During Bon Iver’s show at downtown L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium, the band’s creative force, Justin Vernon, shot a heartfelt glance out towards a sold out audience and proclaimed that this was the biggest show the band had ever played. In shock over every single seat in the house being filled, Vernon told his army of loyal followers that, “It would be far weirder if we were up here sweating it out by ourselves with no one here.”
You know that floaty, nostalgic feeling you get when you wake up from a dream you don’t quite remember and you inexplicably miss your childhood dog, your kindergarten teacher, your mom’s pancakes or some other such non sequitur to your current life? (Admit it, you know exactly what I’m talking about.) Well, if those types of dreams had soundtracks, Other Lives would be the band to write them. Ethereal, orchestral, lush—all words that come to mind as I watch Other Lives perform at the famous KCRW studios in Santa Monica, CA during their slot on Morning Becomes Eclectic (Mon–Fri, 9am—12pm). This is not typically how I’d think to describe anything from Stillwater, Oklahoma, but for these scraggily haired, doe-eyed twenty-somethings, it fits.
I first heard of Other Lives when a friend who, when he found out I was going to SXSW mentioned them first in his list of must see acts at the festival. I take these types of recommendations seriously especially coming from musically well-versed and knowledgeable heads. I dug in to find out more about this Stillwater Oklahoma band about a week before I left for Austin and what I found only added fuel to my growing interest.
