Artist.......: Our Brother the Native
Album........: Tooth and Claw
Label........: Fat Cat
Genre........: Indie
Catnr........: n/a
source.......: CDDA
rip.date.....: Jun-28-2006
str.date.....: 000-00-0000
quality......: VBR/44,1Hz/Joint-Stereo
Url..........: n/a
track title time
01. introduction - welcome to the avery 02:14
02. apodiformes 03:04
03. falconiformes 05:58
04. strigiformes 04:01
05. welcome to the arborary 04:18
06. catalpa 04:51
07. tilia petiolaris 03:03
08. quercusfalcata 04:48
09. nautical spirits - welcome to the aquarium 05:37
10. octopodidae 07:20
11. sepiidae 02:47
12. nautilidae 06:04
Runtime 54:05 min
Size 55,0 MB
Release Notes:
Our Brother The Native are three young American
guys (two of them aged 16, one 18) who have been
working together as a unit since 2005, and whom
FatCat stumbled upon towards the end of 2005.
Having checked out a link to their site on
Myspace.com, and instantly liking what we heard, we
got in touch with the band and the debut they were
currently writing just fell into our laps.
John-Michael Foss was born in Michigan September
16th 1986. He started playing piano at 7 years old,
guitar at 11, and percussion / drums a year later
when he joined the school band. Throughout high
school John Michael played in various bands with
friends, experiencing many different styles of
music. He is currently a music / percussion major
at the University of Michigan, Flint, with a wide
variety of musical influences ranging from
classical to folk to jazz to grindcore.
Joshua Bertram was born in Michigan, February 8th,
1989 and started playing guitar in 6th grade. In
2004 he bought a banjo and has been playing it
non-stop ever since. In his first year of high
school he experienced a life-changing revelation
when he was introduced to noise music through a
couple of friends. They fed him CDs, and
inspiration through the noise unit they played in
jamming in a basement and using circuit-bent
instruments. After seeing them put on a show, he
knew he wanted to make music that was different,
became a music nerd and from then on continually
sought out new experimental music that would excite
and inspire him.
Chaz Knapp was born in Moreno Valley, California,
May 27th 1988, picking up guitar when he was 9
years old. By 11, he was playing in blues clubs
throughout Riverside, MI. Attending blues jams
every Thursday night (at the Mission Tobacco Lounge
- a 21 and over joint), he played with many 40 - 50
year old musicians. At 14, he joined the Riverside
Community College guitar ensemble, playing,
learning and even teaching classical guitar. A year
later, a job at the Public Library saw a friend
take him under his wing, introducing him to stacks
of new music freak-folk, hip hop, cumbia, noise,
electronica, and much more. His ears newly opened,
Chaz began experimenting with this new music, and
with other instruments like piano, drums, and
trumpet. Recording a few releases of his own bands,
he started his own record label called Delude,
releasing different bands / music from around the
US.
In his sophomore year, Josh met John Michael, who
was then a senior. Realizing that they had similar
musical tastes, they quickly became great friends,
went to a lot of shows and listened to music
non-stop together, eventually starting to play
together. Not much happened until the following
summer, when they finally got some equipment. John
Michael started making some beats on a drum
machine, and Josh picked up his banjo and they
started to jam, and that was the start of Our
Brother The Native. Excited about what was
happening, they started to make some rough
recordings on an old 4-track machine.
Eventually, the pair started recording on a
computer with editing capabilities, and got
themselves a Myspace site through which to share
their work. A friend in Holly, who ran his own
D.I.Y label, heard a couple songs, and suggested
releasing something, which gave the duo confidence.
Weeks later they found another cool D.I.Y label in
California (Chazs Delude Records), which they
really liked. Josh and John Michael hinted that
theyd love to do a release; Chaz jumped at it and
put out an EP (Cheer Up My Dear, The Sun Will
Shine Again, 2005) and he and Josh quickly became
friends, overcoming the geographical distance via
frequent phone conversations. A solo release from
Josh followed (the more stripped down / minimal,
banjo-based Pappa Bones and The Creature Children
of The Forrest - released as JSP). Having by then
become great friends, Chaz and Josh began working
together (under the name Moses Grandy), but felt
they were missing something in the percussion
department. So John and Josh decided to just have
Chaz join Our Brother the Native.
With Chaz still living in California, and John and
Josh living in Michigan, their recording to date
has taken place with tracks being slowly built up,
sent between each other via e-mail for additions.
Things would thus grow and gain shape piece by
piece.
Josh and John Michael would begin by using acoustic
and electric guitar for the basis of most songs,
usually recorded straight into the computer through
a Boss SP-303 sampler with built in-effects. They
also use a Kaos pad, a loop station, and a couple
of circuit-bent toys that they run through effects
and destroy. They also search out samples of
interesting sounds they can find around the house,
as well as AM radio signals / static - mic-ing up
the radio and running the noise through effects.
The album is also noticeable for the vocals of
Joshs mum (a music teacher), who came in and sang
at the end. For his parts, Chaz uses guitar,
keyboard, vocals, accordian, and sometimes
percussion elements like shakers, a snare and a
cymbal, and also a circuit-bent Furby.
Tooth And Claw is the bands debut album, and
will be released on FatCat in Summer 2006.