Sacramento’s Incredible Me Take It To the Next Level

Being that it’s still only 2013, calling your debut record Est. 2012 could be construed as hubris, especially from a band with a name like Incredible Me; especially if you’re a band named Incredible Me who signed a record deal before even playing your first show. But after a few listens to the equal parts hard-hitting and soulfully melodic tracks that make up the Sacramento sextet’s first full-length release, and after chatting with charismatic drummer/programmer Jaime Templeton, it becomes clear that Incredible Me don’t have a boastful bone in their bodies. Rather, the band are genuinely aw-shucks happy that their peculiar amalgam of happy, heartfelt and occasionally pretty damn heavy music—set to be unleashed worldwide with the release of Est. 2012 Sept. 17, 2013 through Razor and Tie/Artery Recordings and a pair of nation-crossing tours to go along with it—is allowing them to live the dream of being a full-time, touring rock band.

As one might surmise from the title of their record, Incredible Me was indeed officially formed in 2012. The band members’ collective ties, however, go back through years of friendship and experience in their own various and ill-fated earlier bands. By way of a spotty cell phone connection, Templeton traces Incredible Me’s origins to a casual text message between him and Incredible Me heavy vocalist David Jones. “We’d all been in different bands; my band had moved to Orange County and David, his band had just broken up a few months before. I had never really been in a hardcore band, and I texted David and asked him what he was doing for music,” says Templeton. “I asked him if he wanted to start a band, we thought of a name and started writing lyrics.”

Looking to avoid the pitfalls of their past groups, the members of the nascent Incredible Me were selective about filling out the rest of their lineup. “We wanted to be really serious about it, so we tried to find really good friends that we could have in the band but people who were also really trustworthy people,” says Templeton. After replacing an original guitar player with guitarist Lexie Olsen, the current lineup of Incredible Me—including bassist/vocalist Alex Strobaugh, keyvboardist/vocalist Dillon Jones and guitarist Christian Shroyer—was set, and the band wasted no time writing and demoing more songs. Right away, says Templeton, it was obvious that there was something special about Incredible Me.

“From the beginning, writing our first song and putting it out, it just felt crazy; it was exactly what I wanted. From the moment I started the band with David, things just felt right. It just felt like something would happen, you know?” And something did indeed happen. After demoing with producer Colby Wedgeworth (who also handled the production on Est. 2012), the band attracted the attention of several management companies, on the strength of just two songs, all without having played a live show. After one deal fell through, the band was swooped up by Sacramento-based The Artery Foundation.

“Artery picked us up as management, and we recorded the rest of the album. And then right when the album was done, we got picked up by the record label. And then we thought we’d be waiting for a while, but then we got booked on these two tours. It feels like every month something huge has happened.”

The aforementioned tours, the band’s first forays outside their home state, include a three-week trek in September with a Canadian band, We Butter the Bread with Butter, that stretches from the East Coast back to California, and joining up for the tail end of The Rise Up Tour in October with fellow Artery Foundation bands A Skylit Drive and For All Those Sleeping. “We’re definitely excited to leave. None of us have ever toured,” says Templeton. The tour schedule coincides with the release of Est. 2012 on Sept. 17, 2013 which according to Templeton was originally just supposed to be an EP. But fitting with the band’s accelerated pace, after recording several more songs with producer Wedgeworth for an EP, the band was greenlighted to keep pushing ahead and record a full-fledged album, a process that, in keeping with the band’s equally impressive positive outlook, Templeton describes as “super fun.”

This overwhelmingly upbeat attitude is somewhat belied by the brutal moments that appear on Est. 2012, which features no shortage of screamed vocals, metallic riffs and heavy moments peppered in between melodic passages that recall Panic! at the Disco and other melismatic, vocally driven emo pop bands. But where, exactly, this combination places Incredible Me on the genre spectrum is sort of a stumper, even for the band members themselves. “That’s a hard one for us,” laughs Templeton when asked to classify his band’s music. “If you had to put it together, the whole album, we say post-hardcore, but super pop-y. We do scream, and there’s a few breakdowns on the album, but we try to be pop-y. None of our music is really sad or depressing; we’re not a band who’s dark or eerie. We’re trying to be different, but really we’re just trying to be who we are. We’re bright, happy, fun people.

