe."
Our Time In Space
Ryan Nielsen- Bass, Guitar, Vox
Chris Petersen- Guitar, Bass, Vox
Rod McNeely- Drums
Here's the story about my time in space with Our Time In Space or as I like to call them OTIS (sorry Rod, its just fun to say). OTIS welcomed me into a nice air-conditioned place so that we could get down to business (smoke). Afterwards we did the interview, which was a nice chance to get to know these rockers.
Back in November OTIS sent a demo of their songs to famed producer Alex Newport. You might know him from playing in bands like Fudge Tunnel and Theory Of Ruin. He's also recorded At The Drive-In, Mars Volta and Me First And The Gimme Gimmes. Alex invited OTIS to Los Angeles to cut some tracks. You know that there aren't many bands coming out of SLC who are willing to throw down that kind of cash for a recording, but OTIS saw the price tag as an investment for the band. "At first we wanted to do eight songs, and [Alex] said 'You know, that's going to take a while,' because he thought the songs were so good that it would be pointless to bash through them." Alex took them into the studio and stripped the music down a little to make all four of the tracks solid as fuck from start to finish. Now they have a really awesome beginning to what could end up as a major label release.
The trio has been playing with each other since their youth when they lived in Moab and formed Compound Fraxure. After moving to Salt Lake in 2003 they made the switch to OTIS. They aren't the kind of guys that are pretentious because they cut some tracks in LA. Instead they're three super nice dudes that are stoked on their music and excited about the future.
This month's Localized on Friday, August 11 at the Urban Lounge (a private club for members) will feature a couple of the most dedicated groups in Salt Lake. Dedicated to what you ask? To taking things to the next level and then the next level after that. Nation-wide bitch!
The Will Sartain PlayersWill Sartain- Guitar, Vox, Mastermind
Charlie Lewis- Drums
Doug- Keys
Sweaty- Bass
Many of you may already know Will Sartain. If you haven't seen any of his projects (Starmy, Redd Tape, Tremula, Buttery Muffins) then you've probably seen one of the solid acts he books in Salt Lake. It seems as though Will has been around the SLC music scene for a long time, especially for someone so young. I met up with Will at his place and he was a little banged up from a bike accident. Injury report: concussion, chinjury, swollen knees and swollen eyebrows. He wasn't even wearing a helmet. Though his arm is in a sling he's not worried about being able to play. "If I can't play guitar, I'll just sing." That's pretty cool for a dude who has to open for Frank Black even before the Localized show.
I saw Will play music in bars when he was 16 and thought, damn that kid is pretty good. Then, how the hell did he get in here? Inspired by his older brother Mike Sartain, it's no wonder Will has developed a solid grasp on all the instruments found in rock music. Mike got Will started on the drums when he was just a little guy. "We would jam when I was thirteen and he was twenty. Even when I was a little kid I always remember Mike playing in bands that I wanted to see." Mike also turned Will on to authors such as Alan Ginsburg and Jack Kerouac. "That was huge. When I first read On the Road I decided I wanted to travel. I didn't think about touring at that time. I just wanted to be on a Greyhound for three months."
At 16 Will graduated from high school and was all about getting his Greyhound ticket, but stayed here to play in Starmy with Mike instead. His thirst for the road was never quenched so when Redd Tape was formed he decided to tour. Will worked up at the University and had one of those jobs where he could do whatever he wanted, so he spent 25 hours a week booking Redd Tape on a tour. "That's when I fell in love with touring," he says. Some of his band mates weren't so excited about it so Will decided to book a five week tour for his solo project instead.
Will recorded two albums where he played all of the instruments and has traveled a lot. He's been all over the US as well as Europe. Between Tremula and his solo stuff Will is a road warrior. Will also has plans for a new album. This time he'll have his band on the recordings. "I hope to take off some layers of myself and get to the more important things." Will leaves for Europe on August 28th and he may never come back. "I'll either move to New York," he says, "or marry a woman in Europe."
Our Time In Space
Ryan Nielsen- Bass, Guitar, Vox
Chris Petersen- Guitar, Bass, Vox
Rod McNeely- Drums
Here's the story about my time in space with Our Time In Space or as I like to call them OTIS (sorry Rod, its just fun to say). OTIS welcomed me into a nice air-conditioned place so that we could get down to business (smoke). Afterwards we did the interview, which was a nice chance to get to know these rockers.
Back in November OTIS sent a demo of their songs to famed producer Alex Newport. You might know him from playing in bands like Fudge Tunnel and Theory Of Ruin. He's also recorded At The Drive-In, Mars Volta and Me First And The Gimme Gimmes. Alex invited OTIS to Los Angeles to cut some tracks. You know that there aren't many bands coming out of SLC who are willing to throw down that kind of cash for a recording, but OTIS saw the price tag as an investment for the band. "At first we wanted to do eight songs, and [Alex] said 'You know, that's going to take a while,' because he thought the songs were so good that it would be pointless to bash through them." Alex took them into the studio and stripped the music down a little to make all four of the tracks solid as fuck from start to finish. Now they have a really awesome beginning to what could end up as a major label release.
The trio has been playing with each other since their youth when they lived in Moab and formed Compound Fraxure. After moving to Salt Lake in 2003 they made the switch to OTIS. They aren't the kind of guys that are pretentious because they cut some tracks in LA. Instead they're three super nice dudes that are stoked on their music and excited about the future.
Facebook
Myspace
Twitter
YouTube
Vimeo
RSS
Be the first to comment!
Add a comment
Please keep your comments on the subject of the article.
We will delete your comment if it is racist, misogynistic, sexist, bigoted or just plain lame.
No HTML allowed!