I've had no inspiration to write in this blog lately. Not even any sound advice about starting off a new school year in the right way has come into my head....So instead of posting a brand new entry I am "going green" and recycling an old article I found. The following is the first article I ever had published, a Q & A with Andrew de Torres, the lead singer of The Scene Aesthetic, that I wrote for a music review. Enjoy!
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The Scene Aesthetic opened the Oct. 8th Owl City show at People's Court with the chill acoustic tracks they are known for. The indie band sang deep, rhythmic lyrics, which, paired with the acoustic guitar and harmonious back-up vocals, gave the band's performance a personal and subdued touch. DrakeMag caught up with Andrew De Torres, the 24-year-old vocalist and guitarist of TSA.
DrakeMag: What did you think of the drive to Iowa?
Andrew De Torres: Oh, it was beautiful! Not a ton around-a lot of farms, and those big windmill things.
DM: Have you lived in Seattle your whole life?
ADT: I moved to Seattle when I was about eight or nine. I actually was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and I lived there until I moved.
DM: How long have you and your bandmate, Eric Bowley, been together?
ADT: We've been playing together for about four and a half years. It's kind of weird though, because he was gone two of those years on a mission trip in Argentina. So technically the band has been together two and a half years.
DM: How did the two of you meet?
ADT: It was kind of random. I'm in another band called Danger Radio. Eric's cousin used to come and watch us play all the time. He randomly brought Eric out, and we became friends and went to a Christmas party together. Eric was driving me home and his car broke down. We ended up just singing Hanson until the car started again. I was like, "Oh, you can sing. Let's write this song together." So, we started playing together.
DM: How'd you come up with the name The Scene Aesthetic?
ADT: I was looking for a name for Danger Radio, because we didn't really have one yet. During my senior year of high school I wrote down a ton of names that I just thought sounded cool. And, weirdly enough, when we had to choose a name for The Scene Aesthetic, that was one of the only ones I could remember. I was like, "Hey what do you think of this name?" and he was like, "Yeah I like it!" It's been with us ever since. But you know what? I mean in theory, it's probably an awful name. Not many people can spell 'aesthetic', let alone say it. But I don't know, everyone just calls us TSA, so I guess that kind of works out.
DM: What would you do if you weren't teaching
music?
ADT: I would teach kindergarten. I love kids! I think that they're honest and amazing. I tell my mom that all the time. I'm like, "Mom, just wait. When I go back to school, if that ever happens, I'm going to be teaching kindergarten." She thinks I'm crazy.
DM: Do you have any goals for The Scene Aesthetic?
ADT: Yeah! I mean absolutely! We just got back from recording our brand new full-length album that's way overdue. We're hoping to release it early next year. It turned out amazing. We had really talented people play on it. Three out of the five people also played for John Mayer, so getting to play with these people...it was like my heart just stopped and melted and broke into a million pieces. So, I mean, we'll just release it and see how it goes. It's a little bit different, but hopefully kids will like it.
DM: What's the title of that album?
ADT: It's untitled right now. It's a couple months away, so it's going to take some thorough thinking.
DM: Are there any other bands that you draw influence from when you're writing your songs?
ADT: I'm a huge, huge Death Cab for Cutie fan. I think Ben Gibbard is one of the most amazing songwriters of our era. I don't think I've heard anyone for a while that can paint such a good picture. I feel like when I'm listening to his lyrics, I can see exactly what he experienced in that moment when he wrote it. I love that! Plus, he's got the most amazing wife ever, Zooey Deschanel. I mean, that's a catch!
Direct link to this page: http://orgs.l3.drake.edu/drake-mag/Music/Scene-Aesthetic.html
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Owl City
On Oct. 8, Owl city made music-lovers of all ages flock to Des Moines for a night of soulful emo-pop. The concert sold out and had to change location from The House of Bricks to People's Court, a larger venue, after only the first week of ticket sales. Fans were lined up outside and down the street two hours before the doors opened. A few ticketless hopefuls came to the concert, but were turned away, as People's Court was already filled to capacity.
Owl City was upbeat and energetic. The band consisted of several instrumentalists-a violin player, a cello player, a drummer, a keyboardist, and even someone playing the maracas. The band did a great job of pumping up the crowd and including them in the show.
Concert Footage
Check out footage from the Oct. 8 concert here:
