It’s not often that you hear a band cite William Wordsworth and Aldous Huxley as major lyrical influences; actually, it’s not often you hear a band say much of anything about their lyrics. But then again, there’s not a band quite like the Ceremonies. They have a style, sound, and philosophy that could only have come from the hot, swarming, hazy streets of LA. The band consists of three brothers, Mark, Michael, and Matthew Cook. Mark and Michael look like modern models, with short cropped hair in the style of Sam Smith, while Matthew, the lead singer and main songwriter, with his leather pants and wavy, long hair, is a spitting image of Jim Morrison circa 1967. The band released their first eponymous EP last autumn.
It’s hard to compare the Ceremonies to any group that I’ve heard; but maybe that’s good. When we make comparisons, we partition artists into comfortable categories that ultimately take away their originality. And it seems, from a recent interview that Tap Songz conducted with the group, that partitioning, conditioning, and compartmentalizing are not at all the intentions of this group. With the advent of the digital age and the ever more one-dimensional aspect of music, it’s easy to forget that music itself is an art, one aspect of that great human ability to express emotion and thought. In order to capture the beauty that comes from art as a whole, the Ceremonies aspire to be an art collective, “[utilizing]…social media platforms for small written/image pieces to confront the way people think creatively” and “[integrating] multiple mediums into [their] live “ceremonies” such as painting/sculpture/poetry/etc.” It’s a fresh move for a young group, but obviously a sign of a band that has a point, a directive, and a purpose. Let’s hope that it stays that way.
The original influences of the group, as they cited, were the Beatles and Michael Jackson. As they grew up, they began to “[dive] deeper and deeper into the musical hearts of those eras”, being inspired by such bands as the Beach Boys, the Zombies, the Cure, and the Smiths. These inspirations are clear in their music; soaring vocal harmonies are reminiscent of the Beach Boys and the Beatles, while their musical production is something similar to 80s rock pop and The Wall of Sound, which Phil Spector was so famous for. But this, of course, isn’t to go against my previous statement that it’s hard to compare them. I think what’s so successful about the Ceremonies is that they blend these styles seamlessly, so that you’re left with a piece of art that’s entirely original but clearly points to its influences.
So what else should you know about the Ceremonies? The band’s favorite song off of their EP is “Ballroom Bones”, a bouncing song with a driving drum beat, a pounding chorus, and a xylophone that brings to mind a skeleton playing its ribcage. Undoubtedly, however, the band’s most popular song is “Land of Gathering”, an anthemic ode to ecstasy (the feeling not the drug), a place where there are no boundaries and no endings, nothing definite. There’s a palpable excitement and energy in the song that speaks of this endless possibility and it’s addictive. Fittingly, it seems worth noting here, the brothers consider themselves “wonder junkies”, philosophers in the true sense of the word, who love watching documentaries, reading, and creating are of all sorts. They also love social experimentation videos. Finally, the Ceremonies named themselves such because they see performances as communal experiences, gatherings that harken back to our ancestors, and times to express art in all its mediums.
The Ceremonies ensure us that there is more music to come. I will be looking forward to it.
It’s hard to compare the Ceremonies to any group that I’ve heard; but maybe that’s good. When we make comparisons, we partition artists into comfortable categories that ultimately take away their originality. And it seems, from a recent interview that Tap Songz conducted with the group, that partitioning, conditioning, and compartmentalizing are not at all the intentions of this group. With the advent of the digital age and the ever more one-dimensional aspect of music, it’s easy to forget that music itself is an art, one aspect of that great human ability to express emotion and thought. In order to capture the beauty that comes from art as a whole, the Ceremonies aspire to be an art collective, “[utilizing]…social media platforms for small written/image pieces to confront the way people think creatively” and “[integrating] multiple mediums into [their] live “ceremonies” such as painting/sculpture/poetry/etc.” It’s a fresh move for a young group, but obviously a sign of a band that has a point, a directive, and a purpose. Let’s hope that it stays that way.
The original influences of the group, as they cited, were the Beatles and Michael Jackson. As they grew up, they began to “[dive] deeper and deeper into the musical hearts of those eras”, being inspired by such bands as the Beach Boys, the Zombies, the Cure, and the Smiths. These inspirations are clear in their music; soaring vocal harmonies are reminiscent of the Beach Boys and the Beatles, while their musical production is something similar to 80s rock pop and The Wall of Sound, which Phil Spector was so famous for. But this, of course, isn’t to go against my previous statement that it’s hard to compare them. I think what’s so successful about the Ceremonies is that they blend these styles seamlessly, so that you’re left with a piece of art that’s entirely original but clearly points to its influences.
So what else should you know about the Ceremonies? The band’s favorite song off of their EP is “Ballroom Bones”, a bouncing song with a driving drum beat, a pounding chorus, and a xylophone that brings to mind a skeleton playing its ribcage. Undoubtedly, however, the band’s most popular song is “Land of Gathering”, an anthemic ode to ecstasy (the feeling not the drug), a place where there are no boundaries and no endings, nothing definite. There’s a palpable excitement and energy in the song that speaks of this endless possibility and it’s addictive. Fittingly, it seems worth noting here, the brothers consider themselves “wonder junkies”, philosophers in the true sense of the word, who love watching documentaries, reading, and creating are of all sorts. They also love social experimentation videos. Finally, the Ceremonies named themselves such because they see performances as communal experiences, gatherings that harken back to our ancestors, and times to express art in all its mediums.
The Ceremonies ensure us that there is more music to come. I will be looking forward to it.