Sacramento, California recently hosted an event known as the "SacAnime" convention. It is a convention for enthusiasts of anime and cosplay. This convention which occurs twice yearly also attracts a very impressive musical line-up at each convention. One such group was showcased at the convention and performed for two nights at the con. The goup goes by the name of "Eyeshine" and Examiner.com's Oscar Benjamin had the chance to talk and view their performance that occurred on the night of January 8, 2011.
Eyeshine consists of Johnny Yong Bosch on vocals and guitars. Eddie Colmenaras is the lead guitarist. Crystal Messina is on bass guitar. The quartet is completed by Maurice Salmin who is the drummer, but also provides vocals and keyboards for the group.
Upon first meeting the group, one is immediately struck by how confident and very friendly these individuals are to each other and the fans. Eyeshine was formed by Johnny Yong Bosch in 2002 as Bosch states, "In 2002 I looked around for other people to start a band. In 2004 we actually settled on a name". Bosch continues with the humorous origin of the name, "I was watching Crocodile Hunter and he was out on a river at night and he was holding a lantern and would say look out for the eyeshine! He would them jump and wrestle the croc into the boat. He would do this several times and it just stuck in my head. That is how we came up with the name".
What influences a band is often a key to the type of style a band will adopt and Eyeshine's musicians elaborated on what genre of music affects them. The lead guitarist, Eddie Colmenaras is the self professed "metal guy in the band" as he stated, "I like Metallica and I like the 80's metal. I also like classical guitar too! There is a guitarist I really like-he plays classical metal and his name is Yngwie Malmsteen. I can kind of incorporate a little bit of that with the band and what's good about this band is that we come from different musical backrounds. We can put together all our influences and put it together in Eyeshine". Crystal Messina adds her thoughts to the question, "I like Metallica, Thursday, Taking Back Sunday and a lot of Spanish music like Vincente Fernandez that I grew up listening with my family". Maurice Salmin continues with his response, "I pretty much like everything except most Country! I guess my favorite band would be Jimmy Eat World". Johnny Yong Bosch concludes by stating, "I do listen to everything as well except for Country. I like a lot of bands, I mean I could name quite a few. I like The Beatles, Foo Fighters and Oasis. We all have slightly different tastes-that's where our sound comes from". Bosch modestly adds, "It's not super unique, but it is unique enough". All these musical tastes have been thrown in the collective band stew and labeled "Edge Rock".
One of the most refreshing and entertaining characteristics Eyeshine demonstrated is a sense of humor that demonstrated that the band truly enjoys the road they are on and the very positive feedback they receive when in concert. This sense of humor was demonstrated during a panel discussion the band had during the convention. Lead singer, Bosch comments on his amazing ability for spontaneous improvised lyrical responses during panels, "We have only just recently begun doing it this way. I don't know how it started-I think it was last year. We were just trying to sell our music. Basically we had a table and we would try to get people to come over. People that would stand in front of us and I would start singing about them, what they were wearing or whatever their name was. People dug it and it seemed fairly easy to come up with stuff-even though it was dumb stuff. Eventually we would do our acoustic sets, we would get suggestions from fans and create random songs".
Eyeshine prides itself on being experimental with sounds and their style. Pressed for details, Bosch responds, "we just released our new CD, Tones of Echoes and it is better than our other CDs. If you listen to each CD you will notice a progression in style. It's not that we have changed our style, but we like to experiment with it". Bosch also adds, "we have an acoustic album that's going to be released in February with orchestral elements that we have added. We also have another album that we are throwing together in-between that will be pure instrumental like Explosion in the sky and those kinds of bands".
As the individual that formed the group it is clear that Johnny Yong Bosch is the traditional "front man" for the group. The talented singer has been able to take advantage of the fact that he is also an equally talented and charismatic actor who also lends his voice to rather famous anime shows such as "Bleach". Bosch brushes away sense of ego and self-importance and clearly realizes that all individuals in a music group need to work together to successfully create effective harmony. During their recent appearance at the con, the band was as tight as any band that I have witnessed in the past. Bosch has a remarkably strong and confident voice that compliments Eddie Colmenaras' powerful guitar licks. Equally impressive was the all important presence of the bass guitarist from which many bands would suffer if they didn't have this very necessary component. Although she is very petite, Crystal Messina's powerful handling of her bass guitar was an astonishment to behold and raised her stature on stage considerably. The fourth element of the group is drummer, Maurice Salmin who established the group's all important timing and also clearly has an excellent voice that nicely complemented Bosch's strong vocal abilities. It was a stunning tour-de-force for a group that sadly has not been widely recognized as of yet.
It is this very theme that was touched on during the interview with the band. The subject of fame and the future of the band concluded the interview. Johnny Yong Bosch was the first to chime in on the topic, "I want everyone in the world to listen to us at least once!" Guitarist Eddie Colmenaras adds, "I think we all want to be respected musicians. I think one of the best things is to see the crowd singing along and connecting with it. You just know that they are connecting and getting it"! Crystal Messina humorously comments, "I've seen people with blank faces and then say you were amazing".
The odds are against many musicians that are attempting to make a name for themselves in the music business, but Eyeshine is seemingly poised to buck the odds. They are part of a new generation of musicians that are effectively utilizing all aspects of methods of exposure. Eyeshine is especially demonstrating that they have a mastery of internet exposure through social sites such as "Facebook" and "MySpace". The group is currently unsigned but that may change with a contest currently under way. Johnny Yong Bosch explains, "we are in the top 20 of a contest sponsored by Ford Fiesta called Gimme the Gig. Any vote at gimmethegig.com helps to get the top 7 playing in front of producer Don Was". Concluding the interview, Johnny flashes his winning smile that carries with it a knowledge of how important the symbiotic relationship between artist and fan truly is and always will be. It is truly up to the fans who enjoy the music of Eyeshine to prove how strong their voices can be so Eyeshine can receive its justly deserved symbol of music success-fame!
http://www.myspace.com/eyeshine
Comments
So proud of you, Eyeshine! I hope they get the recognition they deserve.
Sorry about Gimme the Gig., but you can still make it!! Go go go!! Best of luck!
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