Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Meet The Band: The 1000-Year Plan

Band name: The 1000-Year Plan

Members:
Brendan Kuntz (Drums: 2004 – present)
Joe Kepic (Guitar: 2002 – present)
Thomas Yagielski (Bass: 2002 – present)

Formed: 2002
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Releases: In Theory & Practice (2006)

Former Members:
- John Blanchard (Drums: 2002 – 2003)
- Dana Jannsen (Drums: 2003)

Tell us about yourselves!
The 1000-Year Plan formed following the breakup of the Buffalo based band 1800 and froze to death, which was composed of Brendan Kuntz (drums), Dave Nutt (guitar, vocals) (Why+The+Wires), Tom Yagielski (bass) and Joe Kepic (guitar). With Nutt deciding to pursue other interests and Kuntz not in New York City, Kepic and Yagielski continued to write music together as an instrumental three piece with John Blanchard, who briefly replaced Kuntz on drums.

Moving from the angular emo sound of 1800, which was largely informed by bands like Braid, Fugazi and Sonic Youth, to a more complicated progressive math rock sound, the band was increasingly influenced by King Crimson, Yes and Rush. Kepic and Yagielski attempted to fuse these progressive elements with the math-rock of bands like Faraquet, Don Caballero and Sweep the Leg Johnny. Four of the tracks on album “In Theory and Practice” were written over the next year and a half with Blanchard.

Blanchard decided to leave the city in mid 2003, and Dana Jannsen (Akron/Family) began playing with the group six months later. Jannsen was also interested in exploring the progressive/math sound, which is a departure from Akron’s folk/psychedelic sound. While there was no issue playing the old material, writing was not working out, and with Akron/Family gaining popularity at the time that project became the priority for Janssen.

Kuntz had moved to the city and was asked to replace Jannsen on drums 2004. Kuntz's high intensity style was exactly what was needed to compliment the bass and guitar composition. After learning the songs written with Blanchard, 2 new songs were written and the EP “In Theory and Practice” was recorded.

The band has always tried to write interesting music that flowed from part to part, while still incorporating unusual time signatures, time changes and intricate individual instrument parts. With no singer, the complexity and cohesion of the music is even more important to keep the songs interesting for both the performer and audience. This concept affords the band the opportunity to constantly improve on a technical and compositional level, both individually and as a group.

The band is currently working on new songs for an upcoming release, which will be recorded shortly.

Updates on the band and contact information are available at www.1000yearplan.com.

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