Alternative Energy

Local band talks about its evolving music, songwriting and aspirations

Brian Johnson

Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: PS

A club full of fans are packed in tight on Halloween night at the World Famous Outback. They have come to hear a new band amidst the booze and the debauchery of a typical night in Maryville.

The band is almost ready. Guitars are tuning and throats are clearing, after which they indulge in a quiet, somber moment around the drum set before answering their calling.

Lead singer Tyler McIntosh lights up a cigarette before torturing his voice in the hours to come. Women scream as he grabs the microphone, ready to lead his band like a captain leading his troops into battle. This is their world. This is the world of A No Coast November.

The band's feeling when it is on stage is almost euphoric. They are lost in their own music. It's a blank, yet fulfilling moment as the band said.

"We're all here for the same reason," guitarist Steve Lydick said. "You get the same feeling when you read a good book or see a good movie and get lost in the story."

The Maryville band has only been together for three months, but already have had more than 20,000 plays on its MySpace. An alternative rock band by nature, A No Coast November has earned a considerable amount of attention from Northwest as well as the rest of the country.

"There's people that have bought our iTunes stuff in like Australia and Europe," bassist Jeff Ritchie said.

The band first started as three separate bands. Steve Lydick (guitar) Jeff Ritchie (bass) and Cody Lilly (guitar) had their own band, McIntosh was the lead singer of another band and Ben Davis (drums) was also in another band.

Before this, they never had any contact with each other. That all changed when Lilly and Lydick went to a concert and heard McIntosh's voice.

"We were like 'we have to have him,'" Lilly said. "So we started plotting ways to get him in our band."

The plotting eventually worked. All the respected members' bands eventually parted ways and they came together. A No Coast November was born.

"We didn't ever expect this to happen," Ritchie said. "We get along so well, we've gotten over our egos and our pride and now we just absolutely love each other."

The band jokingly calls its music "sex for the ears." Fans have compared them to Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and The Starting Line, but the band claims it never tried to sound like anyone else.

"What's most important is writing music that we're comfortable with," Lydick said. "It comes out in different ways, so it's whatever we can do to make that happen."

There is no set formula for songwriting in this band. They like to classify their songwriting as "sporadic" and that there has been little trouble writing songs this way.

The songwriting first came to a head on July 31 of this year. That was the day their first EP was released. The album had only three songs on it, but the word spread thanks to their loyal fans.

"We have loyal fans that have believed in us from the beginning," Ritchie said. "Those guys are just awesome."

"Some girls send us cookies," McIntosh was quick to add.

The band has only played a few shows, but there will soon be more. They have already planned a winter tour of the Midwest. They are also shipping up north to Pennsylvania and riding down south to Kentucky on this tour.

New projects are also in store for A No Coast November. They are working on recording their newest CD by purchasing some professional studio recording time in Minnesota.

"Our music is evolving so fast," Ritchie said. "We're going to record in March. We're so excited. I think about it every day."

At this point in time, the band realizes there aren't a lot of other bands in Maryville. They think this is because there are a lot of bands that don't know how they can start or where they can play.

"In this part of the area when it's so rural, it's really tough," Lydick said. "If you're in Kansas City, you hear about other bands, if you're in Clarinda, it's harder to hear about those bands because you're still kind of distant."

The band can thank the Internet for much of its success. Their Myspace and Purevolume Web sites have provided listeners with easy access to their material.

"Ten years ago it was much harder for independent artists to make it," Lydick said. "File sharing and peer-to-peer has changed absolutely everything."

The band has high expectations. They hope to one day be as successful as The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

"I'm shooting for the stars and I'm pretty sure everyone else is with me on that," Davis said.

A No Coast November says it's willing to work as hard as possible to get to where it wants to be. They believe that when you're in a band you have to believe in yourself and it doesn't matter what other people say.

"We've done some awesome things in just three months," Ritchie said. "That's proof of why we're excited."