With humble beginnings as a duo between Tim Wilson and Ryan Carbary three years ago, Seattle band Ivan & Alyosha have since come together as a five-piece band. Releasing a seven song EP entitled, The Verse, The Chorus in 2009, now a year later, the band is hard at work tracking their new record and playing along their native West Coast this summer after a few July dates in New York.
Garnering attention from NPR in the form of a featured “Song of the Day” and getting the chance to play 2010’s SXSW Festival, it’s needless to say that the Dostoyevsky inspired band is making waves. With a sound that is simple, heartfelt, and just the amount of beach-y that you’d expect from a band off the West Coast, Ivan & Alyosha is group for the wistful, cock-eyed optimists of the world that believe in love above all else. Not lofty in its claims, songs like “Easy To Love” sweetly “oh, oh” their way through simple choruses of “You’re really easy to love” and humble lines such as, “I know you’re good/ You know I try most of the time”.
Though some songs from this EP, like the sleepy sounding “Some Friend You Are” seem to be dragging their feet, tracks like “Once And Future” have the pep needed to balance things out and perk up The Verse, The Chorus, making the EP an overall well executed homage to the sweet tanginess of early folk rock and breezy West Coast charm.
Ivan & Alyosha’s Tim Wilson talked with Reviewsic via email to share stories about his most memorable concert, who in the music business he’s dying to work with, and the best band moment the musical outfit has seen so far.
Reviewsic: What are your top three musical influences?
Tim Wilson: Right now? Lets go with Jeff Tweedy, Richard Swift and John Lennon’s solo records.
Reviewsic: Is there any instrument you don’t play, but wish you did?
Tim Wilson: Cello
Reviewsic: What are the last three albums or bands you listened to?
Tim Wilson: Dave Bazan, Delta Spirit, Jackson 5
Reviewsic: If you could work with one person in the music industry (musician, label, producer etc), who would it be and why?
Tim Wilson: M Ward. He seems to have his name on everything these days, love the records he makes.
Reviewsic: Who was the first band/musician you saw live?
Tim Wilson: I saw U2 for the first time in high school. Amazing.
Reviewsic: Who are three of your favorite local bands?
Tim Wilson: Josh Ottum, Pickwick, Melodie Knight.
Reviewsic: If you could book a tour with any 3 bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
Tim Wilson: Beatles, Stones, Queen. Stadium Rock baby, not that we are that or will be, would just be crazy…
Reviewsic: Tell us about The Verse, The Chorus – is there a particular concept behind it? What was the process of making the album like?
Tim Wilson: The Verse, The Chorus is not so much conceptual as it is autobiographical. At the time the songs I was writing were full of thoughts, questions, frustrations about an unknown future. I was getting married, which was amazing, but had just quit an old band to start a new one, not really knowing how to accomplish my goals, anxious and ambitious at the same time. Lots of frustration with people too, which I think came from a place of not really being comfortable or confident with myself and my path, something that thankfully doesn’t really get to me any more.
We tracked some of the record in Los Angeles with Eli Thomson and Frank Lenz, then finished it in Seattle in the Spring of 08 I believe. As far as the band goes, It was Ryan and I working on that first record, but these days we are all working in the studio together on our first full length.
Reviewsic: How would you compare yourselves as musicians at the point of this release as opposed to when you first began playing together?
Tim Wilson: I think the demos for this next record sound better than our first EP! We have matured; the songs are better, production wise we have come a long way as well.
Reviewsic: What are some of your favorite cities and/or to play?
Tim Wilson: Portland has been really great to us as of late. I love playing in L.A. too.
Reviewsic: What are the best and worst band moments so far in your career?
Tim Wilson: Best? Signing with Cheap Lullaby Records. Worst? All night drives from L.A.
Reviewsic: What is the most memorable concert you’ve ever attended?
Tim Wilson: Helio Sequence @ Chop Suey a few years back. I fell in love with them and have been a fan ever since.
Reviewsic: If you were to put out an album of strictly covers, what are a few songs we’d find on the track listing?
Tim Wilson: Anything from Harry Belafonte. Try To Remember, And I Love You So, Land Of The Sea And Sun. Or maybe Dylan covers, some of his gospel stuff, When He Returns, In The Garden.
Reviewsic: What are your plans for your music in the next year?
Tim Wilson: New record, tour.
Tags: Interview, New Music, Upcoming Release, Video
