THE BRIGHT AMBASSADORS OF EPIC ROCK
Interview With Pure Reason Revolution’s Chloe Alper

By Tina Whelski

Pure Reason Revolution’s recent signing with OR Music is good news for both the band and fans that want to hear invention and experimentation reminiscent of epic 70’s rock of yore.  The band’s songs have strong prog leanings, but there are enough strong hooks, interesting turns and exciting melodies to keep their unconventional song structure palatable to non-prog listeners too.  As Pure Reason Revolution’s absorbing dreamscapes straddle musical definitions and they benefit from OR’s interest in building career artists over only achieving hit singles they’re positioned to pave a way for like-minded artists and listeners who prefer to journey through their music an extra minute (or nine).

The UK press has already been raving about the Berkshire-area quintet that includes players Chloe Alper (Vox, Bass, Synths, Tamba), Jon Courtney (Vox, guitars, synth), Greg Jong (Guitars, Vox, synth), James Dobson (Synths, Sampler, Vox, Bass), and Andrew Courtney (Drums), and the U.S. finally gets its turn.  The band made its first North American landing debuting before receptive crowds in Texas at South By Southwest in March and I was fortunate to catch their Buffalo Billiards show.

Photo: Tina Whelski

Pure Reason Revolution greeted us with a kaleidoscope of sounds that captured that tranquility you feel before you sleepily submit to your dreams, but they maintained enough raw rock energy to keep eyes wide awake. An uncomfortable absence of speech created a pleasant tension as the band jammed for quite a few minutes before bursting into lush harmonies.  Chloe Alper’s graceful range against the male vocals gave the music an ethereal touch that lifted it star-bound.

“It’s kind of journey music and space rock,” says Chloe Alper. “Quite a few Americans said it’s make out music (laughs). That was obviously on the agenda over here.”

That impression should no doubt be explored further, but with song titles like “Aerospace,” “Apprentice of the Universe,” “The Bright Ambassadors of Morning,” “Nimos & Tambos” and “The Intention Craft” you get a feel for where their writing heads were initially.

“We try to go beyond standard adolescent preoccupations I think,” says Alper. “The lyrics are based on the surreal. Basically they’re about dreams and being in a dream-like state.  The album’s called The Dark Third, which is a concept Jon came up with.  It really works with all the lyrics and weirdness.”

The band also incorporates its strong Beach Boys influence.  (Picture if a woman joined the Beach Boys and they lived in the shadows of Berkshire instead of sunny California).

“We didn’t really sit down and plan it,” says Alper about the band’s harmonies. “We started like two years ago and we weren’t all singing to start.  Jon’s been obsessed with The Beach Boys for years.  I think it shows.  That kind of rubbed off on everyone.  It’s harmony led music, yet it’s thrashy in parts and I think that’s what sets us aside from lots of stuff that’s going on at the moment.  I guess having the female vocal works pretty well too, but it’s not something we planned from day one.  It just happened.  I guess we’re lucky that our vocals work well together and they contrast as well I think.”

The band continued on after Texas for a tease of a tour that included a handful of select dates, but they’ll thankfully return later to support the release of The Dark Third.

“People are generally more receptive and seem to be more excited or excitable,” says Alper about their encounter with American audiences.  “Maybe they are just willing to show how they feel.  It’s been a great experience so far even though it’s been quite short.”

The bands second UK single "Bright Ambassadors of Morning" was released in the UK in March and with OR now involved their debut album will be released in the US later this year.  While Pure Reason Revolution’s music might present a marketing puzzle for traditional labels, OR President and co-founder Michael Caplan seems a likely ally for getting around that.  The former Senior Vice President of Sony Music’s Epic label recently garnered a Grammy win and several nominations for his first OR success story, Texican rockers Los Lonely Boys, and he applies the same diligent approach to development with his new signings.

“Michael said he loved us and went a bit nuts as he tends to,” says Alper about their signing. “…He contacted Sony UK and got them interested.”

In the interest of recording perfection, Pure Reason Revolution went over budget with The Dark Third, but the results were well worth it.  They also benefited from working with producer Paul Northfield.

“It’s really layered and it’s really intricate and so everything had to be perfect,” says Alper.  “…We recorded with a producer named Paul Northfield who’s worked with Marilyn Manson and Hole.  He’s done quite a bit of prog stuff too, like Rush and Gentle Giant.  He was like a mediator and quite sobering really.  He organized the whole thing basically, so it would have been a bit difficult without him.  Previously all our recordings had just been done in Jon’s flat, so we were capable of doing it on our own, but having a producer there just gave us a little more leeway, just someone to lay down the law.”

Watch for band news at: www.ormusic.com and www.purereasonrevolution.com.

Tina Whelski is Editor of Womanrock.com.  She is also a columnist and feature writer for The Aquarian Weekly/East Coast Rocker www.theaquarian.com, Managing Editor of Starpolish.com www.starpolish.com, and contributes to Music Connection www.musicconnection.com and Good Times magazines www.goodtimesmag.com.  Additionally she consults for Fearless Music TV www.fearlessmusic.com.