Band of the Month-OurAfter 
Eric Scicchitano of Shinbone Magazine (May 2008)

It’s been two years since Scranton’s OurAfter rele...
It’s been two years since Scranton’s OurAfter released its first recording, "Perfect Day."

The result was a light, cerebral album, different from the hard rock, heavy metal music that NEPA is more well known for producing.

But the band has changed. It has two new members and, from what front man John Phillips said, has now found its niche.

"It’s going to be an OurAfter that your not going to be used to," he said, describing the anticipated sound as darker, more aggressive.

That’ll manifest itself in "Tabula Rasa," expected to be released this fall. As the EP’s title suggests, the band is working with a clean slate.

OurAfter, Shinbone’s Band of the Month.

Along with Phillips, who sings, plays rhythm guitar and keyboard, OurAfter consists of Jason Macheska, bass; Mike Dudley, lead and rhythm guitar, Chapman Stick; Steve Husted, lead and rhythm guitar, vocals, and Eli Hludzik, drums and percussion.

The current lineup has been together since the fall of 2007.

Husted joined the group in October 2007, and the addition altered the songwriting process. In the past, Phillips had taken on the brunt of the songwriting responsibility. Now, Phillips said, it’s the first time they’re writing together as one unit.

"John has a very singer-songwriter style that I lack; however, I bring a very forward, edgy approach to writing. ... Adding my style to the mix has given OurAfter’s music much more of a bite," Husted wrote in an e-mail.

He talked about another change in the writing process, in that all five of the guys share input on each other’s parts. If a guitar line isn’t quite right, Hludzik will let him know. In another instance, Macheska wasn’t happy with a few lyrics to a song. They worked it out and reached a compromise.

"We generate new ideas and direction for each song when we are together and, hopefully, the music will show our combined effort. I hope that with my new input we can release an album this year that is more raw than ‘Perfect Day,’ but still keeps the integrity of our polished wall of sound," Husted wrote.

Phillips said he’s heard comparisons of their new sound to vintage 311 and Incubus. Hludzik had a similar theory. "It’s just some good rock music just like the Smashing Pumpkins meets The Killers meets Incubus," he wrote in an e-mail.

When creating that sound, there are times when OurAfter must deal with a major logistical issue. Hludzik lives in California, while the rest live in Pennsylvania. That means some creative scheduling and a heavy reliance on computer technology.

"I am actually as I write this e-mail listening to a drum track that I did yesterday in L.A., and I am going to match them up with a track that John and the boys sent me (recorded in Pennsylvania) and send them drum tracks married with guitars and such so we can start building these tunes and be productive even though there is a large physical gap between us," Hludzik wrote.

It’s not yet set when "Tabula Rasa" will be recorded, but Husted said Eli Hludzik will track his parts in California while the rest do it somewhere on the East Coast. Four of the songs, as Husted indicated, are in the bag. The band needs to rewrite, organize and compose about six more songs, he added.

Phillips is a full-time working musician. He plays acoustic and duos, and still plays keyboard for UUU. The work is ample, he said, not just with the creative side of playing music, but with dealing with merchandise, running bus trips and promotions and drawing an audience to a show. Having gigged with bands like Red and Fly Leaf, they’ve had to hustle to sell tickets to be asked back on such a bill. And it’s worked. OurAfter will again play with Red on Saturday, May 10, at Crocodile Rock, 520 W. Hamilton St., Allentown.

His experiences have created in him a keen sense of marketing

Asked his thoughts on taking a different turn musically and how their fans may react, Phillips said, as a fan of music himself, he appreciates evolution when it’s done right. "I think it’s more exciting than anything," he said. "I can respect somebody like Madonna who in her career has done so many different things."

Hludzik admitted it’ll be a bit nerve wracking when the time comes to release "Tabula Rasa," in that any artist should feel butterflies when debuting something they care about — be it music, a sculpture or photographs.

"You spend countless hours writing and re-writing, making sure every little bit is ‘right’ ... and you just want people to connect to it in someway and for it to move them, whether that movement is cerebral/intellectual or something that resonates all the way to the very core of a person," Hludzik wrote.

"And at the end of that day if I have made someone laugh or cry or made them think or made them call their mom or whatever it makes Me feel like I did something worthwhile with my music."

Phillips was asked just how OurAfter fits into the greater Scranton music scene.

"A lot of metal and hard rock is brought to the forefront in this area — Spitcan, Panacea, Ashfall," Phillips said about a brand of music he’s really taken a liking to, despite its inherent difference from his own original work. "You always see those bands brought to the forefront, but there’s a whole other vibe up here that not a lot of people are tapped into.

"It’s not necessarily about fitting in. It’s just about being in an eclectic community.

"I love my local original music scene. I love it more than listening to the radio, by all means."

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