Attempting to gain information about a secret society can be dangerous. Naming your band after a secret society can be even more dangerous. Infatuated with the idea of conspiracy theory, six guys from North Carolina, studied, searched and, wished for the most valued secrets of the world’s most fascinating secret societies. After a family friend passed away, the doors of the Free and Accepted Masons accidentally opened up enough for them to break through. Two months were spent trying to piece together the Mason’s puzzle. The cryptic code was cracked, an idea was born, and they guys have never looked back.
The fabled story of Secret Lives of the Freemasons is set in the small town of Ashville, North Carolina. It was in Asheville that two existing, and promising bands first came into contact with one another. The indie-rock outfit A Kiss Before Dying, and the post-hardcore juggernaut Throwing Myself.met at a local show and fused together almost immediately after. The two bands dissolved in 2003, leaving the floodgates for the inevitable formation of Secret Lives wide open.
The ensuing project has been followed closely by the better part of the North Carolina music scene, as well as most of the up and coming labels currently operating on the fringes of the music industry. It is a hybrid between everything good that we’ve come to expect from the contemporary post-hardcore scene, and everything we hope and dream that the music will someday become. Secret Lives of the Freemasons are far enough ahead of their time to impress us, yet they tap into our existing preferences and extract the elements we love the most.
Led by the impressive vocal range and genuinely passionate lyrics of Brien Worshsam, Secret Lives boasts a four part guitar and bass section. One that is, for once, used properly. The guitar players make full use of the expansion, with broad arrangements that play off one another. Jim Debardi, Tucker Ensley, Joshua Harbin, and Justin Elrod play with ease and comfort, careful to hit the right notes, rather than jump in unison. In addition, drummer Travis Moss reached almost instant hero status when he tracked all his drum parts for “This Was Built To Make You Dance” in just over six hours. It was the incendiary spark that led to the completion of the entire record, without mixing, in just four days. An unheard of amount of time for an album of this caliber.
In mid 2004 Secret Lives drove 12 hours north to New Jersey (in their van appropriately named van, “Van Halen”), to meet up with Astro Magnetics before joining the roster. During the visit, the label took them out for a day at the horse track where Jim Debardi won 40 dollars, Astro Magnetics president Marc Debiak won the same, and everyone else lost. After a day at the track, a huge Mexican dinner, and an impressive show in a tiny, urine soaked rehearsal space in Passaic, hugs ensued between the band and label owners Marc and Daria Debiak, Geoff Rickley (Thursday), and Alex Saavedra (owner, Eyeball Records). The band was signed on the spot.
Secret Lives recorded “This Was Built to Make You Dance (Here is Your Revolution)” at the legendary Clubhouse in historic Rhinebeck, New York with producer D. James Goodwin (Murder By Death). The result is their debut release on Astro Magnetics/Platform Group. Enjoy.
Source: http://www.nipp.com/artists/detail/secret-lives-of-the-freemasons
