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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: SoundscapeMN on April 19, 2015, 03:42:35 PM
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1. Mute
2. The Spark of the Archon
3. Passage
4. Your Familiar Face
5. Come Hell or High Water
6. Chromatic Lights
7. Chromatic Aberration
Listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXQPCowmbD8
Pretty well composed debut album from this prog metal band which was formed by some Berklee students a few years ago.
Very Symphonic at points.
https://www.metalblade.com/nativeconstruct/
Robert Edens: Vocals
Myles Yang: Guitar
Max Harchik: Bass
Native Construct is the product of collaboration between several students that began in 2011 at the storied Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Fueled by a desire to breathe new life into the modern metal genre, Native Construct artfully blends a wide spectrum of compositional influences, ranging from classical all the way to prog metal and musical theatre. The result is a wonderfully unique sonic texture, made up of extended-range guitars, theatrical vocals, and a full complement of symphonic instrumentation. Guitarist and composer Myles Yang's passion for innovation, coupled with his extensive academic study of arranging and compositional techniques, makes Native Construct a truly distinctive up-and-coming metal act.
In 2014, the band's music caught the ear of Brian Slagel at Metal Blade Records, and led to a recording contract and a worldwide release of the band's debut album, Quiet World. The album promises to be a rich, vibrant, and aurally engaging musical experience. While following a musically programmatic approach to its storytelling, the album demonstrates a fascinating unification of numerous musical styles and provides an emotional journey through the vast and imaginative world Native Construct have envisioned.
Quiet World was largely self-produced and written between 2011 and 2013 in between the individual band members' studies at the Berklee College of Music. What began as jam sessions simply for fun eventually turned into a full-fledged musical endeavor. All tracking and programming was done at the band's home studios in Boston, MA, with the exception of vocals, which were recorded with Jamie King at The Basement Studios in Winston-Salem, NC. The album was mixed by Rich Mouser at The Mouse House Studio in Los Angeles, CA, and mastered by Jamie King.
A brief listen to Quiet World is enough to make it apparent that there is a concept, here. Though it's best to let the band explain the album in their own words: "Quiet World is about a guy who loves a girl. The guy is a bit of an odd and eccentric person - an outcast. He's also a mute, and a little unstable, as it turns out. The girl doesn't return his feelings, but he can't bring himself to let go. As his unrequited passion for her devolves into obsession and eventual resentment, his mind begins to slip further and further away. He convinces himself that he can't be loved because of his condition and abnormalities. So he decides to create for himself a new, fantastic world of which he has complete control - a world where there are no oddballs or outcasts. A world where everyone is surrounded by people who are just like themselves: a much quieter world.
"It's at this point that the first track of the album, "Mute," begins. And it turns out that many of the subjects of his new world are not as content living this way as he is. In the second track we see a new character, the Archon, rise up and unite his people in the clouds with the once distant people in the sea. He leads an opposition to "Sinister Silence," as the people come to call him. The rest of the album unfolds with events within the "Quiet World" and manifestations of the enduring struggle between the Archon and Sinister Silence. The lone exception is track number four, "Your Familiar Face," which steps out of this world for a moment to give a closer look at the events prior to the first track and the tragedy of Sinister Silence."
What is impressive about Native Construct is not necessarily an involved concept on a debut record, it's that they wrote, produced, and recorded the album while balancing school work and on a college student budget. It's the epitome of "self produced." And what Native Construct wants fans to know is that "the composition process for this album was intensely meticulous from top to bottom. Each note, each lyric, each twist and each turn were arrived at with the utmost care. As such, we were able to weave rich, often subtle layers of meaning into the music and text. We're very excited for you all to experience the result of our efforts!"
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album came out yesterday. Anyone check it out?
This really should appeal to many prog metal fans around here to be honest.
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Sounds like something I could dig. I'll check it out when I'm back home.
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really a phenomenal album. I'm still processing it and I need to listen to it again to really be able to say what I like so much about it, though.
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So I just finished my first listen of this. I definitely liked it, but I'll have to revisit it to say anything beyond that.
EDIT: This is great. Awesome musicianship. This is definitely Top 3 of the year so far, thanks Soundscape!
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I see the same responses to this album everywhere :lol
People post a message after hearing it for the first time: "Yeah, it's OK"
Then a couple of days later after a few more spins: "Wow, this thing is pretty great!"
A week after that: "OMFGTHISISAMAZING!!!11!!"
