A Parallel Planets piece by Michelle Rae
Parallel Planets presents Hello Echo
in Milestones and Retro Vibes
Story and Interview by Michelle Rae Uy
Mentioned: milestones, making music, and "duffalo"
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It was an unusually warm winter’s day, the day Hello Echo started moving their things – musical instruments, colorful handmade show props, a bike – out of their old rehearsal space somewhere in Downtown Los Angeles. They were moving to another space in West LA, a lot closer to Santa Monica where they are all based. To them, it was a milestone, a kind of beginning of another era.
There, in their soon-to-be-old rehearsal space (amidst all the debris and moving day chaos), I met up with Sean Aylward (vocals, guitar), Mike Silva (drums, vocals), and Mike Sarno (bass) to photograph them as well as (sort of) document their move. I was surprised that despite their obvious musical talents, Sean, Mike, and Mike are actually just regular guys - down-to-earth, goofy, genuinely nice, and welcoming – which made me like them even more as a band.
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| photo by Michelle Rae Uy |
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| photo by Michelle Rae Uy |
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| photo by Michelle Rae Uy |
I was also surprised by the fact that they love using in-your-face props for their shows and video. Up until then, I was under the impression that only jam bands like Rubblebucket and flashy performers like Miley Cyrus do that. Hello Echo, as it turns out, is very hands-on. All three get really involved in the other aspects of their music… yes, like prop-building. Sean himself built the set for the stop-animation video for “Why We Are Waiting?”
They also have a head-on, no-holds-barred attitude about their music. In fact, they got into trouble for jumping off the Santa Monica Pier without permission so they could have the ending they wanted for the “The Coming Days” video (see below).
I would definitely say that, in a lot of ways, Hello Echo is exactly how an indie band should be - DIY, dedicated, yet somehow, don't take themselves too seriously.
The first song I heard from them was “Birdbeat”. I think I heard it right before the radio campaign for their single started. And I have been a fan ever since. I’m not sure what appeals to me about their music exactly. When you listen to their Coffee Cups EP and their well-received first album, you can’t quite figure out which genre to put them under. Their gritty yet still melodious music is reminiscent of the better part of the 90s alternative music movement but with a kind of 60s/70s vibe. “Coffee Cups” and “The Coming Days”, for example, somehow conjure up similar images and urgency in my head as Modest Mouse’s best works but are also purposely made to sound fuzzy, retro, and lo-fi as if they were recorded forty-something years ago. But then they surprise you with something else, like the instantly lovable and surprisingly Southern folksy tunes of “I Wore It Too,” which sounds as if My Morning Jacket and Ryan Adams just made a baby together.
And somehow, at the end, it all makes perfect sense and you come out feeling satisfied.
Early next year marks yet another milestone for Hello Echo as they are just about ready release their sophomore record but while we wait for that exciting next chapter, we have their first album Hello and their entertaining Parallel Planets interview after the jump to keep us warm during the cold winter nights.
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| photo by Michelle Rae Uy |
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Parallel Planets: Tell something about Hello Echo as a band and before you became one.
Sean Aylward: "Two thirds of the band didn’t play instruments when we became a band. Mikey played a little guitar but I told him he was the drummer. He was confused but he was a great sport about it. Which makes sense because he almost became a professional soccer player. A few months of drunk noise making sessions passed and one day he showed up with his own drum set. I think then we were officially a band."
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| photo by Michelle Rae Uy |
MS: "The first year we booked ourselves as A.S.S (Alyward Sarno Silva). I'm pretty sure that was a conscious decision. Not until recently, after listening back to recent live recordings, have we had the revelation that we finally 'sound like a real band.'"
Parallel Planets: When/How did your inclination to music begin?
Sean Aylward: "Here's some unrelated early inclinations: When I was 4 years old, I watched the monkeys reruns on Nickelodeon, and when they played a full song near the end of the episode, I would run around the living room in circles till i fell down. When I was 6, I had a cassette tape of Thriller but once I became terrified of it - too scared to press stop on the boom box.
In Kindergarten, my parents showed up to the school play and were surprised to find that I was singing a song by myself in it. I never mentioned it to them. I played the father of a pterodactyl who was missplaced as an egg in a different species nest. So I guess I wasnt his biological father. This was great cuz I was obsessed with Dinosaurs.. Actually I lied earlier, it wasn’t Kindergarten. It was a weird program between Kindergarten and 1st grade for kids who weren’t ready for 1st grade. The program was called Readiness! It was awesome. I got ready. It was there that I wrote a series of illustrated stories about a group of human-like extra terrestrials who would wild-out in strict human institutions, like church and school. It was called “The Crazies”.
