Before The Show
biography
Before the Show is a Copenhagen band whose present lineup has existed since the release of the debut album “Hearts and Heads” in the spring of 2010. The band consists of five members with Laurids Smedegaard as the musical focal point. Apart from Laurids, the band includes Kasper Klemme Ebdrup, Andreas B.Stær, Maya-Maria Stæhr Andreas Stæhr. Before the Show’s second album, Years&Years&Years, is out now.
The story of Before the Show is not as such a typical one of childhood friends moving to the big city in the hope of making it on the grand stage. Far from it! The band revolves around musical vision of one person. The formation of the band happened in line with Laurids Smedegaard meeting the other band members at various points in his musical life. These meetings were all characterized by the same common denominator – the desire to create music, in either one way or the other.
Though initially without any specific significance, the name Before the Show has, with time, come into its own. The name has come to symbolize the driving force that constitutes the core/essence of the band and what it all boils down to – the creative and artistic process. In this way, the name alludes to what comes before the actual gratification of presenting your music to others – a process which is characterized by a continual exploration of new possibilities. This is the point of departure of Before the Show.
From Hearts & Heads to Years&Years&Years
What emerged from this process first came to light on Before the Show’s debut album “Hearts and Heads”. The work on this record became the first step on the road to the musical conviction that characterizes the band today. Musically, Before the Show is best described as a combination of Sting and Peter Gabriel on one hand, and Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead on the other. Due to the variety of the musical preferences in the band, Before the Show is difficult to label as adherent to a specific genre, however, upon the release of their debut album, Danish radio host Carsten Holm described the band the following way:
The common trait of Before the Show’s songs is that that they have a distinct nerve, a good melody and a cool grove, and that they draw on a wide array of indie-bands like The Kissaway Trail and Coldplay. It is wrapped in a heavy/brooding and warm sound.
Before the Show’s debut album put the band in rotation on P3, landed them a concert at the 2010 Spot Festival in Aarhus, a national tour, as well as gigs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Now, however, Before the Show is ready with their new record “Years&Years&Years”.
The title Years&Years&Years contains the essence of the record’s general theme – the transitional period from young adult to just adult. The 10 tracks on the record each deal with certain aspects of said theme. This transitional period is not described as a process that goes in a straight line from A to B, but instead a repetitive circular motion along a continuous line that marks the beginning and ending of various stages in life.
Through various detours we move forward, and it is these detours that characterize our development. This insistence on going around in circles is very clearly expressed in the song “My Spring Curse” – you are not the center of the universe, but part of a greater scheme of things. We are all subjected to the same powers.
This acknowledgement of our subjection is also expressed on the records second track “Gravity’s Relentless Pull”. Another universal force of attraction described on the album is love and how it comes in many shades - a recurrent theme which is dealt with differently throughout the record in songs like “Darndest Thing” and “There’s no Great Love”.
These are just some of the many themes on the record which will be released on October 5th - 2012.
Before the Show are:
Laurids Smedegaard: Lead vocal and guitar
Kasper Ebdrup: Drums
Maya-Maria Stæhr: Keyboard, percussion, backing vocals, sampler
Andreas Stæhr: guitar
Andreas B. Stær: bas, backing vocals and synth.