“We’re all a bunch of clowns,” he continues. “If you were to hang out with my band for a couple of days you would think you’re in the show Jackass. We’re probably the happiest kids around. We try to express that in our music and be super outgoing. We don’t want to be like most bands, where you’re down; all the bands who are like hardcore…” says Templeton in a way that makes it clear that both he, and his bandmates have heard their fair share of criticism for venturing down what is a somewhat well-worn path in the current music landscape. “…Any band who sings and screams is gonna get that. You’ll get haters on YouTube ‘Oh just another generic band.’” But he’s eager for those who may doubt the band’s sincerity—and there are definitely a few—to hear Est. 2012, and see for themselves the band’s sincerity live on one of their upcoming tours.

Also set to coincide with the release of Est. 2012, the band is currently at work on their first music video, the plotline of which Templeton was apparently not at liberty to discuss. “I can say the video is going to be amazing, and crazy,” was all he was willing to disclose. “It’s going to be basically my band in a nutshell. We’re all really crazy people, and we want to express it as much as we can. The video is gonna show us going all out, doing what we do.”

Doing what they do has already gained a loyal following in and around their hometown of Sacramento, but Templeton and the rest of the Incredible Me crew are looking forward to playing for some new faces on tour, road testing a live show that Templeton describes as “energetic. We want to interact with the crowd.” Templeton in particular is known for his own trademark brand of “interaction” with crowds at Incredible Me shows. “I play every show in my underwear,” he admits. “We just try to be ourselves.” And when you’re incredible, being yourself is really all it takes.

Ten After Two sets sights on debut EP, then the world

Words by Bobby S. Gulshan | Photo by Phill Mamula

My editor said, “I want you to interview this up-and-coming band from Roseville. Here is their demo.” I gave it a listen and thought, “Yeah, these guys can really bang it out. Let’s do it.” I asked if maybe we could arrange to meet at a bar, so I could have an excuse to do my job and drink at the same time. Turns out, not a one of them is old enough to get past the door. Coffee then?

The dilemma faced me cold and hard like the hangover I was hoping to have after the interview at the pub: How the hell am I going to interview some youngsters about the serious issues surrounding contemporary metal music, and do it sober? What are we going to talk about? Am I just getting old? What would Lester Bangs do?

Vincent Adorno (drums) and Sean Wall (vocals), of Ten After Two met me at Starbucks downtown, and they blew me away. Sure, their music kicks ass. They deftly combine elements of technical metal precision with catchy, clean and melodic hooks that are as timeless as any angst-ridden power pop chorus. Their soon-to-be-released EP, If You Don’t First, is incredibly well produced and exhibits a remarkable level of musicianship. It is at times brutally heavy, and at other times unrepentantly accessible.

Moreover, these guys are serious. Don’t let the “just out of high school” thing fool you. Ten After Two have a precocious feel for both the music and the music business. The forthcoming EP is the product of collaboration between Rise Records, Artery Management and Hot Topic. The tunes are precise and structured, and it became clear through the course of our conversation that these guys have a clear and precise vision of themselves and their creative endeavors.

Tell me how you guys got started.
Vincent Adorno: Back in the day I used to jam with my buddy Pat [Hennion, guitar], after that we had this school thing between two schools, Oakmont and Woodcreek. And we found Josh [Doty, guitar/vocals] through that. He was the singer in this guitar class. Josh and Sean were in a band together at the time called Eleanor Manor. Josh and Sean joined us and we found Danny [Clark, bass].

You are pretty young guys.
VA: Yeah, I’m 17.
Sean Wall: I’m 20.

And this is why we are having coffee and not conducting this interview at the pub. So what made you guys interested in playing metal?
VA: We were into that genre at the time, and it’s a growing genre. And I see it as something that is only getting bigger.
SW: The genre lets us do a lot of things musically and allows us to put our own thing into it. We don’t have to feel so contained into something simple.

So what are some examples of that?
SW: We can do more chord progressions. We can try something new. On the future full-length you will hear it, going out of the box and doing different sorts of harmonies and stuff.