:rollin
This album is the poster child for the validity of PapaJim's famous PRAT or Prog Rock Acid Test. Any prog album worth listening to will require multiple listens to fully appreciate it. In most cases I'd consider 5 full spins to be a solid PRAT.
So, with that said, after subjecting this album to the PRAT, I'm giving it 4.5 stars (on a 5 point scale)
Essential album for serious prog metal fans.
For those wondering about the vocals - they're predominantly clean. Just a few grunts and growls here and there.
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Yeah, what KNH said. The more I listen to this, the more I love it. Awesome album.
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Must.
Not.
Listen.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/55966936/pics/banghead.gif)
I don't want to overplay it! But it's too good not to keep listening to it!! (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/55966936/pics/frustrated.gif)
:biggrin:
Seriously, though, I love the adventurous spirit to this thing. Really slick and polished sounding but not in a contrived, pretentious way.
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Anyone else get a "Remedy Lane"-era Pain of Salvation vibe from this? Just an influence, but someone in this band must dig them some old-school PoS :hefdaddy
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it really has gotten better with every listen.
I feel like the mix leaves a little to be desired, though... I feel like it lacks a little low-end.
I want to stress that I am not a bass junkie, but I feel like some parts of the album could be so much more powerful with a bit more oomph. I feel like the last track is a good example for that.
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Well if Soundscape and Barry like this, I guess I'm going to have to add it to my Amazon order...and done.
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Local musician from local prog rock band Odd Logic (shameless plug...check em out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Tos62Napw ) just sent me a link to the Native Construct album and I will echo everyone else's words. I've only heard it once, and I'm totally digging it. Going to listen again today. Very much a Between the Buried and Queen Theater vibe.
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Queen Theater sounds like a totally awesome band. I'll have to check them out.
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BTBAM meets DT meets Remedy Lane era POS?!
where do i sign up?! :corn
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BTBAM meets DT meets Remedy Lane era POS?!
where do i sign up?! :corn
Here (https://nativeconstruct.bandcamp.com).
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Really enjoyed this album. Definitely one of the better prog albums I've heard in the past few years, and the musicianship is just out of this world. Love the harmonies, too.
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Very fun album!
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BTBAM meets DT meets Remedy Lane era POS?!
where do i sign up?! :corn
Here (https://nativeconstruct.bandcamp.com).
*11 days and 25 spins later*...
Thanks! if this is pretty much all I wanna hear these days, I guess that means I like it.
Apparently they've got a drummer lined up for a tour. With a heavy BTBAM connection, I wonder if it could be Blakey.
also, it's kinda put me in a Shadow Gallery and Ice Age - Liberation mood this week. but I guess Dream Theater Is the default comparison for the 'traditional prog metal' aspect of their sound, right.
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Been spinning this a lot over the past weeks. Insanely good. Haven't had such a crush on a band since I discovered Haken.
I was sold on the band* immediately, but I wasn't sure about the album at first. Even though I'm used to BTBAM, it took three or four spins to fully digest the insanity and appreciate it, although I still think they will write even better albums in the future.
Being strongly influenced by BTBAM, I think they managed to surpass them on this debut already.
*if you want to call it a band, it's three guys playing only guitar/bass and doing the rest via their laptops
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to be fair, the romance hasn't worn off, but...
somethin about this record has that 'greatest album OAT' feel to it.
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I discovered this band a few weeks ago and I think Chromatic Aberration may just be my favorite song ever (at the moment).
:hefdaddy
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i think this is okay, i'll probably listen again at some point but it didn't really grab me in any way
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It's not bad, and I could see them doing something great on a future album. Nothing spectacular though.
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I'm finally listening to the song linked in the OP, and it's really good so far. Definitely better than any prog metal I've heard in a while. I really love the vocal approach; it actually reminds a lot of Steam Powered Giraffe.
So I'll probably check out the whole album soon.
Oh just got to the end, apparently there are harsh vocals too. Awesome. :metal
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I finally listened to this album, and after two/three listens the only songs I remember are Mute and Your Familiar Face and they are both excellent. I imagine that when I will learn all the songs this will be in my top 3 albums of this year.
Only during "Mute" I noticed influences or similarities to bands like BTBAM (at 0:26-0:33 they came in my mind instantly), Mr Bungle (1:29-1.36 during the shift from the first metal section), The Human Abstract of Digital Veil (especially in the clean vocals on 4:50-5:20), Unexpect for the avantgarde approach, for the production and the style of songwriting with a lot of ideas in only one song, and around the third minute there's even a funny part that reminds me some contemporary pop artists... This song is fantastic!
