NEW 10 track album by Seven Color Sky! Produced by Psychedelic Furs' legend John Ashton!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Seven Color Sky rides a New Wave influence.If any Pittsburgh band was going to draw the love of a member of the Psychedelic Furs, it makes sense that it would be Seven Color Sky, a quartet takes its inspiration from the synth-rock of the New Wave era.
Seven Color Sky first opened for the Furs at Club Laga in 2003 and then again at the Three Rivers Arts Festival in the summer of 2004. A few months later the band found itself in the studio with Furs guitarist John Ashton, the result of which was the "Better Looking" EP.
The band now follows with a full-length release recorded with Ashton last year. SCS still comes on with layers of synthesizers and sweeping melodic vocals of Scott Bedillion, but "Goodbye to Gravity" also cranks the guitars more in the mix.
"I became pretty obsessed with the '70s rock section of my record collection while these songs were evolving. ELO, Player, Pilot, 10CC," explains frontman Bedillion. "It inspired a lot of the lead guitar work, harmony vocals and the general feel of the album. Of course there's still the heavy Smiths/Cure/Psychedelic Furs influence. It's almost like the Cure with a splash of Journey in a way, a little more guitar-synth balance.
"We were trying for a more three-dimensional sound on the album; less compressed and produced sounding. I think we got that, where it feels like there's space between the instruments. Frank [Postava], our drummer, thinks it sounds like vinyl more than a CD, and that's what we were hoping."
Bedillion says that Ashton encourages the band to think beyond being a live act in the studio. "He'd keep saying 'It's a work of art' and that it won't ever be the same live as it is recorded."
"John provides an experienced, discerning ear and a wealth of creative ideas and suggestions for instrumental layering," adds bassist Marc Turina. "John has taught me never to rush the final product and to always keep my mind open and consider any and all creative inclinations."
The band thinks "Goodbye to Gravity" is the kind of record that could appeal to fans of the first New Wave as well as its more recent revival.
"Our first discs were released at a time when there was a fresh audience for the minor key, New Wave aspects of our sound with younger fans of The Killers and that bunch of bands, so that was a plus," says keyboardist Terry Divelbliss "On the other hand, there were those who still loved that sound from the WXXP days who were happy to hear it live on in our music. It's always going to be somewhat of a niche for the fans of that era, and the fact that we've punched up the guitars that are reminiscent of what was happening in mainstream AOR rock at the time probably makes it even more appealing to fans of that era. Unless they were listening to new wave purposely to stay away from corporate rock. ... Who knows!"
MARCH 12, 2009
BY AARON JENTZEN
Pittsburgh City Paper
As ticketholders wait with bated breath to see if the historically unreliable Morrissey will make good on his March 17 show at Oakland's Carnegie Music Hall, a long-running local band that counts him as an influence is preparing to release a full-length album a few days earlier.
Originally named the Ordinary Boys, after a line in a Morrissey song, Seven Color Sky is currently composed of vocalist and guitarist Scott Bedillion, bassist Marc Turina, drummer Frank Postava and Terry Divelbliss on keyboards. Since playing its first show in 2002, SCS has carved out a niche in this region for its New Wave- and Brit pop-influenced tunes. After opening for the Psychedelic Furs at the Three Rivers Arts Festival, the band arranged to record 2004's The Better Looking EP with Furs' guitarist John Ashton. Since then, the band has released an online-only collection of odds 'n' sods, SCS Presents ..., and opened a number of regional dates for the Furs and the English Beat.
Now, SCS has teamed up with Ashton again for its new full length, Goodbye to Gravity. The 10-song album offers a tension that's hard to define; perhaps it's the juxtaposition of slick, '80s-sounding keyboards and guitar effects, with drums and bass that sound a bit more raw and loose. Likewise, while Bedillion's vocals are built around strong New Wave-ish melodies, he doesn't sound overly groomed or reverbed out. Mixed in here and there is a fair amount of ear candy, and nods to the likes of Echo and the Bunnymen, Morrissey, and of course, the Furs.
