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1
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Sonic
Courtesy photo
Sonic Xplosion '98 finalist Drive is a four-piece ambient rock band that combines traditional rock instruments such as guitars and drums
with an orchestral sound. Drive of one of two Eugene finalists in this year’s competition.
Continued from Page 9A
thing,” Boldt said. Instead, the audi
ence response accounts for 25 per
cent of the decision because it
would be “grossly unfair and slant
ed toward the local bands” if the au
dience chose the winner, Boldt said.
The winner of the contest re
ceives a recording contract with
Elemental Records. Past winners
include Henry’s Child and the
American Girls.
“What I think is unique about
this contest... is I can’t think of oth
ers where there’s an indie label [in
volved],” Boldt said. “Usually [the
prize] is money or equipment. ”
This year’s finalists are two
bands from the Eugene area.
Drive is a four-piece ambient
rock band, sounding somewhat
like Radiohead or Lush. The band
features traditional rock instru
ments, such as guitars and drums,
coupled with the orchestral violin.
Drive consists of Adam Wayne on
vocals and guitar; Pamela Rooney
on vocals and bass guitar; Shane
Fisher on drums; and Tove Holm
berg on violin. Both Rooney and
Fisher attend the University.
Wayne attends Lane Community
College, and Holmberg attends
South Eugene High School.
Since their entrance into the con
test, Drive has whittled down their
sound, Fisher said.
“We’re definitely a lot more ma
ture. We have a better idea of what
we’re doing,” he said. “When we
entered [the contest], we were a
young band. We thought if we
could get into it, it’d be a good way
to put our name out there,” he said.
Regardless of if they win, Drive
plans to record some of their newer
material, Rooney said.
“We hope to win, but it’s not like
a life or death thing,” Fisher said.
Moth, the other finalist, is a
“groove-oriented, heavy alterna
tive band,” said Bill Dickinson,
the band’s vocalist. The band is
rounded out by Daren Kromarek
(guitar), Joe Weber (guitar), Rica
Wright (bass) and John Hamlin
(drums). Moth participated in
Sonic Xplosion ‘97, and has re
leased one CD and one EP.
“We don’t like the competition
aspect of Sonic Xplosion,” he said.
“We like all ages gigs and we just
like to play.”
“We’ve played with a lot of good
bands. We like to play these [con
tests) because you always play
with the cream-of-the-crop
bands,” he said.
Band members said they hope
to win, but they enjoy the experi
ence nonetheless. "We hope to get
a lot more gigs out of it. And we
hope to get a lot wider audience,”
Dickinson said.
The two bands have very differ
ent sounds, which creates a special
twist for the judges of the contest.
"Basically it comes down to two
bands that are very good at what
they do, but it’s like apples and or
anges,” Boldt said. “They are both
really good, very entertaining, and
very different.”
The judges must follow the four
criteria for judging. Additionally,
they must also consider the roster
of the record label and the genre of
each band, Boldt said.
“There’s no scientific explana
tion for it,” he chuckled.
Also sponsoring the event are
WOW Hall, KNRQ 95.3 FM and
Pepsi.
Stu Allen, program director and
DJ at KNRQ said: “This is a chance
to provide a forum for all-ages mu
sic and a chance for a band to do
something good.”
A costume contest will be held.
Doors open at 9 p.m. and the show
starts at 9:30 p.m. Admission is 5$.
R.E.M. flies high with W
R.E.M. recently launched
‘Up’, its fourth album in
six years, with 14 tracks of
new material
By Matt Garton
Oregon Daily Emerald
Rocking to the beat of a differ
ent drummer, R.E.M. brings to the
music scene another album con
taining more of the diverse and re
fined sound many listeners have
come to expect from them. De
spite losing long-time drummer
Bill Berry more than a year ago,
the band has never rocked and
sounded so good.
"Up” is the band’s first album
since “New Adventures in Hi-Fi,”
which was released during the
summer of 1996. During the past
two years, R.E.M has struggled
with the loss of its drummer, Bill
Berry, the first member to leave
since the band’s musical begin
ning in 1980.
With a sound somewhere be
Turn to R.E.M., Page 11A
R.E.M., shown here in a photo from 1992’s ‘Automatic for the People ” lost veteran drum
mer Bill Berry (center) in 1997.