Following up on the unexpected independent success of their 2002 debut album, Becoming Aware, dark rock innovators Unfinished Thought have returned with an album that solidifies the duo's status as one of independent music's most original and creative forces. Their brand new release, Based On Actual Events, is a genre defying collection of songs that spotlights the unparalleled precision and forceful elegance that defines Unfinished Thought's decidedly unique sound. "Uniqueness has been a blessing and a curse for us" explains producer/multi-instrumentalist Joe Kiser. "Every band wants to say that they sound like nothing you've ever heard before. Obviously comparisons can be drawn between any two given sounds, but our music tends to drift freely between multiple genres. I think we have more of the 'nothing you've ever heard before' element than most bands that have surfaced in the past several years."
Combining the more abrasive elements of dark wave, industrial, electonica, metal and goth with the more melodic components of etherealism, ambient, dark rock, and even pop music, Unfinished Thought have crafted a sound all their own. "Our audience tends to find their way to us through the darker channels like goth and industrial, but quickly realize that we have a lot more going on than most bands in those genres" continues Kiser.
The duo that would eventually become Unfinished Thought began their creative partnership in 2001 when Joe Kiser, a Midwestern college student studying music production met Stacey Nelson, a young singer/songwriter with an extensive choir background. Joe had been producing instrumental tracks while auditioning female vocalists for several months prior to meeting Stacey. He explains, "I wanted to find a girl that could sing gorgeous multi-part harmonies over some really heavy material. I can't sing or write vocal parts however, so I needed the girl to be able to not only provide perfect pitch, but also do the actual writing of the melodies and harmonies. Lots of girls that I auditioned could sing, but not one had the amazing writing capabilities that Stacey had. She could write a melody within seconds and her voice was absolutely beautiful; so fragile and haunting." The two began writing immediately, drawing off of each others' diverse musical influences such as Jeff Buckley, Depeche Mode, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Nine Inch Nails to produce their signature sound.
The recording of Becoming Aware, the duo's first album, would consume Joe and Stacey's lives for the next year and a half. The writing process remained basically unchanged throughout the recording of the album with Joe writing and recording the instrumentation and Stacey flawlessly bringing her signature vocal style into the mix. Both contributed lyrics, but always retained a common theme, conceptually focusing the album on issues such as mental illness, obsession, and addiction. Musically, the songs were becoming more and more diverse. Joe explains, “We struggled in the beginning to find our own sound. Halfway through the first album we had caught on to our own style though. We just recorded what felt natural. I think that’s the definition of a musical style. You take all of your musical influences; songs that make you cry, songs that give you chills, and just remember all of that when you sit down to write. Whatever comes out is your own personal interpretation of what music should sound like. We can go from a hard, driving song to a soft piano ballad and still retain a sense of style. There’s always an undercurrent of darkness in our songs, whether it’s lyrically or musically.”
Released in 2002, Becoming Aware drew immediate critical acclaim and soon drove thousands to the band's website. Driven by delicate vocal harmonies and compulsive electric guitar playing, the album introduced audiences to Unfinished Thought's signature layered atmosphere of sound. It was a very schizophrenic album with arrangements ranging from full on industrial to orchestrated dark rock. Vocalist Stacey Nelson describes the initial reaction from critics and fans, "We were unprepared for the reaction we received when the first record came out. We were completely unknown and had the unadmirable task of promoting a very unconventional album. We didn't even know who our audience would turn out to be. Luckily, we had a little help along the way." Help came in the form of 2003's break through sensation Evanescence (Wind Up Records). Evanescence received a copy of Unfinished Thought's first CD and began playing it in between sets on their world tour. Stacey continues, "Things just exploded when Evanescence began playing tracks from Becoming Aware. Suddenly our website was bombarded with people that had been to Evanescence shows and had heard our music. We caught on to the idea of marketing ourselves with comparisons to bands like Evanescence, Kidneythieves, Lacuna Coil, Switchblade Symphony, and Garbage." The promotional efforts paid off as fans and critics alike began to rally behind the duo. Overwhelmingly positive album reviews and extremely supportive fans pushed Unfinished Thought further into the forefront of the public eye as sales of Becoming Aware continued to double month after month. By mid 2003 a cult following was thriving on the duo's website and fans were clamoring for the group to begin playing live shows.
Joe explains, "We were very much unprepared for live shows. Unfinished Thought began as a studio collaboration and we never had any intention of playing live. All of the sudden we realized that we had a legitimate chance at making a good name for ourselves and we knew the next step would be to go out and recruit live band members." Recruiting took the better part of 2003 as Joe and Stacey auditioned musician after musician. In between auditions the duo also found time to do a myriad of radio appearances, newspaper interviews, and film their first video. As 2003 came to an end, Unfinished Thought found themselves as the unlikely stars of an independent music success story.
Production on the duo's second CD was also in full swing during 2003. Joe explains, "When we saw the reaction to the first CD, we immediately began work on the second. We moved into a more secluded studio and got right to work without interruption. Writing for the second album was far more intense than the first and we were able to complete the recording in half the time as a result of our newfound direction."
Released in April of 2004, Based On Actual Events shows an acoustic maturity and unexpected evolution for Unfinished Thought. With concise, intelligent song arrangements and a concept album feel, the new release from Unfinished Thought highlights the strengths of the previous album while introducing the depths to which this duo is unafraid to explore. A brand new DVD was also released in April 2004 containing a unique and stirring video for the new song "Umbrella".
With two albums on record and a steadily growing fan base to support them, Unfinished Thought now turn their focus to the live stage. Rehearsals have begun for shows slated to begin in Fall 2004. As the buzz surrounding this duo continues to grow daily, Unfinished Thought are proud to look back on their past successes and look forward to propelling themselves further into the forefront of modern independent music.
