OUTLOUD Interview’s
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By Julio D. Anta
Orlando, Fla.: Home to Mickey Mouse, a town named Celebration and... one of the fastest growing independent music scenes?
"There’s basically a great scene in every genre," said Brad Kriebel, guitarist of the indie rock band Between the Trees. Speaking to me outside of Ft. Lauderdale’s Culture Room before their opening slot for MTV’s Band in a Bubble stars Cartel, the band describes themselves as a group of guys just trying to bring hope through their music.
Established in early 2005, Between the Trees is "a look at time" singer-guitarist Ryan Kirkland said. "One tree represents the beginning of time while another represents the end of time. The time in between is the time we’re given to do something with our lives, and since this is what we’re doing."
"I think the title represents the band well," he added before making mention to their first single "The Way She Feels" off their full-length debut The Song and the Story.
"The Way She Feels" is about a girl the current indie music scene has come to know quite well over the past year or so. Her name is Renee Yohe and she is the inspiration behind the To Write Love On Her Arms movement that has quickly spread throughout the nation and the world. Yohe, who was 19 years old at the time, suffered from depression, self-injury and drug addiction when she meets Jaime Tworkowski, author of the short story "To Write Love On Her Arms" based on the week spent with her and the others who helped bring her to recovery.
On "The Way She Feels," Kirkland, who knew Yohe best, sings "Then she closed her eyes/and found relief in the knife/the blood flows as she cries." And on the piano-driven "A Time For Yohe," he croons "As she sits in the corner/face to the floor/ she dispels smoke from her lips/and slowly floats away with it/letting go of so much pain."
Touching, heartfelt, and above all real, the video for "The Way She Feels" was directed by Aldo Basuki and made possible through connections at Full Sail, a local university. "We have a lot of friends who are into film and only spent about $7,500 on the video, which is hardly nothing," keyboardist Wes Anderson said.
With a devout following for their unique blend of uplifting indie rock and a handful of songs ready for their next album, (which the band says is "pretty far away,") it’s no wonder the band has such high hopes for the future.
"We’re just a couple of goofy guys who’d like to keep on keeping on," drummer Josh Butler said.
Let us know what you think, email us at: outloud@outloud.com.