PureVolume

BIO:

The New Story

Its a freezing morning off the eastern coast of Lake Michigan as Aj Draper and I walk down the street housing his ex-residence and current recording studio. A task I clearly didn't come dressed appropriately for when I was asked to write a new bio for the appropriately named Aj Draper & the Force of Nature.

"Thanks. I didn't want one of those blah blah are a four piece from wherever that enjoy walks on the sand and water polo kinda numbers" he laughs, lighting his umpteenth cigarette of the morning and touting a non-scheming smile I haven't seen in some time. I guess though, to understand this bizarre exercise in media promotion you'd need a little history on the group itself.

Right down to the loose roster concept, theres not much formulated about the way Aj Draper & the Force of Nature do business. "It was hard to keep a band together so I started a solo project, and from that I wound up with a band. It really didn't make sense." He explains. "So at any given time the Force of Nature are both a set cast of characters an whatever stragglers are on board for the party." The constant crew members include percussionist Jeff Szakal from Detroit, multi-instrumentalist and fellow neurotic shut-in Adam Maly, and guitarist Rick Matheny. Others have included various guitar players, pianists, cellists and drunks pulled into a recording room to sing.

"The drunks thing was one of my personal favorites. I thought that track came out sounding really loose and free."

Of course what else could you expect from an unauthorized Paris Hilton cover?

Which brings me to the method, and biggest difference with Aj & the FoN: you won't find them saving up for tours or sending off press kits to the majors, instead you'll find a brand new philosophy for a very shaky time in music.

"Well, obviously kids have gotten onto Myspace and stuff of that nature is a great promotion tool, but I see a lot of younger bands doing it the old fashion way in spite of that. They get those fans online but then bust their asses and waste their money touring to basically play to the majority of a room who isn't paying attention. Really you've gotta get your tracks on those kids ipods, in their cars, on their mix cds, and all that before you worry if your seven fans in California justify the trip to play at a pool hall. Personally, we would rather spend our money recording new music and promoting it online than making trips across the country playing lil johnny rocknrollstar."

Which is why Aj and the band choose to do their production and recording on their own and have been testing the notion of simply putting all of it out for free.

"Well its not a brand new idea, but its a brilliant one. CDs are going the way of the Dodo as fast can be, so to me there doesn't seem like a huge margin for success trying to convince people to buy your album when you're not a big radio star or anything. The way the economy has been, kids cant afford $8 for your cd when they've got clubs already sticking them for $5 at the door."

Its been said about my friend that you either love him or hate him, but you'll always notice him. In my experience, that tends to be the case. Add in a band as volatile as any saucy NME story and you eventually wind up with a little beyond controlled chaos.

"By the time we finished [The Rest is a Long Story] I'd about lost my mind. It was all a little too behind the music for a dude who's virtually unknown outside of 200 miles. It'd be like, get to a show, hit the bar or the alley, and maybe turn up for the performance ten minutes late if at all. One of the best shows we played, ironically, wed finished I tried to lift an amp, fell, and fractured my jaw. It was all compounded by a lot of personal stuff I had going on at the time as well. At that point Jeff had to take a small leave over some other stuff so we delayed the record and I took some personal time to just collect myself. I mixed and recorded extra tracks that became the Sex & Drugs EP and the official date for the album is the beginning of January."

"Things are a lot better. We just sat down for the first time to get ready for this year and getting started on a new album. I'm cleaner and coming out of seclusion, and I cant wait to start working on new stuff. We did the Britpop record I always wanted to do, so I have a feeling this one will be pretty different. Either much bigger or much smaller sound wise. All in all this is the happiest Ive been in almost a year, so I'm kind of soaking it all in. I feel like this is a new journey or chapter or whatever the fuck you'd like to call it."

There goes that smile again.

Knowing what I do about Aj, Jeff, Adam, and Rick, beyond the well-worn stories of rock n roll cliches, the lot of them are first and foremost record nerds who are no doubt planning some Sam Cooke-meets-Punk-via-Shoegaze pop confection that'll turn your head, tap your foot, and make you wonder, exactly, who the hell are these guys?

"Aj Draper & the Force of Nature bring rock music charging back to its roots with unquestionable confidence and style." - Musical Indulgence

"[Aj Draper & the Force of Nature's] wide range might alienate some of you who just want your rock on one side of the cafeteria and your pop on the other, but if you're looking for local music that's playing with the rules, these guys are for you." - Liquid Magazine

"Believe it or not, there are bands writing pop songs worth a shit in 2006, and here's one of them." -tobeanecho @ RYM

The Sex & Drugs ep, released late 2006, is available for FREE download on our website. No sign-up, No ads, No joke. http://www.ajdraper.com