By Meghan Hole Music Columnist
Using family members is always an easy way to start a band. But where do you go from there? Friends and school, mostly. That's how the members of the band Somewhere, Anywhere Else got to know each other. "Nick Krus, on keys, and his brother Tyler Krus, on bass, first met singer, Chris Heilman, through a mutual friend. Drummer Jose Eraso was a friend of Nick's in high school. Nick and guitarist Will Manning lived in the same dorm at Johns Hopkins University," they told me. As a band, Somewhere, Anywhere Else has been on the Baltimore scene for about two years now. A couple of the members looked quite different then, it seems. They said, "We started [the band] off about two years ago in the time where Nick sported a furry beard and Chris used too much hair gel." Cute. Their band name can make people think about where they would rather be than here. "We just thought that [the name] sounded pretty cool, so we went with it- despite Jose's dislike for the name," they said. "It's pretty easy to find us on the Internet, too, because there aren't many bands with the name Somewhere, Anywhere Else." If you check out their MySpace band page, youíll see that they have a quite lengthy biography. If you read it, you'll notice that something about it seems a little off. They go into a lot of details about aliens and robots, among other things, which seems a little far-fetched. When confronted about it, these guys defend what they wrote. "All of it is historically accurate with a few minor tweaks to make it more interesting," they said. Not sure if we can believe them. These guys classify their music as electronic, pop and alternative. It seems like most unsigned bands donít go for this kind of sound, but it works for them. To find it, they said, "Nick had an idea for the style of the band, and had written several songs. He then gave them to Chris to try some vocals. When he heard the lyrics and melodies that Chris had put on top of his synth-based rock songs, he knew that they needed to find some musicians and make a band." In the band, Chris is the mastermind behind all of the lyrics. Even though these guys have the happy electronic sound, their lyrics are very personal. "Chris has a lot of emotional baggage that he likes to express in our songs. We feel that a lot of people can relate to the issues that our songs discuss,î"they said. If you ask these guys about what kinds of music they listen to, they'll all give you different answers. Maybe that's why their music is so unique. "We all listen to a wide variety of music and bring our own unique styles into the mix," they said. "Nick and Chris both listen to a lot of electronic and rock music. Tyler enjoys popular music, and Will and Jose are into a variety of genres." Because of their strange combination of music (though it works well for them), Somewhere, Anywhere else realizes that they are not the same as other bands in Baltimore. "We are very different from most other bands in Baltimore. There aren't too many other synth-pop bands in this area, but we enjoy playing with a variety of artists," they said. Even though they are different from other local bands, they still admit that the music of Baltimore influences how they play. "We play a lot of shows with local bands. While a lot of other bands are not always similar to us in style, all local artists support each other and make the music scene more exciting." When they're not working on their music, these guys tend to be very busy. They all go to school or work, which keeps them all on a tight schedule. "It's pretty hard to schedule shows and recording around everyone's classes and exams," they said. "It's challenging at times, but we all try to do well with school and music. Music is the fun part and school is the necessary part." Since they do think music is fun, Somewhere, Anywhere Else is currently working on their first full-length album. At the moment they have an EP that they give out at shows, so if you want to own their stuff, you must go see them at a show. These guys are thankful for everything that they have as a band, and here's a small list of people they'd like to thank: their families and friends, Isaac.Shane Clothing, and all the venues, local artists, and fans who have given them a chance. Check out Somewhere, Anywhere Else on MySpace at MySpace.com/SomewhereAnywhereElse, or on their Facebook page.
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