Abandin Pictures Drop Debut Full Length, Look to Touring

by Tim Wenger

Denver has a major crush on Indie rock. This is made blatantly evident by the plethora of alternative bands all over the city making big names for themselves and consistently dropping solid recordings, with the hub of the live action undoubtedly being the Hi-Dive, smack dab in the middle of the south Broadway bar district. The scene is constantly evolving, with the players at the core expanding out to other venues in the Mile High City and beyond and leaving room for the next fresh and talented act to come up.

Abandin Pictures, a group of five guys who are right in the middle of the action, are looking to take that next step and kicking it into high gear with a record release show at the Larimer Lounge on New Year’s Eve. The band played their first show at the Larimer back in the fall of 2011.

“It’s very much like a story, a lot of our songs,” says Connor Birch. “I feel like our set is too. There are a lot of peaks and valleys, high points and low points. All of it is rooted in intertwining harmonies, and laid on top of that is the super solid foundation of bassist (Emerson Murphy) and drummer (Nick Berlin)’s drums.” The drum kit includes an electronic octo-pad, and the overall feel of their music has a bit of a shoegaze finish.

“We definitely have a harder set groove than a lot of indie rock,” says Noah Pfaff.

The record is intended to flow smoothly from start to finish, making for a consistent listen. “Probably six months ago, we were like ‘How do we make this a cohesive thing, how do we create interludes that will create movements in the album as an entire thing,’” says Birch. “It was really a goal of ours to not just have a collection of songs, and find ways the blend them all together.”

The release on New Year’s Eve is going to be an all-out party. South of France and Kinky Fingers will be kicking things off and getting the stage warmed up for Abandin Pictures. “There are so many jam bands happening, but I feel like this is one of the only events for indie rock for New Year’s,” says Birch. Tickets are $10 and include a complimentary champagne toast.

An all-out approach is being taken for the show and will include some eye-catching, never before seen props. “We’re going to have a pretty cools stage set up,” says Jake Supple. “It’s not going to be your average indie rock show.”

They have came to the consensus that it’s only healthy to play out in Denver approximately once a month, and intend to take this record into other markets and begin a touring regimen next year. “We’re hoping to do our first tour, we haven’t done that yet,” says Pfaff. “After the album release, we should be fiscally able to do that. That’s our main goal, we really want to tour and get our music out there, if it’s just a Colorado tour.”

Abandin Pictures is also just finishing up a Kickstarter campaign to help with that aspect of their goals, and to help with physical entities such as cd’s and merch.

The band did most of the recording at Coop Studio in Boulder, with the rest of the tracking and production work being done at various locations around town. The guys are eager to get the music out into the grabbing hands of their eager and growing fan base.

They corralled me into their vehicle in the Illegal Pete’s parking lot to get a listen at the tunes, and I won’t lie, I was impressed. Very ambient and melodic, with guitar lines and drum looping that demand constant attention, while never letting go of the true “rock n roll” factor that reels in an indie rock fan in the first place.

“We’re pushing a lot of physical sources, and we’re going to be pushing blogs really hard too,” says Connor Birch. The record will be available at nearly all of the online outlets and cd’s and twelve in vinyl will be available for physical purchase. “Hopefully we’ll be able to get all the independent records around here to sell it for us.”

2014 looks to be a productive year for the group and they are excited to see the rewards of their hard work. “I think if people take the time out of their day to check us out, they will be happy,” says Pfaff. “When you listen to our music you can tell that we’ve put so much work into it.”

The EP the group released prior was only available digitally, this will be their first physical release. “I don’t think any of us anticipated it to be this much work,” says Birch. “It’s a crazy amount now that we’re in the heat of it.”

Be sure to catch a piece of their work at the New Year’s Eve Party at Larimer Lounge, and check the band out online.

Online: abandinpictures

Tags: Tim Wenger, Abandin Pictures

Category: Buzzworthy