Explosions In The Sky

Explosions In The Sky
"Explosions in the Sky" is a Texas based American rock-post band consisting four very sensitive gentlemen Mark Smith, Chris Hrasky, Munaf Rayani and Michael James. Band, formed in 1999, earned the name not just for their genre lovers but for the highly maked-up guitar work, narrative oriented instrumentals, and their live shows full of performance and spirit. They mainly play with three electric guitars and a set of drums, while at times Michael James replaces his electric guitar with a bass guitar.

History, Formation and then Reputation All band members are closely tied to each other forming a close but at times a less communicative team who were financially unstable. Other than Chris Hrasky, who is from Rockford, Illinois, other members Originate from Austin, Texas; which gave them a chance to work with bands such as American Analog Set, Lift To Experience, and the And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead.

All three Texans grew up in Midland, Texas and were friends since 1993. However they kept on movies to the state's capitol at different times. Michael is a skilled guitarist studied music in high school and also performed in various other rock bands. On other hands, Mark has an English degree from the University of Texas. Munaf is the youngest member, who can disguise his age through the exotic sounds originating from his amplifiers.

Chris the fourth and the eldest band member was based in Rockford, IL; who moved to Austin in early 1999 to study his college with his friend Kurt Volk. Both these folks had their affiliation with indie film makers, who are remembered for an interesting documentary about the premier of Star Wars - Episode I.

The meeting point of all four geniuses is quite dramatic. Chris put up a flyer in a local record store that read "wanted: sad, triumphant, rock band". And it was observed by one of the guitar players, and this sparked the birth of the band.

Four future hit band members met for the first time at a popular Austin restaurant called Milto's Pizza Pub, which turned out as a conclusive one and things immediately went right. After playing on the 4th of July, the sight of fireworks in the night sky inspired them to name the band. Same night they recorded their first single, "Remember Me as a Time of Day", that was released in their 2000 debut album, How Strange, Innocence, which was locally distributed in the form of CDs.

First time ever performance for an audience was in August 1999 when the band played for employees of the Gallup Opinion Poll and again gathered in September 1999, at a garage sale to raise money for a radio station. In fact the Explosions in the Sky did their first actual show on January 23rd (2000) at Emo's in Austin, which was solidly liked by the rock lovers.

Their first performance outside of Austin was at Rubber Gloves in Denton, TX on Nov 8th, 2000. Explosions in the Sky quickly earned reputation for themselves among other well-known local bands.

It was December 2000, Explosions in the Sky recorded their second album "Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever" in Washington D.C.; where they got good amount of media attention, due to rumors linking it to the September 11, 2001 attacks. However the band members denied any connection with 9/11 attack in their interviews. The album's video shows an airplane with the caption "This plane will crash tomorrow." There were untrue reports in media that album which had this track "This Plane Will Crash Tomorrow" was released on September 10, 2001. Band members emphasized that the concept had actually originated back in 2000, and the album was released well before September 11 on August 27, 2001.

September 2002 turned out as the beginning of their first full-length tour of Europe. The band flew to Taiwan in November same year for their first time performance in Asia. Since then the band performed in Japan, toured almost everywhere in Europe and Americas, Asia and Australia.

"The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place", their third discography appeared on November fourth 2003. After the bread of four years on February 20th, 2007 their fourth album and last till now "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone" hit the stores.

They are already on a tour to East Asia and then Europe in April and May 2008 with performances in Tokyo, Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Hamburg, Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, Heidelberg, Munich, Vienna, Bologna, Zurich, Lausanne, Barcelona, and Moscow.

Music
"Explosions in the Sky" is found testing different genres to blend them into a music that deviates from pop. Band member Hrasky once said that they have similar goals "like immediately grabbing your attention and getting to your emotions." However, Rayani was found saying, "We don't consider ourselves post-rock at all; we consider ourselves a rock band." Same is the case with other band members, who have dissimilar thoughts about what they play. Once Munaf Rayani said about their status as instrumentalists, "I mean, I think we discussed singing for half a second, and then it just kinda, we just dropped it.

We just didn't go back to it because we were comfortable enough." Drummer Chris Hrasky added "There were a couple of instrumental bands at the time that we were heavily into; Dirty Three and Mogwai; we were listening to those bands a lot. And I think we just liked the idea of a band that there was not a leader or main songwriter, everyone collaborating and has their own say. I don't think any of us want the sort of 'leader role', so a leaderless band is kind of the best, best option for us."