In its quest to create “atmospheres that evoke modern ecology,” Columbus band Aether, (pronounced “ether”), draws on elements of design theory to shape their soundscapes. The group begins with an idea, and the elements develop layer by layer until the completed product has the appropriate amount of depth.
“Every band says they want to try something different but we actually had a vision as far as not just having a nice melody and everything behind it, we wanted to bring everything that typically gets ignored and have people focus on that,” said guitarist Paul Carney.
As a result, Aether’s development process is different than that of other bands.
“I don’t see music soley as intuition. I believe in the initial impulse or the initial creative spark, but I don’t think it should just solely be that. I think we can also go back and develop a process from that so you have essentially an idea you can expand on instead of it just being guess work,” Carney said.
This type of development allows for a multiplicity of layers.
“I think there are things in the forefront that you’ll listen to and will catch your ear, but at the same time too, it’s not purely surface – there’s some depth to it,” Carney said.
Layers of instrumentation are an element of Aether’s music.
“You can listen to one of our songs (a second time) and realize, ‘I didn’t hear that before’ but then also you can take it a step further. You don’t have to listen to it on a purely emotional level or just an intuitive level. You can look at it and say ‘you know, there’s an idea here,'” Carney said.
The music resembles art in this respect.
“I like to think of our stuff as an abstract painting where it’s just a feel, you’re not trying to look at any one thing,” Carney said.
Having the freedom to interpret meaning is one of the things Aether strives to allow, and this done by leaving out lyrics.
“One of my biggest problems with lyrics is it becomes less universal when you have something very specific and I think it can ruin something for you,” Carney said.
The group’s fan base tends to agree.
“They don’t force lyrics on you; they actually play instruments. The like to push the level of what you’re used to hearing as sound and challenge it, they try to challenge what you’re used to hearing as music,” said Aether fan Phillip Wolf.
Pushing musical boundries is a group effort.
“(Paul) doesn’t show up with parts, he brings the seed of an idea, and we develop it together. I mean the three of us are really responsible for the relativity, but this band’s driven by thought,” said bassist Oren Shai. “It’s more cerebral than gutsy.”
