From the cavernous depths of an atmospheric void evolved Oklahoma City band Map the Sea.
After calling it quits with Chaos to Cosmos, guitarist Tyler Evans proposed a collaboration with members of the then-recently defunct Bryson Running " bassist Joe Rigazzi, drummer Clay Vaughn and guitarist Alex Fatkin " with vocalist Joe Hopkins joining soon after. The result was a project better than they thought was possible.
"What has made this work so well is that we're playing music that really makes us excited and happy to perform," Evans said. "We are all proud of our previous efforts, but we realize that this is the music that we always wish we had been writing."
Although Map the Sea is in its infancy, the musicians opened for indie/alt-rock sensation As Tall as Lions in Oklahoma last year.
"That has to have been our favorite show," Evans said. "Our live setting tends to be louder and harder than our recorded material; we just love to move around and get people involved."
Map the Sea released its first EP, "Asleep Beneath the Trees," on May 4 and will debut it 7:30 p.m. Saturday at a release show at the Backroom, 228 W. Hefner. Eden Sharmaine and Coney Island will open. The band is planning to record and release a full-length album sometime next year.
The group started recording the EP in January in Lincoln, Neb. Each song went through endless revisions and rebirth, and Evans said the group has been known to completely change the sound of a chorus or verse as much as six months after the track had been deemed complete. The act describes the six-song disc as the opposite of "poppy radio hits," but with melodies that are "fun to sing along with," that will undoubtedly get stuck in listeners' heads.
"After this release, we'll hopefully be able to expand our range and possibly shop our music around to a few indie labels," Evans said. "We're not out to become a huge hit or anything, but if a tour comes along, then we'll absolutely be up for it."
For more information, visit www.myspace.com/mapthesea. "Emily Hopkins
