Not everyone’s high school band stays together. Dalton-based alternative rock and jazz band “Petrichor” has done just that, and has released a physical album despite being separated by distance.
“It’s awesome,” member Justin Geyer said. Geyer holds multiple positions in the band, including keyboard and vocalist. “This is the first LP I’ve ever been a part of and to be able to physically hold something that represents so many feelings and memories is wonderful.”
Petrichor’s story begins roughly four years ago, when Geyer, Christian Pickwell and Nate Sears got involved with the praise band “Built on Rock” at the First Congregational Church of Dalton.
According to Geyer, it was one of the first long term musical groups in which the trio played together, and played a big part in their early musical connection. The inspiration for “Petrichor” was for the group to be able to write whatever kind of music they wanted with people they shared a connection with.
The band is still relatively young, as are its members. Most of its members are in their early twenties, and are full-time college students. As such, their families played a big role in bringing the band to life.
“Our families were always very encouraging of our musical pursuits,” Pickwell explained. “They provided places to practice, hang out, and sleep as well as food, equipment like a PA system for the singers, and often they’d help us organize and get gigs.”
Their parents also funded a portion of the album creation costs, which the group published through the online distribution site CDbaby.com.
According to lead guitarist Matt Geyer, who got involved with the band through his brother, the album was recorded in two major sessions; one during their last winter break in high school (they graduated from Wahconah High School in 2014), and one the summer before starting college.
The time in between summer 2014 and when the album dropped this January was spent mixing and mastering the recordings as well as finding a cover artist. They selected Indonesian freelance artist Bayu Soenanda, who has worked for 123RF.com, HAKUHODO LOTUS, and Sima Solutions.
“It’s nice that people around here know us and support us and it’s always good to know that if we did a show around here a good amount of people would come out for it,” Matt said. “Since going to college, it’s obviously been different what with not being able to play as much, but like last winter break we did our release party at the Stationery Factory in Dalton and a good amount of people showed up for it.”
According to their social media page, the group was “astounded” by how many physical CDs they distributed at their release Party. Their album “What We’ve Noticed,” was released Jan. 2 of this year, with the launch party taking place the day after.
The album includes 10 songs that are a predominant mix of alternative rock and jazz. The physical CD is available for purchase CDbaby, with digital copies available on CDbaby, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and Bandcamp. The band is currently working towards a second, currently unnamed, project.
Berkshire Music is a series of articles concerning the local musicians of Berkshire County, Mass., especially its indie scene.
Mitchell Chapman 