By Esther Sanchez
“It is true that black is the color of death, but death does not always cause mourning. It can also be the beginning of new things, a journey into unexplored territory.” Arthur Seay (guitarist HOBP, Unida, Apeshit, Death in Pretty Wrapping)
Current and former members of local bands gone international, House of Broken Promises, Unida and Apeshit, have decided to gift the masses with new music from an entirely new band. At least it seemed that way to me at first, but apparently it’s not that simple. I sat down with seasoned guitarist/recording engineer and notorious character on the scene, Arthur Seay, to discuss the ins and outs of Death In Pretty Wrapping.
Seay: “Well it’s actually sort of a precursor to House of Broken Promises. Our lead vocalist, Michael Keeth was the original front-man for HOBP before he stepped down to focus on his solo career. We did a lot of shows with him and recorded an entire album with him, but since he was no longer going to be fronting the band and we were going in different directions, we ended up putting that record on the shelf. Meanwhile, our former bassist took over vocals, so with myself, and drummer Mike Cancino, we became a trio and over time our sound evolved quite a bit.”
Seay continues: “So as far as this music is concerned, we have had it for some time but never did anything with it to speak of. Eventually I started running into Michael here and there at shows and we started talking about how we had this entire record metaphorically collecting dust. We might as well just put it out, right? Have some fun, do some shows, make it happen. So we brought on our drummer Mike, and bassist, Derek Timmons to do what we do.”
As a fan of these guys myself, from their numerous ventures both together and individually, I have been particularly excited to hear what Death in Pretty Wrapping has to offer and beyond curious to hear Michael Keeth doing something different from the fantastic, acoustic stuff he has become known for. Not surprisingly, Keeth’s clean and emotionally-rich vocals bring a beautifully harmonic balance to the band’s finely-calibrated, dynamic orchestration. There is something to be said about the chemistry of old friends making music together. Especially when they are as talented and skilled as these guys have proven themselves to be over and over.
Keeth: “I’m pumped to be working with Arthur, Mike and Derek. I love the songs we’ve written together and we all bring our own different styles to the music and it works out to be a great blend of low, dirty rock with hard hitting rhythm and melodic hooks. Arty and Mike are two of the best live performers out there.”
Death in Pretty Wrapping will be making their live debut this Friday, Sept.16th at The Hood Bar and Pizza in Palm Desert where they will be joined by local favorites The CMFs and The Sweat Act.
Death In Pretty Wrapping
www.facebook.com/DEATH-in-Pretty-Wrapping
House of Broken Promises
facebook.com/HOBPMUSIC
ApeSh!t
facebook.com/apeshitband
UNIDA
facebook.com/UnidaBand
