Profile
Name:
Thriving Ivory
Channel Views:
87,148
Style:
Rock
Age:
28
Joined:
Feb 18, 2008
Latest Activity:
1 year ago
Website:
About Me:
SCOTT JASON : PIANO & KEYS
CLAYTON STROOPE : VOCALS
DREW CRIBLEY : GUITARS
PAUL NIEDERMIER : DRUMS, PERCUSSION
"We're too far out/We're in too deep/And we've got miles to go before we can sleep...And if it takes us all night long/We're going back where we belong."
~Where We Belong
Thriving Ivory's sophomore Wind-up album, Through Yourself & Back Again, reflects the lessons they've learned following the release of their successful self-titled debut. "Do you dream/That the world will know your name?" they asked prophetically in the band's pop radio hit, "Angels On The Moon," a song inspired by the heroics surrounding 9/11.
And, if the whole world isn't yet familiar with the music of this San Francisco Bay Area band (founded by songwriter/keyboardist Scott Jason and vocalist Clayton Stroope), certainly their audience has grown exponentially thanks to VH1's "You Oughta Know', tons of radio airplay and three years of non-stop touring.
Thriving Ivory's latest takes those experiences and moves the band to the next level. The album was produced by Scott Jason and Thriving Ivory at Quad Studios in New York's Times Square. Additionally, there are three songs produced and mixed by Mark Endert (Train's "Hey, Soul Sister," Maroon 5, The Fray). "There's more of a cohesive quality to the album," says Stroope, the band's charismatic front man, who takes his cues from larger-than-life rock stars like Robert Plant, David Lee Roth and Steven Tyler. "Most of the songs were composed in a recording studio we set up in the back of our tour bus over a lengthy period of time."
"Working in NYC with Gregg Wattenberg was a great experience. We had a lot of fun working together on the songs; especially one of my album favorites, 'Some Kind of Home'. That song has a ton of energy from the drums and will translate really well live" comments drummer Paul Niedermier.
The first, Endert-produced single, "Where We Belong," sports a typically epic, cinematic flourish, while the majestic "Some Kind Of Home" features Jason on keyboards and guitarist Drew Cribley's Edge-like delay pedal sounds. "What was cool about working with Mark was how we were able to reference a lot of different types of music. He had us focus on maintaining a fresh, youthful quality to the sound, keeping it light and not having it bogged down with heavy distortion, so it has a clean, hard edge. He helped us pay attention to things we ordinarily never would have. We were a little more self-aware this time," says Stroope.
"Cobwebs" is another stand-out track with its lush and haunting strings, tasteful production and delicate attention to detail; characteristics for which Thriving Ivory has become known. Its ominous refrain reflects lyricist Scott Jason's elliptical approach, which leaves the interpretation to the listener; "I've cleared all the cobwebs/There's nothing here but dust." Jason has maintained that, "much like beauty and its beholder, the interpretation of music and lyrics can be found in its purest form at the tips of a listener's ear and the depths of a listener's soul."
Another side to Thriving Ivory is demonstrated on songs like the Endert-produced "Love Alone," which juxtaposes sophisticated lyrics of romantic comfort with stylized piano flourishes and drummer Niedermier's Killers - like up hits on the high hat. "That was a fun song to record," says Stroope. "Scott played what he had for Drew and I, and we knew right away it was going to be great, with that driving verse and melody."
The simple guitar and piano ballad "Come November" showcasing Stroope's vocals, and the acoustic sound of "Moonlight" show the band moving into more primal, stripped-down directions. "It felt good to break away from the typical verse/ chorus format for a few songs on this album and explore some different sides of our sound," says guitarist Cribley.
"We take a grand interpretation of songwriting, telling a story and conveying drama through instrumentation," says Stroope. "And it always ends up sounding really big. And that's what people expect from us. But we wanted to also do some more up-tempo rockers this time. We learned a great deal from the success of 'Angels On The Moon,' both on the radio and from the crowd response when we played it live. We're not pretentious about what we do; we like making rock music that people can sing along to, while still having our creative album tracks."
On their sophomore Wind-Up album, Through Yourself &Back Again, Thriving Ivory are "where they belong," on the journey they started six years ago. "We're tighter than ever as a unit, and we're more than ready to play this new material live," concludes Stroope. "We've taken some time out from the road to center ourselves. We're excited to get back out and take the next step."
Record Label:
Wind-up Records
Label Type:
Independent
Country:
United States
Subscribers
(5360)
Thriving Ivory Official YouTube Channel
Check out more from Thriving Ivory at the following links:
http://www.thrivingivory.com
http://www.myspace.com/thrivingivory
http://www.thrivingivory.com
http://www.myspace.com/thrivingivory
Channel Comments
Xx Soof.
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Sarah x