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I saw them two days ago in Cambridge, MA. They were phenomenal! they had 5 people playing - a drummer, vocals, two guitars, and bass. one of the guitarists and the drummer are just touring with them, if I recall correctly. All really nice guys too.
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I know Josh posted it in his interviews topic, but for those who didn't see it, here's a link to his interview with them at ProgPower USA last weekend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skvbMn_aVio
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https://www.facebook.com/NativeConstruct/photos/a.193968140710293.43841.178294082277699/882802421826858/?type=3&pnref=story
this sucks.
Bad news incoming:
We were just robbed in San Antonio, Texas.
We came back from In N Out to two people in our van, tossing our backpacks (with our laptops, passports, and other valuables inside) as well as Poh Hock's new Strandberg Boden OS 8 into their car parked alongside to conceal the break-in, which occurred in a Home Depot parking lot in broad daylight.
The guitar is pictured below. Any help in the form of shares, etc to get the word out about this unique guitar (in case it shows up in any pawn shops in the San Antonio area) is greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately, this also means we will likely not be able to make it to the Canada dates on this tour due to our passports being gone. Sorry, everyone.
#ComaEclipticTourIII
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Yea, I just read that this morning on facebook, really sucks, also sad for the canada fans. Glad to see that people are helping them out by looking for the serial numbers and stuff though, and no harm in sharing the post for awareness, that is, if you live anywhere near the area.
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This seems like an all too common occurrence these days - at least 4 or 5 times a year.
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Saw that on FB as well. Just a shitty thing to happen to anybody.
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means it's happened twice in a few weeks to two of the bands that cracked my top two albums of the year the past couple years :-(
sounds like NC even kinda saw it going down...what's a person even s'posed do in the USA if you see someone robbing you...let it happen cuz you might get shot for intervening and defending your gear?
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Dang this is an awesome record! It took a while to get going but damn..
I really hope that these guys will get a full blown line up with drums and keybaords, because they are already capable of doing miracles just in three.. imagine in five.
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if I recall, they were a 5-piece live.
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I think those were just temporary replacements though, probably the same guys who played in the music video. Because the current line-up has 3 guys
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Resurrecting this thread just to say I am so totally in love with this album. It is exactly the sort of music I have grown to love and now desire to hear. Easily one of the best bands I've discovered on DTF (after The Dear Hunter of course).
It has such a refreshing sound to it and I'm trying my hardest not to overplay it.
Think I'll go and listen to it again :hefdaddy
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Yeah, definitely one of the better albums to have come out this year.
What are your favourite songs you guys? I love pretty much everything on the album, but over time I find myself increasingly drawn to Come Hell or High Water, even over such great epics like Passage or Chromatic Aberration.
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I found it passable and solid, but when I came back to it a bit later I really was pretty annoyed or bored by a lot of it :lol
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I found it passable and solid, but when I came back to it a bit later I really was pretty annoyed or bored by a lot of it :lol
Parama, do you actually like music? :P I think the best thing I've ever seen you say about anything is "its okay i guess".
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i like music, just not the music anyone else likes
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What are your favourite songs you guys? I love pretty much everything on the album, but over time I find myself increasingly drawn to Come Hell or High Water, even over such great epics like Passage or Chromatic Aberration.
The first and last track on the album (Mute and Chromatic Aberration) have been my faves since the beginning and I'd say it's still that way, though I too got drawn into Come Hell of High Water a lot more as of lately, this one and Spark of Archon have amazing! choruses, though both have one or two gripes that make them not stand out as much to me.
My favorite song after Mute and the epic is Your Familiar Face though, very interesting tune, one I could probably show to non-metal fans and get some good reactions too.
That said, this is still one of my favorite 2010's albums easily, and I can't wait to hear more from these guys, I'm still in awe here.
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I really love every song on the album, there is something I really love about Your Familiar Face, it gets stuck in my head a lot.
I really wish the album was a bit longer but then again as it stands I love it from start to finish so wouldn't want any filler. I'm recommending this and everything by The Dear Hunter to everyone I know at the moment as I think they both deserve a lot more exposure.
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Spark of the Archon is my favorite.
