Friday 24 May
 
 

IndianGiver — Plafond EP

If you were to peruse the “About” section of IndianGiver’s Facebook page, you’ll notice how the instruments attributed to each of the Oklahoma City band’s five members are described with downright flippancy: Dylan Jordan plays “sticks & animal skins,” while Jazzton Rodriguez earns his keep with “shanties & loud noises,” and so on.
05/22/2013 | Comments 0

Various artists — Never Give Up: Celebrating 10 Years of The Postal Service

Few indie bands have had the impact on current music that The Postal Service has. Even fewer have done so with only one album.
05/15/2013 | Comments 0

Big Worm — Bench All-Stars

Fans of the comedy classic Friday may recognize the name Big Worm, but the Big Worm behind Bench All-Stars is rooted not in South Central L.A., but on the streets of Oklahoma City.
05/08/2013 | Comments 0

Code 22 — Going Soft: The Acoustic Album!

The guys of Oklahoma City’s Code 22 seem like a likable group of fellas. Their latest release, Going Soft: The Acoustic Album!, is likable enough as well — so likable that on first listen, I took its clean, acoustic sound and clear, unstressed vocals as an alternative praise-and-worship band.
05/08/2013 | Comments 0

Eureeka — Polysynthetic Fields

It’s always refreshing to hear music that embraces its own eccentricity, yet presents it in an accessible and meek fashion. Eureeka — the Norman-based duo of Jordan Vargas and Devin Wahl — has tapped into this rarified air on its self-released EP, Polysynthetic Fields.
05/08/2013 | Comments 0
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Music

All in the family


The siblings of Eisley believe in making music a family affair.

Joshua Boydston July 11th, 2012  

Eisley with Merriment and The Antler Thief
8 p.m. Friday
The Conservatory
8911 N. Western
conservatoryokc.com
607-4805
$13-$15

Photo: Chris Phelps
It won’t be hard to spot indie-rock act Eisley’s tour bus out on the road this summer. It’ll be the one with the “Baby on Board” sign.

“It’s going to be funny, with my sisters both pregnant,” said singer and guitarist Sherri DuPree-Bemis of her siblings and bandmates Stacy King and Chauntelle DuPree D’Agostino. “We’ve never done a tour with two pregnant women onstage, so it should be interesting, but it’ll be fun … I think.”

Babies and marriages are something of an inevitability when your childhood dream grows into a full-time success. Joined by brother Weston DuPree and cousin Garron Dupree, Eisley has been churning out music for 15 years, playing professionally for more than half that.

“Our parents told us that we should do what we loved doing the most. That was the driving force behind all this,” DuPree-Bemis said. “When we started doing this at such a young age, we just fell in love with it. We wanted to do it as long as anyone wanted to hear our music.”

Eisley signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2003, releasing two albums and writing a third under the label’s watchful eye. The outfit moved to Equal Visions Records, which bought the rights to release 2011’s The Valley. The five-piece since has been given free rein.

“We were still getting pressure from the label to write songs that were radio-friendly, three minutes long and had that normal song structure. This record, we’ve had none of that,” DuPree-Bemis said. “They trust us and our artistic vision.”

It’s also the first album Eisley has done without a producer at the helm.

“It’s been a freeing experience. We are self-producing and recording in our own studio. If it doesn’t sound good, it’s all on us,” DuPree-Bemis said. “That’s put a lot of positive pressure on us.”

Most important, the record has let the band grow.

“We are not being stifled for the first time in years,” she said. “The songs are going to be more artistic, and you will hear the freedom, but it’s not like it’s that far out there. They sound like how we did before the music industry got hold of us. It’s more moody and weird, but still accessible.”

But old fans needn’t fret. “We try to maintain the Eisley sound and what it is that made our fans fall in love with our music in the first place, and just expand upon that and make it better,” DuPree-Bemis said. “If you lose what made you you, then you might as well start a new project, and I don’t see that happening with us anytime soon.”


 
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