sophomores

For a project as exciting as sphmrs is, it seems surprising that its brainchild - Boston-based composer and producer Brandon Lucas Green - nearly abandoned music twice. The first time, at age 13, after 9 years of piano lessons and several local performance awards, he quit to "focus on what his friends cared about"; the second, after 5 years in the New Haven-based prog rock outfit Bushwhack as songwriter and bassist, to focus on a job and (now ex-) girlfriend.

But with every commitment is the question of what's missed. Brandon spent his early twenties working at several startups, exploring new and revisiting old music ideas in bedroom apartments and collaborative spaces across Boston. A self-released album under the moniker Taken By Name showed promise. The past year's development of sphmrs sees Brandon more focused and thinking larger and more eclectic in scope--call it a redemption for lost opportunities.

Brandon finds comfort in minimalism. This immediately becomes apparent in Brandon's palpable obsession with doing as much with as little as possible. The looped and intersecting melodies that pump the lifeblood of his music are empirical in nature -- a line is repeated because it naturally does so, not because a producer forced it--the melody takes on meaning itself. Entrenched in a deep sea of looped guitar lines, distortion boxes and layers of electronic blips and blasts is a human sense to explore and find meaning in the world's uncertainty.

Upcoming debut album "LIARS" is Brandon's exploration of this uncertainty, channeled through influences as diverse as noise rock, electronica, 80s pop and Reichian minimalism. Debut single "off the rocker" sees Brandon summoning a hailstorm of jagged, Reznor-influenced percussion, fuzz bass and synthesized chords, during which he simply requests: "please / listen to me / I'm begging". Centerpiece "liars" finds solace in a single looped bassline, which grows as the vocal achieves self-realization. "skyscrape" juxtaposes the rhythmic intensity of Cornelius and dubstep against the best of melodic post-hardcore.

Details regarding a live performance entity for sphmrs, as well as music and visual releases, are coming soon.