When the band Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea released its full-length debut last year, it was obvious they were bringing something different to the Columbus music scene. “North and South of Nothing”, the band’s six song concept album, clocked in at 65 minutes.Its six epic songs flow of building and ebbing tension is the epitome of the saddened catharsis the band brings to Columbus’ primarily upbeat rock ‘n’ roll scene.
“There are a couple of things in town that are prevalent. One is kind of mining the same territory over and over. The other is the ‘I want to be the biggest thing in Columbus’ mentality that a lot of people have and that’s cool,” said Dustin White, one of the band’s guitarists. “We just wanted to make art, to make music we’re happy with.”
The band – comprised of Barry Jay Tibbs on drums, White and Greg Brown on guitar, and Jason R. Womeldorph on bass and vocals – formed in 2002 when White and Womeldorph, roommates who had previously been in a band together, decided to form new group. Finding the other two members of the band was easy.Brown was sleeping on their couch and Tibbs was staying in a van on the property they lived on.
The group began to experiment with different sounds and finally obtained something unique that everyone was happy with.
“We knew pretty much what we wanted to do, but none of us had played like what we wanted to do. It was such a left turn for us,” Womeldorph said.
When the group found their sound, it recorded “North and South of Nothing,” and released it on Actiondriver – a label run by a friend of the band.
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea has been performing at small venues ever since and are working on an EP they hope to finish by next month. The band will follow up by touring in the fall.
“We’re going to be nomadic. We’ll store our stuff in somebody’s basement and only come back for a little bit at a time,” said White.
The group also is looking forward to writing a track for the soundtrack of an upcoming documentary about airports, shot by filmmaker Cat Solen, who also shot the band’s cover.Bright Eyes fans will recognize her work on the “Bowl of Oranges” video.
However, one of the most difficult challenges the band faces is producing a single.
“We’re going to have to learn to write a shorter song that can actually fit on a single,” Brown said. “We’re used to writing these long epics.”
The band’s long songs are what the group is best associated with.
Perhaps Tibbs put it best when he said, “I think we are incapable of being a band people think is tight in a traditional sense. I mean, we’ll never be Evanescence.”
