Biography
“Today We Escape” defines its own genre
Published: Friday, June 13, 2008
By Emily Price
LINK STAFF WRITER
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"Today We Escape" is a pretty appropriate name for a band of 20-somethings seeking to supply the anti-common acoustic set and offer the Upstate something other than a show filled with tired renditions of college bar anthems.
With influences of punk, grunge and "dark electronic," the four members of Today We Escape pump out sounds that almost defy classification -- so much so that they felt compelled to come up with their own term, "honey thrash," to describe their music.
You can catch bass player Matt McCulloch, guitarist Jared Edge, drummer Scott Hoffman and singer/guitarist/songwriter Wilson Ligon, who we caught up with here to enlighten us on what exactly "honey thrash" is among other things, at The Real Gypsy, which they refer to as "their home base of operations."
They've also played shows at venues such as Chicora Alley, The Handlebar and The Cellar and plan to get a late summer tour going come July.
Just don't expect to hear them play any love songs.
Who came up with the band's name and how does it describe your music?
I picked the band name after listening to the Radiohead song "Exit Music ÝFor a Filmß" as it's the lyrics that close out one of the verses. And while in the context of that song the words are compellingly and hopelessly romantic, that's not so much how we want people to take it.
It's a general call to arms to get away from the complete ridiculousness we all experience every day. I don't know anyone that doesn't want to escape from something/anything, so this is us hoping that they do just that.
You classify your music as "honey thrash." Huh?
We have never been able to classify it extremely accurately. It's not exactly indie as it can be a little too heavy for that affiliation, and perhaps a little too straight forward for the indie crowd Ýmyself includedß. But it's not metal by any means either. So we invented a genre called "honey thrash." Granted, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense I suppose, but it's somewhere in between 'honey' and 'thrash'. "Hard rock" would work too, but that just reminds me of the terrible radio bands.
How did you guys come into this sound?
It started off mostly like this, but it has definitely become more refined over time. The band's main theme, or at least mine when I'm writing, is to combine really heavy music with a pretty concept. So when you hear a particularly heavy part, there will be a melody, or guitar line, or something to balance it out. It's a concept I'm possibly over-obsessed with.
So Gypsy is the "home base?"
Scott, the owner there, has been so good to us since our first show there, and he really cares about supporting local bands. And before too long once bands are getting picked up around here, many of us will have Scott to thank for keeping us inspired in this town.