Near Earth Objects are hitting up The Drinkery with Kumasi tonight! We got to know this band prior to the show...
Tell us how Near Earth Objects came to be…
Near Earth Objects came together about two years ago. The members are Devin Clarke, Richard Inman, and Leland Davis. Devin and Leland met at a young age, and have had a great friendship for most of their lives. Leland was brought up in a musical home, his dad being a very talented musician. Leland studied classical piano, as well as several other classical instruments growing up. He picked up the bass and taught himself when the formation of NEO came to be. He also plays piano and synth for us. Devin started playing guitar when he was a young teenager, and was completely self taught. Eventually Devin and Leland started to jam and write songs, and had other friends to play along with them. Several years passed of members going in and out of this project, and it seemed nothing really stuck. I met Devin while we were both working for the board of elections. We had both randomly gotten this job, and hit it off. I had recently sold my drum set, but Lelands dad had a spare. Devin and I decided it was time after enough talk, to all meet one another and have some fun jamming. We ended up really enjoying this, as well as the music we started writing. The first song we wrote was one of their old ones, other than that, we started from scratch and I was able to help with a vision on how we all wanted to sound and write. We have been at it ever since, and have made milestones in writing, chemistry, and musical equipment.
What can one expect from a live Near Earth Objects show?
A NEO live show has always been a very interesting experience. We approach our music in a way that comes out best in a live setting. You can expect to hear very spacey, bluesy, rock guitar, fed with a bunch of delay. Devin actually loops in almost every one of our songs, that alone is a sight to see. The way he writes is awesome to watch, because we can do so much, and create so much sound with one person looping guitar parts over one another. You will hear Leland on the bass, synth, and playing beautiful piano parts. Richard (myself) takes a self taught, and interesting style to our music. Expect fast drumming at points, and groovy beats at others. I also back up sing with Devin. We have had nothing but good experiences so far with our live show, and its kind of crazy how fast we are building a fan base. We have seen 50-100 people show to 4 out of 8 shows we have ever played. The most common things we have heard from people are, " I thought I was just going out to support a local friends band, but it was not like that experience, you guys are really good!" and I love how your set goes in waves, high energy to the fullest capacity, and soothing lows after that."
Being a local band, what are some of your favorite things about Cincinnati?
We love the revitalization of OTR, that is helping artists of all walks of life. We love that its a big enough city to have opportunity, yet small enough to have the community back you and grow quickly. Everyone really seems to know everyone, you are never more than three people removed from another friend group. We love how the people, and the city is really passionate, like people are becoming so ambitious in the last 5 years. We just feel a great growing energy right now, and we are experiencing the same with our music, so we cannot wait to get out there and share it, and be apart of it.
What is next for Near Earth Objects?
We have shot a few low budget videos of us playing, we have recorded our first EP, so now it is time to really kick things up for 2015. We plan on beginning the shoot for our first "real" music video next month, as well as getting back into the studio to record our first full length all fall and winter. We plan on having both out by the spring, and supporting a midwest tour with it.
