Every band is scared at their first show. But a year ago, when local doom metal band Treeherder first set foot on stage, they had a little more reason to be nervous. Their set consisted of one single 28-minute-long song.
“We wanted to come out with a bang. We were all really nervous at first. I think once we got a couple minutes into it and we started shaking out the butterflies, we just let it flow from there. It was a really fun experience,” says bassist/vocalist Austin DeMars.
The members had worked on the song for a long time. In fact, it was the reason the group formed. Guitarist/vocalist Aaron Hernandez had been writing the song on his own for nearly a year before he had considered putting a band together. Once he got together with DeMars and drummer Dominic Aiello, they devoted several more months to getting it right. They recorded it as their demo, playing all of the instruments in a single take.
“I had a pretty general idea of what I wanted the outcome to be, and the sound I wanted it to go for. Don and Austin were perfect for that. It clicked when we first jammed. We just knew we had to keep going with it,” says Hernandez.
After playing a couple of shows with only their one song, they started to write more and diversify their set. Their new material isn’t quite as long, but averages about 15-20 minutes. Their shortest song is eight minutes.
A full-length is the next item on the agenda for the group. They say all they need now is one more song, and they’ll be ready to record. Of course, it could take a while to write.
INFO: 9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26. Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $5. 423-7117.
