ABOUT
Some say that the most powerful achievement of music (and art in general) is to act as a representation of the world we live in. Unfortunately for musicians and artists alike, the world we live in is a multi-faceted, complicated, and at times contradictory organism. The examples of this are boundless; scientists are still searching for a unifying theory of everything that will bring the structure and rigidity of Einstein’s theories of general relativity together with the counter-intuitive and unpredictable world of quantum mechanics; death is an essential element of life, with every breath that an organism takes keeping them alive for another moment while bringing them another moment closer to facing the inevitability of mortality; yin and yang; light and dark.
The Broken Column strive to create music that inhabits these complexities and contradictions alike, trying to stay grounded and make sense of the volatile nature of the universe. The story of The Broken Column begins in the summer of 2008, when band members Daniel Sahagún (lead vocals, guitar) and Tyler Coleman (drums) met while working retail together in Los Angeles. Sharing a love for the revival of rock’s spirit with bands like Fugazi, Refused, Deftones, and At The Drive-In, Sahagún and Coleman began spending their free time jamming together. They finally completed their lineup when Scott Trieglaff (bass) met and joined the band, forming a rock-and-roll holy trinity, the rock trio. Thus formed The Broken Column.
The Broken Column’s lofty sense of purpose is anchored in the idea that the rock trio can essentially bridge the gap between two different forms of existence, the world of personal intimacy and the world of larger-than-life sounds and musical power. The rock trio puts pressure on every member to perform at their highest level, not being able to hide behind the whims of multi-layered orchestrations. “Good music,” says Sahagún, “can be presented with as little resources as possible, and forming a trio was a way to keep it personal and get to the core of a great song.”
The band’s approach to writing and recording music is a mix of free-form flexibility and structure – something like the inner-workings of the physical universe. Musical ideas will sometimes get laid out on the table like puzzle-pieces, and the band will sift through carefully until something fits; but sometimes a member will come to the table with a fully-formed idea that merely needs fleshing out. This mixture of improvisation and composition comes naturally to the band, existing in between opposing forces and striking a balance that just feels right, yielding impressive results.
The band began work on You Are (NOT) Alone, their debut full-length album in August of 2011, after signing with independent label Two Inch Tape Records of Southern California. Wasting no time while they were shacked up at the Sonic Ranch in El Paso, Texas, the band recorded 19 songs in marathon sessions that lasted a total of 10 days.
Inspired by the powerful combination of visual imagery and sonic stimulation in recent Oscar Nominated film The Tree of Life, the band has also come together and collaborated with up and coming artist Bradley Wilder on the artwork for You Are (NOT) Alone, creating abstract, organic art that, like the band’s music, asks more questions than it answers.
When it comes to The Broken Column, they wouldn’t want it any other way.