On the EP I noticed that you guys combine the melodic, clean vocal elements with the growling heavy vocals. Is that an example?
SW: Yeah, exactly.

Other than rock and metal, what else are you listening to?
SW: When I think about it, we listen to a lot of stuff. Oldies, classics, electronica, anything that is good musically we listen to.

Let me ask a similar question. What’s the exact opposite of the kind of band that you would want to be in?
VA: I don’t want to be in a band with people who aren’t serious about it. I am trying to do this as a career, so definitely nothing that is only about fun or just a personal thing.
SW: I hate really limited bands. I wouldn’t want to be in a band where all the songs sound the same.

So you are more interested in the idea of exploration and the endless possibilities of what you could do?
SW: Exactly. The endless possibilities of music.

In terms of making it a career, what does that mean for you?
VA: There is going to be a lot of work that goes into it. We are going to be totally broke for a while, but eventually we want to be able to make a decent living and have some fans really love it. I just want to do what I love and hopefully do it for the rest of my life. And this is what we all love doing.

So the EP is coming out on Nov. 9, 2010. What is the deal with Hot Topic and the exclusive release?
SW: Our management hooked us up. They had connections with Hot Topic and wanted us to do it. It will be available through Hot Topic and iTunes.

In terms of style, I know bands don’t like to be categorized, but we writers live and die on categories. Some might call what you do metalcore or emo-core. So what do you think of these labels?
SW: We are a rock band. We have straight 4/4 time, minor key type stuff. You could call it alternative rock or whatever, but we are basically a rock band.

You guys love the breakdowns, don’t you?
VA: It’s what kids can relate to. I don’t know why, but these days the kids love it, and we love it too, so yeah. It’s heavy, and it’s what everyone feels. They can feel the heaviness.

You guys show a certain level of musical sophistication. The songs are well structured and well put together. You mentioned theory earlier, but what about technique? There seems to be an emphasis on technical ability in the songs.
SW: We like to be guitar-driven and very musical. I think our songs tell the story through the guitars.

There was one track, “Behind Locked Doors,” where that acoustic guitar comes in near the end, and I was blown away by how clean the production was on that.
SW: Yeah, Colby [Wedgeworth, producer] does some amazing stuff out of his house and at Hollywood North off of Douglas. It was a great time and the end result was killer.

What are some of the themes you guys are exploring with the music?
VA: So far it’s stuff about girls, I guess. Some of it is about this reoccurring theme about home. It makes sense if you listen to it.
SW: It’s like taking the time to be introspective and knowing within you what home is. When do you know that you are completely comfortable? How well do you know yourself to know that you are at home?

Is it that where you are from isn’t necessarily where you are at home?
VA: It’s like a personal feeling, feeling whole and home in the universe.
SW: Like you are your own universe.

Does this relate at all to being from Roseville, which is nice but it’s still the suburbs, and it’s not that open-minded a place?
VA: Well we all want to get out of there.
SW: Suburban scum.
VA: We don’t like the way the kids act out here. People are really egotistical, even though they don’t have much to show for it.
SW: These themes get brought up. People have stuff, but don’t know happiness. They have material things but not much else. They don’t know themselves.
VA: And the world has gone to shit.

I feel you on that. So what do you guys have coming up?
SW: We are going to Florida in December, be there for a month.
VA: Yeah, we are going to go out there and record our full-length.

Touring?
VA: Yeah definitely, after the full length gets done.
SW: We are hoping to tour all next year, starting in the spring.

So what are the ingredients for future success?
SW: The fans, connecting with our fans.
VA: Fans and keeping up with the writing. We can’t overthink it. We can’t lose what we know. We lose the feeling if we think too much about it.
SW: Like Vinny is saying, we want our fans to be a big part of it. But if we try too hard to write for others, we are not going to be able to write it how we feel it, and in the end the people listening are going to be able to hear that.

Aside from the music, how else can you connect with fans?
VA: We want to try everything–contests and charity events. Basically anything to connect with people on a real human level is really important.

Ten After Two’s debut EP will be available at Hot Topic starting Nov. 9, 2010. The album will also be sold on iTunes.