Settings

Buffalo New York, home of the Country’s largest waterfall and enough Molson overflow to cause a few underage drinking problems. A questionable football team and near competitor for Cleveland’s title “mistake on the lake.” We could say it’s not quite “anywhere USA” but not exactly what Sinatra was writing about. Start spreading the news—about, young Donny Evans, Alex Niceforo, Chris Flury, Greg Marangos, and Nick Drew—better known as the band Settings. They formed in 2006 with just Chris and Nick, Greg and Alex would later join and Donny a recent addition, originally from Atlanta, rounded off the quintet. Their sound, well let’s just say a delicate balance between Hoobastank and the Transiberian orchestra with a guest appearance from the Gibb brothers—or maybe Daft Punk. More New York style than Donna Karen and enough looks to put hometown’s Johnny Reznik to shame. You could legitimately call them your sisters new crush and your parent’s worst nightmare. Pay attention to this—let’s talk about a band that understands perseverance, in late 2006 the band lost their front-man and went almost 10 months searching for the next in line, Donny Evans formerly of Atlanta buzz band Esme stepped up to the plate just in time. “It was a difficult task finding Donny, we looked for months and tried out person after person, everybody was so sketchy, some days we thought we weren’t going to find anybody and would end up writing instrumentals, but it was never a question of whether we were going to stay together or not,” comments Niceforo. Following in the footsteps of bands like Circa Survive and Thrice—the band didn’t want to stay “too” close to their influences and knew that they needed to do it their own way in the otherwise monotonous scene.

In fall of 2007 after an excess of writing and a month long tour the band entered the studio in Chicago with producer Marc McClusky. (June, Hit the Lights, Powerspace) The objective was to create the best three songs possible, only three of them—and that they did, what came of it was the creation of forthcoming digital EP entitled “Elusion” which is slated for release on Itunes in late 2007 just in time for the holidays. The release is four tracks, the 3 from the studio as well as a bonus remix exclusively available with the Itunes download. Following an EP that the band originally released and toured on, this was a step up to the major leagues. Manager Lucas Keller commented from his Chicago office, “This band is the definition of “young and cool” they’re definitely masters of mixing guitars and electronics. REAL trendsetters, they don’t run with all the rip off bands in their respective scene, they’re on a level with bands like the Transiberian Orchestra and Dream Theater.” With a loyal internet following nationally their hometown of Buffalo is just starting to catch on. Only months away from a long awaited release, which is exclusively for digital release, the guys have no doubt that the reaction will be positive. “We’re a very 2007 band, we run a lot of electronics in our set and spend a lot of time on the internet, we try to be ahead of the curve, why not embrace the fact that it’s a digital world and release our music accordingly?” comments Flury, the band’s guitarist and forerunner.

Rarely does a band mix so many electronic influences with rock and sound this good, it’s safe to say that Settings are the first of their kind. 2008 looks to be an exciting year for the boys and with a full calendar of touring alongside a mass of people talking, it’s only a matter of time before you head over to Itunes to see what it’s all about. Seeing that the average age in the band is around New York’s drinking law it’s apparent that they have a long way to run. But ask them, they’re not phased by the competition, it’s only work and they’ve already been through some difficult times. Although their friends are off mid-way through college, the guys are more excited by a life of interstates and Super 8s—what would you rather be doing at 20 years old? That’s what I thought.

Thanks for checking out our band. For any questions please contact: e-mail: settingsband@gmail.com