The collaboration seems most successful on the more open, major-key songs, like "Don't Walk Away" with its epic sweep and wordless vocal hook that brings John Hughes' films to mind. A couple of other nice examples are the blissed-out "Chesterfield" and "A Rescue."
A difference between SCS and its musical forbears -- perhaps a somewhat Pittsburghian difference -- is that SCS interjects a few guitar-hero moments, like the vaguely Sabbathy riff that opens "We Know Who You Are," and the shreddy guitar solo over distorted power-chords on the album's finale.
That final song, "Won't Last Long," starts with the lines, "You say I missed this culture by a decade at least." It's a useful reminder that this style of music was hardly a current taste when SCS started out. If anything, such '80s inflections are more in fashion now, which could bode well for Seven Color Sky, if the band is able to successfully mesh its music obsessions with the zeitgeist that's brought us MGMT, M83 and Ladyhawke.
By Rege Behe, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The guys in Seven Color Sky aren't worried about how many units their new album, "Goodbye to Gravity," is going to sell. They're not concerned that there's probably not going to be a bidding war by labels, major or minor or independent, to sign them to a lucrative contract.
Right now, it's enough for the local quartet — all in their mid-30s — to put out music on their own dime at their own pace, for the enjoyment of their fans and themselves.
"I don't think any of us have delusions of grandeur about playing football stadiums," drummer Frank Postava says in advance of the band's CD release party Saturday at Club Cafe, South Side. "We just play what we like when we get together and practice. If we write a song and we like it, I don't think we go, 'We can't do that, it's not commercial enough.' "
That practice has served the quartet well since its inception seven years ago. Featuring Postava of Allison Park, singer and guitarist Scott Bedillion of Shadyside, keyboardist Terry Divelbliss of McMurray and bassist Marc Turina of Robinson, the Seven Color Sky sound is rooted in early-to-mid 1980s new wave.
"Terry, Mark and I were thoroughly obsessed with (that music)," Bedillion says. "Frank, less so."
"Since that time, I've gotten into it," Postava quickly adds.
Seven Color Sky, however, is far from derivative. While there's an obvious inclination toward music from 20 years ago, there's a contemporary veneer attached to the music, most notably the songs "Chesterfield" and "A Rescue." Bedillion is the principle songwriter, but the end results are the product of a collaborative effort.
"I'll come in with the song structure, the guitar parts and the vocals, and have no idea for anything else," Bedillion says. "And I know the guys are going to come up with something awesome."
"Scott writes the lyrics and the melodies for all the songs," Turina says. "But when we get together, there's freedom for each one of us to interpret it in the way that we want to."
"The scary thing is how consistently, how quickly, it comes together," Divelbliss says. "Within two or three listens to the song when we go through it, it falls into place."
The sound is bigger than one would expect from a four-piece ensemble, partly because Divelbliss -- who refers to himself as the band's second guitarist -- adds more than just background color. But just as important is what the keyboardist doesn't do.
"He adds wonderful layers, and he does good thing. But he has such a good musical ear that he knows when to back out and not play," Turina says. "That's what makes him such a great musician."
Seven Color Sky also benefits from having John Ashton, the guitarist from the Psychedelic Furs, onboard as producer. Ashton produced the band's "Better Looking" EP in 2004 after meeting the group at the Three Rivers Arts Festival.
Bedillion -- whose three favorite bands in high school were the Furs, the Smiths and the Cure -- says Ashton's directions are subtle, but pointed. He'll tell the band what's lacking, but let them figure exactly what it needs to be.
"His style isn't 'Scott, play these three notes,' " Turina says. "It's 'there needs to be something here, why don't you try a few things?' "
That allowed the band the space to create an album that has a certain cross-generational appeal. If anything grand comes from that, so be it; if not, it's still the album Seven Color Sky wanted to make.
"I know I like this CD, and my 3-year-old kid likes the CD," Postava says. "That's satisfaction enough for me. Anything else is icing on the cake."
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