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Your Familiar Face for me too
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Love this album. Still listen to it all the time. My kids actually request this cd fairly frequently. Come Hell or High Water is my favorite (and the kids favorite as well).
I love how it is a concept about a love triangle and most of the melodies are in 3/4 time.
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Is it common knowledge that Native Construct are in the process of working on their second album? Just seen something on their Facebook, looking forward to this :biggrin:
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They've been "working" on it since the release of Quiet World, meaning that they said they had some ideas they were working on, but I wasn't aware of any progress in-studio or the writing process. Just checked facebook and it just looks like this dude (don't know his name to be honest I always mix them up) is just randomly putting some stuff together and uploaded it. I'll be excited for some real news and they did say they planned on releasing another album this year.
They just commented on some guy's question on FB too saying that it probably won't be a concept album this time around, I'm fine with that though if the music is even close to as good as Quiet World again. Fuck, this album is so good, I'm hyped
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They've been "working" on it since the release of Quiet World, meaning that they said they had some ideas they were working on, but I wasn't aware of any progress in-studio or the writing process. Just checked facebook and it just looks like this dude (don't know his name to be honest I always mix them up) is just randomly putting some stuff together and uploaded it. I'll be excited for some real news and they did say they planned on releasing another album this year.
They just commented on some guy's question on FB too saying that it probably won't be a concept album this time around, I'm fine with that though if the music is even close to as good as Quiet World again. Fuck, this album is so good, I'm hyped
Yea, I saw that comment about it not being a concept album, that doesn't bother me too much. I don't always pay too much attention to the lyrics so as long as the music is good I'm not fussed.
So they had said before possibly a new album this year? That would be awesome, wasn't expecting that, suppose they still might not make it by the end of the year but fingers crossed. Would love for them to tour over this side of the world.
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I got into this band recently. Holy cow, they're incredible! :hefdaddy
It's a shame that there's barely been word about a second album though. Really want to hear more from these guys, as I think they have a ton of potential. :metal
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They keep announcing other stuff like guitar lessons, isolated tracks etc., feels like they're just delaying the seemingly never to be released sophomore album.
Really not even thinking about it, if it ever comes I will start following them again immediately, but for the time being I don't really care, they've released probably one of the best progmetal debut albums I've ever heard so that's good enough for me.
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They keep announcing other stuff like guitar lessons, isolated tracks etc., feels like they're just delaying the seemingly never to be released sophomore album.
Really not even thinking about it, if it ever comes I will start following them again immediately, but for the time being I don't really care, they've released probably one of the best progmetal debut albums I've ever heard so that's good enough for me.
Kind of reminds me of the ongoing situation with The Protomen. It's almost been a decade since they released Act II and aside from two tracks being released about three or four years ago, there's no sign of Act III being released anytime in the near future.
However, while I'm not very familiar with Native Construct, I will say I've heard that it took the band several years to write and release Quiet World (from 2011 to 2015, I think), so maybe they're just incredibly nitpicky about the level of quality they want to put out with their material?
But yeah, Quiet World is easily one of the most impressive debut albums I've seen this decade, alongside Witherfall's Nocturnes & Requiems and Haken's Aquarius. :metal
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here's a recent interview with their singer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KJXDyhvZhc
I get the sense their music isn't the only thing he does.
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bump.
I am bumping this topic not for anything too closely related to Native Construct other than this singer from the band Others By No One sang with them live.
And this band OTHERS BY NO ONE are a band I would highly recommend for NC (and Painted in Exile and esp BTBAM) fans as I just checked out their EP from 2017 Book 1: Dr Breacher which is really good.
And sadly, we may never see another release from Native Construct, but OTHERS BY NO ONE (and Painted In Exile) may be able to fill that void.
The Spark of the Archon with Max from Others By No One with Native Construct (live)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdGotcdt7mg
Book 1: Dr Breacher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opx05XgZgxk
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What happened with NC? Any reason they broke up?
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The members didn't want to make another Metal album.
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they haven't broke up, at least officially.
But there were posts on some other sites about why their new music was taking as long as it was, and how different it was.
Their original guitarist who left, wrote a lot of the music on Quiet World I guess, and Myles Yang isn't really interested in writing Metal and prog like the stuff on QW.
Also I can't recall right now, but some of the present state of the band may have been discussed in this interview with their singer Robert Edens from about a year ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KJXDyhvZhc
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Shame, I was really looking forward to the second album from this band.
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It would suck if they called it quits. It was a tremendous debut.
