By: Lauren Napier
The Orange County scene produces many rock acts, but one that stands apart from the rest is This Calendar Year; a variety of influences is noticeable in their sound: a unique blend of pop-punk and rock, which gives This Calendar Year straight-up rock credibility within an oversaturated music scene. The first CD that Jack bought and paid for himself was Green Day’s Dookie whereas Trevor grew up listening to more of the punk and ska genre such as “Less than Jake, MXPX, Reel Big Fish, and Slapstick”.
The band, whose name is supposed to signify the past and most influential year of the members lives: the year they all got together with the current line up – 2005, has a short history together. The band originally formed in late ’03 and there were some member changes a few short months after that and in January of ’05 Jack was added to the band and according to Trevor it’s “been great since then”.
Music plays a huge role in their lives as is both apparent and expected. Jack says music has “always been about creating something that's new and different.” Jack loves writing something that moves him and those around him, “whether they're singing along or shaking their ass.” The point of the music scene, in his eyes is to create something new and different, something that will keep people on their toes and show creativity and allow the music scene to continue to grow. The point is to be active to create music that plays an active role in the scene. The fact that This Calendar Year is indeed an active part of the scene is helping Jack’s “biggest dreams” to come true. To Trevor “it feels great, in part, that even if it just reaches one person and makes them happy” then he feels that he has accomplished his goal and will continue to do so happily.
The scene, made up of many components is being detailed and enhanced by the presence of This Calendar Year. There’s not a specific message that the band is trying to relate besides that fact “that it’s okay to step out of the box and write music that fun and emotion”. Trevor wants to add more diversity to the music scene and help to open people’s horizons to genres other than hardcore which has dominated the scene as of late.
With a stunningly unique and vibrant play list of songs on their album there are definitely songs that the band members see as favorites. Jack likes the track “Tearing out the Pages” because to him “it's really about keeping motivation and taking the initiative to hold onto dreams and not lose them in the midst of everything else going on”. This can be understandingly quite hard to do with the myriad of activities the band members have on their plate. Trevor prefers “The Lighter” simply because it touches him on a personal level.
Music, which is obviously time-consuming for those in the industry, is not the only thing that the guys enjoy. Jack has a penchant for hanging out at Starbucks and skateboarding. Trevor put a hold on school to pursue a more fulfilling career with the band but finds time for a day job to pay the necessary bills. Books are also on the agenda. Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein holds a soft spot in Jack’s heart and the book “shows what happens when a creator abandons their creation” which sparks his deepest interests. Trevor houses a personal fondness for movies and lists some of his favorites as Gattaca and A Beautiful Mind.
Regrets don’t consume the bands time – beyond the fact that they wish they had tried to start a band earlier. The band, even though they have only being together for a short time, have an obvious maturity and grasp of music and how they want their sound to develop. Jack animatedly puts in that in five years he would like to see the band at “THUNDERDOME!!” This final comment embodies the liveliness and passion that the guys hold for their future career and success that is inevitable.
For more information on this group visit http://www.myspace.com/thiscalendaryear |
