They Might Be Embers

The recording studio is in the basement. And a little makeshift — naturally, since three of the four band members are students at Brookfield High.

“We don't have the equipment to do a professional job,” says Kevin Peterson, the closest thing to a “front man” the band has, “but the blue painter's tape works fine.”

And it's everywhere — holding mics at the proper angles, securing tissues to the bass drum for damping, sticking insulating foam to the wall behind the drum kit. It took 12 hours over two days to set up the drums, Kevin says, because something was always going wrong: the snare drum would start resonating with the bass drum, the bass drum would conflict with the high-hat cymbal, or some new distortion would mysteriously work itself into the mix. Kevin notes, though, that the high-hat/drum conflict “sounded kind of cool — we might end up keeping it.”

Sound, obviously, is a big deal for Kevin, who will be moving to Florida in the fall to attend Full Sail University, known for its music and sound-engineering programs. As we talk, he's sitting at his sound board: to his left is Tyler Dickinson, the band's drummer, and in whose Candlewood-area basement we're sitting (he's bound for UConn); to his right is Josh Gordon, a 2008 Brookfield High graduate and now WestConn student, who plays bass in this band (and guitar in a couple other bands with Kevin, including one at Prince of Peace church). Missing is Mike Pepaj (WestConn), who's already proved his lead-guitar bona fides by oversleeping (again).

Mike's guitar playing is “awesome,” his bandmates agree, noting that his mentor and role model is plays-every-genre Arlen Roth, an upstate News York musician who's appeared with everyone from Simon & Garfunkle to John Prine, Jack Brue and Phoebe Snow.

The band's name? As of a few days ago, it's “As the Embers Die” — previous incarnations have been Overshadowed and Undecided, those names abandoned after the band discovered they'd already been taken. (“Next time,” says Kevin, “We're going to look names up ahead of time.”)

And the music? Eclectic: Kevin leans toward punk, Mike toward metal, Josh toward hard rock and Tyler is heavy into the bands Breaking Benjamin and the genre-busting A Day to Remember. Which suits Embers: “We all pull from a lot of different artists,” says Josh, “and it's really cool how we can all work together.”

Their musical collaboration seems to come naturally, sometimes starting with Mike's guitar riff, then some chords from Kevin on rhythm guitar, with Josh and Tyler picking up the beat and mood on their instruments. Kevin writes most of the song lyrics, which he keeps vague, more metaphorical than literal, so there's always a “way in” for listeners.

The band formed on a lark, more or less, in the spring of 2010.

“We heard about a Battle of the Bands [at Brookfield High] on a Friday,” says Kevin, “and we auditioned on Monday.”

They didn't make the cut then, but with debut-night jitters behind them, As the Embers Die has since played twice at the Heirloom Arts Theatre in downtown Danbury (check out the accompanying video).

“Very different shows,” says Tyler — they were first-up among five Brookfield-based bands at that initial engagement, and so played to a small audience, but at the second, Embers practically headlined when the advertised bands didn't show up.

“It was pretty much our show,” Kevin says, “we sold 50 tickets.”

Not quite the Big Time, no... but the boys got to strut their stuff, and can now talk, a bit dreamily, about a “summer tour” in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

But a compact disc — that's definitely do-able, and part of the BHS “Senior Experience” program that has allowed the three teens to spend the last few weeks of high school shredding, banging, and (yes) sleeping late, rather than going to class.

Setting up a recording studio, Kevin allows, was “harder than we thought,” but good practice for any aspiring musician... and who knows, by the end of the month the band might have a recording good enough to upload to, and sell on, a music website.

Check with one of the band members first, though — As the Embers Die might have a new name by then.