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AFAIK they didn't quite music, the new album they're working on is just totally different from Quiet World.
Strange to hear that the "old guitarist" was responsible for much of Quiet World. I remember an interview with Yang where he said that he wrote most of it.
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Well shoot...
This was just posted on their facebook page...
Hey folks,
It's finally time for us to give a definitive update on the status of Native Construct. *tl;dr at the end*
First, I want to acknowledge how long it's taken us to do this. Our intention was to make sure everything was 100% certain and worked out behind the scenes before making any official statements, and the timeline on that got way out of hand. You were all left hanging and wondering and speculating for far too long, and I honestly feel awful about that. Maybe we should have been more open about what was going on with us in real time. It's still hard to know what the optimal approach would have been, but this has definitely been a learning experience.
Anyway, I'm telling you today that the rumors are true: Native Construct is on an indefinite hiatus.
I know this isn't the news many of you wanted to hear, and I know this may be surprising considering all the teasing we had been doing for the second album. For whomever may be interested, I'll try to explain as clearly as possible how we arrived here.
We made the first Native Construct album while we were in college, when life was much simpler. Since then, we graduated and entered the real world. We started the second album during a time of great uncertainty in all our lives. We originally intended to dedicate most of our time and energy to NC #2, but it turns out that was pretty naive. To put it lightly, Native Construct was never a cash-cow for us. As recent college graduates, we were facing the realities of needing to pay the bills, start developing reliable careers, build savings, etc. As Native Construct got pushed lower and lower on the list of priorities, we gradually came to the realization that dedicating our lives to this band was a bad move, nor was it what we wanted.
We changed a lot as people and as musicians during these transitional years, and to be honest, most of us became less interested in metal music. The material we were working on for the second album is completely different from Quiet World. It sounds like a different band. So, another factor in the decision to put NC to bed was the realization that we were trying to fit a square peg into a round hole by pulling such a dramatic left turn with the musical direction of this project.
The good news is that we've all found other things to focus on for the time being, and are doing well! In case anyone's interested, I'll give a brief description of what all the band members are up to:
-Poh Hock is teaching guitar, and has a killer solo album coming out TOMORROW (March 8 ). You can also hear more of his shredz with a band called Replacire.
-Max is working in the game industry as a sound designer.
-Rob is also pursuing a career in sound design, along with private vocal instruction. You can keep up with him on his (WIP) website here: rwedens.wixsite.com/website
-Jake was drumming all over the world on a cruise ship, and just recently moved to LA to continue his career as a drummer, playing with various artists. @jakedickdrums on Instagram if you wanna keep up with him.
-I, Myles, am focusing on teaching music theory/composition in private lessons and as a YouTuber: MusicWithMyles.com. I'll be putting out original music in the future, too (some of this unreleased NC #2 stuff may even see the light of day in some form).
Anywhoosles...I just want to talk for a sec about how wild of a ride this has been for us. It would have been completely crazy for anyone to expect the amount of love we were to receive after putting out one little album recorded in my bedroom. The whole Native Construct phenomenon has been just astonishing. Truly. We've gotten to meet and work with some awesome people, tour with some of our favorite bands, and see tons of cities across North America. And most importantly, we've gotten to hear from countless strangers who have found some genuine joy in our music. It's an incredible thing. We'll never forget all the love you nerds have given us. To anyone who has ever listened to one of our tunes, worked with us, or supported us in any way: we love you, and we thank you.
ttfn
-NC
tl;dr: the band's dead, everything is fine, thx 4 the memories <3
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Just came here to post that I'd discovered a band that is as close to Native Construct as you can get. Turns out that Soundscape beat me to it!
The band is Others by No One and the album I'm currently listening to is Book I: Dr Breacher. It's only three songs but totals at about 36 minutes. If you ever liked Native Construct, give it a spin.
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Never really liked them, the vocals are a turnoff but the music is incredibly similar. The singer has also shared the stage with Native Construct and is super inspired by them. Book II has been in the works for a while, so shouldn't be too long anymore.
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Anyone checked out the new Poh Hock EP Gallimaufry?
https://open.spotify.com/album/5TqrK0OA6CcOtei9BmUHKK?si=gM4gX4NHT8aWx7JUVunpxg&dd=1 (https://open.spotify.com/album/5TqrK0OA6CcOtei9BmUHKK?si=gM4gX4NHT8aWx7JUVunpxg&dd=1)