What if a band -- whose members all have life commitments that keep them from constant touring -- made music with no expectations other than to write, record and release songs and perform them as often as possible, in their region?
That is the question the members of the Grand Rapids band, The Mines, have been
asking themselves since they first started making music together in 2004. With the
release of their third CD, Fear Is Easy, The Mines have proven the band and the
music are enough to make time for, in the midst of busy individual lives.
For their third CD, Fear
Is Easy (released June 3, 2011), The Mines tapped producer/engineer/musician
Joel Ferguson (Papa Vegas, Verve Pipe), to add additional production experience
and an outside voice to the project. The CD was recorded and mixed over the course
of nearly 2 years at Ferguson's Planet Sunday Studios, before the band and producer
were satisfied.
The CD was mastered at GBP Studios in Lansing with award winning engineer Glenn
Brown.
The Mines are currently working with director Bryan Parris to produce a music video
for the first single from
Fear Is Easy, Runningman.
The band formed in 2004 as a four-piece, before the line-up settled as a trio –
Todd Hoek (drums), Greg Lockwood (guitar, vocals) and Ethan Nickerson (bass, vocals)
– to record their 2006 debut, Metropolis. Filled with
novel-like confessions and character portraits, the self-produced album gave hints
to fans of the diverse directions still to come. Adding guitarist/keyboardist Troy
Hatfield in ’06 helped the band realize wider musical soundscapes in a live setting,
paving the way for the subsequent 2008 release, People Music.
People Music's lead single, Valley, gained
the GR quartet local attention, thanks in part to a professionally-made video to
accompany the energetic and melodic show opener. (The video was produced by
CineVera Pictures).
