IF YOU GO
What: The Future Islands.
When: 10 p.m. Sunday.
Where: JJ's Bohemia, 231 M.L. King Blvd.
Admission: $7.
Phone: 266-1400.
Venue website: www.myspace.com/jjsbohemia.
It's not often a band can claim to have been founded out of forgetfulness, but had it not been for the musicians overlooking a promise to some friends, Future Islands might never have taken the stage.
In late 2005, East Carolina University students William Cashion (bass/guitar), Sam Herring (vocals) and Gerrit Welmers (keys/programming) had just finished playing their last show as synthpop band Art Lord & The Self-Portraits after one of their members moved away.
About that time, Herring said, he received a call from some friends in New Hampshire asking about a tour Art Lord was supposed to arrange and perform with them in early 2006. In the aftermath of Art Lord's dissolution, however, it had slipped their minds.
"We didn't have a band," Herring said. "We just threw this thing together and then went on the road. It was absolutely crazy."
From the beginning, Herring said, they made the difficult decision to write all new material rather than pulling from Art Lord's catalog, which was well known to their North Carolina fans.
"If it wasn't for Gerrit not wanting to play those songs, our development might have been a lot more stifled instead of feeling free to create ... because we had to," he said. "It was definitely an interesting couple of months at the beginning of the band."
Much like Art Lord before it, Future Islands' synthpop music blends Herring's distinctive crooning growl with upbeat, danceable melodies inspired by artists such as Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Joy Division.
In 2008, the members of Future Islands left Greenville, N.C., to move to Baltimore. It was the first time they'd lived in the same city in years, and being together again was both creatively energizing and the spark they needed to buckle down and take the band seriously, Herring said.
Within weeks of the move, Future Islands went on its first U.S. tour and, within a year, made its European debut, and the band now can pack out renowned venues such as the Echoplex in Los Angeles.
Sunday, the band will perform at JJ's Bohemia in support of its third studio album, "On the Water," released Oct. 11.
Even if it hasn't been the smoothest road getting to this point, Herring said he's in awe as he looks back at what's come out of a forgotten promise.
"All that hard work is definitely starting to work in our favor as we write and perform and hit the road," he said. "Things are growing for us, but it was definitely not an easy thing. It's been a long time in the making."
Casey Phillips has worked as a features reporter in the Life department for three years. He writes about entertainment, young adults, animals and people of interest. Casey hails from Knoxville and earned a bachelor of science degree in journalism and a bachelor of arts in German. He previously worked as the features editor for Sidelines at Middle Tennessee State University. Casey received the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists Award of Excellence for Reviewing/Criticism in ...
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