During the past year, local rock band Tympanic has been gracing the Eugene music venues with its eclectic array of sounds, and its members will soon depart on a West Coast summer tour that will take them from San Francisco to Seattle.
But before they go on the road, Tympanic will perform an all-ages benefit show for the American Red Cross with Easy Target on May 22 at the Wild Duck Music Hall. Their newly recorded live CD will also be available at the show.
Tympanic consists of guitarist/vocalist Harvey Rogers, bassist/vocalist John Craig, guitarist Austin Jones and drummer Ryan Dobrowski.
“We all started (playing instruments) in late middle school,” Craig said, and he and Dobrowski also played together in high school. When they came to the University, Craig continued to play part-time with Dobrowski and part-time with Jones and Rogers, whom he met while living in the residence halls. Then in fall 2000, the foursome decided to play together more seriously, and Tympanic was born.
“In essence, we’re a rock band, but we have influences of jazz, funk, jam and pop,” Rogers said.
Craig, the main songwriter in the band, said it was difficult to classify Tympanic’s style of music because each band member has such a wide spectrum of musical tastes.
“I’ve noticed myself writing a lot of pop-type melodies and vocals,” he said. “Austin’s never been a pop guy at all. He’s really melodic in some of the stuff he does. It comes from somewhere totally different, so you get this amalgam of music.”
Craig said many of the songs he writes for the band are about relationships.
“I like to tell stories,” he said. “I like to talk about typical relationship stuff but told in an abstract way.”
Rogers said some of the stories may span over multiple songs.
“You’ll catch part of a story in a certain song and another part of it in another song,” he said. “The songs are constantly evolving.”
Ryan Messick, one of the band’s promoters, said the local venues have enjoyed having Tympanic play on their stages. He said even the skeptical venues changed their tune after hearing the band.
“Eugene seems to be such a music-friendly town,” Messick said.
Craig attributes part of their popularity to the constantly changing music arrangements and use of improvisation.
“It keeps us interested and keeps the audience on their toes,” he said.
For more information about Tympanic and their scheduled shows, go to www.tympanicband.com.