Take two parts The Smiths, one part Sufjan Stevens and one part Brand New and you have The Instant.
Hailing from Cincinnati but now juniors at Ohio University, Daniel Wasson and Joseph Crist were always into music, but did not form The Instant until they came to college. Crist develops most of the music, and Wasson composes the majority of the lyrics, derived from his poetry.
We're kind of big nerds
Wasson said. I sold my World Of Warcraft character on eBay for $800 so that we could buy a Telecaster (guitar).
This nerdiness sometimes translates into awkward situations for the band, which inspired their first EP, the Happy Birthday EP.
It was my birthday and a lot of weird bad things happened Wasson said. I saw a lot of old acquaintances and an ex-girlfriendG?we went to party where neither of us knew anyone there
and everyone started singing 'Happy Birthday' to me but no one knew me
so they mumbled during the name.
This uncomfortable endeavor inspired their EP. They wrote new songs about the night and reworked songs to fit the theme.Coincidentally, their first full LP, PART-Y, is also about celebrations.
It's called PART-Y because the songs are from the male perspective
like the Y chromosome
Wasson said.
The album has a light, pop sound, which gives the feel of party music, but if the listener pays careful attention, the lyrics actually indicate a tone of loneliness and depression.
We used a lot of synthesizers because The Killers were popular at the time...(we wanted) party music with an undertone of loneliness
like a Johnny Marr from The Smiths kind of thing
Wasson said.
The Instant is now working on two new concept albums, titled The Relationship and Train Tracks.
Train Tracks is more of a political album
sort of folk-y
but gets a rip on the American situation right now. It is also a man's journey
