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by Tom Lounges
 The
Fine Brothers ––
Eric and
Brian –– of Chesterton, Indiana refuse to let the “cover
bands-only” attitude of their home region clubs dampen their spirit.
“This area is really
not very open to original music, so most of our shows are up in Chicago
at places like the Big Horse Lounge, The Mutiny, Beat Kitchen and Bar
Vertigo,” said Echofarm’s 33-year-old lead guitarist,
Brian Fine. “The clubs in the city are open to bands who play their
own material.”
His 35-year-old
brother, Eric Fine,
not only co-founded the alt-pop band, but also plays rhythm guitar and
sings lead. He has been playing guitar since his late-teens.
“Eric and I put the
band together about four years ago and there has been revolving players
with us,” said Brian, who acknowledged that being in an original band is
not an easy row to hoe.
They have used the
name Echofarm for the last two years. The band was originally called,
Quicker E, when they formed in late 1999 with bassist
Tom McClure and drummer Jerry
Snyder.
Quicker E played a
mixed bag of originals and covers. When the name changed in 2002, they
went all original. “We were okay as a cover band, but it just wasn’t my
bag or Eric’s, so we decided that we’d just focus on our own songs,”
said Fine.
When the name
changed, so did the band’s rhythm section. Bassist
Mike Dahlgren
and drummer Patrick Harvey joined and a four song demo was recorded at the prestigious
Studiochicago
recording facility.
“We’ve given away
about 500 CDs in an effort to get the band’s name out there and get
bookings,” said Fine. The curious can check out and/or download MP3
files of three of the demo songs ––
“Bringin’ It Back To You”, “Again”
and “Expressions”
–– on the band’s web site.
It will be the
original 1999 line-up who return to Studiochicago late this summer to
record the group’s first full length album.
McClure, who had
relocated to New York and played its acoustic coffeehouse scene,
returned home and stepped in when Dahlgren quit the band a few months
ago.
“Mike quit and Tom
was happy to come back,” said Fine. “Our family and Tom’s family have
been friends forever, so my brother and I have known Tom since his
birth. We’re very happy to have him playing with us again.”
A resident of
Whiting, Snyder had spent post-Quicker E years beating drums for the
local heavy metal group, Midnight Mass.
When Echofarm said
goodbye to their beat keeper earlier this year weeks ago, Snyder
likewise agreed to return to the fold and bang out music with his old
mates.
McClure and Eric Fine
are the primary songwriters in the band, though all four contribute to
the creative process in some way.
The Echofarm songbook
currently boasts about 25 completed tunes, with about half expected to
be released on the band’s forthcoming CD.
“We’re hoping the
album should be done by early October,” concluded Fine.
For more
info:
www.EchoFarm.net |
