Alter The Press! Presents: The Orphan, The Poet
Having grown up playing together, in 2009 David Eselgroth (vocals/guitar) and Jared Snavel (guitar) decided to focus on writing material; rather than finding members. The resulting material would come in the form of their first EP, 'In Brevity'. A well-received EP that saw the band given more tour opportunities and eventually saw them making an appearance on a PureVolume holiday compilation.
Now with another two members in the form of Jake Floyd (bass) and Drew Ihle (drums). The Orphan, The Poet's mix of atmospheric indie rock (see 'Sleeping Giants'), sweet melodies ('Turncoat') and cleverly structured style ('Invincible' - streaming above) is slowly gathering momentum, as its clear this band have talent that is deserves to be noticed.
For Fans Of: As Cities Burn, Further Seems Forever, Copeland, and Thrice.
Interview with David Eselgroth (vocals/guitar)
Alter The Press: Why should Alter The Press! readers check you out?
The Orphan, The Poet: That’s a very good question. Luckily, I have an equally good answer. Readers should check us out because:
1)We write good, honest music. No gimmicks here—we just throw what we know, and that’s writing music that we believe can make a difference to people. We always aim to write songs that are more than just a hook and a melody, but rather have a degree of depth to them (we have a knack for existential introspection…). But even if you don’t get tied up in the bigger meanings, I think we’re pretty catchy too.
2)Our fans are our family. I know, I know—everyone says it, but we honestly treat our fans like a big family! We love having everyone feel like they are part of something and having an instant circle for friends for anyone who wants it. It’s great! Though this is a unique example, we’ve had online contests where for weeks straight, members of a single family (3 siblings & both parents) were winning every time. Needless to say, I think I memorized their mailing address by the third week! But even if you aren’t family by blood, you can be part of our family by love!
3)At least 50% of us are cuties. I won’t tell you which ones, but if this band thing doesn’t work out, a few of our members might be pursuing modeling or acting careers. Maybe I should have made this reason #1; it’s really just all about the looks anyway, right?
ATP: What's the story behind the band?
The Orphan, The Poet: The band actually had a pretty long inception. Jared and I had played together growing up and just continued to write together as projects we played in would come and go. For this project, we really just stopped worrying about filling out a line-up and instead just focused on writing. We wrote and demoed material for nearly two years as I was finishing school, which really helped us gain perspective and focus on what we wanted this project to be.
In 2009, we recorded and released our first EP, 'In Brevity'. The response we received was great, and we had a lot of opportunities presented to us. We were invited on tours, licensed our music for commercial use, and even got to contribute to PureVolume’s holiday compilation. As a guy from a tiny Midwestern town, I’m exceedingly proud of all that we’ve accomplished. That said, however, I am even more excited for what’s on the horizon.
In the past 6 months, we’ve recorded our new EP, 'Translating', which comes out May 31st, added 2 new members to the group, and partnered with some new people to work the release with us. I think we’re all pretty enthusiastic with where we’re heading.
ATP: Single highlight as a band so far?
The Orphan, The Poet: This may sound funny, but actually being a full band seems to be the highlight for me. We’ve finally come into a place where we have a fresh EP that we couldn’t be more proud of AND a permanent lineup to perform it. It’s the first time in our 2 years as a band that we can claim to actually be whole.
A close second highlight would be having the opportunity to record with Kris Crummett. We’ve all been a fan of his work for a while so having him produce our album was a dream come true. The experience wasn’t without hardship though. The weeks we spent with Kris in Portland were honestly some of the most trying times I have personally been through. Between being completely submerged in the production of the EP as well as being sicker than I had been in years, it really tested me. Thinking back to my thought process while recording, it’s sometimes scary knowing how depressed I was at times. Nevertheless, I think the final product is the best thing any of us have every done.
ATP: What are your plans for the 12 months?
The Orphan, The Poet: Ever since leaving the studio, we’ve been pretty busy with getting things lined up for the release and we hope to continue that trend for the rest of the year. Our new EP 'Translating' comes out May 31st and we have a lot of exciting things coming up. We’ll be out on the road a lot more through the summer and fall and hope to break into some new territory and meet some new faces.
'Translating' by The Orphan, The Poet is released on May 31st.
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