There was a piano in my early childhood home but I never messed with it much. I deeply regret that I didn't learn to play it. If i did I would have certified hits under my belt by now.
And when I was 14, I took 6 months of bass lessons years old, learning blues scales and Nirvana covers that was the real start..."
MS: "Everyone has an inclination to music. It's more about opportunity and how to get your hands on your first instrument. And then not how to be distracted by girls, funny tv shows, and your own laziness. I want to create a dance circle with people that haven't had an inclination to music and afterwards eat coffee cake over conversation and a cup of tea--"
Parallel Planets: What defines your artistic style? What are your “trademarks”?
Mike Silva: "Simultaneously playing lead and rhythm guitar; swampy reckless jovial socially soulful bangers."
Parallel Planets: What influences your work? Who inspires you?
Hello Echo: "Contrast - Heaviness and nastiness then beautiful harmonious mellowness.
Neil Young / Paul Simon / Nirvana / The Ventures / Bob Dylan / Jerry Garcia / Harry Nilson / Roy Orbison"
Parallel Planets: Tell us about your new album that's coming out. How is it different from your debut album?
Sean Aylward: "It's meaner, it's nicer, it's more produced than the last one. There are more genre styles in this record than the last. It's an eclectic mix: blues, punk, surf, folk, clash-style reggae punk (or whatever they called that), ukele music, maybe even new wave.
The making of this record was a long strange process. We recorded 25 basic tracks in early 2012, many of which were only song ideas with minimal lyrics, and we allowed Jeremy Black, our producer, to push the sound in some unexpected directions with alot of the songs. Some of the experimentation we loved and some landed on the cutting room floor. So we’ve been revisiting and writing and shaping that collection for what feels like forever. Very excited to share."
Parallel Planets: What is your mantra in life?
Sean Aylward: "Have fun. Be honest. Be grateful."
MS: "Be a hot shit...but don't shit yourself."
Parallel Planets: Aside from making awesome music, are any of you involved in other creative pursuits? Tell us about them.
Sean Aylward: "Too many in fact. Mikey is a cinematographer, director and film colorist, and photographer. I'm a video editor and filmmaker and amateur cartoonist -- I'm drawing my friends save the date card for their wedding right now. Sarno is a tv producer and a golfer, which he would argue is a creative pursuit. He also gambles heavily on sporting events, which can be a zen-like creative endeavor."
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| photo by Michelle Rae Uy |
Sean Aylward: "The ocean, drinking with friends, and pizza."
MS: "Boston accents, magic hour, and anything duffalo."
Parallel Planets: When you guys make music, who’s usually the prankster/troublemaker and who’s the serious one?
MS: "It's more like Moe, Larry, & Curly!"
Sean Aylward: "Agree with Mikey on that one, we trade those hats around. Whoever is trying to leave practice at a specific point tends to be the task master. I'm always pushing for it to go somewhere I hear in my head so I guess I'm guilty of a fair amount of seriousness."
Parallel Planets: Any tour dates or other projects coming up soon?
Hello Echo: "December 26 in Somerville, MA at Johnny D’s --- the 6th Annual Day After Xmas Show with Grimis and Four Legged Faithful and Tim Noyes. Touring this spring and summer is in the works but it's very unclear exactly what that will look like. We’ve really just been focusing on finishing up our 2nd full length LP. We are in the mastering stage, which is exciting."
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| Featured cover art in Hello Echo's upcoming album |
What is your power animal?
Sean Aylward: "Butterfly Elephant --- so I can fly around but also make awesome sounds and eat peanuts!" (See http://vimeo.com/62227074.)
Who is your alternate ego?
MS: "Like all groups of friends, we use 'loose' adjectives that take on different meanings than what they really mean but are inherently understood by one another upon first hear. If speaking in tongue were a way of wisdom, Sarno would be the gatekeeper. Or is it the keymaster?"
Parallel Planets: In an alternate universe where Duffle Bags do not exist—
What will your name be?
Hello Echo: "Duffalo Dan - because theres nothing like a good duffalo!"
What do you think you would be doing instead?
Sean Aylward: "Well, first thing I can tell you is I can fly there. And punch planets into bits. And put them back together perfectly. And surf on waves of intergalactic debris."
MS: "Anti-gravity soccer jams."
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| photo by Michelle Rae Uy |
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