Search - Other Lives :: Rituals

13 years since they first began playing together in their native Oklahoma, Other Lives, which includes Josh Onstott and Jonathon Mooney, remain focused on the search for audible clarity: their next expression, their next melody, their next rhythm. Rituals, the band s third and latest full-length album, is a pure encapsulation of the trio s relentless drive for precision. It s more dimensional, it s more 3-D, if you will, Tabish explains. We wanted a cleaner, brighter record with more movement and more color.

It s also an extremely personal endeavor: having lived in the heart of the Dust Bowl for their entire lives, the trio of musicians ventured Westward in recent years, settling down in Portland, Oregon, to record their latest work. There was a spirit of change, Tabish offers. We had done [2011 s second LP] Tamer Animals, which was very close to us and about our home. So the next record was about the spontaneity of travel and being isolated. For the first times in our lives we were moving off on our own away from our families and kind of coming into our own. I wanted the songs to reflect that new spirit.

While Rituals marks a new chapter in Other Lives story, it s also a continuation of a decade-plus passage. I feel really lucky to be able to have a band and people around me that have been so supportive and we ve stuck together all these years and still don t hate each other, Tabish says. All three of us are like brothers. I don t think that will ever go away. I loved those kids then and I love them now. There s that mutual feeling. If I want to go have a beer with anyone it would be those two guys. That kind of says something.