Show Conversations with A' valley personalities § “ N Eyes wide open: Blind Iris loofts for fame ay Perry and Scott Donovan lf$ gnat to Pave sew name assoclat-eiimittiesetilabiiuSttmci- photo mosaic by Brent StevensHerald Journal KittBsoetagtmmCutsifiiierare going good for the local T hings Blind Iris The group was recently tapped by themakers of die insanely popular Tony Hawk skateboarding video game franchise for inclusion in the new game’s soundtrack Their song “Drive” will be heard by the millions' of people who have already prepurchased “Tony Hawk Underground” and countless others who will snatch up the game following its release on Oct 27 Now when you consider that the group only got together in January of this year you realize that things as things go are going very well for Blind Iris “We got lucky really” said ldad vocalist John Perry 27 “The material was there but we got lucky” Blind Iris recorded its first three- song demo in May The cuts were sent out to some connections of Avon Sound Recording studio chief Ned Allen One of them was a representative 'of Neversoft Studios “Tony Hawk Underground” creators He liked what he heard “He enjoyed the song enough to put it in the game” said drummer Tyler Forsberg 21 The track will be included among a number of musical choices players can select for sonic backdrops as they ride hard through the game’s virtual city of skating terrain Blind Iris’ song will be alongside selections from the likes of Jurassic 5 the Clash and ’70s glam icons Kiss “It’s great to have your name asso- - ciated with these big bands” said lead guitarist Scott Donovan year-ol- d “Especially with us being from Cache Valley" For anidea of what Blindlris sounds like take a clue from the fact that they were included in a game about guerrilla street skating 24-ba- nd atti - “I enjoy this band more thin anoth-e- r band I’ve been in because every- - ' body is involved in the writing” he said “It’s great to be involved in that writing process and to see everybody’s ideas Nobody has any one vision It just kind of happens" “It’s definitely the culmination of V five different influences” r Yeah rhythm gui- ' tarist Rhett Perrett 23 said They rock ' “A couple of bands to link us with Forsberg concurred ' would maybe be the Foo Fighters and “One person will come in with an idea whether it’s LinkinPark” Scott or Rhett or Forsberg said- “We try to keep John on Vocals and all five of us as many differwill bust it out” ent styles as he said “Blind within possible Iris writes the what we do” But as Perry songs notjust one person” is quick to point “And that’s out Blind his the way we want isn’t out to copy or parrot They it” Donovan want to create emphasized “We’re not The Tony provided by Activision can cruise to the sounds of Blind Hawk “gig” has trying to sound Iris in Tony Hawk's Underground" like anybody” given this young - band a sense of he said boundless optimism “Naming those bands is just a way of “We’re hoping to use it as stepping pointing to how we sound It’s not like stone because it’s a very fortunate we set out writing and say ‘We want this song to sound like the Foo thing to happen to any band” ' Forsberg saiL'“We’re hoping it will Fighters’" The five band members have been name our out there” get in various groups throughout their Getting “out there” after all is the careers “Too many to count” as central goal for any young band Donovan said So far they say Blind “We all enjoy playing first of all and we want to be able make a living Iris has shown the most promise: Bass player Spencer Allred 24 doing what we do” Perry said “But to explained get there we have to have all our stuff Video-game- rs Check it out Blind Iris will play with Sand dnd Drunken Munkey at the Eagles Lodge 170 W 900 North at8 pm Friday Oct 17 Tickets are $4 in advance and $5 at die door and are available at KSM Guitars and Directive Skate Shop Ages 21 and over 6 only For more call 752-877- Web site: For photos MP3 files and more check out the band's Web site at i V wwwblindirisbandcom together and just keep enjoying music” ing ' “It’s a lot of work but it’s worth it" Allred said “It's what I want to be doing for a living” “Regardless of what happens” Perrett said “I think we’ll all be playing for the rest of our lives It’s kind of an addiction” Sq where does the' dream stop? “Haying for 10000 people” Donovan suggested “I think the dream gig is just to have a lot of people there to see us” Forsberg said “To have people there to listen to Blind Iris” ' Maybe then the dream has already been realized “Some nights playing around here have been that dream gig because we had such a good crowd and they had a great time” Perry said “Our roots are always going to be in Logan” —Jeremy Pugh : Cache Magazine editor |