Bitching about the sheer volume of musicians in Los Angeles is about as cliché as rehab for celebrities. I find it more productive to embrace LA’s musical menagerie and revel in the myriad of opportunities to locate those bands whose sound changes your life or simply entertains you for an evening. In support of our glorious city and the talent that flourishes within, LA2day.com continually seeks to expose LA based bands that decrease the ratio of the inept to the adept. My recent discovery is a band I’ve had the pleasure of listening to musically and conversationally and whose members reveal themselves to have more heart than the Tin Man could’ve hoped to obtain from the wonderful Wizard and enormous talent, to boot. If you haven’t done so already, meet Everest.

Everest is the offspring of veterans from Indie bands such as Earlimart, Folk Implosion and the Watson Twins. Long time friends Russell Pollard (vocals/guitar), Jason Soda (guitar/wurlitzer/piano/harmonies), Joel Graves (guitar/keys/toy piano/pedal manipulations/harmonies) and Davey Latter (drums/percussion) assembled just last year with the expectation of starting something fresh to progress musically with for years to come. Richard Gowen also takes the throne for Everest when Latter is on tour with fellow up-and-comer, Great Northern. They quickly met bass player Rob Douglas, and realizing an instant connection, immediately recorded their first sessions. I now turn the floor over to Russell who discussed with me the camaraderie and how extraordinary it is to play in a band with such intense chemistry.

“We all really like each other and have for a long time. Rob was an instant thing. There’s a lot of trust. All of the ingredients that the five people add just work. You can’t hire people to get that vibe; it’s a true band feeling. We have a shared experience where everyone is bringing something to the table that makes everyone else excited.”

Judging by Joel’s response, I’d say he concurs. “I'm getting to play music with my favorite singer, my favorite bass player, my favorite guitar player, and my favorite drummer, and on top of that, they are my friends and we just enjoy being around each other. It's the band I've always wanted to be in.”

Three of the tracks from the first sessions can be found on a 12” 45. Unfortunately, as a genuine child of the 80’s, my record player is but a mere memory of ancient times; I first heard Everest on MySpace. The grouping of songs posted on their page reveals an Indie rock sound akin to Elliott Smith. Quickly intrigued by the powerful vocals and warm tones, I ventured to see Everest’s show at the Silverlake Lounge. Following two bands that made me question my love of music, Everest instantly restored my exuberance and delivered a performance above and beyond what the MySpace samples promised.

Everest’s music is mellow, but not sleepy; soulful, but not whiny. The slow songs, highlighted by acoustic guitar and keys, are romantic (think “Garden State” not “Pride and Prejudice”) as evidenced by a couple who groped like they were sinking on the Titanic throughout at least one of them. The livelier tracks feature multiple electric guitars playing complimenting rhythms coupled with the pulse of the bass and drums inducing the ever popular head bob. The vocals are alluring and the instrumental components are cohesive and engaging as if they’ve been playing together for years.

With no ego driven self promotion to be found, Russell spoke affectionately about his band mates and emphasized the collaborative and democratic nature of their creative process.

“Everyone in the band is a songwriter. It’s insane. I love that. We all encourage each other to bring whatever we can to the table. I’ve always wanted to be in a band where it is a trade of all musicians in the band having their moment.”

Everest’s tunes illustrate the common themes of love, betrayal and first crushes, as well as a not so common theme, Louisville, Kentucky (a place deemed special by Russell). Our frank discussion about song writing revealed that personal experiences provide only some of the catalysts for compositions. Russell explained that songs sometimes appear inexplicably from thin air. He labels these songs a gift that, when bestowed, get immediately recorded in order to avoid them vanishing into a void. Similar to my fellow staff writers, he’s also inspired by “living in LA and the energy that is here and the sense of urgency with the people we live with, also surrounded by beauty. It’s a strange balance of chaos and stress, total lush beauty and good weather. What the band is doing is influenced by where we are.”

Being as down to earth as these easy going artists appear, we’re fortunate that the shallow, insincere side of LA’s multiple personalities doesn’t seem to be the influential portion. Musically, Everest has displayed an impressive grace and aptitude cementing my anticipation of the album release and sincere hope that Everest obtains a substantial following. Russell explained that although the band wonders whether the masses will grab on to Everest’s sound, public opinion isn’t the sole driving force behind the music Everest creates.

“I feel like it is what I was born to do, to play music, to write songs. It makes me happy. The guys are also coming from that place. We are doing our things and if people respond to it, great; if not, we would still do this.”

See Everest @ The Echo, July 20, 2007
12” 45 available @ Amoeba Records
Full length album produced by Mike Terry (Foo Fighters) to be released early next year
www.everestband.com
www.myspace.com/everestlads

By: Megan Karasch
Photo By: Shayna Peveler