Meet the Band: Morningbell
A look at a band with local ties.
By JULIE GARISTO
Published August 10, 2006
Members: Travis Atria, vocals and guitar; Eric Atria, vocals and bass; Stacie Thrushman, keyboards and vocals; and Evan Mitchell, drums and vocals.
Relations: Eric and Travis are brothers; Stacie and Eric are married.
Where they live: Gainesville.
What they sound like: "Flaming Lips meets the Beatles," say the news clippings.
Morningbell's true superpower: Shaping classic rock ballads into something uniquely modern.
CDs: Learning by Musical Montage (2004) and Forgetting to Wake Up (2006).
Jamming with Mayor McCheese: "We formed, in proper, I suppose, 24 years ago, when I was born and Eric and I became brothers," Travis says. "We had many bands as little kids, where we played on McDonald's Happy Meal plastic toys."
Their live show: Eric and little bro Travis still play like two kids, hopping around, shouting and grinning. They're all-out nerdy but aggressive in their rock-out. Plus, they bust out the "trademark" $100 light show with bulbs behind them, around them and even on their clothing.
Breeding ground: "One of my earliest adolescent memories is being 12 years old and sitting in my dad's car, at the Little League baseball park, and he played me Sgt. Pepper's for the first time," says Travis.
Eric: "We both started playing piano in first grade. Stacie played piano since she was a child, too."
Evan: "I used my high school graduation money to buy my first kit that I have now. My mom played piano and sang and whatnot. My parents, being hippies somewhat, they went to Woodstock and they just had good taste in music."
Recognition: Morningbell's Forgetting to Wake Up made it on the Gainesville Sun's roundup of the "Top 10 CDs of 2005 (in no particular order)" - the only local band on Dave Schlenker's list.
Fame, schmame: "We play because we enjoy playing music," says Stacie. "If we got signed tomorrow, who cares? We just record music in our house and play music we like."
Songwriting: "One good thing Paul Simon does is tell a story," says Travis. "I've never been good at that. A lot of the stuff I write is a John Lennon influence, playing with the sounds of words. I'll come up with a couplet in my head and write it down."
Introspective? "Sometimes too much so," says Travis. "Until just recently, I was sick for a large part of my life. I had Lyme disease. Pretty much from 12 to 23 I was sick all of the time. Being that way kind of makes you think about things a teenager doesn't necessarily think about: life and death stuff. . . . We also definitely try to have a sense of humor."
What's cooking: "The new album's going to come out within a year," Eric says. "We got the ball rolling and the new studio equipment. We're trying to get the parts to come together. We want to take our time on it and didn't want to rush anything."
Travis: "It's going to be more experimental. In terms of orchestration, in terms of noises we can make, it's going to be something where we can stake out our own ground."
Eric: "We kind of have a theme and have sounds that will go with that theme."
About that theme? "It's top secret," says Eric. "At least that's what we're saying to generate a buzz around it."
Check 'em out: 9 p.m. Friday at the Orpheum, 1902 N Avenida Republica de Cuba, Ybor City. $6. (813) 248-9500. www.morningbellonline.com.
- JULIE GARISTO, Times staff writer