Lehigh Valley punk/alt rock trio Blind Choice looks for ‘Silver Lining’ on third EP
From a press release:
Lehigh Valley punk/alternative rock trio Blind Choice will debut several new original songs with a drop party at Finnegan’s Irish Rock Club in Scranton on Friday, Dec. 3, followed by an EP release show at the Sherman Showcase in Stroudsburg on Thursday, Dec. 30.
With four years under their belts, the band – comprised of Dylan Pysher (guitar and lead vocals) and Matt Habrial (bass) of Pen Argyl and Tanner Snyder (drums) of Moscow – has quickly gained a local following and shared stages with national artists like Richie Ramone (The Ramones), Bowling for Soup, Drake Bell, Diamante, Patent Pending, Sponge, and Trapt, to name a few.
Playing well over 175 shows, including their recent performance at the Steamtown Music Awards, the trio continues to perform throughout the tri-state region at iconic music venues, from The Bitter End in New York City to The Stanhope House in New Jersey, Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center, Chameleon Club in Lancaster, and Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono. Last year, they even played an outdoor show at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre where Breaking Benjamin drummer Shaun Foist sat in on a song with them. He played drums so that Snyder could pick up lead guitar.
“Silver Lining” is the title of their third EP and features four new songs: “Nothing Left,” “Without a Goodbye,” “The Mistake,” and “Relive.” It was recorded and produced by AJ Larsen at Soundmine Recording Studio in Stroudsburg, which was a different and “fantastic” experience for the young musicians.
“We give such massive credit to AJ Larson for having us and recording/mixing these songs the best they can sound. We’re all beyond proud of how it turned out and can’t wait to present this worldwide,” said Pysher, who wrote all the lyrics.
“‘Silver Lining’ being the third EP we are releasing, I wholeheartedly believe the songs on this EP from start to finish are the best songs we’ve written as a band. Until this point, it is the most ambitious, fresh, exciting, and experimental EP we’ve ever made.”
He noted that most of the lyrics are about relationships, some working out initially and then crumbling in the end, turning into complete turmoil – hence the song “Nothing Left.” “Without a Goodbye” is about everything you go through, good or bad, seeming worthless as you’re left without even something as simple as a goodbye. “The Mistake” is when you make one of the biggest mistakes of your life that costs you a relationship, but you’re remorseful and learn that mistakes are inevitable.
“‘Silver Lining,’ to me, and the guys, of course, resembles the discipline, hard work, growth and, most importantly, evolved that we’ve become as a band and musicians/songwriters all collectively,” Pysher continued.
“For me, lyrically, these songs are some of the most personal and emotional stories/moments I’ve ever written about from what I’ve gone through within the past few years, yet the most powerful and touching songs we’ve created to date.”
Blind Choice strongly advocates for mental health awareness, so “Relive” is written more as a general message for everyone who struggles with and fights depression and anxiety daily. It tells listeners that no matter what you’re going through in your life, no matter how dark the moment is or how overwhelmed you may be, how difficult your hardships may seem to overcome, anything is possible and you will beat it. Reaching out to ask how you’re doing, the song says that your life is always worth fighting for because there are always way more people in your life who genuinely love you than you think and the storm never lasts forever because that sun will rise again every time.
“Working with Blind Choice was awesome!” Larsen commented. “They are talented guys that worked hard on their music. We had a blast tracking these songs and hanging out for a few days. I can only see them rocking out for a long time to come and look forward to helping create new music with them.”
Habrial, a communication design major at California State University of Monterey Bay, created the cover art for the album.
“Our songs have mixed feelings and emotions put into them, often bouncing between the dark and light parts of life, and this was the basis for the cover,” he explained.
Pysher sketched out the idea of a broken-up soldier’s arm reaching for an orb of light. Habrial took that and built upon the concept, putting his original style into it while trying to capture some of the more abstract feelings of darkness and light.
Snyder, a music production and audio engineering major at Tell School of Music at Millersville University, offered some color scheme ideas that pulled the design together.
“I had a great time putting it together, creating with my friends and expressing myself through this project musically and visually,” Habrial said.
Set for release on Dec. 3, “Silver Lining” will be available on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music, CD Baby, and at a string of upcoming shows, including Finnegan’s IRC (514 Ash St., Scranton) on Dec. 3, The Shanty on 19th (613 N. 19th St., Allentown) on Dec. 21 as an acoustic trio, the Sherman Showcase (524 Main St., Stroudsburg) on Dec. 30 with Time’s Infinity and Stereo Jo, and The Gin Mill and Grille (1750 Main St., Northampton) on Jan. 22 opening for Tantric.
“I cannot wait to get everyone listening to this new music,” Snyder left off.
“It was a great experience to work with my band in an amazing studio doing what we love, which is a lifelong passion for me to be a professional drummer and get out on the road touring. We look forward to getting out there this summer.”
Photo by Rich Howells/NEPA Scene
