If you follow the local music scene at all, you might have heard of Rare Monk, a Eugene-originated experimental/indie rock band made up of UO alumni.
If you haven’t heard of them, you’ll have the opportunity to check them out this weekend, as the band, after more than a year of work and preparation, heads out on a U.S. tour in support of its newest album, entitled “Sleep/Attack.”
This Saturday marks the band’s return to Eugene as they kick off their album release tour, slated to take them from their home on the West Coast through Chicago, a few Southern and Midwest states and, for the first time, over to the East Coast.
Rare Monk, which consists of Rick Buhr, Dorian Aites (vocals, guitar, keys, violin), Forest Gallien (bass), Jacob Martin (guitar) and Isaac Thelin (violin, saxophone), formed while all five members were juniors and seniors at UO.
“The band just kind of started as a house party band, something just to have fun with,” Buhr said, “and then eventually it turned into a much bigger thing than we were anticipating.”
After graduating in 2009 and 2010, the group decided to move to Portland and pursue music seriously. Rare Monk has since gone on to win Ethos Magazine’s 2011 Bandest of the Bands, self-released two EP’s and done three U.S. tours.
The band also performed at SXSW festival last year, and fresh off of their performance, they returned to Portland to begin work on their new album and to begin prepping for their next tour.
Funded through a crowd-funding campaign on IndieGoGo, “Sleep/ Attack” was produced by Skyler Norwood (who has produced bands such as Talk Demonic, Horse Feathers). The nine tracks mark the band’s darkest material to date, according to Buhr, as well as their most orchestral and cohesive material.
“‘Sleep/Attack’ is about imbuing dreams or ideas with power,” said Aites, who also writes lyrics for the band. “When we dream, we create objects and characters with vivid lives and personalities by thought alone, and given enough fixation they can become powerful.”
“I’m curious to see what people think, it’s definitely very different than our previous stuff and definitely a lot different than our jam band days back in Eugene,” Buhr said. “So we’ll see what Eugene still thinks.”
On this tour, audiences can expect to hear a mix of new and old songs, in addition to two even newer songs, written after “Sleep/Attack” was finished. Following their performances at SXSW festival this year and their return to Portland, the band will begin work on an EP with new material.
Rare Monk will perform at Luckey’s Bar on Feb. 23, supported by opener Damn Divas. The cover costs $5 and show starts at 10 p.m.