December Boys Soft Peaks Unleash September EP Featuring [I wish it was longer] Beatsmith John "Jumbled" Bachman Behind The Drumkit (Bandcamp self-released)
"It’s been a little while, but Baltimore’s Soft Peaks are back with another EP! Three songs that were recorded a while ago, but sometimes life gets in the way. Band members went back to school, started families, and trying to find time to practice, in between dinner and putting the kids to bed," reads a rather quaint email I received from Baltimore's Soft Peaks early Sunday morning. Its core members include lead guitarist and vocalist Jonathan Moore, second guitarist and vocalist Eben Dennis, and drummer, engineering teacher, and Hip-Hop producer John "Jumbled" Bachman, bassist Tim St. Clair, and keyboard and accordion player Michael Lambright. I've previously worked with Bachman on a number of occasions for this various publication, including a recent Scratching The Surface interview; although, to my surprise, he had never once mentioned he played drums in his own self-described "Power Pop" band during any of our countless emailed conversations. Soft Peaks have been playing together for about 3.5 years and guitar players Jonathan Moore & Eben Dennis both attended college in Greensboro, North Carolina with John's wife and Soft Peaks EP designer Rachel Bachman, before moving to Baltimore upon the band's 2012-13 inception.
"I was playing in Grind[core] and Punk bands for a while, but had pretty much retired from Punk. We started practicing some songs. We added friend Tim St. Clair on bass... This EP was started in a studio and tracks were layered at home. Final mixes were layered by everyone, including keyboardist and accordion [player] Michael Lambright," Bachman detailed concerning December Boys EP's creation, via email. "The World Is Exploding," "Driveway," and "I Want to Believe" were recorded "a while ago" at Loyola College, where St. Clair was teaching, at the time, and final mixes were further layered and recorded at home by all five band members; "We've been on somewhat of a hiatus this summer due to kids being born and work schedules—but I'm hoping we can start recording our full-length soon... with about 10-15 unrecorded songs," Bachman continued. Soft Peaks' three-track December Boys EP is currently available for purchase from their Bandcamp page for an incredibly reasonable $3, along with their previous Altocumular EP, Soft Peaks EP, and "Father Christmas." John Bachman's latest, and might I add, impeccable, album [I wish it was longer] released under his Jumbled beat-making guise is currently available for purchase in either digital or hand lathe-cut 8-inch formats.