June 13, 2005. Eyes to Space EP review.

"Occupying a space somewhere between geek and prog rock, Eyes to Space's nearly obsessively quirky music is richly gilded and yet somehow straightforward. This may be counter-intuitive because while devoted to bouncy riffs, the band's arrangements have more turns than a NASCAR race. It's that these musical digressions usually aren't discursive, but rather form a kind of quilt that envelops the songs. As such they feel like complexly textured and linked treats like shards of peanut brittle. Within the patterns exists an earnest playfulness, such as the calliope keyboard riff that runs like a string through "Roadkill." The rich, eclectic song structures invite repeated listens, but never overwhelm the simple imperative--an infectious tune. Some of the prog rock elements (which alternate throughout with surprisingly chunky spates of guitar) are a bit too over the top, but overall this is a refreshing, intriguing album made by excellent musicians."

Chris Parker, the Independent Weekly

April 20, 2005. Eyes to Space Interview.

"Of course, not everyone can run their own studio. But that's certainly the idea. Eyes to Space recorded two albums worth of material without being entirely satisfied, before laying down the money to do it right--themselves. "We weren't happy with the first recording because the quality wasn't too great. We weren't very experienced and made a lot of beginner mistakes," says key-tarist Jay Cartwright. (He plays a converted keyboard/guitar mimicking the accordion he grew up playing.)

Though they had nothing but nice things to say about working with Jerry Kee at Duck Kee studios, Cartwright felt the sound still failed to adequately represent the band.

"When you're on a budget and you're being charged, you can't experiment as much and get that perfect keyboard sound or guitar tone," he says. "So I just decided we should give the home recording another shot. I did a lot of reading and research and worked with some engineers to learn to do it right."

Producer Mark Williams (who has worked on several SCOTS albums) offered Cartwright the opportunity to help out, providing him an invaluable apprenticeship.

"It was going to involve a lot of different recording situations--horn players, backup singers, a full drum set, everything. And they didn't have a budget for an engineer but Mark said it'd be OK if I helped out," he says. "I spent seven 10- to 12-hour days working with him learning mic placement, watching his procedure and how he treated recording different instruments." He also met a different, younger Mark Williams, who was recording his old-school chum Nathan Asher and his band The Infantry. Cartwright was pulled in to play some organ.

"Mark said he was trying to unload his old Pro Tools rig. A light bulb went off because our guitar player already got a G4 in exchange for some media work that he'd done," he says. "We realized this isn't going to take too much money, and we can make this happen. So I did research about what year to buy and how to get the most bang for my buck."

It's been a year since he converted the house he shares with bassist/girlfriend Wendy Spitzer, but then as Cartwright says, "We describe ourselves as a band of nerds, and that's what the process was--me sitting in the house tapping at a keyboard for a year while others were hanging out."

The new self-titled album is available directly from the band, though Cartwright is looking to land a deal for their next album. Most of the band is classically trained, from Spitzer, who's trained in the oboe, to classically trained guitarist Andy Spain and percussion performance major Dylan Thurston, but that doesn't prevent them from rocking out.

"Beyond just trying to play as a tight band, we're really just trying to make music that's fun. We don't want to play music where we're showing off our chops. We're still interested in writing and performing catchy songs and putting on a show an audience can dance to. If the audience listens closely maybe they'll hear more of the work we've put into it and the sophistication, but that isn't something we push up front," he says."

Chris Parker, the Independent Weekly