Today we’re trying something new with our Artists in Residence slot. We’re showcasing Burbank’s Back Pocket Memory this morning for a one-day residency and featuring a new installment from a former Resident a little later on today. Next week we’ll kick off the official Artists in Residence for November, South Africa’s Parlotones, but today, let’s get to know Back Pocket Memory (or BPM), and check out the video for their song “Bergerac.”

 

BestNewBands.com

 

Leona Laurie: Tell us about the band– where are you from, who are each of you, who plays what, who writes and how did you get together?

Jason from BPM: We’re from Burbank, CA. We all grew up there, and went to the same high school, John Burroughs. However, not at the same time. We graduated different years, from 1997 to 2005.  Back Pocket Memory consists of Chris Pennington (Vocals), Eddie Rosales (Guitar), Ian Felchlin (Guitar/Backup Vocals), Rob Gallagher (Bass/Backup Vocals), and Jason Montgomery (Drums).  What’s great about this band is that we all write together. Chris writes all of the lyrics, but music-wise, we all work together. Everyone is open to suggestions, and often times we help build parts on instruments other than our own. What this results in is an extremely collaborative environment, which only helps to ensure we’re all 100% proud of what we produce.

We formed officially as a band in June of 2006. Rob, Jason, and Ian had played together since 2001, in various projects. Chris and Eddie had been writing music together for a while as well. Eddie and Ian worked together at a local Starbucks, and what started out as an after work acoustic jam grew into the acoustic trio that was early-BPM. (According to Eddie, Ian had to audition. Either way, he passed.) When we decided it was time to start writing electric music, Ian brought in Rob and Jason to complete the group. This is the only lineup we’ve ever officially had, and it will be the only one we ever have. One thing about BPM is that we simply cannot see ourselves playing this music with anyone else. It’s a family, a business, and a way of life. We treat our fans as friends, and anyone new to us (or our shows) is welcomed with open arms. That’s what its about for us — having fun, inspiring people, and creating a community through art and music.

Everyone nowadays is SO obsessed with the Music Industry ‘dying’, ‘falling apart’, and ‘crumbling’, or whatever crazy catastrophic term you want to use. To us, things are simply changing, as they always do in life. This is not an Old Testament end of days scenario. There is just as much opportunity today as there ever was, it just doesn’t look the same.  As a band, you just need to be ready to take the chances that come your way.

 

LL: If you had to choose five words to describe your sound, what would they be?

BPM: Rock-feel good-soulful-heavy-pop

Ok… so that was technically six words. Sue us

 

LL: Tell us one of the best moments you’ve had on stage so far:

BPM: Just the other night, at our Halloween show (though it seems as if every show we do makes us feel better and better). The show was sold out, and the crowd was so into the music  and everything. Singing the words to our songs, and just in general humbling the five of us. Seeing people you love show really feel something because of your music — that’s all the reason in the world to succeed.

 

LL: Who are the people and/or musicians who’ve influenced you the most?

BPM: Bands: Led Zeppelin, Silverchair, Finch, Incubus, Saves the Day, Coheed and Cambria, Bayside, Green Day, Dredg, Taking Back Sunday, The Allman Brothers Band, Jethro Tull, Alkaline Trio (to name a few)

Musicians/People: James Jamerson, Warren Haynes, Matt Skiba, Jeff Buckley, John Bonham, Eric Clapton, Brian Kukan, Addison Flash, Winston Churchill, Tarquin the Proud, Doc Holiday, and Chewbacca.

 

LL: What’s coming up next for you? Where can we see you live, where can we find you online, how can we get your latest album and what are your plans?

BPM: Up next. Good question. We have a lot coming up. The video for our song, ‘Bergerac’, is going to be on FUSE OnDemand, and at Fuse.tv for the entire month of December, which we’re pretty stoked for. Our song ‘Respiration is a Daunting Task’ will be featured on an upcoming Speed Racer themed album. With luck, we’ll be headed back to SXSW in 2011. We went this year and it was a ridiculous amount of fun.

As for shows, we’ve got some fun stuff coming up. Here are some dates:

Nov. 13th @ Homestead Lanes in San Jose, CA 830pm.

Nov. 17th @ Club Aura in Studio City, CA. 18 and over show, a night of all local Burbank bands. It’s $10. We go on at 10pm, show is at 8pm.

Dec. 2nd @ The HEARNoho Festival in North Hollywood, CA

We’re also planning a West Coast tour in January with our friends from San Jose, A Four Star Affair. It’s going to be a great month.

Here are our various online links:

http://www.facebook.com/backpocketmemory

http://www.backpocketmemory.com

http://www.myspace.com/backpocketmemory

http://www.youtube.com/backpocketmemory

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bckpcktmmry

You can find our latest album, Strangers, online at iTunes, Amazon Mp3, Napster, Shockhound, and Zune. You can also order a hardcopy from our online store: Http://backpocketmemory.bigcartel.com

Right now our current plans are to keep writing new music, playing as much as we can, and meeting new people (making new friends). It’s a long hard road to success in this industry, but its a fun one.  Currently, we are in the early stages of discussing and planning a new EP to record, hopefully soon.