By Tiffany Razzano and Hector Flores
³We¹re very alternative rock, indie rock ... and European pop,² said bassist Chris Schneider. ³We are very different from other Long Island bands. They all sound the same.²
Rather than following in the footsteps of local heroes such as Taking Back Sunday and Glassjaw, the Warm Bodies instead cull influences from a wide variety of bands such as Radiohead, Nick Drake, Coldplay and even New Order. ³We listen to everything and we let [the music] be whatever it is,² Schneider said.
The group came together almost accidentally, Schneider said, when he and lead singer Brian Herring, who have been friends since they attended McVey Elementary School together, began writing songs for fun. Then the duo showed the tunes they had written to a friend who is a California-based producer, Tony Bruno, when they took a trip to the West Coast two summers ago. Bruno liked the songs so much that he decided to become their producer, Herring said.
Oddly enough, the group only fully came together after Herring and Schneider came home from California. That¹s when they asked James Seidlecki (guitar and keyboards) to join them, later inviting drummer Rich Monica to become a part of the group as well. The Warm Bodies have since become a five-piece band, with the addition of Chris Haggqvist on guitar and keyboards, helping the group¹s sound become even more lush and atmospheric.
With help from Bruno, the band released a nine-song demo EP, ³Smile and Sigh,² late last year, to local critical acclaim. Their music has also been featured on Q104.3¹s ³Out of the Box² program. Now they¹re back in the studio, working on another album and hoping to catch the attention of a label, indie or otherwise. ³The project has created kind of a buzz,² Herring said. ³We are just trying to take it to the next level.²
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